We spent July 4th up in Blacksburg again, a very relaxing break. Jeff and Hayley ran a 5k with Jeff’s parents over in Shawsville. I helped set up their new iMac (another convert to Apple). Jeff and I went back home after the holiday and Hayley stayed longer to hang out with her grandparents and Uncle Jay.
Co-pilot
Post-race
Jay is excited to have won a gift certificate in a raffle despite not running, lol
We brought Annabelle with us, she and Clayton enjoyed pinning Hayley down
Hayley’s sister Faith came to stay with us for a weekend and we had a great time. The girls hit the pool a few times, hung out with our next door neighbor, went to Winterpast Farm and went horseback riding.
A friend of mine (in fact my former HS Brit Lit teacher) has been in Ireland the past few weeks and I was stunned to see she ended up in the town some of my family was from, Doolin in County Clare. Doolin is a lovely small town on the western coast of Ireland and she was kind enough to take some photos for me. There in/on Fisherstreet, my third great grandmother Mary O’Connor met and married Peter Donahue (O’Donaghue). Around the same time she married, someone in her family started the pub in town, Gus O’Connors. Not long after, Mary and Peter took off for the USA with their brood of three and settled in Boston. Three Peters later, along came my dad Thomas.
The pub has long since been sold outside of the family but it is still a working pub, renowned for it’s traditional Irish music, . We still have family in the county too, we’ve emailed some in our genealogy research.
The Kestrel eighth grade graduation was really lovely, we didn’t take a ton of photos since it was rainy. Hayley got one of four scholar-athlete awards for playing three sports and keeping up her grades. High school, here she comes!
Jeff’s folks sent us some cute photos the past few weeks…
His grandmother Faye turned 90!
And his folks raced some more…
The 2013 picture shows the seven members of the Blacksburg AARP United race team that competed in the Summer Solstice 5K race. L to R Bob Wheeler, Paul Smeal, Sally Paulson, John Hillison, Sharen Hillison, Angela Little, and Don Creamer.
The 5K winners picture shows the five members of the AARP United team that received medals. L to R Don Creamer, Paul Smeal, Sally Paulson, Sharen Hillison, and John Hillison.
We had a great lowkey Easter at home. Hayley said she figured she was too old for an Easter basket but she’ll never be took old in my book.
Then we headed to the beach with my Mom, Stepdad and Aunt Cathie. It really was a wonderful trip. we got a fantastic beach house and just relaxed! Hayley spend an afternoon as an aquarium assistant down at the NC Aquarium, helping with feeding.
To round out our welcome to spring, we hit the UNC spring football game, a post-game party called The Bash and then back to campus for the 35th anniversary show of the Clef Hangers. We had our neighbors with us and for most of the day, the two kids Hayley babysits. Long but great day!
Hayley with Mason and one of the kids she babysits Alex:
Hayley with Coach Fedora at The Bash:
The Clef Hangers – 35 years of gorgeous acapella music!
We went to Boston for a week a couple of months ago and had a great time. It had been years since we had been back and my cousin Nicole’s wedding was the perfect excuse to catch a plane headed north. While I was raised in Chapel Hill, I was actually born in Boston where my father Tommy is from. I still have a lot of family there and this trip back was a really special time. The wedding was gorgeous and it was wonderful to spend time with everyone. I’m such a sucker for the city of Boston and its suburbs. It’s packed with history and great stuff to do. My family has such a long history with the area. With my obsession with genealogy, it made it extra fun to see some of the buildings that my family’s construction business built as early as 1895 that are still being used today. Oh and real italian food, thank goodness for that!
There were so many photos I’m going to do this in batches.
First pile, some of the aquarium photos and video clips. Hayley did a special program where you learn about the Harbor Seals and then get to work with a trainer and the seals in their enclosure. It was really amazing. Marine animals have such a special place in her heart so we were thrilled she got this chance. Of course no trip to an aquarium is complete without more photos from Hayley of whatever animals she loves – this time jellyfish and penguins.
This is a wonderful old article about my grandmother Jeannette from the 1962 Chapel Hill Weekly. She and my granddad Jim were really remarkable people. I love the last quote in the story, “If there are two patients at the hospital needing extra care at night, Jim may be with one and Jeannette with the other. There just isn’t anyone else like this couple.”
I’m catching up on photos slowly but surely! As some of you know, I don’t like being in photos but the fabulous photographer Graham Morrison came up from Charlotte so I couldn’t resist.
We had a great holiday. As always we had a full house with both our families here on Christmas day. I know so many people who have to pick but we are lucky to have my bunch here and Jeff’s crew willing to come down for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s just so easy to have everyone together.
As usual we did our Gingerbread Demolition Derby on Christmas afternoon – year 8!
