Giving Thanks

Every year we have so much to be thankful for and this year is no different. We were blessed with a house full of guests and good food this holiday.

We had a full house with Dad, Suzie and the girls, Sean (Tash's boyfriend) and Max, Caren, Isaac and Dante joining us. We also had Rebel (Tash's dog).
I must say, with all humility everything turned out on time and perfectly! Seriously this turkey didn't just look great, it was great.

Bob and I did the Turkey, stuffing and hosting, with Bob doing the lion's share of the "moving of stuff" to make room for two tables and extra seats. I managed to find matching tableclothes which was a huge bonus and with the help of Jani's extra wine glasses and a few "wrong size" forks to cover for those that seemed to have grown legs and walked away we set a table for 13.


We had wisely farmed out most of the sides, desserts and appetizers to Natasha, Judy, Suzie and Caren.

I must also give a shout out to Isaac, who took lead on being pressured about his college plans from everyone at the table as this gave lively, non-politics based conversation for everyone to enjoy (except probably Isaac but who's counting).


And finally, while Raider was not actually at the event, I had to include this excellent photo of the dogs playing together with Grandpa Bob while the rest of us where in Orlando. Isn't it great when family has so much fun together?

Orlando Extravaganza

We are just back from a fantastic Disney/Universal endurance event that the Bear clan not only met but exceeded expectations.

In addition to all the usual suspects, we also got to meet Natasha's boyfriend Sean who held up quite well under the strain of traveling with our group, even if he was not completely clear on what the colors black and red look like.

Thanks to Papa Terry we had a lifetime supply of cheap park tickets and we were all determined to get our money's worth taking only one day off to enjoy the pool. We managed to see all 4 Disney theme parks (Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Wild Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios) and both of the Universal ones.

Of course, I have a slew of interesting photos to share but decided to stick with the ones I bought from the Disney photographers since those were the only "group shots" we bothered to get. I'm especially fond of this one of Suzie and the girls. Cute!

Another favorite was this "all girls" shot of our day at the Animal Park. Speaking of girls, our girls were troopers. They did great on the flights (with connections) and were very enthusiastic about the rides. They loved the pool, trooping upstairs to see the cousins in their condo and being generally spoiled. In fact, it was only the first day that was pretty rough with them just too tired to really enjoy themselves.

Thanks Grams and Papa Terry! This was a really wonderful trip/reunion.