Thanksgiving '07

We were sufficiently spoiled and well-fed this Thanksgiving. We started our greater Pennsylvania tour in Philadelphia with Kevin's family. We had an incredible meal and had a great time with Kevin's parents, his Uncle Ed and Aunt Judy, and Grandmom Vile. And even though the picture made it look like all we did was drink a gallon of Bailey's, we actually all behaved in a relatively tame fashion. We even had a great game of Scrabble to help our food digest.
We weren't the only ones who were well-fed...Luther did alright this holiday as well.
From Philadelphia we drove to the Clarion region and hung out with Amy's family. We had more fabulous meals with Amy's parents, Nana, and Grandpa. We played more Scrabble and even an interesting game called "Alfred Hitchcock's WHY?" from 1958. We also found some brainteaser puzzles and kept ourselves confounded the entire visit.
It was a wonderful holiday and we really gained a perspective on how much we have to be thankful for. We are thankful that we were not this bird because unfortunately hunting season in Pennsylvania means that slow, possibly hurt birds don't last very long. For all our "birder" friends out there, what the heck is this bird (may he rest in peace)?!?

Happy Couple

Happy Anniversary, Jim and Dog!

As we celebrate the union of the best dancer of the 6th grade and the girl who was saved by the fire department on her wedding day, we reflect on how absolutely perfect Jim and Dog are for each other. They are fun, they are generous and their last name means "to repair" in Polish.

Congratulations, Jim and Dog! Here's to many more years of marital bliss!

Love Bean, etc.

I was just doing my daily check-in-with-other-people's-blogs routine when I realized that we haven't fed and watered our own blog in a while. I guess that's mostly because we don't have much of an update. We had a wonderful Saturday evening seeing Sharyn and her friends Leslie and Jason (who might even be our friends now, too, if we didn't scare them away, which frankly we may have) in Old Town Alexandria. We even did the S'mores at Cosi...it was THAT fabulous an evening. In addition, we celebrated Navy's win over Notre Dame. All in all, the perfect day.

Here's a picture of Sharyn from years ago when we tried to capture a shot of a loud and not-so-great singer on the streets of Squirrel Hill. I'm posting this picture because I know Sharyn never checks in with the blog and now maybe it'll keep her on her toes!

I want to thank Kevin's sister, Sharon, for sending this picture of a "love bean" that her family grew. We gave these little beans to our nieces and nephews at our wedding and I was really excited to see what they would look like when they sprouted. Order your own beans by clicking here - they have them in lots of different messages. They make great stocking stuffers or an extra little something for your Thanksgiving Host(ess)! Thank you, Sharon!

Also...I realize that this is the Vileation Nation, not just the Amy Vileation Nation. So if you want to read more entries from the Kevin Vileation Nation, be sure to leave your comments of encouragement for him!

Luther In Cognito

No, Luther is not dressed in Steelers gear.

Luther chose to be a bumblebee for Halloween this year and was certainly the hit of the neighborhood. You can see how happy he was about the whole thing. But it was either a bumblebee or a ladybug and so...voila.

It was amazing how many kids made it the whole way to our doorstep and didn't realize that Luther was a dog. I don't mean to suggest that they seriously thought he was a bee, but they seemed to think he was a toddler or something. Kevin and I can only hope to have children half as beautiful as Luther someday.
We carved some pumpkins this year, too, which was very fun and very messy. We should have done a better job of taking pictures throughout the experience, but here is the final result. Kevin even cut a hole in the back of one of them and sprayed hairspray through and lit it to simulate a fire-breather. And Grove City girls...please do not miss the fact that THE WITCH is on my front door!!! Thanks, Susan!