MERRY CHRISTMAS ONE AND ALL!!!!!!!!

May you all have a blessed, happy, wonderful, exciting, peaceful, merry Christmas filled with joy and surrounded by love ones!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!
VROLIJK KERSTFEEST!!!!!!

Believe by Josh Groban

This is one of my favorite Christmas songs!
And now youtube finally has the "real" music video for it!
Enjoy!!!!

Vrolijk Kerstfeest Kouwen Familie!!!!

This years Nativity

Last weekend marked our 3rd year doing a Live Nativity. We had some new cast members, my brother Kevin, Lydia T. and some of the Smalley family. Each year there is always something new added to the presentation. A new character, different ways to do a scene, new scenes, more added to the soundtrack , new props, etc. This year a young Jesus (played by Cody) was added along with the verses that talk about how "the child grew in knowledge..." This was after the wisemen visit and before the verses start about why He came. Mary and Joseph walk away from the stable/house with Jesus. Also instead of the cross already being set up 2 guys set it up and hammer it in place. VERY powerful with the verses being spoken at the time and the sound of the hammer.
We had an awesome turn out too!!! Totaling up both nights we had over 200 people!!! Sunday, the last night was so crowded we had to change a couple small things because the crowd was in the way! Instead of us walking up to the cross coming from behind and through the crowd we had to walk in front of them because there was no way to get through them! :-)
Here are some pictures from the weekend.

All the O'Connell cast.

Hanging around waiting to rehearse

Dad with Sassy the donkey
Gotta love the look on his face and that wig!! What a riot!!!

The Heavenly Host waiting their turn during rehearsal

kneeling at the cross at the end of the program

Kevin (Roman Solider)

Kevin and Kurt

Brothers

The guys

Kevin and Ben, the Director/lights/sound guy

Mary and Joseph

Shepherds

Angels

Wisemen

the whole cast

the whole cast in costume for the ending cross scene


some of the gang about to head home on the last night

Live Nativity coming up!

The poster for this years Nativity.
And in case you're wondering that's Dad with me...wearing a wig!!!!! :-)

Randomness

The Cook girls and I back in Feb

a picture I took on the way to JFK airport to pick up Kevin when he came home from Ghana. I doctored it up to make it look like a postcard. :-)

another doctored pic

Kurt playing ball

some of the kids and cousin Jeff waiting for the fireworks
4th of July

Ivanya burr cold at the lake - July

the flower girl, Madeleine - July

Kurt and I at the Mong's in PA - Feb.
Me, Lauren, Alex and Kurt
I went over for lunch to talk with Elizabeth....then we all got to talking....then we called Kurt to come over......then we had dinner.....and then we left late! Fun, fun!!!!

Lauren and I
(isn't that a song?? ;-)

us at a friends wedding - late Aug.

cousins!!!!!!
Megan and I

This amazing!!!!!!!

After not being able to put up videos from youtube for months, I now can!!!!! Now prepare yourself for the onslaught!! :-)

Celtic Thunder

Middlebury Falls

Down the hill from the Marble Works in Middlebury where the market is held is Otter Creek and a waterfall. Most of the vendors have a great view of it from their spots, but not me. :-( One day Kurt went down and took these pictures that came turned out amazingly!!! (thanks to Mrs. Iocco's camera!)

the falls
Love this one!

One Saturday some kayakers went over the falls on the calmer side. With a spotter watching one by one they went over....slipped under the water and bobbed back up!

spider web

(this one is really neat! I know it's blurry,

but click on it and it will make it larger)

a lamp post!!

(now where's Lucy and Mr. Tumnus??!! )

Farmers Market!

(click on the pics to see them larger and clearer)

My booth!!

:-)

Kurt!!!!
At the beginning I had some friends doing this with me. And there was a couple weeks they couldn't be there so Kurt helped me out and boy was he a help!!!! I would have been running around like a mad women if he wasn't there! It also gives both of us the chance to walk around the market while the other sticks by the stuff. :-)
My friends have now decided that they will no longer be doing the market. So now it's just Kurt and I. We have a blast talking with our "neighbor" Pete and watching and talking about all the people walking by. :-)

Italian bread, cookies, cakes, muffins, rolls, brownies, etc.

nightgowns and some dresses

Lemonade and Iced tea!!!

our best seller!!

