Do We Look Alike?

i have been soooo blessed to be from a very...unique family. i woke up this morning really missing my family, wishing that we lived closer to some family. this weekend, my hubs and i spent time in PA with his mom and grandparents and his dad was also able to come out from NJ for a visit. right now, living in ohio, we are 3 hours from his mom (PA), 9 hours from his dad (NJ), 4.5 hours from my mom (MI) and 5 hours from my dad (MI). this obviously does not include travel time to grandparents and some siblings. let me tell you about my siblings... :) get ready...there are a lot of them!!

jonathan (aka paco to me) is married to whitney and they have 2 kids and several pets. they live in allegan, michigan. paco, 26, is now in the subway sandwich business with my dad after serving 6 years in the army. whit has become a good friend of mine over the last 10 years and i am so glad that she chose to be a part of the craziness of this family. whit occasionally work at subway if needed, but she is most known for her cleaning abilities. she is a great housekeeper and people started taking notice. now, she regularly cleans house for a few people...i wish she lived closer, Lord knows i need her!! kayla is 7 and in first grade and carter is 3. they are really good kids and i have missed being closer while they grow up. kayla loves to ride horses and carter loves anything having to do with tractors or guns, just like his dad!

Jonathan 1 1/2 and me 3 (i think)

thanksgiving 2010

grant is #3 in the mix. he is 23 and actually lives at our house!! :) i have mentioned in a prior post that he is a hairstylist. he works at square one salon and spa in Centerville, oh and he is very good at what he does. grant is what i would call, lively! :) he definately brings the life to the party. we have had a lot of fun with him here in ohio over the last 10 months...co-ed softball should be interesting this summer! :) in all honesty, grant has been an amazing support the last 10 months and it will be very strange when he moves out. i will actually have to leave the house to have my own hair done, and peter will have to find a new biking buddy. 

i have always been a backseat driver! 1988

Florida 12/2010

laura, my amazing and absolutely brilliant sister-in-law (peter's sister), is 22 and currently living in alpine, tx. laura graduated with a 4.0 gpa in wildlife biology and is now at sul ross university getting her masters, which for her means lots of research involving trapping and tracking animals.  she has a really neat blog if you are interested. even though our passions are very different, i love that she has gone out on a limb to follow her passion. texas is very far from ohio, and we miss laura tons, but peter and i are very proud of how hard she is working for what she wants!! she has some pretty sweet stories too. i am blessed to call laura not only family, but a true friend!! 

A favorite of Peter's!!! 1992?

Laura and Bob (her bf) in Florida,  March 2011

Olivia (aka Miss O or Liv) and i are 7 years apart...that means she is 21!!! Liv lives is Grand Rapids, MI with her baby girl Zoe who was born January 25, 2011! both liv and zoe came for a visit last week and i loved it! zoe is a good little baby girl and it was nice to hang with liv...even if she did use me for my hair highlighting skills :) with me being #1 and liv being #4 in the original group, we did not grow up being very close but in the last few months, or honestly, the last few weeks things have started to change :) i cant wait to watch zoe grow up and be a beautiful young woman, just like her momma!

Christmas card photo, '91 or '92

Liv, Zoe and Brian (liv's bf) 2/2011

nathan, nate dawg to me, is 13...7th grade!!! i was 15 when nate dawg was born and at first i didnt know if it was a good idea for mom be be having any more kids (i was a selfish high schooler), but i cant imagine life without him now!! nate is a typical middle school boy, but he is also very loving and compassionate towards his family. he is always the first to give me a hug when i go home, even if it is a little awkward. i dont know anyone else that can remember so many sports stats, or just random info for that matter. i am pretty sure that if you put any type of competitive event in front of nate, he will participate and will work very hard to win. :) nate is a fireball and i love him for it!

paco's tuning blue ceremony. 2003

nate dawg and paco with nate's first deer, 9/2010

just when you thought i was finished... :)

mamie is 5!! every time i see her i can never believe how grown up she gets! as you can see, our names are very close, and yes, dad confuses us all the time when we are together or when i call! :) mamie was born august 2005. at first we thought she was going to have very dark hair like jess (her mom) but it then turned red like grant's and now dark blonde...like my natural color :) mamie loves to help take care of her little sisters and brother...so cute!

mamie at grant's grad party! 6/2006

classic mamie smile!! love it! 12/2009

matilda (tilly) is so much like me its a little scary! so, watch out world...! tilly has the a full sized attitude in a pint sized body, but it sometimes works to her advantage. i am pretty sure that matilda came out ready to stick up for anyone, me included at times. on the other hand, tilly gets really cuddly with me and peter after the first 10 min of being home. i have a feeling tilly and i will have a very unique relationship as she grows up. 

9/2007. tilly (11mo), mam (2 yrs), and me before the fair

this is the face we all get! tilly 3/2008

mila, born 5/2008, is different from any of the other girls...its awesome! i love that she is so laid back but also knows what she wants. she is very deliberate...with everything. :) when i talk with mila on the phone it takes her about 3 min to tell me one sentence. the other crazy thing is she gets her point across. not long ago she was upset about something and literally stood in the bedroom crying for almost an hour, just to show that she was mad. deliberate and determined! :) 

mila 3 months old 8/2008

i know this is not super recent, but i love this one! 12/2009

margaret, we all call her maggie, is a chub with one of the biggest heads...i think she is adorable! maggie was born 8/2009. i havent quite figured out what her personality will be. she loves to be right next to dad  when he is in the room, literally hangs on his legs! the last time i was in michigan i read the same book to maggie at least 7 times, maybe she will have my love of books. love you, big head!

april 2010...big head :)

maggie, mila, mamie, matilda in their matching pillowcase dresses 6/2010

james, whose middle name is edward, therefore we call him edy, was born this past september. i dont know edy that well yet. i have not able to be up there that often since he was born. i can assume though that being the only boy in a house of 4 big sisters will be nothing short of exciting for him. the girls already dote on him and love to take care of baby edy :). i cant wait to share stories of him as he grows up.

here are pics with everyone from thanksgiving...parents, kids, grandkids...quite the bunch!!

mom with her kids and grandkids, zoe not here yet! :)

dad and jess with the little kids and dog maddie

its a feat to get a good one with this group.

my mom hosted thanksgiving at her house this past year...first time in over 20 years that my whole family was together. it was really great for my parents to do that for us kids. yes, technically we are a little different than most families, but i love our disfunction!! :) 

blessings, ALo

ps. like the new look? the font used for the headers is pretty much just like my handwriting :) i like the new background for spring. hope it is a little easier to read too!