Smiling is infectious, You can catch it like the flu. Someone smiled at me today, And I started smiling too. ~Author Unknown

Some pics of Gray from early December.  Trying to wear Dada's shoes.  Some pics that didnt make the Christmas cards-but that I still love!!

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. ~Thornton Wilder

We celebrated Thanksgiving with the Strubles and Kolodzies on Saturday the 21st.  As always, we had a great time and some great food.  We have much to be thankful for.

“A happy family is but an earlier heaven.” -John Bowring

November 14-15, 2009

 

 

 

We decided a little Orton family time was a great idea-and thought we would head up to Toronto.  We mainly wanted to go to the zoo (which is HUGE!), but found some other great things to do as well.  Gray loved the zoo--and he was a trooper-it took us about 5 hours to quickly see all of the zoo.  There were few crowds since it was November and we actually had some beautiful weather-a little chilly here and there, but the sun came out and kept us from being too cold!!  After the zoo, we checked into our hotel, went to dinner, swam in the hotel pool, and then went to bed-it is hard to put Gray to bed when he is in the same 12x12foot space as us-so we all went to bed around 8-m-which was fine after such a busy day!  The next morning we got up early and headed to the CN Tower and then headed back toward our hotel to get a spot to watch the Santa Parade-the people of Toronto (Toronto-ans??) said it was just like the Macys Day Parade-it was a cool parade with some big floats, but I dont know if I would say it was like the Macys Parade.  After an hour of parade watching, we decided to get on the road...we stopped at Ikea on our way home.  It was a great weekend!  We would love to head back up there sometime-there is an African safari north of Niagara Falls that we want to visit-so I think may try to do that next summer!

 

 

"I am rich today with autumn's gold..."

 "I am rich today with autumn's gold,
All that my covetous hands can hold;
Frost-painted leaves and goldenrod,
A goldfinch on a milkweed pod,
Huge golden pumpkins in the field
With heaps of corn from a bounteous yield,
Golden apples heavy on the trees
Rivaling those of Hesperides,
Golden rays of balmy sunshine spread
Over all like butter on warm bread;
And the harvest moon will this night unfold
The streams running full of molten gold.
Oh, who could find a dearth of bliss
With autumn glory such as this!"
-   Gladys Harp

Grandma and Grandpa Orton came for a visit the weekend of November 6-8th, they babysat Gray while we went off to the Guster concert!  We had a great weekend-on Sunday there was unseasonably warm weather-we went down by the canal for some lunch and shopping.  As always, Grayson was sad to see Grandma and Grandpa go home!!

You and I have memories/Longer than that road/That stretches out ahead-"Two of Us"-Guster

Melissa came up to visit for a couple days at the beginning of November.  We had a great time-went to the Geneseo alumni get together and saw a few friends I havent seen in a long time.  On Friday night, Kyle, Melis, and I went to see Guster at the Armory.  2nd row!  Awesome show-a 10th anniversary of the Lost and Gone Forever album.  I love Guster-and I am pretty sure this was my 7th show...after the show they were throwing out some stuff to the audience, and I was telling Kyle he should use his long arms to get me something-and he did-caught a pick and a signed bongo drum cover!  Melissa got the pick, we kept the cover!  A great weekend with a great friend!

Carving out memories

We had a great Halloween.  We went to the community Halloween party-it was a bit cold for the duck costume, so Gray wore his skeleton shirt and had a great time "Booing" at all of the ghosts in the trees.  We then headed up to the DuBois house for some Halloween tricks and treats.  Gray and Braedan went trick-or- treating for the first time at a few houses in the neighborhood.    Gray certainly makes everything a lot more fun.  Our only sad moment was when I took down the ghost hanging in the stairwell-Gray continued to look for it and shout, "Boo," for several weeks.

What does a ghost get when he falls and scrapes his knee?

(Payton, Braedan, Grayson, and Paige)

A boo boo!

