penguins

nate, jodi and ellie came up to ring in the new year with us.

we had a great evening at tony and tonya's with the rest of the cousin's.

happy new year!

we really enjoyed ourselves...thanks tony and tonya for opening up your home!

you are always wonderful hosts.

the next morning, we took the ellie and liv to the children's musuem.

i'm not sure who had more fun - them or us!

we had such a great time...

it's always hard to see them go.

jason and ana's wedding

. . . september wedding . . .

what a fantastic couple of weeks...we started with the rehearsal dinner in our backyard...we had white tents, white lights, candles and perfect weather! ana and jason had both of their families come together to start the celebration early. it was wonderful to meet jason's family...what great people.
the next evening was the wedding - which took place at the photography room - in grand rapids. it was a beautiful ceremony...the reception followed right after and we closed the place down! the following week-end, they had a second reception in an art gallary...downtown chicago - just as fantastic as the first. we enjoyed this time with ana and jason to it's fullest! the newlyweds are in the process of building their home in downtown chicago. we are so happy for you ana and jason! thank-you for sharing your day with so many.

olivia and ralphie

miss O

is quite attached to her beloved canine - ralphie...
uncle michael brought ralphie into olivia's little world
and i'm not quite sure what we would do without him.

ana's wedding

more photos to come of jason and ana's big day!

the great lady is 80! happy birthday gigi!

this is my grandma - she just turned 80. my sister had this fantastic idea to throw her a surprise party...she came up with this clever 1920's theme...knocking twice on the speakeasy door, and using the secret passwords, "the great lady is 80." there were gangsters and flapper girls...all looking the part of the great gatsby itself! all done for this amazing woman that we could not be more proud of! she makes 80 look like a walk in the park. in the last 20 years she has taken up piano lessons, art lessons, she exercises, quilts, she and grandpa have been involved in super sixties, zolner retirees, bible studies...i could not possibly exhaust the list. so, here is to you and grandpa - so happy, so in love and so in-style with your crocs! thank-you for living life to it's very fullest...hope you enjoy the photos...

the great gatsby?

these are a few of the characters we saw that night!