October Happenings

Happy Halloween!

Warning: This is going to be a very long blog post! 

Dear Family and Friends,

Is it really almost the middle of November? I'm sorry I am so behind with my monthly update. October was such a busy month for our family that it just seemed to fly by. It was an incredibly beautiful month with mostly warm, sunny weather and amazing fall foliage. I don't think we have ever experienced such a wonderful fall since moving to Connecticut five years ago.

This beautiful tree is right down the street from where we live.

Calvary House, the place we call home, is also looking beautiful these days. The repairs and painting are complete, and the house looks so much better and friendlier than before.

The new Calvary House.

Clara on the porch.

This month we enjoyed seeing a lot of family. My parents came to visit at the beginning of October for a week,s and my aunt and uncle from Virginia also came up to see all of us for a weekend during that time. A few days after my family left, Joey's mom came to visit for two weeks. Clara really loved seeing all of the family and, since Joey's mom Cathy had a longer visit, we were able to take some fun trips, including a visit to one of our new favorite places, Kringle Candles in Massachusetts. Kringle Candles is located in a beautiful part of MA and is home to a large selection of candles, a toy store, a Christms shop, a chocolate shop and a farm to table restaurant. We had a nice lunch and enjoyed looking at the various shops and fall decorations.

Clara and Grandma Ripka.

Fun at Kringle Candles.

  
Joey, Clara and I took a ride on the Essex Steam Train and river boat this month with members of the New London American Guilld of Organists, of which Joey is currently dean. Clara loved riding on the train, and the boat trip down the CT river was beautiful.

Fun on the Essex steam train!

Clara continues to enjoy ballet classes. She is always so excited to go to class and doesn't want the class to end. Sometimes we have to pick her up off the dance floor and carry her out of the building, because she is refusing to stop dancing and get dressed. It's fun to see how much she loves her class and her teacher and fellow little ballerinas. She also really loves spending time playing on the Calvary Nursery School playground in our backyard. 

Going to ballet class.

Getting dressed after class.

Having tea in the CNS playhouse.

Joey and I had a busy performance month in October. We performed an organ/violin recital of about 90 minutes of music on October 20th at Emmanual Episcopol Church in Killingworth, CT. It's a beautiful little white church out in the woods. We had a really good turn out, and the audience was very receptive. There was a wonderful reception following the recital, and we enjoyed talking with various audience members. We also performed on Calvary Music School's annual faculty concert. We played some piano trio music by Piazzola with our friend and CMS cello teacher Carly, as well as a piece for violin and organ. We recently had some new publicity photos taken, a couple of which are shown below.

Rehearsing together. (We don't always look this happy when we rehearse. Haha!)

We celebrated my 30th birthday on October 19th. We went out to a Mexican restaurant with Joey's mom, since she was here visiting. Somehow the waiter figured out it was my birthday, and I ended up wearing a sombrero and being sung to by wait staff. Anyway, it was fun, and so far being 30 isn't so bad.

Joey made the cake and Clara decorated it.

Unfortunately, October also turned out to be a rough health month for all three of us. I developed a cold toward the middle of September that would not go away. After 5 weeks of severe sinus congestion, I finally sought medical advice and was told I most likely had the beginnings of a sinus infection. I have just finished a 10 day course of antibiotics and am feeling better, although I still feel a bit stuffy. Clara also developed two separate colds during the month and is currently dealing with a cough. 

Joey definitely suffered the most last month. He did manage to avoid the cold virus, but had to deal with something much more uncomfortable. While Joey's mom was visiting, Joey woke up about 4:30 AM one morning with horrible back pain. It was so severe that he could barely stand up. Thank goodness Joey's mom was visiting and was able to stay with Clara while I drove him to the Westerly Hospital ER. When we arrived Joey was given heavy pain medications and underwent a CT scan. It turned out Joey had developed a kidney stone. This is the first time he has ever had a kidney stone (and hopefully the last time!). He was given pain medications to take at home and was told the stone should pass quickly. Joey suffered for almost three days before the stone passed. We all felt so bad watching him deal with such severe waves of pain. The pain medications also made him feel sick, and he was unable to eat much. Somehow Joey still managed to play Sunday services, which amazed me because he was suffering so much. It was a terrible experience, but we are thankful that it was not something more serious. 

