C by the Sea

Birthday dinner.

Meal prep for the delicious dinner Heath prepared for us all in celebration of David's birthday today. Great job, Heath!

Boot Camp, here he comes! 9.20.2011

Today the much anticipated, more than a little dreaded, day arrived. Sean left for Basic Training at Ft. Jackson, SC. He will be there for 9 weeks and then will head off to Ft. Eustis, VA  for helicopter repair school for 15 weeks. He decided to join the National Guard back in April and was able to plan his departure for after the summer. He spent a lot of time with his family, avoided the hot summer in SC and now it was time to "get the show on the road!" ;)

Always lots of last minute details to take care of.

 

Proud father and brother.

 

And, of course, very proud mother!

 

No caption necessary.

 

It would have been nice to have Reed here for pictures, but he was in school. Ultimately, I think that was for the best for both him and Sean. 

 

Race, however, was home from school in time to be there when Sean left. But, being only 2 1/2, it was just another day to him. He provided the comic relief. ;)

 

Instead of "High Fives" with his hand, Race decided to use his foot. ;)

 

Sean is going to miss his little guys so very much. 

 

Time to say goodbye.  (Love Race's little hand peeking out from between them.)

 

"They also serve who stand and wait." (And, Lisha herself serves as a member of the Air National Guard. They are a real military family now!)

 

Godspeed, Sean. Stay safe, try to have fun ;), keep learning and always remember your family loves you and we are all very proud of you. We've got your back, son!

 

Family Day at the ANG

Lisha invited us all to come out to the base on Sunday for the Guard's annual Family Day. The boys always have a good time with the different activities and the weather was beautiful, so we had a great time.

There was a giant bouncy slide (which makes me so nervous, I can't watch the kids on it). 

 

And, of course there was the bouncy house that they all love. There was also a bouncy jousting platform that was way too hard for the little guys to do.

 

Jenn wasn't feeling too well, but Heath brought Caleb and Joshua out.

 

A very popular booth was the Home Depot one. The kids were all given little work aprons and could pick a project to make. They all seemed to really enjoy it.

 

Race had this cute little hat with fake hair...

and all the kids thought David should try it on since "Poppy has no hair!" 

 

Discussing important matters.

 

Caleb was so sweet offering some of his popcorn to everyone.

 

David spent the longest time trying to get Race to look at the camera, but to no avail. I think the sun was too bright for the little guy, even with two hats and sunglasses!

 

Whenever Joshua is in a place with lots of people, he turns into a silent observer, studying everything around him very carefully. Quite different from his usual outgoing self. ;)

 

Lisha made sure she was the highest bidder, winning the right to throw a whipped cream pie into the face of her commanding officer. ;)

All in good fun, right, Sir? Sir??

 

When we all sat down to grab a bite to eat, I attempted the impossible by uttering, "You boys all get together and smile. I want to take a picture of you."

Another full and fun day. Then, we all headed to our house for birthday cake and to sing "Happy Birthday" to Heath ;)

(Carolyn and Rachael were there also, but sadly I didn't get any pictures of them. But, I'm pretty sure they had a good time, too!)

Happy Birthday, Heath!

Happy Birthday to our "little" boy! May the coming year bring you and your precious family health, happiness and all good things. We love you, Heath and thank God every day for sending you to us. We are so very blessed by you, Jenn and the boys!

Easter Egg Hunt

On the Saturday before Easter, Lisha invited a few little ones over to her house for brunch and an Easter Egg hunt. It was a rainy, windy day and a few weren't able to attend, but the rest of us had a great time! It was fun visiting with each other and watching the kids get into the whole "looking for eggs" thing. Thanks, Lisha for having us over!

(All the pictures can be seen here or here.)

Sean's birthday celebration

For Sean's birthday we went to Dave and Buster's. We had way too much food and everyone had a lot of fun playing in the game arcade. I took a bunch of pictures and even after weeding through them, there are too many to post here. Soooo, check them out here.

Christmas morning ... 2008

In a bold, yet somewhat sad display of how far behind I am, here are a few shots from Christmas morning. We headed over to Sean and Lisha's for breakfast, pleasant conversation and fun entertainment (compliments of Reed). Then, we motored up to Heath and Jenn's to see what Santa had brought Caleb and Joshua (and more fun entertainment, of course!). I brought my laptop along so we could video chat with Planet Mancuso, but no one had internet access that morning. Of course! :( 

As you can see, some family members are easier to photograph then others...

Christmas Eve morning

This year we decided to have our Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve morning. After a nice breakfast, we commenced with the opening of gifts. We had lots of fun watching the little boys, each with their own unwrapping style! Wonderful presents were exchanged all around and then we made our vain attempt at a group photo. Check HERE for all the pictures of the festivities.

Scenes from Thanksgiving

We had a great time at Sean and Lisha's on Thanksgiving. Here are a few shots from the day...

I love that Caleb had no problem sitting at the table with all these adults that he doesn't really know to enjoy some of Lisha's stromboli with them.

Lisha putting the finishing touches on some of the food. 

Reed wanted to play the guitar for us, but sadly the batteries didn't work. 

There were 4 little boys at the party -- Joshua and these three. Reed, Caleb and Aidan (the son of Sean and Lisha's friend, Jen) were all about the same age and got along so well together.

Reed takes a little break -- in the middle of the kitchen floor, of course!

Have I mentioned the family's "Goofy" gene?

Caleb announced that he needed a tiny nap. Believe me, it was tiny alright. 

"I think he's saying something. If I only knew what."

Not even 5 months old yet and Joshua is already sitting up by himself!

More "Goofy" gene evidence. Poor Joshua looks a bit worried, doesn't he?

A few of us wandered up to the beach to watch the sun go down and were treated to this spectacular sight. Truly one of the most amazing sunsets I've seen. A perfect way to end our wonderful day of giving thanks!

Dedicating Joshua

Yesterday was a very special day for our family. It was Joshua's Dedication day. Tom and Sherry graciously opened their home -- better known as Party Central -- to us for the service and the festivities and we had a wonderful time. Surrounded by loving family and friends, Pastor Sue dedicated our newest little family member to the Lord in a very personal and touching service. It was so intimate and special for us all to be there together, sharing in this very wonderful moment of Joshua's life. God has given us an amazing blessing by bringing Joshua into our lives and making our very awesome family even more awesome!

Here are a few pictures, with more to follow!

Joshua's yummy cake.

Caleb was kept occupied with my iPhone and some of the games and music on it. We were periodically treated to various tunes throughout the service, including Dan Zanes and even some 1940s Big Band stuff!

 

Joshua being held by Pastor Sue.

 

Pastor Sue and her husband, Al, pray over Joshua and his whole family. (Doesn't Joshua look like he's pleading with his father to get him outta here? ;))