Trip to Deerfield

Over Columbus Day, we went on our annual Western Massachusetts autumn trip. I have loved trips out to western MA ever since I played at UMass Band Day for each year during high school, and travelled down the long foliaged roads to Amherst, and played my baritone sax or flute in the crisp air, with leaves crunching underfoot as we practiced our marching formations. Later, when Matt and I were dating, we would take a variety of fall field trips around Amherst; sometimes with specific destinations in mind, but often just either hiking or driving aimlessly to see what we could find (which, Matt will tell you, often ended up in the discovery of a beautiful old graveyard which we would wander - I knew then it was love!)

Last year Holly came with us and we journeyed to the flagship Yankee Candle store in Deerfield and also went pumpkin picking.

This year, both Holly and Natyra ventured along for a day of numerous Deerfield sights. For years, living on the South Shore, we would take the turnpike and Route 9 out west. But now that we are on the North Shore, the most convenient route is Route 2, the Mohawk Trail. Like Route 44, it is a very old Native American path, linking Massachusetts to New York (or in the case of Rt 44, linking Plymouth to Providence, and beyond). The road is gorgeous, and at some points near the town of Erving, Millers River (a tributary of the Connecticut River), comes right up to the road. Just beyond that is the French King Bridge, which crosses over the Connecticut River itself:

We then drove to Historic Deerfield, where we took tours of the historic homes and learned about the families of Deerfield. I even managed to be mistaken for a colonial ceramics expert and collector, much to the amusement of my friends who knew better! At the visitors center they had a craftsman making pottery and a demonstration on how to make colonial hot chocolate (which was very strongly flavored!). We walked along a path which went by a farm and Deerfield Academy, and explored the old cemetery where we located the mass grave of the 56 colonists who were killed at Deerfield during the attack on their town during the Queen Anne's War on 29 February 1704 when French and Native American soldiers burned the town just before dawn, and brought many of the captured women and children to Canada.

We then went off to a local farm stand to obtain pumpkins, vegetables, mums, and apple cider, and then went to Yankee Candle for our autumn and Christmas candles.

The jog!

This past week the Concord Road sidewalk project (which has been going on for the past two years) just completed pouring the concrete for the sidewalk in front of our building, thereby connecting us all the way to the little downtown district on Rt 3A. So this morning I had a few things to mail and decided that I would get my errand plus exercise all in at once! The total distance was only about 1.2 miles, but the way over was a bit rough (having not run in quite some time, plus having a box and letters in hand!) According to my googlemap walking directions (a cool feature by the way!), it should take about 22 minutes to get there by walking. On my way TO the post office, I walked and jogged in bits here and there, with far more brisk walking than jogging, and took 20 minutes. But I was inspired by three other runners (who all managed to catch me in "jog" mode rather than "walk"!!) who each shouted out what a nice fall day it was for a run, or gave a big smile. The way home FROM the post office I tried to motivate myself based off of all the orange construction cones that are posted down the road (If I run to THAT cone, then slow down until THAT cone, then run to THOSE cones down there....) and managed to get the ratio of far more jogging time than walking time, for a total of 14 minutes! Ok, so not even close to those who can do a 5 minute mile, but a personal 6 minute improvement on the way home rather than the way over! Still not convinced of the idea that running is "fun", but it did feel like a personal accomplishment!

The cutest pumpkin in MA

Can you spot the most adorable one? Suzannah and Ben's lovely Lydia gets ready for the autumn season in style!

First week back on Weight Watchers...

And down two pounds!

Last time I lost 20 pounds and then plateaued even with good dieting, but without much exercise. So this time the focus is on getting moving! Time to bring out my yoga mat, new weights (a birthday present from the family), and the key to the gym!

Send me you good thoughts!

New England Quilt Museum

I went up to Lowell on Friday to the New England Quilt Museum for their quilt documentation day to document two family quilts, both believed to have been made by Imogene (Everson) McClellan in the late 1800s. The process was very interesting to observe, a team of volunteers worked with me to document the oral history about the quilt (which I had brought with me, a sketch about Imogene as well as a genealogy and the provenance of the quilt) and then they photographed each quilt and identified technical aspects of the quilts. The Chinoiserie blue and brown quilt they thought was perhaps mid-1800s instead of late 1800s as we had supposed. Additionally, they discovered a small cross-stitched "D", leading to an educated guess that the quilt was made by Imogene's mother, Deborah (Bates) Everson. They thought the Asian quilt was beautiful, and loved small details like the fact that she used blue thread for the blue fabric and brown thread for the brown pieces, and arranged the patterns with little men to face opposite directions to correspond with how the quilt would drape on a bed. The green childrens quilt they all agreed was well-loved, and noted that the white fabric was actually originally yellow, and that the main batting for the quilt was actually a thin wool blanket.

