Christmas 2013

 We enjoyed a quiet Christmas eve fondue for two.  Our sons were having Christmas with their wives families so we made the best of it.  A cozy and blessed Christmas knowing our families were all well.

 

 Breakfast was a rich cherry and cream cheese stuffed French toast; similar to a breakfast we were served this past summer at the White Gull Inn in Door county, Wisconsin. 

 

In the mid-morning we noticed beautiful swans on the river behind our home.  I managed to capture this picture using a zoom lens.  Our Christmas swan.

 

The weekend following Christmas the sons, daughter-in-laws and 13 grandchildren joined us for some food, fun and chaos.

 

We tried to maintain/establish a tradition of the children acting out the Christmas story. This year I had some costumes and, happily, we had a real live baby to play the most important role!

 

I choose to think all our grandchildren are perfect angels.

(well, they are, aren't they?)

 

Thankful for family Thanksgiving

 We did something different this past Thanksgiving and that was to rent a large rental cabin that was central to our family members; we are presently spread from St. Louis, Missouri to Fargo, ND.  This cabin was in Iowa and one that we found on the internet.  It had 6 bedrooms, lots of room and games, etc. and was perfect for our growing, active family.

 

 Of course, we had the requisite family photo; they are just great at doing it too!  We put the camera on a timer and away we go! Snap, snap snap!  (And it is usually the very first photo that is the best, but I can't stop at one, just in case!)

 

 We are a happy family....  or a a nutty one?

 

 This was the first time for the 13 grandchildren to pose for a picture together since the new grandchild was less then 3 months old and most were just meeting him for the first time!  13 in 2013. 

 

 Looking down at the group from the balcony.

 

 Little brothers.

 

 Mr. Handsome was really studying the toys in front of him.. so fun to see all those stages of development.

 

 Most family gatherings include these cards.... ROOK.

 

Looking at grandma...

 

 Lots of table/chair space for eating and playing games.

 

 Making rubber band bracelots.

 

 Puzzle time.

 

 Controlled wrestling contests.

 

 Berge tricks; the "toothpick" game requires a little balance, some patience and some strength.

 

 The kitchen was nicely laid out and each family took a turn preparing a meal, which is always a fun way to do things.

 

 There were some (few) quiet moments to enjoy the grandeur of the big room and the view.

 

 

Always time for a snuggle.

 

Nothing like being together!

 

We are so thankful for our family. 

The mighty Tetons

 Following our visit to Yellowstone, we traveled south to Jackson, Wyoming.  We arrived in the evening so that we could view and photograph the Tetons in the morning light with the sun shining on them.  We made a good decision to do that - and another good decision was a random one..  we choose a hotel called The Lexington (we recommend it now!) and in the morning at breakfast met a well-known local photographer whose photographs were on display at the hotel.

 I was thrilled to make the acquaintance of this very interesting gentleman, who offered to drive us 10 miles out of town to the area where many photograph the Tetons!

 

 This area has two old barns, known as the "Mormon Barns" and are considered icon barns as they are often in the foreground of photographs of the Tetons.

 

 We had crystal blue skies and a morning moon as well!

 

 Mr Ratliff has been taking pictures since he was 15.  He loves the beauty of the natural surroundings and the wildlife in the area. 

 

I was just thrilled to have had this opportunity to meet him! He was so nice and quite humorous as well.

Here are some more of the many pictures we took of the Tetons and some wildlife as we left the area.

Yellowstone visit

A few more vacation pictures from October.  Following our visit to Alberta, Canada, we drove south to Yellowstone National Park (and to there the Tetons which is the next blog post).  The fall weather was so lovely for traveling (and the crowds quite light) that it was a great time to visit Yellowstone.  As expected, we took a good number of photographs.  Above is one of my favorites; it is a fisherman standing in the water with all the steaming from the undercurrents of this amazing park.  It made me wonder if the water was warm or cold? 

 



Lots of wildlife in Yellowstone.

 



And lots of steam.  Everywhere.  You almost wonder if the place will someday just explode...

 

The bison/buffalo see quite relaxed and not worried about the park exploding...

 



Some of the hot pools of steaming water....

For some reason, this unusual root caught my eye. 

 



And this bison may have felt the warmth from the pavement and decided it was as good a place as any to take his afternoon rest.  Folks just had to drive around him.

 



One of my best memories of visiting Yellowstone was when we came upon a small group of tourists from Beijing, China.  I offered to use their camera so that they could all be in the group picture and then they returned the favor and took a picture of hubby and me together.  But then they motioned that they wanted a picture of them WITH us.  So the one person in the group who spoke English took our picture with the others and, of course, I had to have him take it with our camera as well! 

 



Here we are with our new friends.  Then after we parted, we stopped to view Old Faithful - and so did they, so then it felt like we were old friends!  We watched Old Faithful together and took more group pictures.  It was a nice little episode to an already enjoyable vacation.

 

Ever faithful!  There she goes!

 



Notice the little rainbow from the mist of the eruption. 

It could not have been a better day for site-seeing in Yellowstone!