Thursday, January 29, 2009

You have Snow...I have Sun....

Yet I have a ten year old with pnemonia:( Yes, after two trips to Tripler it has been determined that Zach does indeed have pnemonia. Hopefully, the antibotics they put him on will knock it out so he canget back to being himself and I can get back to work:)

Snow, Snow, Snow

Yeah, 14 and 1/2 more inches yesterday, and its not even February yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Saturday, January 24, 2009

I LOVE THE KRIEGER'S

Happy birthday Becky! Happy birthday mom (Ellen)! I haven't written in awhile and after being with my sister and her family for the weekend, I have to say how much I appreciate and love the Krieger family! I was with all of you for two weeks and do not ever remember wanting to be away from any of you as as much as I do my sister and her family!! Maybe it is just b/c we are in our small house and cannot get away from each other.

So needless to say I miss everybody!! Cassidy often asks to play "Hawaiian" music and when we do it brings me right back to the time we were there. I of course miss the weather, as you saw the pictures Ron posted of the snow we have here in NH.

Amy and Ben- I had a great time with you both at the Bruins game!

Jill, I have been reading your blog and sometimes feel as if I am right there with you when you are talking about the traffic, the kids arguing with each other, and all the other chaos. It is your family and as I've already said I missing everybody. I'm so happy to hear your job is working out well and you love it so much. I am hoping I can get there with my job one day.

Hope everybody is well. I love and miss you all!! Jen

Friday, January 23, 2009

Sorry guys....

I was suppose to have Rick look at the sub pictures one last time before I posted them to make sure they were not in violation of any classified issues...but I forgot and it will be a while before he gets back:(

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Big Day for Cass

Hey everybody . . . Cass had her 3rd lesson today, and I went to check on her and could not find her! She wasn't on the magic carpet anymore . . . where could she be? She was going up the chair lift! She even led the instructor down the run on their final run of the day! Yeah Cassidy!!!

Monday, January 19, 2009

Winter In NH






It is only Mid-January, and we have heard about the crazy weather that Marini's have been dealing with, so I figured that we might give you an idea of what has been going on here . . .
Cass is sitting in a pile of snow that is just on the other side of our porch . . . We started a tradition last year that we create a sled run from our porch . . . by the end of the year, we should not even need to leave the porch to take off. We got about 16" yesterday of beautiful powder, and YTD(season wise) we probably are over 3'.
Cass has started her lessons, she will have her third later this week. Jen has been out 2 this season, which is great because she hasn't gone since the winter of 02-03! We were lucky enough to have a babysitter lined up for today, and were able to enjoy a few hours of skiing today. It might not seem like a big deal, but this is one of the reasons that we moved up here, and this has been the first time in a long time that we have started to enjoy the area the way we intended. Anywho here a couple of more photos to show the amount of snow we have already.


Friday, January 16, 2009

Cassidy's 5th Birthday Party at Bellows Beach

We got up Saturday morning to gray gl00my skies..which totally bummed me out because we were scheduled to head to Bellows beach for Cassidy's birthday party.Bellows is my all time favorite beach. We take the kids camping there and they spend days in the water...days:)

So anyway we got up and ate the yummy breakfast casserole that i am famous through out Hawaii for, packed up all the beach items and food. i have to interject right here that we all did well working together as a team to get everything ready and all the cars loaded each time we went somewhere:)

We had to stop at the Shoppette of course to get gas, drinks for the ride, and a floatie for Cass...too bad the floatie selection was ugly and they didn't have any:( Then we had to stop and pick up the Mermaid birthday cake for the birthday girl!

The ride up which is usually breath taking was disappointing:( and the weather never improved...of course Griswold beach day. We played football a bit before heading down to the beach. Everyone found something they liked about the beach. Jen, Ren, Cole, Amy, Ben, and Dad found their love of boogie boarding and Kendal and Cassidy found a love of what we like to call wave chasing:) Everyone had a great time and it was decided that next time we will spend a couple of days out at Bellows in their cabins)

We had planned to stay for dinner, but as we sat on the beach watching the clouds roll over the mountains and come at us we changed our minds and packed up to head home:)

Cassidy's 5th Birthday Party

Haunama Bay

On Friday morning we got up and packed up to head off to Haunama Bay. It took us a little longer than expected to get everyone loaded into the car, stop and get supplies (and to pee...between me, Cass, Cole, and Kendall...it was often) We also had to pick up the other love birds Amy and Ben up in Waikiki.

