Visit with the Kids...

Wes, Cheryl and the girls got to go to Florida for the holidays. When they returned we got to spend an evening catching up and......

.......playing with the new Wii!

Stan is Coming...Stan is Coming...Stan is Coming..

Our other son is coming home for a holiday visit! Those who follow this blog know that over the years Pat and I have picked up a few other children who have lived with us in various stages of their lives. They now lead these amazing lives and every now and then we reconnect and "catch up!" Stan lives near Muscle Beach California and has apparently been spending his spare time working out.
Can't wait to see the NEW YOU, Stan!!!

Christmas at Bob and Claudia's is a Special Tradition

..........a warm welcoming cabin in the woods.....

.......special symbols of the past......

.......Bob's special "outdoor touch" on the turkey and bisquets........

........and a chance to kick back and reconnect!

I Just Love the Ambiance In Their "Cabin InThe Woods..."

I Took A Walk Away From The House and Up Toward Scout Camp

..........the Ampitheater brought back lots of memories of when Pat and I dated and Bob was involved in scouting....

Opening Gifts

..........a very special gift........

.......and lots of laughs! A good time was had by all!

Pat Decided WE Would Make Baby Beds For the Girls for Christmas...

........she drew up the plans......and with her degree in HDTV....guided construction....

....while I simply followed orders.........
The results are shown below..........

The Opening of the Beds!

.......sturdy enough for a good nap......now that's my kind of bed!

Christmas Day At The Weavers

Christmas Eve With Sam and Mel

....throught the use of Skype we were invited into the living room of Sam and Mel's apartment where we watched them open gifts we had sent. Here Eloise opens a present while a twinkling hatted Mel watches on in the background.....

....and of course a kiss through cybespace from Eloise.

Sam displays his new biking outfit and Mel her new sweater and socks!

Forty Years Ago The Most Amazing Thing Happened

I remember it as clearly as I remember the day Kennedy was assassinated. It was the end of a very bad year. Nineteen-sixty-eight saw the Tet offensive in Vietnam, the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, riots across the world and the My Lai massacre.

But on Christmas Eve, Americans turned on their TVs to see perhaps the first good news all year: Apollo 8 astronauts reading from the Book of Genesis as they became the first humans to orbit the moon. On the 9th orbit which occured on Christmas Eve evening you could see the crew in their orbiting capsule as they chose to follow the directions given to them by NASA preflight....."Do something appropriate...."

....and they did....

"And God said, Let there be light: and there was light," read Lunar Module Pilot William Anders.
His crewmates, Commander Frank Borman and Command Module Pilot Jim Lovell, followed with more verses. I remember tearing up as we heard those words and saw the earth from a whole new perspective. One tiny jewel in orbit in a vast expanse of the universe.....on the Eve of the celebration of Christ's birth on this place called earth.

Borman concluded the broadcast with these words. "Good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas — and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth." That is my greeting to those of you who have checked in on this blog throughout the year.

Merry Christmas from the blogging Weavers!

Today Grandpa Took The Girls To HIS AND GRANDMA'S Favorite Place....

.......Dawes Aboretum...... In spite of the 15 degree cold we made our way to the island......

........got a picture in front of the Winterberry.....

.............and treked across the bridge........to spend some quality time together.........

We Enjoyed The Island.....

........in spite of the cold stone seats.......

.........while Hailey "read" quite a story about a fisherman we saw here this summer from this little sign post.........

........and Alyssa just......well.......did what she does best........

A Visit To The Science Center......

...........sparked a good bit of interest in.....guess what.............

..........a Black Rat Snake..................

.............who for our benefit spent the whole time we were there climbing up this tree.......then trying to hide from us......

We Learned About Turkeys...

.......how they look up close.....

....and then made a couple of turkeys......

....of our own......

It Was Really An Adventure In Discovery....

.....as Alyssa learned about the Praying Mantis....... She kept asking, "Is it real, Grandpa?"

