Happy 5th Birthday Val-e-val-e-val

It was Val's 5th birthday today. We spent most of it doing one of the things Val loves to do - driving in the car with us to Pittsburgh. She is the best dog EVER and we love her so much. She has brought us so much joy, laughter, & love over the past 5 years and we feel so lucky to have her in our lives. It is amazing how a dog can warm your heart. We love our Val-e-val!

Brian's Birthday Celebration

It was Brian's 35th birthday and we celebrated at Mr. Kenney's with Pat, Bob, Mary, Ava, Luke, Jimmy, Jeanne Jones, and Kris Hall. We ordered pizza, drank lots of beer and wine, and Brian got to blow out all the candles we could find on his half-eaten cake. It was his 35th birthday, but his candles made it seem like he was 46 or 64. Happy Birthday Brian!

Everyone Wants a Piece of Jimmy

Jimmy was in town for a family/work visit last weekend. We were all excited to see him and try to coax him to move back to Philadelphia. He arrived on Friday and we headed to the pub for a true Glenside meal. Saturday he pretended he still owned the Glenside Farmer's Market and worked the floor all day long - vendors and customers were all over him - you had to pry them off him. We then headed to Mr. Kenney's for dinner & Brian's birthday celebration where Ava and Luke eagerly waited for Uncle Jimmy's (their long lost uncle) arrival. Jimmy & Jeanne joined us for our Sunday hike in Chestnut Hill and after lunch and some chores, Jimmy made us his BBQ Pulled Turkey Wings for dinner. It was an awesome weekend and we love spending time with him, but since we couldn't get him to move back to Philly, we booked tickets to go see him in September. So look for our trip highlights at the end of September.

A 10 Year Reunion

I was in Columbus, OH for work and due to Facebook's help, I was able to reunite with my high school friend - Jackie - who lives in Columbus with her husband and two adorable girls (Ella & Alex). Jackie and I couldn't exactly pin point the last time we got together but we believe it was circa 1999. Jackie and I were really good friends and have tons of fun memories from high school. I found this picture below of our crew in 1995.

Jackie and I made dinner together and had some cocktails reminiscing and catching up on all the wonderful things in our lives. It was so cool to see what an awesome mom Jackie is. Her girls are so fun and they put together a puppet show for us before they went to bed. I'm so glad I got to see her and spend time together.

BBQ

And a 4th of July parade would not be complete without burgers and dogs from the master of the grill. We all came back to our house (including our friends Jeanne Jones & Abby) to enjoy some grub.

The Glenside Parade

Brian and I enjoy the convenience of having the 4th of July parade so close to our house. We believe (and hope) we may have started a tradition with the Kenneys and the Assenmachers. We saved our spot on Jenkintown road, packed up our cooler of ice cold beers, and enjoyed all there was to see. Tom (our courageous volunteer firefighter) walked in the parade so Jean joined us on the sidelines for what may be the 5th year in a row. Enjoy all the pictures.

Mr. Kenney, Ava, Brian, Bob, Deb, Greg, Sydney, & Nathan (look at how Nathan is chillin in his stroller) Me & AvaOur neighbors - Clare, Lee, and Thomas Our good friends Tom & JeanPat & Mr. KenneyAva, Sydney & LukeOur good friends - Deb & Greg Bob & Mary (celebrating their 7th anniversary this month)

A July 4th Homecoming

Brian and I came home the Thursday before July 4th to see news trucks outside our house. Fox, CBS, and NBC filled Linden's street. Being the nosey neighbors that we are, we sat on our front steps to see what all the excitement was about. Luckily it happened to be a celebratory story. Our neighbor's daughter had come home from Iraq - flags, welcome signs, and tons of veterans filled the streets on motorcycles. But the best part was her son (3 year old Dylan) got to see his mom. It had been months since they had been together. She road in the Glenside parade - see picture below, but she heads back in another week. We thank her and all the others for bravely serving our country.