Even more snow!

Sunday, Dec. 16

We got about 8 more inches of snow last night! Tim made it to his bus for New York, and the drive to NY was only 6.5 hours!! At least it was a limoliner - Tim says he was very comfortable! The kids and I ventured out to build a snowman and play in the snow. All three kids love the snow. Rachel, Jamie, and I threw snowballs at each other.

Jamie jumped into a snowbank that was up to his waist! David waded in and lost a snow boot once, but it didn't deter his enjoyment of the snowy day.

Yesterday we all got our first experience with sledding. We walked down the street to the resovior and the fun took off from there. David really had a good time sledding! He's very brave about riding down even big hills on our little plastic sled. He gets to go sledding at preschool, and the teachers all say that he can't get enough of it. David thanks God for playing in the snow each night during our bedtime prayers.

We're also aclimating to the cooler temperatures up here. Yesterday the high was in the 20s, and it was cold. Today the highs were in the mid 30s and it almost felt warm. We're going to feel like we've gone to the tropics when we're home for Christmas!

Snow Day? Of course not!

12 inches of snow? No problem! Plows work all night, sanding crews all morning, and it's business as usual in Belmont. Two immigrants from Alabama are a little disappointed, but the third is glad to have a day to play with his buddies at preschool! Now Daddy just has to go dig the car out...






Here goes Jamie walking to school in snow up to his knees!

Sometimes one should heed the warning...

And this was one of those times!

At 1:00 this afternoon, the ground was clear, and it began to snow.

By 6:00 this evening, we had received almost a foot of snow.

Welcome to New England!

Jamie made it home first, a little after 2pm:


Rachel was delayed about 30 minutes due to the weather (pretty tough commute for less than a mile):



I had a four hour commute to get home tonight, but that was nothing compared to many. If you are curious, check out the stories on myfoxboston.com!

Here are a few more pictures, just to give you a feel of what we were hit with:









But, true to that New England can do spirit, the Boston Public Schools stayed open until the normal end of the school day (3pm).

Will post more after the sun comes up!

HEAVY SNOW WARNING

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A HEAVY SNOW WARNING...

A SHORT DURATION BUT HIGH IMPACT SNOWFALL WILL AFFECT SOUTHEAST AND CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE MASS PIKE THURSDAY AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 TO 10 INCHES ARE LIKELY...WITH MOST OF THE SNOW FALLING IN A 6 HOUR PERIOD.

SNOW IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AROUND NOON IN THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY... SPREADING EAST ACROSS SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS DURING THE EARLY AFTERNOON. THE SNOW WILL QUICKLY BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES AND SNOWFALL RATES MAY REACH 1 TO 3 INCHES PER HOUR FOR A TIME DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. THIS WILL HAVE A MAJOR IMPACT ON THE EVENING RUSH HOUR AS THE HEAVIEST SNOW AND LOWEST VISIBILITIES WILL BE DURING THIS TIME.

A HEAVY SNOW WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN AN AVERAGE OF 6 OR MORE INCHES OF SNOW IS EXPECTED IN A 12 HOUR PERIOD OR FOR 8 OR MORE INCHES IN A 24 HOUR PERIOD. TRAVEL WILL BE SLOW AT BEST ON WELL TREATED SURFACES...AND QUITE DIFFICULT ON ANY UNPLOWED OR UNTREATED SURFACES.

More Snow!!

Monday, Dec. 3
David missed school because of snow on that day! It began snowing on Sunday night. We all bundled up and went for a walk in the neighborhood - in the snow. The kids immediately made snowballs and threw them at each other. David and Rachel made snow angels on the driveway. Rachel was so cute! When hers was finished, and she stood up to look at it, she said, " So that's whey they're called snow angels!"
Belmont schools are apparently like Hartselle schools used to be and didn't close or have a delayed opening. It snowed on and off all day, but the roads were fine. David and I even went out to the grocery store. I was amused at the work of the road crew. They didn't come scrape our road until after the school bus had run! When Jamie came home from school, he stayed outside and built a good sized snowman. Rachel and David also built one when she got home. As of today (Sunday 12-9) there is still snow on the ground. The temperature did not get above freezing until Saturday. We even got another sprinkling on Friday night. On Saturday, the high was in the upper 30s - it's amazing how warm that feels after a week of below freezing!! There is a prediction of snow for tonight with a possible accumulation of 1-3 inches and we are under a winter advisory.

