August 1, 2006 - Meet Molly!

In honor of Molly's 4th birthday today, I thought I'd post one of the very first pictures I ever took of her! When we put Uno down, we had decided not to get another dog, at least not right away. But that very afternoon, when we came home to a dog-less house for the first time in over 14 years, we knew that we had to have another dog. Just three short days later, we brought home Molly. From the very first moment we laid eyes on her, all three of us were hooked. And now, almost four years later, we're still hooked. Sure, she's incredibly goofy (I mean, have you ever seen a dog that will not willingly go up or down stairs without a huge amount of coaxing?), and sure her nose has changed color (it's now a very light brown, almost pink), but she's our Miss Molly, and she's a huge part of our family. So here's to you, Molly! Happy birthday!

January 25, 2008 - Silly Puss (Part 367.2)

As my parents are now re-learning first hand, there's not much more entertaining in life that watching a cat, especially when they're exploring a new home. Such was the case with our own Missy Puss, Mia, when we first got her. She found the goofiest places in the world to "hide." One of them was inside (yes, inside) Erin's step stool. She was small enough to climb in one end and peek out the other. What you don't see in this picture, though, is that her tail never quite made it into the stool, so her cover was kind of blown. But as far as Mia was concerned, she was invisible. Silly puss!

December 30, 2007 - Brrr!

Montreal is truly an incredible and beautiful city to visit. It has so much to offer culturally, and its being a French-speaking city adds to the feeling that you're really in another country. However, if you're planning a trip there, take one lesson from our experiences: Don't go in December! We thought it would be a fun weekend getaway over a long New Year's holiday, and somehow forgot to factor into the equation just how cold and snowy it can be in Canada in the winter. Silly us... We still had an incredible time, all bundled up, and Erin swears she's never seen that much snow in her life. But next time we visit the great white north, we'll do it when it's not so, well, white. 

July 26, 2009 - New Water Fun

I'm always amazed at how easily Erin is able to do new things once she tries them. Last summer, we spent a few days with friends at Dana Point Harbor, and everyone (who wanted to, that is) got to give paddleboarding a try. I'll be the first to admit that I must simply lack a basic gene that would allow me to succeed at this activity. However, Erin must have gotten that gene from Jim's family, because she took to it right away! Within the first few minutes of trying it, she was standing up on the board, paddling around, having a blast. Jim, who (of course) was also able to do it, went along with her. I, on the other hand, was perfectly happy sitting on the sidelines, snapping pictures. The water's not warm enough quite yet, but Erin's already asking when we can do it again. Yep, she gets it from Jim, I guess! 

April 29, 2006 - A Sure Sign of Spring

When we first moved into our house in New Jersey, the previous owners told us that the scraggly-looking shrub out front was a wisteria bush that would bloom gloriously (if briefly) in the spring. It was really pretty ugly during the rest of the year, but we left it alone, figuring we'd wait until the following spring to see what it really looked like. The thing certainly didn't disappoint us! For about a week, it blossomed into beautiful and fragrant purple flowers that attracted more bumble bees than I've ever seen in one place, and then went back to being an icky-looking thing in our front lawn. I made sure to take pictures of it each year, and every time I'd bemoan the fact that it was there looking bare, I'd look at the pictures and be reminded of just how gorgeous it could be, even for those few, short days.

November 24, 2005 - It Takes Three

Have you heard the old joke, "How many grown-ups does it take to prep a turkey?" Apparently, in our family, the answer is three, especially where the turkey is going to be rotisseried on the barbecue. Doing a turkey on a rotisserie is tricky, as you have to get the balance just right or else it can go off balance, break the rotisserie motor, stop turning, and catch on fire. (Don't ask how we know this, just take my word for it.)  In our case, though, we had two engineers on the job, which could be very good of very bad. Obviously, at this point in the process, everyone was smiling, so things must have been going well. Oh, and in case you're wondering, rotisseried turkey is DA BOM!

August 13, 2008 - Yep, We've Officially Been to Hell

One of our stops on our Liberty of the Seas cruise in 2008 was Grand Cayman, where we took a tour of some of the island's not-to-be-missed sites. One of them, believe it or not, was Hell, a little town in what felt like the middle of nowhere, whose big claim to fame was its unfortunate name. I just couldn't resist taking this picture of Erin (I actually have one of her at the angel sign too, but this one is much more fun!). Some days I feel I should print it poster-size and hang it on her bedroom door!