We celebrated Jim’s birthday on his official birthday (not his actual one) because it fell on a Saturday. Unfortunately, Joanne had to work and Sue wasn’t feeling well, so it was a small but cozy party. We were joined by Dave, Brett, Big Jim, and the Seeleys. We ate all of Jim’s favorite foods (chicken delight, tomato pie, honey bbq chicken chunks……) and the girls had a great time playing.

The Sunday after Thanksgiving, Jim, Big Jim, Tiffany, and Aunt Robin enjoyed an afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field watching the Eagles win!

Thanksgiving was the kick-off for our holiday season. We began on the evening before Thanksgiving by decorating the house and putting up the Christmas tree. After enjoying a yummy Thanksgiving dinner with Grammy, we headed to Conshohocken for the weekend. On Friday, we joined other Conshohocken residents in welcoming Santa to the town hall. Then, on Saturday, we took the PATCO Yule Ride into the city with Uncle John to see Santa in the Dickens Village at Macy’s.

We weren’t sure Hope was going to be able to trick-or-treat this year because she’s had a recurring fever. Saturday, however, she was perfectly healthy and ready to go out as the Little Mermaid. We waited an hour to go so she could see other kids come trick-or-treating at her house. Then, we headed out with the wagon and her pumpkin bucket. She did a great job saying “trick-or-treat!” and “thank you!”.

Sunday evening, we went trick-or-treating at some family member’s houses, including Nana and Grammy. By then, Hope was a pro!

Our second Halloween activity of the day was to take a trip to Rohrbach’s. We’ve never gone on Halloween before, so I expected it to be crowded. It turned out to be pretty empty, so we had the hayride all to ourselves and Hope pretty much had the run of the playland. She loved the corn sandbox and the big tube slide. Before we left, we treated her to a pony ride.

Halloween morning began with a fun pumpkin carving session. Hope helped to scoop out the seeds (for a couple minutes). She then kept herself occupied by drawing on another pumpkin with markers while I carved the spider design she had selected. After a few minutes of that, she brought out her playdough to play while I carved. Overall, I think it turned out quite well.

Although the Sunday before Halloween was a beautiful day, the fire department had to cancel their annual Halloween parade because there was a really awful fire on main street the evening before. Still, they had the kids come to the fire hall to be judged and to hand out goody bags. Hope was a little disappointed that she couldn’t walk in the parade, but being with friends made it fun anyway.

For the first time in a couple years, we stayed home during fair week. Despite being around, we still only went to the fair on the weekends. Hope made it an extra time because she got to go with Nana and Pop-pop. The first weekend, we went on free Friday. While there, were saw the elephants, the horses, and the Cinderella carriage. When Hope asked where Cinderella was, I told her the carriage was going to pick her up. The second weekend, the Leathermans and Jim and Joanne came up to go to the fair. As usual, we had a great time!

Friends of mine, Amy and Mary Beth, both recently had babies (both girls). While I was off for fair week, Hope and I took a road trip to visit them. Both little girls are just beautiful, although very different. Hope was delighted to hold baby Gillian, who has a 3-year-old brother, Justin, and is used to being man-handled. She did a very good job!

Hope and Baby Julia

Hope and Baby Gillian

For the third year, Jim and I partnered with Steve and Dawn to do some collectively terrible golfing for a good cause. Actually, this was probably our best performance at the First Presbyterian Church golf outing. Steve even won the award for “closest to the line” on a certain hole.

The best part of the day was the gorgeous weather and stunning views.