A Connecticut Christmas

This post is brought to you by the generous spirit of Taffy Bowes. When it became clear that we had forgotten our camera, she was kind enough to allow us to commandeer hers for the entire time we were in Connecticut. This took extra courage since the main person taking pictures had just showcased her responsible habits by losing her phone and entire wallet within hours of landing on the East Coast. That circumstance also explains why this post begins right on Christmas morning and doesn't have any particular lead in. We were a bit preoccupied.

In any case, Christmas day arrived, much to the joy of the Bowes girls. They were already excited because this year we stayed at the Balestraccis during our time in CT. This maximized their cousin time to the extreme. It's just a good thing that Michael and Brendan were able to retreat to their bedrooms every now and then to get a little alone time. Katie, Chris, Michael, and Brendan were truly wonderful hosts.



As we sat in front of the stockings on Christmas morning, Callie was fired up and Reese was definitely intrigued. They had on their matching "Santa I Believe" jammies and boy did they look cute. And fortunately Callie had no problem waiting for the whole family to gather before we starting the present-opening frenzy.


You will see in the next two pictures that Reese's go to moves for the morning were sitting on presents and holding onto anyone's small stocking items while walking around and uttering some sort of primal roar. Some thought it was cute, but there are times she scares us. She certainly has not picked up on the opening gifts aspect, but Callie was more than willing to help her out with these tasks.


First it is important to point out that Reese is sitting on a present while wearing a tiara. Reese's tiara was fitting, since it fit the present Callie was opening right at that moment. When Callie ripped the paper off of her Santa gift, a Cinderella doll, she exclaimed, "This is exactly what I wanted!" Somewhere nearby, Santa's helpers smiled. It was fun to see how much joy she got out of opening up the gifts brought by Santa.


After the Santa gifts were opened, we took a moment to hang out. This presented an opportunity to gather almost all of the grandkids on the couch with Nana Banana. It is safe to say that Nana Banana was quite pleased with the situation.



There are a couple of key things to notice in this picture. One is that Brendan is wearing the red bathrobe that apparently is his version of leisure wear - certainly knows how to embrace winter vacation. Second is that in the moment this picture was taken, Michael a.k.a. Mike, was willing to shed his cool high school vibe and embrace the craziness that came with the presence of his cousins. Third is that the picture is not complete.

This Christmas marked the first time we got to meet Zoey Berkeley Hannen. It was pretty darn exciting, and we think Reese was particularly interested in a being smaller than her. She and Callie loved to see Zoey and try to play with her. We were pretty taken by little Zoey as well. Keep this picture in mind in the future when no doubt there will be quite a few other girl cousin get togethers.


Zoey did not fly to Connecticut alone. Indeed, she was kind enough to allow her parents to join her. Brian and Suzy looked like naturals as parents, and it was so great to see the three of them together. Zoey, like Reese, is not yet into the unwrapping aspect of Christmas. But they also shared the generosity of the entire family where they had to ship a package in order to get all their goodies home.




Here we have the lovely and talented Balestracci family as they basked in the glow of Christmas morning at their house. It was fun to be able to spend this visit in their new house. Normally we only get to see them at the times the whole family gets together. And this year every time they turned around in their house we were in their face. I'm sure Chris and Katie needed some alone time once we departed. And Brendan and Michael are very happy to have their bathroom back.


The picture below captures not only the cuteness of Zoey but also the pure joy that Zoey brings to Suzy. It was so wonderful to see.



Zoey made a point to bring her special brand of joy to more than just her parents however.

Reese was very intrigued by Zoey. To be completely honest, we were a little nervous about how Reese would interact. However, we figured that our ornament strategy might just work in this case as well. Amazingly enough, it did. Reese didn't grab, poke, pinch, lick, or otherwise harass her younger cousin. She just looked at her and waved. This made her parents very proud.


Every now and then one of us got the chance to hold Zoey. And if you were really lucky, you got to hold Zoey and Reese at the same time. And the presence of both little ones seemed to draw Callie like a moth to a flame. What was interesting to us, however, was that Callie had an awareness about Zoey that isn't quite there with her sister. In other words, she was gentle with Zoey and knew it was good to give her space. There was no need to tell Callie not to squeeze, pick-up, or grab Zoey. This is not the case with her sister. Intriguing, isn't it.