Ron and Jenn met us there and we headed off to the water. It's been a long time since I went snorkeling and I was a little freaked out....I think all of us but Ron were a little skeptical:-P

We had a lot of fun seeing the sites and the beauty of Haunama Bay. We piled into the cars (don't ask me who rode with who because I know we juggled that around a bit trying to make sure we all got to stop and get Cassidy's birthday presents for the next day:)

When we got back to the cabins there was a beautiful rainbow that Ron was able to capture on film.

Ron & Jen's Turtle Bay Getaway

Before I start, Jen and I thank Jill for taking Cassidy and Kendall for 3 days! Toni, Nicole, Mom and Dad we appreciate and all assistance you gave to her during this time as well. Both of our girls are great, but they definately are a handful.

We really psyched to getaway for a couple a nights in such a beautiful place, and with the added excitement about Turtle Bay being in the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall. We didn't know this when we booked or at that point hadn't even seen the movie, but still . . .

We totally pampered ourselves . . . valet parked the car, checked in and headed to our room. We had a suite (Pakiki or something like that) - a really nice room with king bed, sitting area and a beautiful view of the lagoon (see pics below) . . . the only area that we were disappointed in was the bathroom . . . pretty standard. We headed down to one of the outside bars for lunch, where we drank some local fare, caught up with one and other, and watched as a few surfers went by . . . pretty cool! We had dinner that evening at one of the restaurants and it was good, but honestly can't remember what had that night. We went to the room to find a bottle of champagne there from the resort - nice touch.

Next morning, I headed off to the golf course and Jen to the Spa. I was scheduled on the Palmer course but they were a bit behind, so I played the Fazio course . . . in less that 2 and 1/2 hours, and because Jen still had another 3 hours before her spa day was over, I played again. With my quick first round the starter wanted to figure out a way to get me back on the Palmer course, but they were still behind, so I let him talk me into playing first thing in the morning on the next day! Talking about beautiful courses, both courses are perfectly manicured, challenging hazard locations, and the ocean breezes make certain club selections difficult to say the least. I did reach the 4th (I think that is the first par 5 on the Fazio course) in two. I easily hit my drive 325 with a very strong wind behind me and only had a 7 iron in! About a 15 foot put for eagle (first attempt of life putting for eagle, chipped for one in the past but never putted) and lipped out and tapped in the birdie. Played pretty well and shot a 92 on the first 18, and on the second 18 shot a 87! Jen enjoyed her spa treatment a lot, but she can blog about that later.

After finishing the second round, I still had about an hour before Jen would be done, so I decided to enjoy a couple of beers at the clubhouse. Hung out with a couple of other guests and spoke with the staff members . . . really nice and friendly and they talked us into dinner at the clubhouse later that night.

Caught up with Jen back at the room and headed down to the restaurant on the beach . . . really good! I enjoyed multiple flavored beverages, we read, listened to music, took a couple naps, swam a little and just enjoyed each others company. Tired from the sun, golf, beach, and spa treatment, we headed back to the room for a couple of hours of napping. I understand that this might seem like a lame thing to do with some many things out there to do, but with 2 little girls at home, we seldomly if ever take naps any more, and we both like napping.

After our nap, we ordered a little cheese plate and enjoyed the bottle of Pineapple Champagne we had bought at Dole earlier in the week. It was really good, and we keep meaning to see if they ship, cause we would like some of our friends to try it. Headed to the clubhouse restaurant for dinner. One of the best atmosphere's that I have ever enjoyed at a "non-themed" restaurant. The staff and guests seem to understand a partake in a lively, but no loud, dining experience that is just fun. Jen has a really delicious piece of fish, and I had a perfectly cut and cooked prime rib . . . Good stuff!

The next morning the alarm clock went off a bit early, but I will do some silly things to play golf and there have only been a couple of opportunities to play 54 holes in less than 24 hours! Headed down to the clubhouse for the first tee time, and beat all but the starter to the clubhouse. He was ready for me, and a great example of outstanding customer service! The clubhouse wasn't even open and he was ready with my cart, a bag of balls for the driving range, and even had a few of the flags in for the putting green . . . literally for me (for helping him out the day before by giving up my tee time). I played the 18 holes as quickly as well as I have ever played a course. A lot of shots stand out (only of which is below and if you squint one shot is a pic of the 14th green from my approach shot, which landed about 2 and 1/2 feet from the hole . . . birdie! Most remember hole was the 18th, a 506 yard, par 5 with water on along the entire left side of the fairway, a break in the fairway around 250 yards out with water directly ahead, a large sand trap at the beginning of the dogleg right. Hit a hybrid right to the edge of the fairway . . . perfect! The green is a fortress with water in front, and 4 bunkers surrounding the rest of the green. As I was scoring well, I laid up with a 9 iron to ensure that I would have a full swing to the green. 3rd shot was with my loft wedge from just under 100 yards. Left it on the bottom of the green and 2 putted for par. Shot an 86, equalling by best round ever, and played on a PGA course fro the middle tees!

