It hasn't been blowing so where have I been?

It's early Saturday morning and I've been doing a lot of things around the house, including getting a cold. Now I'm trying to catch up on what's been going on in Belmont Shore and beyond.

The first event that came up after my last blog was Thanksgiving, and man do we love to eat. Typically we have sit down dinner for close to 60, but because the price of gas and money issues only about 40 showed up. One of the first to arrive was Klaus on his tricked out Harley motorcycle.

Jason, my nephew, was attracted to the noise. Then Klaus said "Why don't you take it for a ride?"

As Jason drove away Klaus was a little panicked, because you could hear Jason drive up and down the streets around the house. Klaus went right into praying to insure his bike would return in good condition. A few minutes later Jason returned.

The dinner bell has rung because Ruth has taken out the birds.

This was the noisy table. A lot of wine was flowing, but the cook deserved it. She worked hard.

This was the quite group. As you can see everyone took their cue to pose. Now pour the wine

The next event was the USC vs Notre Dame football game on Nov. 29th.
The fighting Irish tried to get pumped up but that effort went nowhere.

The Trojan band was fantastic.

And so was the score. The final score was USC 38, Notre Dame 3

The four of us were pretty darn happy.

Next up was my birthday on December 3rd. We decided to start the party off at Legends watching the USC vs UCLA game and then move it to the house for the cake and ice cream.

We lucked out and got a great booth. Time to bring on the beer and food.

Our servers were the greatest. Ruth brought pom-poms and the group all got into it.

USC won and now we are headed to the Rose Bowl.

At home Dan surprised me by giving me his Becker 6'8". I have using it for months, now it's official.

The next event was Christmas. Our family celebrates on Christmas eve because so many of our family have other commitments.

Liz made name tags this year so no one would forget their names.

Our Christmas ritual is first, a toast to your health. Then we take a moment and make a toast to those that are not present or are no longer with us.

The next day there were clearing winds and Dan didn't want to miss it. Kristin helped rig.

Dan was able to get out for a little while, then it started raining.

Anything to get some kite time.

The next day Dan wanted to go out again. Klaus thought about it but that's as far as it got.

Again Dan was the lone kiter. Klaus and I were his back-up crew.

The wind was a lot better today than it was yesterday. Dan was getting air and got back to practicing his 360 spins.

Here's another.

Dan was able to hold his jumps so I could get some pretty good shots.
Oh yeah.

There was one other kiter who had lost his board so Dan got in some winter practice getting his board. The guy launched his kite and continued having fun.

This was about the point when we saw Dan doing a down-winder. He was heading for Seal. Klaus and I followed. Were ready for anything.

Dan was the last kiter standing.

While Dan derigged I grabbed a few shot of the sunset.

For New Years we went out the evening before so we could get up early for the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl. Thank you Sara for capturing the moment

At the Rose Bowl this is part of the 93,000 attendees.

Let the games begin.

The Stealth B-2 bomber flew by. AWESOME!!! What a fantastic feeling.

Time to play.

At the half we were up 31 to 7.

Our seats were so close we could watch Mark Sanchez warmed up.

We were having a ball since we won. Final score USC 38, Penn State, 21. We hope for a good BCS standing going into next year.

Have a wonderful and happy 2009 and hope to see you soon.