San Diego with Bill!
Bill's neighborhood, Pacific Beach
Trestle Beach with Kelly Slater
Sushi with the bro
Materiel with the Reyes'
England to see the Caseys!
Justin & Jemma
Aunt Crazy with her Godson Ryan Lion
Out to dinner with Sophie and the Richmond girls
Torturing my poor Godson at Royal Trust sites
Ryan and Nana
Liz, Ryan, Sophie and Bob
Rewiring my 100 year old house! Repainting my 100 year old house!
The front hall
The inevitable HOLES from replacing knob & tube wiring
The bedroom being painted
Halloween in Cary, NC!
Lauren and Mema (with mask!)
Christie's pumpkin
My costume as Nancy Botwin ... which no one got.
Kyla as the Little Mermaid
Matt and Christie in Basketball gear (too bad you can't see his shoes, they were so funny)
Lauren as Cinderella
Post Halloween sugar rush with Garret and Ashley
Veterans Day in Virginia Beach!
Lunchin' with the Lundgrens
Hanging at Bubba's waiting for dinner with Brad ... what a storm!
Back to Cary, NC for Thanksgiving!
Aunt Crazy and Kyla
My Dancing Deer Lauren
Squirt
My first glimpse of Susan's digs in North Raleigh ... GORGEOUS.
Christmas in Cary!
Mom took us to dinner at the Carolina Inn
Back to England for my Godson's Christening!
Justin matching his decor
Jem, Justin, Mrs. and Mr. Crane
Night out in Cambridge with Justin and Jemma
Jemma's hamster Bruiser
A VERY icy day for a Christening on Whitestile Road
Jo and Mike Casey, Sir Ryan Benjamin Hugh Lion Peanut Casey, Liz and Bob Crane
Proud parents Sophie and Rupert
International Night at Maud Trevvett Elementary School!
Nyabol and Aunt Crazy
Los Angeles, CA to check in on Baby B!
Besanceneys, Rob, Nicole and Janeen at the Besanceney house in South Pasadena
Madeleine, Hannah and Brian
Hannah, Madeleine, Minnie, and Janeen (Madeleine's godmother!) on the way to Santa Monica
Mommy's little helper
Aunt Crazy and J9
Brian enjoying his margarita
Bill came up from San Diego to meet us!
The car ride home ... no, Madeleine didn't also have the margarita.
Buckeyes
Babysitting the nieces in Richmond!
Dollhouse creativity
Dollhouse dining room
The creators, Pipsqueak and Squirt
Lauren, playing in the snow in Aunt Crazy's backyard
Kyla the cutie
Lively Lauren at bathtime
Centennial Weekend in Florida!!
I know you won't believe it, but within a month this year, Gita turned 40 and Mary turned 60. Andrea and I thought it was a great excuse to plan a trip to Florida! (Of course, when ISN'T it a good time to plan a trip to Florida for February?)
A fun (but expensive!) trip to Clearwater Beach. Can you tell these girls are from the Northeast? Florida has probably not seen this much black leather since the Hells Angels were in town.
We saw this on our way to dinner on Saturday night. It was even funnier on our way back, especially after Mary hit the sake.
Wicked Weekend with the Girls!
Kerry, Jennifer, Jenna, Mo, and Padma in Richmond! We saw Wicked as a sort of celebration for knowing each other for 20 years. I am so lucky!
Liz and Tom Cruise (I wasn't even there, but it's a hilarious picture!)
Church Hill Irish Festival!
Nicole, Katherine and Janeen
Several bad attempts at making a passport shot for Nicole (which she wasn't allowed to use anyway)
For Love of Molly (FLOM) benefit at Joe's Inn!
The Belks
Adam H and friends
Cary, NC for Pipsqueak's 5th birthday!
As my last days visiting the munchkins in Cary, NC were ebbing (they moved to Florida!), I have to look back and remember some wonderful times. I'll miss you 915 Alden Bridge!
Mema
Birthday Girl Pipsqueak
Kyla, Lauren and Ashley after the party
I just can't believe my eldest niece is 5. It seems like just yesterday we were at her 3rd birthday and she was born the day before that!!
Altamont, NY for Easter with the Stauffers!
First visit back since the family reunion in 2007!
Aunt Morag, Andy, Uncle Don and Isabel
Making fresh scones (pronounced SCAHNS)
Uncle Don
Caiphirinas, cheese and crackers.... all my favorite Cs.
