Our New Ride!

October 1st

Well, since we've moved into snow territory once again, my Altima isn't going to cut it.  After a couple months of having only one car between the both of us, we decided to go LOOK AT the Honda Pilots (I'd had my heart set on one for a few years now).  I preferred the look of the '08s over the new '09s, but a week before we were ready to buy, they were all pulled off the lots.  So, we were going to see how much we actually liked the new models.

Buying a car here was certainly a different experience than going through Clint up in VT!  When we pulled into the Honda dealership, there were 4 guys standing outside (in the misty rain!) ready to pounce.  A small young guy, Eddie, approached us as we pulled up to the row of Pilots.  We told him we were just there to try one out and see if we even liked it - he pulled it out and proceeded to give us a 30-minute show of *some* of the features before he would even allow us to get in!  After that, Aaron drove (Eddie was with us - very unlike Clint having cars in Dad's driveway for us to test drive for a weekend!) and then I drove it.  We were very impressed with how it drove and all of the fun features.  As we started to talk money, we were told that they don't usually play with numbers until they know we are ready to make the purchase - weird!  So we went inside, crunched numbers, and 3 hours later after paperwork, insurance call, and ANOTHER 1-hour lesson on the car!!), pulled out with our new wheels!

We LOVE the Pilot and are still learning new features of it every day.  We are READY for that snow now!!

Windham NY Weekend

September 26th - 28th

A couple times a year, the Carrier crew heads over to Windham Mountain in NY - (one of Aaron's old co-workers parents own a condo on the bottom of the mountain). We go once during the fall so the guys can spend the weekend golfing, and once in the winter so people can go skiing. This trip was a fall weekend, and the boys had a full weekend planned for their tournament.

The girls usually hang out around the condo and go for walks with the kids (there were two more babies this time!) We all bring in some food and drinks and just relax and have a good time.

The boys avoided the rain most of the weekend - amazing with the skies the way they were!

Here's the crew (Mike is behind the camera though)

We were happy to be invited this year, since Aaron was no longer working with them in NY. Glad to know we're still considered part of the crew!

Smiths in Manchester

September 25th

Shelley, Tyler, Brett & Karen were coming down to Manchester for a Brad Paisley concert - after numerous beggings and some back and forth on bringing the kids to spend the evening with me, they came down without them.  :(

The plan was for us to meet at a bar near the Verizon Wireless Arena before the concert for a bit - and they ended up finding a new JWs.  This one is JW Hills here in Manchester.  We enjoyed some great food and some good beers and had a good time, even if it was for just a couple of hours.



They said the concert was great - and then they trekked back to VT in the middle of the night.  I am forcing them all to stay next time!

It's official - NH plates!

Two NH licenses ... $100
Registration tax at City Hall ... $60
Registration and new plates at the DMV ... $69

Seeing the plates on you car and realizing you no longer live in New York ... priceless!

Mount Major

September 13th

Since we live in a state full of mountains, we've bought a NH hiking book and picked up some hiking gear for myself, so we decided to hike an easier peak for my first outing.  Mount Major was recommended to us.  This was 3-miles roundtrip, with a difficulty of only 4, but a rating of 9/10. We drove up the road about 25 minutes, parked and hit the trail, ready to climb 1100 feet.  

I was surprised at how quickly it turned steep - and at how many children, people with jeans and even a few senior citizens were coming down.  We thought we were nearing the top at one point, but realized it was just a break in the trees - but it still offered some great views.



We carried on, up big flat rocks, through some mud, up some roots, up some more rocks - and made it to the peak!

The peak had such great views of Lake Winnipesaukee and surrounding mountains.

Next time, we're going to try a higher peak!

Mom, Dad ... and Mimi in Manchester

September 5 - September 7

Mom had been hearing the girls at work talk about the Hampton Beach Seafood Festival - they've been before and enjoyed it.  So, she snagged that weekend with us in New Hampshire to come down and see what it was all about.

Wellll, since they had just had an anniversary, I decided to check out flights from North Carolina.  Mimi had moved away from next door last year and we miss her a lot.  Since she hadn't made it back to VT and my parents hadn't made it down there, I decided to set up a surprise.  Mimi and I were able to work it out and she flew in the afternoon my parents were going to arrive!!!  

We waited and waited (while I tried to talk my mom out of Lebanon shopping on the way down without giving anything away) and when they got here, they came up the stairs to where Mimi was sitting at the table - what a surprise!!! 

The forecast for that Saturday wasn't good as we headed down the road to the Seafood Festival. We found one of the parking areas and took a school bus to the beach! We walked around to scope out the food, and found a table in the beer tent and we each chose something different to try. Nothing healthy about all of this food, but I hear the seafood options were good ... if you like that sort of thing. ;)

As the dark clouds were threatening the area, we checked out all of the beach shops and stands and some more food an drinks. We made it out of there just before the downpour moved in - and enjoyed a bit of shopping (Target) and a movie in as the rain kept coming down.

Sunday morning brought on a much nicer day. There is a diner Aaron and I have heard about here in Manchester - supposedly one of the top 10 in the country. We decided to hit that up before everyone left town. Little did we know, there are four tables and a row of seats across the counter! Small place, but very popular. After a short wait, we squeezed into a table made for four people (I got the seat labeled "Ty Pennington sat here"!). It was great breakfast!!


I am so glad we were able to pull it off.  We had a great weekend and were sad to see Mimi go back to NC.  We'll just have to do it again sometime!

Aaron Climbs Jay Peak

August 31st

While in VT, Aaron decided to climb Jay Peak.  He's gotten into hiking this year, and it was supposed to be a great day.  He went by himself, which I was a bit worried about, but he made it up and down okay.  He really loved the views from the top and took some great photos.  



He wants me to go up with him next time.