SWAT TEAM AWARDS

Recently Jim retired from the SWAT TEAM he was on in Ohio and yestereday he received these two awards from them.

Addy Visits Santa

On December 8th we went to the Dairylea Christmas party where Addy met Santa for the first time. She was quite interested in Jolly Old Saint Nick.

Lunch With Jack

Yesterday Jack, Jim and I were fortunate enough to be able to enjoy a free lunch at the new restaurant "Gordon Biersch" that will be opening to the public on Monday. It is located in the "Canyon" section of Destiny USA . Someone Jack knows made it possible for us to be part of this. The food was really good and the service was exceptional. While we were there Jack and Jim did some exploring of the new "Wonder Works" that is located in this section. There were a few people trying out the "ropes course" and two of them were having a hard time getting up their nerve. They had started out and appeared to be frozen in place half way through. After Jack left to go to work Jim and I went and saw the new James Bond movie before coming home. All in all we had a really nice day.

Emily's Birthday

  On Saturday , November 24th, we celebrated Emily's Birthday ( a few days early). Jim and Cathy and the boys were still here so the whole family was together. Emily had chosen soup and sandwiches for her Birthday dinner and a Butterfinger Pie for dessert. Jim made Potato Soup which was delicious.He ground up the left-over turkey for Turkey Salad plus we had Ham and Roast Beef for the sandwiches with lots of cheese and other "fixings". The Butterfinger Pie was so good and is definetly a keeper. Since the grandkids were all here we were able to get some pictures of them together.

 

 

 

Thanksgiving

Better late than never. Jim and I hosted Thanksgiving this year and there were 25 of us. Jim and Cathy and the boys made it up from Ohio but Jeremy and Emily were in Hancock with Emily's family so we weren't quite complete. We had a great day with lots of delicious food ( Jim's Turkey was exceptional) and great conversation. It was warm enough for some of the kids to play outside on the swings, Teeter Totter and Merry-go-Round. I think everyone had a great time.

National Firefighter's Convention-Atlanta Georgia

Last week Jim ( my son)  traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to attend the anual Firefighter's Convention. He had a good week seeing all that is new not only in equipment but computer softwear also. During his down time he did some sightseeing and was able to visit the Coke Museum. One night the convention had reserved the Atlanta Braves Baseball stadium, Turner Field, for the evening. They were able to tour the facilities and see the grounds. Of the 500+ attendees only a handful had attended the last eight years in a row and those persons had their names in lights on the scoreboard. Jim was one of these.

Jim and Jack Go Hiking In Selkirk

On Thursday, September 20th , Jim and Jack hiked into Selkirk to check on the geocaches. They also went down to the lake. Jim said it was very quiet in the park with very few campers even though it is Salmon Season.

Josh Gets His Hunter Safety Certificate

Last weekend Jim took Josh to the Hunter Safety course so he could get his hunting certifiacte. Surprisingly this is not required for a hunting license in Ohio like it is in New York but Jim wisely decided it was something Josh should do anyway. Later in the year Ohio has a weekend where the young kids can hunt for a deer as long as they are with a licensed hunter and only the kid can have a gun. The adult is there to supervise-not hunt. Josh is so excited to have a chance to go hunting. Jim knows a few people who have rural land that they can hunt on. Josh got 91% on his written test which is fantastic!

Jennifer Spends The Day With Addy

 On Friday, September 14th, Jennifer took a vacation day and she spent the day with Addy. After picking Addy up they went to Jennifer's house where they made cookies. After a nap and some lunch they went to the pool for a swim. I don't know who enjoyed the day more-Jennifer or Addy!

Jack and Jim Go Hiking

On September 13th Jack and Jim drove up to the Adirondacks to hike to the Vanderwhacker Fire Tower. It was about a four hour trip one way but it was a nice day for a drive. There is also a lot of Teddy Roosevelt history in this area so Jim enjoyed seeing that too. For more information on the area check out Jack's blog:www.JDoubleU.net

Jim's Birthday

Jim turned 69 on September 4th and this past Sunday we celebrated his Birthday. He had his usual requests of Hot Dogs ( Hoffman, of course) potato salad, sweet corn and his favorite Birthday cake which is home made Angel food cake with chocolate whipped cream. Jack, Jeremy, Emily, Addy, and Jennifer helped him celebrate and after dinner they even did some target shooting. All in all he had a great day.







Road Trip

Yesterday, September 6th, Jim, Jack and I took a road trip up to Stillwater where Jim and Jack climbed the Fire Tower on Stillwater Mountain. After that we drove up to Inlet and into the Moose River Recreation Area to have a picnic lunch. The roads into this area are as bad or worse than we remembered from our last trip in. We zigged and zagged around the large stones and boulders until we reached the Red River where we found a picnic table. As usual when we picnic in the woods we shared our space with a forest critter but instead of a squirrel or chipmunk this time it was a Butterfly. This butterfly kept landing on us or the cooler and when it was time to leave it had attached itself to Jim's shirt and didn't want to let go. We had quite a time getting in the car to leave without the butterfly coming too. After working our way out of the area Jim has decided he has made his last trip into Moose River. It's just too hard on the car and the tires.

House and Yard

After we finished mowing the lawn last week Jim took some pictures of the house and flowers. Everything always looks so nice right after the lawn is mowed.

Babysitting Addy

Last Saturday Jeremy and Emily went on a "date" day to celebrate their Anniversary so Jim and I got to babysit Addy. Jim and Josh joined us for awhile until it was time for them to head back to Ohio. We had so much fun and Addy is such a sweet baby. I think we got the best part of that deal. Who wants to shop when you can spend time with your sweet Grandbaby.

Jim and Josh Visit

A week or so ago Jim and Josh came for a visit and to go to the New York State Fair which has become an annual tradition. We were sorry that Cathy and Chris couldn't come too but alas, they both had to work. On Monday that week we went to Watertown to have lunch with my Mom and so she could have a visit with them. Thursday was Fair day and they had a great time as always. In between a lot of time was spent on the target range getting the guns sighted in for the upcoming hunting season and just having fun.

Jim's Shed

This summer Jim has been busy building a small shed out back. When he started it was supposed to be a 3-sided lean -to for wood storage but as time went on it evolved into this neat shed that is big enough for wood and a lot more. I think he did a fantastic job and most of the wood was reclaimed from when we took the horse barn down a couple of years ago.

Lunch At Rudy's

A couple of weeks ago we had to go to Oswego so we decided to have lunch at Rudy's since the summer is about over and we still hadn't eaten there yet. It was really windy that day so we ended up having to eat inside but then took some pictures before we left. It was funny to watch the Sea Gulls try to fly. They more or less just hung in one spot no matter how hard they flapped their wings.

Jennifer Does the Iron Girl Triathalon /Heads To London

On Sunday Jennifer did the Iron Girl Triathalon for the second year in a row besting her last year's time by a bit. The race started about 7:30AM and she was done around 11:00AM. After the race she went home, grabbed her suitcase and headed to the airport for her flight to London where she will spend the next week taking in some of the Olympics as well as other sites in the area. Her trip started off on a sour note when the plane from Syracuse to Toronto was so late in leaving that she missed her connecting flight to London. She was able to get another plane in Toronto that left two hours later than her original flight and is now safely landed but her bags missed the flight.She hopes to get that by later today.