Chris doing a Harry Potter imitation with napkin rings
Margaret
Yummy Metis tea, compliments of Isabel from Paris!
Andy has been scanning in family shots... this one cracked us up. if you knew my Dad, then you probably aren't suprised at this picture of me, Maragaret, and Christie, kneeling proudly in a pool of fish blood.
Billy at my Grandma Gerry's house for Thanksgiving dinner
1981 Kennedy family (partial) in Altamont: from left starting with the bench, Christie, Aunt Crazy, Uncle Bob, Aunt Morag, Doug, Uncle Dave, Alison, Andy, Don, Mom, Dad, Billy, Danny and Margaret.
Building a garden with the Luals and Bollywood at Cous Cous!
Adam tilling the land
Clearing the dirt
Filling the beds
The final plots!
Bollywood!
Virginia Beach for Jenni's birthday!
Nick and I played with his planes during Carly's game
Carly
Nick, Matt and Jenni
Getting that hair out of her eyes so she can get back in and kick some butt!
Lunch with Jenni at Rudee's
Leslie's 40th Surprise Party at Legend Brewery!
It worked - she was surprised!
A happy hubby
KKidd and C-Dawg
Well done, Ed!
Leslie is incapable of an angry face.
Leslie, Mike, Nicole and Janeen ... nice night.
Raleigh, NC for the MS Walk and some flea market shopping with the Richmond girls!
Team Rector at the MS Walk in Raleigh
Starting line
The INCREDIBLE hand-knitted market bag Susan gave me! I LOVE this thing. I take it EVERYWHERE.
Susan and Leslie at the flea market.
Bee Ben (who had just safely disposed of the copperhead I had almost just stepped on) ... my hero!
Susan, Kristen, Leslie and Aunt Crazy saying farewell
The Caseys visit the colonies!
My gorgeous Godson at his first Richmond bar, Curbside.
Ryan and Daddy
Jamestown .... we were watching the introduction movie - honest! - but it was more fun to watch Ryan try to touch the projections on the floor!
Rupert, Sophie and Ryan Lion
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Jamestown silliness. All in a day's cultural visit from Sophie!
During Ryan's nap, Rupert helped me construct my dining-room-table-from-a-door project! I love it.
Mom and Ryan opening presents from Mrs. Kennedy and Christie ... I love the look on his face!
He liked the clapping when he opened a package successfully as much as he liked the adorable presents!
Happy Pre-Birthday Siry Ryan! (With a cupcake Mummy got him from Carytown Cupcakes!)
Touring the State Capitol building
The Caseys, the Windors, and The SHOE
Janeen's 40th Birthday!
Sophie, Mo, Mary, Janeen and Aunt Crazy at Can Can for Janeen's 40th Birthday
(followed by Sex & The City II!)
The Shaffers
Sophie and Ryan
Aunt Crazee (alternate spelling compliments of Rupert! Sometimes abreviated to Crazee) and Ryan in the Labady's pool
Sweet Sixteen!
Awooda's 16th birthday!
Fishing at Shields Lake in Byrd Park with the Luals!
Duk thought the hat I wore to Simon & Samantha's wedding was awesome.
Wake up! It's time to fish!
Deng (the Honoree, since he memorized all of his vocabulary words all by himself) with his rod
Ayak
The guys from the James River Fishing Association were fantastic! They were so helpful, so enthusiastic, and so patient!
Nyabol wanted to bait her own hook
She caught a fish ... no, wait. A SNAPPING TURTLE! You never saw guys run as fast as the JRFA guys did to cut that line! The last thing they needed was a city kid losing a toe.
Resting at my house after a long morning.
Visting Scott in Baltimore, MD!
Scott's apartment in Fell's Point
The cabin of Scott's boat ... it had EVERYTHING.
Cathy and Scott in the Chesapeake Bay
Drinking Prosecco on the bow at sunset *sigh*
HEY! MICHAEL PHELPS FINALLY LEFT HIS HOUSE! Michael Phelps lives in Scott's complex, and his house is about 4 boats away from Scott's slip. Yes, I stalked him all weekend. Scott wouldn't let me take a picture when he was facing us but you can bet I took one as soon as he turned around! He was at the restaurant where we had dinner, too.
The view of the harbor from Scott's apartment.
The other view of the harbor from Scott's apartment.
Amy and me at Jimmy's for breakfast on Sunday morning.
Scott, such a tremendous friend.
Lake Savani in Pasadena, MD!!!!
