test again

This is just another test of my computer and me. Dad

hopefully this link works!

Carla's Birthday BBQ extravanganza

link to photos

Twas a great success. Thanks to all far and near, but especially to the Thompson's for their hosting awesomeness:)

Carla at 30

Carla turned 30 accompanied by a large party and good time for all. For the parent who might be uncertain about who any friend was, the best default question was "Are you from Oberlin?".

The police considered coming to the party at about 3 AM, but apparently thought better of it.

Felix as Mufasa in The Lion King

Graduation Day for Carla (May 23, 2011)

Carla made it! After several years of hard work, she now has an R.N. degree, and is an Advanced Practice Nurse (Family Nurse Practitioner). As her instructor said to the crowd, "My students had to learn a lot more than the others did".

Felix's First USTA Tournament

It went well!

THE CHAMPIONS

OLIVER'S SIXTH GRADE BASKETBALL TEAM WON THE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE ENTIRE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS FOR THEIR GRADE LEVEL. THE PROUD GRANDFATHER OF THAT BOY, OLIVER, WHO THREW IN THE LAST SCORING BASKET, COULD NOT RESIST POSTING THIS PICTURE OF HIS TEAM. SEARCH FOR HIM--IT IS NOT HARD---HE'S TALL AS CENTERS USUALLY ARE.

Fat Tuesday!

Salisbury Winter Sports

It is time for the Annual Salisbury Winter Sports Association Annual Ice Sculpture Contest and Ski Jump (February 11-13, 2011). The Ski Jump is now on it's 85th annual event with a new jump built over 9 months with a $700,000 fund raising campaign. Sharon had a hand in it, as the contract for building was won by Churchill Brother's Builders of Sharon. It is made of steel, wood and concrete. It is 20 feet higher than the old wooden jump to meet today's requirements for the sport, and over 200 feet of woodland had to be cleared to widen the landing area and area along the jump. Everyone is Salisbury (and surrounding area) is bursting with pride.
Because this was achieved, Salisbury will host the Junior Olympics in Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined from February 22-26, 2011.

Some of you have seen these on Flickr, but I thought it was worth memorializing the winter of 2011 for readers of this blog. Be glad if you don't live here, but somewhere with less snow!

First post of 2011!

Hello all,
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year all around. I was thinking it had been a while since a blog update happened, and thought I would rectify the situation. I am gathering my thoughts for the return of school tomorrow, and the last semester. Unbelievably... Anyway, I am excited and my classes look interesting. I have had a lingthy stretch of time off since just before christmas with only a few clinical days sprinkled in. We spent Christmas and New Year's in Ireland with Ruairi's family. We arrived safely after a semi-harrowing trip including an extra 4 hours of hang=ups on top of a planned 5 hour delay in Frankfurt. We landed in Dublin during 4 hours that the airport was open for business all day. We spent our first several days in Ireland relaxing in Drougheda. The snow on the ground made for a beautiful white christmas, then vanished in a few days time. Since everyone is off for the whole stretch from christmas to New year's, it takes the relaxing and socializing to a whole new level. The Collinses had all four of their children under their roof for christmas for the first time in at least 3 years. I had a wonderful christmas with another branch of my ever growing family (that's on Ruairi's side where something like 5 babies are expected in the next months). We then headed across the country to Westport and Achill for New Years. Ont he evening itself we had a great dinner with many friends and family then did the traditional following of the bands. Each village in Achill has a pipe band and they march and join forces at the church after midnight to ring in the new year. After a day's recovery it was back to Drougheda and then home.
We next visited Eliot and Brooke in NOLA for a few days courtesy of the center of math. While Ruairi worked at the largest math convention on earth, i had lots of quality time with E and B. They put me to work on their home renovation, which is coming along. The front looks fantastic, and the back should eventually help cover the mortgage. We had some great meals, saw some music, and even took a ghost tour of the French Quarter.
Now that we are home again, things have returned to life as normal. The cat quickly forgave us our long absence, and the car has finally been dug out of the snow. We had a great time at the Thompson's last night celebrating both Ruairi and Thaddeus's birthdays. Someone will have to put up the smashing photo of them in their matching sweaters:)
Lastly, Ruairi's 10 year greencard arrived this month, so no more paperwork for the government. For a while anyway... Would love to hear how everyone is, and keep mormoshome the vibrant home of family banter for years to come
Love,
C and R