Picnic

After we picked up the twins from their morning class we went to the park outside their house and had a lunch on the grass. Steph had sandwiches with terrific bread and a light curried chicken filling. It really was nice; Kate Jackson was there too.


This first vid is when we first got home and Paige is showing her work. Graham hears the compliments PK is getting and wants to get some of the praise too. Then we learn that his older sister did some of the detail for him!


Next is a bunch of us on the blanket.

Evie Bea was so good and active today. She liked the picnic and although I missed the shot of her crawling to get her rattle, when we restaged it she tried to crawl and rolled over instead.

Pediatric Dentistry

It wasn't like this 60 years ago I can tell you. But then, what was?

Steph said she was taking the kids to the dentist and I could tag along if I wanted to. With Nana out of town I was inclined to go since I wanted to show the kids my band-aid that I got for having my flu shot this morning. (They still think Grandad is pretty nifty and brave and stuff so I do all I can to enhance my standing)
Anyway, my camera acted up a little bit so some of the stuff I shot I wont publish 'cos either the video jerks or the audio repeats and I think I have enough that you will get the picture.

Additional Video

In my prior post I somehow left out the video taken at the Thanksgiving dinner table. While I was getting that one loaded I also saw one of Jennifer cooking that I thought I should publish. I include a few others for good measure.

My Thanksgiving Post - Now with Video!

I'm just going to post a few pics and maybe later I will have time to upload some video. We are having a great Thanksgiving with Emily here all the way from NYC and traveling up to Pflugerville to see ALL the Martins. Steph and her family are suffering on the beach at Cabo San Lucas, poor things, so they were not at our do. Last year Emily was absent from our Thanksgiving get together, maybe next year we will all be present.
Anthony was particularly generous with the wine and Jennifer did a sterling job on all the food. The kids were terrific and The Cowboys and Aggies won. What a Thanksgiving. Now if the Texans can beat the Browns today, it will be a great w/e too.
We took Emily to the airport and it was pouring. She called us when she arrived at home last night.We hated to see her go, BUT, she'll be back for Christmas, yeah!



Nana and Anna
Marion (Anthony's Mom) and Emily

A beautiful poinsettia that came from Costco./ Emily and Anna and Colin O
At the table enjoying the wine.
My world famous pie-lets.

Emily and Anna/ The Downward girls contingent.


A few videos that you may enjoy. Anna dancing, Colin talking about a beautiful cat and dancing around on a ball. Jennifer reading Colin's bedtime story. And some around the table at Thanksgiving.

Evelyn Bea's Christening.

It was a real Christening with William, a Presbyterian minister and a friend of the family, who performed the rites, referencing commitment to Christ and engagement with Him several times in the lovely relaxed and family type home-spun service. We had almost ideal conditions. It rained all morning and all through the previous night and just about time for the celebration it stopped and the sun came out. It was cool enough that we were all quite comfortable. Evie Bea was drenched 3 times with the Holy water and didn't yell or fuss. She was at her best.

The musicians were very good - a quartet who played non stop for 2+ hours ( except we asked them to put a sock in it during the service.)
With Steph in charge of the food you can imagine the extravaganza. We were all hard pressed to attempt a little decorum whilst piling our plates not so high we looked like gourmandise.........There was salmon, quail eggs, tuna tartar, tenderloin, quiche, and all kinds of fruit and veggie dishes. The mimosas with Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin went down well, pun intended.






Here are a few pictures and a few videos of the event.

















William's thoughtful intro.....
Al's reading
Inside the conservatory.


Beverly and Evelyn.

Marmalade and Strays......

Well as you can see we attempted to make the jam today using the small oranges we picked this morning. It was fun and P & G really helped a lot. Let you know how it turns out after it gels (hopefully).

Steph went to the bank and came back with a big rambunctious dog. Had a name and number on her collar and was nice enough I thought, though rough . We called the number and left a message and we hope the owner calls back soon. I also took a few videos featuring Baby Evie Bea and some fun shots of Graham and Paige scoffing down bananas for their afternoon snack. The final entry is a video of the lucky dog Bee.

They're not only for Martinis.....

Sorry for the week's haitus. I was waiting till someone nudged me just to make sure there was attention out there. Jennifer did. So here goes.

When we moved to Houston in April we were pleased to find a little mandarin tree on the walkway to our mailbox. The oranges are small and a little bitter but we learned they do wonders to Grey Goose vodka. Before long we had a naked tree- I guess all the neighbors like martinis too! In October the tree produced another load. They are just now ripening and the kids saw them and picked a few this morning before school. Steph said she would make marmalade with what we picked. There are still lots left on the tree out of little people's reach so out 'tinis are not going to suffer. Here's a few pics....









And a video