We ended the month of October with a fun Halloween day. Clara developed a bad cold the day before Halloween, and we were afraid she might not be up for trick-or-treating, but when the time came she was so excited that we decided to let her go out. She dressed as a ballerina kitty. We invited some friends over with their daughter who is a few months younger than Clara, and we went trick-or-treating for about 40 minutes. I was surprised the girls lasted as long as they did. Clara had so much fun, and we enjoyed giving out candy to a lot of children, including some of our music students and choristers. 

Helping daddy get the pumpkin ready for carving.

Clara and her friend going out to trick-or-treat.

We hope you had a wonderful October and that November is going well. Joey and I are giving concerts both this month and next month, so we are keeping really busy practicing and rehearsing. We leave for Binghamton, NY early tomorrow morning to prepare for a Friday evening concert. See information about our upcoming concerts at the bottom of this blog.

I will try to post a bit sooner next month. We hope you have a fun and safe Thanksgiving Holiday!

Until next post!
Joey, Erin and Clara

CONCERTS 2013/2014:

Sunday, September 15, 2013  Joseph Ripka, organ, Joint Presentation & Recital with Scot Huntington on the 1870 Hook organ at United Church in Stonington, CT.  Program begins at 4:00 p.m.  (Sponsored by the Stonington Historical Society)


Sunday, October 20, 2013  Emanuel Episcopal Church in Killingworth, CT 4:00 p.m recital, with organist Joseph Ripka and violinist Erin Ripka as the Ripka Duo

Friday, November 15, 2013  Recital for the Binghampton Chapter of the American Guild of Organists with Joseph Ripka, organ and Erin Ripka, violin. Joseph Ripka   Workshop on Saturday Nov. 16.  United Presbyterian Church, 7:00 p.m.

Saturday December 14th, 2013 La Grua Center Music Matters Series presents the Ripka Duo: Chamber Music Recital, 5pm

Sunday, February 2, 2014  House of Hope Presbyterian Church, St. Paul, MN recital, with organist Joseph Ripka and violinist Erin Ripka as the Ripka Duo. 4:00 pm. 

Friday, March 21, 2014  Joseph Ripka, organ, St John's Episcopal Church in Niantic, CT. Bach birthday celebration featuring the Leipzig Chorales with members of the New London CT chapter of the AGO.


Wednesday, March 26, 2014  Joseph Ripka, organ, St Paul's on-the-green in Norwalk, CT.  Lunchtime Recital, begins at noon.  


Wednesday, July 16, 2014  Joseph Ripka, organ, Bethel College, Saint Paul, MN.  Part of the Young Artists World Piano Festival.

Fall Family Photos

The Ripka Family, Fall 2013

Dear Family and Friends,
My October blog post is going to be pretty full because it was a super busy month with a lot going on, so I thought I would post some pictures from our recent family photo shoot in a separate entry here. We had our pictures taken at a beautiful park in Mystic, CT called "Haley Farms State Park". The photographer was wonderful to work with, and we really love how the images turned out. 

We hope you enjoy the photos!

"A daughter is someone who reaches for your hand and forever touches your heart"

"Family is where life begins and love never ends"

"Our soul mate is the one who makes life come to life"

"From the moment they placed you in my arms, you snuggled right into my heart"

Have a wonderful November and watch for the October update coming soon!

Joey, Erin and Clara

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower"

Autumn time!

Dear Family and Friends,

I'm sorry I am behind with my monthly blogging. September started with a bang, and we have been going like crazy without much down time. 

