A Whole Lot to Be Thankful For!

First and foremost, these two guys:





















These guys, too:

















Let's not forget these guys:

















And this guy:






















Also, all of these guys:

































































And so, so, so many more that I don't even have pictures of.

OLD!

Wow! My "cousin" posted this picture on Facebook today. (O.k. My cousin's ex-husband, but he was my dad's BFF when they were young, so I still think of him as my cousin.)

First, did you know that it was so easy to steal other people's photos off of FB?

Second, my dad is wearing overalls. White overalls. Niiiiice.

Third, my mom has a 70s perm. Um, probably because it was the 70s.

And fourth, I think that my two cousins that are in this photo are not old enough to be drinking here. But maybe the laws were different in the 70s.

Gotta love vintage.

Chicago: Part 1

What a busy day. It started out at 8:30 (central that is) with breakfast with the family. This is my favorite photo of the day. Now here's four people you don't see together very often, considering two live in Florida, one in Georgia, and one in Nevada (and Japan for the four years before this one). It is always fun hanging out with my uncles and especially nice to see my sister since I haven't seen her since her surgery in 2006!















This was Jude precisely 22 seconds after we left the funeral home.




















That poor boy was wiped out! Probably has nothing to do with going to bed wAAAAAAAAAAy past bed time last night (4 hours past!) getting up at normal time, and then only taking one hour and a half nap instead of two.

Considering all of that, he held it together really well today until daddy let him clunk his head on a chair in the hotel restaurant:-(

Here's another fav from today: All of "my boys!" My husband, my son, and my nephew, Caleb.















Caleb's pretty hot stuff, huh? I haven't seen him since he was 5! A lot has happened in that time. And I am not kidding about hot stuff. He's already done a Honda commercial and modeled for Gap. Pretty impressive resume for a 10 year old! But he hasn't let "fame" go to his head. He is still just as sweet as ever. And boy! Does he love his cousin, Jude. They played together all.day.long! (along with a little play time with 4th cousin, Lauren.) I have to get some pic of that in the next couple of days because I didn't think it would be too cool to start snapping photos in a funeral home.

Speaking of funeral home. . . yep. As I anticipated, I lost it there. I held it together all through the last few days, until I walked in that room. That is always how it goes with me. The mortician did a fantastic job, but that was not the great grandma I remembered. My Great-aunt said that in the last several months she lost more than 30 pounds. She always kept her hair dyed red and it was grey, and since she is with the angels, her face had no expression to it. I'd rather remember her as she was when I last saw her. Consequently, that was her (7th!) wedding day several years ago. But I am so glad that she is not suffering anymore like the way she suffered this last few months with the cancer. If nothing else, today I saw a face at peace.

Coming soon, Chicago: Part 2. . . The Journey

Game Hunting. Uh, Not Really!

We had a little unexpected outing this afternoon when we arrived in Atlanta to visit daddy at his fire station. The lieutenant suggested that we visit Yellow River Game Park and Ranch . Sooooo much fun. Most of the animals there are being or have been rehabilitated for injuries and can not live in the wild. But let me tell you! Most of them run wild all over the park.
This was the most awesome place I have ever been! If you are ever in Gwinnett County, you need to visit! Here are some of the better photos from today.


Two little piggies!















Two little monkeys.(Just kidding! This is from our visit to The Creative Discovery Museum!)















Not shy! I've never been licked by a deer before today. It's a weird sensation!



































I'm not going to lie. This guy was a little intimidating!















The bunnies were more interested in Jude than he was in them!















Chillin' with the mules!















Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam. . .















And here's Jude inspecting the hotel room where we are now waiting for daddy to get off work in the morning so that we can take Aunt Vickie home. **sniff. sniff** We're sure gonna miss that girl!















BTW, everything met with his high expectations!

Fun with Aunt Vickie!

My fearless (slightly dizzy) baby and his goofy aunt:


Also, Jude wanted you to know that he graduated to the big tub:















Actually, he just kept trying to stand up in the baby tub and I was afraid that he was going to plunk himself right out of it.















You'll notice that he only plays with the blue cup. There are six other ones, but this one seems to be his favorite. It has always been this way.
Also, if you look really closely on this picture below (click on it and it will get bigger) you can (kind of) see his new little teeth in the center of his bottom gums.

Vindication for my struggle

It makes me feel better that all those years of struggling with my hair type in middle school and high school will at least benefit someone. It seems that the little sister is doomed to have the same curly mop that I have endured all these years. I am really glad that I have some insight for her. We were sitting down to dinner the other day when she told me she wished her hair was exactly like mine because it doesn't get a frizzy as hers. (Should I pull out the 8th & 9th grade pictures and show her?!)

What a great window of opportunity to tell her that she, too, could have an abundance of curls like what was sitting atop of my head that day. I told her I would be glad to fix her hair one day during her stay. Little did I know she would be in my bathroom the next morning before church asking me to do it then. (Which only left me 30 min to get ready for church, myself. But this is the way of things as a parent, huh?)

This kid has been blessed! Her hair curls even nicer than mine! A little gel, a little mouse, and volia! And these photos were even taken after a nice Sunday power nap.

The party!

Well, I don't think I got any action shots of the B-day girl, but a good time was had by all. I was amazed at how many children are in our family again.

Here's the B-day girl posing. Ah, to be 11 again!
















Here's Jude with his third cousin, Brianna. She's such a cutie!





















And now, with his other third cousins, Trista, Brianna, and Nadia. My cousin Charles sure has some beautiful girls!
















Jude with great-Aunt Kim.
















Jude and daddy
















Jude and mommy
















Then we brought Aunt Vickie back here and she was fortunate enough to be around for one of Jude's mile stones: going into a crawling position from sitting. It is a really good thing that he will only do this on our bed right now or I am sure we would be doctoring up some busted lips!

A BIRTHDAY party!

Sooo, as this post is posted (auto-scheduled) we will be enjoying ourselves at Jude's Aunt Vickie's 11th birthday party in Florida!!!

The original plan was to pick her up on Sunday and bring her back to our house on Monday, but Jeff was able to rearrange his schedule so that we could make it in time for her party. I used to make it down for her birthday every year for her birthday, but the last several years we have not been able to because of Jeff's schedule.

So, YIPPEE!! Happy 11th birthday little sister!

Pics to come later:-)

The Relatives Came

Jude had a nice visit with Grandma Karen and Grandpa Phil on Father's Day. I cannot believe that I am such a bum that I have never gotten any good pics of him with them. Well, better late than never. . .






P.S. Isn't this one of the best books ever?

9 month photo shoot

We had another photo shoot with THE PLANET'S MOST WONDERFUL PHOTOGRAPHER, Michelle, this morning. We went up the street to The Marsh House, and the little man was super cooperative the entire time. Secretly, I think he is a camera ham;-) Jeff and I even got a few long over due shots together. Here are some of my favorites from today. (But it was so hard to narrow it down to less than 30!)


























































































































































































































































THE END!