{one year ago}

I was sitting in front of my computer watching my slide show screen-saver as I often do, and this picture flashed onto the screen. I can't believe this was just over one year ago....

{happy birthday!}

Happy birthday, Arleen! We have some cake left over if you find yourself in the area!!

{back from the beach}

We had hoped to go to the beach yesterday for Gerard's birthday, but it rained. We decided to brave the elements today -- 70's and very windy... The waves were pretty strong but that didn't stop Gerard from going in. He had his life vest on, but he definitely lost his footing a few times. I went in with him briefly and then I took Morgan in a little, but big Gerard spent most of his time in the water with Gerard. Morgan was pretty cold, so like a little princess she was content to sit and build castles in the sand.

{an update}

So here's what's been going on with the house.... Our bedroom has been totally gutted. They took out the ceiling, a few patches of wall, and the carpet. We had a few contractors in to give us estimates, and we've picked one contractor we liked who will now submit everything to our insurance company. He figures it will take about 2 weeks to get everything completed once the work actually starts. So, in the meantime, I'm sleeping on the futon in the basement and Gerard is sleeping on the couch in the living room.






The rest of the house didn't sustain any permanent damage except for the ceiling in the living room and some of the walls in the hall and stairs that will get repainted.

Other than that, it's been more of the same around here. Both Gerards got haircuts yesterday...




And yesterday was Big Gerard's birthday. Funny, I thought he turned 29 last year...

{leaving a comment}

For those of you who often comment on my blog (thanks Ma, Debbie, Patti, Arleen, Robyn....) I thought I'd point out that you will now need to complete a "word verification" step before you leave your comment. I've been getting spam comments that I have to delete, and this will help prevent these automated systems from commenting on the blog. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, but please don't stop leaving comments! I love it -- your comments make my day!!!!

{dust is settling}

Now that the dust has settled (literally) I thought I'd upload some pictures from our recent trek across New York State. Every moment was planned, so I apologize to our many friends in NY that we didn't get to see... Lynn, Laura, Steph, etc, etc....

This year we added a detour to the Poconos to meet up with Aldine and crew. They rent a house there for a week each summer and we spent two nights with them. We all had a great time swimming in the lake (not Aldine, though... too many fish....) and the pool and roasting marshmallows for s'mores. The house was great -- once the kids went to bed the grown-ups could hang out (if we had any energy left). Here are some of the highlights from the Poconos:

From the Poconos we headed up to Nani and Poppy's. Randy, Joann, Lauren and Jenny all came to see us, so that was a nice treat. Aunt Sada even came from Boston for a day. Morgan instantly felt comfortable with Nani and you could just see the love in her eyes. Here they are dancing:

From there we went to Grandma and Grandpa's new apartment. It's very cute and it looks just like their old house -- lots of bright colors -- only smaller and cozier. I think they're both enjoying it and I think Ma loves the fact that she doesn't have 4 bathrooms to clean!

By the time we got to Buffalo, though, I was so tired I barely remembered to take out my camera. Here are the few pictures I did take:

And to go back even farther, here are some pictures from before our vacation:

Gerard's last tee-ball game

Morgan's new kitchen (from Grandma and Grandpa for her birthday):