Thankful

Hazen's Thankful List:

-Jesus

-God

-My little, cute house

- My grandmother, bumpa, Nana, and Grandpa

- Maggie, when she was alive

- the wild and all of the wild animals and the endangered animals

- the trees that are helping us breath

- my kitty, my doggie, and my chickens

- the mice that Lobby kills

- my friends

- my family

-all the animals that are getting eaten

- all the love that you give me, it's like awesome

 Cally's Thankful List:
- school
- family
- money
- endangered animals
- all the screens we sometimes get to use
- my teacher
- trees and nature
- snow
- mountains for skiing and hiking
- my friends
- Vermont
- my brother
- all the love you give me, it is great
- my dog, my kitty, and my chickens (who are not laying eggs currently)

 John's Thankful List
- Donald Trump (because he'll sink the Republican Party, single handed)
- the health of our parents and our family
- Bernie's run for president
- the fact that the house is almost done (the siding)
- the fact that I'm healthy going into a ski season

Katy's Thankful List:
- Hazen's snuggles
- Cally's hugs
- John's kisses
- Zephy and Lobby's nudges
- My parents and the love and support they give me
- My friends from near and far who make me feel loved and appreciated
- My job, which gives me a sense of satisfaction and keeps me intellectually on the ball
- My body which allows me to continue running, skiing, biking, hiking, and swimming

This year, we celebrated Thanksgiving at the Plimpton-Harris house with four other families.  We started the afternoon with an awesome game of touch football, ate amazing food, played telestrations, and generally had a great evening.

The day after Thanksgiving, we headed down to CT to see the grandparents and hit my 25th High School Reunion.  Nana and Grandpa served us up some great leftovers at their house.

Bumpa and Grandma made us a great salmon dinner and then babysat the kids so John and I could go to my reunion.

I was hesitant about going to my reunion.  I see the friends that I want to see when I'm visiting my parents and wondered if it would really be all that much fun.  It absolutely was.  John was an incredible date.  He made more friends (which Cally says he already has a thousand), but we both had a great time connecting with my old friends.

50!

You only turn 50, once!  And I was thrilled to get to help plan this guys big birthday!  He's very easy to please, so it wasn't hard to come up with a plan that would make him happy.

We chose to have the gathering at High Meadow-- such a special place for so many reasons.  It was a perfect night (maybe a little cold) and 70+ friends showed up to wish him well.

I think he was up until 2:30am, sitting around the fire with old friends.

Friends came from near and far to celebrate all that John is-- gregarious, thoughtful, smart, funny, and wonderful.  I can't believe I've been lucky enough to share 9 of his trips around the sun with him. A lot has happened in those years, but like a fine wine, he's getting better with age.

Art & Peg's 50th

Lynn and John threw a wonderful 50th Anniversary party for their parents over the weekend.  It was a lovely brunch with delicious food and fun with the whole family.

John and Marc- half brothers

       

The guests of honor

cousin Chris reading to the kids

Catherine and Chris

        

Hazey and Ashlynn taking a selfy

Art and Peg have always amazed me with their love for each other.  They are so devoted and tight as a couple.  In the nine years that I've known them, they've never seemed even slightly annoyed or short with the other.  I can only hope John and I will have such a strong relationship after 50 years!

Halloween Fun

Introducing Ladybug Princess and Monkey Boy.  These were the original costumes chosen for Halloween 2015.  However, there were some game day changes as the week of Halloween progressed.  

At the Jericho Elementary School Halloween dance, the kids even got faces painted:

The next day, Hazey went as an astronaut and Cal stayed with the Ladybug Princess:

Then there was the arrival of about 6 new costumes from Aunt Paula:

 Halloween wouldn't be complete without pumpkin carving.  John took it to a whole new level this year:

And we couldn't miss the pumpkin glow on Ciley Hill Road:

Halloween day was busy with a lunch party at the Feiss' house:

Followed by a UVM Soccer game:

Pre-Halloween dinner at the First's house:

And Trick-or-treating in Richmond.  This time Hazey was a monkey in an astronaut suit, but Cal kept with her original costume:

Halloween is so fun with these two in the house.  They love it and they make me like it just a little more than I usually do.  You see, I haven't sorted out how to deal with the gluttony of it all.  The excessive amounts of candy drive me crazy.  However, this year, Hazey's friend Levi introduced a new concept.  Levi gives all his candy to his parents and gets to pick out a toy instead.  When I asked if these guys wanted to do that, they jumped at the option

So the day after Halloween, we hit the Jericho Toy Store and they each picked out a $10 toy.  And I gave all the candy to my students as prizes for the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, John and I managed to get out for our own adult Halloween party.  I always sort of dread costume parties because I never seem to have a very good costume.  This year, our friends Cath and Ty gave us an old couples costume they had used-- Cop outfits.  John refused to even look at the costume until 15 minutes before we went out of the door.  He was insistent that he couldn't wear the costume because of the obscenity of the shorts (on him).