Celebrations in December

On the 9th of this month, our oldest and dearest sibling, Michelle, turned 44~

And on the 16th, her beautiful daughter Siera turned 18!

Tank and Christel celebrated 14 years together as husband and wife on the 17th!

 

And Vinnie, husband to Dre, daddy to James and Ava

celebrated his 51st birthday on the 29th.

 

We hope you all had the best days ever and wish you many, many, many more to come.

Love you all!

Because It Makes My Heart Happy . . .

 

 

"You may have tangible wealth untold. Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold. Richer than I you can never be —

 I had a mother who read to me."              

— Strickland Gillilan

October and November Celebrations

Okay, so I've totally dissed the past two months of celebrations.

Forgive me and I'll make it up to you with a
special-just-for-you-two-fer.

 

October Celebrations!

First up is the baby of our family:

Our baby Bo turned 34 on the 1st of October.

And to think I used to tower over him . . .

 

Next up: yours truly. I turned 42 on the 11th.

What a fabulous day.

My family made favorite cake.

No candles this year.

That would've been a fire hazard.

 

Our second to last baby celebrated his 35th

on the 20th of October.

His beautiful wife had the Boston Red Sox win the World Series just for him.

Because he is just that special.



 

October 31st would have been Mikey Sarah's 22nd birthday.

I have no doubt Heaven celebrated.

 

November Celebrations!

Our very wise and distinguished father

celebrated his 66th birthday on November 15th!

Retired and still loving it!

 

Monica, Monica, Monica.

She's our everything.

From the looks of it, she's Doug's everything too!

She turned a whopping 41 on the 17th.

 

Happy belated birthday everyone!

 

Words to Remember

The Morning After

The only thing better than Halloween is the morning after . . .

Breakfast anyone?

Happy Birthday in Heaven Mikey Sarah

I Miss Your Laughter -

by Nicholas Gordon

 

  I miss your laughter, fun, and gentleness.

 

I miss the things I used to do for you.

 

 I miss the time, now filled with emptiness,

 

When each day was a stage for something new.

 

 

I miss your love, though mine for you remains,

 

A passion with no outlet to the sea,

 

 A teardrop in a desert, that contains

 

 

What's left of my maternal ecstasy.

 

I miss your presence, like a silent chord

That anchored even solitude in grace.

 

 

I miss for my love's labor, the reward

 

Of seeing some small pleasure in your face.

 

All these I miss,
 

and yet they are all here

 

Within my heart,

far more than I can bear.

 

Michael Sarah Thomas, 8, of Henderson died December 6, 1999 in Henderson.

She was born October 31, 1991, in Las Vegas. A lifelong resident, she was a Lamping Elementary School student and on the Champion Homes soccer team, "The Angels," and was a member of the Girl Scouts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Show Me The Halloween!

I absolutely LOVE Halloween.

Perhaps I’m a bit biased seeing how our first niece ever was born on the 31^st. I remember that day so well. It was the bestest day.

How do I love Halloween? Let me count the ways.

I love the crisp crunchy air; the anticipation of the holiday season. I love the excitement that comes off my kids in droves. And I love that kids all over the country dress up to celebrate Mikey Sarah’s birthday. I love the candy, the fun spooks and October’s night skies.

It’s October! And we all know what that means!

SHOW ME YOUR HALLOWEEN!

Glow in the dark décor, very cool~

Hand carved pumpkins.

Dre said James didn't want to touch the brains, Ava on the other hand has a bright future as a brain surgeon.

Hey look, it's our Sister~ er . . . a witch.

Bats, grinning pumpkins and a grim reaper, oh my!

The best kind of October morning . . . courtesy of our CA sister.

Because what girl wouldn't want two dozen . . .

er, black . . . roses?

 

Break out the potions! What's for dinner?

 

Pumpkin head!

 

Venture no further, it's a dead end.

 

Because wreaths aren't just for Christmas anymore.

 

Um . . . does someone have something they want to confess tell us?

 

Ahoy there Matey Jake!

 

Hey look! Ava dressed up as her mom for Halloween!

 

No wait, now she's a fairy princess,

peacock style!

 

Happy Halloween Everyone! 

What'cha Been Doing?

Let's Run 'em!

First up: Mom and Dad

You'd think Mom and Dad would be taking it easy, watching the sunsets and enjoying their retirement, but nooooooo.

Instead, they are building fences

 

and taking the ol' lawnmower for a spin.

Brodey's doing his best to herd the mower.

 

Michelle's been on the run . . . for good causes!

Michelle and Siera after the Gruene run.

Michelle also ran the Wounded Warrior 8k in San Antonio,

in honor of our cousin Jay.

Thank you for your service!

Siera has been busy redecorating her room.

For some reason, this picture makes me think of Barney the dinosaur.

I love you, you love me . . .

Looks fabulous Siera!

 

Gabriel and Cali enjoying the beautiful fall weather.

Even Molson is smiling.

Bubba always sticks his tongue out for pictures.

 

Doug has a new toy!

Kubota has permanently added Monica and Doug

to their Christmas card list.

Remember Norm and Cheers? 

Yeah, it's kinda like that.

And because they don't have nearly enough storage space . . . (cough8,000sq.ft.cough;~)

they are adding onto their barn.

 

One of the best things about kids and Halloween?

They want to dress up all month long.

It's the dread pirate James!

Argh matey!

And may I present to you . . .

Ava, the lovely fairy tale peacock princess.

 

Another lovely sight!

Tank and Christel take in a concert.

 Below: preparing a 72 hour kit.

Never hurts to be prepared!

 

Our newest family addition:

Can you believe Delilah is 8 months old?!

Gorgeous, simply gorgeous!

And speaking of gorgeous!

Hey there Hot Mama!

 

Bo and Monique!

Our longest true love story,

(not counting Mom and Dad.)

How fun when your kids are nearly taller than you are.

Don't worry Monique!

You'll always be the fairest in the land.