I made it to Indiana and having tons of fun with my nieces.

Hannah has lots of kisses to go around!

Tatem's First Visit to the Midwest

Natalie & Tatem arrived on Tuesday to hang out with us for a few days.

Can I just tell you...THIS LITTLE GIRL IS A CUTIE!

She has the most contagious giggle, greatest smile and eyes of unusually large size!

Dining out, BBQing at home, a walk in the park at Olde Town Gahanna (the town where we live), Farmer's Market and a trip to the mall...

I loved the way random strangers would compliment us on how cute our baby was. And of course, I graciously accepted every compliment with a very humble "thank you"...sometimes before they even had the chance to give the compliment!

We did receive one compliment that baffled me. As we were walking through the Farmer's Market, a lady sweeping around her vegetable stand looked up from her broom and dustpan and simply said, "nice baby".

WHAT!? What do mean "nice baby"? Isn't that something you'd say about a car...or shoes...or landscaping? "Nice car!" "Nice shoes!" "Nice baby!" Strange compliment, but I'll take it!

I know people always say babies grow so fast and change everyday but this is ridiculous!

She's only been here for 3 days and Tatem's mullet is out of control, yet very stylish for a 4-month-old. It must be something in the Midwest water.

I must say, she does bear a striking resemblence to her father. Not so much in the eyes, mostly the hair.

Thanks for your visit Natalie & Tatem!

Next destination: Evansville, Kentucky! or, wait...Evansville, Illinois!...Tennessee? Whatever. We leave bright and early for a roadtrip to visit Lindsay, Keith and Hannah. I guess we should probably get directions first.

Spring in Ohio!

Front Yard

Backyard

Miles is an Uncle...yet again!!!

Miles flew out to Twin Falls, ID last Wednesday to be with Natalie and Ian for the birth of their first child.

Tatem Jane Service was born on Thursday, April 10 at 1:56pm. She weighed in at 5lbs. 12 oz. (most of which was hair) and was 19 inches long.

Natalie and Ian documented everything, start to finish on their blog (well, almost everything). Check it out at http://nservice.blogspot.com/.
(Very clever guys...don't you just love that word Natalie? Clever, clever, clever...)

CONGRATULATIONS Natalie and Ian!!!

CONGRATULATIONS MILES!!!

For the second year in a row, Miles is one of Crate & Barrel's "Million Dollar Sellers". Last year he was the only one from Columbus to reach his goal, but this year he has some competition, as Heather and Marcia also reached their goal. Congratulations to Miles, Heather and Marcia!

To say thank you, Crate & Barrel Management took all three of them out to dinner last week and presented each of them with a generous gift card to Crate & Barrel. Way to go guys!!!

Which look do you like best?

Tom finally convinced me to shave off the beard...

Which look do you like best?

#1

#2

#3

Please cast your votes by 8pm,

Mountain Standard Time.

Thank You.

UPDATE: Apparently enough people didn't vote by the deadline so Miles is growing his beard back! Grrreat!

After the storm

4 Days Later...

Almost all of the snow has melted...

YEA!!!

I just have to say, this blogger thing is NOT user-friendly...

It took me 30 minutes to finish this simple post!

There must be an easier way!!!

Blizzard of '08

We just got clobbered by a huge snow storm!

It snowed for over 24 hours straight dropping up to 18 inches in some areas.

(UPDATE: We got 20.5 inches of snow)

We don't remember it snowing this hard since

we were kids!

And we thought Spring was just around the corner...

Miles and Hannah

Toby's new toy

Toby thinks we put up the Christmas tree each year for him. If he isn't knocking all the ornaments off the tree, he's playing hide and seek in it.

Miles' other relatives!!!!

Well after Natalie, Ian, Lindsay and Keith left, Miles' cousins from West Virginia dropped in unexpectedly and paid us a visit.

