Birthdays and Races - 59/365

Today we were finally heading up to Amherst for Andrew and Ally's parties! Andrew's was cancelled due to a winter storm warning, and travel on the turnpike was limited.

They couldn't make it down for Reagan's because of snow, so we hoped that the 3rd party was the charm. Sure enough, it was!. The weather was nice. No rain, no snow, which made the drive very pleasant.

The party was fun! Andrew was turning TEN! What?! And Ally was turning SIX! Again, WHAT?!

Time sure does fly! They are growing up to be wonderful, sweet, smart little adults! Just love them!Andrew had a sports theme and Ally had Sofia!

The kids had a blast playing, you don't even know they are there anymore. The girls basically played up in Ally's room, putting on her princess gowns and the boys played video games.

Nikki, of course, had quite the spread. There was pasta, sausage, chicken, salad, carrots, and cake! YUM! We were stuffed!

It's always a good time getting together with family.

This evening, Reagan was going to go spend the night with Nana and Papa, while Jim and I headed to night at the races.

D&E Counseling Center and the Children's Circle of Friends Foundation were hosting Night at the Races. It was a super fun night! Greg, Nikki, Frank, Judy, Sean and Barb were all there. Sean and Barb brought their special canned peppers and bread. It was delicious! Lots of yummy snacks were had and adult beverages. In between each race, they had a DJ pumping some fun music. It was a great time for a great cause!

 We bet on every race and also lost every one. We didn't care though. We had a great time!

 

 Happy Birthday, Andrew!

 Happy Birthday, Ally!

 Three beautiful princesses.

Night at the Races

Fun crew!

Race losers

 

Thanksgiving! - 331/365

Thanksgiving today!

We are so thankful for so many things, but especially our families! We got to see both sides today which was great!

We started at Grandma and Papa Greg's. We had a great visit and lots of yummy food! The company was great, too! Adrienne was in town this year, but Jake took the kids to Baltimore. We missed them, but are sure they had fun visiting his family. Frank and Judy were there this year, too! It was a nice time!

This afternoon, we went over to Nana and Papa's. It was a super small crowd this year, since the seniors don't travel well anymore. It's kind of sad. We still had fun though. It was just Nana, Papa, Raymond, Jennifer, Jim, Reagan and I. We had an awesome feast and were all stuffed! After dinner we just sat around and chatted. It was a wonderful, quiet Thanksgiving.

This evening, Jim was going to go down to the Draft House to meet some friends who were in town for the holiday. He took his car since there was no snow in the forecast, but to his surprise, it was an absolute blizzard when he got out of there.  His car is HORRIBLE in the snow, so he was immediately nervous. He ended up trying to take Mahoning Ave home, got stuck on a big hill and had to take a side street, that ultimately put him on 680. He could barely see on 680 and people were all bailing onto Meridan Road. He ended up in a fire station parking lot, and hung out there for nearly an hour until the road crews could clear the roads. Even after the first layer of salt, it was still a mess. By the time he got home, over two hours had passed from the time he left the bar, to the time he pulled in the driveway. It was so nerve wracking for him especially, but for me sitting at home worrying about my husband, too. He kept texting and calling keeping me in the loop, so that helped. I'm just thankful he made it home OK. 

We had a great Thanksgiving counting all our blessings. We love our families!

The Cvet side for Thanksgiving!

 Reagan with Grandma and Papa Greg.

 Everyone wanted Raymond's pie!

 Reagan and Brinkley! Happy Thanksgiving!

Car Show & Flashlights - 67/365

Today, Jim went up to the Auto Show at the IX Center in Cleveland, with his mom, dad, Frank and Judy. They all love walking around and checking out all the new cars. Especially the crazy expensive and concept cars. There was a car sitting there with a price tag of $450,00. Yes, $450,000. Yikes! 

 They had a great day exploring the cars, but hit a little bit of snow on the way home. Yuck. 

While they were off doing that, Nana, Reagan and I just ran a bunch of errands. We stopped at Toys R Us, and Reagan picked out a new big Lalaloopsy for her collection with some birthday money. She really loves the one she picked, Mari Golden Petals, but she must have said 400 times, "I wish they had the big Haley Galaxy, she's my favorite." 

This evening when Jim got home, we were just hanging around the house. Reagan lost something behind our little chest in the living room. I got out a flashlight to see if we could see it better. She became facinated with that flashlight. She started going all over the house looking under things. Eventually, her and Jim ended upstairs. They build a tent in the bed and starting reading books. Reagan just had so much fun! She loved it! The photo of the day is the crew at the car show.

Next, Reagan and her new flashlight friend.