Grant's First Football Season

Grant played Pop Warner--Tiny Mites/Celebration Storm tackle football this year with Daddy as his coach. Grant played defensive line and had a great season. We weren't sure how he would do with football because Grant can be a bit "dramatic" when he is hurt and we were worried how he would do with being tackled on a daily basis. Grant insisted on playing this year and while he did have a few "dramatic" episodes we quickly found out that he wasn't the only one...5-7 year olds really don't have a clue what they are in for with tackle football. Coach Jeff, also didn't anticipate what a challenge it would be to have 5-7 year olds understand football and to have them actually execute plays and pay attention!

With that being said , the Tiny Mites had a really good season(for Celebration) with 1 win 2 ties and 5 losses. They were the first celebration Tiny Mite team to ever win a game(this is only our second season in Celebration)

I think Grant actually had a good time playing football but has stated he thinks he'll "take a year off" and then play again! Until next year!!!

Punxy Summer

We had 2 trips this summer to visit the Pifer farm in Punxsutawney, PA. It was relaxing and so fun to be able to "play" at the farm. Joe and Rhonda are great hosts and we love staying at the farmhouse and visiting everyone in Punxy. This year one of our trips to the farm was for a very special occasion...Jeff's second cousin Sarah was getting married. She had a beautiful wedding in the family church and all of the relatives were there. Congrats Sarah and Ryan!

We even got to see Pittsburgh for a few days since we flew in and out of there for Sarah's wedding. The boys loved seeing the city and exploring the children's Museum there and also going to a Pirates baseball game.(they actually won the game we were at!!)

The farm was as charming as ever and we all enjoyed the sights and sounds of the farm. The animals are all so cute and gentil, the blueberries were bigger than ever, the coke oven hike was exilerating and Rhonda's home cooking was outstanding as always. We miss it already....

July 4th Disney Cruise

We decided this year to do annother Disney Cruise with our family since we had such a good time the last cruise we all took with Disney together. It proved to be a bit of a challence with a 7 month old sleeping in a cruise boat cabin but somehow we all survived and had a fun trip in spite of it. Everybody chipped in and helped with Rhett and the boys to make it a little easier on our family!

The scenery was georgous and we really loved being together again on vacation. Can't wait for next summer family trip :)

Pig in the Woods 2009

Another year of Red Run mountain and Pig in the Woods is behind us. The usual crowd gathered for our annual event and as usual we had a BLAST!! We did have special visitors this year Keith and Beth, who were part of our original crowd and Chrissy who volunteered to babysit Rhett in place of Susan this year. It was great to have them with us again.

The weather was just as good as it was for Piggies this year--wet, wet, wet! Of course that did not stop us from having fun--even Rhett made the trip this year and was a real trooper while Mommy lived it up a little! (thanks to cousin Chrissy for babysitting)

This years trophy winners were: Chris Licopoli- Skeet & Meat Champion and Jackie Smith for All Around Best Camper &Party Champion. We can't wait to see what(and who) next year brings :)

Until we meet again gang!

Piggies in the Woods 2009

Piggies in the Woods took place again this summer and we had more attendance than ever! It was a great time but the weather wasn't so cooperative this year. It was cold, wet and rainy the ENTIRE weekend but as you can see we all still had fun especially the kids.

Thanks to the Stone's, the Licolopi's, the Smiths, the Morris's and the Guinan's for making the trip and putting up with all of the MUD! See you again next year--keep your fingers crossed for better weather in 2010!!

15 Year Anniversary

Jeff and I celebrated our 15 year Anniversary on July 16 this year-- fittingly in Pennsylvania. I surprised Jeff with a small get together with family and friends in Jeff's Mom's backyard. I also surprised him with the accoustic guitar player that we had play the night of our rehersal party for our wedding. It was very sentimental to us both to have Duane Slaymaker there and many of the family and friends that were at our rehersal and wedding 15 years ago!

Here's to many more honey!!

Brothers helping out!

