Denise and Mike get Married!!!

Introducing Mr. Mike Brennan and Dr. Denise Kall.
The happy couple!

We were so excited and honored to be invited in the celebration.

This is DISCO GRANDMA!!!

I swear everyone
wanted to adopt
this groovy grandma!!!

She was pulling people
out of their seats
to come on the dance floor.

She didn't hit a chair
from the first dance onward.
She was amazing!!!!

We spent a lot of our quick visit with Brian and Jill Brockway.

Both of our kids love Jill and Brian and they helped me with the 2 a lot!

Who says he doesn't do well with babies?
Fin looks quite content!
And the happy couple married almost 4 years now!

Ella did not stop all night long!!!
She was moving and groovin'.
She twisted and turned
on the floor with many people.
Her sassy style had people
laughing and smiling
throughout the festivities.

How can you not love that squished puckered face?
Ella was putting the moves on Brennan the entire night!


She moved closer and closer,
until she planted those lips right on
the poor (or in my opinion lucky) boy!
It was really cute!


Yes, we will have our hands full
in the teenage years if this
is merely a hint of her future habits.

Ella the Fairy

Our visit with Grandma Engelhart

These are some of the photos from visiting family in York. Hope you enjoy!

The End of a Fantastic Weekend

Hailey eating chocolate sorbet.

Ella and Sable playing.

Grandpa Salerno holding a sleeping Fin.

Ella kissing daddy.

Ella and Grandma Salerno looking at the birds.

Fin smiling on the bed.

Grandma and Grandpa Salerno with the Grandkids.

A beautiful Savannah Sunset!

Grandma and Grandpa's Party in Savannah

Grandpa and Grandma Jenkins

Grandma and Grandpa Jenkins joined by Uncle Ray and Aunt Jean.

The Hannans and Jenkins

Fin flirting with Aunt Diane.

Uncle Ray an Aunt Jean

Ella looking at River Street below.

Linda holding Fin.

Fin cuddling with his froggy at the end of the night.

A happy day and fun party.

Tybee Island Beach photos

Ella and daddy in water.

Fin touching sand for the first time.

The Hannans (Mike's sister's family)

Christabella, our newest niece.

Uncle Adam (Mike's Brother) and Fin in the waves.

Ella playing with the sand texture.

Dance! Dance! Dance!

Fin smiling at Daddy.

The cousins, Hailey and Ella playing in the sand.


We had a great time at the beach. It was wonderful seeing some sand and sun, but it was even better just to be spending time with family.

Now that I have had a month to recover...

Ok, Back to the blog! Sorry about my hiatus. Let's chalk it up to summer and start again...

Here we go with a vengeance...

Home again, Home again

Well our whirlwind trip back east is now over...

We loved seeing all the family and friends as we crammed a summers worth of travel into 12 days. There is the recap, with photos to follow...
Day 1: BWI to Alexandria, VA
A nice time to refamiliarize Ella with Adam and Sarah and an introduction to beautiful Sable.
Day 2: Alexandria, VA to Savannah, GA
A long drive that was a nice time for Mike and I to catch up since we had been missing each other with schedules the past couple weeks. We ended with a nice dinner with Adam and Sarah at Paula Deen's restaurant.
Day 3: Savannah/Tybee Island, GA
BEACH DAY, and Grandma and Grandpa's party. We loved seeing them and all the cousins! SO much fun!
Day 4: Savannah, GA
Time to explore Savannah with family...
Day 5: Savannah, GA to Alexandria, VA
Breakfast with Linda and Mike then on the road. A wonderfully relaxing evening with Adam and Sarah.
Day 6: Alexandria, Va to York, PA (Mike flew home)
After a tough daddy dropoff, we were on our way to York to see my mom. After she got home from work we got to see her. Well worth the wait!
Day 7: York, PA
A lazy day at home, we did go in and have lunch with Grandma at school. After school, Renate and Kathy got haircuts!
Day 8: York, PA
The kids were not feeling so hot after all the exhaustive travel, so we had a quiet day at home. Gladys, a family friend, came to see the kids. When my mom got home from work, we had Sally and Didi over for dinner. It was wonderful!
Day 9: York, PA to Alexandria, VA
After work, my mom drove with us to Adam and Sarah's to spend the night. We had a nice dinner with them and Sarah's brother, Mike.
Day 10: Alexandria, VA to Raleigh, NC
Off to the wedding, we got there just in time to change and get on the shuttle. A beautiful ceremony, couple and reception. Ella is a dancing queen!
Day 11: Raleigh, NC to Gaithersburg, MD
A quick visit with my cousin Amy who is expecting a new baby this week! We were so excited to get to see her, Sean and Allison. Ella and Allison play so nicely together.
Day 12: Fly Home
But not before squeezing in more travel!!!! We went to the Baltimore Zoo to see some animals and tire them out before the flight. It was great, the Baltimore Zoo is so kid friendly and has a fantastic children's zoo area with places for them to play and explore.

We were so glad to see daddens (Mike) when we got home. I have 2 very exhausted kids, but they are happy and we saw a LOT of loved ones. It was a great trip.

Last week's weather

We had a long week last week. Mostly because Ella had ear infections in BOTH ears that was making for long days and even longer nights. But she is very good at sharing and passed a cold onto mommy too, so I went down for the count. We were starting to recover by Friday though and here are some photos to show our fun afternoon Thursday. We had to get out of the house after 4 days of solitary confinement! We had a relaxing afternoon at the park watching baseball and playing together.

In this slideshow are some of the photos from Thursday, both in our backyard at home, and from the park. We hope you enjoy them in good health!

Teaser of Photos to come!

Happy Birthday Mike!!!

Your daughter (Ella) has an ear infection! What a great present!!! Who knew that cuddling with your 2 yr old would be how you spent your 30th birthday? I can't think of anything sweeter.

We will post pictures from our celebration hopefully tomorrow.

Exciting professional news for me...I helped a friend buy a house today. Well at least get to the point of mutual acceptance. From here if all goes well they should close in early June. So keep your fingers crossed!!!

off to bed...so tired

Anatomy of a Smile...

Here is what Fin looks like before the smile...

Here is the warmup grin...

Here is the smile height with the tongue clearly visible.
His happiest smiles always have tongue.

The smile threatens to overwhelm him,
so he starts to pull his head back like a turtle.

And he is calm once more.

Pictures of Fin's smile will hopefully help with you form your own as you start your Tuesday mornings!

Best Wishes!