Merry Christmas!

Really, whose children are these anyway?  The traditional 'new pajamas in front of the Christmas Tree' photo shoot used to be so simple. 

Enjoy!

Catching Up

In the spirit of trying to keep up on my blog, I'm trying to catch up on happenings in the Maughan home during the fall. 

(Click on photo for larger images.)

For those of you not glued to the BHBL cross country site, you'll be happy to know that Scott's Cross Country team had a great season and at the beginning of November traveled to Long Island and Sunken Meadow Park where they won the New York State Class A State Championship (along with the BHBL girls XC team).  The next weekend, the team was at Bowdoin Park in Wappinger Falls (just north of NYC) where they placed second in the New York Federation Meet (all classes, all schools together) and two weeks later, they participated in the Nike Regional Qualifiers.  While they didn't quite make Nike Nationals this year, they did a great job and many of us are looking forward to seeing what they can do next fall.

Learning patience at Christmastime.

I have to say that I've been impressed by the patience and goodwill that I've seen exhibited by fellow shoppers in the few forays that I've made into the world of real shopping (as opposed to the virtual shopping - online - that I so much prefer!) So I'm trying to follow their example...

Sharon (to Christmas Card printing company): It's December 17th.  I was just wondering why I haven't received the Christmas cards that I ordered two weeks ago?

Christmas card printing company customer service rep: Wait, we were supposed to PRINT those? (or words to that effect).

I'm proud of the fact that I did not lose it completely and tell her that my Christmas card reputation was now in shreds. She agreed that maybe they would consider printing my cards after all and I agreed that it's highly unlikely that any of my friends will receive their card before Christmas next year unless they live next door. 

In the event that you live out of state and the card will not arrive at your home before January 2011, here's what it would have looked like: (sad violins playing in background)

I'm off to put on some soothing Christmas music....

Living in an Icy World

This picture was taken on day 3 after the Really Big Ice Storm here in the Northeast.  The cool thing is that by the time I took it, the ice was actually starting to melt.  As I stood on the porch on Sunday afternoon following the Thursday night storm, it was very still and all I could hear was the sound of cracking ice (much like pouring soda over ice cubes!).  Just imagine that in theater surround sound! 

The storm caused huge amounts of damage and extensive power outages for three days.  We were fortunate to lose only phone and internet service for a day and counted our blessings that we were able to stay warm and dry. But I have to say that the surrounding area looked like the most amazing ice wonderland (well, except for all the snapped tree limbs!).  The ice-covered tree branches were bent to the ground and as one friend said, it looked like everything was bowing.  When the sun came out, everything looked dazzling against the blue sky. Very cool. (No pun intended.)  But I think that most of our friends without power would have taken warm house over cool landscape any day! 

It's not that I haven't taken any pictures in the last month...

Honestly, I've been taking tons of photos since I last blogged. So many that I can't admit it in public and still respect myself. But unless you're completely enthralled by hundreds and hundreds of photos of cross country runners (and who wouldn't be?!), I figured it would be best to use those on the BHBL runners website and actually put other photos here. Hmmm...what other photos? Is there a life in the fall besides cross country? Do people actually spend Saturdays in the town where they live instead of making trips along the Thruway?

Fortunately, my brother-in-law Alan came to the rescue with an invitation for our family to spend an amazingly beautiful Fall afternoon and evening at his camp just south of Albany. Not only was the weather perfect, but Alan knows how to barbecue like a dream.
And with much of our extended family out there, it was a fun time for all. And a great opportunity to take some real photos.....

My mother and father-in-law checked out the view from Alan's back yard with some pretty impressive pieces of 'glass' and Scott learned a little about archery...


Hey, how'd those running pictures get in here?!?.......

3.1 miles of muddy, hilly fun

I'm sure that someday I'll get over the fact that a child of mine (well, actually 2) loves to run through mud and dirt, up and down hills, for miles on end. I get tired just thinking about it. But it sure is fun to watch. Even in the rain. This weekend marked the start of the BHBL Cross Country season and the team did really well. Scott (on the right) and his friend Otis ran the entire 5K race together and finished in first and second place, just .3 seconds apart. For those of you who actually like this kind of thing too, feel free to head over to my newly redesigned website for more info about the Burnt Hills cross country and track teams. 