We headed out after some breakfast to meet up with everyone for our next adventure!

RON

Haunama Bay

Ron and Jenn's Get Away

Moving on....

Ok, thanks to a wind day...the Hawaiian equivalent of a snow day, I was able to upload some more photos and do the next set of activities of our vacation....the Swap Meet and Time with My Nieces and Nephew (you can all call it whatever you want...but that is what I want to call it)

So, we set off for the Swap meet and for October it was a very warm day, so we were constantly looking for shade and something cool to drink. This is also one of Ron's favorite sites on the island...he was sedate during this visit:)

We cruised around the swap meet and everyone got their souvenirs. Next we parted company...Ron and Jenn went off to the North Shore to enjoy their time on the North Shore, and we dropped Amy and Ben off down in Waikiki.

I took mom and dad back to the cabins and I let the kids cruise on the beach, taking them with me when I ran around to deliver my children to their activities and schools.

On Thursday, Dad, Cole, Tony, and I took the little ones to Ko'Olina and Cass, Ken, and Nino had fun floating in the water and having a picnic lunch:)

Amy and Ben, and Ron and Jenn can blog about their time away in Hawaii:)

I enjoyed spending time with my nieces.....but I had forgotten how much work children that young are...I have been spoiled by children who can bathe themselves:)

Swap Meet/Ko'Olina

Thursday, January 8, 2009

That Sucks!!!

Cole...that really sucks...what makes it even more sucky is that my window is the one that is cracked!

I am super duper sick with some freaky virus...I have been out of work for two days and have to stay home tomorrow...doctors orders:) Nothing much else going on around here:)

Cole sorry your window broke...you are having quite a bad vehicle streak:(

Jill
hi everyone. i hope everyones new year was good. amy told you about xmas and new year was uneventful. but the griswolds strikes again. driving down the driveway the other the back window of the truck shattered, i actually mean shattered into a thousand little pieces. i mean how does that even happen. this would not happen to anybody but the griswolds. if anybody has any doubts about the truth to the griswolds they need to be told this. we DID NOT do anything out of the ordinary. nothing and the back window shatters. and we can't get it fixed until monday. seriously shattered. but anyway love you all cole

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Sabres Weekend

We did have a good time at the game, and I am very glad that Amy and Ben were able to make it. But I do feel it necessary to correct one thing, and only because it doesn't/hasn't happened in recent years for buffalo fans over boston/new england fans - The Sabres scored twice within the first 5 minutes!!!!! Amy and I actually got booed by people in our area, it was priceless. Although history has taught me to not cheer to loudly and If only I could have known the outcome, I would have been a bit more boistorous (that doesn't look right, but oh well).

Pet peeve I've mine: How isn't the pricing for food and beverages within a arena, attraction, stadium, etc. not prone to price gauging, monoply laws or some other law/regulation that protects the consumer. Seriously, the most expensive keg out there can be purchased for less than $100 and you get after foam around 7 cases or (7 times 24 times 12) 2016 ounces of beer which equals out to 216 - 16 ounce glasses at 7.50 on average per beer equals $1620.00! Now that a mark up . . . don't even get me going on peanuts, popcorn, candy or hot dogs . . . . .

Great time regardless, and glad to hopefully start the Sabres Bruins annual get together!

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Buffalo Sabres


OK...last post of the evening. Ron and I went to a Sabres game in Boston on Sat. We went with Jen and Ben and a bunch of Ron's friends. I didn't expect much of the game, I just hoped we didn't get blown out. Ben and I met Ron, Jen and Brian at Brian's house. We headed out to pick up Stacey and drive right to the arena. Which I'm very happy about because it was super windy and cold in Boston. Then we all headed up to The Hub inside the arena and met up with everyone else before the game started. It was getting close to game time so we went to our seats. I thought they were great seats. Third tier at the corner. You get a great view of the ice and we had two rows of people right the the isle so if you had to get up you didn't have to bother strangers to get the hell out of your way.
Within the first 3 or 4 minutes of the game the Sabres score!! Me and Ron were almost the only people in our area cheering, even though I saw plenty of Sabre fans on the way in. I had a great time at the game and I think it went by way too fast. But we won 4 to 2. Wooo hoooo!!!
Then we all head out with the mass of other people leaving the game. We manage to stay together and head out to get some food and drinks. I forget the name of the place we ended up but there were pool tables and you know what that means....pequawket time. I'm so happy you guys invented that. It's such a great game to play cuz I suck at actual pool. Jill, next time your up in NH have Ron play it with you, it's a ton of fun.
Time to go so we all head back to the arena because we parked there. Said our good byes and headed to the truck. Before we left the parking garage on the way in we made sure Brian had his parking ticket with him so when we left we could pay for it. Do you actually think we remembered to pay for it before we got into the car! Ben was driving and we pulled up to the gate to pay and duh you can't pay there. So Ben has to reverse down hill in the tiny garage. Luckily there was a parking guy close by so Ben didn't have to go too far.
So we headed to Brian's to get my car and Ron's car and go home. I had a ton of fun and loved being able to see the Sabres this year. Thanks Ron for getting the tickets for "Jeff's Birthday" the price was really good.
Good night all and Jill, can you continue to blog about Hawaii please!

