Christmas day 2008 ...

we were blessed to spend this Christmas day with Adam, Jenn, Isaac and Julian ... thank you Adam & Jenn for having us in your beautiful new home for a "yummy" dinner and a wonderful time together !!!

we started out our time together "skyping" with the Mackmers in phoenix ... how awesome it was to see and talk with them on this special day !!!

by the time we got there ... Isaac had the gift opening down ... too cute !!!

Isaac enjoying his new rocking zebra ...

and [ believe it or not ] this is how he gets off ... everytime ... which is fine as long as there aren't other toys within landing distance

Adam "trying" to help Jenn in our game of Quiddler ...

[ i think ] this is where Jenn bested Julian in one hand ... ???

Isaac helping [ ??? ] Jenn out ... whatdayathink • do they like each other or what

Ruth and her middle son, Julian

THE most blessed grampa we know and 1 very "cute boy"

O holy night ...

... O Holy Night ...

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,

It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining.

Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!

O night divine,

the night when Christ was born;

O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,

With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.

O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,

Now come the wisemen

from out of the Orient land.

The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;

In all our trials born to be our friends.

He knows our need,

our weakness is no stranger,

Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!

Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another,

His law is love and His gospel is peace.

Chains he shall break,

for the slave is our brother.

And in his name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy

in grateful chorus raise we,

With all our hearts we praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,

His power and glory ever more proclaim!

His power and glory ever more proclaim!

...

..

.

my very favorite Christmas song ever ... brings tears down my face every time i hear it ... for me it began when i was just a young boy in our favorite hometown of Forestville, NY and every Christmas eve [ that i can remember ] my sister Beth sang this at the candlelight service at the methodist church we attended. i've since especially enjoyed Martina Mcbrides version and ... the Whiffenpoofs on West Wing ... and then tonight at the first of our 2 Christmas Eve services at North ... i enjoyed it SO much in the 1st service with 350 others ... i convinced Ruth to stay for the 2nd service so we could enjoy it again. along with an awesome instrumental song by the amazing Mapes family and "what Child is this" by Nate Bantle.

.

we wish you all a very merry CHRISTmas • LOVE ... kc, Ruth and Thea

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ps • happy birthday Steve ... a birthday you share with my dad who would have turned 91 today ... if he was still with us.

it's the most wonderful time of the year ...

seems like just a few weeks ago Ruth was making Christmas cookies with Jalene, Evan & Aunt Steph ... we were blessed to be able to have Ruth's grandaughter, Michaela over this Christmas !!!

these are just a few of the awesome cookies the girls made ... great job ladies !!!

Michaela had a blast playing out in the snow we got the last 2 days ...

¡¡¡ Thea LOVED having her over too !!!

we had a wonderful time with Michaela today • what a sweetheart she is !!!

hey --- how'd this "cute boy" sneak into this post ... this was from 1 of the last times i got to watch Isaac ... (-8b

our Princess Jalene turned 5 this week ...

celebrating at school ... whatdayathink ... is she a happy girl or what !!!

cake is always a highlight of celebrating a birthday ...

Jalene after completing the special crossword puzzle i made for her ...

Janelle in a basket ... priceless !!!

Ev and his buddy Chuck E Cheese ...

2 of grampa kc's very favorite girls ... Terri & Janelle

THANKS again Terri & Paul for sharing your pictures with us !!!

halloween fun ...

our favorite Princess Jalene and mini clark kent ...

sweet angel baby ... Janelle Reese

Isaac ... 1 very cute lion

THANK YOU

Terri & Paul and Adam & Jenn for sharing your pics with us !!!

Maica & Chris ...

Chris [ a 12 year marine currently serving in san angelo, texas ] ... and Maica [ kc's neice ]

the setting was awesome ... at the belhurst castle, in geneva, ny ... on beautiful seneca lake

the proud parents of the beautiful bride ... and... grandparents of the very cute flower girl ...

Courtney [ kc's other neice and Maica's sister ] with her boyfriend Mike and her daughter

Tera Jo ... the very cute flower girl

1 of my favorite parts of a reception ... the father / daughter dance ...

