Awake: 6:15am Temp 17 sleep 6+05 partly sunny overnight @ Nicktown.
After our breakfast & about mid to late morning, Nick Skyped us for (1 hr 6 min). All the family members were up & wide awake. Jerry was all smiles, as were Momoko, Nick & Eriko.
To begin our session, Nick announced that as of yesterday, he was an official employee of the "EMC" Corporation; we think he is quite comfortable being employed by a much larger company.
Today is our oldest grandson's birthday; Matthew is (7). We have been invited to the Foote Castle to help celebrate this special occasion. So we signed off Skype with love & goodbyes to some of our Northwest family for now; dressed ourselves in (3) layers of clothing & motored to Indiana, PA.
We no sooner entered the Castle door when the boys surrounded us with attention & were very excited. We wished Matthew a "Happy 7th Birthday"& then the boys showed us trains they made at Lowe's. I was focused on Andrew & Nathan, who were showing me their wooden trains of which (the blue top ones) were made by them with help from the guy @ Lowe's. Other train cars were given to them.
I took off (2) of my clothing layers & sat on a nice warm radiator in the living room while Kathy sat on the same radiator but did not remove any clothing layers. Then we talked with the boys & Melissa & Kevin.
Besides Matthew asking for an ice cream cake for his birthday, he also wanted his dad to build a fire in the fireplace. It didn't take long before Kevin had a nice, almost roaring, fire for the family so we moved closer to the warmth & continued our chit-chat.
Melissa got supper ready & called us to have grilled cheese sandwiches & cheesy noodles.
Later, we couldn't help but notice Andrew's playing the piano; his (1) finger style & play by ear works pretty good as he has (4 or 5) melodies already memorized.
Not that I'm focusing entirely on Andrew but he does have different skills such as building the magnet globe:
And the beautiful magnet arch.
Time passed quickly for me but not so quickly for Matthew; although he was as calm & patient as he could be, we knew he was excited to begin the birthday party. Finally, Melissa called for all of us to assemble in the dining room. And then....in came the Happy 7th Birthday cake with song. Just look @ that smile.
Oops, one candle still burning
Hey, what happened here? Those candles are coming back to life?
Oh, I forgot; Matthew also requested having "re-lighting" candles on his cake & he did his best to blow them out. His younger brothers had a big laugh watching the process.
The ice cream birthday cake went over well for everyone, especially with Melissa's "homemade" ice cream. Next came the opening of the presents; even his brothers were curious.
& so was his mother.
Then the before bedtime showers took place & later, some book reading to calm the boys down for a good night's sleep; right parents?
It was a very nice visit & really wonderful to see those boys playing so much together.
Back @ our motorhome, my sister Mary Jo called from Lodi, CA & I talked for about (20) min. She told me their Christmas rendezvous plans & I revealed ours. I also thanked them for the delicious mixed nuts present that we didn't wait for Christmas to open.
Late evening movie: we finished watching: "Odd Man Out" with James Mason, Robert Newton, Kathleen Ryan, Robert Beatty, etc. Incredibly suspenseful tale of Irish rebel leader hunted by police after daring robbery. Watch this one. 1947. And we did; not bad.
Lights out: 11:39pm.
After our breakfast & about mid to late morning, Nick Skyped us for (1 hr 6 min). All the family members were up & wide awake. Jerry was all smiles, as were Momoko, Nick & Eriko.
To begin our session, Nick announced that as of yesterday, he was an official employee of the "EMC" Corporation; we think he is quite comfortable being employed by a much larger company.
Today is our oldest grandson's birthday; Matthew is (7). We have been invited to the Foote Castle to help celebrate this special occasion. So we signed off Skype with love & goodbyes to some of our Northwest family for now; dressed ourselves in (3) layers of clothing & motored to Indiana, PA.
We no sooner entered the Castle door when the boys surrounded us with attention & were very excited. We wished Matthew a "Happy 7th Birthday"& then the boys showed us trains they made at Lowe's. I was focused on Andrew & Nathan, who were showing me their wooden trains of which (the blue top ones) were made by them with help from the guy @ Lowe's. Other train cars were given to them.
I took off (2) of my clothing layers & sat on a nice warm radiator in the living room while Kathy sat on the same radiator but did not remove any clothing layers. Then we talked with the boys & Melissa & Kevin. Besides Matthew asking for an ice cream cake for his birthday, he also wanted his dad to build a fire in the fireplace. It didn't take long before Kevin had a nice, almost roaring, fire for the family so we moved closer to the warmth & continued our chit-chat.
Melissa got supper ready & called us to have grilled cheese sandwiches & cheesy noodles.
Later, we couldn't help but notice Andrew's playing the piano; his (1) finger style & play by ear works pretty good as he has (4 or 5) melodies already memorized.
Not that I'm focusing entirely on Andrew but he does have different skills such as building the magnet globe:
And the beautiful magnet arch.
Time passed quickly for me but not so quickly for Matthew; although he was as calm & patient as he could be, we knew he was excited to begin the birthday party. Finally, Melissa called for all of us to assemble in the dining room. And then....in came the Happy 7th Birthday cake with song. Just look @ that smile.
Oops, one candle still burning
Hey, what happened here? Those candles are coming back to life?
Oh, I forgot; Matthew also requested having "re-lighting" candles on his cake & he did his best to blow them out. His younger brothers had a big laugh watching the process. The ice cream birthday cake went over well for everyone, especially with Melissa's "homemade" ice cream. Next came the opening of the presents; even his brothers were curious.
& so was his mother.
Then the before bedtime showers took place & later, some book reading to calm the boys down for a good night's sleep; right parents?
It was a very nice visit & really wonderful to see those boys playing so much together. Back @ our motorhome, my sister Mary Jo called from Lodi, CA & I talked for about (20) min. She told me their Christmas rendezvous plans & I revealed ours. I also thanked them for the delicious mixed nuts present that we didn't wait for Christmas to open.
Late evening movie: we finished watching: "Odd Man Out" with James Mason, Robert Newton, Kathleen Ryan, Robert Beatty, etc. Incredibly suspenseful tale of Irish rebel leader hunted by police after daring robbery. Watch this one. 1947. And we did; not bad.
Lights out: 11:39pm.
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