Send in the snow!

When I first arrived in Idaho, everyone was complaining about how warm it had been - in the 40's! And everyone was hoping that the snow would soon arrive. When Charleston and Savannah and Atlanta were shocked by the cold temperatures including snow and ice storms, Idaho had a snow storm too, but not nearly as much as these snow lovers would have liked.

Katherine and Gabe and Huxley's backyard on the morning after the snow.

Katherine's street - Belmont.

The duplex on the right is part of the duplex where Kath lives - their section is further on the right.

Sun Valley Lodge is due for a renovation which is scheduled for next year.

Katherine was hoping the snow would cover the mountains, but it didn't happen this time.

We bundled Huxley in his snow suit and went for a walk along the bike trail.

A friendly guy offered to take our picture

January in Ketchum

In January, Gabe has a work trip - one week  in Aspen at the X-Games,  and another week in Denver for a trade show.  So last summer, I told Katherine that I would come to help her with Huxley for the two weeks. I flew home from Doha, Qatar, on Jan. 18, spent one day at home and then flew to Idaho on Monday Jan. 20.

Huxley is now seven months old and so much fun. He is sitting up, eating lots of different foods, and expressing his likes and dislikes very clearly. One thing he really hates is to have his face and nose wiped. He also is not sleeping through the night, and I promised I would help Katherine with that, but I am afraid I haven't been much help. It is hard to listen to him cry and so I often go in and rock him a bit, and some mornings, I have brought him in to sleep with me awhile. I don't think sleeping alone is fun for anyone.

In his Mom's words,  "Huxley  is just so dang cute right now."

He likes to put everything in his mouth - phones and cameras are especially exciting.

Katherine and Carrie went skiing one day and Huxley and I walked to the Warm Springs Lodge to meet them for some hot mocha.

The Schroders of Idaho

A white Christmas season on Galena

Christmas in Idaho and Huxley is six months old

I made an ornament and sent it to celebrate Hux's first Christmas.

I got to enjoy Huxley's Christmas through the pictures Katherine sent. Here Hux is in his new hat. 

We sent Huxley a carving of an elephant we bought at the Souq in Doha. I hope he is not putting it in his mouth.

A celebration of the New Year

Hanging out with Huxley and Charli

Having everyone together at Thanksgiving was so much fun. 

Charli likes it best when she's the baby too

Family portraits

 Over Thanksgiving, Alan Fraebel, photographer and Ashley's fiance' took some great pictures of the whole family. Here are some of my favorites of the Schroder family.

This is a favorite image of Dad and son.

I love this picture of Katherine and Huxley

And one with all of us

Feasting with the family

Huxley meets Glori and Grace with Ashley and Alan in the background.

Part of the fun of the Thanksgiving holiday was that Huxley got to meet most of the members of the Florida family. We had a Hugging Huxley gathering the Saturday before Thanksgiving so as many family members as were available could come over and visit. That night we had an Italian style feast with spaghetti sauce that Stephen had made and pasta shells stuffed with spinach and cheese. Both the Geary side and the Schoene side of the family were included in this gathering.

Andrea arrived and had a great time visiting early one morning with son and grandson

At Maureen's house on Thanksgiving day, Huxley got to spend time with my sisters Teresa, Peggy and Kate, among many other guests. There were thirty-eight of us in all counting babes in arms.

Pop Pop, Katherine and Huxley before the Thanksgiving feast

This is the group shot that one of the newest members of the family, Alan Fraebel, Ashley's fiance, took of everyone. 

This year we celebrated three engagements - Ashley and Alan, who got engaged in July, David and Kati, who got engaged on August 23, and Jessica and Matt, who got engaged on August 23. Jessica and Matt did not attend nor did Madeline.  Zack, Kara's husband, was not feeling well, and Noah, Rachel Horne's boyfriend, had to work in North Carolina. I count 38 pictured here - quite a group even with some missing. And there was so much delicious food - all of the cooks did amazing things with each dish. Thanks to Maureen and Don for hosting us all.