A Lovely Tribute

We don't spend enough time here talking about how wonderful Ed's aunt Mona is.  She really has always been so generous and loving and warm to us.  She never forgets an occasion to check on or send a sweet gift to the girls, and she's always so positive and an absolute delight to spend time with.  She knows so many interesting people and has done so many interesting things.  Combining that with her sunny attitude and easy laugh and you're guaranteed a good time!

She has served the Senate for 34 years and is retiring this week.  She was feted in style last night at the United States Capitol and all three of her senators were, of course, in attendance.  We wish we had been, too!

Her current Senator, Mr. Corker, delivered this touching tribute to Mona and her service on the Senate floor last night.  It was aired on C-SPAN and I wanted to share it with everyone because I know every glowing word he said was true!  If you click the "more info" link at the top right of the video, it will link you to C-SPAN where there is a transcript.

Congratulations on your retirement, Mona!  Thank you for your service and best of luck in your next adventure!

Photo Album Updates

The site that used to host our family albums has closed, we have moved all our albums to Shutterfly.  The picture at the top right will direct you to the family albums, but it is password protected, if you would like access to the family albums to see the pictures we don't share here or order your own prints, please email me and I will get you in.

Happy Valentine's Day!

What we did in December Part II

The girls made these hand-print Santa's for Daddy for Christmas.  They decorated a "treasure box" and filled it with pictures from 2012, daddy's favorite candy and these keepsakes.  He loved it.

They couldn't fit on Santa's sleigh, so they had to fly out the next day--Grandma and Grandpa surprised the girls by visiting the 26th-30th.

We took the girls to Winter Lights exhibit at the Elizabethan Gardens to bring thank you notes to Santa.  Matilda signed her own note and Evelyn gave Santa a shell she carefully chose from her collection to say thank you for all the lovely gifts he sent.

The Winter Lights exhibit was great!  Tons and tons and tons of light displays all throughout the gardens, a fire for roasting marshmallows, cheery Christmas music playing, temperate weather and hot chocolate!  We really loved it!

The girls exploring the exhibits.  I'm tickled that they call Christmas lights "Fairy Lights."  They're so British sometimes.

We did make sure to walk the beach and look for shells often, especially since it was right outside our door!

While we were driving from Chapel Hill to the Outer Banks, Evelyn started announcing that she NEEDED to get her feet in the ocean.  So, we let her, as soon as we got to the house, before we even unpacked the car, we shuffle them all out to the beach.  Baby was unsure about walking in the sand, but determined, also, determined to eat everything on the beach so she didn't get to stay in that sand for long.  Evelyn tried out the water and quickly discovered it was COLD!  We made Matilda try it.  She was scared, but did eventually get her feet wet. Once.  She prefers hot tubbing.

At the beginning and end of the trip there were lots and lots of shells to collect.  The big girls each had a bucket and filled them with nearly every beach walk.

We bid the beach adieu on the 30th and headed to Williamsburg for New Year's Eve.  We ate at the pubs, visited the sights, and did a fair amount of walking and shopping.

The baby was quite satisfied with the colonial fare.  This is her demolishing her 3rd applesauce.

I can't find it right now, but I have a picture somewhere of Ed standing in this tree (alone) in December 2004, before we were engaged.  How things have changed in 8 years!

Matilda and Evelyn weren't nearly as interested in the colonial dinner fare, so, one night after a full day of walking and a later than usual dinner, we did bribe them with ice cream for supper in exchange for good behavior.

Adelaide was content to continue sucking down little pewter cups of apple sauce.

The girls loved our rainy day.  They got to carry an umbrella and jump in every muddy puddle on D.O.G. Street.

We visited another of Daddy's schools--William and Mary.

And we visited President Jefferson again.  We first introduced these two nearly 4 years ago and Matilda was SO scared.  She's not frightened anymore!

Neither was Evelyn.

In fact, they were rather curious.

Daddy gave a stern lecture at the Presbyterian meeting house.

 And, according to the girls, the highlight of the Williamsburg trip was visiting all the farm animals.  No day was complete without visiting a horse or sheep.  These wooly guys lived right by our little house.