Mom's visit Nov.18 - 28

We did so much on mom's visit!! It started out with a day at MIT and then Rachel's first violin concert. Rachel's group played three songs: Hot Cross Buns, Juba, and Mary Had a Little Lamb. And they were all recognizable!! The concert started with the beginners and went all the way through to the high school string orchestra - which was very good!
On Tuesday, Mom ate lunch with Rachel and we had some snow.

Wednesday was taken up with shopping and errands to get ready for Thanksgiving. The kids and I also took mom out to Concord to see the Old North Bridge and the Minuteman Statue.

Thursday was a very nice day! We got up and watched the Macy's Day Parade and got busy in the kitchen. We had 7 adults and 8 children for Thanksgiving Dinner. We invited two families from Korea to join us. They had never had a traditional Thanksgiving before. I told them that we were having a traditional southern Thanksgiving meal. We served turkey, mom's dressing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, tossed salad, rolls, and sweet tea. I also had hot dogs for the kids. The turkey and mashed potatoes were the biggest crowd pleasers - even with the kids! After lunch, we decided to take our traditional after turkey walk. We walked up to the playground at Chenery and let the kids run and play. The kids and dads even got into an impromptu game of soccer. We came back to the house and had dessert: pumpkin pie, pecan pie, chocolate chip cookies, and pumpkin cake. It was lots of fun to share our traditions with new folks and see them through new eyes. My favorite part of the day came when our guests were leaving. I asked if they wanted some turkey to take home with them, and the 6-year-old son of one of the families gave a resounding "yes!" It made me feel good!
That evening, we went to the movies to see Enchanted, which we all really enjoyed. So we ate popcorn for dinner.
On Saturday, we took the commuter rail in to Boston - to the North End to eat at Boston's oldest pizzaria - Pizzaria Regina's. Then we went to see the First Church of Christ, Scientist - not to be confused with scientology which is completely different. The church is huge and beautiful! We also visited the Maparium in the Mary Baker Edy library. The Maparium is a huge stained glass globe that you go inside to look at and see a multi-media presentation. The acoustics inside are neat too, because you're inside a huge glass ball and the sound carries around the curves.

After the Maparuim, mom and I split off from Tim and the kids to go to the Isabella Stuart Gardner museum. It is an amazing art museum full of items collected by Isabella Gardner. It's the museum that had the robbery and had many famous paintings - including a Vermeer - stolen. The museum has left those places blank with a notice about what piece of artwork should have been there. Very sad!
On Sunday, we ventured out to Salem. We went to the Salem Witch Museum where we learned about the history of the witch trials. We ate lunch at the Salem Beer Works, and Tim had a Blueberry microbrew (Bunker Hill Blueberry Ale)- complete with rising and falling blueberries!

After Salem, we drove on out to Rockport,MA. It was a very cold day!! We stopped in for hot chocolate after wandering down to the point. On the way home, we stopped at Jordan's furniture to see the liquid fireworks and get some ice cream.
On Tuesday, Mom, David, and I took a trolley tour of Boston. That was lots of fun! We ate lunch at Cheer's in Quincy Market. That night, we went out to Stone Zoo to see the Zoolights. It was a nice stroll through the zoo to see lots of Christmas lights, but it doesn't hold a candle to Huntsville Botanical Garden's Galaxy of Lights!!
On Wednesday, I took mom to the airport. Sniff! Sniff!! It was very sad to send her home!! The kids even commented that afternoon how they missed coming home to having Grannie there.
Jamie has begun the countdown to going home for Christmas!! It will be here sooner than we think!

