So Thankful!

Thanksgiving was a great day, spent with our family and friends. It is good to be home from our trip and we, as a family, have so much to be thankful for. Jon (or Uncle Jon to Claire & Chloe) prepared a delicious turkey, cooking it on the BBQ after it had soaked in a brine overnight. The pies were not homemade this year, but no one seemed to mind.

Below are snapshots of the girls who, of course, kept us entertained the entire day. Chloe, below, cruises around making sure she doesn't miss a thing, while Claire checks out the old wooden puzzles that have been the family since her Daddy was a toddler.

We had several impromptu concerts throughout the day. They always ended with lots of clapping and cheering by the performers as well as the listeners.

Below Claire takes some late afternoon dessert very seriously while Chloe opted to have some milk and cuddle with Daddy.

Both girls prepared for Christmas by wearing their elf hats.

The day was weather perfect and the girls spent quite a bit of time outside with Daddy, Uncle Jon, and the bubble machine, which is always a highlight when they come to Grandma and Papa's.

I am counting my blessings, once again, as I post this blog.

Celebrating!

It turns out that the Big Island/Hawaii has been a wonderful place to celebrate our 45th anniversary (one month early). We have seen wonderful things, love the place we are staying...found in a book with a little added info from the Internet...and have continually been awed and amazed as we have traveled and explored the island.

Today we visited an orchid business and drove through remote rain forests in the Hilo/Puna area. Wow, is all I can say!

Here is a waterfall from a few days ago located in the Hawaiian Tropical Botanical Garden, I believe.

This black sand beach is adjacent to our condo area. Tons of turtles call this area home.

One of the walks we took to a waterfall.

All in all, we are enjoying every minute. We really miss our family however, and Mike told us today, that yesterday Claire kept knocking on the inside of their front door and yelling, "Papa, Grandma, where are you?" Made this Grandma want to cry. We talked to the girls on the phone today and we will be home before you know it.

Bean Burritos and First Concert

Papa will occasionally bring Claire and Chloe burritos for lunch. They always enjoy them, especially when Papa sits down with them while they eat.

Below Claire and Chloe are "rocking their babies". The dolls names are Pocca and DeeDee. Sometimes they just put the dolls in the chair and ROCK the chair... this time, however, they were gently rocking the babies and having a great time.


Our church was fortunate enough to have the African Children's Choir on Friday night. Claire and Chloe attended their first concert ever with Papa and Grandma. They really enjoyed the music and activity. The choir had amazing energy and great voices. Claire and Chloe clapped at the appropriate times and managed the first half of the concert quite well for 21 month old toddlers. We didn't push our luck however, and left at half-time.

Below is Claire sitting on Papa's lap.

Papa is helping Chloe into the car, and the following two shots are in the car on concert night.

Papa and Grandma will be missing these two sweet faces as we fly off for a week or so on a little trip. We always enjoy our trips, but look forward to our return home and our darling granddaughters.

Halloween Report and the Week's Tidbits

Claire and Chloe had a great time for Halloween. They visited their Noni's house and spent time with their cousin Richard, and went Trick or Treating with him. Chloe dressed as a butterfly and Claire as a ladybug. When I arrived early Monday morning at their home and asked about their Halloween, Claire immediately reported that Coco "Fell down in the dark on Halloween". She spoke of it often and a couple of days later she is still talking about it on the film below. She ends by saying "Poor Coco"!

Here is Chloe, once again asleep in Papa's arms. He works magic on that child.

Claire sh0wing off her charming smile.

Chloe and Grandma having a laugh.

Below in the pictures the girls make some fun with a water bottle. Their horsey eventually bucks them off.




The last three pictures are from our visit to the park this week. The last picture shows Chloe working on the straps of the stroller. She spent quite a bit of time trying to snap the safety straps together..not always easy even for adults. She had great concentration for quite some time, oblivious to what was going on around her.

A New Gadget

Papa and Grandma took a little trip to Apple Hill on Monday. We bought a gadget that peels and slices apples that we saw being demonstrated. We have seen them before and didn't dream that they really worked! Who knew that Claire and Chloe would enjoy watching their apples get peeled and sliced. I think it made those apples extra tasty for them, they consumed two apples between snack and lunch. Claire was into turning the handle, Chloe was not. We had admonished them before we started that there were two very sharp parts and showed them where they were located. For the rest of the day, Claire reminded us that it was "sharp" and "we must be careful"! Chloe repeatedly would look at it up on the counter and tell us it was "sharp". Apparently "sharp" made an impression.



Wow, that must have been hard work...the girls seemed to be exhausted!

Our park time this week was fun. The first film is of the girls heading up the stairs...Chloe has her hands full, but still manges to make it up. She has now become the "gatherer" of the two...acorns and sometimes sticks. The next film is of Claire wanting Grandma and Papa to watch her carefully come down the stairs. The final film is of the girls running and playing which they do endlessly, until Chloe spots a dog. When we arrived home after this park visit, Chloe immediately went to the kitchen and wanted to "make apples."