A short family collision

And now, for some pictures from a month ago. :-)

The day after Thanksgiving, we went with Dad to the Rizzos' house for a very important couple hours of face time with some people we love and of whom we see far too little. We hadn't seen my cousin Joel and his family since Miles' FIRST birthday, and we hadn't seen Leah & family since Spring 2011, before I knew I was expecting Adele. That's a record, I think, for lack of visiting with my cousins, so this short little visit HAD to happen. At the tail end of November in Maryland, it was sunny and 50-some degrees. An Island in the Sun.

Matthew and Jon catch up

First time I had met Matthias, or TaiTai... How is it possible?

He resembles everyone. Strongly.

I observed that he is very determined. He wanted nothing so much as to walk unobserved into the street.

Abby and Eli appear to be under an enchanted bower.

Joel meets Adele's acquaintance

She was delighted to be allowed to play outside!

This was one of her first days as a confident walker

Amma is so blessed; all of her five grandkids were there for Thanksgiving!

Isaac, my sweet little elf nephew

Mother & Daughter

And "The 2 Ls," as we used to call ourselves, reunited.

This is, as I said, nearly a month ago. In case you would like more recent information about our doings, some "highlights:"

• We have all grappled with and defeated two viruses, one of which was a real doozy of a stomach bug. Now to saran wrap the whole family until Christmas....
• Adele walks everywhere now. She signs many words and puts some together ("Hi Miles"  and "More cheese," notably). She makes animal sounds, mooing like a cow and buzzing like bees. Cats continue to delight her.
• Miles has been enjoying Christmas preparation, delighting us with his new levels of comprehension. He is currently obsessed with the song "The Friendly Beasts" and enjoys making up new verses about different animals present at the nativity. My favorite involved a grasshopper giving the infant Jesus a tiny blanket. 
• We have been trying to balance self-care (viruses! Sleep deficits) with fun holiday activities in church with actual Christmas preparation. All I can say is, hooray for Amazon. I tried going to the mall with both kids one time and OH MY... 
• We're greatly looking forward to exams being over on Thursday (and Papa being returned to the family) and to our travels in NY and MD. Look out, highways of VA, WV, MD, PA and NY!