Let me introduce you to...

You all know we lost our beloved Scout a few weeks ago and we have been heartbroken.  Our house felt so empty.  With a bit of research and a lot of luck, we found a beautiful, female, 6 month old Golden Retriever.  The boys named her Sunshine or Sunnie for short. We just got her yesterday and surprised the boys!  

As Tyler got off the school bus, he saw me in the front yard waiting with her and burst into tears running to us.  He was so overcome with pure joy at seeing the puppy and probably some sadness for Scout too.  I will never forget it.

She is perfect, and so sweet.  Love at first sight for all of us!

Well, another season, another sport.  Aba had his first few wrestling practices this week and he is tired...and sore!  Sounds like a demanding sport and I will be anxious to see an actual meet and take some photos.

My niece Laney was in town this week from California.  She wanted to have a traditional Thanksgiving meal with us while she was here.  I had a chance to grab a few photos since the boys were all cleaned up!

~Linda

Seasons change

November 12, 2014

It feels like the seasons are changing rapidly! When Aba arrived we were still in Summer!  It was warm and sunny, t-shirt and shorts weather.  New England is famous for their beautiful fall color.  We have enjoyed a lovely Fall, with some pretty, crisp, & bright days. The leaves have all changed and are slowly disappearing from the trees and Winter will be knocking on our door soon.  Unfortunately, Winter has a habit of hanging around too long and overstaying it's welcome.

As the season's change, life changes too. Everything changes.  All these things make it all interesting and meaningful. Last year at this time, our family embarked on an amazing cross country tour of the USA.  The 5 of us piled in our new camper with a "California or Bust" attitude. 

Almost one year later, we had to say goodbye to our furry, family treasure on 10/31.  Our Scout was a huge part of our family and had a wonderful 14+ yr life with us.  I think we made his last year the best! Traveling the USA we made new, awesome memories.  Most of you have already seen that blog, but I do have a final entry in there you can read.  Warning: You might shed some tears :)  Scouts Golden Hour

Next year at this time, I am sure that Aba will be reminiscing about his time here & playing football in America.  While nothing lasts forever, the experience and knowledge will remain in our hearts and memories forever.  

Timberlane High School is known for their Wrestling Team, as this is their winning team!  Of course Aba wants to try this sport and so he starts next week.  Scott was an excellent wrestler when he was in High School so he is equally excited to attend those matches.  Should be another exciting season.

The first quarter of school is over and I am happy to report that Aba did very well in his studies.  I really didn't interfere with his studies until I found out one class was proving to be a bit of a challenge.  In the final week he was able to put in a great effort and astound us all!  Like most kids, he needs to be accountable for his grades.  Although this year will not even count for him academically, I think he will go home with his head held up a bit higher if he has the good grades to go along with this great adventure.

We have dinner as a family every night so we get to catch up and have a lot of laughs and teasing at the table.  I hear there is a formal dance coming up.  I will need to formulate a plan so I can get some photos!

Yesterday, was a National holiday here in the USA, Veteran's Day.  Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans.  This also means no school for the kids.  Aba figured out the train schedule and headed into Boston for the day to meet up with a friend that is living here from Hungary.  He had a long day ending after midnight...and I'm sure he will be quite tired today as evidenced by his reluctance at getting up!  He owes Scott big for picking him up at midnight!

The most exciting news of the day was his article in the paper!  At first, I saw his photo on the front page and thought that was pretty cool to be highlighted on page 1.  Later in the day, I actually bought the paper and when I opened it I was shocked at the almost full page layout!  

A quick backstory...this all came to be because my friend Darcie, who cut his hair a few weeks back, had a Sports Reporter in her chair one day and they started talking about Aba.  One thing led to another and the reporter called me and then got in touch with Aba.  Here is a link to the article from Hungary with enthusiasm.

As we head into the winter months we have already secured Aba a pair of downhill ski's. I asked around and Scott's brother Mark just bought himself new ski's so offered up his old ones for Aba to borrow for the season. Thank you, Uncle Mark!  It sounds like Aba will have many opportunities to go skiing this winter.

And, that's all the news fit to print!

~Linda

Weekend horror & Jack's Birthday!

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Jack's 12th Birthday is Tuesday and he wanted to invite a friend and go to Canobie Lake Park to celebrate.  Canobie Lake is an amusement park that is popular during the summer but, come Halloween, they have it all decked out in skeletons, zombies and other inexplainable ghoulish creatures .  During the day, we went on roller coasters, swings and other rides.  

At sunset, the haunted houses open. 

The lines were long so we only made it into two.  I wish I had done my homework in advance and could have chosen more wisely.  The first one we toured was called VIRUS.  There were lots of interesting characters to keep you company while you waited in line.

VIRUS: The terror is infectious…

The research had gone horribly wrong. Now, as you enter the Genome Biocontainment facility, you will most certainly sense the despair, just as those who have gone before you.  "Containment" being the operative word, the high security (and top secret) site was designed to keep "Virus M" as it was dubbed and its victims isolated from the rest of the world. 

The second one was called Merriment, Inc.  This one brought you through the corporation of Merriment, Inc…where evil clowns are born.  This was pretty creepy and I was hanging on to Tyler while Aba led the way!

October 28, 2014

On Jack's Birthday, we went to one of his favorite restaurants, Plaza Azteca.  We started out with the guacamole made table-side and we ordered dinner for Aba since he had no idea what any of the items were, this was his first Mexican dining experience.  We ordered him a nice steak burrito and he loved it!

                 

                     

We came home for dessert, chocolate roll, and a pretty funny rendition of Happy Birthday!

Here is a quick 2 min video and it shows Aba and the boys being silly singing Happy Birthday!

~Linda

Let's play some football!

October 20, 2014

Aba is wrapping up his first football season with a JV game today, and his last one next Monday.  Hopefully, he will get a play or two in this Friday's last Varsity game of the season.  He really enjoyed it, met some really nice kids and developed a camaraderie that will carry him thru the school year and beyond.  

While I only got to a couple of games...I think I captured a pretty good essence of what it was like.  Here are the highlights from last week on a pretty fall day.  

Getting ready to punt the ball, far left

This was his best moment of the whole season...catching & holding on to the ball

In November, he will start his winter sport...wrestling.  Scott was an excellent wrestler back in High School so I am sure he will be at many meets to cheer on Aba!

Stay tuned...we had a fun weekend! More to come soon.

~Linda