2007 Visitors - Aunt Joy & Uncle Dan

Aunt Joy & Uncle Dan drove down from Indiana to visit while Dad was in town, August 2007. Joy has beautiful gardens around her home, and brought me many clippings to get me started on my own yard. Unfortunately, Dad and I found out we have Poison Ivy growing in the brush along the gully! We had a miserable couple of very itchy weeks after trying to clear out the brush to get ready for the planting! As you can see from the following pics, our region was in the midst of a drought and this made difficult digging in the hard-as-cement soil. Despite the heat and hard work, Joy & her "baby brother" seem to have had a good time landscaping our yard.

Joy and Dan have a time-share near us. We had dinner with them one night and took advantage of the pool for a nice swim.

Rob and I enjoyed our visitors and look forward to learning more about plants & birds from my Aunty. Dan, Dad, and Joy seem to have enjoyed their visit very much too from their smiles. :}

2007 Visitors -Captain Joe

In August 2007 Dad left his sailboat Jubilee behind in Ecuador for a month to visit us and other family here in the States. He's not one to be idle, and we kept him pretty busy with lots of home repairs. We also enjoyed many walks together: around the neighborhood, along the riverside, and in the Warner Park woods. Dad likes to eat good food, and cooked many meals for us to enjoy together. Here we are having a leftover smorgasbord one afternoon of salad, cheese, bread, and fruit. Yum!




We also played many games together, one of our favorites being FLUXX, where the rules keep changing as you play.



I won this round with my favorite goal card "Squishy Chocolate" (combination of Sunshine & Chocolate).



Dad won the next round with the goal card "Winning the Lottery" (combination of Dreams and Money).






One of our favorite local restaurants is The Loveless Cafe, which has the best biscuits around served with old-timey Southern gravy. I think of Dad every time I eat there because this is one of his favorite "comfort food" breakfasts. Here we are enjoying Dad's homemade Biscuits & Gravy for breakfast. Yum!




This is the morning Dad flew back to his floating home, I had to go to work at the clinic and so Rob drove him to the airport. We really enjoyed having The Captain under our roof (and not just because he's so handy with home repairs!). We wish we lived closer together or could visit more often. It's hard to have family all over the globe. Though we know he's happy to be back in the warm weather in Ecuador!

Birthdays!

Rob turned thirty-something in May. We celebrated with lunch out at O'Charlies and then a home-made Boston Cream Cake (his favorite).







Bess turned thirty-something in November. We celebrated with lunch out at our favorite local Thai restaurant, a hike in the Warner Park woods, and a fancy tea party for two at home with a Green Tea Cake from Alpha Bakery.

2007 Visitors - Heather, Jason, & Alice

In April, 2007 we were delighted to host our friends from Philly as they were traveling in the South. Here they are watching a martial arts demonstration in Dragon Park.


Singing praise songs on the back porch.


What a look of love Allie has for her daddy.


Heather & Alice enjoyed our backyard garden.


Playing games late into the night... H&J introduced us to the card game "Set".
(Alice and Robert were more entertained by the cups and dice.)

2007 Visitors - Hope

Nothing is better to celebrate a new home than houseguests! Hope was our first & second houseguest, though we always seem to have too much fun to stop and take pictures while she is here.

My fond memories of her visit in 2007 were playing "eco-flux", hiking in the Warner Park woods, and enjoying Irish breakfast tea out of "fancy tea cups". Not to be sexist, but tea parties really are better with girlfriends!


At our 2006 potluck wedding reception with some of the GCF group (Hope is at the top).

Hope with her namesake "Alice Hope" in 08/2006. Hope will be the first to tell you she prefers dogs & cats to babies. :}

Making a House our Home

Anyone who knows Rob will understand that our house was a beautiful blank canvas when we (finally) moved in together January 2007. Not much furniture to get in the way! After 15 years of sleeping on the floor I am happy to say he now prefers sleeping in our big organic bed and doesn't mind sitting down at the table to eat (sometimes). I have "craigslist" to thank for most of the furnishings, but Pam & Gram to thank for all my pretty dishes. And of course, no home is complete without a little garden to dig in (says the girl who used to eat mud pies). It's nice to feel settled!

2007 Travels - Double Birthday in MA

A quick trip to Worcester to see Mom & Gram for their birthday in April.

Gram shares her cake as well as the day of her birth with her daughter.

Mom enjoying her newly-remodeled kitchen with her birthday icecream.

Austin & Auntie Bess say "cheese".

Gram and her ladies: Barbara, Marian, Judy, and Barbara.