HITCHED WITH A LOTTA HILARIOUS & HAYWIRE HULABALOO!!: Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays from the “Ho-ray’s!”

Well, as you can imagine, this past year was quite the crazy hullabaloo! We had our wild Gilligan themed wedding in July, which went very well and was quite fun, despite a few glitches. Here are a few photos...the ceremony prayer, the toast at the reception, our first dance, and our surprise jump into the pool! That’s what REALLY got the party started! It truly was a memorable day, and we joked that our last name would combine our two names, Hoch + Gray = HO-RAY!! (But we didn’t). We are the Hoch’s now, and that works just as well.

Some people ask us, “how is married life treating you?” but we have a standard joking reply: “Oh THAT? We annulled that the next day because being “friends with benefits” is SO much better!” We do get quite a few guffaws at that, and many wide-eyed shocked faces too. Hehehehehe!! So, we’re having fun. So far, married life is going quite well for us both, and for our mom’s too! (They both live with us now, you know).

Florence and Ruby, our mom's

Yes, our mothers are now a permanent part of our lives, we’re all living in the same house, and it’s going very well so far! If only we had a BIGGER house...(sigh). We are working on that, actually...we found one that everybody in our family LOVES, and would fit us perfectly---and it’s been on the market for over a year---so we’re doing everything we can to find some financing options, in order to buy it. We’ll keep everyone posted. Hopefully we’ll have that to celebrate in the new year! To all readers: Please keep all fingers and toes crossed for us until further notice! Thanks!

The ceremony The reception toast Our first dance

Taking the PLUNGE! The house we HOPE to get...

Let’s see....what else....well, we traveled to San Francisco both in April and for our honeymoon in July. I had no CLUE how COLD it was in July there...but apparently Mark Twain said, “The coldest winter I ever spent was in San Francisco... in July.” And WOW, was he RIGHT about that. I froze my tootsies off. But, we had a great time while we were there!

These are photos of Coit Tower and the view from it. Pete made me WALK uphill to get there...argh! My feet hurt, but it was WAY cool!

The view from Coit Tower The statue at Coit Tower Us in front of Coit Tower The seals at Pier 39 Fisherman's Wharf

Pete "being mugged" by a statue Pete & I on a cruise of the Bay

Florence got to travel to New Jersey recently to visit her best friend of 80+ years, Gladys. The two of them hadn’t seen each other in nearly a decade. They had so much fun catching up with each other for the whole weekend, and visiting other people they hadn’t seen in a long time as well. Here are two photos of the two of them together...they are so ADORABLE!! Both just turned 89 this year, and they’re still having fun together! How cool is THAT?!

Pete and I also traveled to Washington DC on October 30th to attend the “Rally to Restore Sanity,” which was a huge performance by comedian Jon Stewart, comedian Stephen Colbert, and lots of musical guests and fun, just as a “protest” for all the shenanigans that occur daily in politics...over 250,000 people attended this rally, it was AWESOME!! People carried signs everywhere, and some of them were really great...here are a few we really liked...

Meanwhile, back at the homestead....Nathan has changed jobs, and is working and finishing his college degree in underwater welding. He plans to move back to Rochester NY after he graduates, sometime in 2011. We’re very proud of him, and he’s also been an inspiration to us because he’s been on a diet and working out for months--he’s lost 50 pounds! Now it’s our turn to get that diet going for the new year...(obligatory “lose weight” new year resolution inserted here).

Nate, "before" Nate, "after."

Pete is half way through his fourth year working at Apple, and loves it. He’s doing very well, and even got ME an application for a job as the Office Manager, as the current one plans to leave by the end of the year. Who knows, maybe I’ll be going back to the work force, at the same place as my hubby....great googa mooga....are we NUTS?! Living with BOTH mom’s right after our wedding, jumping in a POOL in our WEDDING clothes, AND working all day, every day, together in the SAME OFFICE?!!! (I tell ya folks, if we can survive all THAT in less than one year, we can make it through ANYTHING)!!

Say hello Radar, to all the friendly people! He loves to wear his Santa hat & beard!