Christmas 2015, Part 1 of 3...

Well, we started our Christmas season with the Michael W. Smith concert in Cincinnati and that gave us one day to rest up and then we would be off to Brooklyn to spend time with D,D,Q,H & V.  Really looking forward to it.  Not only do we get to celebrate Christmas with them, we get to see Quinn's school's Christmas show and we get to celebrate Doug's birthday.


Normally when we drive to Brooklyn, we stop in PA and spend the night in Bethlehem.  Boy what a fitting place to spend the night.  So, we arrived on Friday.  And before I get into telling about the weekend, let me first say that the State of NY gets a boatload of "attaboys" for getting the highway completed through Staten Island. Boy does that make a huge difference.

The choir show was pretty good.  Lots of parents and little kids in the audience. The school doesn't have an auditorium so they use their church for things like this.  It was decorated nicely and added lots of atmosphere to the Christmas songs and stories.

What better way to spend a Christmas than with your grand kids.  Quinn showed us their Advent calendar and told us what it signified.  He and Heath also showed us their tree and the ornaments they made for it. I think Vivian wanted to tell us about her role in all of this, but she was having too much fun flashing that big smile of hers and those bright eyes.  That was pretty much all she had to do while we were there to get our attention.  And it worked every time.

It was really fun watching the youngsters opening their presents.  Things haven't really changed a lot from the times of my childhood.  Paper goes flying every which way, and mom and dad have to keep track of things for them so nothing gets lost or put in the trash bag by mistake.  And no phrase is more important to note prior to even wrapping the gifts is -- "batteries not included."  The best way to shut down the moment is not having batteries for something.  (It also helps to have the correct size, Grandpa!)

Some of the gifts came without batteries being required.  Grandma got both of the boys puppets.  She has been a ventriloquist for many years and showed them some of her puppets when they were here this past summer.  They both really liked them, so Grandma got them each one.  Quinn got a lion, Heath a turtle.  These only require some imagination to make them work and Quinn jumped right on that idea.  He was having lots of fun with his.

The weather was really nice while we were there.  Really unusual for Christmas time.  We were able to take some walks and we took Heath up to the church courtyard to play some hide and seek. He took his glider and we had a good time outdoors too.

And did I mention that Miss Vivian was the hit of the show when she broke out that smile ?  I would often wonder what the kids were thinking when they would stare at the tree, or the decorations or just smile at us.  I know for certain that when I was there age, there was nothing going on between these ears, and I probably wouldn't have to work too hard to come up with an unlimited list of those who would attest to that fact.  But when I look at these little ones, I know that they are WAY beyond that, way into deeper things that I ever imagined at their age.  Good for them.  Keep going.

One night, we went out to look at the Christmas decorations.  Doug took us to a place to see lights that put Clark Griswold to shame. They were unbelievable.  I noticed TV news trucks there and sure enough, there wea a segment on the NBC nightly news a couple of days later about these lights.

 Of course, a celebration of any kind wouldn't be complete without some silliness.  We played a game of 20 questions one afternoon and these pictures came out of that.  Lots of fun.

What a great time we had.  We left on Monday and set out for Carlisle for the evening.  This normally 3-hour drive took 5.  The next morning we finished the trip home.  Again, this was a long day of driving in the rain and heavy fog, accidents, and sitting in traffic.  This leg is normally 6 hours depending on stops and traffic.  However, this time it took about 9 hours.  Oh well, it was worth it.  D,D,Q,H and V were going to spend their first Christmas at home and then they were off to NC to spend time with Danika's parents and some of the rest of the family.  I hope their trip is smoother than our drive.  The I-95 corridor can be a real bear normally, let alone during a holiday. 

May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through!  

Hooah

Christmas 2015, Part 2 of 3...

On Christmas day, we all headed up to Paulding to Luke and Linda's house to have a celebration with them, Walt and Carol, Jessica, Meredith, Brian, Logan and Megan.  We haven't been up that-a-way for a while so it was good to be at their house.  They have do quite a bit to it in terms of redecorating and it really looks nice.

 Meredith spent a good part of the day explaining various aspects of smart phones, downloading some different aps, and putting together a hilarious video on something called "jib-jab."  Somehow this got posted to Facebook.  It really was a hoot.

Luke and Linda have a dog named "Buddy."  It is a spaniel and really good-natured.  So, when we were opening presents, Buddy had to see if anyone needed any help.

I think it's a dog thing.  Our Bailey used to get her nose into the wrapping paper and give the recipient lots of help (wanted or unwanted) as the gift was unwrapped. 

As with all pets that are easily mistaken as part of the family, Buddy had his own present that was his to open any way he could.  Adult humans usually try to pick up after themselves when they unwrap a gift.  Dogs -- not so much.