Owen and Grant were so excited for Rhett to "finally eat" food and they have asked to help feed him. They both actually do a really great job and Rhett enjoys being entertained by his older brothers while he is eating. It makes my heart sing to see them lovingeach other so much!

Food?

Rhett is 5 months old now and has had the okay by the doctor to start solid stage 1 babyfood. We tried rice cereal for about 5 days and moved on to veggies. His first try was green beans--you can see from the photo how much he liked it!

Superbaby!

Here is a typical pose for Rhett at 4 months old--on his tummy appearing to fly. He loves to "play " on the floor and likes to have his arms and legs out like he is flying! It is sooo cute!

Sanibel April 2009

 

We spent another great year in our favorite vacation spot--Sanibel island.  I think the pictures speak for themselves!  Thanks everyone for another enjoyable time! 

Rhett at 3 months

Rhett at 3 months in his favorite seat with his favorite toy!

More Family visits!

 March was a busy month for us this year with my parents visiting, my brother Adam and my Aunt Donna and Uncle Dave.  We loved having all of them and we hope they all visit again soon.  Here are some pictures from their visits!

Owen's First year playing Minors---2009

 

Owen is playing for the "Mets" this spring ball season in Celebrations' minors league.  It has proved to be a step up and a big change from last season in the machine pitch division.  This division the boys pitch to each other and that has made a big difference in how the game is played.  Owen has become a pretty decent catcher which is a key spot in this league where stealing bases is the name of the game.  Owen hasn't had many good pitches this season and has been walked almost every time he is at bat.  This is a big change for Owen who had a great hitting streak in Machine pitch last season with about 8 home runs!  Owen has also tried his hand at pitching and really seemed to like it so far.  He needs some practice with pitching but as we all know Owen will give it 110% and try is best to perfect his technique.  Way to go Owen!

Baseball Season Spring 2009

 

This is Grant's final season in T-ball this year.  He played for the "Raptors" this year with all of his little buddies and with Daddy as an assistant coach.  This season was all about having fun and confidence building.  Grant has improved immensely from last season and has shown that he is ready to move up next spring to play machine pitch baseball.  Grant was a great hitter this year and also perfected his fielding this season.  He showed some leadership and really seemed to enjoy the game.  Go Grantie!!!

Christmas in March 2009!

Pappa Joe and Anna came for their annual "Christmas" visit this year in March. We celebrated it a bit late because it was quite a busy end of 2008 for both of our families. We decided that March just fit this year for all of us.

It was lovely to have them here to exchange gifts, go to baseball games, go out to dinner and for them to meet Rhett for the first time. We loved having them here and we can't wait to see them again!

Upward Basketball Season 2009

 

This was Owen's second year playing basketball of the Upward program and Grant's first.  They has a great year learning and playing.  Owen continued to get better this season while Grant did his best to figure the game out!  It was great fun watching them and Daddy had fun coaching Owen's team again! 

Another great photo!

One more good photo just because...Rhett is 2 1/2 months in this shot!

Rhett 2 months

I just love this photo and wanted to post it! Rhett was in our bed hanging out for the morning when it was taken.

Someone turns the big 4-0!

Clayton, Chris, Jeff, Joe,and Michael after they surprised Jeff with a visit the weekend of February 6th 2009(Scott Johnson is missing from the picture but he came too but arrived a little later)



Charlie's Steakhouse for dinner on Jeff's birthday 2/11/.



Owen and Grant Celebrating with their Dad.


Jeff's 40th Birthday had many parts which took a lot of planning on my part and many other people who love him. Thanks to everyone who was involved...you know who you are!!!

