Sweet Alana

We love coming in to the Burgh, but leaving can be torture when you have an adorable, sweet niece like Alana. Gosh, we miss her so much.

You'd think my parents never get to see her (they watch her every weekday), because every chance they get, she is in their arms. Pictured above are two occasions where Grams and Gramps are calming her from crying - they have the magic touch.

Like Ava, Alana and Val were pals. Alana tried to crawl under Val's legs and followed her all around the house. Val reciprocated her love by licking Alana until she needed a bath.

We bathed her and hugged her and squeezed her because we love her so much. Can't wait to see her soon!

Bub B B - Bubbles

My Aunt Marilyn is a speech pathologist and works with young children. She has tons of techniques she uses for speech therapy. For fun, we pulled out the bubbles and tried to teach Alana to say, "Bubbles." The video doesn't capture her signing and saying it, but she sure was close. Nevertheless, she enjoyed popping them and we obviously enjoyed watching her.

At Last, JINXED No More!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK, so tracking back to my first visit to the Iron City back in 2002, I had quite a record as it relates to my attendance at professional sporting events involving Philadelphia teams vs. Pittsburgh teams (let's leave it to Phillies vs. Pirates games for now). Yes, my record was 0- and let's just say A LOT. It got to the point that I was concerned and Bill-Billy-Bill always wanted me to come in just about every weekend to help the lowly Bucs get a win.

Well, on Saturday, April 26, 2008, the Phillies FINALLY beat the Pirates in Pittsburgh with me in attendance. Yes, THE PHILLIES FINALLY WON and the jinx was broken. Hallelujah!

(Makes me sad that Jessie is wearing a Pittsburgh Penguins hat -- I mean, come on, the Penguins?!!)

Happy 87th Birthday Gram

My Grandma turned 87 and we celebrated in Pittsburgh this past weekend. Jessa and John hosted a BBQ in honor of Grandma. John was the man by the grill and Jessa put together a memorable gift for our Grandma - all the grandkids wrote a favorite memory about Grams accompanied with favorite pictures of all of us.

Here are Brian and my memories.

BRIAN'S:
First time I met your grandparents was when Julie and I took a trip up to visit them when we had just started dating. It was a great experience -- my mom was living at the time and we spent a couple of days with your grandparents and then hurried back to celebrate my mom's birthday. I remember telling her this story and she laughed.

Julie had told her grandparents that we would be visiting and to prepare a list because we were coming up to do work. Boy, when we arrived did we have a list! Garden, weed, till, prune, put down black plastic in garden, cut bushes, plant veggies, etc. Well, your grandma had asked if we could trim the 75 yards or so of Forsythia bushes that lined the driveway and that hadn't been trimmed for quite some time. It was July, it was hot and these things were overgrown. So, being the urbanized guy that I am I posed a simple question, "Happy to help. Where's the electric hedge trimmer?" Your grandma looked at me like I had nine heads, handed me a pair of hand pruners and said , "Oh, Brian, we don't have a hedge trimmer, we trim the Forsythia bushes by hand." I remember turning to Julie and saying, "Is she serious? She can't be serious!" Well several hours later and after working through approximately 3-4 bouts of heat exhaustion/stoke, we finished trimming those damn Forsythia bushes by hand.

MINE:
Jessa and I went on a whirlwind trip in the summer of 95 with Grandma and Grandpa. I believe we visited 5 to 6 colleges and places where Grandma grew up. We drove from Pittsburgh to all over the mid west. We had a wonderful time visiting everything, everyone and spending time with Grams & Gramps. And after many hours in a car, there are things you pick up on and remember very vividly.

Grams would point out "skylines" throughout the entire trip - trying to get us to pay attention and appreciate what was out there. Even when you could barely see the skyline, she would say, "Girls, look how beautiful that skyline is?" From cityscape to countryside, Jessa and I got to appreciate every skyline you could see. It kind of became a little joke between Jessa and I, but to this day, every time I see a city Skyline or a beautiful sunset, I think of Grams pointing them out to us on that trip.

Happy Birthday Grams!

Avunc George

Everyone has someone in their family that everyone wants to be around. For me, it's my Uncle George - AKA Avunc George (kind of an inside joke between the two of us). He is just one of those people that make us so happy when we're with him and everyone loves being around him.

I wrote a paper about him back when I was in middle school. It was about him fighting in Vietnam and how he had to eject out of a fighter jet to save his life. I couldn't even imagine what that was like, but back then I thought it was cool (today it freaks me out). You could say he is a risk taker or a man of adventure. He is a dreamer...but always making his dreams a reality. Everything from starting an organic grocery store back before the days of Whole Foods, buying a sail boat and living in the Caribbean, getting his PhD and working for the United Nations, to traveling around the world promoting world peace. When I describe him to people who don't know him, I call him the "Peace Maker" or the "Humanitarian." He makes me very proud. I have links to two of his important efforts on the side of this blog: The International Day of Peace Vigil & the Friends of Danang. You should check them out and participate in some way.

I love getting to see him when I'm in Pittsburgh. He's a loving, caring, and wonderful man who loves his family so much and we love him too.

Visiting Katie, Andy, & AJ

A few weeks ago Brian and I visited Katie, Andy, & AJ. Above are some pictures from the day. Katie is one of my sorority sisters and lives in Philadelphia. It was a few days before AJ's first birthday and as you can see he is already walking around, giggling, and keeping Katie & Andy busy. We had a lot of fun with them and can't wait to visit again.

Wal, Wal, Wal

Ava, Bob, and Mary visited this afternoon. As always, Ava can't wait to see Val and vice versa. She walked into the house screaming, "Wal, Wal, Wal!" That's how she says Val. They are best friends.

