Autumn in New York

Hello from beautiful central New York!  We are here for a week visiting Eric's family for the holiday.  We landed in our little puddle jumper on Thanksgiving Day and enjoyed a delicious traditional holiday meal prepared by Eric's mom.  That evening we also paid a visit to the rest of her side of the family and met the older of the two new babies in our family, Eric's cousin's little boy, Aiden.  What a cutie! 

The next day we slept in a bit and relaxed until late in the morning so we wouldn't have to battle the Black Friday crowds.  My one major purchase was a new pair of classic black boots on major sale at JCPenney, but we also finished up our Christmas shopping for Eric's side and spent quality time with our beautiful and amazing teeny-tiny nephew, Andrew Wilson Kazmarek!  He was born November 9, so he's still only a few weeks old. We are crazy about him!  Here are some cute photos I've taken of the little guy.

Ain't he a sweetheart?  In the meantime, we've just been relaxing, spending time with family, opening gifts, and hanging out with Andrew, introducing him to our favorite holiday movie, Elf!  Perfect examples of the Comedy Rule of Threes for the future superstar. 

A Somber-ish Separated at Birth

Eric...and his trusty pug Winky back in New York?

When Eric moved to Florida, he left behind his little one-eyed pug doggie, aptly named Winky, with a family across the street. He was Eric's camping buddy, bedfellow, even wingman from time to time. We still thought about Winky from time to time, but today we got word from New York that Winky died after being struck by a car. His new family was pretty sad, but Eric is taking it pretty well, even though he says, "Winky never saw it coming." (Okay, it's a little funny.)

Bye, Winks. Here's hoping all dogs go to heaven.

Brr!

Hey, blogophiles! If you are a serious follower of our blog, you will notice that it has been a few extra days since the last update. I apologize for the delay in the enjoyment you get from our regularly scheduled posts. However, we are currently freezing our Floridian fannies off in central New York visiting Eric's side of the family for the week, and we are far far away from any wireless internet signals I can steal (I mean, "borrow").

Our flight was mostly delightful, until our descent into Albany International Airport was plagued by high winds. I felt as if I were trapped in a snowglobe being shaken by an espresso-fueled tchotchke collector. So far, while here, we have had pizza or pasta for almost every meal and Eric is in hog heaven. My pizza-loving self is not doing so bad either. Last night, all of the Romeos (Eric's mom's side) and Browns from the area gathered for dinner and the Passing of the Wedding Album since many could not travel down for the wedding. (We also had the chance to share all of our remaining wedding favors!) This morning I experienced Catholic mass, and I was mesmerized by the priest's melodic voice and historically stimulating message. Tomorrow we're probably going antiquing and having dinner at the Turning Stone Casino, both of which are popular activities in this area, I'm told. Just trying to fit in!