AMY

amy's new year


onto the next holiday...new year's.. well ben was really sick the whole week and some how it was my fault and i put a hex on him. who knows maybe i did. but i had to work, ben didn't even go to work that day. it was snowing pretty bad on the way to work, took an extra hour to get to work. people come in and shop a little. but i was only schedule to 5 (we were opened til six). went home to ben asleep on the fouton in the living room. managed to get him up and see what he wanted to do that night and what kind of food he wanted. i went to stop and shop got some appetizer foods- pigs in a blanket, cheese and crackers, and mozarella sticks. high class foods i'm talking about here. got some drink for me and went home. ben's friends that live down stairs invited us for some pasta so we went. went up stairs not expecting much for the evening. then we started preparing our snacks. a couple more of ben's friends showed up down stairs and we invited them up for some snacks. we had a good time just hanging out eating food and i had a couple of beers. we went to the living room to watch the ball drop. did anyone else see dick clark try to do the count down? they should not invite him to do it anymore. he isn't the same since his stroke and i'm afraid he might start to scare some children.
so another new year has come and gone. i don't think new year's is that big of a deal. so i hope everyone else enjoyed yours and many more to come.

AMY

amy's christmas

happy new year everyone!! I'll start out with christmas. well of course i had to work on christmas eve. christmas eve ben and i have dinner over his grandfather's house with his family. really good polish food. start off with some little stuffed tomatoes that his grandfather's care taker (bonnie) make. good stuff. then for dinner we had fresh and smoke kielbasa wrapped in dough. also i had some cabbage soup over mashed potatoes. then there is some swedish meatballs that his grandmother makes (ben's mom's mom). and some really good perogies. then everyone opened some gifts. we all thought bonnie was on crack because she was helping ben's grandpa open gifts and she would rip open the paper super fast, flash the gift to his grandpa "you see" and move on to the next gift without stopping. when they're suppose to open a gift and move onto the next person. it was just really funny watching her. we hung out there a little longer then went home. cole came and got me to sleep over her house. ben went to his parents house to hang out with his family. only his brother chris came home. his sister jessica and her husband james couldn't make here this year. they live in georgia. me and cole only stayed up a little bit then we went to bed. i woke up to nino coming in the room and tony with a video camera. i looked super pretty and sounded awesome. this year it was all about nino. he had been talking about this dinosaur spike that he saw at target forever. this thing is a huge robotic roaring thing. and nino is so fun to watch open gifts. he would open something and want to play with that toy immediately. cole kept having to tell him to wait until he opened all of his gifts. then he opened a remote control for spike. and tony was like awe man, santa brought the remote for spike and no spike? cole told him to look around for spike and maybe spike got cold. and there on the side of the couch was spike. this was what the camera was for. he lifted up the blanket and made the coolest face ever. it was kinda like is that really spike there, and he was trying to hold back a smile. it was hilarious. then they got spike to walk and nino was afraid of him and dove into cole lap. even funnier than his smile.
so we hung out for the rest of the day playing with nino. ben came over and we played a little bit of xbox 360. mortal kombat vs dc. it's only fun for me when i play against nino cuz i might win. the weather was not a white christmas. it was like 50 degrees. we were going to go sledding but all of the snow was melted.
ben and i left and went home to open gifts from each other. then we went to his parents house to open some more gifts. i got The good the bad and the ugly-the buffalo bills. a book from his dad all about our beloved bills. ben was up stairs talking music to his brother and dad so i hung out down stairs with his mom and sister in law. i started to read the book and got hooked right away. by the time we left it was almost 11:30 and i of course had to work the next day.
but i had a great christmas eve/day. leading up to christmas i'm always so bah humbug about the whole season. working in retail has made me this way and with the whole family spread out i get bummed out. you would think i would get used to it by now but i get sad every year.
christmas blog done....

