Tagged With: Family

Amy and Jim

Amy and Jim

Amy and Jim

Jim and Amy came to visit this weekend. Well, really Jim came to visit his and Cathy’s mom and Amy came to visit her dad and family, but Jim stayed with us and we got to see Amy a few times. On Sunday her nephew was playing in a soccer game at a local middle school so we met them there. I took a few pictures, as is my wont. I took one with Amy, Jim, and Cathy but I think this is better of these two and since the weekend was about them, I thought I’d just post this one. I also took a few of Amy and her sister.

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28th Pennsylvania Infantry

28th Pennsylvania Infantry Monument, Culp's Hill, Gettysburg

28th Pennsylvania Infantry Monument, Culp’s Hill, Gettysburg

Cathy and I drove up to see Dorothy today, meeting her at the farm and hanging out with her there a while. Then we drove down to Gettysburg and walked about 4.5 miles from downtown into the battlefield. We passed a few monuments for the unit with which Cathy’s 3rd-great-uncle served, including this one between Culp’s Hill and Pardee Field on Slocum Avenue. We also drive to near the recently reopened Little Round Top, stopping to see a friend who works for the Park Service and was stationed there counting cars and busses. All it all, it was a nice, if hot, day.

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Lydia and Dorothy

Lydia and Dorothy

Lydia and Dorothy

Cathy and I drove up to Frederick this evening, bringing Lydia with us, and met Dorothy and Jeff at the Kittiwat Thai Kitchen. It was a lovely evening and we enjoyed chatting over a nice meal. We had brought a window air conditioner that our friend Amy gave us so that Dorothy could have it in her room in Pennsylvania, where the house doesn’t have central air. We moved that to the back of her truck and then talked a little more before heading home. And of course I took a handful of photos, because it’s what I do.

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Family Reunion

Family Reunion

Family Reunion

I picked mom up at 6:00 this morning and we had very few traffic problems getting to North Carolina four our annual family reunion. It was a slightly smaller group this year than in the last few years, but still a really nice time visiting with people we only really see once a year. It was really good to see mom’s first cousin Ann, who sadly passed away a short week later. I had an extended visit with Lyn and Beth, since Beth hosted us for the night so we didn’t have to drive home again the same day, which is a bit much for us.

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Kids On The Stairs

Third Cousins

Third Cousins

Our annual week at the beach started yesterday. We had fewer issues with traffic than in many years, although we stopped a bit more, including stopping for lunch at Parkers in Wilson, North Carolina. We usually stop there to pick up barbecue and we’ve occasionally bought lunch there but never eaten it in the restaurant. We happened to be within a few miles of George and Carmela, who had started driving yesterday and spent the night in Southern Virginia, so they met us at Parkers.

Today is Eloise’s birthday and after dinner many of her third-cousins came over (along with their parents and grandparents). I was able to get a few photos of most of them on the stairs. Getting them all looking at the camera and not acting up is beyond me, though. Still, they were having a good time and I think it shows.

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Annual Family Beach Photo

Annual Family Beach Photo

Annual Family Beach Photo

We usually take our annual family beach photo a little later in the week but Dorothy was leaving on Wednesday and Iris and her family were going to Myrtle Beach to see her sister-in-law and her family Tuesday, so it was today or never. The kids made at least some faces in each one, but that’s just the way it’s going to be. I think it’s a pretty good photo, overall.

Earlier in the day we had driven to Sunset Beach to go to the Bird Island Reserve but couldn’t find a parking space. We saw a large flock of wood storks as we crossed the bridge back off of the island. We went to the Carl Bazemore Bird Walk on the imaginatively named East Lake, which we call Alligator Pond. We did see a few alligators as well as a few more wood storks and other birds. A person we met there told us about Vereen Memorial Gardens just into South Carolina and we went there and walked around a while, as well. We didn’t see much, but it’s a pretty place and I suspect there are times when there are more birds. In fact, someone we met there told us the painted buntings are there in large numbers at some times during the year.

