Family

Last summer our nephew Kevin married Jamie. They are a sweet couple and the wedding was so much fun. The sunset was absolutely amazing and since they got married on July 4 we were able to see fireworks from different towns up and down the water. My Mom-in-law even got up for a dance with Dad-in-law.
Abbie came with her boyfriend Zeb. He is from Colorado and we had fun getting to know him!
The day after the wedding we went to Halibut point with Art's folks. It is one of the first places I visited in New England. They looked so sweet overlooking the water I just had to get a shot :-)
Our Thanksgiving ritual of going to Plum Island was a success as usual. The weather was pretty darn nice and we, of course, listened to Alice's Restaurant all the way there.
Keeping warm by the fire. Zeb even fashioned a pot holder over the fire so we could keep the soup warm. So ingenious and fun!
Introducing Maggie! Sue, Sam, and Charlie adopted Maggie just about a month before we got Z. She is exactly one month younger and the two of them adore each other and have such fun playing together!
They played together so well and they slept for a whole day afterward! No one wanted to nap lest they miss something!
The goal- global domination. The result- lots of fun!
Lindsay's pup Bailey also joined in the fun. She is a bit older so she is in charge. They had a great time together. They played in this room all night!
Our annual Christmas picture. We had Sue take it when everyone came over for a pre-x-mas dinner. Usually it is just me wrangling everyone into one shot.
Went to Colorado for Christmas. We got to spend time with the kids and also got to know Julie better. We went to the Bronco game one afternoon and Julie introduced us to a fabulous Mexican eatery in Denver called La Loma. Delish!
Julie has a son Harry who is half way between my brother's two boys. Now they have five kids between the two of them. Wow! It can be loud and is usually chaotic but they are all a lot of fun and seem to get along well.
Mom turned 80 this past June. She had a fun party at Stratham Park and lots of family and friends came. It was a rainy day so we all cozied under the pavilion and caught up. I met a few new family members and some old friends of theirs. Great day and Mom seemed to have a wonderful time!
We moved the party back to Mom and Dad's house after the extended family cleared and the day wore on and got cooler. Such a great family! I love how often we were able to see each other this year!
For Father's Day we caught up for the traditional lobster dinner. Sam and I had hamburgers ;-) I try them every year but still don't like them. I do like the occasional mussel though, if there is enough wine, butter, and garlic on top!
We rented a house on the beach with Art's oldest sister this summer. It was a fabulous time! We were only fifteen minutes away from Art's folks house so they were able to visit often. It had a little back yard so Zdeno was able to come and enjoy the ocean. He had Maggie and Bailey come to visit a couple times which was great. We also got to meet Kevin and Jamie's new (older pup) Lester. He is a retriever pyrenees mix. He is a love with people but sadly did not really get on well with the other dogs.
The dogs, and us people, really enjoyed walks on the beach. It was early in the year so the water was still cold but we had some pretty hot days that made it feel refreshing. I even had a girlfriend that was able to come and spend the day on the beach with her three kids. Great time!
I definitely would like to do this type of vacation again. Super relaxing. We were close enough to home that we could go back if needed (Art, Karyn, and Ralph all had to work at least one day), we were close so family and friends could visit. The best was that we got to bring Zdeno and he even had visitors!