The Birthday Boy!!!!

It's hard to believe but our grandson, Alan turned ONE on Father's Day, June 20th. He is getting so big and learning to do all kinds of things. His mommy says he loves to stand up on a chair at the sink and just play in the water. He also loves to be outside and play with the big kids in the courtyard out in front of his house. He is always looking for a new toy or thing to do....kind of the adventurous type. We are traveling to see him in a week and can hardly wait.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALAN!!!!!

Go Phillies!!!!....and Seneca LAX

Here are some of our pictures from various Phillies games this year. Steve got partial season tickets so we have been able to really enjoy a number of games at the ballpark....very fun!!! Love those Dollar Dog Nights!!

We have also been able to watch some great lacrosse games as Megan played on the JV team this year for Seneca High School. There were some intense serious moments and some....well.....some not so serious moments, too.

Go Seneca Golden Eagles!!!

Two Birthdays!!!!

We are now officially into the summer season and have recently celebrated two birthdays. Emily turned 19 on May 26th.....

and Nathan turned 13 on June 14th. Another teenager....hmmm

I realized that it was around Nate's birthday last year that we first began this blogging adventure. Pretty cool!!

We are so happy to have Emily home for the summer and are looking forward to a busy, happy summer with six of us at home again....... well........when we are actually all home. :)

A New Coat of Paint

It has been a long time since the main floor of our home and all the hallways and doors have been painted. We have done individual bedrooms from time to time and the kitchen and bathrooms have been remodeled within the last 10 years, but the main parts have not been painted since Emily was a toddler. She just turned 19!!! Needless to say, it was time to paint. We originally thought that we would have everything painted professionally. So we got several estimates, swallowed hard, and decided the bedrooms could wait (except our bedroom which was part of the original paint job) and that Emily and I would paint the trim and doors in all the rooms. It was a time consuming process, but we got it all done and then had the professionals come in and do the walls, complete with some repairs that needed doing to the drywall. The whole thing was quite the process, but in the end, it turned out beautifully. We are still deciding which things are coming back into the rooms and which are being "retired." It my take a while. Here are some of the during and after shots. Evan was the camera man.

The Dining Room

The Living Room

The Family Room

The Laundry Room

Our Head Painter, Mustafa, and his Dad

Great Job, Nate!!

We were very excited for Nate when he got into National Junior Honor Society. Unfortunately, it is tough to take good photos during the actual ceremony. He also did a great job at the end of the school year band concert. Here are a few photos of the two events.

Stake Prom 2010

May 8th was stake prom. This was Megan's first year going with a date. She went to the dance with a young man from our ward named Rob Calchera. As usual, trying to find a dress that is modest is always a challenge. This year we went to multiple stores and found nothing that Megan liked. We have pretty much given up on finding a dress with sleeves so now we just look for one that is long enough that we can put a little cardigan over. Well....nothing quite worked for Meg. We came home kind of dejected and Meg got on the computer. She started chatting online with a woman from a Chinese dress site about a dress she saw on line and the woman was telling us it would be here in four days. I told Meg that there was no way a dress could come from China in four days, but since the price was reasonable and we had about 10 days till the prom, we decided to go for it. Well, wouldn't you know it...four days later...a DHL truck pulls up and delivers this tiny little package. We opened it up, she tried it on, and it fit perfectly. THANK YOU CHINA!!!! I did have to hem it, but it was a small price (literally) to pay. Megan looked lovely for her prom.

Catch Up Time

Wow....it has been such a long time since I have posted. I guess that life just sometimes gets going so fast that we forget to take a minute and take a few notes. There have been some wonderful things happen in the last few months....here is a little bit about some of them.

While we were celebrating Easter here in New Jersey, Megan was visiting her sisters in Utah and having a wonderful time.....especially with baby Alan. She was also able to see some of her other friends from NJ and even went to some classes.

And Geoffrey was in Albania organizing a branch Easter party....

We also got the privilege of welcoming two special church guests in April and early May. Sister Julie B. Beck, Relief Society General President, came for a training to NYC. It was a wonderful meeting with many of our local RS presidencies making the trip up to New York. She was so personable and shared such wonderful insights and principles. A wonderful day! This is a photo of Sister Beck with my secretary Dalila Miller.

Elder Geoffrey Holland visited the Cherry Hill Stake and gave a special fireside on Mother's day. We were delighted to be able to serve a meal to he and Sister Holland before the fireside. Both of the Hollands spoke to us and what a spirit in that meeting. We did not try to take a photo of the Hollands, but I did snap a few of some of the views from that day. Our kitchen crew was phenomenal!! We had such a wonderful time.