Watch Out Emerald

Chef Jake is rising in the ranks on his way to become a master chef. You may see him on Top Chef soon (maybe this isn't even a show anymore.....we wouldn't know because we don't have cable). Jake got a little toy cooking set with plastic dishes, stove top, pan and utensils. Add a little Play-Doh and Jake is busy for well over 30 minutes preparing a savory meal for us. One of his favorite meals to make is spaghetti and meatballs. He took great pride and detail making this meal with fresh bread for TT and I the other day. He set the chairs up and served us a plate full of steaming hot spaghetti and meatballs. The real treat was the symphony performance that Jake put on with his guitar new piano after the meal. This boy is more cultured at 3 than I am......how did this happen.

Visiting the Hehl Family in Ct.

We went to see Erik's family for a few days after Christmas. Lucky for us Devon was home because she and Sergio got jobs in Bangkok! One night we went out for Japanese at a Hibatichi restaurant. Jake was pretty impressed with watching the cook's tricks while preparing our meal. We all got a chance to catch a piece of vegetable in our mouths that the cook flipped to us. I was very bad at this but Devon was able to make a catch on the first attempt. Jake was also greatly amused by playing with his aunts hair and they patiently let him do pretty much whatever he wanted to them.

Christmas 2011

WOW was Santa good to Jake! All Jake asked for for Christmas was a fire truck with a ladder that went up and down. He got that and lots of other items. Althought he played with the fire truck most of the day the piano was also a big hit (Mom and Dad are still deciding if it is a hit....). He really got the idea of Santa and ripping open gifts this year. Jake had us up a 5:03 to see what Santa had left for him. At first he was a little hesitant to go down stairs because he was afraid Santa might still be in our house. When you think about it a strange man entering a house via the chimney to eat cookies and leave presents is a bit frightening. We spent the morning opening presents and then had a very nice meal with TT, Papa, and Ome. Christmas is so much fun with a three year old.

Move over Macy’s Day Parade!

We are practicing hard for this year’s Hehl Family Thanksgiving Day Parade!

Time to Freeze

The Winter Classic will have to compete with the Hehl Classic this year, once we sign the contract with ESPN this week. Jake and Erik are busy working on the construction of our first backyard hockey rink. Anyone that knows us knows are love of hockey. Jake started skating last winter and loves it. By then end of this winter he should be pretty good on his skates especially after we start is 5:30 am daily skating drills in our backyard…….kidding here. The idea of a rink brings back great childhood memories for me playing until very late into the night on the rink in Heather Rich’s backyard. Lots of good times were had there in the cold winter nights of Saranac Lake.
Looking forward to a nice winter for backyard hockey!

Great Moment

This was supposed to be with the last post but my computer froze. One of my favorite parts of the week was early one morning Jake and I went for a walk so we wouldn't wake my Mom and Grandmother up. We got down by the lake, on a cool morning around 6:30. I sat in a chair as Jake set his bike down. When I asked Jake what he wanted to do he said "I would like to sit with you and watch the water for a little bit." I just melted that he could stop to want to enjoy the beauty of Lake Clear. It made this not obvious morning just perfect. He sat on my lap for over 5 minutes without talking or moving and just took the beauty of Lake Clear in.

Awesome Family

We had the amazing opportunity to spend a week (in July) in the Adirondacks staying at the Lake Clear lodge (http://www.lodgeonlakeclear.com/). It is an amazing place. The fun started with my Grandmother’s family (Abare) reunion. I believe this tradition was started in the early 1980s after my Great-Grandmother, Nellie died. There was a very bad two weeks in my grandmother’s family when 3 people in the family were buried over an 11 day period. It is my understanding that the family got together and said we have to get together for fun times not just funerals. My grandmother came from a big family so now, multiple generations later, the family reunion is large and a ton of fun. I think there were over 70 people there. My great-grandmother, Nellie, raised all the kids while walking to a from the local one room school house feeding the fire and getting it ready for all the children. The family lived in Gabriels, a suburb of Saranac Lake. So basically it was pretty rural. My great grandfather was not able to walk and I am not sure why. My Uncle Dave said that our family comes from good hard working stock and he is correct! I just think it is amazing that our family continues the family reunion. This year my generation brought along a lot of kids so it was fun to see all the kids playing.
On Saturday of the family reunion my Uncle Dave had the great idea to hike St. Regis Mountain. So the only ones that ended up doing it were uncle Dave, Erik, Jake, my Uncle John, my cousin Pam’s husband Matt and their daughter who is about 8 years old and me. Well it is not an easy hike near the top and in total is 3.3 miles one way. Jake walked some but got a ride most of the way in the backpack that Erik carried. I have no idea how he managed to hike all that way and on a difficult trail with a 30 lbs kid on his back.