Dip With Jupiter

This was Val's first dip of the season and a fellow black lab (Jupiter) joined her. They chased after the same sticks in the water and raced back to land. It was like a competition - we think Val wore him out cause he and his master left after a while. Either that, or he was tired of Val stealing all his sticks.

Like Swimming In A Sea Of Goldfish

It was a gorgeous day today. We took Val for a hike and to her favorite place to swim in Chestnut Hill. Everyone was out today with their dogs and Val had lots of swim friends. This woman had 5 golden retrievers ranging in age from 4 to 14.

Spring Has Sprung

I'm sure you all have been eagerly waiting for the final installment of our front yard bloomfest.

Rattlesnake Pike & My Grandparents

I recently came across this picture of my grandparent's house on Rattlesnake Pike in Julian, PA. Julian is in central Pennsylvania by Penn State University - surrounded by mountains and country side. My grandpa (my hero) designed this house and my grandparents moved there in 1978 when they retired. They recently sold this house a few years ago and now live in Pittsburgh, but from time to time I find myself thinking about all the wonderful memories from my visits to Rattlesnake Pike.

To name my top 10...
1) The fresh country air flowing through the porch, ringing the windchimes
2) Weeding the garden with my grandpa while listening to the Pirates game on the radio
3) My grandma humming in the garden pruning her beautiful roses
4) Hikes in the woods with my grandma naming the birds who are chirping and pointing out the wild flowers along the path
5) Week-long summer visits & the daily agenda of outdoor chores
6) Sled riding with the family at Christmas
7) My brother and I squeeling with excitement as we circled the bend to their gravel driveway
8) Skits, games, and swimming with my cousins
9) Tractor rides
10) Weekend, afternoon naps on the living room couch when I visited from Penn State

I feel so lucky to have wonderful grandparents. My Grandma is turning 87 next week and my Grandpa will be 89 in September and I'm just so happy to have them in my life. They make me smile and I love every opportunity to talk with them and visit.

There are so many things that make me think of them daily - when I get excited about work, I think about my Grandpa since that was something he always told me to make sure I had. When I garden or look at beautiful flowers I think of my green thumb Grandma.

I love them so much!

Pittsburgh MS Walk

I recently reconnected with my wedding photographer (Stephen Barry) on Facebook. We have emailed back and forth and he asked if he could do a post on his blog about me since he is doing the MS Walk.

Check out the post as well as some shots from our wedding day. See link below.

The MS Walk is in Pittsburgh on Sunday, April 20th. Stephen is walking and I know some of my cousins were going to as well. Feel free to sponsor him and others to fight against MS.

http://www.in-visionstudio.com/blog/studio-news/pittsburgh-walk-ms-heinz-field/

Use Your Imagination

This image may mean nothing to you, but it has lots of memories for Brian and me. It is from the outside of our first apartment. There were cracks in the wall on the walkway leading up to our apartment and one day workmen came by and filled them in with cement.

Using our imagination, the image became our imaginary friends we would say 'hi' to when we would come home. As you can see there is a guy kicking a soccer ball, two people dancing, and a dog sitting next to them. We always wondered when they slept, or if they did anything else, but they were always there when we came home - saying 'welcome home.'

We see them every once in a while when we grab lunch at Joshua's - the catering shop below our old apartment. They are still very active - still playing soccer, dancing, and the dog patiently sitting next to them. I'm sure Val and the dog would be friends too.

Anyway, what do you see...use your imagination.

Fajitas, Quesadillas, & IC Light?

Christina & Travis had us over this Saturday for dinner. If you remember from a previous post that there may be a 'minor' competition between the two couples, mainly due to Christina and Travis' ability to make a Martha Stewart like feast and our desire to win at everything.

It was a Mexican theme meal with homemade margaritas (Travis hand squeezed the limes), fajitas & quesadillas. While Christina admitted to not making the quacamole or salsa & she trashed the flan she planned for dessert, Brian and I agree that if there was a score (and there is), that it would now be 2-1 Earharts. We'll have to have them over and grill up something amazing to tie it back up.

To top off the night, I thought Travis was kidding when he offered me an IC Light as a cocktail. For those not from the Burgh - IC Light beer is indigenous to the area - and apparently Travis is a fan and gets a case every once in a while.

We had a good time as always, and as you can see Val & Harley enjoyed themselves as well. If anyone is wondering - they are playing, not fighting - so no worries.

Wanna Go For A Ride???

There are a few words Val knows pretty well. When you say them, you will absolutely get a reaction. They include (in order of her absolute favorite to least favorite): treat, walk, ball, bed, bad, and bath.

Then there comes the time of year where one word will make her go ballistic. She will run and jump all around the house when she hears it. It must mean something like 'freedom' to her. If you haven't guessed by the pictures or the title of this post, the word is 'ride.'

It was so gorgeous on Saturday and Brian and I took Val for her first ride of the season in the Jeep. We buckle her in and she spends the entire ride sniffing every sweet smell the season brings. It was a fun weekend and Val is looking forward to more 'rides' this year.

One Week Later...

Look closely, our tulips are blooming. Next week is going to be amazing. Stay tuned...

PUPPY!

Wow - came across these photos of Val as a pup. Forgot how small she was when we got her.

Everything's Coming Up Daffodils and Tulips

We planted tons of bulbs last Fall (daffodils and tulips) and are slowly seeing the fruits of our labor as they pop through the ground. We mulched this weekend (bottom picture) and some of the daffodils are blooming.

Everyday I just stare at the front walkway hoping my force will make everything grow faster. I just can't wait for the tulips to bloom and all the other plants to blossom. I love Spring!

To be continued...