Joey is back in full swing with Calvary Church duties, Calvary Music School business and teaching and performing. At the beginning of September, Joey presented a recital and lecture about the historic Hook organ at United Church in Stonington. The church is located a few blocks from Calvary Church, and the instrument is beautiful. Joey is going to record some organ solo music there soon, and we may also record a piece for organ and violin.

Joey performing on the Hook organ at United Church, Stonington.

 Joey's choristers presented an Evensong service in collaboration with choristers from a church in Hartford last month. It's amazing how much Joey's choristers have matured in their singing. It was a moving service and his children's program continues to grow. It will be fun when Clara is old enough to join the group. She certainly loves to sing!

Joey and our wonderful Curate Emily making announcements at Calvary.

I have been keeping busy with 23 violin students. I teach everyday now except for Sundays and Mondays. I really enjoy my students, and I enjoy the challenge of teaching everything from beginning violin students to advanced, as well as adult students. I also really enjoy taking care of Clara when I am not teaching,k and it makes me bit sad to think that she will be starting nursery school this time next fall. I think my work load right now is just right, because it allows me to do what I enjoy professionally, but also to have a lot of time with Clara.

One of my sweet beginning students.

Joey and I both have an active performance year coming up. Next Sunday we will give a recital of violin and organ music in Killingworth, CT at a small Episcopal church in the woods. The church has a beautiful tracker organ and a nice acoustic. For more information click in the following link: 

http://churchinthewilderness.org/Calendar.html

I will provide a list of upcoming performances in a separate blog.

Clara is doing great. She will be two and a half on October 20th. She has started back to ballet class and is in a group with mostly 3-4 year olds. She has moved to a more advanced class which means mommy and daddy are not allowed to be in the class and observe. She does great being in the class without us, but we really wish we could watch her in the class. She always comes out of the dance room with a huge grin on her face, so we know she is enjoying it. Her language continues to grow in leaps and bounds. She talks quite a bit and loves to learn new things. Right now we are studying different types of leaves out of a book from the library. She can recognize and name about 10 different species of leaves. She still takes a nice afternoon nap everyday and sleeps well at night. 

First day of ballet class!

Running to class. So excited!

I am glad that Joey and I have kept Mondays free for family time. We really need that day to recover from a busy week and enjoy doing fun things together. In spite of the fact that we have all suffered from colds this month, we have been able to do many interesting things. Some of our recent Monday activities have included; A trip to Block Island, visiting Holmberg Orchards and Clyde's Cider Mill, touring the Stonington Lighthouse Museum, various trips to different play grounds, and taking scenic drives to quaint New England towns. We have had a lot of fun on our days off.

Stonington Lighthouse Museum. 

On the ferry to Block Island.

Playing on the beach at Block Island.

Clara in apple cider trance!

Fun in Jamestown, RI.

Clara is growing!

 I was hoping the work on Calvary House would be complete by now, but the house is still in the process of being painted. It has been a bit chaotic having so many workers outside and sometimes inside our house. During one week we actually had to move out of our house because the fumes were too overpowering and not healthy for us to breath. Fortunately we have wonderful friends who were willing to put us up and take care of us for a few days. The house is going to be really beautiful when it is finished. The back and sides of the house are pretty much done leaving only the front side to be completed.

Learning about shapes.

 October is going well so far. My parents and aunt and uncle are here visiting at the moment, and Joey's mom will arrive on the 19th and stay for two weeks. I will be celebrating a big birthday on the 19th, when I turn 30 years old. Wow, I can't believe I'm going to be 30. I don't have any bad feelings about turning 30. In fact, I am the happiest in my life now that I have ever been. I have so many wonderful things to be thankful for, and I look forward to the years to come.

Clara loves Lucy!

I will try not to be so late with my October blog. We are having a beautiful fall here in Connecticut. The weather has been mild and sunny for the most part, and the colors on the trees this year are really vibrant. We recently had fall family photos taken, and they turned out really well. I will share some in the October blog.

We hope you are enjoying the month.
Until next post,
Joey, Erin and Clara

Clara's pumpkins.