The New Year in New York

NYE dinner was at a burger joint Matt has been eyeballing for months (Yum!).

Matt and Sam convinced Sheyna to take the subway after dinner down to Times Square to peek at the brewing madness.  We were there (at 40th and Broadway--two blocks south of Times Square) and gone by 8:30 pm and the crowd was building but not unmanageable yet (at least not from two blocks away).  We got a peek at "the ball," which was colorful, and headed home--it was not warm and I don't pity the revelers who stuck it out for the long haul on NYE.  In addition, the HEAVY NYPD presence in the area was a bit unnerving.  We only encountered friendly officers, but after the tragic events of the last two weeks, they all had to be on edge, and Matt was happy not be standing in a small crowd of them.
Matt was the only one awake at midnight, but didn't bother to turn on the TV.  Whoopee!

 

On New Year's Day, Sheyna was doing last minute bonding with Sam prior to boarding a plane to Hong Kong, which took the form of costume fun time. (Both costumes belong to Sam and Sheyna was cooperating under duress.)

Do You Want To Build a Snowman (or Go Skating)?

Snow started falling on our way to Sam's favorite Central Park skating rink.  We had fun on the rink and when we got home, built a snowman (sized appropriately for people living in an apartment in NYC).

 

One Crazy Weekend

It started with a trip to NJ to pick up a friend on Friday morning, and we got to see an indoor house pig.  The fun continued when we returned to the apartment and found Nona, Papa, and Willy had arrived for a weekend NYC visit.  Sam was in peek form, even performing many of the tracks from his newest CD with special costumes.  He is growing up so fast, he is even shaving.

 

 

 

Sam's 6th visit to AK (3 in winter)

For the third year in a row, Sam and Matt traveled to Alaska to spend the last week of December reconnecting with friends and family.  This year, we arrived on the last night of Hanukkah, which Sam was excited to share with our gracious hosts.  To our surprise and delight, we were greeted upon our evening arrival with a delicious dinner with Hanukkah treats--LATKES!  (See last 5 pictures of our  Hanukkah post.)

 

 

Hanukkah 2014

BELATED POSTING DISCLAIMER: The events described took place December 16-23, 2014.

Sam really enjoyed Hanukkah this year.  We started the holiday in New York City, migrated North for some candle lighting in the Capital District (Albany, NY, where we got in a bit more ice skating), and ended the holiday in Anchorage, Alaska, where some VERY gracious (and non-Jewish) hosts went above and beyond and cooked us some scrumptious holiday fare--homemade latkes!  (Really, they were delicious and a wonderful treat after a long journey to AK.)
Not pictured due to negligence/too much fun: Many games of driedel (Sam learned to spin one on his on quite well), a fun evening celebrating with Cousin Emily, and a visit with Aunt Brin and Uncle Ray while up North--the bee's wax candles were a gift from her.