Wednesday, December 29, 2010

There's Nothing Like Going Home For Christmas

When we got up here to MA we didn't think that we were going to be able to make it home for Christmas because Garin had to work on Christmas day (partly because he is the new guy and partly because he is just a nice guy). However, when we got Garin's December scheduled we realized he had about a week right before Christmas where he didn't have to work. One day Garin told me he had a plan, so we called up his sister and brother and found out that his plan might actually work out!

So, on December 17 we hopped on a plane to Charlotte; Garin's sister Meghan and her husband, Eli (who had just arrived the week before from spending a year in Iraq), drove up from Savannah, GA; and Garin's brother Shane and his wife Rebekah (who is expecting the first Kirkpatrick baby) drove in from Apex, NC; all to surprise Garin's mom with a family Christmas! We ended up surprising her at a restaurant...I wish I had my camera in action to catch her face when she walked in a realized that we were all there. There were tears, of course!

We had a wonderful weekend hanging out with the whole family (it was the first time we'd all been together since Meghan and Shane got married) playing games, shooting clay pigeons, and stuffing ourselves with delicious food (as is customary at all Kirkpatrick gatherings!). I WISH I had some pictures to show of the whole gang, but all of them were taken with another camera...hopefully someone will send them our way so that I can post them (Hint, Hint)!


Kids picture (thanks for the pics Mrs. K!)

Kirkpatrick Girls
After Shane and Rebekah, and Meghan and Eli left to go back home, we crossed the "tracks" (i.e. Hwy 74) and spent some time celebrating Christmas and my Birthday with my (Lauren's) family. I did happen to get some pictures of my adorable nephew, Mason! He is 21 months old now and just a gibber jabbering...he hasn't quite perfected "Aunt Lauren" yet (but he can identify me in a line up!), however, he has mastered "tractor", "ball", "dog", "taco", and quite a few more useful words.

This is Mason's version of dancing and an exhibition of his destructive nature ;)

Going out with Granddaddy (the things mom makes you wear to stay warm!)
Up close shot (really he is trying to get to my camera, that is why he is so close...every time he sees me take it out he wants to play with it, so with the delay, I come out with a lot of pictures like this!)
We could only get a picture with Santa if we distracted him with candy...

He's got all of the necessities...a tractor, a book (the tractor one at that!), and his "nack" (aka: snack)

Farewell picture with Aunt Lauren and Uncle G.

After 5 days at home it was time to come back to MA :( The Cape got about 10" of snow while we were gone, so it was neat to come back "home" to a winter wonderland. I'll post more pictures of the snow and our first Christmas day away from home....

Saturday, December 11, 2010

It Starting to Look a Little Like Christmas...

This year it looks like we will be spending Christmas in our little rental cottage by the sea (which we are not complaining about!). However, unfortunately, every one of the 6 huge Rubbermaid containers of Christmas decorations is packed at the back of our storage unit; thus, no Christmas decorations for us this year :(
So, when I heard about the opportunity to learn how to make a Christmas Wreath at church, I jumped all over it! It was a really neat event, and I don't think I'll ever pay for a wreath again because they are so easy to make!

Here's the result (eat your heart out Martha!):
And it smells good too!!

One of my new friends here, Franky, also did the class with me!

Monday, December 6, 2010

MoVember

When we arrived here in Cape Cod we found out that the guys at the Airstation were participating in Movember. Garin figured that a couple of weeks of not shaving would be a great idea. However, Coast Guard regulations only allow for facial hair above the upper lip...ugh. Thus, even though a week behind the other guys, Garin started cultivating his mustache. It got rather creepy I must say. So bad that we would go on a walk down the road and mothers would call their children inside (j/k, but I might would have if I were a parent!). After 3 weeks of hard work, here is the scary result:

Ugh...fortunately he shaved it off right after the Airstation mustache competition (he did not bring home any prizes for his...but the others DID have a whole week of hair growth on him). Lucky for me, he didn't really care for the hairy upper lip either...whew!
P.S. Meggsie, thought I'd post this one for you ;)
Thanksgiving Apple Pie