Hello, Family and Friends!
Since I am so terrible about keeping in touch with all of you, I thought I would create this place for everyone to see what we are up to. I will post pictures, slideshows, and scrapbooks of the fun things we do. Be sure to visit often so you can keep up with us!
**Remember to PAUSE THE MUSIC at the bottom of the page while you look through the scrapbooks! Each scrapbook has its own song.
Enjoy! Dawn
We had an eventful Christmas holiday, including a couple Christmas Concerts, Girl Scout Activities, crafting, and decorating. We are so appreciative to be able to celebrate another holiday while everyone is healthy and well.
Dawn, Harold, Skylar, & Aubree |
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For Nicholas' nineth birthday, he decided to have a celebration of all the past decades. Guests were to come dressed in outfits from any decade before the nineties. The kids played games from the past and had a great time. Michelle served fabulous food, as usual, and Nicholas designed his own record player cake. Another party success!
The weather was particularly nice this year, so the kids were able to run around in the backyard. It's funny how each pumpkin party has its own mood or personality. This year was pretty low key. Most of the carvings were jack-o-lanterns rather than creative carvings from the books. At one point the kids all left to go run around in the dark, leaving the adults to finish their pumpkins. Oh, well. It's still always a great time.
We had everyone over for the Fourth of July as we always love to do. The kids had so much fun decorating their bikes and getting them out on the road to parade around the neighborhood. We always like to walk with them to snap action shots as they ride. However, they are getting too big and fast to keep up with. Harold got his fireworks, which are always a great hit with the kids. Of course, he should investigate exactly what these fireworks do before making his final purchase. The Grand Finale sent colorful fireballs into the trees, sending guests to run for cover. That Harold!!
 For the girls seventh and nineth birthdays, we threw them a Groovy Little Birthday Party. We decorated the garage and tents with peace, love, and happiness. Skylar, Aubree, Nicholas, and Lily made signs with all of the fun sayings we could think of from that era. When the guests arrived at the party, they received a backpack with jewelry crafts inside and a white t-shirt for tye-dying. Once everyone was in attendance, we spread out around the backyard and tye-dyed shirts. For dinner, we ate seventies favorites: shish kabobs and "Rice-a Roni." For dessert, the kids ate peace sign cupcakes, while the adults enjoyed "special" brownies and Better than Robert Redford cake. A groovy little party indeed!
Enjoy! Dawn |
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 All of the moms were invited over for brunch on Mother's Day. We served our usual egg and potato baked, drank Mimosa, and had great conversation. It's always so nice to do something special for our mothers. |
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 During Spring break this year, the weather was unseasonably warm. The girls and I were able to take the camera to the botanical gardens to snap shots of the birds, butterflies, flowers - and each other. They are becoming great little photographers. |
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 The Schraff family gathers each year at our house on Easter Eve to celebrate with a fancy lamb dinner. We always have the best time simply sitting around the table and chatting. It's a holiday that's sure to bring great memories. |
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 This year we had a busy holiday season. Kelli and I took the girls downtown to see the Nutcracker and enjoyed a delicious dinner at Santo's. Aubree was part of St. Angela Merici's annual Christmas pageant, which is always adorable. On Christmas Eve, the girls waited out in the cold for two and a half hours for Santa to drive down the street in the fire truck. They later warmed up when family arrived for our annual Christmas Eve dinner. Christmas Day was busy as usual as we made all of our annual stops. A great holiday season was definitely had by all! |
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 We had about 40 to 50 adults and children over for our nineth or tenth annual pumpking carving party. As usual, lots of fun was had by all! |
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 For Lily's sixth birthday, she decided to have a Fancy Nancy party. The girls had so much fun getting their hair, makeup, and nails done. Michelle really put together a spectacular soiree, complete with lots of feather boas and "fanciness." It was such a fabulous time - and probably my most favorite cake I've decorated to date. |
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 Michelle turned 40 this year, and we made it our business to do all kinds of special things for her as she is just the kind of girls who does nothing for herself. The slide show is long enough, so I will let you see for yourself! |
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 We took our first family vacation since Skylar was one and a half. I think it has been since then that she has been planning a trip to Disney, and this year, we FINALLY went. It was a great time! The girls were given autograph books by our friends, Jen and Dan. The best part, they will tell you, was meeting and getting signatures from all of their favorite Disney characters. |
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All of the dads were invited over for a cookout for Father's Day. The weather was PERFECT. All of the fathers' favorite beers were chilled and ready when they arrived. For dinner we feasted on filets, garlic mashed potatoes, and raspberry cheesecake for dessert. It turned out to be a great day to celebrate our dads.
This was probably one of the best Fourth of July parties to date as EVERYONE was able to make it. 
