Contained within is our personal account of events, experiences and ideas that have shaped our lives.
Lis and the Boys drove over to see Miss Carol today and they spent some time taking photos. Alex and Sam also took a few photos and it interesting to see that they have actually been paying attention to Mom when she talks about her photography. Below is a photo that each of the boys took… you should be able to see comparisons to Lis’s photos in technique. Alex’s flower photo:
Sam’s horse photo:
We all went down to the Nelson-Atkins Art Gallery and walked through some of the Henry Moore sculpture gardens. We then went over to the big Shuttlecocks for a quick photo.
Aunt Laurie and Uncle Les treated the whole clan to the new aquarium that just opened up in KC down next to Hallmark at the Crown Center. The boys had a great time visiting the aquarium and spending the day with Calan, their cousin!
After the Aquarium, the boys played by the fountains while waiting for Mom and Aunt Laurie to finish buying some souvenirs at the gift Shop. We just missed the opening of the LegoLand – it opens next week… hopefully next time we visit we make another trip down to Crown Center!
We took our Annual New Year’s day trip down to the beach. We had great weather again this year – it was about 65 degrees and Sunny most of the day.
We had a great Christmas this year. Nana and Gung Gung sold their house, but Nana had a chance to come back and stay with us for the big day. Gung Gung was over in England enjoying Christmas with his family. We did get a chance to wish Aunt Emma in England a Merry Christmas. Mom, Nana, Alex and Sam all got up on Dec 26th and drove to Virginia to celebrate with Aunt Becky and the rest of the family.
The boys and Rod took a quick trip up to Waynesboro to help with some tech issues in the new house. We took this photo on the mountain rest stop.
Alex had originally not decided to go trick or treating this year, but changed his mind at the last minute when he saw the Bart Simpson costume.
Alex got quite a bit more playing time this year and has improved quite a bit. One of the photos above shows Alex standing over a much taller boy after he slid for the ball and tackled him – he actually got a penalty for that one! The team came in 3rd place again this year, losing in the first round to the same team that they lost to last year. That team won State last year, but came in 2nd this year. The games were once again in Conway, NC – about 4 hours from Greenville. Alex rode the bus out with the team but Mom and Sam had to drive this year by themselves (last year they all rode the bus home). Both boys will be playing Soccer in the spring with Pitt County Recreation.
Sam’s latest work, watercolor on construction paper. Sam’s interpretation of a Blue Marlin jumping out of the water.
The Payne Chronicles 
