In no particular order, the best things about 2010 for me personally:
1. Graduation for Amy and for Ryan
2. Ryan's Cortland experience
3. Amy's job!
4. Jim's retirement especially for its expressions of gratitude from students and community
5. Having Kathy here (and Mickey of course)
6. Welcoming Tessa and John
7. Great Boston/Gloucester trip this fall
8. New "cousins" and ancestors
9. Friendships just blooming and others growing
10. Dec 31 2010

In no particular order, what I'm looking forward to or hoping for in 2011:
1. Turning 55
2. Paying off house mortgage
3. Amanda and Heather's wedding
4. Tim and Pam's wedding
5. New beginning for Kathy (and Mickey of course)
6. Taking great pictures
7. New tulips in the spring
8. New "cousins" and ancestors (especially new Warde cousins!)
9. an iPad
10. a comfortable new daily routine at home
11. Jan 1 2011 in a hot tub (?!?)

1979

Random Christmas Pic for Christmas Day 2010!

1993

and a bonus:

Random Christmas Pic for Christmas Eve 2010!

Random Christmas Pic of the Day: Thursday

Random Christmas Pic of the Day: Wednesday

2008

Random Christmas Pic of the Day: Tuesday

1985

Random Christmas Pic of the Day-Monday

1960

Random Christmas Pic of the Day: Sunday

1965

Happy Birthday Kathy!

Random Christmas Pic of the Day: Saturday

1971

Random Christmas Pic of the Day

1975

Hello all. Lori and I went over to the cemetery last weekend to decorate the tree for Christmas. As you can see it doesn't look like we brought enough ornaments and we didn't. The tree has grown more than we expected. I am thinking the next time we head over we may trim it up some, if no one objects. We tried going with the blue tree look that Mom has done in the past.

H ope everyone is having a nice Christmas season.

Ryan Family Christmas

I am looking at Sunday, January 9 (I think that Jess is busy the 8th)

OR

Saturday, January 15 (I would prefer this one)

OR Sunday, January 16.

Please let me know what works for you and if we need to push it back a weekend.

What wonderful Christmas gifts!

Kathy will be here with us!

Amanda and Heather have set a date!

Tim and Pam are engaged!

What more could a family ask for?

Pat, Jim, Lori and Sean-

soon you will have more non-bloods to commiserate with!

Congratulations to all of you!

Siblings

As you may know, Kathy is making plans to leave Florida and stay with us for a while until the reason for all this upheaval reveals itself.  Kathy mentioned that her friends ask her how she will ever get along with her family under the circumstances.  It hadn't occurred to us that getting along would be the top issue on the list of things in the "negative" column.  It just wasn't on the radar, you know?  It's a good feeling to know that's how we feel about each other in a world where that's not always the case.  So thank you all for your work to make that be the case.

Thinking about siblings and caring about each other throughout the years, I remembered a letter Nanny had in her files from her brother about Weenie's final illness. 

A very sweet letter of concern and practicality from her older brother.  Pam has just made a promise to join such a family (congratulations Tim and Pam) which seems like a very good idea to me.  But that's just me.

Here's Nanny with her Olean siblings in 1984.  I went on this trip with Nanny and took this picture.

I'm pretty sure that's Joe over Nanny's right shoulder and Hank next to him.  I think the women are their spouses Frances and Jean.  This was a fun trip for me and I hope for Nanny.  How could it not be fun spending time with her siblings?  They seemed to get along just fine.........

Congratulations Tim & Pam!

Tim and Pam became engaged last night! We are happy to have Pam join the family. I'm not sure she knows what she's getting in to! Timmy got back from his latest deployment last Saturday and couldn't wait to ask Pam to spend the rest of their lives together. He made a special dinner for her and popped the question. We are all very happy she said yes!

Tim will be going to A School, which is schooling for his chosen job field in the Coast Guard, in March. He will be in Norfolk VA for three months. Once this schooling is complete, he will be assigned to his "permanent" port. We don't know where that will be, but Tim is hoping for the northeast, somewhere. Pam will most likely join him after he is done with school. There is no date planned for the wedding yet.

Welcome to the family, Pam. So happy for you both.