 

And then, what would Christmas be without a family picture.  Over the years I have been in charge of doing this and have gotten quite good at setting the timer and running around to be in the shot just before the timer delivers that final beep.  Pretty good looking group.


This was a fun time.  We all agreed that we don't do this often enough -- not the gift giving, but just getting together.  We said we were going to try to do better this coming year. Perhaps that is the best gift we could take away from this gathering.

"How could it be so? It came without ribbons!... it came without tags!... it came without packages, boxes, or bags!" (Dr. Seuss)

Hooah

Christmas 2015, Part 3 of 3...

On Saturday evening, we sent up to Lima to spend the evening at Chuck and Mary's house.  All of their kids and grand kids were there.  Busy place.

It seems that Mary had asked Chuck to play his sax for everyone.  He used to play in high school and was a member of a jazz group at the school.  Mary said this was one of the things on her wish list, so Chuck got out the music stand (which he said had not been put up for 30 years or so) and his sax and got an accompaniment disc that he could play thru his TV and entertained all in attendance.  The kids were amazed and the adults were impressed.  Good job, Chuck.

 

Oh, yeah, one other thing...we were also impressed that Chuck didn't need oxygen after holding one of those notes for a while.

Later on, the younger ones were playing a game that ultimately ends up with someone getting pie (or in our case, whipped cream)  in the face.  It looked like fun, so I violated one of my cardinal rules and volunteered to try it.  I spun the wheel and got a "5" and began turning the crank/release mechanism.  As it got to the fifth click, I had not been hit by the quickly melting cream.  I counted myself lucky and prepared to get up from the chair.  Notice the smile on my face.  Well, hold that thought...

because that short bit of luck was quickly erased as I was shamed into another try.  Luckily, the wheel came up with a "2" and I figured I would escape again.  WRONG-O!! After looking at these pictures, I have no idea how that whipped cream missed a nose that big, but I sure was glad it did.

Fun night.  Kinda glad that part of the joy of Christmas is celebrating with children, regardless of how big or old they are.

He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.  (Anon.)

Hooah

Christmas concert in Cincinnati with Michael W. Smith...

Pam and I were talking one evening about doing something special this year for Christmas.  We thought a concert might be a fun thing to do to spark the seasonal spirits, so we looked on line for something in the area (or at least in Ohio).  Well, we looked and saw a couple of them, but kinda dropped it and thought we would get back to looking on some other day.

And then we were watching TV one evening and the CMA Christmas program was on and we really enjoyed it.  Great music and songs by country artists, singing songs about the season which brought back some old memories of Christmases in the past.  I also liked it because there were no political agendas or any of that garbage, and they called it "Christmas time" and NOT "holiday time."

So, somewhere during the show, Michael W. Smith and Martina McBride sang a very nice Christmas song.  Pam and I decided that we always liked Michael W. Smith's music so we would look up any of his concerts in the area.  As luck would have it, he had a concert in Cincinnati coming up and there just happened to be two really great seats available.  We got them and planned our trip.  Neither of us had ever been to the Cincinnati Music Hall, so this was going to be a first.  We were excited.

This is the Cincinnati Music Hall.  It was a huge building.  Really Grand.

I took a couple of pix, including this "selfie" while we were waiting for the doors to open.

  

 The orchestra area was all decorated in a Christmas theme.  It is a very nice place.  Our seats were in the second orchestra section, center-stage, row 16.  There was a break in front of our seating row so we were able to stretch out, and didn't have anyone sitting in front of us for about ten feet.  Really good seats.  Don't know how they were available all that time, but we sure enjoyed them.

This makes the third concert of Michael W. Smith's that we have gone to see...Columbus, Ohio; St. Louis,MO; and Cincinnati, OH.  Does that make us "groupies?"

Pam and I used to go to a lot of concerts together when we were first married (Chicago, Three Dog Night, Diana Ross and the Supremes, The Four Tops, The Beach Boys, etc., etc.).  Since then our tastes have changed, and although we still really like those older groups, I/we have settled into music like this concert and TV show where we can understand the words (without my hearing aids) and don't have to worry about any more hearing loss.

What a great evening.  We thought about staying the evening in Cincinnati, but we were planning to leave for NY to see the "kids" in two days and still had some Christmas shopping to do.  

My favorites of the evening ??  His songs, "Heroes" and  "All is Well" were far and away my two "I-would-have-been-disappointed-if-they-weren't-performed" songs.  Both of these hold very special, personal memories for me.  Needless to say, I was not disappointed.  What a great way to kick off the season.

May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through! (Author Unknown)

Hooah