What Are You Doing Here?

Nick and I both beat the snow to Connecticut on Tuesday night.  With the winter storm brewing, I was happy we booked his ticket home for Tuesday instead of Wednesday.  Nick was missed by everyone, but especially by Jenny. She had not seen him since August.  She followed him around all weekend.

 

 

Wednesday night we celebrated Jack’s birthday. Bernie made cupcakes utilizing the chocolate Lego guys as decorations.

 

 

Thanksgiving was quiet.  It was the five of us plus my mom and my mother-in-law.  We celebrated Jack’s birthday one final time.  Bernie made an awesome Emmett cake.  The Lego man was made out of chocolate. Fondant was used as the mouth, construction stripes, belt, and pocket.  Bernie also made little wax Lego man candles for Jack to blow out. Jack loved the gifts he received but was sad that his cousins were not able to celebrate with him.

 

 

 

Friday was freezing. It was also the day we decided to pick out our Christmas tree. We headed to the Lebanon Christmas Tree Farm so that we could also see Santa.  Jack and Vivi were both too afraid of him to get very close. This was Vivi’s choice of tree:

 
This is the tree we all agreed was perfect:

 

 

 

When we got home, we left the tree in the driveway for a few hours.  Vivi was very concerned that her Christmas Tree was cold. We eventually brought it in and started decorating.

Pinterest Fail - LOL

 

 

 

On Saturday, my brother, sister-in-law, nephew, and niece came over to see Nick and say Happy Birthday to Jack.  Little Alex is growing way too fast.  She wanted to play with Vivi’s toys.  Vivi was not happy about sharing.

 

Codi has grown very tall seemingly overnight. We thought for sure he was taller than Nick, but he still has a few inches to go. He might catch him by Christmas at the rate he is going.

 

Today we met our good friend Carolyn at Rocky Neck to take our family picture for our Christmas cards.  It is difficult to get everyone looking in the same direction and smiling at the camera at the same time, especially the dog.  My fingers are crossed that we have at least one good picture.  It was a warm, beautiful day.  Nick suggested that next year we take the picture during the summer, but we could not have asked for better weather.

Carolyn is a saint for agreeing to help us with this endeavor every year.

 

 
The beach provided a stunning backdrop.  Jack just wanted to play in the sand.

 

  

 

 
This afternoon, I  dropped Nick off at the train station.  He is on his way back to school.  It was so nice having him with us.   While he was here, Vivi kept asking him: “what are you doing here?”  When he was getting ready to leave, she was visibly sad and gave him a big hug.  This has been a big transition for all of us.  As hard as it is to send him back to college, he is doing great. He is involved with many groups and activities, he is enjoying his classes, he is happy.  I am thankful that his college career is off to a good start, and that we were able to have a few days with him.   Many thanks to my dad for retrieving Nick on the other end and bringing him back to campus.

Nick will be back home in a few weeks for Christmas break, something to which we are all looking forward.  Before the break, he will have to get through his first set of final exams, auditions for the shows for next semester, and three performances of “High School the Musical.”  He is playing Chad in an off-campus production.  He has a lot on his plate, but we know he will do amazing! 

We love you, Nick.  Break a leg!