Friday, November 9

Ok, we have to go back in time a little! I realized that I didn't write about the field trip I took with Rachel's class. We went to Plimouth Plantation - a living history museum of the Plimouth settlement in the year 1627. It was a terrific trip! I was so excited about getting to go because of my years teaching third grade. We used to study the first Thanksgiving and show a video about Plimouth Plantation. The books Sarah Morton's Day and Samuel Eaton's Day were also made from photographs taken there. This year I actually got to go and experience the real thing! Rachel and I enjoyed it so much, we took the boys back on Monday (Veteran's Day).

They had a good time too! I really could have stayed all day long and just talked to the "re creators" and asked question after question!! Tim and Jamie got into a long conversation with a man putting the thatched roof on a new house.

Rachel's favorite part was the Wampanoag home site - the recreation of the home site of the man the Wampanoag leaders sent to Plimouth as an "ambassador" of sorts.

The kids also got to try their hands at some colonial games.

Let it snow!!

Tuesday, November 20












We got our first snowfall today!! There were snow showers that started at around 10:30 and lasted until about 1:00. There wasn't much accumulation because it was above freezing - so the final results looked like an Alabama snow (just in November).















My mom is here visiting for Thanksgiving, and we were at TJ Maxx when it started. Other people in the check-out line were groaning at the snow, but we were excited! Mom says that we're probably the only aduts in town excited to see the snow. She ate lunch at school with Rachel today and said that the girls were all so excited. They went out for recess after lunch and Rachel later told me that they built two very small snowmen. David enjoyed the snow too. We had a friend with us today and the boys had a great time making footprints on the driveway!


This past weekend, Jamie and Tim went for their first campout with the Boy Scouts here. It was a chiller!!












The troop has land up in New Hampshire, and the low on Saturday night was around 25. So, Jamie has earned his polar badge for camping in below freezing temperatures. The other parents told Tim that that wasn't cold. It's really cold on the February freeze campout!!
Tim says that Jamie had a very good time and made some good connections with some of the boys in his troop. I'm so glad that he is finding a place here!


Also on Saturday night was the International Festival at Sloan. It was a terrific party where the fellows made booths with decorations, information, and most importantly - food- from their home countries. The children were given "passports" which were signed by the person manning each booth. Rachel had a great time going all over the world! Tim and I ate way too much!! I tried to go easy and ask each fellow which offering was his/her favorite food, but they all said, "You have to try everything!" So, even limiting myself to only a bite of each, I still got stuffed. We even had Turkish Delight from Turkey!! It was much better than what I had made for supper club last year! This was more like a bland jellybean covered in powdered sugar. There was also chocolate Turkish Delight, but I didn't get a piece of that. My favorite thing was the Bakalava!!









Mom arrived on Sunday, and we took her to eat at Bertucci's - one of our favorite places here (even if it is a chain). On Monday, Mom and I got to go to a lecture/lunch at MIT. The speaker was from the Media Lab at MIT and has done a lot of work with music and technology. He was fascinating!! Mom got to meet several of the fellows at the lunch. She also got the experience of riding the "T", but her expreience was actually too good. We had an almost perfect trip - not too crowded and not having to wait for the buses and train.

Tuesday, November 6

Ok, it has been two very busy weeks!!

My Uncle Steve (Jabe) from Silverhill, AL was in town for a conference. So he came over for dinner on Thursday, Oct 25. We had a very nice visit over some delicious potato soup (my first of the season). We also had Don (our landlord) up for dinner. The conversation was very interesting and we lingered at the table over coffee and pumpkin cake.

The MIT Children's Halloween party(Sat, Oct.27) was a great success.

Even though it was raining the whole day. We had over 50 children and their parents attend. The kids seemed to have a good time eating, playing the games, and joining in the costume parade around the student center. They even learned the songs "5 Little Pumpkins" and "The Old Woman All Skin and Bones". Jamie was a big hit as the mad scientist!!

