Merry Christmas!

I hope all of you have an excellent Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

Calling All Hellers!

Jodi Heller, one of my fabulous cousins, sent the picture above. I wish we lived closer to them because I think we'd all have a lot of fun together. The photo includes Sheila, Grandma Honey/Aunt Evelyn, Tom , Peter, Kathryn, George, Stephen, and Jodi. 

Bob and his camera

Here's my dad getting ready to take the famous group photo after last year's Christmas Eve celebration in NJ. Thanks to him we have group photos of the family going way, way back. 

Amy in Australia

I don't have many pictures of relatives from my dad's side of the family. Do you have any pictures (historic or recent) that you'd like to share with everyone? You can send them to me or post them yourself!

The one above is of my sister Amy in Australia. She just returned from her six-month study abroad. I can't wait to see her!!

Nerozumiem po slovensky

Though my grandma and grandpa spoke slovak, I never really learned it. Grandma taught me a few things from time to time, such as "how are you," "teeth," "bicycle," and "good." Oh, and as I mentioned before I know the grains that she counted on my toes when I was a baby. I don't think these will get me too far if I visit the village where they came from. 

In case you are interested I found a couple of websites that have the basic Slovak phrases. Here is one called BratislavaGuide.com. Also, here is some information about Slovakia as well as a phrase book from Wikitravel.com. I don't know much about it, so I enjoy doing some research from time to time.

Does anyone else know of any good sites about Slovakia or information about its culture? I'd love to learn more and maybe others would, too! Please post them below or send them to me via e-mail.