48 hours in DC

Since we had not yet seen SRC's apartment, we flew to Washington DC for 48 hours for a quick visit. Here is an exterior shot of her apartment building near DuPont Circle:

That night, we walked to the Adams Morgan District for an interesting quasi-dinner at the Ghana Cafe.Unfortunately, JQ had to leave the next day. SRC helped him pack ...

and we all briefly visited the Washington National Cathedral ...before taking JQ to the airport. The next morning we had a lazy breakfast ... before returning home. It was fun.

George buys a car

George saves his money and buys a car from a buddy in Lawrence. Yeah George!

DWC Birthday - Obama Inauguration Day

On the same day, 2 historic events occur. DWC has a small birthday celebration in Topeka ... while some folks celebrate a different historic event with a slightly larger crowd in Washington DC ...
SRC and JQ are there. Do you see them?

SRC attends Barack Concert

SRC attends the historic Barack Concert at the Lincoln Memorial and sends this photo from her iPhone.

Oma the octogenarian

Today ... January 12, 2009, Oma turned 80.Do you think I will ever learn to call her Venerable Mother?

Anniversary trip to Florida

For the 3rd year in a row, we celebrate our New Year's Day wedding anniversary by traveling to Florida for a week of total relaxation on Anna Maria Island. As before, we stay in a little cottage at the Tradewinds Resort surrounded by the Bay on the east and the Gulf of Mexico on the west. Here is a shot from our porch: While there we read books, rode bikes, did yoga on the beach but mostly ...

we did nothing. Our only scheduled event was to witness the spectacular beauty of the daily sunsets. Each one is different and this one even included surfers.
After putting the top down on our rented convertible, we drove to Siesta Key where the quartz beaches are vast and almost blinding white.
It's a great way to start the new year. Happy 2009.
32 and counting.

Christmas - Boxing Day to New Year's Eve

JQ arrives the day after Christmas and just in time for Boxing Day.

He brings with him fun gifts from his mother. While we have never met, I'm convinced she is fun and interesting. SRC invites friends overand the Kansas winter brings us sun, snow and ice. While SRC and JQ leave for DC, we enjoy a quiet New Year's Eve with a few special friends and 139 Nutcrackers.
New Year's Eve ... the Eve of our 32nd Wedding Anniversary.
Happy 2009

Christmas ... Eve and Day

The Christmas Holiday started with us attending Christmas Eve service at Potwin Presbyterian Church. The small robed choir did not look impressive but WOW ... it included 2 professional opera singers! It was beautiful.

Christmas Eve dinner at Oma's house was traditional, tasty and peaceful. Christmas morning was at the G's where Cheryl performed omlette magic while the guys dressed as Santa pimps. A group photo and gift exchange followed: Christmas evening brought family and friends together on Greenwood for Christmas Dinner. Smiles were everywhere.

A group photo was taken ... and special gifts were given.Merry Christmas to you and yours. Wishing you peace and love.

AFS Party ...

For the past 10 years (or so) we have been hosting the AFS Holiday Party where high school students from all over the world tell us about their favorite holiday from their homeland. They also make, and bring, their favorite homeland dessert for everybody to enjoy. Despite the scant turnout this year, it was fun.

While the students helped decorate our little "good-smelling" Christmas tree, HRC provided the finishing touch with her unique, yet effective, garland toss.

Thanksgiving Weekend

The Thanksgiving Weekend was 4 fun days of family and friends from 4 continents. The weekend before, SRC (from Washington, DC) joined JQ (from San Jose, California) in Tempe, Arizona, where she watched him compete in the Arizona Ironman. Here is a shot mid-race: Below you can watch JQ as he finishes the Ironman in his best time ever of 11 hours and 21 minutes:

After the Ironman, they visited Taliesin, The Grand Canyon, friends of JQ's in St. George, Utah, and The Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada, before joining us here. In the meantime, SACII, Cheryl and Melissa came from Missouri. Andy came from Augusta, Georgia, and Donna joined us from Springfield, Missouri. George, who was visiting family in Boston, invited his 2 lawyer friends (Victoria and Silvia) from Paraguay and his 2 German buddies (Steffen and Joerg) to join us for the weekend and experience their first American Thanksgiving.

Oh yes, Heidi came from Kansas City, Joe from Nebraska and Emily from Colorado. Vittoria from Italy stopped by briefly as did Moritz from Germany. We also had Granny & Granddad, Oma, Nancy, Martina, Carolyn, Eddie, Joe, Gus, Alex, Amy, Paul, Mia, Sam and Finn from Topeka. Travis also brought by some buddies but I missed all of their names. One was from Japan, allowing JQ a brief conversational exchange. Here is a group photo of some:

Here are some random other shots:

After the manly hunters captured the food, we had a feast of Thanksgiving:

Games were played. The Pictionary Hall of Fame was established. The pirate golfer and the bathrobe were the first qualifiers.

We also joined John, Katie and Landon ... all from Chicago, Kim ... from Kansas City and approximately 139 Nutcrackers at Glenn and Mary's house.

We also attended the The Junior Potwin Players' performance of A Christmas Carol. I took pictures of parents taking pictures:The upcoming Christmas season inspired us to explore Crow Mountain Farm in search of the perfect Christmas tree. Once found, it was easily captured by the Mighty Lumberjacks ... ... and logged down the muddy road toward home.Once inside, it rebelled by smelling like cat urine.

It is now the perfect outside Christmas tree.

Happy Thanksgiving 2008