AMY


Thursday, January 1, 2009

New Years....

Happy New Years family!!! We spent last night at Mike and Carolyn's and we had fun...we played a new game...Mexican Train Domino's...pretty cool! The island is strong in tradition and there are more fire works on New Years eve than on the 4th of July. Britt usually has trouble because of her asthma...the air gets VERRRYYY smokey and its hard to see. At midnight the sky lights up and its like Beirut.

Around 1100 we had the kids outside with sparklers and it started to pour...of course the Haugheys are an extension of the Krieger/Marini Griswold family tree. So the kids started playing in the rain....all of them from Zach to Kaitlyn (Britt had to stay inside because she has to keep from getting sick with all the smoke in the air) Carolyn took pictures and as soon as she emails them to me I will post them:

By midnight it had stopped raining and the air had been washed clean enough for us to go out on the balcony and watch the fireworks. afterwards we played domino's until 230 and then we made our way home.

We got to bed at 4am and everyone slept until 130 this afternoon. Today we just chilled and straighted up....ran to Walmart to pick up a few things and we are having make your own pizza night. Rick has duty tomorrow night and I am driving a bunch of the teens from church to a youth event downtown...so while they are there Zach and I will go hang out with Rick on the boat.

Jill
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NH Krieger Happenings

Jill is right, we need to post more often and then maybe for me at least that won't end up as epic novels . . .

Any way, Christimas itself was wonderful, but leading up to it has been nothing less than monumental family luck, or lack there of . . . First Jen's truck goes in for an oil change and $1,800 dollars later we get it back . . . Second my Toyota (which I purchased at a much higher price as it was and still is rated higher than all other makes and models for pickups, but well what should I/we expect) will not lock into 4 wheel drive (which you need living in NH mtns and we get snow, see below for full understanding) so I bring it to the dealer . . . something called a 4 wheel drive actuator is shot . . . another $650 I have my truck back . . . Third Jen states sometime in mid to late December that the washing machine is making weird noises, and what should we do. Well I use an appliance guy for the problems we have at the resort, and I give him a call. Well anyway we miss each other for 6 or 7 days, and finally he can make on the day that we are heading down to RI to celebrate Xmas with Jen's family. It has some part that he can but litterally would cost $5o less than buying a new one . . . so after a bunch of phone calls to dealer, manufacturer, we have a new washing machine . . . Not done yet . . . the same weekend we left Nh for RI, we leave in a storm that is only suppossed to be 1 to 3 inches . . . hah hah hah . . . in the valley the totals range from 10 to 15 . . . and the trip back is another storm which added another hour and half to the trip. . . No worries we have a snow blower. So we have 13 inches on he ground when we pull the fully stocked Tundra into a neighbors cleared drive way, treck the kids in, get a fire started, and I go to start the snow blower . . . . . . . . . It will not start, it is dead, I really dont care for humanity, mother nature, life, God, snow, the birds and the bees. etc, etc, etc . . . I shovel 5 different times from 11 Am and 11:3o PM that day. The snow blower has been great, and was a hand -me- down from dad, so oh well. Another $950 dollars later we have a new snow blower. Thought we might be done, no way! Wood stove needs a part that is $161 and they aren't quite sure who long it will take them to get the part and to do the repair so I actully have no idea what the total cost will be in the long run . . .

No to Xmas: Spent the weekend prior hanging in RI with Jeff, Anna and Lexy on Friday. A really fun night, our families really get along so well, and although I have 3 of best sisters a man can have Jeff has been a very important person in my life and it is really awesome to see how important he has become to Jen and the kids. Saturday, we spent it with Jen's family (extended) which went very well. The only positvely/negative thing is that our family and friends completely spoil the girls and we have a truck load of toys for them (which I unloaded somewhere in between the shovellings).

Now to Christmas . . . Although I really miss big Krieger family Christmas's, there is something special when you get to watch your kids open their gifts slowly and surely and have all the attention them. We woke up just a bit early, got the fire started, at our traditional sugar cookies, and then the girls opened their gifts. It was wonderful and I'll try to get a couple of picks up soon. Jen and I made a great meal - pepper encursted tenderloin with garlic/horseradish cream sauce, riscotto, green beans with garlic and shallots and JJ made a great chocolate cake with raspberry and cream topping. . . a couple of scotches and I was in heaven . . .

I hope all of your christmas's and new year's were as enjoyable and peaceful as mine . . . love and joy to you and yours . . . Ronnie