London photo highlights

A few photo highlights in Yorkshire

Vermont reunion

Last weekend we headed up to Barre for the annual family reunion for Matt's family. The drive up there is always beautiful, I love seeing the scenery change, driving past the large brick factories and towers that stretch from Lowell up to Nashua, physical evidence of the recent industrial past, then gradually turning to the more distant green mountains, layered with hazy dark blue mountains, physical evidence of a much more ancient glacial past.
As we drove into Barre, they were having their old home day, with a 5K race - the same time Mom was making her personal best time in the old home day race in Carver (huzzah!)
This reunion there were a number of Somaini distant cousins who we did not know as well. But we had a blast with cousin Candi and her adorable blond-haired,blue eyed baby girl Sydney (born one day after me, Aug 13th!) and cousin Bryan and his wonderful wife Gladys. Gladys' mom (also Gladys!) came too, and we had a fascinating conversation about genealogy and her family's immigration from Guatemala to Massachusetts, and her grandfather's immigration from Spain to Guatemala.

I had updated Matt's family genealogy binder to bring, and it was passed around, generating lots of interesting stories. That evening we slept at Bob and Terri's gorgeous home, and he had pulled out old photo albums and a fascinating video about the Barre granite industry and its connection to Northern Italy for me.

Bob runs the antiques mall in Barre, and their home is filled with an incredible array of antiques. They built their home a few years ago on a beautiful property set back in the woods at the base of a small mountain. Matt & I spent the night on their enclosed porch, surrounded by antique chairs, baskets, rugs - and a spectacular view of the fields of wildflowers and forest.

The next morning we briefly saw Matt's cousin Missy and her two cute toddlers, and then Matt & I headed over to Bruce & Sylvia Mitton's home in East Barre, where Bryan and Gladys, Candi and Sydney, cousin Tammy, and her parents John and Cindy all gathered for a leisurely lunch. And Brian and Gladys two "little puppies"... Ika and Falen, their two (enormous) Great Danes. Matt was in heaven playing with them. They are both merle-colored, which result from breeding harlequins. The merle color in Great Danes is a disqualification for the AKC - so we had fun chatting about color genetics and obedience training (they were extremely well behaved - a great quality, considering they are big enough to drink from the sinks and open the door handles!)

Matt's grandfather, who left Vermont at the age of 18 when his mother died and came to stay with his aunt in Quincy, MA, always had his heart in Vermont, and loved coming back to visit his siblings and their families over the years. Matt & I daydreamed about buying a place up in Vermont, or New Hampshire, or Maine, as we often do after our summer vacations. Even daydreaming about our future Massachusetts home is filled with the idea of land - and lots of it. Mom calls it her "Irish farmer" genes - that sense of land, a sense of home, a topophilia (love of place) that provides a feeling of connection to both a place and the idea of a place.

Taking London by storm

We took the train from Leeds to London on Sunday, a beautiful way to travel to see the countryside! We arrived to our less-than-stellar hotel - but that's ok, since who needs to stay inside a cramped slightly smelly room when there is the whole city of London to explore? We took a walking tour on Sunday to some of Chris' old haunts when he worked and lived in the city. On Monday, Matt and I wandered the British Museum. I have decided I could live in the British Museum, and if only I could get behind the scenes and explore their archives and storage rooms, I would have a life of contentment. Of course we went to the Egypt rooms and were on the lookout for Amelia Peabody and Emerson grumbling in the corners. Then we explored some of the antiquarian bookshops and antique shops around the museum (I have also decided that I could be quite content to fill my house with ancient artifacts, too... this vacation may result in some expensive new hobbies! ;) ) Monday ended with a trip to Shakespeare's Globe Theater to see A Midsummer Night's Dream, which was absolutely hilarious. Today we took an all-day bus tour which went all around the city, where you could hop on-off anytime to further explore the places. Got some great pictures from the excellent vantage point of the top of a double decker bus. We took a walking tour of Jack the Ripper, which was spooky and fascinating.

We've just returned from our first West End performance - Wicked, which was a beautiful and very entertaining performance - who knew rooting for the wicked witch (and against the very annoying Glinda) could be so much fun?

