A Wedding and A Family Reunion

Is this the YEAR for WEDDINGS or WHAT??? We attended our cousin, Brandon's wedding this past weekend which makes our fourth wedding within the last 6 months!!! We still have one MORE to go this year in September. And get this...FOUR out of the FIVE weddings are for first and second cousins of ours!! SIMPLY AMAZING! Congratulations to ALL you newly weds out there! Best Wishes to Brandon and Angela who got married this past weekend! I will have to say it was the HOTTESS wedding reception I have EVER been to! South Louisiana HEAT in the middle of July and the air wasn't quite working right...OK it wasn't working AT ALL! Until someone figured out about 1 hour into the reception that the breaker had flipped. So it FINALLY cooled down about the time the reception ended...WHEW!! I think my make-up MELTED off my face and I lost 5 lbs that night :) A side from the air not working, it was a FUN reception and we had a BLAST! I have included a couple of pictures.

On Sunday we had a Family Reunion to attend at Brian's cousin, Lori's home on the Diversion Canal. The reunion was for family on Brian's grandmother's side -- The East Family. It was one HOT day! The kids were lucky enough to play in the water on a slip-n-slide to cool themselves off. We enjoyed seeing and chatting with all of the family members that we don't get to see too often. Saylor ESPECIALLY LOVED playing with her little cousin Abigail. She and Chandler even got to feed Abby. She is the HAPPIEST and CUTEST little baby girl EVER! There was only ONE thing MISSING from the family reunion....Maw Maw Brenice/Aunt Joy's famous Coconut Cake!! After Maw Maw Brenice passed away ....Aunt Joy took over the duty of making the cake for all the family functions.....and sadly we lost Aunt Joy this past February....I guess I need to practice up on my coconut cake making skills, huh??!! We SURELY do miss Aunt Joy! Not only her coconut cakes but her sense of humor, her character, her love and just simply her JOY!

Fishing on the Fourth

This past Fourth of July weekend was GREAT!!! Spending quality time with family is the BEST thing in the world! We went down to my dad's camp in Venice, Louisiana and took a couple of fishing trips! The first TRIP was just Brian, Saylor, Chandler and myself in my dad's bay boat. We went out of Tiger Pass to the rocks where Saylor caught her BIGGEST REDFISH ever!!! Chandler preferred to munch down on GOOOREETOS (as he calls them) but threw in a little fishing here and there - He hasn't caught his FIRST FISH yet, but we are working on that! Another thing the kids really enjoyed doing this past weekend was swimming in the cheap $9.99 pool I bought them from the Family Dollar in Port Sulphur. THE BEST 10 bucks I have spent in AWHILE!! PURE CHEAP entertainment for HOURS! Until the side seam SPLIT....AND we had to DUCK TAPE it back together --- THAT was a REAL pretty sight!! I should have gotten a picture of THAT! I was too busy scrambling to try and keep the water in the pool!!
The next day we ALL went out on Paw Paw Iddo's big 54 ft. Donzi boat -- The crew included: Paw Paw Iddo, Maw Maw Jenny, Pa Pa Don, Mi Mi, Uncle Mike, Saylor, Chandler, Brian and myself. We headed 18 miles off shore to some rigs to try and catch some lemon fish....we DIDN'T catch any lemons but ended up catching some Red Snapper! Saylor even got to steer the boat!
A couple of times the weather looked like it was going to get REALLY BAD....but it didn't, just a light mist as it moved along. We did see something pretty scary but amazing.....a couple of water spouts developed around the waters near us. They never really got THAT CLOSE to us! But it was cool to see them form and dissipate in MID-AIR! Mother Nature at HER FINEST! The weather cleared up and it was SUNNY and HOT the rest of the day!



















I think this was the FIRST year we DIDN'T pop any fireworks for the FOURTH!! BUT, we surely did RELAX and have a good time! Maybe, NEXT YEAR we'll have to do this again for the FOURTH OF JULY!

Happy Birthday America!!

TO INFINITY, AND BEYOND!!

BESIDES music, guitars, and DRUMS....Chandler's LATEST obsession is Disney's movie, TOY STORY with Buzz Lightyear and Woody. He has WATCHED it OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN! When he FIRST started watching it....he was calling it YEA'S......I had NO CLUE, as to WHY????....BUT I KNEW which movie he was talking about! So, finally the other day I asked Saylor...WHY DOES he call Toy Story ..."YEAS".....and her response was "MOM, IT'S because of the little THREE-EYED green martians in the movie" --- Little DID I know....that they say: "YEEEEAAAAA"........right before the movie begins -- So, the MARTIANS are NOW NAMED "YEAS".....He told me when we go to Disney World this year that he wants to take a picture with "YEAS". Sooo all this Toy Story talk ...got me thinking...WHERE in the HECK did I put that Buzz Lightyear costume I bought AFTER Halloween LAST YEAR at the Disney Store??? I paid like 5 bucks for it --- WOW, what an INVESTMENT!! TA-DAAHHH......There it was...sitting in his closet! Chandler LOVES wearing it until it gets about 150 degrees inside....... then we PEEL it off of him!

So, THEN the other day Brian walks in there and finds him standing in front of his DVD player WATCHING "YEAS" and he has these OLD BROWN BOOTS on that USED to be Saylor's. He must have FOUND those in his closet, dug them OUT, and put them on (the WRONG feet, of course). Brian asks him (with a little chuckle) "Chandler, What are you doing?" Chandler says, "I like Woody! Daddy", "Woody have boots", "and Chandler have BOOTS!". Brian immediately came and got me to make sure I saw THIS BEAUTIFUL SIGHT. OOOHHHHH...HOW WE BOTH got a GREAT LAUGH that night!! So, now I have SEVERAL little Toy Story characters running around my house! WHEN I start seeing the little green "YEAS" I'll let you KNOW!!
AND YES, he is STILL wearing the LONG sleeved pajamas!! I gave up on that battle a while ago!!

