December

Closing out the year with a few  images of December...

For awhile Sam rejected mittens.  "I do not like mittens.  I do not like mittens," he would emphatically enunciate.  As the weather got colder and colder, I began to worry.  But after some clever indoor "mitten games" invented by Kevin, Sam finally warmed to the idea of wearing them outside.  Phew...I was anticipating a very long winter if this battle raged on.   

So here he is, red mittens and all, doing a little shoveling after a recent storm.  The folks who sold us our house left this wonderful kid size shovel for us - great score!

The shoveling team.

Gordie came to play after this same storm.  Here he and Sam watch Kevin rake snow off the roof.  Very cool stuff.

The long john line-up.

And a warming hug, too.

This is random, but I had to throw in these photos of Kevin suited up for an afternoon of dirty work.  In preparation for getting our basement insulated, Kevin donned a tyvek suit and respirator to clear our basement of old junk, some of it very old.  Ah, the joys of new (old) home ownership.

Our friends Chad & Susan Olcott came for breakfast mid December.  After filling our bellies with pancakes and coffee, we ventured to a Christmas tree farm.  Funny how one can agonize over a couple dozen, nearly identical trees before selecting just the right one.  Sam was actually asleep in the truck at this point.

But he woke up in time to enjoy the views and inspect this lovely orange tractor, which was, of course, a whole lot more interesting than trees.

And at last, Merry Christmas 2008!  We spent the holiday in MA with Kevin's family this year. Sam had a wonderful time and was very much in the Christmas spirit.  We taught him to exclaim, hands raised high, "Behold! I bring you tidings of great joy!"  This performance, indeed, brought great joy to all.

Modeling his new John Deere hat and tools from Morfar and Grandma Kay.

This train set belonged to one of Kevin's grandfathers.

It was a source of great interest to Sam and his Daddy, too.

Our family.  (How happy young Sam looks!)

Cashman family photo: (back to front, left to right) Kevin, Will, Jim, Gitta, Mike, Kathy, Laura, Sam(2+), Bella (6mo.), Ava(3+).