Thanksgiving Fun!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2013!

Dear Family and Friends,
We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, filled with good food, good drink and good company. Most importantly, we hope you have many wonderful things to be thankful for in your lives. We are certainly thankful for many things this year, including the special Thanksgiving holiday trip we took as a family, which I will tell you about at the end of this post.

The month of November began with a trip to Binghamton, NY for a recital engagement and master class. Joey and I were invited to give a recital at United Presbyterian Church, which was sponsored by the Binghamton American Guild of Organists chapter. Joey provided most of the music on solo organ, but we also performed two works together. Joey also gave a masterclass on organ pedal technique for members of the AGO and did a radio interview on the local classical station in order to promote our concert. The performance went really well. We had a really good crowd, and we were able to meet and talk with many of the audience members at the reception following the recital.

Click on link to hear radio interview!

http://www.wskg.org/wskg_news/binghamton-ago-welcomes-organist-joseph-ripka

Click on link to see photo gallery from Binghamton.

http://www.binghamtonago.org/Gallery-Ripka.html

In front of the recital poster in the lobby of the hotel.

Fall lobby decorations.

Clara had a lot of fun on the trip and especially liked the hotel we stayed in for 2 nights. It had a huge lobby, and she enjoyed running around and playing on the oversized couches and chairs.

So far this year, we have been fortunate to have family members with us to help watch Clara during our professional engagements. Joey's mom took care of Clara when we performed in Killingwirth, CT, and my dad came out for a quick visit to see us and help with Clara on the Binghamton trip. Unfortunately neither of our parents got to hear our concerts, but they did get to spend quality time with Clara, and it was a huge relief to Joey and me to know she was being so well taken care of.

My violin teaching has been going very well, and because I have so many students right now, I decided it would be nice for them to perform for one another on a studio recital. The recital was held in the sanctuary of Calvary Church on November 23rd, and 17 of my 22 students performed. They all did very well, and I appreciated the fact that some church members were in the audience offering their support. The mother of one of Joey's piano students made cookies and sweet bread for the reception after the concert. The students and parents seemed to really appreciate the chance to hear each other and get to know one another. To begin the concert, I led a group performance of my youngest and newest students, which was followed by solo performances.

Leading the beginning group performance. 

Congrats students!

This was the first Thanksgiving week Joey and I have had in years when we were both free to take the whole week off. Normally Joey plays a Thanksgiving service on Wednesday, but this year it was held at a different church. Calvary Music School was also closed for the week. Because of this, Joey and I decided it would be a nice time to get away as a family. We rented a log cabin in Jeffersonville, VT and spent Monday through Friday there. The cabin was really cozy and nice, and we were surrounded by beautiful mountains and a lake. We spent Tuesday morning in the beautiful town of Stowe, VT. The rest of the time was spent at the cabin, and on Wednesday evening we had a large snowfall and woke up to a gorgeous scene on Thanksgiving morning. Clara had so much fun playing at the cabin, doing Christmas arts and crafts, baking cookies, watching Christmas cartoons, and most of all, playing in the snow. We had a full kitchen, so Joey cooked meals, including our Thanksgiving meal. It was a great holiday, and being able to have relaxed, family time together in a beautiful place was just what we needed. Check out our "Vermont Thanksgiving" pictures below:

Watching videos during 5 hour drive to Vermont.

Our cabin. 

Clara's room.

Our room.

Wood stove.

Snow!

Apple Cider in Stow, VT.

Preparing to play in snow.

Snow angel!

Decorating Christmas ornaments!

Ginger bread house! 

Reading with Daddy before bed.

Wow! Look at all of the snow.

Sledding!

"Don't forget to drink your ovaltine!"

Pumpkin Pie!

Well, we are quickly approaching Christmas. Joey is already extremely busy playing extra services and preparing for upcoming Advent and Christmas musical events at Calvary with the adult and children's choir. We do not have any days off now until after Christmas since Joey does Messiah choir rehearsals on Monday nights. Mondays are normally the only day neither of us works. Joey and I are performing a piano and violin recital on Dec. 14th at the LaGrua center in Stonington, and we have prepared a pretty challenging program, so we are trying to fit practice and rehearsal time in along with everything else. I'm going to think twice in the future about accepting recital engagements during Advent! (Family members, this is why your Christmas gifts are always so late! Haha!)

We hope your holiday preparations are going well. Our decorations are up, and Clara is enjoying her advent calendar and Christmas-themed books. She will enjoy a visit with Santa at the Stonington Library this Saturday, and she keeps talking about eating birthday cake, since she knows we are celebrating Jesus' birth.

Wishing you all the best!
Joey, Erin and Clara