A Long Winter

After our wonderful Christmas vacation it is back home and back to work and routines. We were so spoiled with the mild winter in Jan. but are now in a deep freeze. I don't want to get out of the

house. It takes so long to get dressed and then freeze out there. We have been doing some out of the ordinary fun events for the children in school. We had a week of Dr. Seuss read-a thon dress up days. I wore my blond wig and yellow and blue pajama pants with a bright yellow sweater for Wacky Wed. I truly looked rediculous. The whole way to work I prayed, "Please don't let me have an accident or meet new parents today." Well, I didn't have an accident but during my prep. time the Guidance Councelor asked me to go to an unannounced Child Study Meeting concerning a student I have in my homeroom. I looked at him and asked if he was kidding. He said no, it was the only time I could be there. My nightmare had come true. There were 10 people from all kinds of agencies dressed in suites and professional attire and I walk in! If I ever write my memoirs I would add this day! The one thing I could hope for is that none of those people would know me if they see me again without the wig. I also know that I will NEVER be a blond. Our new Principal, Dr. Way, who worked as a Vice Principal in the high school before coming to our school, arranged for a Super Bowl Fri. in our school. We had the HS band and cheerleaders and the football players come to show our students how to punt, pass, and hold a football. The children loved it!! Now we have to play catch up in our lessons, but well worth it.

Brandon was home this weekend with his girlfriend Dianna. We heard about her the last few months and finally got to meet her. She is a very nice girl and hope to see more of her in the future. They went to Elk Mountain on Sat. Brandon skiied and Dianna snowboarded. I stayed home and cooked and baked for them. I'm concerned that my boys never get a homecooked meal but Dianna informed me that her mother does a lot of cooking for Brandon so he's doing fine. Ryan moved into his new apartment this week. He has 2 roomates he had been staying with in a previous apartment. One is moving in about a month so it will just be him and another buddy. The apartment is an upgrade from the last one, thank goodness. We will see it when we go to Pittsburgh again in 2 weeks. Marjorie and Tom invited us for a Sat. night out for Tom's 60th birthday.

My Father had his 72 birthday on Jan. 16 and my Mother will be 72 this Wed. Feb. 7. They are both doing fine except for the ordinary things that happen to our bodies as we mature. Mom fell at Katina's and broke her hand and is in a cast until Feb. 19. I really don't know how my Mom can keep up. She watches Nicholas and Maria for Katina whenever she can. Nicholas alone wears me out. Mom keeps up just fine. She stayed this weekend at Katina's while Katina went to Philadelphia with a friend for a much needed time away from home.

Jerry and I are looking to go somewhere for a week this summer. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Christmastime in the Rockies

Happy New Year to all our friends and family! Thank you for all the lovely Christmas cards. We enjoyed each and every one of them and especially the cards with notes or letters.
We had the nicest Christmas this year. I could go on and on about all the great things we did but will try to spare you with only the highlights. We started on Dec. 23 by flying to Seattle and a tour of the downtown and marketplace. We saw flying fish. The fish mongers throw the fish around before cutting it up and put on quite a show. From Seattle we ferried to Victoria. What an experience!! We encountered a huge storm with waves that went over the ferry. I never thought a person could get such motion sickness as I had on that trip!! I had plenty of company while hoping to survive in the ferry bathroom. By the time we got to Vancouver I wanted to die and felt like this for another 2 hours. Jerry and I cancelled our trip to Bouchart Gardens and luckily went with the other group the next day. Just outside of Vancouver we boarded the 2 day train trip to Banff. We did an overnight stay in Kamloops. This was a welcome opportunity to get our ground legs again. We ate well and saw the most magnificent sights throughout Canada on the train to Banff. We saw over 200 bald eagles at one time. Truly amazing. Next we took a sleigh ride around Lake Louise and had a wonderful meal at Lake Louise Resort Hotel. The fresh salmon was so delicious it's memorable. On Sat., Dec. 29 we flew from Calgary, Canada for home. We booked this trip with Holiday Travel. We highly recommend this company if you are looking for a vacation. They offer tours all over the world.
Brandon and Ryan came to Tunkhannock for Christmas and ate dinner with Grandma and Grandpa and the rest of the Benio family. Brandon moved into his own apartment in South Side Pittsburgh this week and got promoted in his work. Ryan is taking a trip with his best friend Jack Kutney to New Orleans this Fri. He's also moving closer to Brandon with 2 other friends the end of Jan.
Please click on the link to see pictures of our trip. We hope everyone has a healthy and happy 2007! see pictures: http://www.kodakgallery.com/AlbumMenu.jsp? OR

http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=58982150503.863231764403.1167689194300&page=1&sort_order=0&navfolderid=0&folderid=0&ownerid=0

