Grandpa, This Blog Is For You

I should be in bed, but I don't think I'd be able to sleep without posting this message to my darling grandfather. Grandpa, I spoke to Dad today, and he told me about your wonderful visit together. What a fun adventure you two had! Dad also happened to mention that you showed him print outs of some of my individual blog posts.

You print my posts.

In the prime of your life, at a youthful 86 years old, you are such an inspiration to me. I want the entire world to know just how precious you are, but they also need to know what a catch of a grandfather I have.


Last April you wrote a message I will never forget. I hope you don't mind if I share it with the entire universe:

Subject: Your Knucker Hatches

Hi, from Grandpa Adams,

To let you know that I have appreciated receiving your family pictures and the neat descriptions that you have added. Please keep it going for me, at least.

Lots of love to you, and yours,
Grandpa, in Arizona


Keep it going... for you at least? Grandpa, you are the ONLY one who keeps me going when all of this blogging feels like time ticking by that will one day be lost in space anyway. On the other side of the states, I have a grandfather that checks my blog almost daily.

Even though we are miles apart, through the magic of the Internet, I can still share the nitty gritty parts of my life with my grandfather. And to beat all, he even prints a post here and there because it means something to him.

Just for you Grandpa, I post on. You amaze me.

All my love...Amo

Christmas Day 2006 - The Letter

I better finish up retelling our 2006 Christmas before the next one rolls around!

Christmas Day, was different. Very different. In fact, Ken and I weren't sure what to expect from the kids when they took a peek in the early morning hours under the tree. Both of Ken's sisters and families would not be arriving until the afternoon. Upon their arrival, Santa (Grandpa in full attire) would show up at the door a bit turned around after just returning from Germany. The problem was, in order to make it work, our children would wake up on Christmas morning with nothing under the tree. NOTHING.

Our hearts were torn as we both thought about how the children might feel in the morning, after days and days of counting down...

To soften the blow, after the kids had turned in for the night, Ken composed a letter written by Santa, informing the children that he would be returning that day to visit them in person. The letter was laid by the munched on cookies and carrots in hopes of being found.

In the morning, the children visited our room first, and after giving them the OK to have them peek under the tree, we huddled in our bed waiting for the children's reactions. We could here Jack and Grace whispering excitedly to themselves, and then there was silence. After a moment, they checked the plate to confirm if Santa ever arrived, and then to our relief there was great excitement as the children sped up the stairs announcing there was a note!

All in all, the children took it very well. And they were extremely patient as the day passed along. Here is Grace showing Grandpa "The Letter".


Grandma had the perfect idea of passing the time by baking a cake for baby Jesus. This we all throughly enjoyed over the next few days. And it smelled wonderful on Christmas day!

I have to say, it certainly was nice to be showered and dressed for once before all of the candid Christmas picture taking.

Staging Christmas

While we were in Colorado, there was a sub-plot simmering just below the Christmas hub-bub. Before vacation, Ken decided that it would be really fun to build rockets together with extended family circles and then to have a grand launch date on open acreage. His idea turned out to be fantastic. Every family had up to three rockets they spent time constructing, painting and detailing over the course of the vacation. A LOT of work went into each piece, with some rockets requiring multiple stages and high skill levels. It was difficult to tell who was more excited about the rockets...the children or the grown men.


Ken and Grandpa probably spent the most time together on this project. At times, trying to make heads and tails out of some of the very cryptic instructions. Perhaps the most challenging was Grandpa's rocket that was quite large. There were a couple of times when the room erupted in laughter over glued mistakes and short cuts gone bad.


The launch involved the entire extended family with successful launches for all but poor Grandpa's rocket. How I wish we would have had a video running! The big black two footer struggled its hardest to handle its own weight, losing to gravity after 40 feet and hitting the snow nose first. For added emphasis, the booster then decided to pop off in delayed fashion, which had us all in stitches.

If you have the open space, this is a wonderful way to spend time with family. And the kids love it...especially the part about chasing down their rockets as they float back to earth.

Snow, Snow, Snow

Our family couldn't have asked for a more wonderfully white Christmas in 2006. We spent 10 days in the foothills of the Colorado Rocky Mountains underneath a blanket of fresh snow. A Christmas dream. Hours before our vacation was to begin, Colorado was pummeled with more snow than they could plow, closing the Denver airport. We were extremely fortunate in that our flight was the first plane into Denver once the airport opened its runaways again. Our prayers for a snowy Christmas were answered...and then some.

As we waited for our baggage to arrive in the airport, the children stood nose to the glass outside, desperate to get their Georgian hands in the cold snow. They had ample opportunities throughout our visit, that included nature walks on the farm, a scavenger hunt across 25 acres of snowy fields (more on that later), digging a snow tunnel, chasing down descending rockets in the fields, and a snowy bonfire.

