Granny and Granddad - 63 years of marriage

Tonight we joined the Gs and toasted them and their 63 years of marriage.  They customarily escape to Kansas City to celebrate, but lucky for us ... they stayed home this year.  We hung out with them and acted goofy.

Congratulations, Granny and Granddad.

We love you.

Merry Market Wrap Up Party

Last night we hosted the Merry Market Wrap Up Party.   You might remember that last Fall Helen served as the honorary chair of this fundraiser for the Junior League of Topeka.  Well, the fundraiser was a mega success and so last night ... we celebrated the efforts of these amazing women.  They even let the guys join in.

Congratulations, Ladies.

Speaking of old ....

Speaking of old ... and at the risk of totally boring both of my blog followers ... take a look at our 40" wide GE Hotpoint Range.  It's about our age ... circa 1950s.  Even so, it's pretty snazzy.  It features a SUPER-MATIC POWER SAVER 2-4-8 burner.  (No kidding.)  It also has double side-by-side ovens and buttons we've never used.  The clock and timer still work perfectly.

We like old things.  We've had this baby for decades.  Last night we figured out how to use the self-cleaning feature.  Wow!  It really works.  It looks almost new.  Helen is sooooooo happy.

As it ends up, vintage stoves are quite the rage.  People collect and restore them.  There are web sites. There are You Tube videos.  Some sell for thousands of dollars!  Yep, we need to treat this old friend with more respect ... just as we should all old friends.

PS.  I know, I know ... I need to get a life.

Almost 60

Yep, my birthday last week put me a mere 1 year away from 60.  Yikes!  Nancy and Heidi made a yummy birthday dinner ...

and the Gs provided a really fun football birthday cake ...

just like they did 50 years ago in January 1961.

By the way, 1961 was a really cool year as it was the upside down year.

Oma's 82nd Birthday

Wednesday was Oma's 82nd birthday.  Samantha made it special by calling Oma to wish her a Happy Birthday.

Jonas, Helen and I were there ....

to help Oma celebrate.  We ate cookies and ice cream.  Lots of cookies and ice cream.

Happy Birthday Oma.

Anniversary in Florida

Helen and I just returned from Bradenton Beach, Florida where we spent 8 lovely days together celebrating our 34th wedding anniversary.

Our goal was to do nothing.  OK, so we rode bikes ...

ate interesting food in interesting places ... 

and watched beautiful sunsets ...

but otherwise, we easily accomplished our goal.  It was our 4th trip to Anna Maria Island and a perfect place to celebrate our anniversary.  

Lucky for us, Samantha and Jake joined us for the last 4 days.  It was great!  We taught them how to bike ...

and loaf ...

and watch sunsets ...

like old people.  We are very pleased they were willing to join us.  Thank you Jake and Samantha.  It was a blast!

Oh yes ... we even followed a sunset home.

Electric Razor

Recently I ran out of razor blades. Normally, I would merely buy replacement blades and be done.  However, as I was scanning the options my eyes fell upon this ....

an electric razor.  No, not an electric shaver but an electric razor.  A Gillette Fusion Power MVP Razor.  You actually put a battery in this puppy!


I smirked and scoffed immediately dismissing it as totally ridiculous.  Then, as I thought about it, hmmmm ... it does has Fusion Power.  It also has an on/off switch. It even has 5 blades plus a sideburns trimmer.  "Soothing micropulses.  You'll barely feel the blades."  Pretty cool.

The fact is ... I like it.  How embarrassing!

New Year's Eve at Freemans'

Glenn and Mary hosted a wonderful New Year's Eve Feast.  Dan, Susan, John and Suzanne also joined us but left before I could get a group photo. Here are our hosts with a few of their 152 Nutcrackers.

Happy 2011

Christmas Holiday 2010

The Christmas Holiday was a blast!

As they say, the Christmas Holiday is a time for family and friends. Lucky for us ... we had lots of both this year.  Christmas Eve brought loved ones from near and far.  Samantha and Jake were here from Colorado and Andy and Donna from Missouri.  Jonas experienced his first USA Christmas with help from the Gs, Jorge and Carolyn.

We stayed up late, played games and wrapped presents.  Late that night we toasted the Newlyweds and the 1 year anniversary of Jake's proposal.

On Christmas Day, 15 of us gathered at the Gs' for food, family and fun.

The gift exchange took hours and Dad laughed so hard that one of his teeth fell out ... no kidding.  We took some goofy photos like this one I've captioned 

Bright Men with Brighter Hats.

We took "normal" photos as well like the traditional cousin tree shot:

The first one, taken in 1984, included Helen:

We took photos of lots of other fun people too:

In the early evening we visited Oma at her house where we exchanged gifts and reverted back to goofy photos like this one I've named

Presenting Oma.

Later, we retreated to Greenwood where the 5 of us shared a casual meal, some creative gifts ...

and lots of love.

I'm tellin' ya ... the Christmas Holiday was a blast!

Grandpa George turns 90

Helen and I were invited to join Samantha and Jake in Utah from December 19th through 22nd to celebrate Grandpa George's 90th birthday.  We also got to meet more of Jake's family.  The entire trip was fantastic.  I took tons of pictures ... waaaaaay too many to post here.  It is impossible to recite all of our wonderful experiences.  But, let there be no doubt, Utah hospitality is second to none. 

The day before the birthday party we had a fantastic dinner with Robert and Tracy at The Roof ....

where we also enjoyed the beautiful Christmas lights at Temple Square and a breathtaking view of the Temple.

We got to see Jake's childhood home, his junior high school (and the long hike up the hill toward home), his high school (Bountiful High School ... the home of the Braves), and the University of Utah where Jake got his undergraduate and graduate degrees.  It was a blast.

Robert's educational and entertaining driving tour of the City filled us with a wealth of fascinating and historical facts about Salt Lake.  It was interesting and fun.

Grandpa George's 90th birthday party was legendary.  Here Robert lights 90 birthday candles with a blow torch as Grandpa George looks on.

Here is a glimpse of the yummy birthday dinner (at an interesting African restaurant) that we were privileged to attend:

We will be forever grateful for the warmth and hospitality we received.  

Happy 90th Birthday Grandpa George.