Tobin is 17!

I'm late by two weeks, but Tobin is now 17!  I cannot believe he's that old. 

This is a momentous year.  He is getting his driving license; he is just waiting to have the driving test scheduled.  He's looking at colleges and many are writing to him about his running talent.  He is now captain for both fall and winter running. His Confirmation is in a few weeks. 

There is so much for me write about.  I'm so proud of the person he has become. It is a joy to see him grow and mature into a wonderful person with many talents. 

Sarai began his birthday with a Goldfish wish on the island.  He religiously takes Goldfish in his lunch daily.

Rachel made a sweet card for him on the computer.  She wanted to use it as wrapping paper.

Sarai is taking a Photoshop class at the High School She made him a cool birthday card with great memories on it.  She printed the page and then colored the rest of the designs in.  I cropped a few of my favorite parts. 

Here Tobin is a chocolate cow.  He has always like cows and Sarai loves chocolate milk.

Tobin is captain for both cross country and winter track next year.  His roll as cross country captain has already begun with planning summer practices and PT time for the varsity runners. 

This is a photo of Jacob, Abram and Tobin.  I laughed when I saw that Sarai created a thought bubble of baby Tobin dreaming of running later in life and loving it.

My mom and Lawrence joined us for dinner with Tobin on his birthday.  Jenna, Isaac, Aidan and Sierra came for dessert. 

Grammie, my mom, gave Tobin this great running jacket.  Now he will be seen while running on the roads.

A few dress shirts and ties.  Shrewsbury High has fancy day 7.  Many upper classmen dress up on that day.  He wore this shirt and tie the next fancy day 7.  He looked great.

I laughed so hard when Isaac and Jenna gave this to Tobin.  During cross country season the varsity boys decided to have "No Shave November".  Basically the guys grew scraggly mustaches, if we could even call them mustaches.  So here's to teens trying to grow mustaches!

Sarai had fun decorating Tobin's cake.  Happy Birthday Tobin!

Flying with Sarai and Rachel

It has been a long time since I've made a post. There are many past events to write about.

This one is about the day we tried to visit Leah for breakfast. On January 7th, we were all excited when we arrived at the Bedford airport, but our plans needed to change due to fog and risk of icing on the wings. Thankfully, Abram is a cautious pilot and will not fly into risky weather. In the end we took the girls up and flew around Worcester.

Here's Rachel sitting in the back row of seats on the plane.

Sarai came with us, but didn't want her picture taken.

We found our house and took a picture from the plane!  We are flying at 4000 feet at this point. 

Here's the dam on the Wachusett Reservoir.  Abram and I bike by this often on our bike rides.

When I looked through the photos I took, I realized that I also took a picture of Rachel's school.  It is hard to believe that I will be done with elementary schools in 3 months.  Shrewsbury elementary schools only go through 4th grade.  She will be in middle school next year!

The winter scenery is very bleak.  This was the only bit of color I saw from the plane.  A water tower next to a Lowe's.

While Abram and I tied up the plane, Rachel climbed into the pilot's seat and pretended to fly!

Someone was taking helicopter lessons when we landed. 

Here is the plane I want!  I has 6 seats and it's orange.  What more can you ask for?  Ha ha, we don't know who it belongs to, but it isn't a plane you can rent.  Someone must have been storing it at Bedford while there was too much snow at their normal airport.  It was there in January, but is gone now that the snow has melted and it is March.

Flying offers opportunities to go places, but you must always be flexible and cautious due to the weather.

Escaped to Vermont

Abram and I were granted a rare opportunity to escape for two days and a night to Vermont.  We booked a room at the Inn at Weathersfield.  Abram had originally found this inn through a flying forum recommending great places to fly to for dinner.  There is an airport a mile away, but we decided to drive to this destination.

We arrived on Thurs afternoon.  I feel as if we ate most of the time we were out!  We arrived in town around 2ish and ate a late lunch. We had dinner reservations at the inn at 6:15 which made it difficult to do anything after lunch.  We found a used bookstore, bought a book and settled into our room to relax and read!
Here is the front of the inn. It is a historical carriage house from the mid 1700s.  The owners have renovated it and made it a green inn. 

This is the side view of the inn.  The glass doors on the far left is where we had breakfast. I took these photos on Friday as we were leaving.  They were getting 10 inches of snow that day!  It was beautiful to sit in an open area, warm due to radiant heat in the floors and watch the snow fall in the morning. 

Our room was on the top floor. We walked up a spiral staircase to enter it.  Over the bed are pictures the owner has taken from her gardens.  She is an avid photographer.  The inn had many pictures taken by her and also art work from local residents as well. 

The rooms are heated by gas fireplaces. We used it only while we were in the room.  It was so toasty and romantic.

Our room also had access to a balcony with chairs.  It was too cold to appreciate it.  We would have gone out at night to see the stars, but because of the pending storm the night was overcast.  We borrowed a movie and watched it in our room after dinner.

As you enter the bedroom, you encounter a sitting room. 

This redcoat monkey was in the dining room.  We had to walk through the dining area to get to our room.  He caught my eye when we first walked in.  We also sat beneath him for dinner.  Dinner was amazing!  I'd venture to say we had a gourmet meal.  They had been voted best restaurant in Vermont for 2010! 

A shot of our snowy exit.  It has snowed a good three inches that morning before we left.  We were going to the base of Okemo mountain to cross country ski.

It snowed the whole time we were out.  The snow was so wet, we couldn't see the street sign nor the sign for the entrance we were looking for.  It is always an adventure traveling with Abram!  Took this photo of him while we were skiing. 

I have only cross country skied once before in high school behind my house for a short time.  Abram and I were out for a good 2 hours.  We went on most of the trails, although so many of them were hidden under 6 inches of snow.  I enjoyed cross country skiing.  Abram had tried to calm my fears by saying no falls doing this kind of skiing.  Of course I proved him wrong!  I learned you cannot lean backwards to counteract dips in the trail. 

We had a wonderful time.