As is our habit, we attended the local Fireman's Carnival and the county fair, where Joni enjoyed some
of those "roungy-roungy" rides that make me barf, and made a new friend or two...

In August, we hosted a pool party for our nephew Matthew 
(that spindly fellow with the long hair), who was turning 16

Also in August, we visited the Goddard Space Flight Center. Soon it was time
for the first day of school: 5th grade for Ally-Jane, 11th grade for Beth

The girls, with their friends Ryan and Katy, enjoyed the Greenbelt
Labor Day Festival

In September, Ally-Jane and her friends 
Shannon and Delaney clowned around in Ocean City 
(including a visit to one of those old-time photo studios)

Back home in Queen Anne's County, we made 
our way through a corn maze

In October, Joni and I went to the Columbus Day Ball 
(sponsored by the KoC) and Beth went to Homecoming


In November, we took in Gandalf, who used
to belong to Joni's sister Alice before she moved

In December, Ally-Jane went on a school field trip
to the Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC

On December 19, we had a blizzard, with about 20" of snow hitting where we live in 
Scenic, Convenient-to-Nowhere, Maryland

Our Lab mix Cookie (left) loved it. Our Chihuahua Tiki (right) was less than overjoyed

With this blizzard, three of us have had major snowstorms on or near their
birthdays: Joni in 2009, Ally-Jane in 2003, and me in 1987

The snow stuck around, giving us the
first real white Christmas I've ever had

We went to my mother's house for Christmas Eve, where the girls hung out
with their Great-Aunt Waltraud, visiting once again from Germany

After dinner, we opened presents. We got Nick a Johnny Unitas jersey 
because he's a big Baltimore (not Indianapolis) Colts fan

On Christmas morning, we discovered that Santa had brought us a Wii and several games. 
Santa totally rocks. On New Year's Eve, we went to a wedding of a friend of mine 
(Jennifer) from work. Congratulations, Jen and Zack!