(Just a quick note for my photographer friends who read this: never, never forget to wear your bifocal glasses when taking photos at a running event.  If you do, you might not see that your camera is set on Aperture priority instead of Program mode and all your running pics will have shutter speeds slower than 1/100! Ouch!)

It's the most wonderful time...tra la!

Really, I'm not that excited to see my children starting the new school year, but this Staples ad from the 90s is an absolute classic in my mind!

Anyhow, like it or not, today was the first day of school here in BHBL and my 'baby' started high school.  How is it possible that my not-yet-13 1/2-year-old son can be a freshman when I can clearly remember him getting on the afternoon kindergarten bus?! Scott and Craig didn't look too worried about it as they headed of to the bus this morning (although I'm a little worried that Craig might think he's in 10th grade?!).

I couldn't help taking a few extra pictures - just so I could play with my fun, new Photoshop actions.  

Yep, there go two cute kids!  Now, if only Eric and Melissa would send me photos from their first day at BYU.... 

Family Day - finally!

Believe it or not, we were actually able to have our Family Day - one day (okay, well, half a day) where EVERYONE was together before Eric and Melissa headed off to BYU for another semester.  We had fun mini-golfing (or playing putt-putt for our Southern friends!), hiking the Indian Kill, watching a movie (Vantage Point, which we loved), eating at home (all together, at the same time, around the same table) and making cookies (some yummy recipe my sister Miriam gave me years ago made with cut up chocolate bars and coconut - how could we go wrong!?).  Anyhow, it was great to finally spend time all together. We even took a family picture of sorts - our first one in 2 1/2 years.

Who knew mini-golf could take this much concentration and be this much fun?!

And they're off!

I'm almost embarrassed to admit it, but we have been living in this area since 1989 (well, except for our three years in Virginia) and it wasn't until last year that we headed to the famous Saratoga Race Course for the first time.  I was surprised at how fun it was to watch the horses run.  This year, Eric, Melissa and I decided to make the trip to the track again. My favorite thing to do at Saratoga is people-watch!!  You have those who dress up to take in the summer at Saratoga experience, the die-hard betting customers, the casual watchers, etc.  We stayed long enough to watch two races and be grateful that we weren't the betting type! I have to say that it was a fun way to spend a beautiful New York summer afternoon.

Summer Fun

Okay, it's true that I've been negligent when it comes to keeping up with the blog this summer. But we've been BUSY! There may be six people in our family, but we haven't gone 24 hours with all of us in the same place this summer. How is that possible, you ask?! Well, to start with, there's been Scout Camp, Running Camp, CloverPatch Camp, Lake George camp, EFY, Youth Conference, Virginia trips, California trips, Chicago trips.... It's enough to make a mother dizzy (and hoping that she doesn't forget someone, somewhere.) Right at this moment I have children in four different states. But rumor has it that they will all be together for one day before Eric and Melissa head off to BYU at the end of August. I just hope we recognize each other.

Melissa worked this summer at Clover Patch Camp, a summer camp for children and adults with developmental disabilities. She was an AWESOME counselor (judging by her reviews) and had a great time helping the campers. It wasn't an easy or glamourous job, but I'm sure the people she worked with appreciated her smile and positive attitude. And she really learned a lot about working with people who have special needs. We loved hearing her stories!

I know, I know... you'd think that we'd keep Eric close by since we hadn't seen him in two years. But just a couple of weeks after he arrived back home, he headed out to sunny California for a week to spend time with Brandon, Scotty, Michael, Donny, Rob, Mindy, Alexis and Jean. Life is tough. They had a blast together going to the beach, visiting Alcatraz, and generally have fun. I was just happy he got on the plane to fly back to NY. He's going to have a great time with these guys when they're all at BYU together. (FYI, Eric's second from the right in the back.)

Eric, Melissa, Scott and I traveled to Salem, Virginia at the beginning of August and had a great time visiting friends. There is just something about Salem and the people who live there that we really love. This photos was taken the night before we left when we headed for Carlos' Brazilian Restaurant. What a treat! Not only were the food and the view to die for, but Eric had such a great time speaking in Portuguese! 

More pictures to follow....

Up, Up and Away....

My parents came into town for a few days to visit with Eric (oh yea, and the rest of us!) and while they were here, we spent a beautiful summer evening floating above the trees and homes of the neighboring towns in a hot air balloon, owned and piloted by our friend, Jonathan. It was a real treat - the weather was absolutely beautiful, the views were amazing, and Jonathan was the perfect host.

