Grandpa's Birthday Last Saturday

Grandpa's Birthday Last Saturday

Little Jack helped Grandpa open his cards and presents. In the picture above Grandpa is looking at the birthday card Little Jack made for him.

Jennifer took pictures of Little Jack and Grandpa opening the presents.

Jeanine watched the action while keeping Barney the black lab on a leash so he wouldn't eat the presents. LOL! Grandma stayed in the background recording all this with her little camera. Meanwhile son-in-law Terry was basking in the Miami Beach sunshine on a work related trip.

Then after a birthday brunch at Mimi's Cafe the birthday party moved on to Jennifer's home for some road racing time between the two Jacks.

The party concluded with Jennifer showing how her first quilt project is coming along. Now you cut strips 7 inches long and 2 1/2 inches wide and you sew them together to make long strips and then you sew the long strips together etc. etc. etc. Merlin, Jenn's cat wasn't too interested in the details but liked stepping on the quilt.

A Little Bird Watcher

A Little Bird Watcher

Our Jack Aidan now has his own pair of binoculars for watching the birds in our backyard.
And for one whole week he wanted to be a "big bird" for Halloween.
But that was last week.
This week he wants to be a "big giant".
Jack's Daddy considered buying him a Giants t-shirt even though Daddy was almost choking on that thought since he is a died in the wool RedSox fan.

Happy Father's Day to Terry Wayne Karras II

Happy Father's Day to Terry Wayne Karras II,

Our Little Jack Aidan's Daddy!

All These Photos Taken at DisneyWorld in Orlando, Florida, Which is Daddy Karras's Favorite Vacation Destination

in the Whole Wide World.

Wow! Aren't You Lucky Little Jack!

How Jack and Joann Met Up With Little Jack

After Jack and I spent a week in a timeshare villa at Westgate and one transition night in a Ramada motel we moved into the Port Orleans Riverside Resort at Disney this past Monday and waited for our daughter Jennifer and son-in-law Terry and grandson Jack Aidan to arrive by Fast Express bus from the Orlando airport. The kids flew out from Dulles Airport in Virginia via Blue Tran early Monday morning. They said they had a great flight and that Jack Aidan enjoyed the ride with all the other little kids flying on the plane to spend the Christmas season in DisneyWorld.

Grandma was anxious to see Jack Aidan at Disneyworld. I was ready. I had Jack Aidan's stroller that we brought along in our car ready for his arrival in DisneyWorld. Soon he showed up and we ate lunch and checked into our rooms and waited for the bus to take us to the Magic Kingdom to begin our week of Disney attractions and fun.

Here is Jack in his Mickey Mouse Hat. He had no idea what he was going to see this week.

Let me just say that he was amazed and delighted.

Cape Cod Visiters

This weekend our grandson's paternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. K flew down from Cape Cod to see Jack Aidan get baptised at the Floris Methodist Church and to see their daughter, Samantha, and son-in-law, Jim, become Jack Aidan's Godparents. The baptismal service was lovely and later the Sunday sermon the pastor gave was unusual and poignant. The topic of the sermon was Jesus and Christian kindness and to get us all thinking he connected Christian kindness to the story of Horton Hears A Who. We got to watch a church youth group act out Horton's kindness to the Who. And then we got to watch a video of ultimate human kindness and unselfishness played out in a women's college softball game where two of the opposing team players helped an injured runner round the bases and make a home run after suffering a torn ACL in her knee. This story actually happened in Washington state between two state university teams in the college softball playoffs. Well, I don't think there was a dry eye in the church after watching that video. And that had to be the perfect Sunday sermon for Baby Jack's relatives from Massachusetts who are die hard Boston Red Sox fans! Tomorrow I'll post a photo or two of Samantha and Jim's little toddlers who are in training to be adult Boston Red Sox fanatics.

Thank You Jenn and Terry

Jenn and Terry gave my husband for his birthday tickets to the Virginia Wine Showcase being held at one of the pavilons at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly. In addition Jenn bought a ticket for herself to the showcase to be our designated driver. So yesterday morning we got dressed and Jenn and Baby Jack showed up in our driveway to transport us to and from the event. As we were driving in Jenn mentioned that that a gun show was taking place at the other pavilon at the Dulles Expo Center. Sure enough we saw lots of men and boys lined up to get into the gun show. The NRA was giving away free tickets to the show if you joined the NRA at their table by the entrance. Seemed like lots of folks were joining the NRA. Quite a contrast line at the wine pavilon: lots of women and lots of couples. (Only saw two women in the gun show line.) My thought on this contrast: I don't think guns and wine drinking mix well so I hope the wine drinkers stay in their pavilon and the gun toters stay in their pavilon. In the meantime finding a place to park was simply impossible with all these people so we resorted to driving off the lot and parking on a side street and hoofing it back to the show.

Now for the wine showcase. There were over forty Virginia wineries featured at the show and this is how it worked. After you verified that you were 21 or older you were issued a blue wristband and given a wine glass. So then you made your way from one wine booth to another where you sampled your choices of wine by grape and color. In addition there were lots of food, wine accessories, jewelry and craft exhibit booths. The showcase also featured seminars on wine appreciation, pairing wine with chocolate and the growth of the Virginia wine industry. In addition the wine showcase featured a classical guitarist and a blogging cafe!

