Hurray!!

After 10 hard-working years



our good friends the Eritreans became US citizens.
(above: Hiab, Kifle, Senai, Wunesh)

We celebrated their enormous patience and perseverance
at a gala dinner chez Page.

Storytelling-Our 20th Year!


We met in Vermont for the weekend, told stories, and gathered in our finery for an elegant Victorian evening on Saturday night:



In come the "guests"--Jay and Susan,




Susan and Lyn ,




Katie and Gerry,




and Toby, amused by it all, in his old high school tux.




Then a romantic,




candle-lit dinner




followed by our usual




antics



and play acting.




Dancing until midnight (well, perhaps 10pm).




A fabulous evening--and weekend!

A few more photos from the Page/Bethel visit...




Simon helping David make a tasty Christmas dinner.




Toby and Gwen discussing matters of importance.



And, finally, the send-off photo at the airport. So sad to see them go. We LOVED the visit!

A Day in North Conway




A few days before Rachel and David and kids went back to Panama, we took a ride on the Conway train (the same train that Emmy took lots of grandchildren on perhaps 30 years ago). This is just a 55 minute ride and it was exciting to see the big locomotive and climb aboard (Max would love it).




Here we are, all smiles, at the beginning of the trip. Gradually, without any great views to hold the attention or much, actually, to do, all the little kids in our car got very restless, jumpy and noisy, and 55 minutes started to seem like an eternity. Toby was able to doze off.




Afterwards we stopped at McDonald's and ate in the kids' room where the twisty, turny slide was. Gwen was intrigued...




She climbed by herself up almost to the top, pretty high, but then couldn't quite get down. It did look daunting, so Rachel climbed up and went down the slide with her.




Then Toby went up and showed her how to go down the slide.




We waited at the bottom of both slides for her to appear.




Finally a very happy Gwen came down the slide herself. And went on to do it again and again and again. McDonald's was the hit that day.

Simy Surges

Simon charged through a lot of things on his list during the week he was in Chocorua.



He already had decided that no one should feed him but himself.




After the first few days of cutting two teeth and feeling lousy, that winning smile emerged.




Then he started crawling on BOTH knees, a real crawl, plus sitting up quite sturdily, then standing and then even taking a few very tentative and wobbly steps hanging on to Taisie. It was breath-taking!




He was very interested in the green lady, in from the summer garden,




and he never did make it through the baby/dog barrier successfully--he's about to be grabbed back in this photo.




We were amazed at so many achievements in so short a time. Then we heard that as soon as he got to his other grandparents in Tulsa, he learned to clap!

More Snow




Two snowfalls this week




giving Simy his first touchdown in the cold stuff.




and Gwen her first chance to build a snowman




with Rachel and David's help.




The orange plastic sled was great for a hike to Heron Pond




and super great for rides downhill.