Welcome to December.  I hope Robert is healing nicely from his recent surgery.  Happy birthday to Jake in just a few days!  I've been baking up a storm these last couple of days and contemplating Christmas.  Hard not to when you're up to your elbows in your 5th batch of cookies.  It's coming up fast but this year I'm in the holiday spirit in ways I haven't been in recent years. What a relief since I'd been wondering about myself.  Back on track for now and prepping for the holidays along with the rest of the family.

I recently saw that 2013 is a year in which none of the numerals repeat themselves.  This has not been so since 1987.  (Good evidence right here that I spend way too much time surfing the web.)  So I thought it would be fun to take a little walk down memory lane to 1987 and compare it to 2013.

Ronald Reagan was president and the New York Giants beat Denver in the Super Bowl back in the day when the Super Bowl was held in January :)  Les Miserables and Married with Children debuted speaking to the social conscience of the day.  Mark McGwire is a rookie and Jessica McClure falls down a well which captivates the media for the next several days as we all watched anxiously. 

On the local front, James and I had been married two years and learned we were expecting Amy that year. 

This is where we lived that year.  I liked that car but James didn't like that it was a Dodge.

 

We went to Florida to spend Thanksgiving with my grandmother.  We vowed never ever to travel by air on Thanksgiving weekend.  What a nightmare.

We chaperoned the senior trip to Disney World that year--I believe this was my first visit to the happiest place on Earth.

Aunt Rose, Grandma and Michelle at Linda's baby shower.  This is a nice picture of them all.

Brad's baptism near the end of 1987

And a repeat of this classic from 1987 Christmas at 21 Duffin

2013.  Barack Obama is POTUS -- something I wonder if Reagan ever considered might happen.  The Baltimore Ravens won the Super Bowl in New Orleans and they weren't even a team yet in 1987.  Cinderella debuted on Broadway and we went to see it.  It did surprisingly well even garnering some Tony nominations and winning one for costume design.  The Goldbergs debuted on network TV--a show ABOUT the 80s.  Yikes.  And the media event of the year was probably the Baby Watch for young Prince George.  Nothing like royal weddings and babies to capture media attention.

We welcomed Robinson to the family in 2013.  New Dalpiaz homesteads were established with their own pieces of the American dream--congrats to Jake and Lindsay; Brian and Monet and Jesse and Lindsay.  Of course, we got to live our dream (well, my dream) to visit Ireland and Nick and Kathleen got to achieve their dream trip to Erie PA (hahaha).  AND I RETIRED.

This is what that other picture looks like with a little Google 2013 magic thrown in.  This is a .gif and there's a current controversy about proper pronunciation.  I go with the hard "g".  Anyhow, isn't this cool?

 Erie summer 2013--this is one of Nick's pictures.  I was pretty sure he wouldn't mind even if he's not in it.  Ryan was able to join the fun and Michael got to meet some of the family.

Thanks to Jean for putting together a little reunion over the summer.  It was a great time.  I always like these pictures where no one is paying attention yet.  They make me smile, as this one does.

So, 2014 will be another year in which the numerals do not repeat but don't expect another post comparing it with 1987!  But, I do wish you all a grand and glorious 2014.  It looks to be a year to remember for the Dalpiaz clan--especially the Hartmans!