Biking Weekends

The last two weekends Jerry and I have been riding the trails with our bikes again. Last weekend our brother-in-law Mike and my nephew Nicholas came with us to the Lehigh Gorge Trail which we had traveled at least 4 times this summer. Nicholas rode in a child seat on the back of Mike's bicycle . We traveled about 12 miles. Nicholas enjoyed throwing stones in the creek more than the bike ride. We later went to Katina's and Mike's for dinner and when we were leaving Nicholas brought his shoes to me and kept saying, "bike, bike, ..." Now I know we need to take him more often.
This weekend we went to Jerry's sister's house in Palmyra and spent the night on Fri. We got up to a soggy, misty, Sat. morning. I told Jerry it would be better if we waited to go on the Lebonan Trail at noon when the rain was suppose to stop. Of course this was also a great opportunity for me to shop at the Hershey Outlets with my 40% off coupon. Jerry is getting more patient in our married years. He waited in the car a very long time while I had a great time picking out clothes and shoes from Bass, Geoffrey Beene, and Izod. I could have stayed another couple hours but for Jerry's sake, I quit after about 1 1/2. When we finished around 1:00 we went to Cabela's for Jerry to try on some Columbia coats. He wants to get one with a zip-out liner for our trip out to Canada in Dec.
The Lebanon Rails to Trails is about 10 minutes from Celia's house. Celia went to the Penn State game so we took our bikes and rode 8 miles one way and 8 miles back. It rained hard for a few minutes so we stopped under a bridge until it slowed down. This trail is OK. Rails to Trails are supposedly not more than 2% grade but this one seemed to be much more. The Lehigh Gorge Trail and the PA Grand Canyon Trail were the best we have been on so far. If you need information on a PA Rails to Trails, email me. We have been on most of them in PA. Our next trip is planned to Jersey Shore, PA. We hope to do this before the cold weather sets in.
Our sons are doing Ok in Pitts. We don't hear from them too often but we figure "no news is good news". I'm sure they enjoy the football season right now.
Maria is doing well. She's gaining weight, after losing quite a bit at first. Katina is home with both children and adjusting to her new lifestyle.
Nathan Scrabis ( 3 1/2), our neice Kathy's son in Pittsburgh, had a complication from a hernia operation and is doing better. He was one sick little boy. Kathy and Dan heard many prayers and spent many long hours worrying while still keeping up with their 2 daughters, Maura 8, and Olivia 6. Jerry's sister Marjorie and brother-in-law Tom are always there for them. That's when you appreciate family the most!
It's so nice to hear your replies after reading my post. Let us know how you are.

Meet Maria

Most of you who read this blog may know that Maria Eleni was born on Wed., Sept. 6, 2006 at 11:50 AM. The Dr. was suppose to induce her at noon but she called me around 6 AM and said she was in labor and going to the hospital. She asked for Jerry to go to the house to watch Nicholas. Jerry took off for her house and I was out the door to work. The whole way to work I thought about how I wish I could be with her. I decided to TRY to find a substitute and take 1/2 day. Even if I wasn't there for the birth, then I could be with Katina and the baby. Well, I left work right at 11:00 AM and got to room 342 to hear the nurses say "8, 9, 10, PUSH!" I thought, "I hope that desk person gave me the right room number because I'm going in!" Thank God, it was Katina otherwise I would have some explaining to do. I walked in just as Maria's head was crowning. How's that for timing? One more traffic light and I would have missed it. She is a healthy 8 pound 10 oz., pink, baby girl. Now I know why they say birth is a miracle.
I started my first graduate class on Tues. evening and I start the second one this Mon. After getting up at 4:30 AM, exercising for an hour, preparing lesson plans and working with 18 -8 yr. olds all day, I'm in bed by 9:00. Our big vacation to Vancouver at Christmas time will be such a welcome rest from the busy routine.

First Post About The Cavaliers

We are posting our first blog to update our family and friends about our family. I often think about how we send Christmas cards once a year and for many of you, never contact you again until the following year. By updating this blog, we no longer need to contact you only once a year. Of course we would love to hear from you in any fashion you wish.
Jerry is retired over 2 years now and keeps very busy with our daily chores and keeping up the farm house in Mehoopany. Jerry's Mom, Dot, is in the Nursing Home in Tunkhannock with advanced altzheimers.
Brandon is 24 yrs. old and lives in South Side, Pittsburgh. His work with a distribution center/delivery service is a block from his apartment. He enjoys living in Pittsburgh and is doing well.
Ryan, 22 yrs. old, graduated from Pitt in May 2006 and works with a pool company while pursuing work in his field of Natural Science. He also lives in Oakland, Pittsburgh.
I am going through my "mid-life non-crisis". I had gastric by-pass surgery in Hazelton in Feb. and have managed to lose 93 pounds. I feel 20 years younger and want to do all the things I didn't have energy to do earlier. Jerry and I have taken up bike riding and have biked many of the Rails to Trails in Pa. We rode over 250 miles from June to now. After teaching as Reading Specialist for 7 years I am moving to second grade in Evans Falls (Tunkhannock Area SD). I taught in Mehoopany for over 15 years so the move has not been an easy one for me. School starts tomorrow and I am happy to meet my students but it will take time for me to settle into the new change. I'm also working on another graduate degree in Educational Technology which I hope to complete by next Fall, 2007.
My sister Katina is expecting her second child, a girl, any day now. She also has a son Nicholas who is almost 2 yrs. old. She's working full time and always exhausted. She plans to take some time off after the baby arrives. Her husband Mike is now working for Phizer Pharmaceuticals.
My brother, Carmine, lives in Montrose and works mostly in Binghamton NY. He lives next to my parents in my Grandparents home. He is an avid hunter and spends lots of time hunting with our brother-in-law, Mike. His daughter, Jenni, has a Sept. 2007 wedding planned.
My parents celebrated their 50 anniversary in Aug. We were at a loss as to how to celebrate since they did not want a party, gifts, or any type of celebration besides the company of our immediate family. My father is bothered with maculardegeneration in his eyes and gets treatments every few months. Other than that, he is on the go every day. My Mother has more energy than I will ever have at her age. She keeps up with Nicholas who never stops running. Soon she will have a another grandchild to keep going.
I'll end this here and try to update whenever possible. Please keep us posted on how you and your family are doing. You can email me at tcavalier@teacher.com.