Happy New Year Catch-up

Merry Christmas, Joyous Holidays, and a Happy New Year to One and All!
Some about the house - not much happened over the holidays - so this post is mostly about "us".

We made our annual Christmas trek to Vermont on the 22nd and 23rd - no flying because of the weather. There wasn't a minute of the trip on the 23rd when our windshield wipers weren't on full force. The rain meant slick roads and multiple accidents. The saddest was a multi-car fender-bender where we could see smashed presents inside a popped SUV way-back. Fortunately, they all seemed to be minor accidents. Luckily we had good books-on-tape to make the trip "seem" faster. 

Bren & Marc's house in Vermont is absolutely wonderful. It's a perfect Christmas house. The only disappointment was the weather - no skiing or ice skating. We took the photo below when we visited last summer.

Christmas Eve - first we had the traditional NBC (night before Christmas) pajamas - 

then the traditional "wait on the stairs"

Grayson outdid himself this year - he got one of the gag boxes from Amazon - this one was a blanket for up to 8 people - close-up to follow. We were all laughing imagining Jeff, Phil and me sitting on the couch in the blanket, happily watching Netflix. The real present was Snoopy Red Baron goggles and leather hat for the bi-plane. Now all he needs is a scarf.

 The  presents were awesome (a special Dad to Daughter necklace)

until Monkey Bread sugar coma hit.

 Chloe thought the whole thing was oh, so boring.

Before

and after

Traditional Christmas dinner at Landgrove Inn

The day after Christmas, Bren, Grayson, and Jeff saw a "creature" near the edge of the trees. Jeff thought it was about 30 pounds, hairy, and sort of staggering in circles. Rabid? Here are some tracks -

Creature tracks - you can see the circling

Close up - I thought there was a pattern of one or two single steps than a together step. Definitely not a rabbit. A 

The fearless trackers

and the penalty for tracking a creature

As usual, the time went by much too quickly. Luckily the trip home was in much better weather. We shed layers as we got closer to NC. 

A lot of little things were done at the house. The pretty glass in "Kevin's cabinet".

Finished tile in the 'glow in the dark' bathroom.

The "counter guys" installing the bathroom counters for the second time.

and our panelled basement. No, just kidding. It's ....

the dog den.

The trash cans are attached to the face of the door. and

 the new knobs are on the cabinet drawers. I was so lucky to find some that match fairly well and fit over the predrilled holes.

A day later the range hood was installed. Jeff has been waiting and waiting to see it in place. It's his internet purchase, and he's very proud of it. It's big enough that I can imagine my hair 'standing on end' when I turn it on. It still needs some trim - and the cook top - but we know it fits.

Our friend, Barb Clouse, told us we would know they were ready to build our house when the Port-a-John was on site. Getting the PODS at home says we really are going to move.

The puppies' first birthday was the 30th, so, of course, we had to celebrate. Since we were in France for Ed's 10th on October 1st, he was included in the celebration. If you know Ed, you know there is NO way he will be excluded from a food event! 

Before -

attempting a group photo. This is the best of the bunch.

It's a good thing we don't know what Ed is thinking.

The best part - hamburgers without the candles.

We spent New Years Eve with our neighbor, Stephanie and her three wonderful boys. The twins, Liam and Charles will be 8, and Bennett is 5 going on 18. Liam made it to midnight, Bennett to about 11, and Charles was asleep before we got there.

Liam

Bennett the Magnificent - and he glows in the dark.

Just before he crashed.

Stephanie looking awesome as usual!

As if the New Year's Eve party wasn't enough excitement, we all went flying on New Year's Day. It was Bennett's first flight ever, and the twins' second - their first was when they were 1. They loved it. I cannot begin to describe their reaction when we took off. Luckily Jeff can mute the sound from the passenger's headsets! 

In the car heading to the airport

Jeff and his co-pilots. They love Jeff. Often the boys come to the house just so they can watch bull-riding and MotoCross with him. Actually, they come over when he isn't there and watch re-runs.

Taking off ...

They were so much fun to watch.

A short video of their reactions -

Our lunch stop in Ocean Isle is pretty much a locals bar and grill. The boys had a great time playing Corn Hole and wrestling in the sand. Luckily it was a warm, sunny day so we could eat outside. The guys at the bar inside were NOT thrilled with the boys playing pool while they were watching a football game. Also, it is THE smokiest place, and the boys loudly talked about how badly it smelled. "Out of the mouths of babes"...

Trouble in one cute package.

Taking off for the second time held as much magic as the first time.

They loved wearing the headsets and talking to each other.

The boys provided the music for the flight - 

Here's a short clip of Bennett and Charles singing their favorite song -

Stephanie co-piloted - best part is she didn't have to listen to the boys. All she wants for Christmas is a set of noise cancelling headphones and a mute button!

Nothing happened yesterday (Friday) at the house except Jeff noticed the garbage disposals (luckily still in the box) were not the InSinkErator models that we chose AND paid for - an up charge, of course.  Instead they were very inexpensive basic Whirlpool models. Supposedly all will be fixed on Monday. If he didn't notice the box, ....

 Hopefully there will be more house news in the next installment and no glitches to report. We meet with the landscaping people on Wednesday. They are pushing to order plants and install them, but we can't see how or why they want to do that before the patio and fence are in place. We shall see.