The original plan called for Christmas morning at the Balestraccis and then dinner at Nana Banana and Sport's house. However, this all changed when the oven broke at the Bowes residence on Christmas morning. At the end of the day everyone agreed that it was a blessing because we had a great day hanging out in one place. And the dinner was still prepared by the team of chefs that would have been in the kitchen anyway. Here are the three primary members of that squad. And the food tasted so much better because it was prepared by three people who clearly had fun in the kitchen.

The day after Christmas we headed over to Nana Banana and Sport's to meet up with John's Uncle Tommy and Aunt Terry. We always have dinner with them around Christmas, but this year we also got to spend a few more hours together before we went out to eat. It was fantastic to have that extra time to just sit around and chat.



Reese got all dressed up and was on her best behavior for two distinct reasons. First, she has heard that Tommy and Terry are the generous bestowers of Bitty Babies. Second, and much more important, Reese knows how much we would all love to have Tommy and Terry visit the Bluegrass. She didn't want to give them any reason to rule out such a visit.

We always talk about how much fun Callie has with Michael and Brendan. But let's be clear. That whole Balestracci family is a bundle of laughs. Callie had a lot of fun at dinner. She sat far away from her parents, for one. And she got to sit next to Nana Banana. Once she had eaten her fair share of shrimp scampi, she started hopping from lap to lap. Needless to say, she enjoyed herself and found a ready companion for fun in her Uncle Chris.


When Reese saw how much fun Callie was having, she decided to join in. Clearly she inspired Sport to get goofy for the camera. All in all, the two girls were fantastic at dinner. We were at the restaurant for almost three hours and they were excellent. Clearly all the nights we eat out for dinner and don't cook at home is paying off.


We have a few things to say about this group picture. First, it is wonderful to have these moments when family gets together and we are able to record it with a photograph. Now that we have the sentimental stuff out of the way, there are a few other observations. Contrary to what it may appear in this picture, Uncle Tommy is not four times the size of the rest of us. This is what happens when fifteen people cram into a small restaurant lobby to take a picture. And let this be a lesson to anyone who is ever asked to take a group photo like this one. It is completely unnecessary to have the three feet of open space at the top of the photo. Focus on the people and tell them that they don't have to crouch. It's all about spacing. Seriously, go back and look at the picture we have from four years ago when Callie was two months old. Different restaurant, same result. One day we will perfect this.

On the last night we were all in Connecticut we stayed true to tradition and the fourth year in a row we headed out for the sibling dinner. It was great to be able to fit this important event in to a hectic holiday schedule.



The only difference this year brought was instead of going elegant we went brewery. It was just what we needed to relax and catch up without having one of the five collective kids needing something.

And while this post is going up in 2012, it really wraps up 2011 for the Kentucky Bowes. We are blessed to have such wonderful lives. We just hope that in 2012 things slow down a tad so that we can better enjoy these blessings.

Christmas Preparations

So we had our gingerbread houses ready, but we needed to get the rest of our own house ready for the arrival of Santa. And this was truly the year that Callie knew exactly what was going on. She was very excited about Santa and we listened to a lot of Christmas music throughout the entire month.

The first step was selecting our tree. For the fifth year in a row we headed down Richmond Road to a Christmas tree lot full of the finest pine trees in town. The family who runs the operation are wonderful folks and we enjoy supporting their efforts. It's a Christmas tree lot that actually has quite a bit of holiday cheer, which we enjoy. Our selection didn't take very long at all, and we were all happy about the tree we selected. This is the first year, though, that Callie spotted the little trees they have on the lot and wondered why she couldn't have one of her own.

With the tree purchased it was now time to put on John Denver's Rocky Mountain Christmas and break out the boxes filled with all of the decorations. As you can see, Reese particularly enjoyed the Santa hat we found from last year.



That picture definitely captures Reese's spirit. She is a whole lot of fun and is full of energy. Fortunately, she also learned to be very good around the Christmas tree. We taught her to wave at the ornaments instead of pulling on them. Surprisingly enough, this strategy worked and there were no incidents of broken ornaments. However, the same cannot be said for snow globes. Reese managed to break two of them in the lead up to Christmas.


Callie continues to expand her tree decorating skills. This year she was a big help. Although it was still necessary to adjust the spacing of ornaments after she went to bed, it was not as bad as previous years. And she loved asking about the different ornaments and where they came from. Of course, she also has a special place in her heart for the felt ornament made by Nana Banana of Callie Doggie.




