a welcome reunion

A couple of weeks ago, we still had a PC that worked.  That lasted all of about enough time for me to upload these pictures before the whole system went on to its great reward, having served this family well.  However, we don't miss it that much.

 

 

 Now that we're back in the land of the information super highway with all important documents uploaded and saved (and by important, I mean Eric's, since our external hard-drive didn't seem to like me very much, but, then again, I wasn't its original owner.  It definitely held its loyalty where it was due), I can finally update our activities.

 

 

We had a rare opportunity a couple of weeks ago -- the opportunity to get my Mom's whole family together for a CELEBRATION.  A celebration of life.  And, for the first time in our long history of reunions and celebrations, it wasn't a "celebration of life: funeral style".  Yes, that sounds awful, but it was all anyone could talk about -- how rarely we get to see each other outside of funerals (and weddings, of course, but we don't have many of those anymore since most of the adult cousins have been married off).  

 

 

 So, off to West-by-God we went:   

  

ah, the K&W Cafeteria -- our go-to spot for lunch anytime we made the hour-long trek into Bluefield for a day of shopping at the Mercer Mall (the only mall, mind you, in a 50-mile radius).

 

 

 

We were off to celebrate Mary Ruth's 85th birthday.  She had no idea any of us were coming, nor did she suspect that a party was being held in her honor that day.  She had gotten all dolled up that morning to attend a wedding in the afternoon.  On the way, my cousin, Julie, told her she wanted to stop by and see the church where her parents had gotten married.  She was pleasantly surprised when she came in.

 

  

 

 getting ready to watch the family slideshow.  I wish I had a copy of this -- so many amazing memories and photos of those we've lost.  There weren't many dry eyes in the room!  On screen now: Bill, Diane and Mary Ruth around the time their son, David, was in service.

 

The cousins had a blast playing together, old and young, but these two were inseparable the entire afternoon.   

 

 

 

 

The afternoon was filled with a whole lot of happy -- catching up with family and old friends, snuggling with little ones (including meeting the newest members of our family, twins Violet and Lily, who belong to my cousin JoAnna). 

 

 

 

 

Mom's best childhood friend and a surrogate Mom to me -- Gerpie.  While she has 3 boys and 6 grandkids of her own, Anna was like her 7th for the afternoon!

After the party, we ventured up to Memorial Gardens.  It's been 3 years since I've been back to WVa, and I still had yet to see my grandmother's grave.  It was a very emotional time for my Mom and I, but it was nice to be able to introduce Anna to her Great-Grand A.  She even said, "Hi, Gram Rose".

   

We concluded the day's celebration with dinner at the Bluefield Country Club.  Anna thoroughly enjoyed her grilled cheese and just about everyone else's course of side dishes that would share.

A tiring.....but ENJOYABLE......time it was, and all agreed it should be repeated ANNUALLY.



party hearty

It was definitely a weekend for celebrating!  Our calendar was chock-full of fun as we spread some happy on two very important people. (okay, THREE very important people....)

Saturday, we headed to Kangaroo Jac's (no, I did not misspell that.  There is no "k" in Jac's name.  It bothers me very much.) for Henry's 4th birthday.  It's hard to believe that little man is FOUR!  He was still barely a baby when we got married; I still remember the night in August 2007 when Eric told me about his birth and the night Alexis and Robert shared all the joys of parenthood with us in March of 2009 as we prepared for our baby girl's arrival (I say 'joys' half-sarcastically).

Anna had a BLAST in the bouncy-houses, and BRAVELY slid down the MONSTROUS slide all by herself (as a proper big-girl should).  Enjoy some videos HERE and HERE.

little queen on her little throne.

Henry had a Dinosaur-themed party, and he cleaned UP on the prehistoric creatures.  He even got an entire box full of stuff to redecorate his bedroom.  (It reminded me of that Lowe's commercial where the Mom is trying to paint over zebra stripes....anyone?  No?  Ok.  Apparently, I'm watching WAY too much daytime TV.)

Henry also received a brand new bike....which one little girl promptly claimed as her own.  I believe a three-to-four-wheeled purchase is in our not-so-distant future.

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Sunday, we rose early to cook, clean and ready the house for guests as we all joined to sprinkle some love on a very special little girl who is incubating quite nicely snug in her Momma's belly.  

We had a nice spread of sweet and spicy fare, and some wonderful company who not only sprinkled, but completely showered this little Momma and her little lady bug with some adorable loot.

We all had a wonderful time practicing some baby-snugglin' with Miss Evie, who, just like Sir Aiden at Anna's birthday party, rolled over for the first time while tummy-timing on our floor!  Seriously, our carpet is magic.  Eat THAT, Aladdin.

Anna managed to bribe Grandparents Bev and Tim AND Uncle Brian to read her the SAME book a few different times....but, like any expert spoiler, they seemed to love every minute of it.

I was extremely proud of our little nugget.  She shared her toys, her juice, and her table so that Sean and Chloe could enjoy their goodies.  We're getting used to this sharing thing....SLOWLY, but surely.

And, of course, my favorite part of the day?  Laura, Marjorie, and me: Getting the three of us together is a good thing EVERY time!

We can't wait to meet this little girl -- 10 weeks and counting!

sweet dreams

The time has come to say good bye to AK's crib.  She's at that point where she can just barely creep her leg up to the tippy-top of the edge, and one of these days, she's going to be able to pull herself over.  I like to stay ahead of the curve, so off to the furniture store we went.

Eric spent a tireless weekend tearing apart her old furniture and clearing the room out, hauling endless amounts of bed slats, headboards, and mattresses up to the attic while Mom and I ventured through the madness of Costco to get a new mattress and box-spring.

She spent a week on the mattress (<----- click for video).  The first night went BEAUTIFULLY.  She laid down, snuggled up to her pillow, and fell right to sleep.  The next few days proved to be less than ideal as she screamed for us for hours, woke during the night completely petrified of her suddenly empty room, and vehemently refused to nap.     

The following Friday, the new "suite" arrived.  We're ridiculously happy with it, as is she.  (click HERE.)  Pics of the COMPLETE room are still to come -- we finally got her bedspread set, but making that thing up with the rails is a severe pain in the big toe.

A couple of random shots we've taken over the past couple of weeks -- looking adorable as always and helping her momma feel better after a day of feeling a little overly blah.