New Year's

We usually go down to the family beach house around New Year's to celebrate Steven's dad's birthday. The images of the birthday boy were all on video, but we did have a fun time with cousins! The big kids stayed overnight while Steven and I took the babies to a nearby hotel. It was fun to have a little getaway to the beach!

Uncle Thomas and Thomas

Always lots of puzzles and board games

The three 7th grade cousins. All pretty close in height!

And NYE we spent with some friends

Beach July 2017

We spent a couple nights at the family beach house in July. We brought along the two K girls and had some friends come down one of the days to hang out on the beach with us. It was just the refreshing time we desired in the middle of our summer break! And it was fun to share the day with 3 other families, one whose young children had never been to the beach before!

iPhone pics...

A Birthday to Remember

It was about six weeks after his actual birthday, because we had to wait for a weekend with the family beach house and next-door beach house available. But it was worth the wait for a gorgeous weekend with wonderful weather spent with some good friends celebrating an awesome guy! Here are some snapshots of the weekend from my phone...

We started off the trip on Friday afternoon with a stop at a hole in the wall burger joint on the side of the tollway! Food was not great, but the ice cream and soft ice were yummy (I always have ice cravings in the 3rd trimester).

Finally we arrived and I took a spot on the couch as the others unloaded.

The kids didn't waste any time getting down to the beach!

The moon in a pretty rainbow sky

Tent set up and kids busy again on day 2!

Boys and balls

Girls and floats

Beach bum baby

Fun times playing games

The Game of Life is always a favorite!

Steven really wanted a weekend of seafood. He made a fancy dinner with tuna steak and salmon for everyone on Friday (except his poorly-feeling wife who was in bed and also doesn't care for seafood).

The 2nd night he planned a big crab and shrimp boil. It was a lot of work for him pulling together all the ingredients and figuring out how to cook and serve it!

Pouring it into a cooler...

Then onto the table...

Success!

Time to pray

And time to eat!

The night wouldn't be complete without a bonfire!

And after awhile, once everyone was so full of food and the kids had some ice cream, they transferred the fire down to the beach where the kids had dug a fire pit, and everyone prayed a rosary on the beach together (while I prayed one back at the house).

One of the special parts of the weekend was the gift of a poem that our friend Kiernan wrote for Steven. Here's a picture of it:

My favorite stanza:

"You could rest easier my friend,

If you saw in yourself what I see:

Your heart deep-rooted, your life bent

Close over the waters of eternity."

May our lives always be bent close over those eternal waters. Thank you, Kiernan.

And thank you, Steven, for being an honorable husband, father, and friend. It is obvious that we all admire you and are grateful for the man that you are.

HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY!!!