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“Lordy Lordy, Stacy’s 40!”
Stacy hit the 40th birthday mark, and Dallas (and friends) threw a most excellent birthday crawfish boil. We all had a great time, well, maybe the crawfish didn’t :)…..
We are so glad to be able to stop by and join in on the celebration. The company was great, the food was excellent (and the corn a bit spicy!) and more than we could eat. Thanks Dallas for doing this for Stacy. Ans Stacy have an excellent new year!
Stacy and Dallas’ wedding
Our daughter Stacy has been in a relationship with her girlfriend and partner Dallas Ruggieri for almost a decade. They made the decision to confirm their love for each other with a wedding ceremony. And, in keeping with their interests, the theme was to be “Day of the Dead”. Or, as some would say it, a Zombie wedding.
So, we all dressed up accordingly and appeared during one of Dallas’ (the city) hottest days. Fortunately air conditioning had been invented and the whole event went off without a hitch (except theirs, of course – pun intended). Family and friends showed up and demonstrated how popular Stacy and Dallas are – the outfits were spectacular!
With a lot of help from their friends Stacy and Dallas did a superb decoration setup in and around their house. The whole event was spectacular, and moving.
May I present Stacy and Dallas Riley. (Click on the small image for a larger view. It’s worth it!)
Walk with me in Vancouver, BC
I’m in Vancouver to attend the memorial service for my oldest nephew, Alan. He passed unexpectedly and will be missed by family and friends. Not the reason for a visit you would hope for.
But since I’m an early riser (and still some jet lag from my recent return from Barcelona), and the weather was beautiful, I took a nice early morning walk. Stanley Park is just a few blocks from my hotel, so the obvious place to walk. Vancouver had to be one of the most beautiful cities ever.
Looking towards the bay, Stanley Park on the right
Lots of flowers in the park
And lots of colors
My sister in laws apartment
A heron patiently waiting for breakfast
Vancouver yacht club
A skyline view
Denman strèet. Just about any ethnic food you may want.
Dogs, and Arboretum
Spring is starting in Dallas area! Today, Stacy and Dallas invited us over for a brunch and to go over wedding plans. As usual, good food, family company, and things to look forward to!
The weather was so nice I just had to take a few pictures of the dogs playing outside. After that, we made a little side trip to the Dallas Arboretum to look at all the flowers springing up. The Arboretum is a favorite place for us to go multiple time during the year.
Nikita
Link
Hyacinths look and smell great!
A pink tulip, subtle in the colors
Pansies always look like they have a face
Double flower
A little waterfall
Even cherry blossoms
Even Benjamin Franklin looks pleased
Bright colored tulips
Colorful flower beds
Christmas Day Sleigh Ride
On Christmas Day, the whole Allen/Laninga/Frost clan enjoyed a variety of activities, to each their own. Visiting pawn shops, shopping at REI, and whatever pleases you. Tanya, Jen and Romola (with help from the girls) made home made spaghetti noodles. At dinner, we had a delicious Caesar salad, followed by a spaghetti dinner.
After dinner we went on sleigh ride through the lights of Coppel. The weather was balmy, somewhere around 65 degrees, so we were glad the sleigh had wheels, not runners for snow.
Main Street, Coppell
Old time Coppel store front
All aboard the sleigh!
Hmm… a different kind of light
Decorations
Decorations
Decorations
Decorations
Decorations
After the ride
Christmas day at the Allens
This year, daughter Tanya and hubby Shane hosted the Christmas day festivities. In attendance were (naturally) Tanya and Shane, Romola and John (Tanya’s family), Mary Allen (Shane’s mom), Robert Frost (Mary’s brother), Chris Frost (Roberts son) and his son Tyler, Robbie with Lisa, Emma and Brooke and last but not least Leanne (Shane’s aunt with daughter Jen. And of course four dogs…..