On Monday, the kids and I set to work carving our pumpkins. We called the family from Finland to see if they wanted to join us to see how to do it. It's funny to think that traditions that are so common here aren't held all over. But, they had never carved pumpkins before.
They eagerly accepted the invitation. So, we had 2 moms and 5 kids carving 4 pumpkins. Minna said the the inside of the pumpkin was totally different from what she had expected.
David's pumpkin was a Mickey face, Jamie's was a frog, and Rachel's was scary. It was a lot of fun to share the tradition with a new family. Minna says that her daughter, Kia, loves Halloween and wants to know how many more days till the next one.

The adult Halloween party (on Tuesday) was also a lot of fun. It was at a candle pin bowling alley. I was a little leary of the venue at first, but it was a very fun party! Candle pin bowling was fun - it's a smaller ball with no finger holes and you get three balls per frame. My score wasn't much better than in regular bowling, though. The shoes - are the same glorious things!!
Tim and I went as Gandalf and Galadriel from Lord of the Rings. Our costumes were fairly well received, but many of our foreign fellows were unfamiliar with the characters.

Tim's Uncle Marvin passed away this week. So, he made a mad dash home to Alabama for the funeral. He really enjoyed seeing everyone. It was his first trip back south in about 6 months - almost as long as he was in Japan in '91. His most interesting comment was that all of the raido dj's sounded weird! He has grown accustomed to hearing that New England accent over the airways. I, on the other hand, occasionally tune in to the streaming audio of "Rick and Bubba" just to get an earful of home.

Halloween was fun. Both Jamie and Rachel had half-days of school (they will for the rest of the month to allow for parent/teacher conferences). We had a skype call with Grannie, Beth, JT and Aunt Kiki to let the kids see each other in costume. This is the first year they haven't been with them for at least a pre-Halloween party. Afterward, we went to my friend Susan's house for pizza and trick-or-treating.

There are two differences I noticed in trick-or-treating in Belmont vs Hartselle or Cullman:

1) we had to climb stairs to get to almost every house, and 2) the kind of loot you get. The kids all came home with multiple full-sized chocolate bars, and the rest of their candy is probably 80% chocolate!! Yummy, but mom has hit the bags too hard. I just can't bear to see all those Reeces cups go to waste, since none of my kids like them!! To finish off the evening, we stopped in on Jan and Don. They were glad to see the kids in their costumes, and even took a couple of photos. We have been so blessed by our housing situation here!!

Tim came home on Thursday night, but had to leave for England Friday morning for his friend Paul's retirement celebration.
Friday night was the MIT Japanese party. There are a lot of Japanese families in the Sloan Fellows! They served sushi, California rolls, teryaki chicken, Kirin beer, moshi, and Japanese desserts. Rachel really liked the teryaki chicken! I experimented with several kinds of sushi and California rolls. David didn't eat anything! Rachel ended up going home with Esther, a Sloan kid from Brazil, to spend the night and all day Saturday.

It was cold and rainy all day on Saturday (Nov3)!! We started our day with a trip to the food pantry to donate the canned food we collected at the children's Halloween party. (Jamie has to do 12 hours of community service for school this year. I think it's great!! Jamie keeps asking me if it's legal for the school to force them to do community service. What a cheerful giver! That afternoon, the boys and I went to see The Bee Movie with some friends from Korea. It was cute, but not just fabulous. We ended the day with a trip to the mall and dinner at McDonald's. Then we picked up Rachel and headed home.

