End of Fall

December 1, 2005

This last week of November has been full of parties and some Christmas preparation.

It started last Thursday by celebrating Thanksgiving with good family friends of ours who live in Bethel. That same day we experienced a bit of a snowstorm. So our drive there took nearly 2 hours as we had to drive 10 miles/hr at times. Once we arrived we had a wonderful time and had a safe drive home as the snow had stopped by that time. One of things I love about spending time with this family is all the love our children get. When you live so far from family this is very important. Our children were given gifts (toys their kids had outgrown), played with (this family has 4 teenage & early adulthood sons - Laurent LOVES all the maleness at that house) and just plain loved on.

The next day, Friday was Brienne's 3rd birthday. In the morning she opened a couple presents and then played with her new toys. After lunch the kids and I went outside to enjoy the snow. This was an early snowfall for Maine and so we wanted to take full advantage of it. For supper we ordered pizza and had a little birthday party with close family friends (not the same ones from Thanksgiving). After supper the kids played with new toys (Brienne's) and the adults & teenagers played Sequence. It was a really nice time. A fun adult & kid friendly birthday party.

Sunday we had a potluck lunch and decorating party at church. This is a yearly tradition where whoever wants to help decorate the church for Christmas stays after church for potluck lunch and then decorates.

Now this week I've started decorating for Christmas although I have to admit I'm not really in the spirit too much yet. The snow has all melted with the steady rain we've had for 2 days now. So, once again our backyard is flooded. If it got really cold now and froze we'd have a little skating rink!

In 2 days is my 30th birthday and we're planning to go out for supper and to the new movie about Johnny Cash. Next week we'll go to a contra dance with the group Wake The Neighbors . I've wanted to try contra dancing for a couple years now and the timing has never been right - babysitters etc, so this will be our inaugural dance . Check the link for more info about contra dancing, it's not country dancing or square dancing per se. More like called folk dancing. Sounds like so much fun to me, not sure yet if it's Damien's thing. I really love the New England folk music scene. It's something I want to participate more in. Can't stop my toes from tapping and my spirit lifting when I hear those fiddles, flutes, guitars and hand drums - don't know how else to explain it.