Six is Sweet

this year for gianna's birthday, we decided to take a girls' trip instead of having a party! 

we hit the road on a friday afternoon, after celebrating at home with the boys, and with mimi and aunt maddy at school. 

after getting the little girls settled in bed for the night, colleen and i headed outside in our pajamas to gather the party supplies from the car! 

we filled balloons and set out the presents.

someone was super happy in the morning to wake up to a fun surprise😍

on her special day, we took the girls to build a bear to pick out an animal and an outfit...so fun!

that evening, we celebrated in the hotel with cupcakes😊

and after a long day of fun, my little six year old was lights out!

i love all these girls, from the ones who raised me, to the ones standing beside me as we raise our daughters, down to the little ladies who are growing before our eyes...i'm so blessed to have such great girls in my life!

Sami Gets Hitched

over labor day weekend, my cousin sami, got married.  we drove up to go to the wedding and it was nice to have some time with my family since we didn't go up for a family vacation this summer.

isn't cj the cutest?

look at her, so beautiful!

roman stood most of the time so he could see.  he was very interested in the wedding and what was happening at each stage. 

they did it, they are married!

the decorations were absolutely beautiful!

oops, caught her eating!

the cake was gorgeous and josh made the cake stand.  it was huge and also so beautiful!

this picture is SO sami-doo💟

all of mommom's grandkiddos. 

silly girls

we are a mess...but we had a great time!

{Going Home}

last weekend, gianna and i headed home to maryland with sunny and jj for sami's bridal shower.  girls trip!

it didn't take too long for the girls to zonk out!

when i see the bay bridge, i feel like i am home.   this is the gateway to the eastern shore of maryland, where i consider {home}. 

sami looked beautiful on her special day and so did blaire and aunt joyce.  pretty girls.

these cousins had a blast playing together during the shower.

"Families are like branches on a tree.  Our branches grow in different directions, yet our roots remain as one."

I love these girls so much.  There are years and distance between us, but we are always home when we are together. 

mommom and poppop are opening a new antique store soon, so we went to go see where it will be.

gianna made herself right at home. 

the business owners!

we had lots of time with the girls and they play so well together. 

doesn't my hair look great?

everybody got into a really intense game of "pass the balloon". 😂

this is the view from mommom and poppop's front door.  a nest of baby birds on the porch and the cows across the road. 

after a long day in the car, we were finally happy to be {home}. 

40

i can't say i was looking forward to my fortieth birthday, other than hanging out with my family of four.  for some reason, that number was just a hard pill to swallow.  

however, if i had known what i was in store for, i probably wouldn't have been so anxious about it.  toby planned a party and my family drove down to surprise me!  as you can see, i was not at all prepared and totally caught off guard.  but, that part doesn't really matter at all...look at all my family!  i am so completely blessed with people that i love and that love me too!

the best part was getting these 3 stooges back together!

oh, sorry.  4 stooges.

we decided to have a sleepover with lilah and ady. 

it was gianna's first sleepover.  she's been begging to have one, and i'm so glad her first one was with her cousins. 

a little fun out in the sun

i was sad to see them go, but so happy they came to visit. 

the boys had practice on the evening of my birthday, so gianna took me out to dinner at olive garden. 

love this sweet thing!