Joey and Mommy's Birthday

Joey is officially one year old! Joe and I have been thinking back on all the wonderful moments he brought into our lives and feel blessed to have such wonderful children.

Right now Joey is a little sponge, absorbing everything around him. He says Hi, Dada, Mama, "Ena" for Siena, "Good Girl" to Ruby, and "All done." Joey signs more and is starting to feed himself with a fork and spoon. His favorite songs are The Itsy Bitsy Spider and The Wheels on the Bus. Joey also LOVES to dance. He can stand alone without holding onto anything but will only take one or two steps before dropping back down to crawl. Our dear friends Beth and Cindy gave Joey a walker for his birthday and the little man has been on the go ever since. (Not only is the walker Joey's new favorite toy, but Siena's as well.) Joey has his one-year well child visit tomorrow, so we'll see how big he's grown. We are very proud of our happy little guy and love him so much!







The Chef and his assistant making a delicious fruit tart.


Joey's new walker. He moves all over the house with it but has yet to master turning.

Father's Day Weekend

Happy Father's Day to our Dads and Grandpas! We love you very much.

We actually made Father's Day a two-weekend event, since I bought the ingredients for Joe's favorite dinner last week by accident. (Joe asked me to thank you, Connie Burke, for sending your pork tenderloin recipe into our lives). Then on Saturday Joe was slightly taken aback by the 5 lb strawberry cream cake I made for him on the day BEFORE Father's Day:


But then he was happy to eat it after a swim in the lake.



On Saturday we also had some cables attached to our trees for hanging swings - two for the kids and a bench swing. Joe woke up early Sunday morning to make a wooden swing for Siena. Here she's trying it for the first time.



You can somewhat see the setup in this picture, although Joey's swing hasn't arrived yet. Apparently the cables hold up to 10,000 lbs...





Hiking to a little-known beach later in the day on Sunday:







SuperDad!

Wedding Recap

Over Memorial Day weekend we had a wonderful time at Bobby and Amanda's wedding in Baltimore. We arrived in the city about 7 minutes before the wedding rehearsal was scheduled to begin, checked into our hotel, hastily changed, and caught the shuttle to Pier V but still somehow managed to delay the rehearsal. Thank you for waiting for us! Traveling with kids can be unpredictable.

Waiting for the shuttle:

Arriving at Bobby and Amanda's rehearsal and seeing the happy couple for the first time:

On Sunday, the girls in the wedding party got ready together in a room at Pier V with mimosas and fruit first, then Maryland crabcakes later.

Here Teresa and Mom kept cracking up while Teresa did Mom'e eye makeup. I love you two!

Siena watching Amanda put on her veil:

Amanda was a stunningly gorgeous bride. She is placing the finishing touches on her hair - a jeweled, feathery headpiece!

The lovely Teresa en route to wedding pictures:

Sisters!!

Nana and Siena walking to take group pictures on one of the piers in Baltimore:

Emmett was traffic-stopping cute as the Ring Bearer in his five piece tuxedo:

Emmett spontaneously hugging a telephone pole:

After this we went to the wedding. I didn't take any pictures, but it was a beautiful outdoor ceremony in a garden overlooking the water. They had a string trio and the funniest little flower girl ever. Rather than throwing her flower petals, Siena walked up the aisle and saw that it was already carpeted with petals. She decided to pick up petals and stuff her basket with them, hoarding the petals rather than throwing them.

At the reception Grandpa Engle gave a wonderful blessing.

Proud parents!