The Winefest

Last weekend, we ventured into Connecticut to meet up with our friends, Jeff & Anna, to go to the annual Sun Winefest at Mohegan Sun. We started out by tasting the many wines - I stuck to a few Rieslings, Jeff and Aaron tried whatever they could get to a table for ... Anna, well, she can't drink for another 6 months or so! :) We also tried out some of the food samples they had. Then we headed to the Ales & Spirits upstairs where we got to sample beers and liquors in tiny little Nyquil-sized plastic cups. The boys weren't impressed with the beer choices - most of them were what you can buy in the stores - not many new samples. But the vendors got creative with some of the liquors - they mixed them to make little mini-cocktails (in the cups!) My favorite was the pomegranate-martinis!! The boys really liked the VT maple vodka. And of course, Aaron & Jeff had to hit up a craps table ... it wouldn't be a trip to the casino if you didn't lose some money, right? It was a good time - and great to spend time with the Hladkys, as always!!

Check ... check ... is this thing still on??

Hi everyone! I've gotten a few nudges to update our blog - sorry for the delay to those of you who check it out once in a while. The past month and a half went by so fast with so much going on, that we're just now settling back down again - in 2008!!! So I'll start with a "Happy New Year" to all!!

Since November 30th, I've spent 19 days in Vermont so I could spend time with my family, especially my grandmother. The traveling back and forth made the month fly by, but I enjoyed the time I got to see her and everyone else.

I did get to attend the Annual Senesac Holiday Party this year. There were a LOT of people there, and lots of food and alcohol - good times! Aaron was still in NY during this time, but here are a few pictures from the party:



I'm still trying to get my invitations/announcements up and running. I finished an invitation order a few weeks ago, made samples for two others, met again with my first client (for whom I made save-the-dates for in November) to discuss her invitations, which I will be working on this month. I have 5 more people on my list to start working with - things are looking good and I'm looking forward to settling back into my "business". I'm currently trying to come up with a name so I can purchase a domain name and get a website going - I'm stuck on "Eventations" - let me know if you have any thoughts or ideas!

Aaron got out of most of the Christmas shopping, though he did come with me on a couple of trips out. Here's a picture of him playing with the welding goggles at Restoration Hardware (What a looker, huh?!)


We also walked around the city a few days before heading up to Vermont for Christmas. The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree looked smaller to me than the ones in the past, but Aaron really liked the lights this year.


Aaron and I spent a quiet night back in Tarrytown on New Year's Eve this year - we were up for lots of junk food and a movie instead of crowds and booze. We have ALMOST mastered the right concoctions for Sonic strawberry-limeade slushes ... I'm addicted!

So, into 2008 we go ...

Turkey and "Poe-tay-toes"

We're back from our week in Texas. We did a lot of traveling, and are happy that we got to see so many people - 33 friends and family to be exact! We landed in Houston on Friday, November 16th and didn't stay in one spot for too long. Here's a map we put together to show our exact travel routes and stops throughout the week (you can click on it to see it larger):
And we're off! -- Houston to League City for Friday and Saturday; League City to Dallas and Lewisville on Saturday; Dallas to Lewisville and a "scenic" drive around Denton on Sunday; to Corinth for Sunday night; back to Lewisville and then Corinth again on Monday; Corinth to Austin on Tuesday; Austin to League City on Wednesday and remained there until Friday with a little visit down to Santa Fe in there on Thursday -- we'll quiz you all later ;0)

It was great to see the MacKenna family on Saturday. Uncle Pete and Aunt Sue were able to make it up for the wedding in Vermont and were kind enough to put together a dinner with Aaron's mom, Sharon, to celebrate our wedding with her. We had a great dinner where I (Sheila) got to meet the family - Matt, Marney, Jacob & Garrett and Jason, Ginger, Jackson & Mallory. Jesse came up with us and JP joined us for the dinner as well. We had a great meal and shared a slideshow of wedding photos with Sharon - she loved them!



We did spend time with Sharon on Sunday and Monday as well, and then went up to spend a couple of nights with JP before heading back down "south". We stayed at Jesse's place in Austin on Tuesday night and drove around downtown on Wednesday so I could take a look at the capitol (they wanted to rub in the size of their capitol compared to Vermont's). After that, it was back down to League City to spend time with Wade, Sawakon, Sean, Coriann, Raistlin, Rachel, and Roland. Thanksgiving Day was rather chilly, but Sawakon and Wade made a mean meal. Grandma made an appearance at the house for a quick bite to eat and then we were all off to visit Uncle Burt and Aunt Debbie and their clan at their new house. There, we saw Burt and Debbie; Nathan, Martha, Samantha & Christian; Melissa, Jody, Morgan & Jared and DeAnna. We were sad that we missed DeAnna's girls, Megan and Lauren, but we'll make sure we see them next time we're down.

All in all, through our coughs, colds and travels, it was a great time. My flying got a little better on the way home and we hope to plan another trip soon after the honeymoon. Thanks to everyone for making time (and sleeping space!) for us.

Andy Duback Photography

Well, we've gotten over 700 wedding photos from our photographer and they came out great! We sent the link to the online photos to everyone, but in case you'd like to look through them again, click here.
(The password is the state we got married in, and they're only up until January 2nd)

A few pictures also made it up onto Andy's website - the best one is being used on his main portfolio page (we're so happy the sun came out and he was able to get this shot). A few more of the photos are used in his portfolio - pages 2, 3 and 5.

The Great Jack-O-Lantern Blaze 2007

Aaron and I look forward to this event each year at Van Cortlandt Manor, in a town just north of Sleepy Hollow. There are over three thousand hand-carved, illuminated jack-o-lanterns displayed on the manor's dark and mysterious 18th-century riverside landscape. We enjoy some hot apple cider as we stroll over the paths, listening to spooky music and sound effects. This was the third season of this great event, and also our third time going! Our good friends, Jeff and Anna, came with us this year and we had a great time regardless of the rain.

Aaron Meets Roland

Aaron made a trip down to Houston last weekend and was able to meet his nephew, Roland, for the first time! Roland is Sean's littlest one. He's a happy baby and he seemed to enjoy spending time with Uncle Aaron. Here are some pictures of the cutie:

Finally Hitched!

After 8 years, 8 months and 7 days ... we are now officially Mr. & Mrs. Aaron Lewis! The past ten months have been quite busy, but everything went well and the wedding was great. It was everything we hoped for and more. We are so glad that so many people were able to make it up to Vermont - we have the best families and friends. Here are some of the pictures we've collected from the big event. We can't wait to see the photographer's photos!

The "Allard" Girls


The cutest little Ringbearer EVER


My girls


The Mr. and the Mrs.!!!








The Allard Family


The New Lewis Family


Our First Dance