Christmas, for Real!

At last, the big day is here.

The day dawned clear and bright, perfect!

I cleaned the house yesterday, which made today more relaxing.  We ate the last of the Christmas cake while opening our stockings.  We had breakfast, got ourselves ready for the day, then we took pictures.  Sounds easy but when you are dealing with an unfamiliar camera and a dog that can't sit still...it took some time.

I started by getting the camera set up and trying the self timer.  The first one turned out quite decently

but this is what I looked like when I realized it was taking TEN pictures before it stopped.

Hmmmmm, something isn't right...

I could never get it to take only ONE shot with the timer but we did get a couple of family pictures that were shareable.  hahaha, our tree is so small it's completely hidden behind Bill and I had to crop the picture so it didn't look like he had a tree growing out of the top of his head.

My favorite

Since it was taking TWO pictures, Titan could only sit still for one and then he was done, so we had a few where Bill and I looked good but Titan was blurry.

This one is just terrible AND Titan is blurry...

Scott and Kris came for dinner...filet mignon, garlic mashed potatoes and green bean casserole.  The weather was warm enough that Bill didn't freeze while grilling the steaks, always a plus.

Trevor called Scott and everyone got to FaceTime with him, which was nice.  We even got a good picture of the McGovern men before they headed home.

Wendy called from Texas and talked about their visit so far...lots of church and lots of kids.

I called and talked with Greg, he was fighting a cold and already in bed.

Our Christmas celebration was spread out over a couple of weeks but it was fun and now it's over.  Time to get organized and packed for Florida.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Christmas, Take Two

Since Dan was sick when we went to Greg's house, we got together after the gym to open our gifts.  Bill and I got new water bottles, which was a great idea, especially since Bill has run over his a couple of times.

Of course, we had to take more pictures.

I think I got my monies worth out of these glasses.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Celebrating an Early Merry Christmas

Since Wendy and Dan are going to be in Texas for Christmas this year, we celebrated early.  We packed up the gifts, a salad and Sir Titan and headed south to Greg's house for our Christmas get together.  Although we traveled separately from Wendy and Dan, we arrived within a few minutes of one another.  Greg and Ella arrived a few minutes later, coming from church.  

He even bought my favorite candies...non pariels!

First thing on the agenda was putting together the gingerbread house.  

Thankfully, the gingerbread was already prepared!

Technically, I watched while Ella and Wendy did the construction and decorating, which is kind of messy.

Greg got the ham ready for the oven, then he helped finish the decorating.

Voila...the finished product!

Wendy and I had placed our gifts under the tree.

They looked nice all tucked under the tree but we opened them in the living room, except Dan...he was sick and taking a nap upstairs ;o(

Three generations of Wehmeyer women

We enjoyed a nice late afternoon meal of spiral ham, twice baked sweet potatoes and orzo salad (no onions).

Ella and I snuck away to take a couple of pictures.

We played games, considered making bracelets, which was quickly abandoned when that required nail polish (none of which could be found) so Ella started building her new Lego set from Auntie Wendy and Uncle Dan.  There are 575 pieces.  Papa Bill came over to check out the progress but it was going to take some time.

Rumor has it, Ella enjoys an audience...

This was Titan's first time traveling to anyone's house, other than Wendy and Dan's, and I thought he did a great job.  Ella even gave him a nice, new chew toy!  

Christmas is boring...

Before leaving we took our traditional family photos in front of the tree.  Even Dan felt good enough for the pictures.  

I've been saving thee glasses since last year and I actually remembered to bring them with us...three cheers for ME!!!

And Titan got one with his BFF!

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Yeah, it's a Little Early

I know, I know...it's too early and completely against "Wendy's 101 Rules for Christmas Decorating".  It's not even Thanksgiving; however, I'm in the house alone making dog food all afternoon and I'm in the mood for Kenny & Dolly.  Listening to them makes me happy so I'm turning the volume up and signing along...LOUD AND PROUD!!!

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Today's Haiku...

Raining leaves of gold

The curtain falls on autumn

Winter draws closer

Haiku for You

Fall is in the air
Sweet and crisp as an apple
Put a sweater on

Big Payoff, Little Effort

We said good-bye to Wendy and Dan as they headed home today. ;o( We left the cottage around 11:30 to hike the Beech Mountain Loop Trail, a new one for us.  I liked it right from the beginning due to the bathroom in the parking lot!  

This is the only hike in the park with a fire tower at the top.  It was fairly steep but only took us about 20 minutes to reach the summit.

Pretty incredible view from the summit and we were able to climb to the first level of the fire tower. 

Cranberry Islands

We had our snacks at the summit and we got to meet this pretty girl from Boston.

Hi Sugar!

Her owner said she was nervous around people but he brought her over to say hello and after a few sniffs and head scratches, she rolled over for some tummy rubs.  A very sweet girl.

We hiked down the rest of the loop trail and were glad we did.  It was a much more gentle trail which took us about 30 minutes; however, we stopped to enjoy the view of Long Pond.  It really was a spectacular day with a light breeze and temps around 77*.

We left there and drove to Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse where we ate our lunch among the rocks and the shore.  

Love this speckled rock!

The tide was in so we couldn't get a good view of the lighthouse but it's there...

There was still time for a short bike ride so we left Bass Harbor and drove to the Visitor's Center where we changed into our bike shorts in the car.  Not an easy task considering the limited amount of space ;o)  Mission accomplished and we headed off to ride the Witch Hole Pond Loop.  

We have ridden this loop before, but never starting from the VC.  Wendy and Dan have ridden it several times from this direction, describing the beginning as the "worst hill in the park", which we initially doubted.  OMG...it wasn't terribly long but it was VERY steep.  Wendy texted us to ride it without stopping.  HA, I had already stopped twice by then, as had Bill.  It was so steep that when Bill pushed off to get started again, the front wheel of his bike came off the ground, tipping him over backward.  He fell off and ended up running DOWN the hill to avoid being hit by his bike.  I missed it all as I left first and didn't stop until I reached the top, where I was waiting for him by this sign.

No Shit!

Thankfully, he wasn't hurt and we proceeded on our way.  This is a nice easy ride, not too many big hills and we didn't make any wrong turns.

Witch Hole Pond

Half Moon Pond

It was fairly late in the day and I really loved the way the sun struck this field, turning it a beautiful golden color.

As it turned out, we rode this loop on the same date in 2009.

We watched a beautiful sunset from Cadillac Mountain,

then drove into town for dinner.  Our plan was to have pizza at Little Anthony's but the traffic was so bad we couldn't get near the place, so we ended up at Pat's Pizza on the other end of town.  We got back to our cottage around 8:00 after a very nice, full day.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)