Gram's Surprise visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus

One day Gram had mentioned to me that she was "too old to see Santa." She also told me that with her vision she wouldn't be able to "see him anyway." So last Sunday I had arranged for a special visitor to see her. Santa and Mrs. Claus brought her flowers, a Tops Gift Card, and the infamous "popcorn balls." The moment Santa and Mrs. Claus walked in the room she beamed! She said, "I have been waiting for you all my life." Santa quickly replied, "I remember when you were just a little girl." The smile on her face was absolutely priceless. They visited with her for about 10-15 minutes. She said she had always wanted to meet and "kiss" the real Santa. She listened attentively to Santa as Christmas was right around the corner. It was a wonderful visit and we are also so thankful that Cathy and Aunt Betsy (mom) were present to see Santa as well.
We knew that Santa and Mrs. Claus were extremely busy getting ready for the "Big Day." Words can not express the appreciation and gratitude we have for the both of them. They are an amazing couple that made Gram's day. So rest assured Gram, you are never Too Old to see Santa.
It was the end to a perfect Sunday for Gram. Later she told us that she "could spot his red suit a mile away."

10 Days and Counting

 Good Morning!
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas here at 1070. Thought you might want to see our freshly flocked tree. Turned out nice but we are still cleaning up the flocking mess. Hopefully we will be on top of it by Christmas.

And now down to business.

Unkie and I finally sat down and discussed what we will be feasting on come Christmas Day. Since you have so generously offered to help here is a list of what would be welcomed additions. Please talk among yourselves or draw straws-whatever works.

Small ham

Polish Sausage

Dressing (oyster or not)

Pies 1 or 2

Shrimp with cocktail sauce

The nog will be fermenting and the rum cake will be soaking.

The festivius will commence about 10:30. Appetizers, cocktails and airing of grievances followed by PirateGift frenzie.

(Would someone please make sure Antie Sue is in the loop, since she loves to make pies;}. )

Love, Antie P and Unkie

Conch or Konk??

After standing up in a wedding in Ft. Lauderdale for one of my best friends, it was off to Key West for some fun in the sun!

The 3.5 hour road trip almost came to a breaking point when my Canadian friend (you all remember Summy right?) insisted that the "ch" in conch should be pronounced. At that point I made it my personal mission in Key West to prove her wrong.

We rented scooters to get around the island. Best idea ever! I am thinking of buying one for home, but I don't think the Buffalo community will be as accommodating since this beauty only got up to 35mph.

Our first stop was to find some conch fritters to prove Summy wrong.
We thought this place would be right up our alley and no lie the owner was Canadian.

As we all know conch is pronounced Konk and I had the whole shack letting Summy know this. But to her credit she still refused to pronounce it that way.

Either way the fritters were pretty darn good. i love photos of food...dont you? I think the rooster expected a  snack, but I'm not very good about sharing my food.

Next up was the Southern most point in the continental US. Only 90 miles to Cuba!! I heard a lot of tourists say "Wow thats not far. I bet I could swim that." How quickly they forget about that poor old lady who was almost eaten by jellyfish on her quest to swim that same route! I kindly reminded everyone.

Then we hit up Fort Zachary Taylor Historic Park. Shockingly it's the southernmost state park in the continental US. How surprising?!?! We actually just wanted to go to the beach that's behind the park, but we figured we would stop in at the fort anyways.

Here is Summy trying to figure out if the cannon is real. I'm not sure if she ever figured it out.
The fort was ok, i was more intrigued by the GIANT Iguanas hanging off the side of the fort and the crazy Canadian trying to see them.

Alas, we headed back to Fort Lauderdale after a great couple days in Key West. Before heading home we went on an airboat tour to try and see some alligators in the wild. LOOK OUT! This guy had his eye on Gary/

20 Year Anniversary on a Cruise

A Boy, A Girl and Twenty Years

A Reflective picture memory of our trip

By JT Pilaf

 We were given the label for embarking as Zone 5 but our new friends, VIP'ers Stan and Patrick, insisted that we join them in line.  Always accomadating Sandra could not refuse their polite insistance.

