So, before I get to the story of Christmas break and New Year's Eve and our engagement, I should first say that we have reserved the Samuel Read Hall House at the Old Stone House Museum in Brownington for our wedding on July 24, 2010!
Now, that that is out of the way...
Christmas break was relaxing and a whirlwind all at once. On Christmas day we drove to Richmond to celebrate with Susie, Dennis, Matt and Gabe. We had a lovely meal followed by visiting with Tyler's Aunts Mary and Martha and their families. Ice hockey was played by almost all and only Alex was slightly injured during the fun. We stayed the night in Richmond and came home the day after Christmas to prepare for deer camp.
On Sunday and Monday we went to camp. I posted a little about that trip below. It rained most of Sunday and snowed most of Monday - but it was still relaxing. A quick funny story: I brought my sleeping bag and pillow to camp, but slept on Tyler's dad's bed. After a long night's sleep and two naps, I packed up my stuff before we left on Monday night only to discover a giant pile of mouse droppings under my pillow! Ewww... I was so glad that I didn't fall off my pillow and onto that nastiness!
On Tuesday we headed to Tyler's dad's house for a Christmas lunch with Ed, Sandy, Elijah, Matt and Mary and Martha's families. We had a wonderful time laughing at Eli as he entertained us with mashed potatoes and visiting with family. I really enjoyed spending time next to the fireplace in the "Florida room." (I'm not sure that's what is is called up here, but it's what I'd call it!)
Wednesday was the day I had chosen before the break as my "workday." I took Fred to the groomer (where they shaved his head to try to remove the skunk smell, but it ended up just showcasing how fat he is!), took myself to the hairdresser (is 7 months really too long to go in between haircuts?) and graded papers - the worst chore of all. Wednesday evening came to a close with most grading completed, but no planning done... this really hurt me today when I went back to school and started teaching the wrong chapter to my 8th graders!
Thursday was the big day. We dropped off Fred with his favorite friends, Tom and Donna, and headed north to Canada! We arrived at the Manoir Hovey around 1ish with time to spare before our sleigh ride at 3PM. We spent that time getting settled in and doing some reading. Matt gave me The Omnivore's Dilemma for Christmas and I haven't been able to put it down! Great book - I think everyone should read it!
Gifts awaiting us in our room!
There was wood all ready to go in the fireplace!
At 3 we drove out to a horse farm for the sleigh ride, and although I know that I am more deathly allergic to horses than anything else on this planet, I thought that I'd be okay since it was freezing cold and I wasn't actually riding on the horse. But no, this was not the case. Just 5 or 10 minutes in to the ride (along with 14 other people from the hotel - it was a complementary sleigh ride as part of our NYE package) I started to sneeze - and it never stopped. I had remembered to bring Kleenex, just in case, but totally forgot my inhaler back at the hotel. I couldn't breath, my eyes started to swell shut, I lost my voice - what a disaster. And what is one to do in a situation like this? Jump off the sleigh in the middle of the woods? Or perhaps announce, "I'm sorry everyone for ruining your ride, but I think I'm dying?" As soon as we got back to the farm I leaped off the sleigh and practically ran back to the car for oxygen.
Because I've dealt with this sort of thing before, I knew to take my allergy meds immediately, breath a couple puffs of inhaler, and calmly take in as much steam as possible (by covering my face with a hot washcloth - I'm sure this was exactly the romantic vision that Tyler had imagined!). Tyler ordered tea for our room (served via French press with real sugar cubes and cream!) which helped because the caffeine does something to make me breath better. After the disaster was taken care of, we opted not to go down to the really cool library to read, mostly because my face was still red and puffy!
Self-timer doesn't always take the best pics...
This is a pic of the huge library!
At 7PM the NYE festivities began with drinks and canapes (lobster something and lamb something) in the library. While I opted for the cheaper class of Chardonnay, Tyler splurged (unknowingly) on a $20 glass of Champagne! (It was very good!) At 7:30 we were ushered into the dining room where we had our 6 course meal. It included such things as:
New Year's Day we woke up and had a grand breakfast, and I mean grand! It was possibly my favorite breakfast ever! We ate slowly and enjoyed every bite before packing up our room and coming home. Later in the day, we went snowshoeing and had dinner with friends - which was a lot of fun and definitely needed after all that food. Plus, I got to try out my new snowshoe's that Ty's mom gave me for Christmas!
View outside of our room...
On Saturday we wrapped up our break activities with the Alexander Family Christmas gathering. It was very snowy so not everyone could make it - but we enjoyed a good lunch, good company and a good time! Sunday was pretty boring... and I loved every minute of it! I stayed in bed and read, played on Facebook and talked to mom... ahhhh vacation! (Later, I also learned that snow does not get shoveled on its own, and that next time it will be my turn to use the snowblower!)
Now, that that is out of the way...
Christmas break was relaxing and a whirlwind all at once. On Christmas day we drove to Richmond to celebrate with Susie, Dennis, Matt and Gabe. We had a lovely meal followed by visiting with Tyler's Aunts Mary and Martha and their families. Ice hockey was played by almost all and only Alex was slightly injured during the fun. We stayed the night in Richmond and came home the day after Christmas to prepare for deer camp.
On Sunday and Monday we went to camp. I posted a little about that trip below. It rained most of Sunday and snowed most of Monday - but it was still relaxing. A quick funny story: I brought my sleeping bag and pillow to camp, but slept on Tyler's dad's bed. After a long night's sleep and two naps, I packed up my stuff before we left on Monday night only to discover a giant pile of mouse droppings under my pillow! Ewww... I was so glad that I didn't fall off my pillow and onto that nastiness!
