WINGING OUR WAY WESTWARD....

A few days after Christmas! Pat and I ... "winged our way westward" (kinda corny, huh!)... to Portland, OR.

"Oh, Chris!! I'm fr-fr-freezin' up here in the clouds!!"

"Hush, dear Pat. Take a swig o' my Clan MacGregor Scotch! That'll keep ya warm!"

"Nah, let's land this ol' crate for two coffees!"
As we neared Portland...on the right we marveled at the majesty of Washington's Mt. St. Helen's! A volcano "De-dapped" dramatically in 1980.

And on our left. The glorious Mt. Hood! A lofty two-mile-high stab into that deep blue Oregon sky!











This is "The Nines" Luxury Hotel in downtown Portland. Where Pat and I stayed with our daughters, Kelly and Kim, during our "Portland Pilgrimage". Daughter Kim lined it up on Priceline at a fraction of the standard rate. Thanks, Kim!

Uhh....this is not an ad for Priceline.

And here's the Harrison East. A highrise apt. bldg. where our son Michael and his wife Varinthorn (Kay) live.









Here's why the four of us ventured out to the West Coast Christmas Week. Kay just gave birth to a bouncing baby boy....

Good Fong Christopher! Our first grandchild!

Varinthorn is Thai. Her grandfather's name is "Fong". With deep respect they gave the grandfather's name to the little guy.

Mike and Kay, lecturing Good on the merits of the academic life. Like, so soon?

Mike is a psychologist. Teaches grad students at Pacific Univ.

Kay just recieved her Masters in Fine Arts from Portland State.

Also, Kay became a U.S.citizen a few weeks ago.

And they celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary in Oct.

Hey! We are now "Grandpa and Grandma"!! Hi, ya Good!

This pic...needs no comment.

Our daughter Kelly, now Aunt Kelly, doing some silent-speak with Good!

Kim will be 37, January 5th.

Happy birthday, dear Kimberly Mary!

Hi ya, Andy!










Kay is breastfeeding Good!

Good wants to bond with his dear-dad, too!

Uhhh....Miller Highlife? Is there another kind of symbiosis here!

Heartbeat to heartbeat!

Meanwhile, Husky Chinook lovingly surveys his family. Howl-l-l-l-l!

Kay was sorta 'housebound' with breastfeeding Good. But Mike took us out to see the sights. We stopped for lunch one day at the "Rogue Restaurant". The five of us together. Doesn't happen often anymore. Brought back some memories. Right, guys?

l-r: Kim, Kelly, Mike





Here's a five-of-us-together memory!

Mikey's First Communion in '82

Pat and I were very touched when Mike and Kay asked me to baptize Good on New Year's Eve. Informal? Yes. Efficacious? Assuredly.

And then, our dear daughter-in-law Varinthorn asked me to baptize her also.

She had attended Assumption Univ. (Jesuit) in her younger years back in Bangkok. That's where she and Mike met.

She admired the Jesuits. This baptismal ceremony, informal? Yes. Efficacious? God is God. And He/She has a Providence! Amen!

AND THAT, DEAR FAMILY AND FRIENDS, IS THE STORY OF THE CHRISTOPHER CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION. IN THE FAR OFF, LOVELY LAND OF PACIFIC-PORTLAND! SO BE IT!

OL' NAT KING COLE: HARK, THE HERALD...

9 AM SATURDAY...VERY QUIET!

'TWAS THE MORNING AFTER CHRISTMAS, and all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even....L'iL Mouse. No! L'il Mouse was purring peacefully down in Damien and Shannon's nether-suite below.

Indeed, 23 Dogwood Terrace was serene, quiet the morning after our glorious Christmas celebration Friday.

Ahh, the celebratory food, je ne sais quoi....luscious, magnifique! The sparkling conversation! The bon vivant atmosphere throughout the house! And oh....the drinks! Yes, we certainly did celebrate Christmas!

And best of all this Christmas of '09....we celebrated TOGETHER! Extended family style. Another beautiful memory to file away along with the other 39 Christmas celebrations we've shared together. (Okay, you 'kids' missed the first few celebrations. The four of us ol' folks were a lot younger then....about your age today...and oh! How we could/would celebrate!)

