January Parties and Partings!

The New Year of 2015 rolls in with friends and family! 

Dinner and Movie Night with 
some of our friends from Hebron Church.  




This was before Dave's Accident.  Hope you are healing more each day, Dave!!!

Love all those smiles! 

Bible Quizzing is Tough… but these girls make it look easy.
Great to see our oldest granddaughter having so much Scripture under her little belt.  So proud of her!

And then the sleep overs started!
Grampa got the fire blazing…

This was Isaac and Iris's night. 

 Cooking dinner ( hot dogs) on the open flames!  

Is there anything more fun???  Hot time in the town tonight! 

 After hot dogs and s'mores… we went to see the train display the very last night it
would ever be open to the public.. What a pity to see it go.

The detail has always amazed me and the work that our Policemen have put into this project has been
astonishing.  Thank you so much!

Here Comes Santa Claus at the end of the Parade!

Iris loved watching the train coming into the tunnel….

Can you see her face inside the tunnel waiting, waiting, waiting,
for the train to come through?  

Infamous Kennywood Park in Miniature form..
Rocking Noah's ark in the forefront!

Taking it all in. 

Isaac with the trains --Jan 2015. 

Iris with the trains---Jan. 2015

This button blows the whistle on one of the train
every time you push it.  Woooohwooooo!!!!

Caught the train coming through on this one!  My last shot of this historic Christmas gift in Penn Hills, Pa. for all to visit over the
last I don't know how many years!  Beautiful!

Within a few days these 4 students arrived from CMU in Rwanda to do one semester at CMU Pittsburgh.  Little did they know that they left Paradise to enter the Tundra!
Welcome to America, Lynn, Ivy, Josephine and Vivens.

These two asked Barney to play Chutes and Ladders with them. 

At first he wasn't interested but once he saw his cards
 then he was all in! 

"I think I'm winning"….  he says with his eyes!  Isaac is so
happy for him. 

The students came out for dinner along with Andrea….Fun evening with all of them.  They are Cold in Pittsburgh but the worst weather has yet to arrive. 

The next weekend was time for the Krogh boys to have
their overnight!   Oscar is helping grampa with the wood
to get things going.

And going it got!   HOT and Hot Dogs! I love doing this with the kids.

They love it, too, i think!!! 

Cozy lighting for the evening!

This is SERIOUS work! 

And fun to eat! Where's grampa's food? 

Love looking at these pictures again..  Miss all the kids so much.

Two of the guys are exhausted after all that work.

Wait… do I smell food?  

Barney waiting for someone to drop a hot dog
or a marshmallow! 

Great night with Wyatt, Henry and Oscar.
All the giggles are way too fun. 

Then it was off to the Cumberland Gap to meet up with some friends we hadn't seen for several years. 

This was our room but the name of the place was the
 BRUCE HOUSE INN!!

Warm and inviting eating and reading room! 

 But Ann Marie and Stan are the warm and inviting friends we came to meet.
I used to work at Pleasant Hills Community Church
 and Stan was my boss.. He was the Senior Pastor..
But for the record… Ann Marie was his boss and when we all
got together we never failed to have a great time. 

This over night excursion was no exception to the rule.
They drove in from Washington, DC area & we from Pittsburgh.
Had dinner together--talked too late and got up and had breakfast
and all went home..  BUT
we left more refreshed from having been together.  Stan
always talks about friends of the heart and these are two of ours.
Thanks so much for "meeting us half way" so that
we could spend time together.

These critters have Captured our Hearts!
And thanks for Aunt Linda and Uncle Jeff's Christmas present
we had dinner together before Grampa was preparing to return to Kigali…  with these critters….

Red Lobster is a fun place to eat but this girl at the front
lifted the lobsters out for the kids to see and feel! 

Brave Brian and Wyatt and Elizabeth

AND HOLD!!!!   

Yikes!!! 

But it is the oldest, Elizabeth that…

Grabs this huge lobster all by herself.  I was impressed.
Iris is concerned…

They finally found enough tables and a booth 
that would hold us all.  

Yes, that is Adam-- WAY down on the end..

And the littlest girls beside Grampa!
 Chowing down the cheese bread!  Good stuff….

Mom and her girls…. 

and Mom and her boy… Guess they are more like men and women, though now.. but they'll always be my kids!
Love you all so much! 

The three oldest at the booth right behind us celebrating their Independence from the little ones.  Quite happy about it, too!

Maybe Brian wishes he was at the booth with them. 

But once they brought the cheese bread rolls no one cared where they were sitting.  The only sad thing about this night was that Michelle.. Rob's wife wasn't feeling well and couldn't join us.
We missed her amidst all the activity!!!  

 Oh my… they are growing up.. Our two little "babies" will soon be 3 & 4…. Hard to believe that much time has passed.  

CATCHING SNOWFLAKES WITH YOUR TONGUE!

EVERYBODY DOES IT SOMETIME IN THEIR LIFE!

Grampa headed back to Africa and I head to Indiana to spend
some time with the Ashes… and Isaac and Iris came along, too.
After Christmas the GAME OF LIFE was always on some flat surface being played.

The Ashe Art Gallery in the Dining Area! 

January is fast coming to a close and that means that it is time to celebrate Oscar's birthday… The cousins are all so close
you can hardly tell them apart.  ha! 

Let the party begin! 

 Hmmmm… at least the boys were ready!  
Someone might have been getting squished!

What?   I'm not supposed to open my presents? 

 Everyone watching….almost!

YES!   A Parachute! 

Brotherly --hurry up--love.

Great.. my own helmet!!

There are no words here…. Happy Birthday, Oscar! 

All 8 in one place but Katherine's little face is behind
Henry's head. 

There she is… but Oscar got cut off and Wyatt.. how funny! 

All the big girls.. Aren't they just too adorable?
They be happy girls!!  

I think this is an outdoor toy…. but Rob had them running under and getting caught and having lots of giggles and fun in the 
downstairs!!!   Gotta do what works!  

Their fire was roaring too…

Happy Birthday, Oscar!!! 

 Another fire????  Anticipation!!!  

It's 5 big ones for Oscar!!!

Happy, Happy Day… to our youngest grandson!!!! 

And THAT was just January!!!  

Shortly after this wonderful event I too, left for Kigali.. 
our other home…  

Leaving our family is the hardest 
thing to do! 

Leaving the freezing weather here 
on the other hand…..not so hard!

Love,
margie