Looking for Eagles

 Rachel's family came to St. Louis to see the bald eagles.  Although we had seen plenty of eagles in the past, this year had been too warm. We had heard there weren't nearly as many.  Click here for the blog on eagle watching 3 years ago.

First, we went to the Melvin Price Lock and Dam outside of Alton, IL.  They have a wonderful museum there and there are always birds flying around the churning waters.  The only birds we saw were gulls, but we did get to see a tug boat coming through the locks.

 But, there is also a wonderful museum there explaining the lock system, the efficiency of barges, the wildlife of the Misssissippi River.  The kids loved it---they made eagle hats, colored pictures, tried a game which had them piloting a barge and we watched a movie about eagles.  We drove a little further to Hartford, IL so the kids could see the confluence of the rivers from an observation tower.

 They are on the top floor (there is an elevator but they walked)--see the red in the photo below.

 Rachel and I had chosen to stay below---we thought we saw an eagle. . .

 That it didn't have a white head, didn't bother us (immature bald eagles have brown heads), but when we saw it from an angle, we realized a white chest was definitely not a bald eagle. . .

Christmas Eve

 

After Church, we all met back at the Lewis Family's house.

 While dinner was being prepared, some video games were played. . .

Anna shared her love. . .


We had some family portraits made in front of the tree.. . .

And of course numerous attempts at getting the grandchildren to pose. . .

But when all is said and done, it is about the joy of being with family and the joy of giving that special cousin a special gift!

Making Christmas Cookies

 Christmas cookies must be an important pre-Christmas activity since both of our Kansas City families made them.

 There was an occasional fashion show interlude. . . .while they baked.

 Then, came the best part DECORATING!

Meanwhile, Roman (to the North) was also decorating cookies.

Some may think these were overly-decorated, but Santa liked them just the way they were!

Christmas With Friends, Part II

Leah and I had another gathering with friends after Christmas.  We met with her good friends Julie, Catana and their daughters with Catana's parents being the gracious hosts.

It was a bonus because I was able to see Catana's grandmother, Lois, who just celebrated her 90th birthday.  We recently discovered that Lois was my dad's 3rd cousin on the Reiter-Tyrey side of the family.

 And, we were able to see Catana's dad, Ron, who spent many years with Dave in Indian Princesses and Catana's uncle and aunt (my 4th cousin) along with Glenice the hostess.

Christmas With Friends, Part I

 Celebrating Christmas is always a mix of celebrations with family and friends.  My Judith Circle at church shared a pot luck meal at Lynn's house before Christmas.  It was the largest gathering we had had this year with work schedules, family commitments, classes, and health preventing many from attending our earlier meetings.

 So, it was really great to see so many of the women in our circle.