Kate and Rob, Kate and Rob, the kids just love Kate and Rob!!!

When Rob and Kate visit, Dave and I could disappear for hours and they wouldn't notice at all.  We had fun hanging out, playing Wii, and a few games of Uno.  We are hoping to make it to NYC soon to see their new place, but also hoping that they'll come back to visit their Mii on our Wii!!!  

Kate and Rob arrive for Thanksgiving

At around 9 pm on Wednesday night, Kate and Rob arrived for Thanksgiving, on a bus from NYC.  Dave took Potter and Molly with him, but Caleb had already retired for the night.  The next morning, Thanksgiving, the frivolity with them began.  First, Rob was recruited to participate in the gymnastics routine that Potter and Molly created for them all to star in.   After that, the big surprise came, Rob and Kate had brought us a Wii, partly for my past birthday, for Dave's upcoming birthday, and for the kids for Christmas.  Needless to say, the kids were really psyched about this, especially once they realized the scope of what it included.  Rob brought his MarioKart cd with the steering wheels, so we had extra stuff to play with.  On the down side, Wii keeps track of how long you play each day and sometimes will suggest you take a break from playing.  This can make you feel like you have no life!!!!  But we truly love the Wii and are grateful to them for bringing us such a generous gift!  

We lost a good friend.......

On Thanksgiving morning, Trooper's body had finally decided that he had had enough, was old and tired, and that his tumor was not something he could fight anymore.  You could see in his eyes how badly he wanted to get up, to run around, and be a part of the Thanksgiving madness.  But you could also see from the look in his eyes that he knew he could not do this anymore.  It was with great sadness that Dave and I took him to the vet that morning to be put down, to be relieved of his discomfort.   We take comfort in the knowledge that Trooper led a good 12 1/2 years of life, went on so many trips with us both with and without the kids, chased thousands of sticks and tennis balls, swam in many lakes, oceans, and creeks, careened around in mountains of snow, and had a warm bed to call his own at the end of the day.  We will miss him so much.  We are constantly looking for him, to let him out, for him to greet us at the door when we get home.  We know that Granny is now looking out for him and giving him lots of treats and love.

These are just a few of the many pictures that we have of Trooper.   The first two were taken in the past couple of months, the third one was a candid shot within the last year or so, the last two have dates on them, when Potter was a toddler and the day we brought Potter home from the hospital.  Trooper was forever protecting our kids.  I never felt uncomfortable letting them play in the backyard as long as Trooper was there to bark if someone came around.  

Wearing the jewels

When Grandma and Grandpa came in October to visit, they brought some old costume jewelry that belonged to my grandmother and her sister.  It includes a lot of very stylish clip on earrings and old lady pins, mixed in with some gaudy necklaces and bracelets.  The kids love to wear this and play dress up, so I thought they'd enjoy being celebrities on the blog wearing their latest bling.  

Ready for the memorial

We had the best dressed and best behaved children this day.  They were all such angels during a rough time.  

Aunt Jean arrives with Uncle Homer

Aunt Jean and Uncle Homer made the trip from Florida for Mom's memorial service.  She was immediately adored by three boys in particular.  They all seemed to be happy to be with one another.  

One of Granny's favorite sayings

Granny had this saying on her computer in a file labeled 'My Favorite Things'.  We printed it out, added some Granny pictures and made this collage for the refrigerator.  None of us could open the fridge the rest of the visit without tearing up.  We miss Granny so much!!!!  But this is definitely how Granny lived!!

Making Grandmother Ames fried cakes

For those of you who don't know, fried cakes are the name for Clark family doughnuts, the ones made that are very heavy and yummy and deep fried in real lard!  Potter and Granny made these a few falls ago and Potter had been asking for them the whole time we were there, so one morning, I made them for everyone.  Definitely not as good as Granny's were, but the memory was more fun than the eating anyway.

Got snow??

