Memorial Day 2010

We originally had nothing planned for Memorial Day. Sophia had gotten a mini pool at Big Lots the day before and she wanted to have her friends Logan and Nicholas over to go swimming with her. So we figured that since it was Memorial Day we would make it a cookout with friends.

Logan loved playing in the pool with Sophia and Nicholas loved hanging back and watching.

Sophia found a bumblebee and thought it would be great to look at it in her bug jar. We let it go in our flower garden once we were done looking at it.

The kids wanted to do sparklers but they were fading fast and would not be able to wait for darkness, so we did them in the daylight. The kids didn't mind at all!

It was a great day of good food, great laughs and new memories.

Team Walk Cancercare 2010

On May 16, 2010 Sophia and I walked in the 11th Annual TeamWalk for CancerCare with a team of family in friends in memory of my father and his fight with cancer. We along with over 5,000 other people to raised money for programs and services to help our patients in the Cancer Center at Lowell General Hospital. So many people supported us on that day through donations and we are eternally grateful.

Sophia and I left for the walk as soon as the sun came up. We had never done this walk before so we didn't know what to expect when we got there. We were excited to meet up with a lot of our team in the parking garage and at registration booth.

Once the team was together we moved towards the event area and we were all pleased with the amount of effort that was put into making the day a success. They had tents set-up all over the area providing free coffee, donuts, make-overs, massages, bone marrow registrations and many other things to do while we waited for the walk to begin.

While waiting for the opening ceremony we took a few pictures of the youngest members of the team.

There was a clothesline that was strung throughout the event from tree to tree. On it hung team shirts from the last 10 years and from the teams that day. I spent a lot of the day reading the shirts on the line since each one told a story. Some of the shirts were in memory of a family member that they had lost and some where uplifting for people who are winning or have won the battle against cancer.

My father's older brother, Uncle Brian, walked with us and it was extra special having him there.

The walk was either a 6.5 mile or a 3 mile walk. Since Sophia and Jake are at the active age and Gretchen was 6 months pregnant, Kathleen, Gretchen and I decided that we would walk the 3 mile walk. It was a good decision in the end!

Sophia and Jake took a break to get a snack before the walk started.

All together that event raised over 700,000 dollars. It was a wonderful day for an amazing cause.

Sophia's 3rd Birthday

Happy 3rd Birthday Sophia!

Sophia turned three on Friday, May 9, 2010. We had a birthday party family cookout with our closest friends on Saturday, May 15th. It took us awhile to pick a theme since all the themes she wanted were English themes characters, who do not sell party supplies in this country, and all the ideas that I had were ones I wanted to wait on for when she was older.

We finally decided on an Elmo party.
For the last 2 years Nana Deb made Sophia's birthday party outfits. This year's outfit Sophia picked out the material which made it extra special.

Thanks Nana Deb!

Daddy and I tried to let Sophia plan as much of the party as she we could. So we ended up with a dream party for a three year old! The Elmo bounce house from Halloween found it's way back into our yard. The kids had a blast in it.

Sophia also had input on the cake. She wanted an "Elmo's World" theme cake with Mr. Noodle and Dorothy on it. Since this was the first time that she would be able to eat her birthday cake I made sure that I made the cake she wanted.

(When I was picking the cake up to bring it outside the board it was on snapped and the cake began to fold in half! See above picture.)

But she didn't notice!

Another request was Elmo to come to her party. So Sophia wrote and mailed a letter to Elmo asking him to come. "Maria from Sesame Street" called Sophia the morning of her party to let her know that he was coming. She was so excited when he finally arrived!

The kids didn't let him get into the yard before they wanted their hugs!

Once Elmo got into the yard Sophia opened her birthday present from Elmo and the kids all took pictures with him.

Here are a few just to get an idea of how cute the pics came out!

Elmo and Eli

Elmo and Nicholas

Then before he left Sophia wanted to show him her bedroom and all her Elmo stuff. Sophia wanted Elmo to talk to her but since he is "very shy" he wouldn't talk in front of all her birthday guests. So when they were in her bedroom he whispered, "Elmo loves you" and Sophia was happy with that.

Once Elmo left the kids took turns beating the pinata. It was so funny for us to watch the kids try to hit it with a stick that was as big as they were. The kids had a blast doing it and the parents had a blast watching them.

The rest of the day was full of fun and food with great friends!

Thank you to all that made this day as special as it was for our, "Birthday Girl!" Especially Debbie who made it possible for Elmo to come to her party!