Meeting cousin Matthew!

Christie and I took Nicholas to meet his new cousin, baby Matthew - what a cutie he is!! He sure seems like such a good baby too and Kaylin and Isabella are a great help. Seems forever ago that Nicholas was that small as they grow up way too fast!

Nicholas is very amused with all the animals we have - thankfully Cocoa is fond of him as well. Ginger keeps her distance of him as do the cats, but once he is mobile they are all fair game!

Kyle's Birthday

Kyle celebrated his 22nd birthday this year! On his actual birthday he and his friends went to a concert, so we celebrated with him the day after. His birthday always signals the end of summer for us as school starts a few weeks after then were into fall. It's been a great summer so far though, and hopefully the weather stays nice so we can enjoy the rest of it before its gone!

Gma's Surprise 75th!!

We decided to throw our mom a surprise party this year as she was turning 75. It took some doing, but it turned out great and she was definitely surprised!! Thank you to all who came and celebrated with her and made her day special!!

Bob and Ralph came out early to help the guys set up the tent and get ready for the party.

Gma making her way out back after her arrival and realization it's a party for her!!

Anton and Nick taking time to pose with Gma to distract her
from seeing her 'surprise' guests arrival.

The whole 'potato salad' conversation was great and
Dana did a great job capturing it all on video!
Here is a downsized and edited video of Gma in her moments
of surprise at seeing her family at her party.

I think Mom was in disbelief and trying to take it all in!!
She is truly blessed to have so many people in her life who love her!

Ron did a great job tackling his 'honey-do' list for the party that it was amazing he was still able to stand by the time it got here!!

Christie with Dana, who did a great job capturing the video... Thanks!!

Uncle Bob getting to know baby Nicholas.

Wonder if Tammy knew within a very short time she would be holding her new baby boy!!!
Congrats guys!!

The boys bringing in our dinner.

It is just soooo hard to get good help (Diane!!)

Lisa and Gma serving up her birthday cake.

Unfortunately it is rare that we are all able to get together, but we were all there for mom's big day so she was able to get some shots with all 5 of us!

Poor mom.. but she gave birth to us!!

Anton, Anton, Anton... trying to look soooo innocent
all the while you, Nick and Kyle plotting to toss
your Aunts into the pool....tsk, tsk, tsk!!

And in one goes!!

And you wonder why we left you two out of
the family Christmas picture!!

The party was a great success to say the least... though my neighbor was inquiring as to why I had two women climbing out the front window of my house!! Cathy and MaryKay went to great lengths to avoid being tossed into the pool, but it was to no avail as they too ended up in it along with Lisa and Gma!!
I know someone got shots of us all in the pool but not sure who.

Glad it's over!

I do believe my kids are glad the day of the party has come and gone! They have given up a lot of their time to get the place ready for the festivities and they are looking forward to some down time to enjoy all their efforts. The girls are looking forward to having their guys back as well!!

The City!

A group of us went downtown the day after the party and enjoyed the city. The weather was hit and miss with rain, but was pleasant for the most part.