So imagine my surprise when after downloading all of our Christmas videos and pictures, not a single picture shows any of us doing anything in the snow in the daylight. OIY.

On one of our last nights at the farm, all of the extended family had left (except us staying beyond our welcome). Despite the post holiday exhaustion, we decided to build a bonfire and roast smores. Ken whipped up a blazing fire, capable of scorching nose hairs and anything else found within a 3 foot radius. The night was perfectly still and the sky was clear, except for the sounds of six silly voices singing belated Christmas jingles and playing rounds of the game "Operator". So here's us, in the snow...in the dark.

Three Ways to Give Thanks

What a difference a day makes. The next morning was gorgeous and warm, with not a single cloud in the sky. Faith took advantage of the weather change and decided that all human beings should arise with the morning dawn while staying at the grandparents' house.


Perfect weather could only mean three things...tractors, paintball and an awesome turkey dinner.


Grandpa A. has a reputation for babying his tractor. The tractor resides in the garage - not the family cars. Grandpa's favorite hobby? Driving a tractor. The children had a wild time taking turns riding the tractor. It was enough for Grace to sit on Grandpa's lap, (too nervous to take the wheel), while Jack was in complete driver's heaven zig zagging with enthusiastic over corrections (he might have the Adams tractor gene).


Ken was invited to an on site paintball match with Uncle Jacob and his friend. This apparently is serious stuff folks. We discovered Uncle Jacob has a past time of his own...digging giant trenches. Ken wore a fresh pair of Grandpa A.'s Marine fatigues (which wigged Mom out a little). But what a beautiful father, son shot this is (post paint war).


Grandma did an unbelievable job of putting together a jaw dropping spread during the day: juicy perfect turkey, stuffing, waldorf salad, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, rolls, peas, apple pie and pumpkin pie. It was a tasty ending to a happy day with family.

The Macy's Day Parade

It was a valiant effort. Despite continued winds and rain, most of the crew headed out in the morning to witness the one and only Macy's Day Parade. Faith had impeccable timing and decided that it would be a perfect morning to catch up on a good snooze indoors (Mom didn't put up a fight).

Meanwhile, the men buckled down and launched children on their shoulders for a better view, Grandma fended off rude Italian ladies armed with cameras and Jacob and Rachel blew bubbles to distract any child at ground level.


The crew returned back to the hotel in wet waves. Airing out in the hotel room and electing to watch the rest of the parade in front of a TV screen. Faith slept through the entire parade. Smart girl.

And so it was...home again, home again...good bye exciting and cold New York....hello peaceful and warm Asbury, New Jersey.

Planes, Ferries and Subways

This Thanksgiving, we hopped aboard a "New Jersey Plane" (as Jack would say) and headed out to the small quaint town of Asbury to visit Grandma and Grandpa A. But before we could enjoy quaint, the grandparents thought we'd hit something a little more grand. After an evening to recover from our flight into New Jersey, Grandpa A. and the Knucker Hatch clan headed toward the Big Apple in the mini van. The day was rainy, cold and overcast, but the children's excitement over their adventure kept things cheerful.

The first "new" mode of transporation to experience was the Staten Island Ferry. The children went out on the deck with Dad to endure a chill wind at the front of the boat, and snap a picture.

Meanwhile, Faith (donned in her super puffy fuzzy suit) and Mom stuck to indoors, preferring to keep an eye on the simmering melting pot.

As soon as our feet hit dry ground, we were off to ride the next new form of transportation...the delightful subway. The subway ride took us a short jaunt away from Radio City Music Hall. Miss Faith, was a complete champ, but exhausted. She slept sucking wind while wrapped on my back as we all trapsed through wind and the rain the last few blocks to arrive just in time to be entreated to The Rockette Christmas Show.


Grace loved the orchestra and Jack, to some poor soul's chagrin, couldn't seem to remove his chin off the back rest in front of him. After a cat nap, Faith had other plans, finding it more entertaining to crawl around the corridors and flirt with security.

With all the travel and entertainment, satiating an appetite was in order. We met up with Grandma A. and Aunt Rachel and Uncle Jacob for a feast at Bubba Gumps.



And since the night was still young (for the youth at least), we visited the giant Toys 'R Us near Times Square. Grace picked out a new "My Little Pony" and Jack landed his mits on his first GIJoe toy laser gun with about 25 different laser-y sounds. I can't recall if that was before or after he side swiped a lady with a stroller on the escalator and proceeded to wipe out, forcing the lady to exit the escalator over the top of him with the stroller. But I digress...

That night, every single one of the Knucker Hatches was in bed by 8:30pm.