Part of our extended Christmas joy, dear Mike, Kay and Good, is our coming out to see/be with you in Portland. An integral part of a celebration we began on good ol' Dogwood Terrace Christmas Day! Enuff already!! Let's see some pics!!

Monsieur Christophe servin' up the vin at the beginning of the Christmas celebration.

"Poulet Joie de Vivre!"

by "Julia" Sullivan-Dimino

The very best chicken breasts in northern New Jersey stuffed with Ecuadorean goat cheese and Mediterranean capers. Baked to a golden brown! Ahhhh....

And you should hear "Julia" Dimino vocalize about her favorite seafood dish...."SCAHH-LLOPS"! Just like the Julia who recently passed into Eternity. (That's an 'inside' joke. We 'peasants' say "scaaallops".) Either way, dear Julia D., they tasted great Christmas Eve.

A small fraction of the dozens of exotic and delicious Christmas cookies designed by ....

Chef Kellee Christophe-Tornabene.

Thanks, Kel!

Tres bien!

Joe. Forget the slip knots and all the other fancy manuevers. Just suture the damn bird!

Oh, Joe! I love you!

Yeah, Pat. Love you, too. Gimme more string!

Joe takin' a well-deserved rest. Post turkey preparation. I observed him several times Christmas Day and thought to myself: "The greatest human reason to be thankful for this Christmas Day '09 is..."Joe is with us"!

Damien in a thoughtful, contemplative moment at the Christmas Table. "Ah, Lord," he's a-thinkin', "which morsel should I eat first from this bounteous dish Thou hast given me this Day....."

Ever notice: He's a 'dead-ringer' for the artist Hoffman's portrait of "The Christ". Oh, Damien, pls don't blush!

Honorable "Godson"!







Hey! How 'bout some turkey scraps! I'm starvin'! Grrrrrr!

Shannon: "Oh, Damien dear, shouldn't you face the camera toward us?"

Damien and Shannon, our love and congratulations!

Hey, Joe! Need some help? Just put that bird on the floor for a moment!

Kimee, always loved to embrace our Christmas trees....in the spirit of Christmas!

Hi ya, beautiful ladies! Okay, keep cookin'!

Larry and Heather brought their glorious little bundle of Christmas joy.

Madelynn Rose. So poignant Christmas Day!

Oh, Kelly! Oh, Siobhan Girl! Oh, Wolfie Guy! I see the spirit of Christmas in your eyes

The ol' folks can only say...so great, so great to be together this Christmas!

A blessing, indeed!

Thank you!

KIDS, KATS AND KANINES...uhhh....CANINES

"Lady Friend'? That's our daughter, "Kelly Girl!" Wolfie is a great , lovable dog Kelly rescued from 'some- where in the Midwest' last year! What a find!




















(Below)...and here's "Whiskey" smacking a big, affectionate kiss on our other daughter Kimberly....about 25 years ago!


And here we have "Chinook" (no, the dog... not our son Mike). Mike and his wife Varinthorn (Kay) rescued Chinook when they lived in South Dakota. They now live in Portland, OR. Just had their first baby, a bouncing baby boy: Good Fong Christopher.

Very cosmopolitan!







Kay and Good! A tender moment.

Hi ya, grandson!

I used to manage a home nursing service in Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY. One day in 1982 this rather amiable cat wandered in off Flatbush Ave.

....and ambled up to my desk, staring at me as I ate my lunch. He wouldn't leave my office. After work I shoved him into a carboard box and took him home to our three kids, ages 7,8 and 11. It was love at first sight! Whiskey lived with us for the next 20 years.

He was the most 'spiritual' of all our cats. Very contemplative.

Annie (below) was part of a litter born in the Levittown, NY school yard where Pat taught Special Ed. for 10 years. Since we're cat-lovers, it was only natural that Annie ended up with us! For the next 18 years!

Rollo and Rufus were a couple of lovable 6 month old cats we adopted from vet's rescue service over in Fairhill, MD.

We later found out Rufus (on the right) was born with a heart defect. After a few months he became very sick, and when I put him in a carrier to take him to the vet, he let out a loud scream and died on the spot. Kinda sad....

But Rollo is still going strong.








And here's little Renee! A lovable, hyper-active little feline who 'breaks us up'! She's also a rescue cat from the same Fairhill agency.














