VanBrees 2008

Celebrating 2008

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:41:31 -0800

The economy has tanked and people are talking as if we are headed for another great depression. We, however, see signs of hope and not just in the election of a new president. There is much to be thankful for, health, home, good friends and family. So rather than moping around worrying about tomorrow we decided to party. Of course, since 2008 was a leap year the day to party was obviously February 29. More on that later.

Yosemite in Winter

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 18:01:13 -0800

On Christmas day we drove to Yosemite National Park with the Gaumers to attend the Bracebridge Dinner at the Ahwahnee Hotel. It had been raining in the Bay Area and it snowed in Yosemite during the day and night. We arrived in the valley after dark and couldn’t fully take in it’s beauty. The picture above was taken out the dining room window at breakfast the next day. It was truly a winter wonderland, and we enjoyed playing in the snow, taking pictures, and of course the Bracebridge Dinner.

Dinner at the Ahwahnee

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 17:34:07 -0800

The Bracebridge dinner is loosely based on Christmas at Bracebridge, a story written in the early 1800s and set at a fictional English Manor. The story was written by Washington Irving, an American writer who became the first American author to be widely recognized in Europe for his telling of American folklore (he recorded The Legend of Sleepy Hollow among others). The tradition of the Bracebridge dinner dates back to 1927 when the hotel was first opened. Ansel Adams, who did much of his pioneering work in photography at Yosemite, was a major contributor to the theatre surrounding the dinner and was one of the players until he retired in 1973. The dinner consisted of seven gourmet courses delivered with song and dance and chicanery by players dressed in Renaissance costumes. The court jester (given the title of the Lord of Misrule) kept the evening lively with gags and audience interaction that even the Gaumer girls (ages 12 and 16++) seemed to enjoy.

The wedding of the century

Sat, 6 Dec 2008 11:21:43 -0800

We wrote our holiday letter this year at the Philadelphia Airport as we returned from the wedding of Gloria's 2nd cousin Michael Sweeney and his lovely bride Victoria. The wedding was a grand affair and made us feel a part of Philadelphia society. We especially enjoyed the gourmet dinner and dancing at the Philadelphia Racquet Club and the chance to catch up with cousins on Gloria’s Father’s side of the family. While we were there we visited with Gloria’s cousins Linda and John Hertzog and had dinner (and cheese steak sandwiches and deli delights) with Ken’s cousins Peter and Rena VanderHeide. It was good to catch up with family news on both sides of our family.

Trees for our holiday card

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 17:15:34 -0700

After visiting Gloria’s friend Lois in San Luis Obispo we stopped by a Christmas Tree farm just off Highway 101 to take this picture. I had driven past this farm many times and thought, one day I need to stop there and get a picture of five green trees (for my counting trees series). Finally I decided the time was ripe. I had thought ahead and brought my Hasselblad and film (yes I still shoot film when I want 50Mpixel images). I took a whole roll and this is the one I liked most.