Wordless Wednesday : The Last of the Fall Foliage.

Love,
Jodi

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Thank you, Martin Luther King, Jr. ...

... that our family can look like this - is a testament to all that you worked to achieve. We are Haitian, Turkish, Native American and French/English. And we are family.

Amen.

Love,

Jodi

P.S. this picture was taken in 2006.

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Tree Hunt at Piper Mountain : 2007

I LOVE rituals. And heading to Piper Mountain with my friends and family in order to pick out our Christmas trees has become a recent, but favorite ritual. It has been a long time ritual of our dearest friends, and we are so thankful to be a part of it.

You can see some fun photos from our outing by clicking on our Flickr account to the right ... But here are some of the highlights:

Our best friends.

Devon shakes the trees in order to make some really cool photos!

Meaghan experiences several "white washes".

Isaac learns how to throw snowballs (thanks Grampy!).

Daddy and his boy.

My favorite photo of the day.

Meaghan and her Grampy.

Ahh... and the evening fire. Gotta love it :)

And speaking of rituals and traditions, Halis and I plan to incorporate some new ones into our lives thanks to some great suggestions I have received from some new books. I hope to share them with you soon and to hear of yours as well!

Lots of love,
Jodi

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Friday Night is Family Game Night ...

... and not because a tv commercial told us so :) Friday night is game night because that is when Meaghan comes "home". And Meaghan loves games. She recognizes that a good game brings us all together in laughter and playful competition. Games help her to feel better connected to us ... and I think that must be true of anyone who plays games with their loved ones.

So, because I have shared some of our favorite movies and books this week, I thought I might also share some of our favorite family games. It is the holiday season after all ... and perhaps you might find some gift-giving ideas from such a list. (If you click on their titles, you can see their Amazon.com descriptions & reviews.)

Here they are:

Apples to Apples ~ apparently this is the most popular game in America now, but we've been playing it for quite some time. And it can get downright hilarious! Best to play with kids of reading age who also have some knowledge of popular culture. There is also a junior edition available that can be fun, but no where near as fun as the party version. Click link to see a video about the game.

Cranium Cadoo ~ what other game has you playing with clay, acting out secret words, making pictionary style drawings, etc...etc... This game has it all. Though adults will certainly have an edge ( I win almost every game) ... it is so much fun to play, that it isn't really about winning, but about enjoying each other during the playing.

Loot ~ Our family may not be into violence, but we have a weakness for pirates. I offer no defense for this. It just "is". And this pirate game is our absolute favorite card game. We take over one another's merchant ships with wild gluttonous abandon. I am told that the maker of this game, Gamewright, consistently wins "Toy of the Year" awards for their card games. We certainly plan to buy more to add to our game collection.

Clue Jr. ~ Just like the classic game Clue, minus the murder :) Instead, you are trying to find out who took the missing piece of cake. Yum. Find those crumbs, and you'll know who did it. Now you just have to figure out which room they ate it in, what time they did so, and with what kind of beverage! Fun for adults too.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Card Game ~ This game was one of Meaghan's firsts ... and is really good for introducing card games to the younger crowd. I figure that Isaac (who is 4 months shy of 3 years old) will be ready for it soon.

The Enchanted Forest ~ This is probably my personal favorite. It is both a memory game and a strategy game. You need to memorize components of the game, watch your opponent closely, and strategize how to out-wit them. I love that it is a fairly multi-layered game. And it helps that it has a fairy tale theme ... giving it some added interest.

We keep some other games as well, but these have tended to be our favorites. So, again, please share some of your faves too ... I would love to add more to our collection!

Love,

Jodi

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We're Here. And Lovin' It!

We have only been here for two full days and it already feels like a week... there is just so much going on! It is wonderful. I am headed off to do some Karaoke but wanted to say "Hello" and to leave you with a few photos. I have uploaded some to Flickr as well.

Please note: YES, Meaghan is with me. But No, you will barely see her in any photos as she has found a new friend here and subsequently has no use for Isaac and I. Though I wish she were around more, I am very happy that she is enoying herself.

So, here is mostly Isaac:

Love,

Us

P.S. Daddy, We Miss You SO Much!

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