Visitors from Alabama

Cousins Travis and Dawn came up from Alabama for a holiday visit with their daughters. Nick and Melissa threw a wonderful spur of the moment gathering. Mom, Dad, Teddy, Aunt Lynne, Uncle Don, Amanda, Jake and I all got to meet the girls for the first time. What a couple of dolls!

Elise and Mary
Party!
Travis and Dawn
Dawn, Travis, Nick and Melissa
Amanda, Jake, Nick and Travis
Amanda with the girls.
The chef (with instructions from Melissa, who had to work) did a wonderful job with the meal.
Note * The smoke detectors all are working fine. :)

Dancing with Daddy
Thanks for the nice dinner Nick and Melissa!
It was great to visit with you, and meet your daughters, Travis and Dawn!

Christmas Morning...

Christmas Day, Steph and I celebrated with our kids, dogs and Jake's girlfriend.

Amanda opening a present.
Jake and Mandy in front of the tree.
Jake opening a present.
Steph, Rocky and Sadie.
Jake and Hannah.

Christmas at Candy's

On the 24th, Amanda and I drove up to Wausau for the day. We left at about 10 in the morning and got back home at about midnight. Jake had to work so we left him behind...

Photos from Candy's house...

Luke and the Mrs.
Craig and the future Mrs.
Card Shark...
Cool Hat T-Bear !
Me, Panda, and my nephews.
Mommy and Daddy
The Sheepshead game...
a little wrestling match...
Sis, her Hubby and their grandkids.
Amanda, Luke, and Craig

Another Barn Burner

Another game went into overtime today....this time we lost.

Bummer.

The teams were very evenly matched. Here's Amanda on Defense.
Coming out of the game.
The final score.

Family Party

Just a few photos from the party tonight.....

Amanda and Nana & Grandpa
Silly with Aunt Candy & Uncle Robert
The messy hair look with Kelly.
With Mimi (Grandma Zilli) and Florence (Steph's godmother)
The birthday girl. New hair-do by cousin Melissa.
The cake - Dairy Queen frozen - Yummy.
Nana painted a special portrait of Amanda at age 4. Picasso lives!
More goofy faces.......

Happy Birthday Princess!

Today was Amanda's 15th birthday. It was quite a crazy day for her and didn't really seem like a "birthday". She was up studying by 6 this morning. Out the door by 7. She had 3 tests and a full day of school.

After school she went straight to basketball practice until 5. The practice was followed by a pasta party. I picked her up from there and took her home for a quick change and we were off to Steph's house for the "family" birthday party. This ran until about 8 and then she was home long enough to pack her bags for a birthday party sleepover that she had been invited to attend. Out the door again.....

I'll pick her up bright and early in the morning for her basketball game. Yikes!

Age 14 and 9 months
Age 13
Age 5
Age 7

Age 2 and 8 months
Age 4
Age 3
Age 10

Happy 15th Birthday Princess!

Birthday Bash

Amanda and her friend Kendall have birthdays coming up this Friday and Saturday. This was the big "friends" party that took place here on Saturday night.

I went down into the basement with my camera to sneek a few photos and this was my first shot. Boys will be boys. Yes, they found the kids' old Duplo blocks and were building stuff.
Most of the kids were just "hanging" with their friends.
Video games, and the drums were also a hit.
The ping pong players pose. *Notice the girl stopping to get a text phone message while I'm taking the photo.
Jocelyn with my security team. Jake had to work, but his friends were my security people.
They did a great job of keeping the party under control and making sure that everyone behaved. Amanda went to a party earlier this year where someone brought booze in. Yes, most guests are not yet 15 years old and I already have to worry about this type of stuff. We also had 2 party crashers.

The shoe count was up there......
Kendall's Mom brought over a chocolate fountain. It was a huge hit with everyone.

Strawberries were the most popular dipping item. We also had subs from Cousins instead of the traditional pizza.
The birthday girls....