Tomorrow I am off to attempt to get some genealogical research done in some London archives, and then we are seeing SPAMALOT (by the way, as a note especially for Dad, at the very beginning of our vacation, on our first night at dinner with Matt's brother, I made a "huge tracts of land" joke that just about made soda come out of Tim's nose - apparently he is a big Monty Python fan too!)

Last Day in Yorkshire

Tomorrow we head off on the train to London! On Thursday we spent the day with Matt's nephews (who are just a bit younger than us) We took an interesting brewery took of the Black Sheep Brewery in Masham, and then took a hike up Almscliff Crag (pictured above), which overlooks a long distance, with gorgeous views of the countryside.

We then moved down the road to Rudding Gates, a luxury apartment for two nights which we were upgraded to from the cozy cottages we have spent the week in. It's been wonderful living the high life for an evening!

Matt and I spent another day in Knaresborough, had a guided tour of the castle and got to go into the underground sallyport (the escape route out of the castle), had afternoon tea, and then went to Harewood House, which had huge gardens and a little zoo which bred endangered bird breeds. Yesterday Cindy's girls left for vacation in Spain, and today we explored Follifoot and went to one of the pubs there for lunch, then spent a lazy afternoon reading in the apartment since it was downpouring - the only heavy rain of our vacation!

Today's Greta and Brian's wedding - Congratulations!!!!! =)

Exploring Yorkshire

Just have a few minutes to update! We've been wandering Yorkshire for the past few days, exploring around the county. On Monday we went to Harlow Carr, which had beautiful gardens and the famous Betty's teashop, on Tuesday we spent the day in York. Matt & I took a tour of York Minster and the underground crypt and treasure room, along with a guided tour of the foundations of its predecessors, a Norman cathedral and a Roman fortress. We then wandered the streets of York, went down the Shambles, and went to Jorvik, a recreation of the Viking town at York which had lots of neat archaeological information and artifacts.

Today we went with Tim to Fountains Abbey, which was built in the 1132 and destroyed by Henry VIII when he dissolved the powerful churches of the time. We had a fascinating time exploring the ruins, and then took a lovely drive through the Yorkshire Dales! The landscape is stunning, and incredibly there has been almost no rain.

In other news, Suzannah has just had her baby, a beautiful girl named Lydia Marie! Congratulations, Suzannah and Ben!!

Knaresborough and Ripley

We went into Knaresborough, where Matt's brother Tim lives and Chris used to live, and explored the castle ruins along a beautiful sweep of the River Nidd, looking over to the Knaresborough viaduct. We then wandered to the first graveyard of the journey (I'll post more on my graveyard explorations when I return in my history blog!) at the old St. John's Church in Knaresborough. We have settled into our two cottages at Rudding http://www.rudding.com/cottages/claro.htm

Literally right across from the cottage is a field of sheep and a field of cows, who are very curious!

Today we ventured to Cindy's because both of the girls returned home, then we ventured over to the town of Ripley where we went to a huge old church and graveyard (the older site sunk into the ground and is called the sinking chapel!) and saw Ripley castle.. then ate the World Famous ice cream from Ripley (which I had never heard of... but it sure was delicious!) I think Uncle Scott Ripley said once that he thinks his family may have come from this town, if that is who it was named for! More genealogical adventures later...

Then off to Cindy's parents home (its her dad's birthday), a renovated priory mill directly on the River Nidd, about half a mile down from the Knaresborough castle. Cindy's dad did the work himself over the past decade, and it was absolutely stunning... both inside and out!

and Matt's suitcase has literally just come to the door! Huzzah!!!!!

Greetings from England!

We arrived at 11 PM instead of 7 AM, and Matt's luggage has been lost, but we have arrived in Harrogate in one piece. We've picked up a new set of clothes for Matt (who we shall pray will wish to travel in the future after our misadventures!), and explored a bit of downtown Harrogate this morning - amazing how beautiful and old all of the buildings are. We are visiting Cindy and Tim - the girls arrive tomorrow from Germany - and we were treated to a lovely tea and Cindy's scones. Off now to explore the house and garden, then onto wander Knaresborough and dinner!

England!

I am off to hike the dales of Yorkshire and stroll the cemeteries of London! Postings of our adventures to follow if we can finagle internet access!