Kurt chillin'

HARPER!!!!!! (and his mommy)

This is my little cookie buddy! As soon as the market opens at 9am he makes his way slowly across the grass to my stand. I notice and motion him over with a wave of my hand and he comes running, dollar in hand. "How many cookies today Buddy?" With a mischievous grin he holds up one finger. He picks one out and runs back to his mommy only to be called back to get his change.

"May I go now?"

"Yes!"

But only to return a couple minutes later for another. :-)

This last week once the town clock tolled 9am I heard him yell,

"MOMMY!!!!! THE MARKETS OPEN!!!!!"

"Ok, ok," she says, "Hold on!"

a few seconds later he came running!! :-) That little boy has stolen my heart! Free cookies for him this week! :-)

Good friends of ours, the Iocco's

Too bad they're way down at the other end of the market! :-(

view from the left of our booth

The older man on the left is Pete. Kurt and I have such fun talking with him! We're either talking and laughing about the people wandering around, trying to figure out why/how people can just walk right past our booths or try some of my samples and not buy anything, esp. after saying how good it is!!!! Then we may be discussing the latest news headlines, or getting playfully scolded by him! :-/

MUSIC!!!

One of the best parts of the market! Every week there is some sort of band/group there playing. This past week it was a boy around13-14 playing the saxophone. Just him, no one else, no other instruments. He didn't play that good and always seemed to be looking for the next note. Let's just say Pete had a lot to say about that we had some good laughs.

More views

Finally! A post!!!! And the unwanted guest!

Hello to all my blog friends!!!
I'm terribly sorry I haven't posted anything new in a couple months! I know how bummed I can be when I keep checking a friends blog and finding nothing there time and time again.
Things have been quite chaotic and busy here. I've got the farmers market every Saturday and have been spending quite a bit of time each week getting ready for that. (sewing and baking) The market is going great and I'm really enjoying it! My next post will be of pictures from there! :-)
On top of that and the regular norm of life here at FQF we've had a guest staying at our house. This guest came without invitation and has been here for around 6+ weeks and he is most unwanted, but is refusing to leave! The first weekend in May I went down to PA for a wedding and stayed with Kevin who had just moved down there. Our guest came home with me then (or maybe he was with me before then??) and thus began our troubles. What's his name you ask????
Why it's WHOOPING COUGH!!!!!!!
Yes, this dear bacteria came into my life and has delighted in being an ever present annoyance for the last 6 1/2 weeks. I thought it was only a really bad cold and ended up passing it on to all my younger siblings. :-( 5 have it pretty bad, but are on the mend. Nights are getting less busy and more peaceful. That's good for Dad. who has been a ghost, drifting from one room to the next every night tending to one child then the next. The other 2 children have light cases right now and we're hoping they don't get any worse. Mom, Dad and Kurt have been lucky so far to have avoided it somehow. Kevin, even though he doesn't live here, also had/has it. Him and I came down with it at the same time.
So, life has been full of baking, sewing, coughing, keeping kids calm so as to cut down on coughing fits, keeping them happy with plenty to do seeing how they can't go anywheres till their quarantine is up (which is this Friday ya-hoo!!!!).
Well there you have it. My excuse for not blogging in so long. It sounds like a good reason and justified, but I know I could have done something during the last couple of months!!!

Grand Canyon

When Mom, Dad and Kevin went to NM to visit Kelly earlier this month they all went to AZ to visit the Luke Toews and his family. Luke was one of the 3 other GES guys that was in Ghana with Kevin. The Toews only live 2 hours from the Grand Canyon so they took a day to go see it. The pictures they brought back were AMAZING!!!! I would love to go and see it for myself one of these days.

These first few are of a small canyon they went to close to the Toews house.

you call that small??? :-/

Mom and Dad

(who are celebrating their 26th anniversary today :-)

Kevin, Luke and Nathan


~THE GRAND CANYON~

(just a small part of it)

Kevin looking down

at the lookout

group shot