Summer 2009

The following are some pictures of summer vacation 2009. Everyone except Marchelle was able to come "home" and we had a great time. Hopefully next year, it will be all of us. Everyone seemed to have a great time, at least I hope they did. We love having everybody here and its taken us the last week to get used to the quiet again. Enjoy the pictures!

Gabe

Chase

Abigail and Brianna

Jacob

Alyssa (Lee Lee)

Michael

Taylor

Julianna

Corbin

Andrew

Front Landscaping - All Done!

Can't wait till the grass grows back in! It's going to look so pretty when everything is blooming and the black eyed susans grow back (under the window on both sides of the small bush)

New Front Walkway

Last fall, Jamie and I decided that we needed a new walkway. So, we ripped out all the plants (giving them to friends) and started prepping for the new walkway. Our cousin Rick does this for a living so he said he would lay it for us. It is beautiful!! Here are some before and after shots, although the after shots are not completely done yet. We still have to plant and stone.

Landscape - 20 years

Sidewalk and plants ripped out and planting area extended













Old sidewalks - temporary for winter


















Michael helping Rick prep the walkway














The new walkway - BEAUTIFUL!!!

Planting and stone are in the new future!

Kids Visit

Not too many pictures this time - not sure why - guess we were busy. My bad!!! Anyways, it was great to see them. Corine and Taylor's best friends, Rhonda and Reagan (aka Roo) came too (they're mother/daughter and wonderful). It was kind of sad too, b/c Tay is growing up. Ever since she was baby, she has always slept with Jamie and I but this is the first time in 10.5 years that she hasn't. My "baby" is getting big! "Best Friends" are replacing those little girl days and she is into pre-teenage stuff. I love seeing her growing up but I also miss the little girl innocence.

Michael is getting bigger too. When we went shopping, the girls had bought Best Friend necklaces so Michael had to have one too. Mimi was on the hunt to get him a boy necklace. Success and a boy bracelet too! Oh, and a nice skate border shirt from Hollister.

LeeLee, what can you say about her? She is too funny and very, very stubborn! Oh she has Page traits in her! Being the little princess that she is, I promptly bought her a tiara! LOL

Family Visit

All my step-siblings came up to NY during the week of April 6th. We had a nice time together. I don't get to see them very often, matter of fact, the last time was summer of 2006 so it was way overdue. We had a nice time together and were able to go to Niagara Falls for the day. We even went over to the Canandian side which I have not been there since I was a kid. For all of you thinking of going, you will need a passport or enhanced license as of June 1st. Just go to an official website of Niagara Falls (either American or Canadian) for more information.


Suzie, Jeff, Me, Cheryl, Carol, Dennis

Jeff, Suzie, Michael and Rachel

Canadian Falls

American Falls

Florida

We went to Florida for a long weekend and had a great time. Jeana, Chris and Gabe were also there so there was double the fun. The weather was great - plenty of sunshine and warm temperatures. Here's a few pictures.

North Carolina

I went down to North Carolina last weekend. Just three days. Not nearly long enough but it was a chance to get away from NY and my job and relax. I got to meet Corine's friends that have been her support group and I can see why they're all so close. What a nice bunch of people and their kids were all nice too. I was able to see Taylor cheer and her team came in first place (go Xplosion!). Unfortunately, I couldn't watch Bubba play basket ball since it was during the same time as cheerleading, but he did make 4 baskets even though his team lost 30-28. Next time I go down, it's Bubba's turn for Mimi to go watch. Lee Lee is just as cute as ever and goes along with everywith. I did get her to say that Mimi was the boss! Ha - it's a game Corine plays with her and says "who's the boss applesauce?" and she replies "me". Now it's Mimi :)

Corine and I went to Marchelle's doctor appt and we were able to listen to both heartbeats. That was very exciting. it's so weird to hear two in there! She's starting to pop right out there! We were also able to spend Sunday with her and Benny.

Twins

Wow! I am steel reeling over the news that Marchelle and Tyler are going to have twins. Actually, I'm not even sure if they've recovered from the news yet. I just hope that she starts feeling better again soon and the vomiting stops. The doctors did all sort of tests and basically said that she has a condition called Hypermesis. This is an extreme form of morning sickness that occurs in 1% of pregnancies. It's very weird that she's having twins b/c they do not run on my side of the family. Her father's side of the family has no twins and Tyler's family has no twins. I guess it was pure "luck"! LOL It figures too, b/c M&T had decided that this was their last baby - that two was enough. I guess she really needed to follow in her mother and sister's footsteps.

January. Where did December go? I didn't even post any pictures from Thanksgiving in Florida! I haven't even thought about blogging in over a month! First, Happy Birthday to Benny (1/10). I can't believe he's 28.

Hope everyone had a good Christmas and Happy New Year. Ours was very quiet. Benny was able to drive up this year. He arrived on Christmas morning at the same time Al & Jean arrived at our house. We had a nice visit then went over to Chris and Randy's for a wonderful prime rib dinner.

The end of December was also sad as we had to put down our beloved dog, Scout. She was such a good dog and we miss her terribly. She was so spoiled and definitely had us wrapped around her paws!

Corine and the kids moved into a new house. It's a nice 3 bedroom ranch. I hope 2009 brings better things for Corine and for certain other people to grow a sense of responsibility and maturity. Thanks for everyone's support - she couldn't get by without you.

January has been a whirlwind. Last week was my first week back to work and I couldn't believe how hectic it was. My boss is traveling this week so things should be a little quiet.

Well here's hoping January is quiet for you! Spring is right around the corner!!

Thoughts

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. I surely have so much to be thankful for.

We had a nice time in Florida. We couldn't have asked for nicer weather. Warm during the day and cool at night (for FL). Jodi and Richard have a beautiful home and it was wonderful of them to have us all there. Although crazy at times, it all worked out. It was nice to see Jamie's brother and nephew, Mark and Danny, who drove over from the East coast to visit for the weekend. We had a great Thanksgiving dinner and Richard's father brought some outstanding desserts.

Happy Birthday wishes go out to Chris, Robin, Tyler, Julianna, Amber and Ellie! Happy Anniversary to Chris and Randy!

I'll post some pictures from Florida hopefully this weekend.