Christmas 2015

 Hard to believe that Christmas is just 5 days away. We had our Burrows family Christmas on the weekend before Christmas this year. Martin's mother Penny came from Sheridan to spend several days with us and celebrate the season with the family. It has been quite the year for Martin and I. As you can see from this year's picture, we have lost our big gray wolfhound Sailor in September and now only have Cina. Cina was diagnosed with bone cancer at the end of November and is just beginning her chemo therapy with hopes to prolong her life as she is only 3. It really brings into focus the importance of living in the now and enjoying your blessings on a daily basis. I feel extremely fortunate to be retired this Christmas and to able to  spend time with the people closest to Martin and I.

 Martin and I went to the tree farm in Washougal the first week of December and cut down our tree. We have really been enjoying our mornings in front of our fireplace with Cina on her bed enjoying a cup of coffee and the Christmas decorations.

 Cina and I in front of our living room tree, I know I will treasure this picture of our "good girl"!

 Above is Molly with her boyfriend Dan, clearly they seem to be enjoying the festivities. Perhaps it is Brandon, seen below getting into the spirit of things by disguising himself as a package.

 Nice bow, Brandon, hard to believe that you are 12 years old!  Below is Kate, Martin's oldest daughter. I love to see her smiling face on Christmas or anytime!

 Kate is working Christmas Eve and Christmas day, so I am happy she was able to take Saturday night off to come to the party.

 Anna, with her great grandmother Penny. I love her fancy holiday dress, though she claims she doesn't like her holiday shoes which were edited out of this picture.

 Brandon with his great grandmother Penny. He is really becoming quite the handsome young man.

 Martin's mother, daughters, grandchildren and significant other. Looking good people!

I'm finishing up this blog with a picture of Martin thrown into the crowd for good measure. Happy Holidays to everyone!

Family Christmas 2014

 Family got together tonight to celebrate our Christmas. It was wonderful that Martin's mother was able to make the trip to join us it made the party even more special.

 Molly and Anna waiting for us to open presents.

 Josh and Bhri waiting for the festivities to begin.

 Great opportunity to spend time together and catch up on what has been happening.

 Everyone seems to be enjoying the holiday dinner Martin and I prepared.

 Eat more, we have a huge turkey!

 Martin's mom and Ray with the wolfhounds and together below.

Great family gathering, Merry Christmas everyone!

The last day

Today was basically the last day of our vacation....we do have tomorrow, but that will be filled with travel, and we probably won't get to the blog at all. Today was a day of rest here in Bethlehem. We spent some of the afternoon at the new casino that has been built on the property of the old deserted Bethlehem Steel Company. The Sands Casino company has purchased the entire old Steel Mill, which consists of a great number of acres of land and numerous old industrial buildings including the smelters that heated the steel for over a hundred years. It was steel from this foundry that built the sky scrapers in New York City, the rail lines that went across the United States and much of the steel that went into the American auto industry in the twentieth century. The Casino is just the first step in the company's plans for this land, which will eventually include a hotel, markets and shops, and housing. They plan to save many of the old buildings and part of the land and buildings will be turned into an national museum of industry.

We plan to see Kate and Jon one more time tonight and then tomorrow we will take a bus to Philadelphia and our flight will leave from there in the late afternoon and we will be home around midnight Pacific time. We've had a great time, but are very anxious to get home and back to our family and dogs.

Bethlehem PA.

We had our last night on the ship last night. We were up early, most of our packing had been done the night before, so we went up on deck at about6:30 or so, and watched the ship come into New York City. We got some great shots of the sunrise over the city, and also some good ones of the Statue of Liberty. This time I had my telephoto lens on, which I didn't have when we left NY. While we were on deck we heard some honking and looked over toward the Statue of Liberty and saw a flock of geese coming right at the ship. I got a few really good and lucky shots of the geese flying at us at almost eye level.

After the ship docked we got a taxi to the main bus station and caught a bus to Bethlehem where we are staying tonight. It's only about 7 or 8 miles from Easton, and Kate came over and met us this afternoon and and showed us around the town, another amazing old and historic city. At the moment we're taking a little break in our hotel room, before Kate and Jon come back over for dinner.

A Visit to Intercourse

Intercourse, PA that is.

Today we took a drive with Kate and Jon to the heart of Amish country in PA, about 75 miles or so from where Kate and Jon live in Easton. We started out going to Lancaster, one of the biggest towns in Amish Country. The first picture above is of Kate and Jon standing in the town Square in Lancaster. Robert Fulton was from Lancaster (remember "Fulton's Folly") we went into an interesting museum, and had a good lunch while we were there. We then drove out into the country where we saw several horse drawn carriages (5th photo) and headed to Intercourse where we stopped at a fun little village of shops mostly filled with local Amish made goods. The 2nd thu 4th pictures above were taken there. We also visited the Amish furniture store where Kate and Jon have purchased some of their furniture. After Intercourse (the town) we drove off into the country where we saw hundreds of the most pristine farms and farms lands that we have ever seen. A truly beautiful part of the country. Tomorrow a total change of scenery from today...New York City!

Easton PA.

Another great and busy day we had today. So busy that Marlene has crashed in bed and I'm doing the blog for the day. The day started out early in Philly. We rolled our four suitcases a block or two to the Gray Hound bus station, and caught the bus to Easton. The first picture above shows an excited Marlene waiting patiently for the bus to arrive. After a scenic but somewhat slow bus ride, we did arrive in Easton where Kate came and picked us up....it was somewhat of a challenge to get all the luggage and us into Kate's little car...but we made it, and I can almost stand straight again. After going to see Kate & Jon's house, which is very cute we all drove out to a wonderful park along a canal that was used to float coal for many years to the steel mills in this part of Pennsylvania. We got to take a great ride on a reproduction of one of those canal boats pulled by two strong, young mules. The boat and the mules are pictured above. We then had a wonderful picnic that Kate had prepared. We then went back to Easton and checked into our hotel, which is an old restored home on a hill overlooking Easton. One of the photos above shows Marlene and me standing in front of that hotel. We ended the day back at Kate and Jon where we took a walk through the beautiful old cemetery near their home and ended the day with a great meal that Kate and Jon prepared. All in all a very busy and fun day.