The Fifth Day of Christmas

The Fifth Day of Christmas is always my son-in-law's birthday. Terry is one of those unfortunate people whose birthday falls close to Christmas Day so that their birthday celebration always seems diminished with all the Christmas hoopla. Now Terry's father didn't mind. He got an extra tax deduction at the last moment. I must admit that the extended family celebrated Terry's birthday on Christmas Eve. Terry blew out the candles on the red velvet cake and we all had a piece with a scoop of ice cream. Now I don't know what Baby Jack has planned for his Daddy today.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TERRY! SATURDAY NIGHT UPDATE: PERFECT FOOTBALL SEASON FOR PATRIOTS = PERFECT BIRTHDAY PRESENT FOR TERRY!

Baby Jack's Very First Christmas

Hey Mom and Dad! You told me that this would be a family Christmas photo. That means that you should be in the photo too. I'm all alone here on the chair in my very first suit and tie.

Grand Floridian Resort and Wedding Pavilon Photos

Baby Jack's Baseball Team

This past week Baby Jack got to prove to his paternal grandparents that he is going to be a little Boston Red Sox fan. Terry and Patty drove down from Cape Cod to see their newest grandchild and they came bearing gifts for the whole family. Grandpa K, the electric man, promply installed a ceiling fan above Jack's crib for those warm summer evenings. However, in return Baby Jack had to take a baby oath. He had to swear that he would always support the Boston Red Sox. Please check out Baby Jack's baseball outfit in the photos.) It was a tough thing for Baby Jack to decide to support the Red Sox. If he had followed the baseball teams of his maternal grandmother born in Ohio, he could have chosen the Cincinatti Redlegs or the Cleveland Indians. And if he had chosen the Cleveland Indians, he would be sitting in first place in the American League right now! If Baby Jack had followed the baseball teams of his maternal grandfather born in Missouri, he could have chosen the St. Louis Cardinals or the Kansas City Royals as his favorite baseball team. But that didn't happen. He went with the Red Sox and he is proudly wearing a Red Sox outfit. He even has Red Sox baby socks! And Daddy Karras couldn't be happier right now. But here's a warning for Daddy. Lock the doors and keep Baby Jack's Aunt Jeanine at bay because she is threatening to sneak into the house and put a New York Yankees outfit on Baby Jack!

Jack Aidan

Jack Aidan celebrates a birthday today. He will be one week old this afternoon at 1:20 P.M. EST. Jenn and Terry brought Jack Aidan home from the hospital Wednesday morning. Jenn and Terry were anxious to introduce Mr. Merlin Cat and Mr. Milo Cat to Baby Jack. Mr. Merlin took one quick look and decided that that little thing in the car carrier was extremely scary looking so he hightailed it out of the kitchen and down to the family room. Mr. Milo then approached the carrier to find out what had frightened Mr. Merlin witless. (See photo) Milo walked right up to the carrier and took a look and then as the alpha cat of the household he let out two loud hisses and turned tail and walked away disgusted. Poor Baby Jack. What a welcome home. Luckily he was fast asleep so it shouldn't be a too traumatic experience.

After reaching home Baby Jack's next big adventure was Friday when he was going to the pediatricians' office in Reston for the first time. Grandpa drove, Jennifer sat in back with Jack and Grandma rode shotgun to and from the Pd's office. Jack slept thru most of the event. He only squawked when he got poked in the ribs and when blood was drawn. He was a very good boy.

Let Me Introduce Baby Jack

WELCOME TO THE WORLD, JACK AIDAN KARRAS!

We now have our first grandchild. He arrived on Monday July 16'th at 1:20 P.M. at the Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church. The same place Baby Jack's Aunt Jeanine entered the world. Jennifer entered the hospital Sunday night to begin inducement and labor. It was hard work but Jenn did great and of course Terry did alright too. Terry called us at 10:30 A.M. to give us an update and we decided to drive over because Jenn was making good progress with her labor. She only slowed down when it came time to push at noon. Apparently Baby Jack was not ready for his eviction (birth) because he kept trying to swim back upstream like a salmon. (I didn't know babies sometimes did that.) Jack and I returned to the ground floor hospital waiting room and tried to stay relaxed and calm. At 1:50 P.M. Terry called Jack on his cell phone and announced that we could come up to meet our grandson.

When we arrived Jenn was sitting up in bed nursing her son who was just 45 minutes old. Everyone is doing great although I think everybody including little Jack could use an afternoon nap. Baby Jack is so little and precious and cute. He has the sweetest little face and lots of dark curly hair. When he wasn't learning to nurse he was making these precious little whimpers. He sounded like a little kitten. Maybe he had been listening to Mr. Milo Cat and Mr. Merlin Cat in the womb and thought that was the way to talk. Anyway he was mewing like a little kitten. I think he has already bonded with his Momma and Daddy because when I held him he soon wanted to return to the safety of his parents. When we had checked on all his fingers and toes and had ascertained that Mom and Dad were up for the job we took our leave to return to Haymarket. Grandpa Jack is so tired that I don't know if we will get some pics posted on this blog. I think an afternoon nap is in order for Grandpa. Will write more soon.