The One Where Jen Turns 32

This isn't really a post about my birthday. Since I can't seem to post often enough to do single events, this will be an update about a myriad of things that happened over the summer, but my birthday was one of them and since this is my blog, I get to mention what I think is most important. Not to say that visiting my family and old friends, celebrating other people's birthdays, growing tomatoes for the first time, reading lots and lots of books, never going swimming or camping once all summer, etc, aren't important things to mention, and that is why I just did. I could really finish this post right now, but my mom mentioned that my Aunt Rebecca told her I should update my blog. Maybe I should change the title to "Rebecca, This One's for You," but then everything I just wrote would be irrelevant and I'd have to start over, which I'm too lazy to do. But seriously, Rebecca, this one's for you:

So, July was full of family fun! Adam and I left on the 3rd to fly to Rochester and spend a blissful twelve days away from work or cares. We took my grandma and grandpa with us, and let me just say that if you can find a pair of amiable 80-year olds to travel with, do it! You get to ride in carts, go to the front of the security line, and you even get your seats reassigned to the first row of coach, all because you're traveling with two saintly and serene-looking, white-haired individuals. We had pretty easy, uneventful flights out and arrived just in time for pizza and wings with mom and dad (I loove Buffalo Wings). Dad doesn't like going to see fireworks so we kept it low-key on the 4th of July, with the exception of the fabulous dinner of shrimp, steak, and scallops my mom made. I wish I could relive that part. Then, we did one of my favorite things to do: watched the movie 1776. I love that show - even with the cheesy music that most of the time I fast forward. I feel such a kinship with my founding fathers... Mr. Feeney from Boy Meets World when I watch it. The next day, we headed out to the pier at Charlotte Beach on Lake Ontario. The heat was intense and we didn't last long, but here are some shots of mom, grandma, and Adam at the beginning of the pier:

Adam doing his best Popeye imitation

Love the hat, grandma!

Our quiet relaxing vacation didn't last much longer because Wende, Kurt, and their four boys got back into town on Tuesday (they went away for the 4th). Then the excitement began! The next few days, involved playing with energetic little boys, sitting in the shade with grandma and grandpa, going to Sonnenberg Gardens, and eating at various burger joints. For some reason, there are a lot of them around this town. Here are some of my fav shots of the boys:

Pretty much anytime I went to take a picture of my dad, this is what I saw. :)

I met this little guy for the first time and he's just about the cutest thing ever. Check out those leg muscles!

The boys liked to steal my camera. This is Owen's picture of Connor...it's probably the best one I have of Connor aka "The Puppet Master."

This is pretty much the shot I got whenever I tried to take a picture of Owen. He has the cutest personality! And no, I'm not biased.

Aiden took this picture himself. Love that cheesy grin!

My cousin Emilie and her two darling girls came into town on Thursday to see the church sites, go to the Hill Cumorah Pageant, and see everyone. It was so fun to have so much family all together in Rochester - a rarity! Of course, the kids had a great time together and I got to take Adam to see the pageant for the first time. The little girls gave Adam and I a nice break from playing transformers non-stop with the boys, although the tables turned when, Aiden came looking for someone to be Megatron. I volunteered since everyone else was downstairs and Adam was beat. Instead of readily agreeing to this, Aiden looked at me and said, "well, I've had a lot of time with you...." He then proceeded to reject my offer and went to find Eden. Ouch. The break-up talk hurts even when it comes from your five-year old nephew.

Adam and I in our yearly photo at the Sacred Grove.

The whole gang at pageant. This was definitely a trip highlight.

I loved this pic of Wende playing with all the kids!

So, we finally get back to our house and reality and then three days later, Tianna and Liam arrived from Phoenix. They stayed with us for three weeks before we helped them move to Denver. Collin came the last week. We loved having them with us, even though it was a little crazy helping them get ready to move. Liam is quite the character. He basically had it figured out from day one that I would do whatever he wanted. He also has inherited my mom's love of shoes:

You may have to enlarge this pic to see his eyelashes! They are to die for! This kid could make millions with Latisse! We're so happy that things are going well for them in Denver. We also had a great time staying with my cousin Amber and her kids, and with Adam's grandma! Sadly, I never had my camera handy so you will have to just imagine the joy!

I'm basically out of steam for the rest of this update. Maybe my birthday, the tomatoes, etc will have to wait for a few more days. Let's see if I can get back that quickly!