A Star from the East…Or Christmas is Over!

Greetings long lost friends.  Once again, the PD Christmas missive will not be hitting your mailbox anytime soon.  We could say it is our effort to reduce, reuse and recycle but truth be told, we just didn’t get to it.  I know, you are shocked! 

I thought about having each of us list some of our favorite memories of 2008 but Katie-who-lives-in-the-moment looked at me like I’d lost it.  I didn’t even try with Jeff. 

For the record, 2008 was fabulous.  Plenty of challenges.  Plenty of fun.  Plenty of travel.  Plenty of family and friends.  All in all, a great year.  So here are some pictures of the Advent/Christmas season. 

Hard at work!

Ta-da!

 

Kerri's birthday in Chagrin Falls

 

No shortage on frosting in the PD household!

 

Katie and her Build-A-Bear "Hannah Montana"

 

Funnies

A week ago was Katie’s party and this past week was the beginning of 2nd grade.  Lots to write about and pictures to post, but I had to capture this conversation.  My mom left last night after being with us for all the fun.

Me to Katie:  “I’m going to call Mamaw, do you want to talk to her?”

Katie to me:  “I’m too tired Mom. Mamaw wore me out.  She did baby-sit me for that one day Mom!”

I know that will come as a surprise to my mom and I sure hope she had a couple of good naps today!  Love you Mom!

 

Ahhhh

I think this may be the first day of quiet in way too long!  Jeff is in Atlanta for a D.min. class and Katie is off to day camp.  As we loaded up today to head off she said to me “Mommy, you get to have some quiet today since your chatterbox will be gone.”  It appears that Katie has a very keen sense of herself and her mom! 

 

Schools out… for Summer!

We are settling into the summer routine and loving it!  Afternoons at the pool, cooking out on the GBE, sleeping in – at least a bit.  Life is good! 

I overheard Katie telling one of her friends “last week when I was in first grade…” Yep, she is now a second grader!  How did that happen?  On her last day of school, Jeff and I had a great time shepherding her class through field day.  What a hoot!  Here are some pictures… enjoy!

Katie and her best buddies

The height difference between Katie & M. made this a tough one!

But they had fun!

Katie and her teacher – she is wonderful!

And a toast at the bus-stop with S. to celebrate!

 

 

Paddling… finally!

After our move to Ohio and the reality of Katie’s long legs (e.g. she’ll no longer fit in the hatch of Jeff’s boat!) we purchased a tandem kayak so we could get back on the water. Saturday was the perfect day!  We went to LaDue Reservoir (about 35 minutes away) and enjoyed a great afternoon of paddling.  This was Katie’s first time with a paddle and she did a darn good job!  She also did some fishing with her pink Barbie fishing pole with a lovely pink worm attached.  Of course.

Here are some pictures from the day. 

Katie and Jeff take off!

  

Kerri and Katie

 

A family of Canada Geese

 

Any luck Katie?

 

Fishing makes Katie hungry!

 

and paddling makes her tired!

 

 

 

Girl’s Night at the Movies

I’m not sure where Katie came up with the idea but she has been planning tonight’s event all week long.  We ventured to the neighborhood movie store and picked out two movies: Jump In! and 27 Dresses.  You can guess which one I picked!  Of course, I was pretty sure it said it was rated G but that could be related to the fact I didn’t have my glasses with me and couldn’t quite read the fine print.  Oops!  Jeff was allowed to pick out a movie too but was clearly informed that he would not be allowed to watch with us.  He picked out Simpsons:  The Movie.  Yeah, go figure.

After making some popcorn, pulling out the bed in Mamaw’s room (AKA the guest room) and finding some comfy blankets, Katie and I curled up and giggled for the next couple of hours.  It was hilarious.  Every time there was a kiss on the screen she would cover her eyes – and mine!  At the end, with one final kiss she cried out “puh-lease!”  It was one of those nights I’ll long remember – especially in a few years when she won’t want to be caught dead watching a movie with me!  I am grateful for the gift of this daughter of mine!

Tomorrow is a paddling day and a picnic.  Pictures to follow!

 

Fun in the snow!

 It has been a different sort of winter so far – some very cold days (-5 at the bus stop the other day – Jeff had bus duty!), a bit of snow (including the blizzard-like day in December), warm days (40ish), rain, then more snow…  honestly, I’d rather have the snow! 

Last Friday after school we headed out to the local snow sledding hill in the Cleveland Metroparks and had a great afternoon followed by a hot bowl of soup. 

Enjoy the pictures!

Katie and Jeff head to the hill

Ready, set, go!

Woo hoo!

What fun!

Kerri & Katie had fun, too…

 

Merry Christmas!

Katie at the Pioneer early service with her friend, Erin

We’ve had a wonderful day celebrating the birth of the Christ child… Katie slept until 7:30ish (it helps that she was up until 12:30a!).  Her joy was absolutely contagious and we enjoyed opening gifts, eating muffins, going for a walk, taking a nap! and getting ready to leave for California tomorrow. 

So far we are 0-2 in the “white Christmas” efforts.  Ah well, 70 and sunny in So Cal sures sounds like fun!  In-n-Out Burger here we come!

 

Another Sunny, er… Snowy Day in Cleveland!!!

From Southern California, home for 28 years… 

 

To Atlanta, home for 16 years…

 To CLEVELAND, home for a year now…

And we ask ourselves…

Why do people live in a city where it looks like THIS today when the Browns are playing football?!?!? 

Of course, while there is a blizzard going on outside, it IS very pretty…

So far we’ve gotten about 6 inches of snow today.  It’s blowing pretty hard outside.  We had to postpone the youth group Christmas party that was going to be at our place tonight.  So we’re settling in for the night in front of the fireplace with our hot cocoa and espresso.

Our friends here laugh at us and tell us that the novelty will wear off, but for now we actually like the snow and are having a lot of fun with it.  Of course we’ll see if we have to dig ourselves out in the morning!

 

One Year

One year ago today we were driving north, vehicles packed to the gills, listening to the Ohio State-Michigan game.  Katie slept most of the way in the back of my car.  Jeff and I would call each other occasionally to check in.  Stops for coffee, snacks, bathroom breaks and dinner kept us going.  We slept in our new house that night in sleeping bags and awoke early the next morning to open the door to Erik and crew to unload our stuff. 

 One year. 

 It is good to be settled in a new place.  We still get lost, still discover new  places, and still have plenty of boxes to unpack (surprised?). 

Home… Whittier, Oxnard, Decatur, Smyrna, Suwanee, Solon.  It is good to be home. 

 for the record, yes, we still miss our Atlanta gang…