And That's A Wrap

I am never with it enough to share Christmas live...

so instead I'll share Christmas memories. 

Christmas festivities began on Christmas Eve Eve 

The house was decorated and the gifts were wrapped and 

my side of the extended family enjoyed an evening together. 

This year we began a new holiday tradition. 

Homemade Schwäbisch Pretzels inspired by our trip to Schwäbisch Hall. 

They were delicious. 

The advantage of an Italian son-in-law is 

getting a Christmas Eve invite to a 7 Fishes celebration.  

I didn't take my camera, but I did take photos on my daughter's camera. 

Christmas Day was quiet at home with our son, daughter, grand

and a visit from my husband's parents. 

Cooking in her new kitchen

For Christmas gifts,  I gave family members photo books of our summer family trip to Germany. 

Desserts were simple recipes - 

tried and true. 

A few days later, my daughter and her husband arrived from out of town, 

so now our whole family was together. 

Since my son was born on New Year's Eve - 

we celebrated a few days early with a dinner at his favorite restaurant, 

Wing Lee's Cuisine in Horsham, PA

On New Year's Eve 

we had my husband's entire family here for a celebration. 

It was a mixed bag...

Christmas, a birthday, an engagement and of course the New Year. 

Thats when things got so wild the cops had to come calm us down. 

 

Not really. 

We have peeps in the family who have to work on holidays. 

Be thankful for those first responders and medical personnel!

And of course there was plenty of gift exchanging going on. 

He did just turn 21 after all! 

We spent some time translating the German messages our relatives sent. 

Two of my kids took AP German in high school. 

It has come in handy for sure! 

Since the entire family was able to make it - 

we thought it a good time for a family photo. 

4 Generations! 

And New Year's Day brought my family back together 

for a traditional German Pork and Sauerkraut dinner. 

And what holiday would be complete without some tears? 

And that wraps up the 2017 holiday season. 

Whew! 

A Beautiful Day for a ....Tornado?

It was a gorgeous day
with low humidity,
 light breezes,
blue skies,
and white puffy clouds.
It looked like a perfect day for an outdoor graduation.


Blowin' in the Wind

But then, the blue skies and white puffy clouds disappeared
and were replaced with grey skies.
The winds kicked up.
A tornado watch was issued.


Diplomas at the Ready

We checked the weather reports 

which annoyingly kept changing their story. 

At 5pm the proceed as planned was issued. 

Eager Relatives 

Families arrived and packed the stands.


My Son Struts In 

The graduates marched in to the endless tune
of Pomp and Circumstance.


Creeping up From Behind... 

The clouds grew darker and
the flags blew harder as
selected students made their speeches.
Administrator's speeches were cut
in an effort to beat the storm.


Happy for the Diploma at Letter H

The class roll was read
as students received their diplomas.
Somewhere in the list of S names
a few raindrops began to fall.
Names were read faster
finally reaching letter Z.
Caps were thrown into the air and carried by the wind to faraway places.
And then...
mayhem!


Celebrating 

There was no formal recessional
as the skies were ominous,
winds were crazy wild
and the rain started to fall.
Everyone ran to the school building for cover.


Siblings 

This isn't how it was supposed to go down in the end.
But it was a fun time for the grads
and a ceremony they will never forget!


Future Engineers and Roommates at PSU

At least it wasn't a tornado!

Congrats to the Class of 2015 

"School's out forever
School's out for summer
School's out with fever
School's out completely"

The Party's Here! Where I am linking these days.

            

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All images by Rebecca Haegele have been registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. Click on any image to go to its gallery for purchasing information.