I'm so excited to post our new family portraits. Our friend, Heather, did them for us. You can go to her site by clicking here.

Labels: Family

It's been a busy Spring in our family - from a garage sale to several doctors visits (which seems to be the norm around here) to a surprise birthday party for Rob's 35th birthday. Here's a few pictures.

Labels: Family, Random Pictures

Now that Christmas is over, I can post all the pictures that our friend Lillian did for us. We did the photo shoot so that we could get pictures for my dad's Christmas present. The last time we did pictures with all of us, I wasn't married, and Adam was only 14 months old. (He'll be 13 in a few weeks.) So, my brother and his family traveled to town on a very cold and rainy Sunday. I was really looking forward to doing outside shots, but that wouldn't work in the rain. Lillian was able to do her magic even with fluorescent lights.

Labels: Family

My Great Aunt Delta passed away on Sunday evening at the incredible age of 97. We all thought she would make it to 100! After losing her husband in her early 50s and being a widow for over 45 years and then losing her only child, she was a pillar of strength even in her fragile, little body.

I like to think that my mother got a lot of her "spunk" from Aunt Delta! :)
Here's she is at her 95th birthday party in the summer of 2006.

Labels: Family

We went to my dad's house last weekend.





Here's the view from his backyard.


Very Sad....there's always been a big field beside his house. Now there is a new house being built. Glad I took pictures of the boys in the field the last time we were in town.

Labels: Family

I met my cousin, Sarah, and her entire family for dinner as they were passing through the area. I always try to get a picture of the smallest of the bunch. It's always a process.

Take 1
(Karly - slurping away at her drink, Reagan with a perfect smile while holding an unsure Benjamin, Henry - with his eyes closed - and Jonathan looking the wrong direction)

You get the idea.

Take 2

Take 3

Sarah is expecting Baby Girl #3 in June. The poor child is still nameless. Please help! They'd like for all their girls' names to end differently. They already have Reagan and Karley. They'd like for the name to not be too common. Their last name is only one syllable....Any ideas?

Labels: Family

Thanks to everyone who prayed for Carolyn during her recent heart surgery and recovery. She is doing great! We hadn't been to visit in three weeks because the older boys were sick, and we didn't want to give it to her - especially while she was recovering. But we finally got to go yesterday!

Labels: Family

I wanted give an update on our family happenings.

Rob's mom is doing well (considering she had open-heart surgery six days ago). She's been in ICU since her surgery last Friday because she had a variety of different problems arise. (They expected her to get out of ICU about 24 - 36 hours after surgery. We're up to six days now.....) This morning the cardiologist placed a pacemaker in her left shoulder because her heart hasn't been beating in correct rhythm. The pacemaker should fix the problem. The latest reports are that she is acting more like herself and is really wanting to see her six grandchildren. We're hoping she'll be out of ICU today or tomorrow, and then she'll probably spend 4-8 days in a regular room before she is discharged. Then she'll have several weeks of recovery at home.

Life with a newborn and two 4 year olds keeps me very busy. Benjamin seems to be doing some better in the tummy department. I didn't change my diet (ie remove dairy or tomatoes, etc), so I guess his little digestive tract is maturing and he's not feeling so gassy. He doesn't cry as much as he was, but he still like to be held a lot. So not much is getting accomplished around here.

Our heating/air unit bit the dust on Sunday morning while it was 10 degrees outside. That was a fun, unexpected expense.... We had new one installed on Tuesday, and we will be accepting donations through our PayPal account. Just kidding.

Labels: Family

Benita and Jonathan

Henry and Dad

We had a special treat while we were in the reptile area. The zoo employee in the photo is a friend from college. I ran into him, and he gave us a behind the scenes tour of the tortoise area. There are over 600 tortoises in this building! I had no idea that our zoo had the largest collection of tortoises in North America. He said next time we're there we can tour the other reptile areas which would be the snakes. Kristie - want to take a field trip??

Henry is a bit cautious at first.

They started to warm up to the tortoises.

Here's Phil trying to convince the boys that the tortoises won't bite them.

Up next for our family - a week at the beach. If we have internet connection, I'll try to post a picture a day.....

Labels: Family