Sunday, December 10, 2006

My Family

I thought I would post a picture fest of my family, immediate and extended. I love my family, quirks and all, so very much! I do not even want to know how lonely life would be without them!

Two of my family members have celebrated monumental birthdays the last month. My dad turned 50 and my grandpa reached 80. "SURPRISE, dad!" And he was, can you tell? We had told him that Ben and the band were doing a concert for a young adult group at this church. My dad had not been feeling well that day and told Ben, "I'm sorry, I don't think I am going to come tonight." He almost panicked, but with puppy dog eyes (that Ben is VERY good at) pleaded, "Dad, it would not be the same without you." So he came. We were ALL glad he did!!!

Next, my family gathered with my mom's siblings to congradulate my grandpa on 80 wonderful years! He is an amazingly wonderful grandpa. I cannot believe he is 80. He was 57 when I was born, isn't that incredible??? We got him a rubber band shooter. He was tickled and gave us a detailed description of the homemade ones he used to make when he was younger. He also shared some things about the world he grew up in and the tension that existed with Iwo Jima. What a wonderful, wise and generous man he is! I love you, Grandpa!

My aunt, Bonnie (left), bought my dad a black birthday cake, which we ate the day after Thanksgiving (still stuffed, mind you). They (not WE) had a great time making a royal mess with the black frosting. What can I say, this is my family. :-)

Samuel absolutely loves our cousin, Aaron. He laughed and laughed when he put the "hat" on Aaron and Aaron promptly put the other arm chair cover on Sam. Aaron is a faithful family man and comes to see us every time we are in Cheyenne. He loves to beat us all at croquet, eat and tease.

Isn't this picture of Tori with the bulb awesome? She is a precious girl and i am so thankful God gave me a sister! She is quickly becoming a young lady who can cook, clean, sew, crochet, dance, etc. My favorite sister, too!

How cute are these two? Katie came with us to my grandparents to celebrate my grandpa's birthday. Since Katie is apart of our family, she has come to several holidays, been at birthday parties, events, celebrations, etc. My grandpa LOVES Katie and always reminds me what a wonderful friend I have, "She's like a sister to you, Jaclyn." Well, my grandpa was quite devistated when I told him I had decided to take a new job. He questioned my intentions and asked, "What about Katie? I sure hope you will be friends with her still. She is a good friend to you. When will you see her? She is such a good friend for you." So when Katie surprised him and came for his birthday "party", My grandpa was very excited to see us together and declared that it was "so good to see us (Katie and Jaclyn) together."

Can a little boy BE any cuter than this???

Timothy, Timothy, where is your head? We went to an energy plant for a fieldtrip. I have no idea how we decided to do this and take a picture, but we did. Notice the shirt he is wearing, for it is what makes this picture hysterical!

Then there is me, yes, a self-portrait-stick-your-arm-out-as-far-as-you-can-so-the-picture-might-turn-out.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

::sigh:: The family I wish to see...in person. Happy Birthday, Dad and Grandpa. I think I actually drooled a little when I noticed that chocolate cake in front of Grandpa. That pic of Tori is totally cool! Sam is getting so big now! You're pretty as ever...I miss you terribly right now (as always).

And. E.W.W. Your mom and aunt look almost like witches with those black mouths, I'm sorry to say. Hey! That'd be a good photo to go along with the passage in James about the tongue being so sinful. ;-)

Jaclyn said...

::sigh:: back to you, Dawn. I miss you terribly as well. There are so many things happening in our worlds and little time for us to connect. I hope you are having a good week, as busy as it was supposed to be... and that you are feeling up to your trip! I will be at my desk, hopefully in one spot for a longer period of time tomorrow, if you are able to chat- from 10:30AM-12ish.

I love you and miss you!!!