Winter 2011/2012

Christmas

Christmas Day Boxing Day Cooper Party

Backyard Hike New Year's Eve

A laid back moment on the 22nd.

We decided to open a few select presents early so we could enjoy them while together. This is a cotton candy maker.

Shrinky dinks from Uncle Shelton and Aunt Dot.

Go Vacation! on the Wii.

Trying out the cotton candy maker.

A new game from Lisa: Cargo Noir.

Jenny cooks the bacon ahead of time for Christmas Pizza.

Roger's advent calendars. The wizard was the last to appear.

Alan's advent calendars. Yoda dressed as Santa showed up on the last day.

Fireplace is cleared and ready for Christmas.

Sarah and Alan work on a special coffee cake for Christmas Day. Christmas Day pictures are here. And the following day's pictures are at Boxing Day.

Enjoying Roger's new game: Small World Underground, a gift from Lisa.

A large extended family gathering on the 29th. We're playing a Kids vs. Adults game. (The extended family party on the 28th is here.)

We heated up a selection of smoked meats Glen had done last fall when the weather was warmer.

Mother seizes the opportunity to write a few more Christmas cards while most of the household goes to the Westside Market on the 30th.

They brought back yummy treats for dessert.

Laurie and Rudy invited us all over to their house on New Year's Day.
(New Year's Eve pictures are here.)

Eloise enjoys sharing her sisters' art and poetry with Jean.

Jen and Joe serve themselves some of Carol's special banana pudding -- it takes 2 days to properly prepare.

Another round of Kids vs. Adults.

More snow (January 2nd), and time for Lisa to hit the road.

Lisa's special Disney Animator dolls are nestled in the trunk.

Off she goes, the start of the 600-mile trip home.

More snow that afternoon. Lisa kept us posted whenever she stopped and we were glad once she was past the worst of the storm around South Bend, IN.

Mother hosted a take-out Chinese dinner to celebrate the year's birthdays.

She had the January gifts with her for Anne and Alan.

Alan's was a glass dragon from the Corning Glass Museum. Mine was also a dragon.

Pretty snow from the previous day.

Snowville Road on the way home from taking Mother to the airport. Driving conditions getting her to CLE were interesting.

I got to accompany Mother to the gate by being her 'attendant' with the wheelchair. We both took pictures of the snowstorm.

At first, we could see a plane waiting a ways from the gate. And then a snow squall obscured it completely for a while. It did reappear, so we know it didn't just move.

Time to board. Mother just uses the wheelchair to get to the gate, and then relies on her cane for balance as needed when boarding.

Mother's flight skirted the storms and made it back to BWI with no trouble.