When we woke up on Monday morning, the day before Granny's memorial service, we were greeted with about 4-5 inches of fresh snow!!  All of us were very ill prepared, no snow boots, mittens, snow pants, etc...for the kids.  They lasted about 5 minutes until their sneakers were soaked and their hands were beet red from packing snowballs!!  Poor Mac (the little poodle) and Granddad were NOT having fun on their morning walk.  Mac was up to his belly in snow and quite drenched when they got back home.  Bad weather for a short little dog.   We all agreed, however, that Granny would have been LOVING the weather and would have been making zillions of snow angels all over Sherwood Lawn.  

Caleb loves Aunt Meredith

Caleb just loves to be with Aunt Meredith.  Actually, during the week we were all together, I think Caleb was with Meredith or Doug more than me.  I was just very happy that he seemed to get along with everyone so well.

Cookin' pictures

Dave and Doug were cooking up a storm in the kitchen, making some samosas.  The kids were playing with the extra dough and the boys were filling the dough with yummy stuff.  They did an Iron Chef simulation and made the samosas with butternut squash filling (among other ingredients) and we had lamb stew with it.  How delicious!!

Fountain at Bestor Plaza

Bestor Plaza has a wonderful fountain (drained out by this time of year) that is good for walking on, throwing coins into, and playing with the fish.   Molly, Potter, and Odin had a great time, Caleb on the other hand was having some sad times and didn't participate in any of the frivolity.  This was really the last good day of weather we had for the kids to play in, so Meredith and I made the most of it.  

Molly loves Uncle Doug

Molly enjoyed some quality time with Uncle Doug.  It was the mutual admiration society!

Odin loves Potter

Odin seemed very comfortable with our three hooligans and had a few special moments with Potter.  It is too bad that we don't live closer to them.  I'd love the cousins to have more times like these.

Cute cousins

This is what is would have been like to have twins!!  Caleb just turned 2, Odin is turning 2 in a few weeks.  They are both busy boys, but they love to play together!!

Family gathering in Chautauqua

After we left Buffalo, the entire family returned to Chautauqua to spend more than a week together eating, loving, remembering, mostly in honor of Granny.  We had fun, despite the circumstance that brought us all together taking the kids on playgrounds and just plain being together.  We planned Granny's memorial service, all of us playing a part in that service.  Here are some pictures of Potter, Molly, Caleb and Odin.  They all got along so well and immediately showed family love to one another.   It was a tearful sight for all the parents!!  The playground we first frequented in these pictures is at the Children's School on the Chautauqua grounds.  It is always a fun place to be.  

Billy bundt cakes

My dear neighbor, Bill, is famous for his bundt cakes and has recently come over to share these with our family.  It was a few days before the election, so he topped them with white frosting and red, white, and blue sprinkles.  Needless to say in our house, they didn't last much more than a couple of days.  

Halloween night

Halloween night was a big succes in our house.  Dave had to leave unexpectedly to go to Buffalo, so the kids and I scarfed down dinner of spaghetti and fruit before we headed out for some trick or treating.  We make a pilgrimage first to our old neighborhood on Paden Street for the folks there who like to see the kids all dressed up.  You'll notice better pictures of Molly and Potter and also that Caleb is now Superman.  I decided that he could wear his Superman pajamas and that would solve two problems, one of his costume and two that he would pretty much be ready to pour into bed when we got home.  What a clever Mama I am sometimes!!!  We then came back over to our street and visited the homes of our neighbors, all of whom are VERY generous with the Halloween candy!  Our immediate neighbor next door always puts out the fire pit and they hang out on the front lawn to hand out the candy.  It is the last real time that you can do that without fearing it'll be 20 below and you'll freeze.  Actually, the temperature was so mild that the kids didn't have to wear a jacket or anything else over their costumes.  It is now mid-November as I type this and given that we were out of town for over a week right after Halloween, the kids still have enough candy that it will last them most definitely until Christmas rolls around and we trade in candy corns for candy canes.