July 4th Party

Gramma and Papa had a family 4th of July party. It was also Grammy's birthday. Lots of fun.

Fireworks on July 3rd

We met Gramma, Auntie, and Daniel to watch the fireworks by the river downtown. It was rainy, but had stopped by the time the fireworks were starting. The kids wore their rain boots and set up camp under a big golf umbrella. Cecilia absolutely loved the fireworks, Thomas thought they were too loud, and even Eliana watched. (I was worried about her little ears, though. They really are very loud!)

Fisher Cats June 27

Marc got a Fisher Cats box for a friday night game. We were up really high, with a great view. Although, between the kids and all the family to visit with, I really didn't watch much of the game... It was lots of fun; the kids had room to roam. They got to see Fungo again, which they always love.

Our Cat Puppy

Here's our cat, Puppy. We adopted her 8 years ago. Apparently the husband wanted a dog and the wife wanted a cat. They got a cat, but the husband named her. This is an old picture. She's cuddling with Cecilia in utero. Puppy's now 17 and diabetic. She's slowed down quite a bit in the last year, but she keeps on. She's amazing with the kids; she'll put up with anything. They have a bond.

More From Our Youth

Another amusing picture from high school :) This is my senior prom. Kris (a close friend from 4th grade) is in green. Angela, who's now pregnant with twins, is in pink. She was our prom queen that year.

Trip to Burlington Mall

We stopped by the Burlington Mall on July 12th after visiting with a college friend (Jennifer). These are some pictures Matthew took on his phone. First, we found Elmo and Cookie Monster... then we found a Lego store!!! With lots of Star Wars legos! There was a little table where the kids can sit and create. Cecilia made a nice garden and enlisted the help of some nice lady. Thomas was mostly walking around checking everything out. He takes his Star Wars very seriously! Then, when we were getting a snack in the food court, Cecilia headed out to the center of the seating area to start her own dance revolution. It wasn't long before she had some girls joining her. She's gone from being attached to my leg one year ago to an extremely social girl.

Going Back Even Farther

Here's a picture of my brother, Josh, and me at his kindergarten graduation. This would have been in 1986, I think. I love this picture; it's on my fridge :)

Blast from the Past

I was looking through old photos to get ideas for older things to post. I came across this, which is too funny. I think Matthew had scanned this picture for my 10 year high school reunion in 2004. The flapper on the left is my good friend Kris, who has kids our kids' ages. She's married to the Chippendale, Joe (although they weren't dating at the time this photo was taken). The geisha girl is Angela, who is now pregnant with twins! Matthew and I are Popeye and Olive Oil :) A lot has changed since then.... this was probably taken in 1993!

Reminiscing

Matthew's been super busy and hasn't had time to load a lot of our pictures from the past several weeks. I've been in the mood to blog, though. I went back and found some photos of all our kids from 3-5 months old. First two are Cecilia, then Thomas, then Eliana.

Jessica's Test Photos

So, I mentioned to Matthew some time last week that some day (I'm thinking years from now when the kids are older) that it would be fun for me to learn how to use a camera and second shoot with him. So, he suggested I tag along for one of his weddings next weekend (he actually has two)! I really know so very little about photography. I know what looks good, just not how to get there. Well, I had my first lesson on focusing and holding the camera this past weekend. (If you haven't ever used a really nice camera, you really can't just point and shoot... there's lots to learn.)

So, anyway, here are some of my practice shots that I was pretty happy with. My dad's birthday was this past weekend and we had some fun in the pool. So, you can all look forward to actually seeing some pictures of Matthew now!