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Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving Dinner

We had a lovely family dinner for Thanksgiving this year, hosted by Iris and Seth. It was something of a first for Cathy and me, as it was our first Thanksgiving without Dorothy there since she was born. There are two empty chairs at the table, because Danna was a little late arriving but she got there no long after the photo was taken. I think everyone enjoyed themselves and we did have a call from Dorothy so she was able to say hello to everyone.

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Christmas

Christmas

Christmas

It was a slightly non-standard Christmas for us this year. Or at least a little different in its details to previous years. One difference was that Cathy’s mom is in rehab so we went there to see her. We sang Christmas songs, which was fun. Then we came home and a little while later my side of the family came for Christmas. We were able to get this photo taken early in the day. If we had waited, I think it would have been harder to get everyone together for it. As expected, it was a fun, if somewhat tiring time. There was plenty of good food and we sang songs here, as well, with Jeff joining helping lead by playing guitar.

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Second Christmas

Jim, Hannah, Abba, Jeff, Dorothy, and Cathy

Jim, Hannah, Abba, Jeff, Dorothy, and Cathy

With family scattered around the country, it isn’t always possible to be together on Christmas. In Cathy’s family, therefore, there is a tradition of Second Christmas, which happens anytime after December 25 sometimes as late as March the following year. This year, Second Christmas was celebrated on February 7 and 8. Cathy’s Brother Jim and his daughters Abba and Hannah flew in last night from Illinois and Dorothy and Jeff drove from Pennsylvania. We had a really nice visit with grandma in the morning and early afternoon. Then we went to the Lancaster County Dutch Market before heading to Great Falls. We walked to Olmsted Island, which is where this photo was taken.

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Second Christmas Dinner

Hannah, William, Abba, Jim, Dorothy, and Anna

Hannah, William, Abba, Jim, Dorothy, and Anna

Today was the second day of Second Christmas. William and Beth arrived late yesterday and this morning we all went to visit grandma. We spent a while with her in the activity room, visiting with her and with each other. We returned home and mostly just hung out and we had our ‘traditional’ Second Christmas gift exchange, which is pretty low-key and non-extravagant. Beth went to visit a friend so she’s not in this photo, although she did join us a little later and finished the meal with us. Cathy also decided to stay home and enjoy a few moments of quiet.

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Dot’s Birthday

Henry, Dot, and Cathy

Henry, Dot, and Cathy

We didn’t have a big party this year, but Cathy and I stopped over to see mom this evening, since today is her 94th birthday. She’s adjusted to her new living situation quite well and we’re very pleased with the support she’s getting there. Her apartment is small but comfortable and a good size for her. As you can see, we have one of her quilts hanging on the wall behind us.

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Family After The Memorial

Family

Family

Mom’s memorial service was this morning. There were a few technical hitches, such as a tree down and power lines down across the road so getting to the church was difficult for folks coming from that direction. While power had been restored around midnight, the internet connection was still out, so we were not able to life-stream the service for those who could not be there. Also, while we had a microphone and that worked for folks in the room, we were not able to get the audio fed directly into the video camera. Nevertheless, after some creative editing, we got a video with passable audio. You can read mom’s bio and find links to the video and slide show on HartleyFamily.org.

After the service, all the local family and some from out of town came to our house for the rest of the day. Others from out of town drove home the same day, but it was good to see everyone and we’re very thankful for the love and support of our family and friends.

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Laura and Grandma

Grandma and Laura

Grandma and Laura

Cathy’s niece, Laura, arrived last night and this morning we all went to see her grandma (a.k.a. Cathy’s mom, a.k.a. Margaret). Her face really lit up when she saw Laura, and we had a really nice visit. It was a pretty whirlwind visit, though, and we took Laura directly to the Metro to get down to Union Station to catch her train back to New York in the early afternoon. We worked around the yard for the rest of the day, going inside when it started raining and then coming back out again when it stopped.

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