Happy Birthday Star!

It was my sister, Star's, birthday yesterday, so I hosted a lunch to celebrate it. She's had a rough couple of weeks, so I wanted to do something special for her, and it was also an excuse to use my grandmother's china that I inherited after she passed away. I think my grandmother would be tickled pink that we used it and thought of her. I wanted to do a fancy "girls lunch" because my grandmother really liked to have a fancy table when she had company, and Star and I really love that kind of thing.
The Table.

The Food. Loaded Baked Potato Soup, grilled Baguettes with Herb Butter and Gouda, Raspberry Fluff Jell-O, assorted Veggies, Strawberry Pineapple Punch, and Holiday Tea in honor of my grandmother who loved a cup of tea.

The ever beautiful Star, and the extra beautiful Riley.

Channy, My Mom, ME, Kylee, Rylie, Star, and Jill (Star's sister-in-law) Thanks everyone.

Star.

Retta (Stars Mother-in-law), and Rylie

Babies are even more angelic when they sleep. I just love this little girl.

Happy Birthday Star. I hope you had a good time. I sure did, and thank you to all the girls who came. And a special thanks to my Mom who helped me in my last minutes of madness.

Kim's new baby De'nasia, and and update on Corbin

De'nasia
(born Dec. 4th @6:54pm, 6lbs 11oz, 19 1/2 inches long)






Kim and Daryle with Thomas and De'nasia



When Rick talked to Kim all was well.

Now for Corbin. He went to the Dr. yesterday, and everything is awesome. He has to stay off of it for the next 5 weeks, but they didn't cast his leg. He was really excited about that.

Windsor and Hartford

I really had a relaxing time in Connecticut. I slept in every day, worked out, and went to dinner...that's it! Rick worked, and went to dinner....not quite the same, but he did enjoy himself. The food was awesome. Ruth Chris was my favorite. If you've never had their Pork or Sweet Potato Casserole, I highly, highly recommend them. Delicious, decadence to die for. We also had some delicious Italian and Seafood. We had dinner every night with Rod Stoker who works with Rick. He was a most entertaining dinner companion. We enjoyed getting to know more about him and his family.

Below are a couple of highlights we really enjoyed while we were there. #1 Mark Twain's home. I watched some television program before I left about Mark Twain's home, and how they were having trouble keeping it open because of money, so I knew I had to see it. It may be the only chance I would ever have. We really, really enjoyed the museum and the tour of the house. He was truly an amazing man. It is incredible one person could pack so much living into one life time. He was a printer, steam boat captain, a gold prospector, an author, a speaker, an inventor, a newspaper man. He was poor, rich, poor again, rich again. He traveled the world. He was a loving family man. He was revered, and hated. He was funny, and insightful, and so much more. I highly recommend you visit if you have the opportunity.



This is a beautiful home. I loved all the attention to detail. The home had running water, flushing toilets, and electricity even though it was built in 1874. I could just imagine him sitting on this porch with his children. It was also fun to see the place where he wrote about 2 young boys named Tom, and Huck.

We were lucky enough to be at the Clemens home during the holiday season when they display Victorian Christmas decor all done by Tiffany's (also my fav.) The Clemens family lived next to Harriet Beecher Stowe, who wrote a little book called Uncle Toms Cabin...you may have heard of. :)


In the museum there are little sayings of Mark Twain's carved into the walls. Here are a few of my favs.






#2 thing we saw was The Connecticut State Capital Building. I really enjoy visiting capitol buildings. They give you a feeling of what the people of the state are really about, their history, and their struggles. You also get to see some amazing architecture and craftsmanship. By far, this is the most beautiful Capitol building I've ever seen, and Rick agrees. We were both in awe over it. I really could just sit for months and just look at all of the detail inside and out. Our tour guide was so personable and knowledgeable. It's a must see if you are ever there.

The Capitol building was completed in 1878 in High Victorian Gothic style (my fav.)



Below are statues on the North side of the building. I believe the statues are of L to R. John Hayes, Connecticut's first Governor. Joseph Wadsworth, the man who hid the Royal Charted of 1662 in the Charter Oak Tree. John Winthrop, Jr. The 6th Governor of Connecticut. Theophilus Eaton, who helped found New Haven. And, John Mason, founder of the town of Windsor.


Below you can see a water fount. It was used to get water for the horses back in the day. It was said that the Governor's horse had a golden bucket...but it's mysteriously disappeared...hum....



This is the Genius Of Connecticut sculpted in 1877. She is the symbolic protector of Connecticut. She used to be on top of the Capitol, but was blown off. They plan to put her atop the Capitol again one day....



This last pic is kinda blurry, but is has some importance. Rick and I are sitting in the chair the Lieutenant Governor presides from called the Charter Oak Chair. It's made from the tree Joseph Wadsworth hid the Royal Charter in when Sir Edmund Andros sought to reclaim the document for the Crown (England.) Apparently, it's a magic chair...one that makes wishes come true. So we sat, and wished. We also rubbed the foot of a statue in the Capital...said to give good luck...so we're set! :)

Surgery and a new baby in the family

Today was the long awaited day of surgery for Corbin, and.....it went very well. He is eating and feeling pretty good. The surgery took a couple of hours, but they were able to scope the whole thing. That's something the Dr. was pretty sure he couldn't do because Corbin is so young. For those of you that don't know, Corbin has osteochondritis dissecans talus. He's done everything to avoid surgery, but nothing worked, so surgery was his last option. Anyhow, he's doing really well, and all the visits from pretty girls are really helping his spirits along with all the nice gifts (Bears, Candy, Silly Puddy, Cookies, Drinks, and a Colts blanket from Grandma and Grandpa)

He has a nerve block right now, so things won't be so rosy tomorrow night when the pain sets in. He has to be off it for 6 weeks. He should be fully recovered in a few months....So much better than the 1 year recovery we thought we were looking at. YEAH!