First we had Christmas brunch, Tanya’s special baked French Toast with sausage and fresh fruit. Delicious. After this we had a Dirty Santa gift exchange, seems like everyone finally got what they wanted! Then we had the general gift opening. Naturally this was followed by an extended play time with the goodies.
Mid afternoon we had smoked turkey and ham dinner. Lots of side dishes. And, of course a whole side table of deserts…
It was a really nice family day, when we could enjoy each others company and reflect on the many things we have to be thankful for.
Mary, Robert, Shane, Leanne
Robert
Mary, Brooke, Robert, Lisa, Leanne
Mary
Emma
Brooke, Robert, Shane, Lucky
Jen, Tanya, Romola
Tyler, Jen
Romola
Robbie, Emma, Mary, Brooke, Robert and fish
Emma, Mary, Robert, Shane
Robert, Shane, Leanne
Romola, Lisa
Robert, Shane
Robbie, Emma, Mary, Robert, Shane
Opening presents
Mary and Robert
Leanne, Chris, Tyler
Emma, Shane
Brooke
Emma
Carving the meat
Attentive crowd
Just a long day
Thanksgiving 2014
Stacy and Dallas invited the family to their place to have Thanksgiving dinner. We had a great time and as usual the food was overwhelming. So good, and so much… we’ll have food memories (sometimes called leftovers) for a while to come!
We had a great visit, telling new (and old) stories, the guys helping with some outside chores while the women put the finishing touches on a delicious dinner. Unfortunately, we decided to watch the Cowboys game after dinner. Unfortunately, because the Cowboys played poorly and lost bad.
However, it failed to put a damper on a very pleasant afternoon. Thanks to everyone for their contributions, and especially Dallas and Stacy for providing the home and most of the dinner.
One end of the dinner table setting…
And the other.
The women hamming it up in the kitchen
And ready to eat, one end of the table
And the other.
Halloween party!
Stacy (daughter) and Dallas (her girlfriend) throw a great Halloween party! This year’s theme was “steam punk”; think of Jules Verne era science fiction. The costumes were terrific, a lot of effort was put into this by the many attendees!
I was honored to be asked to take pictures, here are a few of them. I’ll be posting a lot more in my Flickr album. Maybe then I will get all the names right too!
Stacy and Dallas
The snack table was loaded, vegan on the left, meat on the right
Dallas and Stacy spent a lot of time on decorations, making by hand 100’s of bats
A group picture
Romola and John
Guests
Guest
Guests
Another group shot
Guests
Guests
Guests
Guests
Val (Dallas’ mom) on left
Guests (ebola?)
Tulip time at the Arboretum
It’s tulip time at the Dallas Arboretum so we joined Stacy and Dallas for a nice picnic lunch and tulip viewing session. We had a great time until rain eventually drove us out. But the colors of the tulips, and the large plantings and layout, were beautiful. Some images:
Contrast between tulips and flowering trees
Varied colors
Singling one out from the group
Pansies hold their own
In honor of my birth country — orange tulip
Unique purple tulip
Red tulip closeup
Green pistils
A lonely white tulip
Inside a tulip
Stacy’s birthday, new house
Seems like a short time ago that Stacy graced our lives. Now, she is off on her own, and in a meaningful relationship — one that we approve of highly. So when we were invited to a brunch to celebrate her birthday we were excited, especially since Dallas is such a great cook! So we had a great meal (eggs benedict, and lots of chocolate stuff!). Lots of food, and family get togetherness. Not to forget the dogs…
This also was our first visit to their new home. A big improvement over the old one! They have already done a fantastic job of making the house a home of their own. One unique feature, black board walls in many rooms, encouraging visitors to add their own comments. And a spare bedroom for our future visits!
Wishing her a great next year.
Presents and chocolate heart cake
Wall art, dining room
Wall art, hallway
Inside dining room
Living room
Dinette
Stacy and Dallas in the kitchen
Living room detail
Link doing what he does best
Stacy, about to stab the heart
The whole family – including the dogs!
Stacy, playing coy
Laninga's Travel Blog 