Meet Priscilla! She's Miles' favorite cousin because they're pretty close in age and they were best friends growing up in Idaho. Everyone used to call her "Miss Prissy". They used to get into all sorts of trouble together and she was always getting into fights with all the neigborhood kids...especially the boys. Miss Prissy was sort of a tomboy that way, always climbing trees, getting hurt, and she LOVED to wrestle! It's no surprise that she went on to a career in bodybuilding and is currently ranked as West Virginia's No. 2 Amateur Female Bodybuilder. You don't want to mess with her.

Then there's Miss Prissy's husband, Larry. Larry is an Opthamologist in Charleston, WV. Growing up, all the kids used to call him "lazy Larry". I'm sure you can figure out why from his picture.

LulaBell is Miles' youngest cousin and the baby of the family. LulaBell graduated at the top of her class in hair school and has recently opened her own barber shop in Wheeling, WV. It's great having a barber in the family because we never have to pay to get our haircut. Sometimes she'll even put a little color in too, cuz she's good at that.

Finally, there's LulaBell's husband Dwayne. Dwayne is unemployed at the moment but he hopes to get back on his 'feet' soon. In the meantime, I think LulaBell needs to give her husband a haircut.

It was great seeing Miss Prissy, Larry, LulaBell and Dwayne! We always have a blast with em!

Yeah, we know, it's been awhile! Life was pretty boring after meeting our friend Justin Timberlake, as you all can imagine. Actually, we're not huge fans, but still...in Columbus, Ohio??? Who would've thought?

So life's been very normal until this summer...

We've had a great summer so far! First, Tommy's parents visited in May for Mother's Day. Among other things, we took them to Cirque Du Soleil... AMAZING! The pictures are from Mother's Day brunch outside the Hilton Hotel. (Was hoping we'd run into Paris Hilton, but I think she was behind bars at the time! And I don't mean behind "a bar" like she usually is! I believe was locked up, put away, like a caged animal!!! hahahaha!) Anyway, it's always fun to have Tommy's parents here!



In early June, Natalie & Ian and Lindsay & Keith dropped in for a FUN-FILLED adventure! I think we're calling it "CP07"??? Is that right, Brittni? An entire Thursday was spent at Cedar Point amusement park (thus, CP07). Cedar Point is ranked as one of the best roller coaster parks in the country. Go check out their website - you can go on the rides online! Anyway, it was SOOOOO much fun! (Whit and Stella were in Lansing, MI merely a week later visiting Nat & Ian. So sorry we couldn't have timed it better. Lansing is only 4 hours away!)

Nat & Ian - it's always a pleasure to have you here...NEVER a dull moment. Lindz & Keith - we know it's a long way to Ohio and we're so happy you were able to come see us all...I know Nat & Ian feel the same! Thank you so much for your visit, it means more than you'll ever know!!! We should definitely do it more often!

BEFORE...


DURING...


AFTER...

CP07 was followed by a quick trip (could've been longer) to Las Vegas for Tommy's 36th Bday!

The weather was beautiful and we had tons of fun. We're not big gamblers so we spent most of the time in the hot desert sun... LOVED IT!








And then Lindsay and Keith adopted a baby!

What???

Lindsay, this is where we were (at the pool) when you told me about Hannah! Tommy and I, and everyone around us, were so excited...waiting for me to get off the phone to hear what the heck was going on!

Our beautiful new niece, Hannah Julieann

(with 3 year old Stella...I LOVE THIS PICTURE!)

Then a few weeks ago, our friend Erica visited for yet another fun-filled weekend. She and Tommy have been friends since childhood. They grew up down the street from each other in upsate New York and have been friends for almost 30 years! She's the greatest!

Columbus has a festival every summer called CommFest (Community Festival). People bring their blankets, coolers, families, pets and just hang out at the park all day...listening to bands and eating REALLY bad greezy food!

YUM, YUM. Too much fun!




MORE PICS OF "CPO7" TO COME... STAY TUNED... YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THESE!