Highlights of the week

Grabbing lunch and canoeing with Maria (chatting for so long that there's a sunburn to prove it!), picking plants with Mom at the garden sale, seeing Louise in her element (her kind demeanor combined with an in-chargedness factor of the gardening world!), watching Sex and the City and having Tex-Cajun food with Greta (although sadly no guacamole because of the tomato ban!), setting up my new office at work with Natyra, spending a lazy summer afternoon in Holly's pool, receiving long-anticipated vital records from London in the mail (its like Christmas - with historical records!), buying new clothes with Matt for our upcoming England trip, opening the blinds and shutting off all the lights to snuggle and watch and listen to last night's rainy thunderstorm...

here's to a lovely week!

A rocking graduation cake!

Greta sent me an awesome Guitar Hero cake photo just prior to my graduation party, which I was dying to have! Holly came over early to the party help create it (we ran to Michaels to grab fondant and icing, and Holly was a fondant master!), and the resulting cake was a triumphant masterpiece! (and very very delicious!)

This Just In!

I had to laugh at a title of a news article on Yahoo I saw today:

Real archaeologists don't have whips like Indy

Slow news day, eh? Actually, give it a read, the article is pretty funny and insightful into the (often tedious) process of archaeological digs...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080513/ap_en_mo/film_indy_and_archaeology

Balcony Garden

I've started working in my garden on our 9x5' balcony. Mom and I had taken a trip down to Wareham to Morse's nursery in order to pick up some plants. I planted petunias, phlox, a tomato plant and basil. At Morse's I also spotted in the clearance shelves two small wooden cranberry scoops. Matt & I had tiny cranberry scoops as our wedding favors, and I love the aesthetic look of them, so I bought them, and have to decide what type of flower arrangement to fill them with!

Last year I had purchased seedum, a perennial which was still thriving this year - it survived the cold winter. I moved it to a larger pot for this year to give it room to grow. Another plant to survive from last year from my little herb pots were the chives, which (as you can see) are taking over! They will garnish some delicious mashed potatoes this year! I'm planting some nasturtium seeds into one of my hanging containers on the trellis, which should spill over nicely. There's still quite a few empty pots to fill - the Hanover Garden club is holding their plant sale in early June (although I am certain to go and buy some more flowers before then - and definitely some gerber daisies, one of my favorites!). This year we are also buying some comfy chairs and cushions for the balcony, to make it more of a gathering spot - or book reading spot.

And while I fantasize about my big garden when we have a house (and Matt adds his plans for architectural features like rock walls and water features), its still fun and relaxing to kneel out on the balcony, elbows deep in bags of potting soil, and looking out at the flowering trees nearby and beds of tulips near the sidewalk - as well as our little stream, a branch off of the Concord River.

Greta's Derby Party

Our favorite Kentucky belle in New England, Greta (and fiance Brian!) held a Kentucky Derby party on Saturday. A grand day for wearing big hats!

Each of the horses names were placed in a hat and we picked them at random to place bets on the Derby. The extent of my knowledge of this year's race was that Hugh Hefner was betting on Big Brown and that Hillary Clinton was supporting the only filly in the race, Eight Belles [apparently, knowledge of bizarre trivial knowledge runs in the family!].

We belted out My Old Kentucky Home, and played Dan Fogelberg's Run for the Roses, and then the Derby began! Big Brown [who Brian had selected from the pool], after trailing for awhile, eventually took the lead and won the Derby. But Big Brown's win was overshadowed by the fact that Eight Belles, who took second place, collapsed at the end of the race. She had broken both of her front ankles, and was euthanized as soon as the equine ambulances pulled onto the track! A very sad turn of events. My horses, Z Humor, Gayego, did ok, and Matt's horses, Monba and Adriano took last place!

Everyone brought great food - Natyra made dainty cucumber sandwiches, Seneca brought her signature cupcakes, I brought a Boston creme pie, and Matt loved Greta's Cajun shrimp. Greta served delicious Derby pie in the Louisville Stoneware pie plate I bought her for her bridal shower!

The history girls - Greta, Natyra, Seneca, and Mary

Matt, Mary, Natyra, Seneca

Graduation

Yesterday I received my masters degree in history (with a certificate in public history) from Northeastern! Despite the rainy weather, it was wonderful to be joined by Matt, Mom, and the Edwards for the ceremony on campus, then afterwards with the rest of the family at the Crackerbarrel! Seneca and baby Jack were also cheering us in the audience, as guests of Natyra.

