Holiday Party

The Cleveland Clinic Pediatric Institute had 

their holiday party in the Rainforest located 

at the Cleveland Zoo! 

These are two of the other recreation therapists I get to work with.

These two women are so much fun to work with!

It was fun to spend some time together outside of the hospital.

Happy Holidays!

The Ice Rink

One thing we love about Cleveland is 

all of the free events!

We went ice skating for free!

 The rink was beautifully decorated 

with snowflake lights, and they also had these

wonderful fireplaces to warm up at!

 Dan was having a real good time.

He was a blur the whole night. I love it!

All Elves Eve

We hosted the first annual "All Elves Eve."

We ate lots of sweets, dressed up as elves, 

and watched the movie Elf.

It was a fun way to get our friends together 

and celebrate the best time of year!

 I wish I had a good shot of Dan's outfit. 

He went all out with his elf attire

from santa socks and elf ears, to a tie that sings.

Amazing.

Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was nice and quiet this year.

I went into work for a few hours in the morning. 

Dan got to come with me, too!

We served breakfast to the patients and their families.

I cannot imagine spending the holidays

in the hospital as a patient.

I am glad we could bring a little light to their lives that day.

We got home and got to the cooking!

 Dan was incredible help!

He made his very own blueberry pie!

 It turned out really good, especially with vanilla ice cream!

This was our first year cooking up our own turkey.

I brined the turkey for a few days,

and it turned out delicious.

Dan is such a stud in the kitchen.

 I used my favorite roll recipe.

Find it here.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Brandywine Falls

B&B

Back in November we got a Groupon to stay 

at this cozy Bed & Breakfast.

It was an escape from the crammed and busy city.

This B&B is located about 45 minutes
out of the city, hidden in the woods.

It is also close to some farms and bakeries 

we like to visit in the Fall.

We got to go out to dinner, eat our favorite local ice-cream, 

and relax in our quiet room.

The next morning, breakfast was made by Beverly.

It was a full, homemade, continental breakfast, and it was delicious.

It felt like home away from home.

Just lovely!

Halloween

 I loved Dan's costume this year.

 We had a lot of fun with our church at the 

annual "Trunk-or-Treat".

I had never dressed up as a witch for Halloween until this year!

For work, all of us recreation therapists dressed up as 

the characters from the game "Clue!"

I was Mrs. Peacock. 

You can't tell in this picture but I had peacock feathers in my hair.

Love all those ladies!

These are two of the nurses on the unit. 

They were Jeff Dunham's puppets.

One of the patients on the unit loves Jeff Dunham.

They really freaked me out!

Those cute pumpkins were decorated by the patients.

Our three little pumpkins we carved this year...

...they made it through the wind and rain of Hurricane Sandy.

Man, was that crazy! 

We were so lucky to have power and heat.

A lot of our neighbors and friends were 

without power for 2-5 days! 

While what we went through does not compare

to those impacted on the east coast,

it certainly was eye-opening and motivated us

to prepare better for this kind of situation.

I love this video that shows members of the church

helping others in need in Rockaways, New York.

Haunted Forest

We went to a haunted forest with our friends in October.

I love this series of pictures we took as we were leaving.

I was obviously happy to be out of the forest,

and Dan was still recovering. Ha! 

Fall in Ohio

We love the Fall in Ohio!