Myriah ... [ kc's neice ... Beth's daughter ] ... drove her mom up from washington, dc for the event ... you're awesome Myriah !!! ... we missed you Chrissy !!!

me and my 2 favorite sisters ... Kay [ maica & courtney's mom ] on my rightand Beth on my left ...

a 3 generations fun afternoon ...

i just was going over to watch the penn state / michigan game with my 2 favorite congdon boys ... penn state indeed won the game ... but ... the photoshoot was my highlight !!!

any wonder why autumn is my very favorite time of the year ...

we settled in to watch the 9 game streak come to an end ... ... ...

isaac was like ... what is up with these guys ... they aren't looking like the #3 team in the country today ... patience, my grandson, patience

he was a lil'bit bored so he entertained himself elsewhere for a lil'while ...

adam even let him call his mom to see how she and lindsi were enjoying their movie ...

after awhile ... things started looking up ... good call isaac !!!

we were excited when the nittany lions finally took the lead ... for good !!!

and ... with the penn state victory ... isaac showed us his victory dance ... i'll call it the "lil'man walkin" dance ... priceless 4 sure

he thought we needed to celebrate even more and played us a victory song ... too cute !!!

after the game it was just back to being a little boy playing with his awesome toys ...

tagged by Steph .... "4 things" ... kc's edition ... (-8b

4 things i was doing 10 years ago ....

• began my 25th year at eastman kodak company
• celebrated adam's graduation from greece odyssey high school
• watched cal ripken's consecutive game streak come to an end
• enjoyed the movie "you've got mail " for the 1st time

4 things on my to do list today ....

• devotions
• "officially" congratulate steph & steve on their wonderful news
• go to work
• be thankful for all God has blessed me with

4 jobs i have had ....

• bartender at forest lanes
• tailer at sterlingworth furniture factory
• film technician at eastman kodak company
• produce associate at wal•mart in kansas city

4 movies i have seen more than once ....

• field of dreams
• for love of the game
• runaway jury
• return to me

4 places i have lived ....

• forestville, ny
• northeast, pa
• rochester, ny
• kansas city, mo

4 places i have been this year ....

• the dmv
• church at the beach
• u-haul
• letchworth state park

4 places i want to visit ....

• PHOENIX, AZ !!!!
• nyc
• wrigley field
• schwabl's in west seneca

4 tv shows i watch ....

• sportscenter
• friday night lights
• seinfeld reruns
• west wing reruns

4 things you may not know about me ....

• i THOUGHT i was the last person to ever WANT a dog
• i love rainy days
• i once won a bike rodeo
• i had 2 fabulous little league baseball experiences

4 things i love about my wife ....

• i LOVE how she loves me !!!
• i LOVE and admire her daily walk with our Lord
• i LOVE that she wanted thea
• i love when SHE snores ... (-8b

4 people i tag ....

• Ruth
• Kay
• Beth
• my favorite cuZin Karen

celebrating isaac's 1st birthday ...

what a beautiful day it turned out to be ... thankfully, the weather forecasters were wrong and it turned out to be a nice overcast [ best for pictures ] kinda day !!!

isaac had SO much fun ... the rest of us did too, of course ... he was his usual cute self and had many friends and family over to celebrate.

the awesome hosts ... can you tell isaac was happy to have everyone there ... the food was spectacular • i even heard there was a delicious pasta salad with sauerkraut in it ... ??? ... like i said, i JUST heard about it.

isaac got many awesome gifts and this is my favorite of the gift opening ceremonies ... i think adam & jenn were even more excited than issac with this one ... isaac actually was more excited with the cards ... (-8b

he had his own personal "little einstiens" rocket cake that jenn made for him ... he entertained us for awhile eating it while posing for some photos ... too cute !!!

this is my favorite photo of the afternoon ... this blessed grampa's 2 favorite congdon boys !!!

thought you all would enjoy this picture of adam ... 27 years ago on his 1st birthday ... he seems to have had alot more hair than isaac does and he was about 3 of those hairs short of being as cute ... (-8b ... love you son ... and grandson !!!