Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from Kevin & me. We have had a lovely couple of days. Christmas morning we got up for Mass...Kevin was playing with a brass group. The kids were waiting for us when we got home & brunch was ready. Jami once again out did herself. It was yummy & beautiful. After brunch we opened our stockings & gifts. This year our clan decided to draw names & make gifts for each other. Everyone was very creative with their ideas. I surprised Kev with an Xbox so he & the kids played games all day. What a hoot.

Yesterday, Jami, Kevin & I packed & moved her belongings to the garage getting ready for her big move. We'll drive her to Charlotte on Thursday. She's very excited as she'll start classes early. They let her know recently that she can take some of her classes on line. Yeah! Keep her in your thoughts & prayers with her new venture.

I'm also moving my sewing things into our room. Jenna & Keith are planning on moving in here at the end of January. They'll take over Jami's room & my sewing room. Hopefully they'll be able to save money for a house someday soon. And we're excited to be able to watch Jenna's belly grow.

PopPop & GiGi

I think we decided on the names we want the new baby to call us. We've been practicing on the granddogs. Though we know that in the end he or she will be the "boss of us". In the mean time we're enjoying hearing how Jenna feels & reading Keith & Jenna's blog updates.

Jami, Jenna, Sara & I met for a pedicure on Monday evening. It's a new splurge for us & boy did we all need it this time. Maybe Chrissy can join us next time. We picked Kev up afterward & all went to the new restaurant in Hilliard. It was nice to finish the evening off with good food & laughter. Like I said, it was much needed this week.

Little one on the way...

Keith & Jenna came to our house on Friday night for dinner with the sibs. Jami planned it all out to surprise all of us. She started by telling us that Jason & Chrissy were coming over for a visit. We thought that would be great by itself. Then Jenna was added to the party on the announcement that it was KiKi's birthday so we'd celebrate. Keith came with her & Jami said she didn't know he was coming when she really did. After dinner, the announcement was made to much screaming & crying for joy. We are all very excited. Especially this special man of mine that has told me since I first met him that he couldn't wait for grandchildren. It's finally coming!

Scarlet's head scratch

Most evenings Kevin wraps Miss Scarlet up in a towel & scratches her head. my job is to feed her. Tonight, she decided she wanted to cuddle with me. I flipped her on her back & scratched away. She almost fell asleep like this. We thought it was hysterical. Maybe she thinks she's like one of the dogs???

Our Day with "the boys"

Fr. Rod asked Jami, Kevin & I to come over Monday evening to help with the Alpaca health stuff. He didn't want to give them their shots but he & I had been given instructions earlier. Off we went to the pasture. We were joined by Sr. Pat. Kevin & Jami each held Specs & Nibs while Fr. Rod & I administered their shots & worming paste. Yummy! I told Rod that he was like a nervous parent so next time I was going to ground him to his car until I was done. All went well & the boys have forgiven me. Jami & Kevin were pros!!!

Kevin's 50th

My dear husband has caught up to me once again. He turned 50 on October 7th. The kids & I celebrated with him at Cameron's that evening. It was great fun. Great food & wonderful company.

The photo is one I took in Ireland. Isn't he handsome???

Kevin's B-day getaway

On Friday, October 3rd, we left Columbus & flew to Savannah, GA then drove to Beaufort, SC for a birthday celebration weekend. We stayed at a lovely B&B named The Cuthbert House on Bay Street. The weekend was fabulous. Tom & Kris met us down there & we had another lovely couples weekend.

The community was having their Shrimp festival so there were lots of folks milling around. We went on a carriage ride with a huge Belgian draught named Cisco Kid. He was gorgeous...19 hands & 2500 lbs (I think our guide said). Anyway, after the ride, we all decided ice cream & a walk through the village would be good to look again at the fine old home.

Here are a few photos...Happy Birthday my love!

Our Day with the Alpacas

We took a drive up to an Alpaca farm today. It turns out that it's 5 minutes away from Jason & Chrissy's place. We asked a lot of questions, including about spinning the yarn, and had great fun petting the babes. Fr. Rod owns the half sibling to the gray multi-colored female. The little one, Alana, that hasn't been shorn yet is going to a show in November.

We had great fun!!!

IKE plus hits Columbus, OH

After a nice visit from Jason, Chrissy & Grandma Dodok on Sunday afternoon the wind started picking up. The winds from IKE and a system coming out of Chicago combined to form a storm. We only got the wind, places north of us also got the rain. We had gusts up to 70 mph. I know it's not nearly what those in Texas went through but it sure scared us. We busied ourselves battening down the hatches...taking down our patio sunscreen, stacking chairs that were blowing around, moving plants inside quickly.

Quit of few roofs in our neighborhood will have to be replaced as most now have shingles missing...including ours. There are several trees down just on our block. I took some pictures before Kevin fussed for me to get inside.