The first big event was that Jeff's great group of friends from college arranged to all fly to FL from different parts of the US. Jeff had no idea that they were coming for the weekend and they all surprised Jeff outside by the car and scared the pants off of him!!! From there all of his friends from Celebration met over at our house that night and went on a "monster bus" ride in the woods and after had a big bonfire. They all seemed to have a manly good time and there were many stories to be told once they arrived back home. Next, the college buddies and Jeff took off the next morning for Tampa for a morning of boating and celebrating "Gasparilla" in Tampa. This is a yearly event where pirates "invade" the city of Tampa and there is a lot of partying and celebrating going on(a perfect place for these guys right?) The guys returned Sunday to Celebration for a evening of poker with the Celebration crowd again. Overall it was a great time had by all and if you would like more details you will have to convince Jeff to tell you! The guys don't have any pictures from this weekend--wonder why?!

On Jeff's actual birthday he wanted the whole family to get dressed up and go out to Charlie's Steakhouse for dinner. We had a nice time there and that is when Jeff got his "big" gift for his birthday. He was told he would be going to Chile on a fly fishing trip with his friend Michael at the end of March. He was surprised and estatic! It was a great birthday of Jeff and we hope he knows how much he is loved!

Pinewood Derby 2009

Daddy working on getting the car just right!



Owen's car is the green "gator" of course! The "Green Machine"



Ryan, Justin, Owen and John watch as the cars race.

Cub Scouts hosted the annual Pinewood Derby this January and what a cool event it was. This was our first year participating in the event and the whole family got involved and had such fun.

Jeff had the most fun I think...he designed and built the car and got pretty excited about it. Owen helped a lot with painting and assembling the car which turned out pretty cool looking. Our car didn't win the race but it didn't do too bad either. Overall it was a great experience for all of the boys in our den and for our family as well!

Look Mom no training wheels!

It's been a long time since I have posted and there is lots to catch up on so I will try and just hit the highlights! One of those highlights was that on 1/4/09 Grant learned to ride his bike without training wheels. Here is one of the video clips from that day. He learned it on the first try and has not looked back!!!

Go Gators!

Rhett's first Gator gear!  We're all cheering on our beloved Gators to hopefully a National Championship!Gooooo  Gators!!!!

Rhett is 5 weeks old and is now 11 pounds 6 oz. and now 22  3/4 inches long!  A future Gator football player for sure!

New Year's day party at the Zollinger's

The host's Rob & Terri

Men planted in front of the TV's.

Kids playing flag football.

Adults conversing and eating...an all day activity!

Our friends Rob and Terri Zollinger have an annual New Years Day party where they open up their house and let practically the whole community in to celebrate the new year.  They have tons of food and the kids ride bikes and scooters, play football, play Wii and just plain have a good time. The adults stuff themselves, watch football all day and enjoy each others company! It is a really fun time and we look forward to their party all year! Here are some pictures...enjoy!  Thanks Rob and Terri!!!

New Year's 2009

Grant did not "see" 2009!

Owen barely hanging on for 2009!!

Happy New Year!  We had a quiet New Year's Eve at home this year where we made homemade pizza and we let the boys try and stay up late to ring in 2009.  Grant made it to about 10:30 PM before he fell asleep and Owen hung on to see the ball drop on Times Square and then they both promptly went to bed! 

Here's to a happy and healthy 2009!

Merry Christmas 2008

Family dinner out post stomach virus!

Grant's Christmas gift to Mommy & Daddy!

Rhett dressed for the occasion!

One of our Christmas trees Owen and Grant helped decorate.

This was one busy Christmas season this year and as a result very few pictures were taken by Mommy.  Daddy did a good job of taking video but Mommy was preoccupied this year(wonder why?) As a result these are the best pictures I got this year.

Jeff's sister and her family and Jeff's mother and her husband Tom came to celebrate Christmas in FL this year with us.  It was nice to have family in town but we were plagued by a powerful stomach virus that downed 8 out 12 of us this year.  Luckily Rhett and myself were spared or else I think Rhett would have spent his first Christmas in the hospital.  It was one nasty virus but fortunately everyone seemed okay after 24 hours.  We did manage to have a sick free Christmas Day but Christmas dinner just wasn't the same...needless to say we had lots of leftovers!!