Below: Corb at the hospital. I forgot my camera, so it's from my phone....not the best quality.




Corbin and cute little Kortney


Some of his cute visitors

Just a side note. Rick's sister, Kim, is in the hospital ready to deliver her baby later tonight.

Kim had a baby girl. 19 inches, 6 lbs. 11 oz. Mother and baby are well. I know her name, but I'm not sure how to spell it. Danasha LeAnn, is our best guess on how to spell it.

Thankful for family, and the food I didn't have to cook.

Thanksgiving started out with Corbin playing a little football with his friends. They had a good time.....But there was a lot of cheating going on. :)



Then it was on to Rick's cousin Amber's house. They were so kind to have us over for Thanksgiving. We got back from our trip the day before and I know I would have been a mess if I'd had to cook dinner the next day. I understand that Joan, Rick's Aunt, did the majority of the cooking and we really enjoyed the food. We are so thankful to her. Some of Rick's other cousins were there also. They are all so likable. We really enjoy their company.

Below: Aunt Joan and Uncle Roy


Amber and Joe. They are always such great hosts. We love to get together with them.


Matt (Rick's cousin) and Misty. They are so sweet and so funny. They always keep me laughing.



Rick and Me.



Sam (Rick' cousin) and and his son Gavin. Sam had me laughing my head off. He's off to live in Denver soon, and we wish him well. It was my first time meeting Gavin. He's such a cute little guy. Looks like his daddy.


Challis and Chantel. Poor, poor Challis. He had to work on Thanksgiving, but he came late.


Corbin wouldn't let me take a pic, so this was the best I could do.


It really was a great day. Thanks to you all.

The Big Apple

Loved, Loved, Loved it!

As some of you know, I hate the big city, but I loved the biggest city of all. We ended up in NYC because my plane ticket was much less expensive to fly into NYC than Boston or Connecticut. So I said, "Guess we should see it while we're there." But, I wasn't all that excited about it.

Then when we got there....I loved it. The more I saw...the more disappointed I was that I only had one day to spend there. We rode a bus from the airport to NYC. It was a 90 min ride...even though the guy at the airport said it would be about 30 min. Then we ate....shamefully at McDonald's. I was a little scared to try anything new. Then we got on the tour bus. I figured it was the best way to see the city in a very short amount of time.

Below: A great shot of the city streets. I'd heard people say that the honking makes you crazy, but I really didn't notice that much honking.


The Empire State Building. It truely is a sight to see. I was sad I didn't get to go inside though....no time.

The architecture in NYC is amazing....old and ornate, simple, brown stones, dazzling sky scrapers, glass, steal, brick, block....it has it all!

A shot of China Town for Challis. It was really my least favorite part of NYC, however the largest growing part of the city shoving back Little Italy to one block. My favorite part of the city was Greenwich Village. It was so quaint. I also liked Soho, and Chelsie.

Another shot of the amazing arcitecture. The bottom part of the building was built by William Randolf Hurst during the depression...He figured 6 stories would be enough, but no they added on to it latter. I think they did an amazing job. It's beautiful.




Time Square! Amazing! Loved it! It's like The strip in Vegas, but smaller and much taller!



It's so cool you have to see it in person. No photos would do it justice.

Your are going to die, but Toys R Us is the only store I was able to go in. It was so cool. Below is a shot of the huge Superman hanging down. I really think that NYC is a girls vacation. There's so much shopping to be done. Girls we need to put a little trip together...trust me...you wanna go.

A Naval ship that is now a museum. Really cool, but once again no time to see the inside.

A shot from the night harbor tour looking back at the city. You can see the Empire St. Building on the right.

Tug Boats.

More of the city.

The beautiful Statue of Liberty. Breathtaking !

The most beautiful thing there. Wish I had time to go inside.



The Staten Island Fairy. One of the few things you can do for free in NYC. I didn't get to go, but the Harbor Cruse was just as amazing, just not as cheap I'm sure.

Freakin' Cool. The night lights are crazy amazing. The Empire St Buldg. was lit up in Red, White and Blue. I was so excited because it was only supposed to be white the night we were there.




Fashion: Just a little note about what is "in style" in NYC. Boots! Tights! Skirts! Black Coats! Jeans! Scarfs! and that is it. That's all you need. All in Black..no other color! NO OTHER COLOR! NONE! ONLY BLACK! Guess that's why my RED coat stood out. I felt like a dork. Rick and I were the only people in sweats in NYC. Let me defend our clothing. We took the red eye, took a bus, toured all day, then missed our bus back to the airport...YEP! Took the Subway, took a train then drove to Connecticut and got here at...3 :15 a.m. No sleep for almost 48 hours. If we didn't have comfort we'd have killed each other.....ok!



The Financial District. The Dow closed yesterday below 8,000. The lowest close in over 5 years. One of the things they told us on the tour was that after 9-11 many of the companies chose not to come back to the area. They just didn't feel safe. Many of the big buildings are being made into personal residences. The average cost of a small apartment in Manhattan is between 3,000 and 5,000 dollars a month. WOW!



The thing that made me the most sad was that this is Thanksgiving week. There are so many festivities going on in NYC this week including the lighting of the Big Tree at Rockefeller Center. You can see the lights on the tree on the right. The stores have all of there amazing window displays up, and it's so cool. I really wish I could have gone in Macy's.....it huge! I really have got to come back. There's so much I didn't get to see.

Well, Corbin I hope it was worth the wait. Sorry I didn't have time to post yesterday. I love and miss you all. Kisses.

MOM.