.....The two of them discovered the mysteries of what kind of animals make their homes in trees.....

..........and Hailey pretended to be a deer......

We Woke Up To A Temperature of 3 Degrees This Morning....

..........so the ice was on the waterfall.......

.........and these were scenes around the garden....

Hailey Spent the Day Today...

The View Out Back..

....as the sun glints across the back of the house...

.....a nuthatch shimmies down the tree.....

......turns upside down for some suet....

............and a chickadee munches at the back window. Life on Pleasant Chapel is good.....

In Small Group Tonight There Was A Special Visitor....

Santa Clause showed up.......

......to the delight of all......

.....with special gifts for the children......

........and stories for young and old......

Santa of Course Had to Hear What Youngsters Wanted For Christmas.....

........Nathan......

......little Ian.......

..........Zack..........

.......Abby.......

......Gloria.....

.....Jennifer.......

.....Dan.....

..........and of course.......Mrs. Clause......with a special gift for Santa!

Christmas Cookie Time

Pat has been busy baking cookies for the upcoming church Christmas concerts. This cookie sheet has held a lot of cookies over 41 years!

........and of course who better to help clean up than our little neighbor and two day a week visitor...Alyssa Jean!

Adele Performs....

....You may not know that Addy is an accompolished flutist..... Tonight she performed with the 5th grade band with her cousin Taylor on her left with pink head band.

...........The glee after a great performance!

Zoe Appears In Her Middle School Christmas Program

........as the family looks on.......

The "Miller" Family Christmas Party

We took pictures of "families" who attended. Here is the Uncle John family.....

......The Jerry Miller family....

.....the Ed Miller family.....

......The Alice Weaver family........

This is a picture of us first generations "cousins." Left to right with names of their family parent.....Frank (Uncle Don) Tom (Uncle John) Alice (Uncle Ed) Me (Mom Alice) Deb (Uncle Ed) Bev (Uncle Jerry) Ruth (My Sister) Becky (Uncle John)........

........speaking of Uncle John..... Here he is trying to explain how he can eat so much dessert and stay so slim!

........as Hailey shows glee at having so many family members and so much fun.

So We got a $5 Gift certificate From Wilsons Gardens....

......and Santa Clause delivered a gift that will grace Bill and Pat's Cottage garden in the spring....until then it looks at us in our dining room! We love its character and beautiful succlent plants and moss.

Sometimes It's Helpful To Put Our Life On This Planet In Perspective

The relative size of our sun can be seen in the lower left front and is 1 pixel "big."

ANTARES (BACK RIGHT) IS THE 15 TH BRIGHTEST STAR IN THE SKY.

IT IS MORE THAN 1000 LIGHT YEARS AWAY FROM EARTH.

THIS IS A HUBBLE TELESCOPE DEEP FIELD INFRARED VIEW OF

COUNTLESS 'ENTIRE' GALAXIES BILLIONS OF LIGHT-YEARS AWAY.

ABOVE IS A CLOSE-UP OF ONE OF THE DARKEST REGIONS OF THE PHOTO ABOVE IT.

KINDA PUTS NEW MEANING TO THE WORDS,

"small world, isn't it!"

Wes, Storm Klein and Jim Tressel....

........hang out at Licking Valley High School this morning! Storm has accepted a scholarship with the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Guess Who's Back......

The excitement has been building since Grandaughter Chelsey's Marine husband has been expected back from Afganastan....Well....

HE'S HOME!!! ..........and guess who's happy to be back!....

What's that gleam in your eye I see there, Nate????

.......and can you tell who's happiest to have him home???

THANKS FOR YOUR SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY, NATE!!

(Look at this picture and say, "thank you God for bringing Nate back safely"... three times without crying!)

In this cold cold weather...

.......Pat and I found ourselves last evening reminiscing about trips to SUNNY Florida......the home of the Magic Kingdom.......

.........and tea cup rides......

........and beautiful women...........

.........oh for that "fun in the sun" again........ OK..... just had to share what was on our minds!!