Celebrating Seventy-Five

Blog posts have been a bit scarce this past week. Here's why:




Our family has been extremely distracted by all of the swimming, tubing, water skiing, and general partying going on at my Grandpa Wells's lake house in Vermont. (Okay, okay, much to my chagrin, pregnancy kept me away from the tubing and water skiing, but I still loved swimming and the Settler game tournaments.)

Grandpa's generally quiet home certainly buzzed this past week with a plethora of visitors. Here are a few of the favorites:

Zoe, our favorite (and oh-so-patient) pug. You should see Talia put her in a headlock just to secure a puppy kiss.

Zoe was accompanied by her parents, Aunt Callie and Uncle Adam, who traveled all the way from Puyallup, Washington for the occasion.

Here's my cousin Kathryn LaFroscia playing with Talia. She deserves multiple trophies and medals for cheerfully (and constantly) entertaining my girls all week long.)

And here we have my cousin Alex deep in conversation with his Dad, Uncle Bob.

Of course we can't forget my hard-working Aunt Alison whose thoughtful planning helped bring the whole week together.

From the Wells side of the family, we have my cousin Alesia, showing off her class ring to Alex. A recent high school graduate, Alesia will be venturing off to college soon. Congratulations!

And here is Alesia's brother, Gregory, having a great time following a swim with Talia.

This cute picture includes the two Katy cousins, with the closest being Katelyn Wells. The last smile belongs to Jeanette.

Here's another snapshot of Jeanette pushing Brooklyn on the swing.

While the Wells parents, Uncle Jay and Aunt Janet, may have escaped Jason's candid shots, we were still thrilled to see them. In fact, we were so glad to see them that Jason actually followed them home--literally. Instead of coming back with me to Illinois, Jason went to Long Island to spend the next two weeks working on some construction projects with them. While I miss my honey, I'm glad he's with such a great family.

Of course we can't forget NomiAnn, who traveled out with us from Omaha, Nebraska. Here she is, happy as ever with her granddaughter:

Papa Kay (who met us in Vermont after a conference in DC) spent some bonding time with his grand-pug.

Last but not least, here's the cause for all the festivities--Grandpa John Wells, who celebrated his 75th birthday.

Here's the birthday boy with his wife Elaine, who worked for months to make the day a great success.

As part of the celebration, we enjoyed a catered dinner and Grandpa's famous (infamous?) fireworks. As you can see, the food was great. (My mother may never forgive me for posting this...)

NomiAnn made the girls adorable matching dresses for the occasion.

Too cute!

All too soon, it was time to part our separate ways. Of course, we couldn't leave without the obligatory family photo. This picture cracks me up--girls, dogs, leashes and balloons flying every which way. Then there's me with a ginormous belly wondering: how did I ever get myself into this mess, and why am I doing it again?

This shot's better, except, wait, where did Talia's head go?

Third time's a charm.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!