Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time. -- Laura Ingalls Wilder

We had a little get together so we all could exchange presents.  It is amazing how much the kids have changed in the past few months.  I love that we are all able to get together and the kids love seeing each other.  Gray talks about his friends all the time--and by that, I mean he says-"Braedan," "Payton," "Paige." 

I love the bottom left picture-Gray checking out Paige's shoes-he does love shoes!!

“A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.”

I was able to get away for the weekend before my birthday for a long-awaited trip to visit my friend, Melissa, in NYC.  I flew in on Thursday night and stayed until Sunday afternoon.  I had a great time-we went to the Today Show, walked around and saw the holiday sights, met up with our friend Heather who was coming into the city to see a show, saw the play, "Oleanna," and then did some celebrity stalking-there are a lot of big names in a lot of the Broadway shows right now.  We saw Hugh Jackman!!  I had a wonderful time and was so glad to catch up with Melissa and have some me-time...but I was also glad to get home to see my two guys!!  Thanks to Kyle for making it possible for me to go and to Melissa for making it such a great time!

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!!