Graduate school was a fun and engaging process, and felt quite different from being an undergraduate. Classes were smaller, the work was more intense, and there was a greater sense of community within the department. I was accepted into Phi Alpha Theta, the national history honor society (although by a bizarre turn of events, it was my husband Matt who was signed up for the membership - they confused my name with his from the check I paid with for the subscription to the magazine! - that's soon to be remedied!)

From learning and developing the methodologies of writing historical articles for publication, learning about managing non-profit organizations, producing a museum exhibition, writing and presenting conference papers, and spending many fascinating hours in a variety of archives, it was a challenging yet instructive process. The department was in the process of developing a world history program, so there was less of a focus on American history than I had hoped for, but classes like Prof. Fowler's colonial American history, Prof. Green's Problems in Public History; and Museum Exhibitions; Prof. Correll's Oral History; and Prof. Penna's Non-Profit Organizations offered a great deal of valuable information and also provided room to perform in-depth research for topics was I particularly interested in. And, of course, my internship led to my wonderful job!

So here's to studying the past, celebrating the present, and looking forward to what is to come!

This one's for Margo

Meet the latest addition to our fridge:

Matt is also fond of Moose:

Suzannah's baby shower

Yesterday went down to Medford for Suzannah's baby shower. There were a variety of fun shower games (and a discussion about some of the stranger games that other people had played at previous showers... "guess the melted candy bar in the diaper"!?)

I won one of the contests - I guessed the number of diapers in the diaper cake (featured below!). Suzannah's finishing her degree and having the baby this summer in Utah before returning to MA in September, so the gifts were small (she didn't want to have to lug big baby furniture or toys for the move!) A variety of crafty ladies made beautiful hand-made cards and sewed a variety of blankets, bibs, etc. The cutest one was a yellow onesie with a loooong green dachshund sewed on the front, which wrapped around to the back! I knew that Suzannah loves those towels that have a corner which serves as a hat for babies, so I brought a cute one with ducks, as well as a Johnson's baby product gift box with a variety of lotions and a copy of Goodnight Moon (a favorite... with perhaps the most hilarious rendition of it performed by Christopher Walken!).

Next week Suzannah finds out if the baby is a boy or a girl (so there was lots of yellow and green featured at the shower)!

Silver and Golden Wedding Mass

Each year the Archdiocese holds a mass to celebrate the couples in Massachusetts who have been married for 25 or 50 years (and this year there was even one couple celebrating their 60th anniversary!)

Cardinal O'Malley performed the Mass, in the beautiful Holy Cross Cathedral, and the whole family - and the Lees, Eileen, and Edwards' came to cheer for the renewal of vows for Mom and Dad, celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary this August. Dad looked great in his new suit, and Mom was beautiful in her new dress - and those gorgeous shoes!

And the family was able to get a photo taken with the Cardinal, who cheerfully sat for a variety of photo shoots!

Plymouth Plantation

The other weekend, Greta, Natyra and I ventured down to Plymouth Plantation - despite the cold wind and rain! More in-depth coverage to follow in a week or two once papers are done!

Valentine's Day Surprise

Matt sent me roses and a little box of chocolates to me at work! It has made my day =)

Avon Walk for Breast Cancer

Two wonderful women, Lynne and Pauline from Carver, MA are in full training mode for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Boston, for all 39 miles!

If you are interested in making a donation, check out their website. I hear that as part of their fundraising efforts, "Pauline and I are also making special breast cancer bracelets. The bracelets are sterling silver with pink Swaroski crystals and the attached charm can either represent you as a breast cancer awareness supporter or a breast cancer survivor".

New Years Eve

Our New Years Eve party was a blast. I had prepared a ton of appetizers, dinner, and desserts - our pigs in a blanket were the hit of the evening! Holly, Katie, Andy, Greta, and Greta's fiance Brian made it up our way. We set up Rock Band to play, which is really fun to play in a group setting. I know Greta has a great voice, and she was awesome on vocals. Holly loves to sing (but she was coming down with a bad cold and was too stuffy to sing, except for some Weezer!) We downloaded some extra songs per group request, including more Weezer, David Bowie, The Police, and Radiohead.

It was good to see Andy, who we briefly saw over the summer, but hadn't really had a chance to hang out with since the wedding. Brian usually has a jazz band gig on New Years, but this year he wasn't playing, so he came along with Greta. Greta and Brian brought an updated Trivial Pursuit, with 80s, 90s, and current trivia. We had a blast playing, and it turned out that Greta & Brian were the trivia masters! Matt & I had Andy on our team, which was good, since Andy is a walking encyclopedia of music knowledge.

