The Cousins @ Winter Green Gorge!

One nice day this month, Shane and I went to the Winter Green Gorge (Cemetery) to take some pictures of my cousins and their kids! At first, the youngest, Tyler, was a little shy, but we decided to get right into taking some pictures so it would loosen him up.


Didn't take too long.


This was their favorite part of the photo shoot. Throwing up leaves.


Tommy, Austin, Ava, Tyler, & Gerri


Love these ones . . .


The lighting was so good and they are so cute loving on their parents!


I was surprised how many different spots there were to take pictures (without getting tombstones in the pictures)!


Tom & Gerri


This was actually kinda nerve wrecking for me because it was my first "official photo shoot". I thought it would be harder to pose them and what not, but they worked so well with me! (I am not by any means a professional photographer nor do I consider myself a good photographer, but I do love taking pictures, especially for family, so I had a blast!)


Cutie Ava


I love the boys faces in this one.


This is about when all the geese started plopping down into the pond. It was pretty cool to see. We got a little distracted.


They are the cutest family!


It's just so crazy to see my big cousins and my little 2nd cousins (their kids) all grow up. Time sure does fly by.

Austin's 7th Birthday!

Labor day weekend we celebrated my cousin, Austin's, 7th birthday!

He had already had the party with his friends before we got there, but he was still all sugared up from the cake and all the kids were running around like crazy!



My grandma caught him real quick to give him a hug though!



Can you tell this girl is growing up with two brothers?



Ava, playing on top of the playhouse instead of inside of it.

Here's Tyler (Austin & Ava's baby brother) with his dad.



Man I feel old. Just yesterday these kids were born. I swear.

Tyler's 3rd Birthday!

June 13th marked my cousin Tyler's 3rd birthday (and also the 3rd year since my grandfather's death . . . but we won't get into that because then I will cry). Also, let's ignore the fact that this is almost a month later . . . .

Here is my grandma and me. I sure do love her.

Singing to Tyler! He got embarrassed from all the attention!

Awesome cake (from Sam's club I think)!

Yummy cake time! Notice how his face isn't entirely covered with blue icing yet.

Austin (Tyler's big brother) excited about one of Tyler's toys.

They all kept helping Tyler open his presents and their mom said "ok. just remember that Tyler is going to help you open yours at your birthday." (Notice the blue on the face now). It was all over.

So great to spend time with all of them. They are so cute! And growing up so fast!

Ava & Tyler!

Got to spend some time with my little cousins this past weekend! You saw pics of Austin with the pup, and now here is Ava blowing some bubbles and Tyler in his car seat getting ready to leave! Just love kids! Especially them!! So cute! :-)

The Irony.

Saturday we were faced with the two year anniversary of my grandpa's death.
It was definitely a hard day for us all. My grandpa was one of the greatest people. His humor is something I will never forget, and something that made my life better in so many ways. His urn to teach me about life (whether it was how to drive, how to bowl, how to put a handle on a door, how to cut a piece of wood, how to swim, how to answer the phone with "yellllllllloooowww", and how to yell at telemarketers when they call . . "don't you know it's Sunday and I'm trying to watch my football!") is something I will always remember.
I have never had someone so close to me die before, and I struggle with it every day. I know he is living better now though, and I know that one day I will be with him again. I can't wait to hug him . . . and keep hugging him . . and him say "ok. . . ok . . . ok. . . geez. that's enough." I love you Grandpa.


And the ironic part of the day . . . we celebrated my cousin Tyler's 2nd birthday! He was born the exact day that my Grandpa died.I just love these kids! They are so adorable and so cute!
They definitely enjoyed the cake and got it all over their mouths!! Austin ate the "road" so his was even better!
God pours life into death and death into life without a drop being spilled. ~Author Unknown

Grandma's 80th!

My Grandma's 80th Birthday was on Monday, but we all celebrated it on Sunday!

It started off with some brunch at the Golden Corral! I love when you can get such a smorgasbord of things, but I am not a big fan of "everything you can eat" . . because I eat A LOT!! And then I'm sooooo stuffed!

Here are my cute cousins back from their trip to Disney World!! Ava has on her princess dress, and Tyler just cracks me up b/c whenever you say to smile, he gets super excited and almost shakes because he smiles so hard!
Austin is such a cutie!! The big brother of the group!! He made Shane and I carry him around all day!
The whole gang!! Notice how my dad and Shane are the only two who don't turn around! Ugh! Are you sick and tired of me taking pictures of you, or what?!
My Grandma is a gal after my own heart. Dessert, dessert, dessert. Yum!And more dessert! We went back to Grandma's to eat some yummy Giant Eagle cake!
I just can't get over how cute Ava is!! Getting ready to help Grandma blow out the candles!
Yay!! Happy 80th Grandma!! She told me that this was her best birthday yet! That makes me feel so good that she's still happy @ 80!!