When Things Were Simple

I was going through some pictures tonight and this one made me smile and my heart ache. That's me. My grandfather's on my right, and my grandmother is on my left. I was their first grandchild. We all look so happy. And tan.

Faith is just entering the stage where she tries to grab your nose and take it off for a closer look. But I still have the silver bells on the shoes to look forward to.

Right now I feel baptized in molasses with motherhood. I can't even begin to imagine grandmotherhood. What is it like to hold the child of your child? It must be incredible.

I really miss her.

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa!!

I can't thank those two enough for all they did this week during their visit. And now all of the grandparents are gone...and I'm going to go through emergency assistance withdrawal. Grandma and Grandpa swooped in from the Rocky Mountains and spent almost an entire week with us. The children could barely contain their excitement upon their arrival and showed them every neat thing they could think of in the first hour alone.

Faith fell in love instantly with her Grandmother who has always had a natural knack for bringing out happiness. And Grandpa, with his towering stature, offered an arial view of Faith's surroundings while informing her of her high status level in the family (as if the Princess of Wails didn't know).

Grandma came prepared, bringing with her an old "Flibber" book from Ken's childhood, filled with "How To" projects for children. The children worked on a few of those projects with Grandma including the ol' standby of weaving a placemat.

I know we are ALL going to be going through grandparent withdrawal. I'll be spending the next two weeks trying to field the questions, "When can we go to Grandma and Grandpa's house?" or "When can we see Alyssa's house and visit Nana?" or "When is Aunt Sarah going to play a video game with me again?".

A Hike At The Lake

Today was a beautiful day for a hike. So the family, including Grandma and Grandpa, packed up our gear, made a pitstop for some picnic food, and headed out to a great hiking trail that works its way next to a large lake north of the city.

After loading up on carbs and protein (courtesy of Subway) we headed off on the trail. Grace and Jack really enjoyed all of the little features and surprises along the path. Eastern Tiger Swallowtails were everywhere, as well as ducks, and a couple of encounters with a small group of deer grazing in some nearby thickets. Jack was tickled at the sight of winding bridges that sprung up (built years ago by a group of Eagle scouts), and Grace pocketed hickory and acorn nuts.

Half way along the hike we stopped for some family pictures near a little shack in the woods. Here's a pretty decent one of all of us -- well...minus Jack, who always has great timing.

At the beginning of the hike, Ken bravely offered to try wearing Faith for the first time in her *pink* wrap. Faith thoroughly enjoyed hanging around on the back of her Daddy and showed her nod of approval with a snooze that lasted through most of the hike. She even managed to get some sun on those little cheeks and button nose, so for the last third of the hike she wore a onsie over the top of her head to block the rays. At the end of our hike we rested along the lake shore. Pollen is in full season right now so the shore water was a sea of yellow. This didn't seem to deter the children from wading along the shore, and drawing water designs in the pollen with their fingers. Grace lost her balance at one point and soaked herself from head to toe. (Ever seen a child dipped in pollen?)

The return home was a little more adventuresome. Dad offered to run back and get the car, so we all wouldn't have to walk all the way back. Wasn't that nice? Unfortunately, the gate to the shore we were at was locked which required him to park and double back to inform us of this detour. So Dad essentially walked the hike once and ran it twice!

A Gift From Nana

"Um. Hello? Am I here to amuse you?"
"MAYDAY! MAYDAY! Losing neck control! I'm going down!"
(We're still a little young for the Bumbo seat yet.)

Pump It Up Adventure

It rained on our last day together. So we sought to do some indoor fun with our morning, and headed to the local "Pump It Up" location for an hour of exhaustive fun.


The children had a wonderful time sliding down the giant slide that sent them careening into the bumper at the end. The obstacle course was quite a challenge (especially for Jack who learned to use his chin as a brace when scaling up the climbing walls).

After a full hour, Jack was dripping in sweat and red faced, while the girls had a healthy glow. Faith enjoyed her catnap in the sling while the world whizzed around her with squeals of delight.

Photo Finale to Nana's Visit

All interested suitors, you will be able to find this available, beautiful blonde darling on the UGA campus in a couple of years. Psst! Look for her on Facebook. (I knew the 15 year spread between me and my sister Sarah would come to haunt me...oh to be this young again!)


Nana's last Faith fix on our southern porch. Once Sarah jumps on the idea of UGA, we're hoping Nana will follow. Then our evil plan to con all family down to Georgia will be almost complete, except for you Uncle Jeff. All in due time...

One Last Day With The Ladies

All this time Alyssa has been visiting, we just realized that she hadn't had an opportunity to sit down and hold Faith. These pictures are just the cutest. Faith is in major bubble making mode these days so now it is really hard to get a photo of her sans bubbles and tongue.