We were without power for 48 hours almost exactly...375,000 were without power in Columbus area...still 175,000 today. AEP had sent a large group of it's people to Texas to help there. Now crews from other states are coming here to help. They say the power might be fully restored by Sunday. We didn't have phone or internet either. Kevin & Jami went to work but my office had no service, phone or internet, so I came back home both days. I went out to get ice for the fridge & to charge my phone in the car...also to get COFFEE! I laughed because the lines were out to the street in both the car lane & store inside.

Jami cooked fabulous meals on the grill. We had some camping equipment so our inconvenience was kept to a minimum. We read books by candlelight & went to bed early both nights. Nothing in the freezer went bad but had it gone one more day, we would have lost it all. We send our thoughts & prayers & a bit of cash to those that have gone through worse. This kind of thing makes you count your blessings & realize just how good you have it. My heart goes out to the families that have been challenged by nature over the last few years.

Miss Scarlet

This new member of our family has just lightened our lives in the year she has been with us. She's taking a much needed bath in these photo. Kevin made Scarlet a shower perch & occasionally she takes a shower with one of us...she prefers the bath though.

She has several phrases that she's picked up from both of us. She also loves her evening cuddle from Kevin. The vet said she could tell that we cuddle with her. Kevin wraps Scarlet in a towel & scratches her head...so when the vet wrapped her to do her maintenance, Dr. Crafton said she could hear Scarlet's heart beat slow as it calmed her.

Wedding photos

Wedding pictures can be seen & purchased at:

http://weddings.bellapictures.com/gallery/do/wed/home?wid=200801-329252

I want to go back!

Here a few more pics from our trip. As you can see, I'm so enthralled with the countryside. We drove the coast road several times. Two of the photos show a storm coming in off the Atlantic & two show just how close we were driving on the EDGE of the country.

Jami & I took the walk we had followed on horse back the day before. We saw an even more beautiful view from the top of the mountain looking down to the shoreline. When we got to the top, we remembered the mud pit that the horses had struggled through...oops. We somehow made it with just a bit on our pant legs but I need a pedicure to dig out the black Irish mud from under my toenails. My sandals had to be left behind...didn't come out of it so good.

Our trip to Galway was fantastic. The city is geared to foot traffic in the shopping area & is so lovely. It surrounds a couple of beautiful parks. There we found some street musicians setting up & had to stop for the entertainment. They were great!!!

The road crews are constantly repairing the roads in Ireland...either stabilizing the chips on the path or cutting the vegetation that is crawling up the stone walls along the edge of the road & reaching out into the road. The photo with the dump truck & the cow is funny. We were driving out of our street & the cow had somehow gotten out of her pasture. She was trying to get back as the road crew was continuing their work. Of course I had to jump out & snap the shot.

More from Ireland

It's been crazy catching up at work...the beginning of the school year. I knew when we scheduled our vacation during this time that I'd be stressed out this week but it was so worth it.

Here are a few more pictures from our time in the beautiful country of Ireland. The Heather in the fields, the rows of fuchsia bushes...EVERYWHERE!, the views from our cottage. I never wanted to leave. It was such a relaxing place to be.

Our neighbors

One of my favorite houses. We walked past it on the walks we took.

Our trip to Ireland

One week after Keith & Jenna's wonderful wedding, the 7 of us ventured across the pond to Doolin, Ireland. I can only say that Ireland was more than I could have imagined. Doolin is in the western side of Ireland in The Burren. Even though the first few days were very foggy & rainy, the countryside was sooo beautiful...so picturesque...so full of color & history. To describe it wouldn't do it justice but I'll try. The rolling hills were covered with a patchwork of green pastures each surrounded by stone walls of different shapes & sizes. We all expected to see some walls of stone but just not EVERY WHERE!!! The hillsides were dotted with darling cottages & ruins. The Cliffs of Moher & the Aran Islands could be seen from our front porch. Each cliché that you hear or postcard picture that you see is no exaggeration...it was happening right outside our lovely cottage. We even jumped up from our breakfast table one morning to watch the local farmer's wife close our driveway gate so she could move her cows down the rode to a neighboring pasture.

We stayed mostly in County Clare, venturing out to visit the different sites in the area. Jason, Chrissy, Jami, Keith & Jenna went to the different pubs in town several times during our two week stay. We took a 2 hour horseback ride through the hills of The Burren one afternoon...we were all sore the next few days. Kevin, Jason & Keith all had fun learning to drive on the wrong side of the road, drive on the tiny single lane roads as well as to navigate around the local villages that don't use addresses. I decided the back seat side window was the best place to view the countryside...not looking at oncoming traffic.

All in all, it was a lovely vacation. Kevin & I will go back again someday. We'll do the same thing we did this time, stay in one place & visit the local attractions.

This is new to us...

Kevin & I are planning to use this blog to keep you all informed. We'll learn as we go.