Sunday, Nov.4, we got up and went to church. The sermon was really good this Sunday. It was about Zaccheaus and how his story opens the doors to all people, no matter what their past or present circumstances. Then we had communion and sang "One Bread, One Body" - a hymn I actually knew!! The church is going to do a couple of Wednesday night classes on keeping proper focus during the holidays, and I hope to go. After lunch, we went out to the Belmont Habitat ( an Audubon nature preserve) to help with the fall trails day - to get more community service hours in. We all enjoyed working outside. Tim was back home when we got back home, and was ready to get outside for awhile. So, we went to Middlesex Fells to do a little hiking before dark. We hiked up to a tower and were rewarded with a fabulous view of Boston right at sunset. We ate dinner at Chili's - the closest thing to Las Vias' chips and salsa we've found up here. Then we went to Jordan's Furniture. Sound like a strange destination? Well, it's more like an amusement park than a furniture store!! Inside are an IMAX theater, a trapeze school, Fudruckers, an ice cream parlor (they had pumpkin ice cream!!), a huge candy store, some arcade games, strollers that are like taxis, and a musical fountain show (like at Disney Epcot) with lights and music and "liquid fireworks". It was really amazing!! Oh, there was also a recreation of Boston Public garden, the capital, and Fenway's green monster - all done in Jelly Bellys. It makes me want to buy some furniture!! We did walk around and look at furniture a little, and the kids all found new bedroom furniture they want to have back in Alabama. I think that we'll wait until March to buy, though. This is the place that promised that any furniture purchased last March would be free if the Red Sox won the World Series. I wonder if they'll do it again. . .
Speaking of the Sox, the McKelvy's have all caught Red Sox fever. Especially Jamie! He watched parts of several games in the division championship and the world series. The world series games were all on late, though, they started at 8:30 Boston time. Tim and I stayed up late several nights watching to see how our team would do. Jamie even worked out a system with Tim to leave the hall lights on if the Sox won and turn them off if they lost. That's one thing we'll definitely be bringing back home to Alabama - baseball team we root for.

Wednesday, October 24

Golly Pete! I just can't seem to keep up with it all! We've been all about the children's Halloween party around here: ordering supplies, coordinating getting everything done, getting head-counts via email, etc. It looks like we're going to have about 65 kids at the party. A terrific response, but way more kids than I thought. So, I had to go back and order more of everything for the party. Plus, Tim and I have been trying to figure out what we're going to be for the adult party. I think we've finally settled on Gandalf and Galadriel from LOTR (even though they're not really a pair). The kids' costumes have all come in and all fit, thank goodness!! They're going to be so cute!
We've done so much since my last post! And I still haven't filled in the details of our trip Columbus Day weekend. Ok, here goes a quick rundown.

Columbus Day Weekend Trip

We left on Saturday after the kids got out of Saturday Music School and drove up to Bethel, ME. It is in the northern section of the Appalacian mountain range. The AT actually crosses over the road where we were hiking! There was a message board for hikers, and one of the notices there informed hikers that the last day to ferry across the river was that weekend.

We stayed in a country inn called the Sudbury Inn. It was very nice!! We ate dinner at the Pub there in the inn and enjoyed live music while we ate.

Our room had a whirlpool tub, which the kids thoroughly enjoyed! We put a little shampoo in the water and turned on the jets, and there were suds everywhere!!

On Sunday, we got up and drove to Sunday River Ski Resort where they were having a fall festival. There were games for the kids, a craft show, and free ski lift rides up the mountain. Rachel and David both got knit hats to help them keep warm this winter, but they came in handy on the chair lift ride too. It was quite chilly up at the top! We rode up as high as we could go and then walked around a little. David got his first chance to "teetee" on a tree while up top. He thought it was really cool. Ah, boys and their simple pleasures. You just gotta love 'em!

We also visited a covered bridge that day.

It's called Artist Bridge because it is so picturesque. Jamie picked up a friend down at the creek - a large rock which he named "Milkshake". Yes, he brought home a Maine river rock as his souvenier. Then we went for a very nice hike out to a waterfall. Jamie and Rachel had a terrific time exploring the rocks. Tim and I just loved being out in the woods! The leaves are turning here, there is lots of color, but not quite peak. Still, quite beautiful!