Today is our last day with the "girls" and even Jack is broken up over it. Any Aunt who is cool enough to play video games with him is an Aunt worth forming a crush over. We've tried desperately to convince Aunt Sarah to move down to GA and go to UGA when she graduates. Uncle Christian and Aunt Kristy took her for a day long tour yesterday, and she bought a few college T-Shirts. We're hoping that is a good sign! We'll keep the pressure on. Everyone do us a favor -- if you see her touring another college, please tell her how much you wished you'd gone to UGA instead.

This morning we plan on heading out for one last jump around at a party zone place with large jumping equipment, before everyone parts ways. It has been so nice to have the ladies here.

Nana's Here!!!

...and Aunt Sarah...and cousin Alyssa!!! What fun the kids have been having over the last few days. We've been staying busy, hitting the park, going to a hockey game, shopping at the mall, game playing, LOTS of pretend play, and doing movie marathons for the adults.

Aunt Sarah mugging it with little Faith. Two generations of princesses!

Alyssa sharing funny made up horse stories with Grace. (When Alyssa visits all pretend play is "horse" play.)

The Shmog-A-Nog-A-Hyde Has Been Spotted

Grandpa Halley...this one is just for you...

The tradition of passing the Shmog-A-Nog-A-Hyde continues on to the grandchildren this year. Faith is the second grandchild to discover this friendly animal in her sleeping quarters.


For those of you not "in the know" and horrified to find such a grotesque creature in a cradle, do not let his appearance scare you. He is a great sign of love and humor in the Halley household and is a momento that has been stealthly exchanged between Ken and his father for years. The exchanges are very creative. Last year, thought to be lost, he was discovered at the top of Long's Peak!

Our Collosal Gingerbread House

Look what came in the mail two days ago! Aunt Christy and Uncle Mike sent us a giant (and I mean GIANT) gingerbread house they ordered through Eddie Bauer. Compare our graham cracker house, with this skyscraper!


The children have been hovering around it for the last two days and playing house with all of their little people. They have been so good about not picking, but today, has been MUCH more difficult. So far one frosting tree was extracted and brought to me by Grace. Later it disappeared from its temporary location, and ended up in the mouth of Jack. When questioned about the disappearance and the green line of frosting across his mouth, Jack asked with a sly smirk, "What Christmas tree?".


If they can hold off, the kids have been promised a grand feast after Christmas. They will then be promptly shipped to their aunt and uncle's house for sugar detox.

THANKS AUNT CHRISTY & UNCLE MIKE!!

Trains...Planes...& Automobiles

Dad forgive me...but I'm going to have a little fun at your expense on this post:

Yesterday we were informed that Grandpa Adams was flying back to Georgia on a free voucher he had earned. And then he'd be flying back home on Sunday (today) at around 4:00pm.

WHAT???? A 12 Hour Visit????

Ken and Kristy were convinced that Dad must have had something very important to tell the family. It didn't make sense otherwise. Christian and I, on the other hand, shook our heads with a smile, and informed our spouses that this was "just Dad being Dad."

Yes. Grandpa Adams is a little quirky at times. (He's a bit like the nutty professor. Aren't you Grandpa?) But we love him dearly. :)

Anyway, my Dad, the nutty AND absentminded professor, missed his flight trying to park in Economy parking. Economy parking... uh huh... let that sink in... for a one day flight. Never a quitter, Dad stayed the course, taking a later flight and making his connection in Chicago. At the early hour of 1:30AM Sunday morning he reached his destination at Christian & Kristy's house. As a side note, some of you might find the humor in the fact that his luggage was also lost in the process.

Yes, I did say LUGGAGE. My Dad took and checked luggage for a 1 day trip.

However tired and haggered he was, we were all glad to spend time with him at our church service and for lunch at Moes. And then he was off to the airport...back to New Jersey. That crazy Grandpa...

The rest of the day had been planned a few days in advance. Ken has in his possession a treasure that we pull out every Christmas - a Lionel train set with the track glued onto a large piece of painted plywood. His family worked on it over 20 years ago, and he was the lucky duck who got to keep it. The kids have been looking forward to pulling the trains out of the boxes and getting it set up. So that was our afternoon. This is always a mix of nostalgia and annoyance for the adults, as the train and track are fussy enough, that it pretty much requires that an adult be present at all times to fiddle and fix. But tradition is tradition, even when there is a little Bah-Hum-Bug sure to be involved.

Our Last Hurrah

Today is the last full day for the children and cousin Alyssa to spend together. After assembling a number of gifts from last night (giant marble run, and Spiderman lego town) it was off to enjoy the day outside. What is a fall day without a giant leaf pile to jump in?