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Birthday Party At Michelle and Jim's House

My brother, Gerry~

Nana admired the beauty of Laura's scarf and mentioned that she would love a scarf like this herself! It was then that Laura reminded her that Nana was the one that had in fact given the scarf to her. She concluded that she simply had good taste.

Laura watches baby Oliver toddle around like he just finished a long horse ride. Burt's comment was that Oliver's walk reminded him of how he looked during his salsa lesson that morning. He was right.

Emily and Oliver~

Ryan tries to make it up to Quinn after going too far during a squirt gun fight and making Quinn cry. Do boys ever grow up? I did punish him, Quinn.

Katrina, Laura and Joan in the background~

Uncle Ed had the knack to make Eric laugh. Ed did not always possess this talent.

My nephew Jamie and his wife Rachel were there with their baby , Eric.





My brother Rick (my parent's favorite) and his wife katrina were here from St. Pete's. Rick is holding his first grandson, Eric.

Laura and Marissa

This photo was taken shortly after Laura gave Marissa, Burt and myself a Salsa lesson. Let's just say Marissa caught on very quickly.

Northampton

We went out to Northampton for the afternoon to see Marissa in an end of her two week camp performance. The show was terrific and full of talent. Marissa has a beautiful voice. After the show, Laura was able to meet up with her very good friend, Laura C. (otherwise known as my other daughter Laura) Although the time together was very BRIEF... it was ,as always, so much fun! The fascinating thing about the visit was that Laura C. (who happens to be a Doctor) Got us lost for the SECOND time in her very own current home town ! The best part was...we were driving her two blocks to her house;)

Precious Time Together

Kate and I.. in Rockport

Laura, Katelyn, Melissa, Ryan and Burt after dinner.

We are just missing Marissa.

Hmm. What are Laura and Ollie looking at???

I'm sure that this entry will not be appreciated by some.. but it brought back sweet memories for me to find my girls downstairs quietly talking after giving themselves pedicures.

Kate and Laura~

Katelyn with a beautiful sky in Rockport

Katelyn, Nana, Burt and Ryan after our Japanese/Korean fusion dinner. NEVER give Nana chopsticks.
So...Katelyn started off today for Wisconsin, and Laura is in Connecticut for a friend's wedding and then will soon be heading back to France to finish her Doctorate. I treasure every moment with these guys. Even the moments that are a bit "trying". Like when someone goes thirty or forty seconds beyond meal time. I won't mention any names...K.

Some hang'n around photos...

Marissa, Burt and Ollie at Delaney ...our favorite walking spot. In Ollie's case ...it's his favorite running (freakishly fast) and swimming spot.

Note Marissa sporting her new contacts!
Marissa drives the car for the first time! In a REALLY big parking lot! Thank God. (she actually did very well)

We had a picnic at Halibut State park..

Look carefully at photo above..check out Ollie's pose.Relaxing..

Not relaxing..

This is actually from the beginning of the month. I just love the T-shirt and bottle of Mikes.

For my Mom...

My 86 year old Mom recently looked at our blog ( from her laptop at her home in Needham mind you) and complimented me on what a fantastic job I'd done and said how much she enjoyed looking through all of the pictures. However , she said she couldn't help but notice that there were no photos of her. It seems the woman was quite right. It was purely an oversight I reassured her. I have posted these photos to rectify the situation immediately. Sorry Mom!!!

Katelyn's four legged nemesis.

Ollie sensed that katelyn did not want to have him in close proximity to her, and followed her every move with great interest. He made unusual vocalizations to her. He has never experienced utter rejection before.
I'm wondering how I could have produced a child that isn't a dog person. Mix up in the hospital? Hmm.
Anyway, Katelyn is off for a month long residency in Vermont , returning in July for a longer stay. Tom graduated in May and is off to LA to begin his new job.
They will see each other every six weeks or so until Kate finishes her MFA next May, and joins him on the West Coast.

Marissa's 8th Grade Graduation

Each student shared some memories.

Pretty much all of the kids were in tears. Many of them are going off to different schools .

Each graduate was presented with a cake baked for them by a 7th grader and their family.

The sign of a great guy!

This is the first time that a man has EVER baked a cake for me. I was so impressed that I thought I should take a picture and hang on to this memory. Also, I thought this needed to be shared.(not the cake just the photo) It's dark chocolate with caramel frosting. Life is good! Sorry Kate...I can't send some to you.

Where was the male stripper??

These are some of the craftiest people ever created. Look at them. They look pretty innocent, right? Not.They plan and scheme right under your nose, they work in total darkness ( apparently), they LURE you in under false pretenses...a flood downstairs??? Really.
And, they all somehow knew where to buy the most shocking/tacky items that I have ever seen!! (they were great;)
This was actually the most fun evening I've had in a long time. I feel so lucky to work with and know these guys!!!

Fenway Park ..13 to 4 Boston!

Burt has a brush with fame. Look ..he's standing right behind Schilling and Trot!!!! What are the chances of that! Even more exciting, Nixon doesn't even play for us anymore. Wow.
Papelbon winds up. Not sure what Youkilis is doing.

Manny on first and Ortiz on second . Hence the binoculars.

We were incredible dorks. Burt in his Daisuke Tee shirt and me in my Sox sweat shirt, small radio tuned to the game in Burt's pocket and we split the earphones. Best of all, our small binoculars focused in on the players. It all felt very normal while in the park. After getting back to the suburbs on the T and going into a restaurant for dinner...suddenly the clothing and gear felt oddly out of place.

Another Birthday Bash

Joan celebrates another birthday surrounded by her favorite people, her grandchildren. Note the candle placement.

Christopher made this pillow for Joan on a loom at his school. Pretty cool.