Christmas Shenanigans

Went to a warehouse club store where Anna found an unsold Darth Vader talking robot.

Came home to find Anna's last Christmas present (a tee shirt she bought for herself!).

Christmas Stuff

We spent a quiet Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with Oma and Opa.  Anna cooked non-traditional fare - since the four of us are not traditional.  We Skyped with the children/grandchildren/great-grandchildren and opened many cards and presents.  One of Anna's post-holiday favorites, thanks to son Chris, was using a Lowe's gift card to get a new power drill.

Basketball Game at NC State

Our friend Alvin got floor seats at the PNC Arena for the basketball game between North Carolina State University and High Point University.  It was supposed to be an easy win for NCSU but the game was tied up until 5 seconds before the end of the second half.

The ending was quite spectacular.

To watch the end of the game, see the two minute video (if you watch the end in stop motion you can see Anna and me):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDkp6cDnpDk

Upgrades at the house in Durham

Anna had some items on her "down the road list" for quite a while.  We have now crossed them off the list: granite counter tops and new backsplash tile in the kitchen; crown molding in the master bedroom and a second Natori bed set.

Short kitchen video: https://youtu.be/pYFCHlV4IMc

Short video of master bedroom bedset: https://youtu.be/t1EebGbD7fs

Visit to Stowe, Vermont

Anna and I flew to Stowe to celebrate the December birthdays of Liz and Sean. The weather was unusually sunny and warm for this time of year.  We made a family adventure out of getting a Christmas tree and decorating the house for the holidays.

Of course, we couldn't visit without trying the mountain.  The consensus was that the sunny weather made it feel like spring skiing.

The four of us rounded off the visit with a dinner (featuring ossobuco!) at Lesley and Richard's.