Sunday Dinner at Gayle & Kate's

Three photos by Kate from our dinner.  

Sunday Dinner at Gayle & Kate's

This evening we had a terrific meal at Gayle and Kate's. Fried rice, teriyaki chicken, an oriental salad, a stuffed rice paper delicacy, an appetizer with caramelized onions and sour cream wrapped in a pasty shell.... And then came dessert! First, a chocolate - chocolate dessert wonder with whipped cream and then a Canadian square (Gayle, what's the name?) with chocolate, cream, and oh so many delicious but sinfully rich ingredients. We're all stuffed and very happy. We especially enjoyed Minga and Bapu's pre-meal "show." For details please contact Rich, Peter, or Alex... :-) 

Gayle & Kate and their furry kids, Minga and Bapu. The pups are looking so eagerly at me because I said "Yum, yum." These pups love their snacks! 

Alex debuting a song for Gayle. 

Peter and Rich headed to Weld on this Wednesday afternoon to explore the lake, check on the camps, and soak in the sun. The temperatures were in the mid-50's F (12.8 C) and the snow was perfect. We ran into a couple of ice fishers who had pulled in one brown trout so far. We skied and snow shoed for an hour and then headed up to Center Hill to climb the small mountain. This photo is taken just in front of the camps at Burt's Point. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Peter after running up Center Hill on snowshoes. 

Peter on Center Hill. 

Rich on Center Hill, Weld, Maine.

Breakfast & Technology

So this is the 21st century breakfast table.... We honestly do talk. 

Sunshine & Technology

So far we've had a gentle spring in Maine. The snow is slowly melting and the rivers and lakes are still thick with ice. Alex finds time on the weekend to enjoy the back deck, wireless internet, and sunshine. Next weekend is the last skiing at Black Mountain for the 2008-2009 ski season. The season ends with pond skimming --> picture a large open swimming pool affair, a small hill, and a few dozen kids on skis trying to "water ski" across the pond. 

Winner by a ....

Rich and his favorite sister Barbara compare hair lines in the battle of the most hair-challenged member of the five Kent siblings. Barb wins! 

If you ever wondered what Rich looks like when he ventures into the 3rd glass of wine (Hess Select)... that's the grin he's wearing. Clearly, Barbara handles the wine much better than her baby brother!

Here's to Barbara as she fights the good fight. One more treatment before a summer break. We love you, Sister Dear!    

Celebrating Kaiser Kent

Fred & Pam's beautiful German Shepherd "son" Kaiser died of Leukemia on Friday. At nine years old, Kaiser acted more like a one-year-old puppy than a stately middle-aged dog. Kaiser enjoyed his large collection of squeaky toys and loved, as you see in the photo above, to play tug-o-war with any playmate. Until recently, Kaiser's favorite squeaky toy had Pam's soothing voice in the stuffed animal. She always gave the toy to Kaiser when she and Fred went on holiday so he wouldn't get too lonely. Though we don't know the full story behind the demise of this squeaky toy, we suspect that Kaiser simply loved it to death. Kaiser's best friend Bo-Bo the Cat loved the big puppy--they fought like proverbial cats and dogs during the daytime hours, but each night they cuddled up with one another.  Best friends to the last day. Today, we celebrate a wonderful companion and a member of the family. Here's to Kaiser.    

Alex's House from CAD 

(Computer Aided Drafting)

Both Alex and Peter designed houses in Mr. Phil Merrill's CAD class. I haven't seen Peter's yet. 

Thanks to Dr. Jim Bennett for helping me twist this photo around. Nice work, Professor!

Our Neighbors' Home 

(click photos to enlarge)

Our friends Gayle and Kate and their four furry kids live a couple of houses away. Here's a picture of their home in the shadow of the Longfellow Mountains after a recent snowstorm. We've traded a couple of dessert gatherings over the past few weeks as well try to defeat the winter blahs.

Hi Kate! Hi Gayle!

Peter's New Sweetheart

Our TV is lonely these days as Peter has traded her in for his sleek new MacBook Pro. Indeed, he has set new records for staring at a screen... he does occasionally come up for food and drink. 

After School Snack

Alex's after-school snack is literally anything that gets in the way of his mouth. 

Here, oatmeal, yogurt, peanut butter, and Ritz Crackers... with designs on the knife. 

After School Snack

Peter is now hooked on bagels, peanut butter, and bananas as an afternoon snack. 

Go figure. 

Celebrating

Rich received word this week from the University System's Board of Trustees of his promotion to associate professor with tenure. 

Here, he's celebrating with a bottle of water (yes, he'll do better later) on the back deck of our home after an hour's long cross-country ski at Black Mountain.   

Off to a Lasagna dinner at Myles' house

Alex and his friend Hannah pose before heading up to a lasagna dinner prepared by Myles' mom Nancy. Then, the crew of friends will head off to the high school for the March Madness dance. 

Peter's meeting his friend Alysha at the dance... once again, Peter is hiding at the Venskus' home. (Really, Connie and Ben took the boys for the week. Rich was supposed to be away in Texas visiting his favorite sister Barbara, but a cold that he couldn't pass on to her prohibited him from making the trip.) 

Rich bet Peter $1.00 that he wouldn't remember to ask Alex to take a picture of him at the dance. Peter wouldn't take the bet--he knows himself too well! :-)  

See, we still like each other

Rumors have been that Rich is counting the months, days, and hours (3 months, 8 days, 14 hours) before the boys head home. Not so! It's a lie! Peter's absent from the photo because he's over at Aunt Connie's and Uncle Ben's hiding from Rich. ;-) 

Two Million Meters...almost

Rich rowed right to the edge of two million meters last week. He stopped at what he thought was the magic mark, and... well, as you can see he miscalculated by 89 meters. An oddity of this Concept II rower (or something he has yet to figure out--heck, he's only spent 200 hours on the machine) is that once you stop rowing on a particular day, the LogCard doesn't add more meters. Now, of course it must, but Rich is NOT a numbers guy. Anyway, the next day he hit 2,000,000---you'll just have to trust us.