Welcome 2010!

So we had a fantastic two week visiting friends and family! Thanks for all the hospitality and love. For those of you we missed on this trip, you were in our thoughts for sure. Here are some pictures from the travels...

We spend the week before Christmas in Columbus OH and there were a few things that I wished I had my camera to take pictures of. The first was when we went to see Garrett (Tony's nephew) play his tuba at Tuba Merry Christmas. It was awesome! It was a free holiday concert where all tuba players from the community were invited to come and play together - it has been going on for years. It started in NYC and now these events are done all over the world. If you ever have a chance to go to it I highly recommend it!

And we went sledding with Cheyanne (Tony's niece) it was a total blast and the hill wasn't even very big - we made up for it with creativity going backwards, forwards, running start, standing, piled on top of each other - you name it we tried it - so much fun!

We also spent some quality time with Ronna and Roger down in Creola during the week. Lots of wonderful family time, good food, lots of popcorn, and Cheyanne and I made 3 apple pies together.

Christmas at Mom and Dad Stafford's House! We opened presents Christmas eve with Tony's brother Tim and his family, Karren, Garrett, and Cheyanne...
Christmas Day we went to Karren's Parents house and we all nearly had heart attacks when we excitedly peered into the big box that Tim got as a Christmas gift - it was the deer he had hunted earlier in the year...
Then we played Rock Band on the Wii, Tony and Tim are having a hard time keeping the rhythm, but we all had fun :)
The next day we headed down to Creola where Mom Stafford is from. The day was crisp, clear, and bright so I took advantage of it by taking some pictures of the old neighborhood...
Mom Stafford in the middle with Aunt Ronna and Uncle Richard
Then we all headed down to the fairgrounds for food, and presents for the kids. The adults participated in a Yankee Swap/White Elephant - Tony was the MC and we had a great time!
Bill and Sue both picked the same exact gift so they ended up with two brownie baking pans!
Then we hopped in the car and drove 12 hours to CT where we celebrated Christmas with the Bensons...
Susie was excited for her present...
That day we celebrated Christmas with the CT clan all my mom's brothers and sisters, their kids and grandkids - we had a total of 40 people at our house... so many people!
We played a mean game of Yankee Swap - I won a fancy toothbrush!
We headed into NYC to meet up with a few friends. We got to meet Baby Hazel! She was born on September 25th and she is precious! Her beautiful Momma, Jaime is the one on the left and Sarah is on the right. Sarah and her boyfriend got engaged! So excited for her, too!
Then we met Carrie, Brian, and Danielle for dinner at a great Vegetarian restaurant. We found out that Brian and Danielle are getting married the same day as we are this year. It was great to see them!
We stayed overnight at Karen & Paulo's house and had a fantastic homemade breakfast in the morning. We enjoyed great conversation about Outward Bound schools and Bambu bicicyles and Karen got introduced to Turkey Bacon and now she loves it! I love how you are branching out and trying lots of kinds of food now! It only took about 28 years and a guy name Paulo!
Then we got to see Meg, Pete and Ellie! So much fun seeing their home and having Ellie show us her toys. Her favorite gift I think was the candy cane attached to the outside of the package!
New Years Eve I got to spend with my beautiful Caitlyn! Nice Hair little buddy...
She loved her wooden hippopotamus until it smacked her in the face and made her lip bleed...oops... Just trying to help her learn some life lessons I guess :)
We also got to meet Piper, Lauren Kamerzel's new baby girl - Caitlyn loved her, it was hilarious, she would go over to Piper stare at her and scream, they were too cute together...
Mike, Jen & Caitlyn enjoying the evening as we got closer to Midnight.
Here we are at Midnight - Happy 2010!
New Years Day we drove up to Cape Cod to spend a couple of night at my parent's new cottage. It is so cute! Erik and Susie came in from Boston and we had a great time hanging out together.
The whole family was together! Including Lola the dog :)
We enjoyed a yummy breakfast of fresh farm egg sandwiches. Meg, Pete & Ellie had given us 2 dozen eggs and a bunch of fresh meat for Christmas and we feasted all weekend!
We all participated in housing projects - getting ready for the house to be rented out this summer. We got a lot done!
Then we had to leave :( and head back to our home in Virginia. On the way we stopped in Maryland at my Cousin PJ's house we hung out with Aunt Pat, Uncle Pete, PJ and his wife Jen and their kids Asher and the newest little one Piper! How adorable they all were!
We are excited and geared up to start 2010. Already we have a lot going on this year. For starters we get married this year! Also, Tony is going to be traveling to Europe for a school class, and then to Costa Rica for his work. Then both of us are scheduled to be trip leaders again to Argentina with TWO WHEEL VIEW in June. The adventures just keep coming!

We hope you all were able to enjoy the holidays... Happy New Year!

Love Cassie & Tony