Just a Fun Family post

Krista

Elissa and Chip

Jenna

Me and the girls

Jack and Sam

Lily and Celia

Cousin sillies

Ice Cream Sundaes

Chip, Lily, Elissa, Jenna, Sam, Jack,

Sadie (Pope dog) Celia, Krista, Jonn

One lucky Nana and Papa

It is worth celebrating!!!

John celebrated a BIG birthday this year and in-spite of the fact that his idea of a birthday celebration is a birthday pie and a lovely dinner we celebrated in a BIG way!! Many thanks to everyone who responded to my invitation to "shower " him with cards.  He received almost 60 cards with lots of love, hugs, advice and entertaining messages. 

The family gathering began on Friday afternoon with the arrival of Chip, Elissa, Celia and Lily.  I have never seen the shocked look on his face when I walked into the office with our granddaughters. A family dinner followed as Krista, Jonn, Jenna, Jack and Sam join us.  Birthday pie, ice cream sundaes and good times!

The next day he knew that the girls and their families would be having lunch with us but was not expecting my brothers, wives and step-children, my nephew and his fiance and a dear family friend. The house was filled with good food, laughter and lots of love!

 

 The girls surprised him with a scroll listing seventy endearing qualities of 

The John we know in 70 Facts.  What an absolute hoot!!

Whenever I get the kids together I take a group photo to remember the day, the year, the event!  The grandchildren are growing so fast and time is flying......perhaps these photos will help us to remember how important we are to one another!!

Happy, Happy Birthday Papa!!

Krista turns 40!!!

Turning 40 is a big deal and Krista decided to turn that big deal into a party.  All of the family made it to the event along with about 50 of her closest friends.  Friends traveled in from Ohio, Illinois and DC...and her friend Amanda  put together a wonderful event.  I am not doing justice to the party with the pictures below but these are a few of my favorites.  It is always wonderful when your children are all together!

Krista requested that her dad and I write her "obituary" for her birthday!  Not your typical birthday gift but you have to know Krista.  We complied but I happily surprised her by turning it into a book with lots and lots of pictures and letters from her sisters, friends and nieces.  She was determined that she didn't want me to read any of my contribution for fear of tears, but I pushed through and read the funny parts (and Meagan reluctantly  joined me in the fun).  There were tears but only happy ones!!

What a wonderful day!!!

 

The boys are back

When we returned to the Carolinas our work was waiting for us.  Jack and Sam were on Spring Break and stayed with us the first two days of their week.  Dying Easter Eggs was first on the list because Easter was right around the corner.

And for the first time we tried our hands at making flubber.  Easy recipe, the boys loved it of course.  I love the craft projects with the kids. The boys chose blue as their color of choice and their hands were blue for the rest of the day.

Disney at Night

This year we discovered that Downtown Disney is always open to the public.  The restaurants are pricey, the stores are too, the movie theatre charges $6+ for seniors on Tuesdays and the street performers are great.  What a fun source of free entertainment.....we will do it again and often.

Solivita nursery

The nursery in Solivita in the spring is an unexpected pleasure.  You never know what you might see around the next corner. How many baby gators do you see?  3 or 4

                      Sandhill cranes are abundant, mate for life and have funny looking babies.

I had so much fun...

A friend recently cited an article about how important it is for us to tap into our creative side.  I believe that it is true because I get lost in the creativity when I am working with my hands.  This year I have explored glazes and have learned a lot.  I am a marginal potter, but I am having a great time!!