We watched the ball drop at Times Square (where Katie was last year!) and rang in 2008.

The next day, Matt, Katie, Andy and I caught a morning showing of Sweeney Todd, which I had been looking forward to seeing. I had picked up the soundtrack before Christmas, so going in I was familar with the music (although the soundtrack did not include the final few songs, so I had no idea how it ended!) Despite its gruesomeness, I was amazed (as always) with Tim Burton's direction and artistic style (particularly the streets of London, and the beach set for Mrs. Lovett's "By the Sea". And I absolutely love Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter, and, of course, Johnny Depp!

Of Christmas and Wisdom Teeth

We've had a wonderful Christmas season. Matt's work Xmas party was at Max Stein's Steakhouse. The steak was delicious, and the room chosen had a huge projector screen, which the gang hooked up XBox 360 to and played Rock Band all evening! My work Xmas party was held at the Society, and was catered by Vinny T's and had a string quartet playing holiday songs, which was fun. The family reunion was a blast to see everyone (although I missed my dear Daleys!), especially little Jessica - not quite so little as the last time I saw her!

For Christmas Matt & I continued a mini-tradition we started last year - roasting chestnuts (we don't have an open fire, but carving X's in the shells make them roast quite well, then serve with butter and cinnamon sugar or sea salt), and Terry Pratchett's Hogfather was playing on TV, as well as the beloved A Christmas Story, which Matt had never seen!

Christmas morning we opened our gifts - an abundance of history books, scifi books, Tim Burton, Elizabeth Peters, Neil Gaiman, VeggieTales, Nintendo DS and video games, Mel Brooks, For Better or For Worse, etc!

Then we headed over to Carver and got to see all the kids goodies. Mom & Jamie made delicious appetizers, Joe showed off his iDog, Nikki wore her Aeropostale pjs, Julie & Corey showed off their electronic stuff, Tim his Sudoku, Dad his Beatles collection, and Mom her new video camera. We then went over to Hanover and got to see the Sironi's, including Jeff who was home from LA. It was inadvertently a penguin-themed - we gave Chris Happy Feet, March of the Penguins, and a singing penguin Hallmark card, and he gave us a set of stuffed animal penguins!


After Christmas, I met up with Momoko, Jojo, and Sara in Boston for a Brownie reunion. Coming from DC, Nova Scotia, and Texas, it was wonderful to have a chance to catch up with everyone and spend the day together.

Then last Friday I had all four of my wisdom teeth removed -ack! The surgery was quick, and there were no complications [nice, but it still hurts like a son of a gun!]. I spent most of the weekend sleeping, with large ice packs on my face.


My mouth, while still hurting, is feeling a lot better, and tonight we are having a New Years party with the gang - luckily it has stopped snowing!

Here's to 2008!

Christmas decorating

Today we went to the Greenwood Tree Farm to pick out our Christmas tree. We picked out our tree last year from a flower stand on 3A, and the tree didn't last long, dropping its needles everywhere, and drying out too fast. So we thought it would be fun this year to go to our local tree farm. They have several fields of trees which they rotate each year. Their trees generally grow for 5-6 years. You grab a saw and go out, pick your tree, chop it down, and bring it to your car! Plus they had a neat little farm stand with apple cider, farm-made honey, and a variety of Christmas wreaths and centerpieces for sale. We picked our tree and a nice small wreath. The farm was really neat, it's on a huge piece of property along Dudley Road, which spread back near the Concord River and the famous historical "Two Brother's Rocks", which served as landmarks in the 17th century for John Winthrop and Thomas Dudley when they marked the boundaries of their properties.

We set up the tree, then grabbed lunch at the Border Cafe, for a Mexican Christmas fiesta.

Then we had fun pulling out all the ornaments and decorating the tree. Our ornament collection is filled with a fun collection of old and new.

Here's Mary's tooth-brushing Santa from 1985:


Here's Matt's teddy bear glass ornament from the 1980s:


We also received several "Our first Christmas" ornaments for our engagement in '05 and our wedding in '06. Last year we bought a variety of bulbs and other ornaments to fill out the tree. This year, I bought Matt two Hallmark ornaments from Pixar's Cars and Ratatouille.

Here's our Hilton Head Lighthouse from our honeymoon:


And here are some of our kitchen decorations: