Ian Said...

At Easter Dinner, Ian said his first blessing: "Thank you God for giving Jesus back to life!"

The Kayaderosseras House

Just after Christmas we were in New York visiting friends and family. We finally caught up with the Labrecques.

I met Eric in school and started working for Andre (his dad) in the summers. He taught me a great many things. Much of my interest in building comes from my experiences with him. Eventually, I became close to the whole family. They are wonderful people.

Andre, Eric, and Pierre (seen left to right) were at the site of Andre and Raymonde's new home, still in progress, along the Kayaderosseras Creek. Years ago Andre said he was going to build their home there. I couldn't picture it for a long time, but Andre had a vision. He was right! Looking out the back windows at the creek and the trees, I could finally see what drew him to that location. It is beautiful and serene. And these guys are excellent builders!

I'm happy that it is all coming together for them. It will be a wonderful place to live. I look forward to visiting them again when it is all finished!

Afterward, we went to their current home on the other side of town and had a nice visit with Raymonde. She was glad to see us and to finally meet Colin.

I wish we all lived closer!!!

Ian's Christmas Concert

Every year Ian's school has a Christmas concert. The kids sing, play recorder on some songs, then have a reception afterward. Last year Ian had a hard time sticking with the program (crying and rolling around on the stage seemed to be of great interest to him). This year, however, he did great! He was very enthusiastic about singing and sang the songs around the house for days leading up to the concert. What a great reason to miss a couple of hours of work! It was good fun and a wonderful way to get in to the holiday spirit! Ian appears in the third and fourth pictures. Joy to the world!

A Visit to L. L. Bean

We went to L. L. Bean in Freeport around Christmastime. They had a horse drawn wagon, sled dogs and a sled, ice sculpturing, a new fish tank with a peekaboo dome and, of course, L. L. Bear. My favorite part was the saxophone quartet playing inside. Good stuff.

Tub Time

Well, sooner or later these old boys were bound to tub together! Saves hot water, you know! And what could be cuter? We're lucky - they both love taking a bath. Now the challenge is to get Colin to keep more water in the tub than out!

Zorro!

I met up with John, Kathy, Heather, and Jason at the Portland Symphony Hall for a special Halloween program. They were showing the silent film "The Mark of Zorro" and an organist would provide the soundtrack. For those of you who don't know, this is how it was done in the Old Days! Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. played the well to do sly fox in the 1920 version of the masked vigilante. It was an incredible athletic and witty performance. He did his own stunts, which were daring and many, and had a certain ironic charm. It was not at all what I expected from an old silent film. Paired with the outstanding live accompaniment by Tom Trenny at the Mighty Kotchmar pipe organ - at times thundering away on a rapid theme to a horse chase with the 8' trumpets, at times gliding over the flirtations of the protagonist and Lolita, the love interest of the classic story, with the 4' flutes - it was one of the most entertaining events I've been to. The Kotchmar organ, impressive wit its largest ranks of 32 feet, had an incredible amount of variety in its sounds and impressive power. It was a real treat to hear such an instrument. I'm a big fan of the pipe organ. This one is one of the best! You can check it out if you like at http://foko.org/

Walkin' in the Woods

Late in Fall we went hiking on some nearby trails with friends Chris and Jessica and their little ones Julian and Keira. Ian and Julian are quite the buddies. Keira is younger but is already a good hiker. Colin likes getting a free ride in the backpack, just like Ian did!