Rudolph's story

As part of our family Christmas celebration this year in Virginia, we participated in a talent show, staged at McCrillis House.  For our part of the show, Sherry and I excerpted 32 couplets from the original 1939 story (87 couplets) Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer.  The book contained beautiful illustrations.  We found some props on a recent trip to Branson MO.  I provided some musical accompaniment to the storytelling.

Gingerbread village

Daughter Carrie has plans to keep a few chickens in her backyard on the island....to prepare for the chicken launch, she helped her niece Lizzie construct some gingerbread buildings, including a chicken coop.

We added a toy train to commemorate our recent visit to KC Union Station's model train exhibit.

Musicians at work

weekly band rehearsal...we both showed up wearing identical T-shirts from June 2012 baseball game giveaway....I swear we didn't coordinate our outfits....John Kelly (percussion and alto saxophone) and me (alto saxophone)....

Gettysburg survivor?

Martin Luther Sibold (on the left) was my (paternal) great-grandfather.  He was a private in 24th VA Infantry Regiment, Pickett's division, Kemper's brigade, Confederate Army, which made the famous assault on the Union Army 150 years ago, at Gettysburg.

We believe the 24th VA regiment was positioned on the far right of the Confederate assault line, as it advanced E across the Emmitsburg Road, that afternoon of July 3, 1863

Of 395 men available to the 24th VA Infantry regiment at the time, some 165 survived the battle.  However, we descendants don't know for sure that he was on the field with the 24th VA, at that particular battle...we have not yet found a roster/muster list showing survivor names.

Martin survived two more years of war with 24th VA regiment, was captured at Five Forks, VA (April 1865) and later paroled after the war ended.  As a result of his durability and good fortune, in my generation I have 2 brothers (Brian, Stuart) and 3 sisters (Ann, Katherine, Lucy), plus 3 cousins (Tweedie, Woody, Harry) living today.

Martin was born in 1844.  This photo is tagged 1880.

 --  Arthur Pleasant Sibold 3rd

Day trip to Amelia Earhart birthplace

Atchison, KS has the house where Amelia Earhart was born and spent much of her childhood.  The house was her grandparents' home (her grandfather was a judge) and is sited on a limestone bluff, facing east, and overlooking the Missouri River.

Amelia's father was a RR lawyer and at the time, he and his wife lived in Kansas City itself.  The house is now a museum featuring Amelia's life and aviation exploits.


The Earhart house looks down on the old (1900) steel truss RR bridge across the Missouri River.   The swing span of the bridge is at the right side of the photo.  The view is towards the south (downriver).

The Missouri River starts to bend northwest at Kansas City, and Atchison happens to be the western-most bulge of the river.  Upriver of Atchison, the river trends briefly NE, then continues decidedly north, so Atchison landing became a convenient place jumping-off town for the 1800s western migration!   Merchants made a lot of money selling supplies and tools.

Mr. Lavender

Ingwerson Lavender Farm near Topeka.  The owner has a couple of acres planted with two varieties:  grosso and provence.   Plants take 3 years to mature, and have a productive life of 5-7 years.   After that, a new plant must be cultivated.

'Mr. Lavender' extolled the many beneficial qualities and effects of lavender oils and seeds.  I bought a lavender-scented insert for my pillow to help me deal with stuffy nose at night, and it has helped me!

Playground Outing

First playground outing (ever) for Ainsley.  We had a rare warm afternoon in March, so we went to Buffalo Meadows playground, located in western Lenexa.  I like this particular park because it is normally not crowded, and it has two separate jungle gyms for kids to play on.  Each gym set has unique tunnels, ladders, and slides.

Ainsley got to try the 'small kid' swing, which she liked.  She got to try the slide, which worried her a bit.  However, I have high hopes that she will enjoy the slide next time, because she will get some 'indoor' practice on the small slide in our basement family room prior to our next playground adventure in April.

Finally, Ainsley got to try the elevated tunnel, which she really liked, because it had strong wire mesh which she could grab.  The 'see-thru' structure did not bother her a bit.

February Surprise

Last winter (2011-2012) we had very little snow.  This winter we were hit with 2 heavy snows (14 inches and 6 inches) about 5 days apart.

The crew that cleared our driveway had to pile the snow atop the stone steps that led down to our lower-level patio....which meant that I couldn't do my Sunday salmon grill for about 3 weeks.  The first snow was Feb 22, and the melt off finally finished on March 13 when we had a record 81 degree temperature.

McCrillis House

Sherry and I drove to Arlington, Virginia for Christmas this year.  We went via Chattanooga and picked up my aunt Josie, so she could celebrate with us.  Trip routing via St. Louis MO,  Paducah KY, Chattanooga TN, Bristol VA.   1400 miles and 3 days of driving.   We ate a lot of McDonald hamburgers and french fries!

Josie has not been to McCrillis House, since the construction  period 2005 (late summer).  At that time the roof was being still installed, and the living room and bedrooms had only been framed out.

This year the Pennsylvania Sibolds (brother Stu, Donna, Rachel, Xavier, Sara Ann, and Tim) joined us from Holidaysburg.  The Torlas from Falls Church (sister Ann, Toby, Daisy, Margaret) also joined the celebration and provided the dessert (charlotte russe).   We all enjoyed a new board game 'Wits and Wagers'.

We gave out gag gifts of headlamps to a few people that we thought needed them.

My sister Kitty put up Josie, Sherry, and myself at her Alexandria townhouse.