Whiskey and Annie only tolerated each other's presence all those years they were together. But these two! They play together. They 'wash' each other with fervent lickings. They eat together. Take naps together. Hit the litter box together.

Yeah, real togetherness! Atta go, Rollo and Renee! (Sounds like a dance team, right!)

Can't read the inscription?

"Lordy, it's Cho-cho san and Liu....I mean Joe and Pat [our friends]....we were all young....long ago.

Cho-cho and Liu were English Sheep dogs. Very majestic. Look at the coat of hair! Wow!

And yes, believe it or not...we were all young.....once upon a time!

Years later....here's Fiona and Siobahn. Also English Sheep dogs. Very 'intelligent'.

So much fun!

Uhhh.....

THE END!

WE WISH YOU....

Celine Dion...magnifique, eh!

OUR FALL FLING!

Bright 'n early Sunday morning Pat and I loaded up the ol' RAV4 with our 'camping gear', i.e. snacks and other delectables. And headed due west for our annual Fall Fling. Gorgeous day. Idyllic, crisp blue skies and all the varied colors on Mother Nature's Fall palette: russets and reds, unique autumn auburn-persimmon-gold combos, and here-and-there, a dab of evergreen. Hard to keep my eyes on the road!












First stop...lunch. Not just lunch but a picnic lunch! At Codorous State Park, a few miles this side of Hanover, PA















We dragged our multi-striped picnic cooler back and forth, hither and yon, for 20 minutes while Pat was trying to decide which was the idyllic picnic venue...along the lake or in the woods.







Hey, perfectionist Pat! I've got a great idea! Let's eat in the car!

Oh, Chris! What a wonderful idea! We can nosh in the car with beautiful music in the background!


And so it came to pass. See! Perfectionist Patricia really is easy to get along with! Codourus State Park and lake. Beautiful setting!







While travelling on Rt. 116 east of Hanover, we had to stop to see an old boarding school of mine. As we do every time we're roamin' in this neck-o'-the-woods. St. Joseph's Academy. This was a boarding school for boys and girls, grades 1 thru 8 when I was enrolled
there back in the Fall of 1939. I was a 3rd grader. Lordy! 70 years ago this very month. The nuns who ran the place were strict (that's a given in those days!) but they were also loving and maternal in their own way toward us kids.
Today, St. Joe's has come full circle. It's an Interfaith Org. dedicated to the care of the elderly. We could retire here in 10 or 20 years! Whadda' ya' think, Pat!


We then pushed on to Gettysburg. A small town where Lincoln came to dedicate and consecrate hallowed burial grounds for the thousands of soldiers killed in that famous three day battle between the Union and Confederate Armies. The turning point in the Civil War. Gettysburg will always be iconic in American history. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address: "Four score and seven years ago, our forefathers brought forth..."

http://www.visit-gettysburg.com/the-gettysburg-address-text.html



The new Gettysburg Memorial War Museum opened recently. Magnificent! The old museum up the road toward town was getting old and 'seedy'. The new one does honor to both sides of this terrible war bet. the States.








Definitely worth a visit. And time for reflection!










Monday morn we hit the road to Hagerstown, MD. Potomac St. has been all gussied up lately, incl. the installation of these large butterfly art works along the sidewalk.

Chris, I wanna' photo you standing next to this precious big butterfly!

No thanks, Pat!!!!

Why!!! Uhhh....it's a guy thing..



But I'll be happy to take YOUR picture, dear heart!

N.B. Most of us know how Patricia loves butterflies! One happy woman!










From Hagerstown motored up into the Maryland mountains along meandering country roads.


To one of our all-time favorite mountain spots near Cumberland. Rocky Gap State Park and Lodge. This locale on Lake Hajeeb is a high class resort we could never afford. But it's fun to wander around there like we're guests or sumpthin'....


Spent most of Monday right here at the Park. About five hours. No need to drive farther for scenic beauty.

Time for another 5-star-inthecar - picnic lunch!







Once again, we hiked an old Indian trail around the lake for several miles. Nature at its best!
Pat! I think this moose whiste really does work! Look at that herd of moose (mooses? meese?) comin' over yonder hill!!! Let's run back!!!
Chris! Stop hallucinating! There's nothing on yon-derrr hill but three trees!

Really?? Uhhh....guess I hafta' cut back on my medications! Scared me!


THE END