Christmas 2009

Family Time!

First stop, Memphis Tennessee for a couple of days at the new house. The night I arrived, Grandma and Grandpa Anstey drove in from Paris to spend a couple of days. It was really nice to see them and spend some uninterrupted time with them. It doesn't happen all that frequently anymore. As a tradition we always play board games after meals. I would say we are a little competitive as a bunch but the introduction of Bananagrams brought out grandpa's truly competitive side. I am holding firm that he was using his hearing as an excuse to not pick up tiles when someone yelled peel. But even with that advantage Grandma still used her scrabble skills and dominated almost all of the games.

After Grandma and Grandpa left, Dad and I wandered around, shopping and catching up while Mom attended some big shot board meetings and finished off a proposal that she was pushing the deadline on. One afternoon was spent driving around the lake and getting a good lay of the land. It would have been nicer from the pontoon boat but the weather was still a little chilly at 50 degrees.

Then off to Medina via car. Not the most ideal situation after sitting on a plane for many hours but I guess I should chock it up to quality time with the rents. Which it was and also quality time to finish off a couple of books.

The rest of the time was pretty typical. Days in Medina cooking and getting ready for the Christmas Eve festivities and then the Christmas day extravaganza at Aunt Sues. This year we added a little twist on Christmas Eve with a yankee swap. Thankfully, Aunt Sue is a genius and purchased gifts for Lizzie and Lauren so they could join in on the fun. I think they were the ones who made it the most interesting. They caught onto the concept very quickly, Lizzie had the first great steal from Brian, while Lauren contemplated keeping the money over the barbie doll in James' lap. He was a little nervous he was going to get stuck with a pink snuggie and barbies, but it all worked out in the end!

After a couple more days in Medina the reason for the extended visit took place. Katelin, James, Brian and I boarded a plane to New York City to celebrate Kate's 21st Birthday. Each of us took one evening and planned the events.

The first day was spent wandering around NYC to the Statue of Liberty and a little shopping

That evening, Katelin and I went out for a sushi dinner and to see The Phantom of the Opera!

After the play we jumped a cab and met up with Brian and his friends at a bar to finish off the evening.

The next day was spent wandering with Brian and James. Brian and James didn't have their shopping shoes on so Katelin and I had very successful shopping trips. I purchased a new coat and Kate found a pair of hot black boots.

Pushing to the limits, Kate and I got back to the hotel with about 45 minutes to spare before we were suppose to leave for dinner at a small Italian restaurant. Dinner was wonderful and one of the first times it was just the four of us. A very memorable experience and one I hope that we have in the future.

Then we met up with Cody and his friends at a bar before heading to Brian's portion of the birthday weekend..the Club. It was an experience is all I can say!

The Start of Winter

December 13

Celebrations are the theme of December and each year it is kicked off celebrating Carla's birthday. This one was a big one and we did it up right. A rather large group of us took off Grotto Bosco for a great meal before heading into Lugano to Underground to put on our dancing shoes.

Cheers

Happy Birthday Carla

ICS Basketball Tournament

Each year the day after Jen and I pick our varsity girls basketball team we head off on the road to Aiglon to play in our first basketball tournament. With this each year is a little surprise as to how we will perform, how the girls will hold up, and mainly how well they adapt to not having a single play against teams who are at the end of their seasons.

This year was great! During tryouts Jen and I kept saying to each other, these girls are really athletic. They really know how to move without the ball, this tournament could be a lot of fun. Then on a totally different note, we were really excited because it is our favorite tournament because of where we stay and how it kicks off our season on a very positive note.

We drove into the mountains on Friday night and stop at the base of a mountain. At this point we have to unload the bus of all of our bags and this year enough food to cook 3 meals. The place we stay is a rather large old home that consists of multiple floors of dorm style rooms, an attic where all of our girls were this year with rows of beds under the dormers, and a common area with a kitchen.

On Saturday morning, Jen and I wake up bright and early and make our breakfast. This year we got a little fancy and feasted on egg sandwiches. Then the girls start to stumble down stairs and we put them to work make a team breakfast of eggs and toast for 14. They really get into it taking different jobs of cracking eggs, making the toast, buttering the toast, cooking the eggs or dishwashers or driers. It is really amazing to watch a group of girls who have just been thrown together 24 hours before as a team and how they come together so quickly.

After breakfast and clean-up we got in a game of apples to apples which is a word association game. A very amusing interaction among the girls with the majority of them only understanding about half of the vocabulary and the jokes that were being made among some of our native English speakers.

Then comes the team picture out on the balcony of the hostel. A tradition Jen and I value and usually becomes our team picture for the year. This year the skies were not as blue but the beauty was still there.

Jen and I

The Team

Now off towards the ski resort and Aiglon college where the tournament is being held. We still don't know how it is going to turn out but we are hoping for the best. I must say it was rather successful. The girls played really well together, they listened to what we were teaching them on the fly and they talked a ton. The best teams weren't in attendance but it was a good warm-up for us. We ended up taking 3rd I believe.

After accepting our medals

High School Reunion

November 28, 2009

I took off for a long weekend in Michigan for Thanksgiving this year. My thinking was it may be the last time I am back in my home, I can hang out with my family a little bit and catch up, enjoy shopping, and with friends at my ten year reunion. Well, some of those things happened. I did have a very nice weekend, I enjoyed shopping on Black Friday, caught up with old friends, but unfortunately my parents moved to Memphis a couple weeks before I arrived.

However, the main highlight was the reunion at the community house.



One of the only pictures taken during the entire evening. So I guess you just have to believe me that I actually did catch up with other people as well.