On Tuesday we headed to Tyler's dad's house for a Christmas lunch with Ed, Sandy, Elijah, Matt and Mary and Martha's families. We had a wonderful time laughing at Eli as he entertained us with mashed potatoes and visiting with family. I really enjoyed spending time next to the fireplace in the "Florida room." (I'm not sure that's what is is called up here, but it's what I'd call it!)
Wednesday was the day I had chosen before the break as my "workday." I took Fred to the groomer (where they shaved his head to try to remove the skunk smell, but it ended up just showcasing how fat he is!), took myself to the hairdresser (is 7 months really too long to go in between haircuts?) and graded papers - the worst chore of all. Wednesday evening came to a close with most grading completed, but no planning done... this really hurt me today when I went back to school and started teaching the wrong chapter to my 8th graders!
Thursday was the big day. We dropped off Fred with his favorite friends, Tom and Donna, and headed north to Canada! We arrived at the Manoir Hovey around 1ish with time to spare before our sleigh ride at 3PM. We spent that time getting settled in and doing some reading. Matt gave me The Omnivore's Dilemma for Christmas and I haven't been able to put it down! Great book - I think everyone should read it!
Gifts awaiting us in our room!
There was wood all ready to go in the fireplace!
At 3 we drove out to a horse farm for the sleigh ride, and although I know that I am more deathly allergic to horses than anything else on this planet, I thought that I'd be okay since it was freezing cold and I wasn't actually riding on the horse. But no, this was not the case. Just 5 or 10 minutes in to the ride (along with 14 other people from the hotel - it was a complementary sleigh ride as part of our NYE package) I started to sneeze - and it never stopped. I had remembered to bring Kleenex, just in case, but totally forgot my inhaler back at the hotel. I couldn't breath, my eyes started to swell shut, I lost my voice - what a disaster. And what is one to do in a situation like this? Jump off the sleigh in the middle of the woods? Or perhaps announce, "I'm sorry everyone for ruining your ride, but I think I'm dying?" As soon as we got back to the farm I leaped off the sleigh and practically ran back to the car for oxygen.
Because I've dealt with this sort of thing before, I knew to take my allergy meds immediately, breath a couple puffs of inhaler, and calmly take in as much steam as possible (by covering my face with a hot washcloth - I'm sure this was exactly the romantic vision that Tyler had imagined!). Tyler ordered tea for our room (served via French press with real sugar cubes and cream!) which helped because the caffeine does something to make me breath better. After the disaster was taken care of, we opted not to go down to the really cool library to read, mostly because my face was still red and puffy!
Self-timer doesn't always take the best pics...
This is a pic of the huge library!
At 7PM the NYE festivities began with drinks and canapes (lobster something and lamb something) in the library. While I opted for the cheaper class of Chardonnay, Tyler splurged (unknowingly) on a $20 glass of Champagne! (It was very good!) At 7:30 we were ushered into the dining room where we had our 6 course meal. It included such things as:
- Raspberry point oyster
- Skatefish
- Braised pork ravioli (my favorite) with blood pudding
- Roasted pigeon (yuck) and guinea hen liver
- Dessert foie gras
- and finally, Pain perdu (French toast) with apricot and pistachios
New Year's Day we woke up and had a grand breakfast, and I mean grand! It was possibly my favorite breakfast ever! We ate slowly and enjoyed every bite before packing up our room and coming home. Later in the day, we went snowshoeing and had dinner with friends - which was a lot of fun and definitely needed after all that food. Plus, I got to try out my new snowshoe's that Ty's mom gave me for Christmas!
View outside of our room...
On Saturday we wrapped up our break activities with the Alexander Family Christmas gathering. It was very snowy so not everyone could make it - but we enjoyed a good lunch, good company and a good time! Sunday was pretty boring... and I loved every minute of it! I stayed in bed and read, played on Facebook and talked to mom... ahhhh vacation! (Later, I also learned that snow does not get shoveled on its own, and that next time it will be my turn to use the snowblower!)
Congratulations Aimee and Tyler! I am very happy for both of you as you make a lovely couple! I remember the house at Brownington Museum that holds the wedding as I saw it on Old Stone House Museum Day. It was a lovely setting and will make for a lovely wedding!
ReplyDeleteAhhh. The post we've all been waiting for. I loved reading the details of your engagement as only a woman can relay them. I can't wait to see the necklace!
ReplyDeleteI think you will have a perfect summer wedding, hopefully lots of your family will be able to make the trip and we'll get to meet them and spend some time together.
You'll have a lot of planning to do in the months to come, no matter how elaborate or simple the affair. How fun! Will Fred be your ringbearer? :-)
So glad you're officially joining the family. What a fun proposal story, too! I wonder if the waiter realized later that he had really poor timing...
ReplyDeleteTyler will tell you, you've got a built-in wedding planning team in all the female Alexanders if things get to be too much!
-Anna (Lisa's youngest)
Congratulations Aimee and Tyler. It's wonderful news. We're so happy for you. Loved hearing about your trip, the proposal, and seeing the pictures of Manoir Hovey. Glad you felt better after your horse allergy attack, although at this point it is a pretty funnystory!
ReplyDeleteBest to you both. Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteAt least you know not to arrive to the Stone House for your wedding in a horse and buggy! ha ha!!!
ReplyDeleteAfter our wedding in Barton, Thomas and I rode from the church to Maple Manor in West Glover (reception site) in the back of my dad's old Chevy Truck. We were sitting on low beach chairs covered with sheets, and Wes drove us all around Barton and Glover. We even stopped at Currier's and went into the meat counter to see Jimmy. So you see, who needs horse and buggies? ha ha
CONGRATS! THRILLED we will be able to attend!
Congratulations!!! I am so happy for the both of you!!!
ReplyDelete