 So being newbies to the whole cruise-thing we explored.

 We soon discovered an adults only area and dismissing our love for ALL children spent most of our time there.

 Well, we had to buy 1 picture.  Sandra had a CVS coupon and they had to match all specials.

 John from Philly took very good care of us...

 as did our new friends.  Stan's (on the left) an ol' Buffalo boy.

 Day Three:  We got up early for breakfast and joined the rest of our excursion goers.  We were off to Tulum, the Mayan Ruins.

 It was was just beautiful there.  Sandra to it to "heart" and was a little nervous that they still might sacrifice virgins there.  I assured them I'd be okay.

 We could have swam, instead we followed our Mexican Tour Guide Juan around like little puppies, soaking in everything he had to say.

 95 degree weather... you'd think I'd be used to that.  Needless to say, I needed a beer.

 We were always greeted by a beautiful sunset at the end of the day.

 Day 4, we went to Belize... ummmmm, I think we'll use this picture.  Pretty isn't it?  This way you can't see the security, military men and barb wire on top of the chain link fences.

 Day 5:  Roatan!!!  It's a shame we had to spend a day in Belize.

 We enjoyed the beach, swimming, walking, exploring...

and then I needed a beer.

 Day 6: Grand Cayman, it was very nice here.  I almost got Sandra to go snorkleling.

 But...

 So instead, I went and got a few beers while Sandra shopped.

 Day 7:   A Fun Day at Sea.  That it was,We had a wonderful time.

 Oh, here's the guy that was serving me all week.  "Mr. Jeff, would you like another one?"  You know the answer to that Sy.

Until our next trip.

SUPERBOWL CHAMPS!

The Buffalo Bills did in fact win Super Bowl XXV!

Our Gettysburg Trip

Gettysburg 2012

By JT Pilaf

 The trip started out okay but turned into a hairy experience half-way in.   Pounding rain rain greeted us and the wipers couldn't even keep up.  

 Sandra suggested I pull over as others had decided to do, but I was so excited about getting to our destination that I just couldn't allow myself to stop.

 We arrived at Gifford Pinchot SP in Lewisberry, PA to the hot sun and friendly flutterbies.

 It was a beautiful day on Monday so we ate a hearty breakfast and headed to Gettysburg.

 We immediately got tickets to the movie, cyclorama and museum.   Zach loves taking his time absorbing everything.

 After spending some time at the visitor center we grabbed some lunch at the Lincoln Diner where Zach ordered us a "Booth" to sit down in.   He's been waiting for over a year to do that.  We then set out to look for Grampa's brick.

 Found it!  Yahoo!  On the west side of the David Wills House, the third slant in, all the way to the bottom about ten feet from the building.

 After searching for 2 hours and asking everyone in town, we thought it time for an ice cream.  What better place to go than the Cannonball Malt Shop where a the old school house building took a hit on day 1.  The teachers then sent the kids home.  Unckie, is that protocal when under attack?

 

 Gettysburg is incredible.  We really appreciated the park.

 Here's Emma at one of many NY monuments.

 Here's the very first memorial dedicated to Strong Vincent a year after his death in 1864 by his men.

 

 The kids enjoyed exploring.

 Here's a sharpshooter's wall in Devil's Den looking at Little Round Top.  A famous photograph was taken of a dead soldier in front of this wall after the troops hhad left.   The soldier was placed here on the ground for dramatic efffect... like that was needed after the three day battle.

 Sandra tried to sneak up on me in Devil's Den... actually she was freaked out by the fact that the confederates were fighting gunfire from the north and rattlesnakes at the same time.

 We really enjoyed the two days we spent exploring Gettysburg and really appreciated what the battle meant.  It makes you humble.

 I think a lil' bit more can be made out of this.

 In November of 1863, President Lincoln would make a two minute address to the 20,000-30,000 in attendence after following keynote speaker Edward Everett who had just finished his two hour speach.  After there was little response when he finished he thought his speech was a failure.

 The bodies are buried by state.  Some unknowns ended up in different states or on the wrong fighting side.

 I wonder what the soldiers were thinking when they saw this in the evening...