Happy New Year!

Hi Everyone! Oh, it's been so long. Sorry! The holidays snuck up on me and there was so much to do and so many photos to upload, I just kept putting it off, and now here I am heading into February already. Our Christmas was actually pretty terrific. All of our neihgbors came by bearing gifts and cookies. No one hestitated to come in and chat for an hour or more and share some hot cocoa. Our next door neighbors, The Butters', held the annual neighborhood party and everyone on the entire street was there. What a great time we had! A lovely group of people who have lived here for at least 20 years, and who have welcomed us as though we've been here just as long. Santa visited. I read the last 3 Harry Potter books in 4 DAYS! Wow! What an incredible story. We rang in the New Year with The Sound of Music and our traditional Crab Cioppino. Ken passed all of this Security exams, including the 6 HOUR Series 7, with an 89%! He finished up 2 months in advance and is ready to hit the ground running at the end of February. School is going well. I am baking cookies weekly for the Ronald mcDonald House at Duke Hospital. Well, that's all I can think of right now. OH! And it SNOWED!!! The first time the kids have ever seen snow! Pure MAGICK (with a *K*)!!! Winter here is VERY mild. VERY VERY mild. Now I know why so many *Yankees* move here and love it. The trees are bare so it is a lot brighter in my house without the shade of the leaves. It's crisp and cool, with the occassional icy windshield in the morning, but nothing unbearable whatsoever. We've had quite a few 70 degree days thrown in, and when it is cold, it doesn't feel nearly as cold as it did in California with the same temperatures. I can't quite figure it out, except to say that maybe it's a *dry* cold? Be well and come back soon. I'll be sure to post more regularly. LOTS of photos below.....

A little bit of everything

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We had a quiet but lovely day and hope the same was true for all of you. Our neighbors came over to share our antipast and then we went there to share pie. Dan was dressed in his pre-school Indian costume. I went with an ox blood red table cloth this year...quite a departure for me, but I loved the change. The leaves are changing here and it is the most MAGNIFICENT show of red orange and gold. A bit of a job raking, but well worth it. The picture of the leaves is the main road near us that we take to school each morning. Also included are Ken and the kids from the Raleigh Christmas Parade last weekend. Now - on to Christmas! Time to clean up and pull out the decorations today. The kids are, of course, really excited.

Happy Halloween!

St. Jude

Most Holy Apostle, St. Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the name of the traitor who delivered your beloved Master into the hands of his enemies has caused you to be forgotten by many, but the Church honors and invokes you universally, as the Patron Saint of hopeless causes, of things almost despaired of. Make use, I implore you, of that particular privilege given to you, to bring visible and speedy help where help is almost despaired of. Come to my assistance in this great need that I may recieve the consolation and help of heaven in all my necessities, tribulation and sufferings, particularly 4 plane tickets back to California, and that I may praise God with you and all the elect forever. I promise o blessed St. Jude to be ever mindful of this great favor, to always honor you as my special and powerful patron, and to gratefully encourage devotion to you. St. Jude pray for us and hear our prayers. Amen

The kids' birthdays are within 2 weeks of each other, so every year, we have a big "joint" birthday bash to celebrate them together. This year, we had a bit of a dilemna because we didn't know anyone and so who to invite? We've been attending the Durham Bulls baseball games since we arrived and thus decided on a "Baseball" birthday this year. They had a really great birthday "package" with hot dogs, drinks, ice cream, hats, autographed balls and fireworks at the end of the game. The kids requested that our neighbors, the Butters Family come along, and we all had a wonderful time.