Baby Jeri Anne

My little brother became a dad on July 17th.  

His daughter, Jeri Anne, is a tiny angel.  

She brought our whole family together.

  

The lighting was so good that I just couldn't stop taking pictures of her newborn preciousness.

Helen went into labor while her and Michael were at a restaurant eating dinner.  They ran out of the restaurant before they even got their food.  She had a superfast labor and did amazing!

 

 Gigi takes this picture with all her grandbabies.
 
 
Grandpa Gene came up and was sure to bring the ice cream for the kids.  Growing up, I remember my dad eating a bowl of ice cream in his recliner almost every night.

The guys all smoked a celebratory cigar and gave Michael fatherly advice.

It was also close to Michael's birthday so we took the opportunity to celebrate and encourage him, and share memories.

  

It doesn't hurt that Michael and Helen live in Marble Falls near Lake LBJ, my favorite lake in Texas.  We rented a house with my sister's family and had a great weekend.

 

 

 Poor Marcus bumped his face on the hottub and it immediately swelled.  His new nickname was cyclops. :)

 
Only because we were on vacation little one!

Baby Bruces

Sweet baby Maggie joined the family on June 7th.  She is precious and perfect.

 And has the best cheeks.

 The big sisters.  They are both classic first borns!

  We celebrated the next baby girl Bruce with a pink and yellow "you are my sunshine" themed sprinkle.

 The baby's name has not been decided yet, so Grandy came up with a fun game to give Robert and Sandy a few suggestions.

 Can you guess where the sprinkle was???

 Kaila, who is about to be the oldest of 5 children, got to join us.  She is an amazing big sister and big cousin!

 

 We didn't plan it, but Courtney, Sandy and I all showed up wearing pink shirts. :)

London 2012

Has anyone else been glued to the TV for the last couple of days?  I LOVE watching the Olympics...all of it...even events like badminton and rowing!  Last night, Brad and I found ourselves staying up way too late watching women's weightlifting of all things. 

This year, we decided to celebrate the Olympics by having a few FW friends and neighbors over for a watching party.  For awhile now, I've wanted to host an event party that could become a tradition.  You know, some people are known for their Superbowl or Halloween parties or even their birthday parties every year.  I decided to go with one that I only have to do every 4 years (or 2 if we have one for the Winter Olympics, but they just don't compare IMO).

I bought some decorations on clearance after 4th of July and then found some food ideas on Pinterest.  Like these cupcakes with fruit loops for the Olympic rings.

 And these popcorn "torches".

 My sister brought the patriotic fruit.

 We played a few games and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun competing.  First, the "athletes" had to walk up and down a "balance beam" backwards.

 Then perform a standing long jump.

 The teams finished by taking an Olympics trivia quiz.  Did you know that men and women compete directly with one another in sailing and equestrian?  And that the games were originally held as a tribute to Zues?

 Members of the winning teams got lottery scratch off tickets and someone even won $20!

 Our fun neighbors.

 And some of our sweet friends.

 

 

 

 Haven was still up at 10 relaxing and watching the Olympics with me after all the guests were gone.