Picture Perfect

Jennifer came today to take some pictures of her favorite nephew and nieces, and I went along to watch/help/enjoy. I always think there are fun pictures the photographer doesn't get, so I tried to take some of those.

It's always tricky to get three (or four, or five) kids to look at the camera, especially when one is 20 months old and one is 4 1/2 months old. Thankfully, the 7 year old is Mr. Steady-Smile-for-the-Camera.

Jennifer was working hard and having fun.

Cheese!!

When photographing an almost-two-year-old, you must be prepared to get a lot of shots of her back.

Come back, Haleigh!

Hello cows! Moo!

I always enjoy the shots that don't make the album. I love Matthew's expression here.

Haleigh is 1 year old.

I'm sure Jennifer will put together a slide show, but these are her first edits that she posted on her Facebook page. Enjoy!

What a handsome guy.

Happy Haleigh.

Can't forget the shoes.

Sweet Ella.

Love them!

Boilermaker Blowout!

Saturday was our first Boilermaker tailgate of the year, since we opted to enjoy the first game from the lake over Labor Day, and the second game was in Houston vs. Rice (we won't talk about that one).

We were up bright and early, heading north for the noon kickoff.
Matthew was ready for the tailgate breakfast of pancakes, sausage, bacon, fruit, donuts, and monkey bread in a jar. The grownups enjoyed mimosas, as well.

Haleigh enjoyed some blueberries.

Ella was attending her first Purdue game. And aren't those babylegs about the cutest things ever?

A sweet family photo of Andrew, Darci, Haleigh, Matthew, and Ella. All ready to Boiler Up!

Uncle Adam and Matthew.

Sweet Baby Ella. Don't you just want to sqeeze her?

Darci and Andrew.

Awwwww...

Alli and Adam. We need to do something about that red sweatshirt.

Granny and the grands. Priceless.

Aunt Fer and Haleigh. To clarify, Jennifer has never been called "Jenny", and it was during high school that she got the nickname "Fer" as in Jenni"fer". Her brothers are the only ones that really use it anymore, but "Aunt Fer" has kind of stuck.

Happy girls.

Matthew joins the picture.

Jennifer and Bryan. We have managed to bring him to the black and gold side.

Andrew was getting Ella set in the front pack for the walk to the stadium. Trying to hide his head behind the baby.

All set to go. If he had a dollar for every person that commented on the cute baby, he could have taken us all to dinner. I must say I agree with them, don't you?

Adam and Alli posed for me at halftime. Lookin' good in her new shirt!

I like the new flags they were using. They sometimes use multicolored ones, but I'm partial to the motion P, in black and gold.

The band did a little dancing during the show.

Matthew enjoyed the halftime show. It was band day, so there were bands from several high schools around the state. He wondered if Greensburg was there. Not this time...

Another cute family photo in the stands.

This was the scoreboard near the end of the third quarter. Since the game was in hand, we headed back to the tailgate lot to enjoy snacks and beverages, and grill some juicy burgers for the post game celebration. The final score was 59-0. Hopefully, the big win will be a confidence builder for the Boilers, and they'll be ready when those pesky Irish come to town on October 1! Boiler Up!

Happy Birthday Jim!

Someone had a birthday today.

It's this little boy. He's about nine months old in this picture. Don't you love the laundry hanging in the background?

He's about two in this picture. And that bell he's standing beside? Hangs on a post by our back gate. Funny thing is, it was resting on our back sidewalk until last summer when we finally got a new post for it. I guess it was resting on the sidewalk 50 years ago too.

Three years old, all dressed up with a smile on his face.

And here he is, five years old, ready to go to school with his big brother and sister on their last day before summer vacation. I guess they allowed such things back then. He's standing at our front door. It is interesting to think about living in the same house as both a child and an adult. Besides his years at college, and our first three years of marriage, Jim has lived in this house his entire life. And it's a very, very, very fine house. We have a new door now, and a new porch, but it's still the same house. It is hard to believe we have lived here for 27 years already! But now I'm getting off topic, which is...

Happy Birthday Jim!

To celebrate, we went to dinner at our favorite, El Reparo.

Haleigh sat on the floor while we waited for our table.

Matthew hung with Big Jon.

That Big Jon is pretty entertaining.

Of course, we started out with the always yummy chips and salsa.

Big Jon and Matthew managed to smile for the camera. (Without any unnecessary gestures. Thanks Jon!)

Mmmmm.... margarita.

And Jim even got to pose with the silly sombrero. Be careful what you don't wish for!

Singing and clapping all around.

Haleigh was not at all sure about the silly sombrero.

Jim and Matthew shared the fried ice cream.

And Matthew finished off the evening with a cool touch of lime.

Jim posted this on his Facebook page this morning, in anticipation of the celebration of the day:

"I'm having lunch with Mom & Dad to realize I have the potential to be really old, not just old. I'm playing golf with Jon later in afternoon to dream of being young and hitting the ball like he does, not that I ever have. I'm having dinner at El Reparo with many of my family to cherish and give thanks for all of God's blessings and for the precious present of life, good health, friends and family. It is a great day."