We spent the morning at the zoo-ZooBoo!  It was a lot of fun for the kids--the weather held up and the sun actually peeked through the gloomy clouds toward the end of the visit.  The zoo does an awesome job at this event!!  We had a fun day!  On our way home, we stopped for pizza and actually found the best pizza I have had in a while-Joe's Brooklyn pizza-yum!  We ran into Hallmark and got Gray his Christmas ornament for the year-we usually wait so long and all of the good ones are gone-his third Christmas with us! We then found this book outlet-70% off all books-all of the time!  Great deals-got Gray and Kyle got some new books.  Hanging out tonight-rented, "The Proposal"-I really hope it is as funny as the previews looked.

Shave and a haircut, two bits!

Gray and Kyle got their haircut last night-I was going to take pictures of them-Kyle holding Gray while getting his haircut-but Grayson was not a happy camper.  He doesnt like the clippers and wasnt fond of the scissors either.  It was so much "fun!"  But doesn't he look so cute!!

An Apple a Day Keep the Doctor Away!

We were finally around on a weekend to go apple picking-my family has gone apple picking every year since I was a little girl, and this is definitely a tradition I want to bring to our family! Aunt Linda and her friend, Carol, and her daughter, Meg, met us at Whittier Fruit Farm. It was the coldest day that we have had yet and it sprinkled-but this didnt deter us! We picked a huge bushel of apples, a small pumpkin, and then we rode the haywagon back to the front of the orchard (after a LONG and muddy walk out to the back.) Gray LOVES apples and was very excited to see them all over the ground and to pick them from the trees. He loved trying all of the different kind of apples. We had a great time-and then we spent the rest of the cold weekend snuggled up in our house. I have also been trying to figure out what to do with the apples-because I dont want to bake -because I will eat it all!! I made applesauce and have made baked apples in the oven and in the microwave-the oven def wins, but it just takes way too long!!

When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses. -Joyce Brothers

We have seen a lot of my family this month-my parents came up the first weekend in October so we could all go see my aunt Linda's wreaths and scarves at the Hilton Apple Festival-it was a beautiful day!  The following weekend we headed up to the Kolozdie's house-to not only memorialize Grandma, but to hang out for the weekend.  Poor Mat was off to work- but we did get to see him for a few hours. We were also able to hang out with the Fraziers-the guys watched football, the girls watched HGTV-sounds like a good Sunday to me!!

Gray and Maddy are good buddies-I wish they could hang out more often!!

Ab Imo Pectore, Te Semper Amabo

We were finally able to visit the cemetary in Granville to bury my Grandma's ashes.  It is a beautiful cemetary and we had a beautiful ceremony to remember her...I miss my Grandma.

Just like Daddy

Gray and Paige playing--they both love to get into any baskets/containers that are around the house...

Hmm--how do I get out?

The last corn of the season...Gray loves eating it right off the cob!

The Renno Wedding

We spent the last weekend in September in CT at Clutch and Marge's wedding. It was a beautiful day and celebration. We had a great time!!

Kyle was a handsome groomsman.

Jordy, Clutch, and Kyle

The Geneseo Crew

Congratulations Dennis and Marge!!

Kisses for my Grandparents!

Grayson loves to give kisses! Miss you all!!

"The rainy days a man saves for usually seem to arrive during his vacation." -Anonymous

Not on this vacation-we had perfect weather! The forecast called for thunderstorms for most of the week-but there was only one-while we happened to be farther down the beach where it wasn't raining!! We had an awesome time-our house was in a great location and we all loved the pool! It was a great week!!

The House

The pool

The game room--we played pool almost every night!

Grayson's first trip to the beach-he really enjoyed it!

playing with Braedan in the sand

Mmm...what is the new snack...oh yea--the sand is salty and the little guys loved it!

Gray loves to climb in and out of things...Our last day (the Maddalenos had already left, boo!), we took the Dubois to our favorite beach on the sound-right next to the condos where we spent our honeymoon and then again two summers ago.

Bye, Bye OBX! We had a great time on our first family vacation!