Luau Lovin!

Friday, June 20th, 2008 - The LAST family hurrah with Phil & Rachael, for A WHILE at least -- We had everyone over to our home for a last get-together with Phil and Rachael before they leave for Cleveland, Ohio. Phil starts Podiatry School SOON! Rachael begins a new career as a registered nurse at a local hospital. The party was luau themed and the kids swam in the pool while the adults enjoyed DRINKS and BARBECUE! Everyone also enjoyed watching the LSU Tigers try for another CWS win...although it didn't quite turn out the way we wanted it too! OH well, there's ALWAYS next year!! But on a sad note, we will definitely miss Phil and Rachael, and wish them the BEST OF LUCK on their NEW journey together! Maybe one day Phil will be able to fix Brian's hammer toes and caves feet!!

Another LUAU followed the next day, Saturday, June 21, 2008 -- CES's Annual Family Picnic - It was held at Blue Bayou Water Park again this year! It was Chandler's FIRST time going to Blue Bayou and Saylor's 3rd or 4th -- at any rate the KIDS LOVE this place!!! CES had a covered pavilion nicely decorated with the LUAU theme. We had lunch as the door prizes were given away! We walked away with a couple of shirts, a hat, LSU Tiger stuff animal, and a $50.00 gift certificate to BASS PRO SHOPS....WHAT MORE can you ask for?!?!?! After a quick group picture, OFF we went to the park -- First the lazy river, which SAYLOR zoomed ahead of us and PANIC set in...as I thought we lost her! NOPE, there she was PATIENTLY waiting for us at the end! THANK GOD!! After a little chat with Saylor...then we ALL got on the CONGA....a five person slide with a bunch of twists and turns....Chandler absolutely LOVED this one!! We splished and splashed all day long until a thunder storm cloud loomed above. Then, we decided, we'd better make a run for it before we got stuck in all of the CHAOS of people getting out of the park during a thunderstorm. Besides that, we STILL had YET another pool party to go too!! GOSH, I just LOVE the summer time!!

Weekend Wrap-up

Brian left last Thursday(May 29th, 2008) to head down the Venice, Louisiana to fish in an off-shore tournament with his Dad - Iddo, my brother - Mike, and some friends and family. He caught one 22 lb. Mahi Mahi which he entered into the tournament. The fish held for a while on the boards...but eventually dropped off. Also, Brian caught a WHITE MARLIN and I am not sure how much it weighed as it got off at the boat. My brother, Mike, caught 1 Mahi Mahi as well. This was Brian's first BIG GAME tournament to fish in. They had to video ANY fish they caught and wear these special wrist-band bracelets....which proved, on video, that they were the person actually catching the fish on THAT particular day --I always wondered HOW they proved they actually caught the fish! Because with BIG game fish like that you typically don't kill them...you just tag and release them... Above is a picture of Brian's father's boat, The Virginia Claire (it is named after his mother)which they fished the tournament on. It is a 52 ft. Donzi with PLENTY of room!

On Friday, May 30th, 2008, Saylor had her awards ceremony for T-Ball. Her team ended up in 2nd place for the season. They each got a medal with 2nd place engraved on the back of it along with the year. Her coach gave each member a softball trophy with QUEEN BEES (the name of their team) and the year engraved on it along with a photograph book of pictures from the whole season of every player. That was SO nice of her coach to do that!! Very thoughtful!! She was truly a wonderful coach! And what a GREAT way to end a GREAT season!

Saturday, May 31, 2008 -- The kids and I stayed at home all day! My friend, Ashley, came over and we swam in the pool with the kids. Later on that evening my mom came over to watch the kids as Ash and I went to help out with a political fundraiser in Plaquemine for Mayor Tony Gulotta. After leaving there....we headed to the Texas Club for some much needed DRINKS, dancing, and FUN!! Much to my surprise, Brian ended up coming STRAIGHT from Venice and meeting me at the Texas Club! HA!

Sunday, June 1st, 2008 -- We started out the morning with our WEEKLY visit to Wally World to pick up a few groceries. Then Brian and I went to see Jaime Wax's production of, "Going to Jackson" at the Shaw Center. I just happen to win some free tickets to the show on WBRZ's Tune In morning show on Friday morning. I have HEARD many great things about his performance and was excited about going to see it for the first time! He has been doing this show for 18 years now! The story takes place at the mental institution up in Jackson, Louisiana. He is the ONLY person in the show BUT he plays MANY different characters at the institution. The show was really good, although I almost dozed off a time or two from staying out so late the night before. IF you EVER go to the Shaw Center Theater to see something...TAKE YOUR SWEATER...it was FREEZING in there....much like the movie theater! After that, we went to The Landry's house (our next door neighbors) for Beau and Alyssa's birthday celebration. They boiled some crawfish and the kids played on the slip-n-slide. As I was sitting there watching the kids slip-n-slide, it reminded me of my CHILDHOOD MEMORIES slip-n-sliding in the summer......I remember pulling out an old piece of Daddy's visqueen from his workshop spreading it out in the back yard and grabbing the bottle of mom's DAWN Dish Detergent and squirting it ALL over the place....adding a lil bit of water....and it was FUN FOR HOURS and HOURS!! They surely don't make slip-n-slides like they USED to! That's for SURE!!!

I hope you have enjoyed reading my weekend wrap-up as there is NEVER a dull moment!