Our grandson Matt Best returned from a 32 day vacation that began on December 18, 2013, his last day at NY City Hall, and came to visit Al and I at Willow Valley at 12:30 PM on Sunday, January 26, 2014.

We had Sunday dinner, and he reviewed my photo album, as usual, to catch up on what the rest of the family has been doing since his last visit in December.

He had spent 6 days in England with friends, and Christmas with friends in Cape Town, South Africa.

The last 2 weeks he and his friend, Terrance Carroll from New York City, traveled  throughout the country, hiking and seeing the sights.

He told us about his travels that he had posted on Facebook.  He was buying a car that afternoon in Leola from David Raffensberger, his cousin, and driving to Rochester to see his family.

When he returns to NYC he has dentist and doctors appointments in preparation for his departure on April 28 to the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, where he will spend 27 months in the Peace Corps. He will be assigned to a community as a Individual and Organizational  Development Facilitator and help them develop their capacities by training, consulting, and advising on project design and management, strategic planning and grant development.

I had asked Matt about the language and this is part of the e-mail he sent me:

The first 3 months in Georgia will be focused learning the language and culture. There are 33 letters in Georgian: 5 vowels and 28 consonants: (all phonetic). It is read and written from left to right; (good, not too strange). There are no capital letters; (this helps). There are many consonant clusters; (this may make it more complex). All nouns end with a vowel; (good fact). The stress (very light) is always on the first syllable; (makes things simpler). Dialogue:

ქეთი:    მე ქეთი მქვია. შენ რა გქვია?

თენგო:  მე თენგო მქვია.

ქეთი:     სასიამოვნოა!

თენგო:  სასიამოვნოა!

Yikes!

In March he plans to drive to Utah where he will serve as a volunteer Park Ranger at Canyon Lands National Park for 2 weeks and then travel and hike in the West with friends.

It all sounds very exciting, and he is very enthusiastic about it. It is fun to follow him on Facebook and we look forward to hearing all about his many adventures.

Al and I were delighted to receive this e-mail:

January 23, 2014 4:40 PM

Dear Grandma and Grandpa,

We welcomed our new baby today! I had a c-section at 8:30 as planned and all went well. Cora Jane Shirer was born just before 9 AM weighing 7 lbs 10.8 oz.  Grandma, we hope you don’t mind sharing your name!

We will send more pictures tomorrow!

Love

Becky

Of course I was elated to share my name with Cora!

The next day we received this:

January 24, 2014 5:26 PM

Hello everyone-

Just before 9 AM on Thursday we welcomed the newest member of our family into the world.  Cora Jane Shirer is a 20 inch long, 7 lbs 10.8 oz bundle of joy. She was born by planned C-Section and both she and Becky are healthy and doing well.  If all goes as planned they will come home on Sunday. Unfortunately because of the significant flu outbreak this year, Evelyn could only visit Mom in the waiting room. She is very excited to meet Cora when she comes home.

Dan

I can’t wait to see photos of four year old Evelyn meeting Cora!  She knew she was to have a baby sister like her cousins, Molly and Leela Himes. The Shirers live in Albany NY. Barby called to give me the details of the big event, and plans to go to Albany in February to see her new granddaughter.

Al and I are so thankful that we have lived to see 12 great grandchildren enter this world, and look forward to seeing all the Shirers soon.

On Saturday, January 18th, 2014, I celebrated my 88th birthday by seeing my 11th great grandchild for the first time.

Suzy and Fran, Andy and Meghan Talarowski brought 25 day old Amelia Rose Talarowski from Philadelphia to Willow Valley for the first time. We had a wonderful time getting acquainted.

We spent the afternoon taking turns holding her and deciding who she looks like and that she does not have my twin toes.  She and Meghan are doing very well.  Amelia nurses every two hours and slept much of the time, although she demonstrated her impatience with wet diapers.

We had dinner in the menu dining room and she slept through most of dinner.

It is such a joy to see four generations of our family together and hear all that is going on in their busy lives. We are thankful for another healthy great grandchild, and look forward to lots of Faceboook photos to see how she grows.

In the afternoon of December 27, 2013, part of the family gathered at our apartment in Willow Valley before our Christmas dinner at the Stock Yard Inn.

It gave Suzy a chance to explain to the rest the photographs she had taken of their first grandchild, Amelia Rose Talarowski, born on Christmas Day.

We met Nancy’s family there at 5 PM and had a chance to socialize before eating.

The youngest kids had fun running around and enjoying some activities brought by well prepared mothers.

I like the idea of all the family present eating at one table together at least once a year, and that was possible again this year.

This dinner together is one of the high points of our year, and we appreciate all the  efforts of so many who made it another great success.

Could anything be better than to have your first grandchild on Christmas Day?

Amelia Rose Talarowski weighed 8 pounds 10 ounces and was 21 inches long when she was born on December 25, 2013, at Delaware County Memorial Hospital, Upper Darby. She and Meghan went home the next day.

On Friday, December 27 Fran’s sister Paula joined them for the first Christmas in their new home.

Celebrating Christmas 2013 for Al and I began with a Christmas Eve pizza supper with Elly Bennett at Nancy and Gary’s home.

It gave us a chance to catch up with what is happening in her life in Washington law. House hunting is beginning to bear fruit, and she seems very happy with her job.

We were delighted when Andy Talarowski called after breakfast on Christmas morning to say that Amelia Rose Talarowski had been born at 4:14 AM after 41 hours of labor.

We rejoined the Bennett celebration about 1 PM with all four of their children’s families, including four little boys and three dogs.

We enjoyed the usual delicious Christmas banquet at the table with the 14 members of the family.

It was our first Christmas with Reed Lassman, now 16 months old , and Uncle Geoff seemed to be one if his favorite people already.

After dinner the males resumed their play in the living room and the women stayed and talked.

The boys and others joined us for dessert.

It was another wonderful, loving day with family, and Al and I left for home realizing how thankful we are to be able to have celebrated all of our 72 Christmas times together.