For the second year in a row we received an invitation to the Grins and Giggles gathering with Santa at our friends Ann-Philips and Jay's house. Last year's picture had a reluctant Callie and a very pregnant Sarah. We are happy to say that Sarah slimmed down for this year's photo. However, Callie was not even willing to enter the same room as the jolly old elf and Reese clearly was less than pleased by the whole situation. It did not go well. But that was just about Santa. We all enjoyed the rest of the evening and can't wait for next year.


Because we weren't able to get a picture of the girls in their new Christmas dresses with Santa, we went for the next best thing. A picture with their loving mother in front of the decorated Christmas tree.



You can see that they certainly enjoyed this photo opportunity far more than being forced to sit on the lap of a strange man with a beard. We'll have to keep that in mind.


More than a year after Reese entered Callie's life, the adoration and love remains strong, vibrant, and intense. If Reese is in the room, Callie wants to be next to her, behind her, or on top of her. She wants to hug her, kiss her, tickle her, pick her up, and entertain her. And as Reese has grown, she has begun to do more than just tolerate her older sister. She loves giving her hugs and playing with her. We know that this is just the beginning.

Reese Turns One

Everyone always talks about the first year going by fast. It definitely did with Callie. But Reese's first year went by at warp speed. It is actually quite stunning to realize that she has been in our lives for over a year. And it certainly isn't because she hasn't made her presence known. Reese is full of life and personality. And she is not afraid to share her opinions and feelings. Take for instance, the centerpiece of the celebration for her first birthday.




There it sat, a gorgeous cupcake topped by the candle shaped in number one. For the above picture we placed the cupcake out of reach, sure that the mere smell of sugary frosting would send Reese into an eating frenzy. Apparently there are still a few things we don't know about our daughter.

It started off well. We put the cupcake in front of her and sang happy birthday. And as pictured here, we even shared the melodious birthday songs from her aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents left on our voicemail. Reese loved it. She smiled, she clapped her hands, and from our perspective she was ready for the big moment when the cupcake would be devoured.

It was not that simple. This picture was taken after about five minutes of encouragement as we tried to get Reese to even touch the cupcake. You can see that Vivie Ann, Mason, and Callie all thought that they might have the answer to this problem. If Reese just got a little taste of the frosting she would understand what she was missing. Or at least if she saw them eating it her base instincts would kick in and she would take part.


Then Callie went for the direct approach. Just take the frosting and shove it in her mouth. She was sincerely at a loss to understand why Reese would not want to indulge in a treat that she had never had the opportunity to taste before. However, Callie may have also been personally offended because she had taken a lot of pride in the time she spent helping to pick out this particular cupcake.

When all was said and done, Reese did get a bit messy. But as you can see in the picture below, she refused to eat any substantial amount of it. Indeed, after she got some of the frosting on her arm she was mostly upset that there was something sticky on her arm. So this is not a picture of a fist raised in victory, but a signal that she was done with this little charade.



Once we had completed our attempts to capture the iconic moments of a first birthday, it was time to focus on birthday party activities. But in the year lived at warp speed, that meant combining birthday activities with Christmas preparations. Bring on the gingerbread houses!

Vivie Ann and Mason worked well together on their house. We had been sure to keep all of the candy decorations in the kitchen while lunch had been served. But when all of that was done it was time to put as much colorful candy on the gingerbread cottage as possible. This brother and sister team did well, and the picture shows that they were quite happy with the final product.




While the Johnson kids were working their magic, Callie was representing the Bowes family alone since Reese was doing what she normally does at these parties, taking a nap. However she was more than willing to join the crew for the picture with the fully decorated house. All in all it was a great day.

So little Reese Harper is one. Crazy. Our regular readers will note that she has yet to receive her first year promotion and tenure review. The paperwork has been an issue and the current economic crisis has forced us to downsize the front office. It has led to some delays in our normal processes. Trust us, it's coming.

Horses and Turkeys in California

Last year, the timing of Reese's arrival meant that we didn't have to travel anywhere for Thanksgiving or Christmas. And although it was nice not to have to buy plane tickets, it was tough not to see our extended families. So it was good to be able to hit the road for Thanksgiving this year as we prepared for a fun time in Sacramento. Of course, it would have been more enjoyable if our trip didn't start with Reese waking up at 3:30am puking in her crib. Unfortunately the sickness only gained momentum on the drive to the Louisville airport and on the first flight to Dallas. Trust us, you didn't want to be sitting within five rows of us on that one. And we must admit that a dry heaving 11 month old is not a pretty sight.

