Week 30

We had a very, very crazy week. A lot of cleaning was done in anticipation of our 10 house guests for Nick and Katie's wedding. Also, just about every one in the family had at least a day of being sick.

July 18
Nathanael melted my heart with this surprise...

July 19
It was a rainy morning, so we headed to Stew Leonard's and then stopped by an indoor play place owned by Colombo's buddy. Fun had by all!

July 20
It's in the blood!

July 21
C3 and C4 were treated to a day at Yankee Stadium by one of Colombo's business associates. Although they are not our team, the boys had fun and said the stadium is pretty impressive.

The rest of us met cousins at my Mom's lake house for possibly the last lake day. It's the ending of an era and beloved summer tradition. Her house is under contract and should be sold in the next week or so.
July 22
A really bad day! Colombo and I were both VERY sick with food poisoning. The kids were a little neglected, but thought it was great to watch "Jonah" on Hulu in Daddy's office.

July 23
Both C4 and Nathanael went to the Dr's for raging ear infection and an obnoxious regimen of medicine. How am I supposed to remember ear drops 4 times a day...for 2 boys?!

July 24
Nicky and Katie's big day! Their post-wedding reception was beautiful. Details and many more pictures on the way in a separate post!

Week 29

July 11

We celebrated Aiden's 1st birthday and also his dedication. He knew exactly what to do with the cake!

July 12

We jumped in the car and headed to Portland, Maine to visit Colombo's Nana. She recently had to move to nursing home as she is suffering from Alzheimer's, a very cruel disease. We took her to dinner and checked out her new place. She seems happy there, but it was so hard for us to see her and the reality of how far she has 'slipped' since Christmas. There's no one like Nana! She is such a delight!

July 13

Just bummin' around the house, still in 'yesterday's' tshirt which reads, "I still live with my parents".

July 14

Trevor helped me with laundry.

July 15

Trevor and Rocco have started actually "playing" together. Here they sit have blueberries in big bowls.

July 16

Guess who?

Oh yeah! That's Tim McGraw! Colombo got us tickets so we had an AWESOME time at the concert!

July 17

Wedding #3 of the summer. 4 words--Big. Fat. Greek. Wedding. It was amazing. The Greek ceremony was beautiful, wrought with symbolism and meaning. Christina was gorgeous. Her and Todd are a perfect match. We LOVE that whole family and have looked up to them every since we met.

Christina wore these sneakers at the reception. They say "BRIDE" down the back.

Here we are...same dress, different day.Not the best picture...

Amy & Ryan...TLF

We had the privilege and honor of attending the wedding of a good friend, Amy Volz and Ryan Masse. It was beautiful! EVERYTHING was beautiful...the weather, the chapel, the bride, the hair, the flowers, the dress, the toasts, the reception...just breathtaking!
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Amy and Ryan are two very special people. They are fun to be with and both extremely gifted and talented. God has blessed them abundantly.

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We treasure the whole Volz family. We feel very fortunate to call them friends. We always feel better after having been with them. They are the real deal and we delight in any time we get to spend with each one.

Amy's mother, Lil--my treasured friend. She looked stunning!

The ceremony was very lovely. God's presence was welcomed. Amy and Ryan sang a song together.

Amy's grandfather, a minister, did about half of the service. It was sweet and sentimental.
Amy's grandparents--indeed, what it is all about!
We all held sparklers as they exited the chapel.
The sweet flower girl got a little bored waiting.
Mason, the handsome ring bearer was a champ all day!
The reception was at this beautiful mansion on the Connecticut coast. Most of the time people were on the back patio dancing and dancing and DANCING! Lots of fun!

We wish them the very best! Amy and Ryan, as your Pastor prayed over the meal that night, "May God's richest and best be yours!"

A Picture A Day

For better or for worse, I've decided to jump in (late) on the Project 365 that my sister Lisa has done for a year and a half now. However, I am not doing it to join some blog club. I am only doing it to challenge myself to take at least one picture every day AND I also want to try to capture more of our 'every day moments' not just pull the camera out for parties and milestones. I want to try to document the seemingly meaningless details of our lives that, right now, I think I'll always remember, but in 2, 5, or 30 years will be so grateful to have record of.

I already forgive myself for days that I forget or fall behind.

Soooooo, here goes:

Project 365, Week 28

July 4

Celebrate freedom!

July 5
Off to Kids' Camp...year 4 for C and year 2 for Madison.

July 6

These are the moments I don't want to forget.

July 7

I forgive myself...no picture.

July 8

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Masse

July 9

We took the kids out to eat after picking them up from camp so they could tell us about all the fun they had. If you go to youtube and search 'SNED kids camp 2010' there are daily videos to see what they were up to each day.

July 10

We attended the post-wedding reception of friends. It was in their big backyard under a beautiful white tent. Little white lights and tiki torches littered the yard. It was very beautiful. All I came home with was a bunch of dark pictures. Here, Keri dances with her father Jim. The kids owned the dance floor. They danced and entertained all night long. Sandy joked that she'd send me the bill for the floor.

Independence Day

This was year number two for having our friends come and stay overnight for the 4th. We don't see them a whole lot, which is probably a good thing. All we do is laugh with them. My stomach still hurt 2 days later.

Good food, good friends, good times.

Emily, Dawn, Kayla, and Kevin

Uncle Nicky stopped by

My first sparkler!

Watch out!

Fun with sparklers and just a few fire crackers.


And of course...a dance party. Music by Kevin and Uncle Nicky
Trevor's new thing is 'the robot'. He thinks he's hot stuff.