This is a backyard pool. I kid you not! This is why we return year after year, and each time is as wonderful as the last!
The Moggios :)
Small's birthday!
Lovely Lindsey with her cake.
And lovely twin sister Samantha with hers... ah, ladies after my own heart.
Lindsey and I fooling around with Faces Wild on my phone.
Off for the traditional Karaoke! The Savanis, Mike and Dori in the back on the left. Spies and Sotak (up special for the night!) in the foreground.
Kennedy (Aunt Crazy)
My favorite picture from the night... we laughed this hard the WHOLE EVENING.
Power Duo Alison and Sloppy Joe
Dinner with Darnell on the ride home
Car Pool Happy Hour!
The Delta Three: Kennedy, Spies & Moge
United Way Duck Race with Coolio!
Deng, Conor, Duk and Brandon
The Ducks fall into the canal
Conor and his Dad, my buddy Coolio
(Chris Olio to those who did not work with himduring an era of first-initial-last-name header pages that came out on every print job... ah, the good ol' days. Although Coolio had a great on, Stephanie Chitty really won that contest.)
Ayak
The kids feeding the geese
Riding the elevator in the Dominion building to see the United Way event from the sky. Brandon was cracking me up when he struck a yoga pose, which was soon imitated!
Kings Dominion with Suburban Family!
(Half of them, anyway!)
Aunt Crazy and her life partner, Meredith, plus Thing One and Thing Two
(OK, she's not really my life partner, I'm sad to say, but this picture cracked us up!! Meredith had to buy it.)
Shane and Keegan outside Three Monkeys
Meredith playing melodies with her feet at the Children's Museum
Shane on the xylophone
Keegan's sunny disposition
Shane in the echo chamber
OK, I'm not sure, but the MIGHT be getting tired of me telling them to smile. Or Mere, Master Maternal Manipulator that she is, might have said something magical like "I wonder who can give Aunt Crazy the biggest smile?" I'm telling ya, she's a genius.
Keegan at the orb in front of the Science Museum.
KINGS DOMINION! Shane LOVED this ride ... after his first time, he said "THIS IS THE BEST RIDE IN ALL OF KINGS DOMINION!" He went on again with his Mom, and Keegan took this picture with my camera when they came down.
Shane Earnhardt
Keegan Cole Trickle
Bumper cars!
Waiting for Joe Cool's Driving School
They did GREAT!
View from above
Mommy was NOT jazzed about this altitude. Neither was Aunt Crazy.
We were getting a little punchy at the end of the day!
Haha ... I love how these turned out!
FANTASTIC Staycation Haglers!
Cincinnati for the Porter Wedding!
Cousins Sarah, Doug, and Kalee
Newlyweds David and Megan
The Piper!
Mom pointing out that there was a Deeks that ran this Country Club! We're classier than we thought!
Mom, Jim (FoB), Jack, Christie (MoB)
The new couple with Ann and John Stuart, Grandmother and Grandfather of the bride
I never get the first dance shot; it's a major photographic weakness for me, but this picture I really like.
Don't know what Mom was saying to Christie but she looks excited!
Parents of the Bride, Christie and Jim
Newly engaged David and Jen with brother Chris, my cousins.
The Dancing Stuarts!
Our table - we had some great neighbors!
The 15 person van can only mean one thing... Virginia Beach with the Lundgrens and Luals!
15 person van rented... let's go!
I could never document the day as well as Jenni, so I'll just link to her post here. We had SUCH a great time!
36th Street, Virginia Beach
Reng and (some of) the Lual Family
Some had been to Virginia Beach before, but for most this was the first time at any beach!
Duk
Aunt Crazy and Jenni
Deng
Aunt Crazy, Awut Chan, Jenni and her incredible kids Carly and Nick
Talking to Carly
Jellyfish
A little rough, but a beautiful day!
Hanging with the Luals in the surf!
A hard earned nap for Matt
Awut Chan's first time at the beach
Duk got the hang of jumping the waves
Rinsing off
Ready to go ... Ayak, Nyabol, Achan, Anger, Duk, Deng and Awut
Stopping at the Dairy Queen for ice cream ... I had offered them hats and I think maybe they felt obligated to borrow them, but perhaps they weren't really needed after all.
At the DQ with "my other family"
Reng
Aunt Crazy and Deng .... fueled by ice cream
Reng took pictures out of the car as we drove home ... these are the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel
And a final picture of brunch at Janeen's weekend!
That's it!! What a year!