But like the trooper she is, Reese shook it off and we got ready to enjoy our time in Sactown. This time around on our Thanksgiving day trip to Golden Gate Fields in Oakland we chose to live the good life by paying for the all you can eat buffet and skybox seats. Just look at the view we had from our tables. Tough to beat, and the food was very tasty.



You can see most of the main players from the day in the above picture. A special thanks goes out to the high school friend of Sarah and Zac, who give us a hot tip on a horse in the fifth race. General Dan paid off well for us. However, Sarah's Uncle Tommy was the big winner with an exacta bet that paid well. It was great to spend time with Tommy and Brian, and as we Kentucky folk know, you can't beat a good day at the track.


The day after Thanksgiving we headed out to Rancho Murietta to spend the day at GA and GU's house. This meant a day full of cousins, fun, and food. It's crazy to think that in the last four years we have gone from one great-grandchild to six. In this picture we see the two youngest, Reese and Chase, showing that the family bonds will definitely extend into the next generation.

We did our best to capture all six of the great-grandchildren in one picture. However, it did not take us long to realize that this was not going to happen. The picture below shows the closest we ever got. Amazingly enough, it wasn't the youngest who were the biggest problems here.



But you can trust us when we say that the kids had a great time hanging out, playing with all of the toys in the house, and just generally making a lot of noise. Holidays are going to be a wonderful combination of joy and craziness for the next several years.

This day wasn't just about Thanksgiving, though. We also took the opportunity to celebrate the birthdays of those who were marking that big event in the near future. More specifically, we had a tasty birthday cake for Reese and GU. It seemed like both of them were happy to share the spotlight, or at least the cake.


Although Grammy Gayle doesn't like big shopping crowds, we were able to talk her into a brief excursion into the post-Thanksgiving shopping crowds. Here we see Grammy Gayle taking advantage of some of the holiday deals by buying her and Callie pairs of Merrells.



Callie has loved wearing what she simply calls her "slip-on shoes" to school almost every day. They are comfortable and her parents like the fact that she can take care of it on her own and there aren't any debates over what shoes to wear. Thanks Grammy Gayle!


Our final stop on this whirlwind tour of family, friends, and Sacramento was the new children's museum. It was a whole lot of fun. This picture shows how you can set the tone right when you walk in the door. Reese had a great time playing the section they have dedicated to kids three and under. Although Reese had been walking for about a month by this point, we certainly enjoyed watching her navigate the uneven terrain throughout the place. And Callie went from station to station with a smile on her face. It was fun to watch. Of course, the station she enjoyed the most was the pretend grocery store, where she quickly muscled her way behind the cash register and took over the business.


Both Reese and Callie didn't mind getting a little wet in the museum's splash zone area either. If there is one thing we have learned in our brief experience with children's museums, a good splash zone area can't be beat. Hopefully one day we will catch on by always bringing an extra pair of clothes. And that's not just for the kids, either.

As always, the trip was both fun and far too short. But we are looking forward to heading back to Sacramento in April for Great Grandma Lucas's 90th birthday celebration.

Reese's Baptism

So before we do anything else, we need to apologize to our loyal fanbase (Gayle and Taffy - at least they are the ones who drop subtle hints/questions wondering about the next post with pictures of their granddaughters) for the two month break in posting. Trust us when we say the blog is not the only thing that has suffered from the chaos of our so-called life. Plans are still in the works to send out the last Christmas gifts to friends and family throughout the country. Realistically, it will probably won't happen to February, so if you are reading this and don't have a gift from us yet, don't get your hopes up.

But on to our task of documenting the recent, or not so recent, past. We pick up with November 20, 2011, when Reese was baptized at First Presbyterian Church. She was very well behaved during the entire process and waved to members of the congregation when the Minister carried her up and down the aisles. And to top it all off, when the service was over, the mayor of Lexington, Jim Gray, came up specifically to shake her hand. None of the legal voters in the Bowes family received a handshake or even a hello. Chris Chrisman, as he did with Callie, presented Reese to the congregation, and it means a lot to us.



We had a big spread of food and invited the Chrismans and the Johnsons over to celebrate Reese's big day. The irony of it all is that she didn't eat any of the food and slept through the entire party. However, Callie had a wonderful time playing with Vivie Ann and eating the quiche and French toast casserole. Overall, it was a good day.