November

The month of November started in grand fashion with the baptism of our new grandson.

Nathan meets his godmother, Beth, the morning of the baptism.

Godparents Beth and Greg present Nathan for baptism at the Holy Trinity Orthodox Church.

Michaela enjoys herself at the reception following the ceremony.

"Great Aunt" Mary Lou gets acquainted with Nathan.

Jeff and Lexi take a breather near the end of the reception - and Alice is still working away in the kitchen.

Granddad, GB and Nathan


Now, fast forward to Thanksgiving!

Great Granddad checks on Mr. Turkey, a free range local Ohio bird, cooked to perfection by Grandmama.

David has mastered the art of turkey carving.

What a photo op...four great grand children sitting still...in one place...waiting for the official start of Thanksgiving dinner.

One last opportunity for a family photo, as Ben, Amy and the girls leave for Singapore next week for a three year adventure.

Carly and Anne arrived early to help Grandmama, while Jen, Barb and Tiffany did their best to sample the savory selections.

Jim, Dave, Tom and Parker form the welcoming committee.

Cold weather and intermittant bouts of rain did not deter these participants in the annual Thanksgiving football classic.


Another event that Jim participated in during November was the groundbreaking ceremony for a new residential facility for homeless veterans, at the VA Medical Center in Cleveland. The residence will be managed by the Volunteers of America. On Veteran's Day, along with a US senator, two current and one retired congressmen, Jim wielded a shovel to commemorate this major VA project. He even shared the podium and spoke a few words as a representative of the National Board of Directors for VOA.

A New Baby, A Wedding, A Bon Voyage

Between camera issues, editing program breakdowns and long work hours, we are woefully behind in posting pictures of very exciting events from the past two months.

Thank goodness Lexi does such a great job of documenting all that's happening with the Pearce family - especially Nathan's arrival. We were able to pull together a few pictures of our visit to meet him in September.

October brought Becky and Joe's lovely wedding in Cleveland. Again we have some picutres, but had camera issues that ruined a number of shots - including ones of the bride and groom.

Finally we zipped over to Toledo to say bon voyage to Ben, Amy, Ida Jane and Harper as they prepare for their move to Singapore. Alas, more camera issues, but borrowed pics from Myra are included.

Maybe we will have our act together by November...

Wild Life

Labor Day weekend is almost over - what happened to the summer? Even though we are looking forward to the fall and all it has to offer, it's hard not to look back at a wonderful summer.

Here's some previously unpublished videos of "wildlife" that Jim observed with his trusty camera over the past few months. We've also posted a "preview" picture of what you will be seeing. So checkout our "wildlife" videos and let us know which one is the craziest! (Warning - National Geographic videographers we're not!)

#1 Raccoon popup



#2 Lake Wildlife




#3 Fly vulture, fly!




So which one will we be seeing soon as a "Viral Video?"

NY, Aruba, NY, Nascar

We've been on the road a lot this summer - and had a delightful time! Our latest trip covered more than two weeks and we probably logged over 5,000 miles.

We started out in Queens visiting Nicole and Darrell. Nicole treated us to a lovely dinner on the waterfront and a visit to a great park along the East River. Unfortunately we left our camera at home, so we weren't able to take any pictures. After a hearty breakfast prepared by Darrell the next morning, we headed to Long Island to hang out, watch Michaela, do a little painting and just have a nice time. Again, no camera, but we did borrow one from Lexi, who posted some pictures on her blog. As usual, we were thoroughly entertained by the Long Island crew and had a great visit.

Next stop - Aruba. Jeff drove us to LaGuardia in the wee hours of the morning to catch our flight. Carly and Tiffany arranged for us to fly first class with them - not a bad way to travel! We finally got a new camera after driving a hard bargain at a little store in Orangestad a few days after our arrival, so here's a few snippets about our trip.

It it rains in Aruba, it's only for 5 to 10 minutes. Here's a double rainbow we spotted from our balcony after a rare and brief rain shower.

A favorite place to hang out - under the palapa on the beach.

Our hotel sponsored an "Iron Chef" contest - and with our competitive natures, we had to enter. We ended up with two teams - Carly, Jen, Anne and Jim versus Tiffany and Barb.

Tiffany and Barb working furiously on their entry - the must use ingredient - cheese.

Jen showcases her team's entry - An island twist on a caprese salad.

Tom ignores the cooking chaos around him.

Here's a photo op as we await the elevator with our fabulous entries.

Anne and Carly hold their breath - awaiting the judges decision.

Team Carly, Anne, Jim and Jen take first place, beating Team Tiff and Barb - by 2 points! (Did we mention we were the only entries?)

A theme of the week was - who could catch a fish for dinner? Tiffany and Tom orchestrated the last opportunity - a fishing excursion on Friday afternoon.

Here's our intrepid fisherpeople waiting to sail(with the Captain's girlfriend.)

What? No fish yet and you'll be another hour and a half?

More mojitoes!

Did you spot the boat?

Catch anything? (Ask Carly and Jen about the trigger fish!)

Island Wild Life

Want ketchup with that fry?

Back in New York, the activity was heating up for Michaela's 3rd birthday party.

The birthday girl blows up a balloon to help decorate.

Here she is in her lovely "princess" dress.

Jeff, Lexi and Princess Michaela

Michaela hanging out with Granddad in her new tent

After another fun-filled visit with the Long Island gang, we headed home, only to have Jim turn around a few days later to travel to Watkins Glen for his first ever Nascar race.

The Watkins Glen race has been an annual event with Dennis Kurtz and Jeff for many years - and Jim had a great time. Would you believe he's actually started watching Nascar races on TV?

What a summer!