On Monday, we took the Mount Washington auto road tour. It's a driving tour up to the peak of Mt Washington, known for having the world's worst weather. And it did!! The day was cold, windy, and cloudy. At the peak, we had no visibility! I would say it was about 50ft. We still enjoyed going to the top and having hot chocolate to get warm. There is a weather observation station up top and a museum too. We did see a few nice views on the way up and down the mountain. At the bottom of the mountain, there was a museum of all the modes of transporation used to travel the road (stage coach, woody, cars, and vans). Jamie also got to do a climb on a rock wall there. He made it all the way to the top and rang the bell while we all cheered him on!

On Tuesday, we tried to go do a corn maze, but it was closed. Then we tried to go to the Sabbaday Shaker village, but it too was closed. So, we drove over to the coast to see the ocean. We went to the little town of Old Orchard Beach where almost everything had closed for the season the day before. It looked a lot like Gulf Shores or Panama City, but a ghost town version. We did find a spot to eat that stays open year round. It was really interesting to see that the seaside towns in Maine really do roll up the sidewalks after the first of October. After that, we decided we'd just better head home. It was a good trip all in all, even if the last day was a little strange.

Thursday, October 11

How in the world did it get to be October???? We've gotten into good routines here in Belmont. All the kids are enjoying school. David even likes the toys at his school so much that he doesn't want to go home when I pick him up!! Rachel is loving riding the bus and continues to make new friends. Currently she and her friend Emily are busily planning a Halloween party. It's supposed to be at Emily's house, but we'll see. Jamie still enjoys the independence of riding his bike to and from school. He has also gotten an after-school job. He takes the landdog (our landlord's poodle) for a walk every weekday afternoon and makes $1 a day. He is a very responsible employee, and this first job should look quite good on his resumee!

I have been busy with working on the children's Halloween party for SF08. I have a committee full of willing helpers none of whom celebrate Halloween in their home countries. I feel right at home as the "Halloween expert". My friend Susan (the coast guard wife) has actually jumped in and is helping out too. We're doing a party like a carnival with games, crafts, and a costume parade through the student center. I've also introduced a whole group of women to Oriental Trading Company. That was fun!! Too bad I don't get a commission!

I've also nailed down my children on what they're going to be for Halloween and ordered their costumes. David is going to be "Rocket" from Little Einsteins, Rachel is going to be Clepoatra, and Jamie is going to be the young Tom Riddle (it about killed me to order a Slytherin robe and tie). He is quickly making his way to the end of HP book 6 and says that he's going to jump right in to book 7. I won't be surprised if he's finished by Christmas.

Family wise, we've done lots of hiking over the past two weeks. The last weekend in September, we discovered the Belmont Habitat (a Mass Audobon reserve) just a few miles from our house. There are lots of trails to walk on and the weather was beautiful the last weekend of Sept. We took a picnic lunch out on Saturday and ate in a field, under a tree. There is also a house you can tour, but it was closed due to hosting a wedding that day.
The two families from Mexico from SF08 hosted a Mexican Fiesta that same weekend. They really went all out!! Tim came home with a sombrerro, me with moraccas, and the kids with goodie bags. The food was catered by an authentic Mexican restruant. It was very good, but a little different from Las Vias.

Jamie and Rachel have both started Saturday Morning Music School - a music/band/orchestra program held at Chenery Middle School. Rachel is still enjoying her violin, but is tired of just plucking it. She's ready to bow!! Jamie has started drumming all over the place. We may end up with a drummer yet. Time will tell.

We had a long holiday weekend October 6-9, so we decided to head up to Maine in hopes of seeing fall color and maybe a moose. The trees were in high color (not quite peak) and georgeous!! No luck on the moose, though. Well, maybe next time. I'll write more about all the details of the trip in my next posting. Until then. . . God bless!!

Monday, Sept. 25

My, how the time just flies by! We've had a good week here in Mass. The weather has been quite nice. Sunny and warmer for the past week.