It was fun to wave and talk to people on the ground, watch them take photos of the balloon, and see how green and wooded this part of the country is. The landing(s) were definitely a fun part of the adventure, too, and we ended the evening sharing sparkling apple juice and delicious homemade goodies (thanks to our pilot) with some very friendly people in a neighboring town who were kind enough to let us land in the field behind their house. 

Braces

This week, Craig became the third Maughan child (in as many states) to get braces.  Since he was hanging out with his cousins this week also, it seemed a great opportunity to catch all three silver smiles.  Craig's not convinced that he loves his braces and is going through wax at an alarming rate, but we're sure he'll have an even cuter smile when he's all done.

Eric's HOME!

Really, can there be anything more exciting than having your son return from serving a two-year mission? Eric flew out of Brazil yesterday and arrived here this morning just after 10:00 am (almost a half hour early!) Aunt Nancy, Uncle Andy, cousin Janet with Kyle, Grandma Maughan and the Butcher family joined us to welcome Eric back to the English-speaking world. We had a VERY happy time.

After picking up Eric, we headed home and spent the afternoon listening to stories from Brasilia, visiting with the Brooksbys (even Erin via webcam!), looking at photos, eating lasagna and cheesecake (two of his favorite foods) and unloading Eric's suitcases. He wasn't kidding when he said that he was leaving all clothing behind (minus one really scary white shirt and the clothes on his back!). It was great to see a map of where Eric served and hear some of his experiences there. Our living room floor is covered with missionary supplies, journals, scriptures, memory cards, suitcases, two years worth of letters, and all kinds of stuff written in Portuguese, but it's so fun to get a glimpse at the life Eric lead for the last two years. What's really fun is to listen to him lapse into Portuguese or forget a word in English! *Ü* We all love having him home!

And if you haven't see enough photos, here's a slideshow of the big event:

Big news for Melissa

We've been waiting for this day for months. The BYU nursing committee met this afternoon to choose the fortunate 48 students who will be accepted to the nursing program for Fall 2008 out of hundreds of applicants. Melissa, who has wanted to be a nurse since she was a little girl, shouted out excitedly when an e-mail came through this afternoon congratulating her on her acceptance to BYU's nursing program. She called and texted family and friends to tell them the good news. We are SO happy for her!

LESS THAN A WEEK!

Only 6 days until Eric returns from his mission in Brazil! Hard to believe how fast the time is finally going! On Tuesday, he sent us his final e-mail - for those of you who haven't been to Eric's website, it's definitely worth a read here. (In my completely unbiased motherly opinion, of course!) Anyhow, his new clothes are in his drawers, his room is all made up, and now it's a missionary scrapping marathon here - thanks to a son who knows his mother loves photos and so attached them to many of his e-mails and sent home a few CDs. I love a quote that I read the other day, "If it weren't for the last minute, I wouldn't get anything done!"

Getting the Scrapping Bug

With so many fun photos of James and the boys playing their new favorite game of frisbee, I just had to scrap some photos right away. And while I was using a new kit, I figured that I might as well get my money's worth and do a layout for Eric's missionary album (which I'd better get moving on!). Way too much fun!

One month from today...

...Eric will be returning from his mission in Brazil!

 

It's hard to believe that Eric has had his last transfer, last Fast Sunday, etc. He has been serving in the town of Posse since January and LOVES it there. Today, he and the members of the Posse Branch (in Goias) are taking a five hour bus trip to Brasilia to hear President Monson speak at a fireside there. It should be a great experience for all of them - Eric is very excited about it.

Last week we received our third (yes, only three) letter/package from Eric in the 23 months he's been serving in Brazil. He e-mails nice long letters each week and sends lots of photos, but he's not exactly into snail mail. Anyhow, it contained two CDs of videos that he's taken in the last few months. Here's a short (and not-too-well-edited) clip from the CDs.

This might 'bee' a little late but...

I just loved these photos we took of Craig at the Capital District Spelling Bee at Proctor's Theater in March. Grandma and Grandpa Maughan as well as Aunt Nancy and Uncle Andy joined Scott, James and me to watch Craig take 2nd place in the entire Capital Region. Even Melissa (away at college) was part of the action as Scott texted her with the results of each round. Anyhow, I finally got around to scrapping the photos after being in a scrapping lull these past couple of months. (Guess where I got the idea for the blog theme?)