Mom

This is my mom. It's her birthday. She is 66 years old today! Today I want to say thank you in celebration of my mom. Her name is Freda. That's her running the raffle at the family reunion with her great neices, nephews, and Manny, of course. Everybody got a turn at the mike.

Thank you for quiet conversation, for a listening ear whenever I needed it or still need it.

Thank you for being silly, for playing hide and seek and tag with us (back when parents were less inclined to do this kind of stuff).

Thank you for making clothes for my Barbies.

Thank you for loving me more than anyone else in the world quite ever could (except that Dad, Pete, and Bobo love me like that, too, but mother's love is special).

Thank you for sticking by me no matter what. (My mom used to tell me that I could go to prison for the most heinous crime and she would always love me because nothing can undo a mother's love for her child. Pretty deep analogy, I get you, Mom.)

Thank you for coming from a huge farming family and allowing me to grow up cradled in the arms of rural life, where fun is created from what you have on hand and mischief is expected and accepted among your kid and her brother and wild and wooly cousins.

Thank you for understanding that I have my own path in life.

Thank you for being such a great baker, I owe my talents in this area to you.

Thank you for giving me the example of always getting up one more time than you fall.

Thank you for teaching me the essence of unconditional love.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Love,
Chris

Gratuitous Dog Pics

I know. She is a circus freak. Maybe one day we will get rich off of her insane talents. Our little nest egg.

Fall Review

A little review of fall in pics. Here's the shadow of the bridge on the river, Manny's favorite, favorite place.

Little Man giving Grandma the grand tour. It was cold like crazy out there that day.
Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning! A rare pic of the three of us together.

Daddy and Bobo stretching.

Little Man finishing up his 1/2 mile Mashed Potato race. Running so fast I could barely catch him in the frame.

Our family with Jessica and Janet and family. Even more rare, a pic of our whole family with their whole family.

Thanksgiving Day was so mild that we had Manny playing outside with his construction guys with no coat on.

Turkey right before we destroyed it.

Little Man outside by the fireplace.

The new outdoor fireplace! Well used and adding to the enjoyment of our autumn.

crack

Family Reunion

In no particular order at all here's some pics from the family reunion:

Paparazzi:

Silly, funny cousin:

Missed and loved:

Autumn.

Here is Little Man at the entrance to the Walkway over the Hudson. It is his newest obsession. We are learning anything and everything to do with the Walkway.

Man, boy, and beast on the Walkway.
Here's a train passing under the bridge, some twenty stories below.

Here is Little Man at nearby magnificent hotel with Zoe.

Running through their garden tunnel.

Lastly, Little Man in his Halloween costume.

A robot pose!

Sports, anyone?

Mr. Manny waiting for the serve from Daddy. Chewing a shirt. He goes in and out of this habit.

Onto a little scootering. This razor scooter is a second hand-me-down from Emma and Syd.

Shall we hulahoop?

Oh, wait, back to tennis.

No, on second thought, basketball.

Hows about a hug now? Or is this aggressive/snuggle defense?

Whet your appetite.

On a recent trip to NYC here is Manny on the train looking out the window at the Hudson.
Here is the ticket taker. Very interesting facial hair.

Here's a chandelier at Grand Central.

We went to an Ethiopian restaurant and Mr. Man was pleased. Can you tell?

Manny made a friend. As usual. He. Never. Meets. A. Stranger.

A little lunch. You eat with your fingers, all from one plate, family style. Don't go with people whom you might doubt wash their hands. The bread is called injera and it is made from tef flour, a kind of grain like wheat.

Afterward in Central Park. Can you say crowded? Manny and Pete both look like they are thinking, 'let's go back to the little house in the woods.'

Me getting a little love from the little man.