David and I took a day trip to Drumlin Farms on Tuesday. It is a Mass. Audubon preserve area that operates like a real farm. There are lots of animals - farm, native species of birds, and other forest critters. We went with a few friends from MIT - Susan, Mina, Natalia, Misha, Kumiko, and Hiromi - plus kids. It was a lovely day!! The weather was nice and cool for the first part of the day, so David had to wear long sleeves (his new Buzz shirt). It warmed up a lot as it was sunny and clear.

We visited the animals and took a hay ride around the farm. One of David's favorite parts was the garden where they had places for kids to dig and tools to dig with.

He was all about the dirt!! It was very traumatic to leave it to go see the chickens. But, in the end, he enjoyed looking for the crowing rooster (there was one in the coop). Then we had a picnic lunch and took a hike up to the top of the Drumlin. You're supposed to be able to see the Boston skyline from there, but there was too much foliage that day.

Jamie began drum/mallet lessons on Wednesday. His teacher actually lives just up the street, so we'll walk to lessons for as long as we can stand the weather. On Thursday, Rachel got her violin. (We're renting a violin and a drum set for the year.) Belmont schools begin a strings program in 3rd grade, so she'll have lessons once a week at school. She was trying to play every time I turned around on Thursday! At one point, she apologized, but I told her that I was glad she couldn't keep her hands off the violin. I hope that it continues!! Tim says that he was the same way with his first trumpet (age 6).

On Friday, the partners got to attend a class with the Fellows. We went to macroeconomics lecture given by a crazy Venezuelan. He's actually an excellent teacher! He has lots of energy and is very enjoyable. He did a simulation of what happens when there is a run on a bank - and how that system works. I learned a lot! Afterward, we had dinner with the Fellows and Partners. The kids had a new babysitter, whom they liked very much. I got her from an online babysitting service called sitter city. You register and then can search for babysitters in your area, read their profiles, check references, etc. It's a nice way to find a sitter when you don't know any!!

On Saturday, we had a lazy morning at home. Then around lunch time we set out for an overnight adventure. Rachel has been asking to stay in a cabin all summer. So, we drove up to New Hampshire in search of one. We found a cute place in Weirs Beach - the cabins are actually owned by a family from Louisiana. They relocated after the Hurricane Andrew evacuation. We got to have a fire, as the nights are very cool in NH, and we made smores. We even got to watch the Alabama game on ESPN. Jamie asked about getting to watch the game before we even brought it up. It's so much fun having another Bama football fan in the house!! Even David enjoyed watching the game. He cheered with us at all the appropriate times. I just hate that it had to end the way it did. Oh well, it was still a pretty good game.

We also got a new member of the family on Saturday. Brian and Kirsten had their baby - a girl. Everyone did just fine!

Sunday morning we got up and drove farther north to Franconia Notch State Park.

What a great way to welcome the fall!! We hiked in the Flume Gorge. It was so pretty.

And the leaves smelled so good.

The skies were a beautiful blue, and the maples are all changing color.

It was a little cooler than we expected, but we warmed up while hiking. After hiking for a couple of hours, we went to ride the cable car up Cannon Mountain.

It was freezing at the top!!! And extremely windy! We walked around the rim of the mountain and up to the observation deck. It was really neat to walk the path through the small evergreen trees on top of the mountain. And it smelled like Christmas!! Tim pointed out that this is probably what Clingman's Dome in the Smoky Mts. would have looked like before the trees there died. An amazing thought. David and I could hardly stand to be up at the top of the observation deck. The wind was so strong and cold (and out of the north)! We headed down fairly quickly and found shelter in the trees - but in a sunny spot to try to get warm. Once the whole family joined us, we went back down to the snack bar and had hot chocolate all around. After that, we went looking for a place to let the kids play putt putt. We found a spot in Lincoln - Hobo golf. Jamie got his first hole in one and was so excited!! Then we headed back home.