Happy Halloween!

This year we had a Roman Gladiator, a Water Color Artist, a Storm Trooper and Spiderman in the house!!

Grace wanted to make her costume this year - well it needed up being Mommy making it - but it did turn out cute I think!

Happy 5th Birthday Samuel

Dear Samuel,

You are growing up so quickly!  At 5 years old you are full of more energy and spunk than every before and more than anyone else in our family for sure!  You are all boy - you love sports, the outdoors, playing rough, swords and nerf guns, race cars and sticks and dirt.  You are self confident and mischievous.  But, you are also incredibly loving and sweet - you still say "I love you" out of the blue several times per day every day.  You love to snuggle and gives lots of hugs and kisses - you still sneak into our bed quite regularly for a snuggle.  You enjoy preschool and play well with the friends you have made there.  You are reading quite fluently now and your handwriting has also gotten quite good.  You are a super quick learner.  You love to play sports more than anything else - and you haven't found a sport you don't enjoy - your favorites are soccer, basketball, football and baseball however.  You were the star of your soccer team this fall, scoring countless goals, all while being usually the smallest one on the field, however the toughest and most determined.  You give 110% to everything you do (good and bad) - you're a passionate little guy and super competitive.  You love playing with your brothers and sister especially playing football with Nicholas, frisbee, puzzles, most any board game and building together with blocks and army men in the attic playroom.   You bring a life and energy to our family that is irreplaceable and we are so thankful for you!  Happy Birthday sweetheart!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

We had a family party for you this year - you requested a soccer theme.

Legos from Grandma

Grace made this banner for you.

And she set up this "opening gift throne" too :-)

A few of the gifts Grace made you - a soccer fan, a treasure box, a laptop, birthday button, CD spinner, and a sports memory match game.

A stomp rocket was the one thing you asked for.

This game was a big hit!

Lego car from Grandma all built with only a little bit of help from Daddy

You birthday was on a Thursday and we had 2 of your buddies over for a play date that day.  You guys played basketball, nerf guns and Legos most of the time.

You and Nicholas are bonding over Legos a lot lately :-)

SAMUELS' FAVORITES AT AGE 5

Stuffed animal - pecker the non flying bird

Food - pasta and pizza

Movie - Abominable

Show - Lego Ninjago

Clothes to wear - VT shorts and gray basketball shirt

Game - checkers

Snack - goldfish and bugles

Animal - dog

Song - "Joy" by King and Crown

Book - Dick and Jane

Friends - Charlie Choo-choo, Creed, Niam, Parker, Ryan, Zach

Drink - gatorade and lemonade

Outside Activity - play sports

Sport - soccer, basketball, baseball, football

Park Activity - play tag

Inside Activity - playing blocks and army men in the attic

Place to go - Disneyworld and Legoland

Fruit - strawberries

Vegetables - carrots

What do you want to be when you grow up?     construction worker

What gives you joy?    my brothers and sisters

What makes you sad?    when Grandpa died

What do you think heaven is like?   lots of stars

Kids Annual Pictures

Happy 9th Birthday Grace!!

Dear Grace,

On your 9th birthday, we want to tell you what a spectacular girl you are!  You have a heart of gold and your brothers couldn't ask for a better sister!  You are like their second mother - always watching out for them and helping - you recognize things that need to be done and do them without being asked.  You are super task oriented, organized and creative.  You love to organize fun games for you and your brothers to play, or play school with them and be the teacher.  You love arts and crafts and your most favorite thing to do is to make gifts for others - on each of our birthdays we usually get at least 3 or more super thoughtful handmade gifts from you - and you also love "planning" parties for us and making banners and decorations.  You enjoy playing soccer and swimming the most of all sports.  You enjoy playing piano and play very nicely however you do not like to practice.  You recently trained to be an alter server and now you are eager to try to serve every weekend.  You continue with ballet and jazz and have also started Odyssey of the Mind this year.  You enjoy reading books about animals and any Magic Treehouse book.  You are a great friend and well liked by your peers.  You are super tall - taller than most kids in your grade.  You do very well in school and get excited about everything you learn there.  You are super social.  You bring such a loving warmth to our home like no one else and we are so very thankful for you!  Happy birthday sweetheart!  We pray you are blessed with happiness and health in the year ahead!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

This year for your party you had a "sleep under" where you invited 7 of your closest friends over for a Friday evening of nail painting, crafts, and just all girl time - no boys in the house.  It was a great success!

Painting each others nails

It was 4 straight hours of giggles and squeals!  So much fun!

Rocking out to Lauren Daigle :-)

Your actual birthday landed on a weekday and that's when we celebrated as a family with a cookie cake

The boys made you gifts :-)

A portable art kit from Nicholas

Your first cross stitch from the Gray Family

A new swim bag

A new American Girl Doll - Blaire - 2019 girl of the year!

GRACE'S FAVORITES AT AGE 9

Stuffed Animal - Zippy the Turtle

Food - spaghetti

Movie - The Incredibles

Show - Fixer Upper

Clothes to Wear - pajamas

Game - Q Bitz

Snack - goldfish

Animal - bunny

Song - "You Say" by Lauren Daigle

Book - any book in the Puppy Place series

Friends - Anna, Jillian, Clara, Caroline, McKenna

Drink - pink lemonade

Outside Activity - soccer

Sport - soccer

Park activity - monkey bars

Inside Activity - playing school with Sam and Henry

Place to Go - park

Fruit - oranges

Vegetable - tomatoes

What do you want to be when you grow up?    Physician Assistant or Scientist

What gives you joy?    my stuffed animals

What makes you sad?    sad songs

What do you think heaven is like?    paradise - everything good you could ever imagine

Nana Whitty Turns 104 Years Old!!!

Shawn's Nana, AKA Nana Whitty, turned 104 years old on September 13th.  His Auntie Dale held a lovely celebration for her birthday.  While wished we all could go, that just wasn't feasible, so Shawn and Grace made the special trip to Westport, MA, outside of Boston.  While celebrating the wonderful life and woman that Nana Whitty is, they also were able to spend quality time with most of Shawn's siblings, his Mom,  and various Aunts, Uncles and Cousins whom he had not seen in many years.  It was a fabulous trip.  Nana Whitty is an amazing faith filled, strong woman whom we are thankful to call family and are blessed to be able to spend time with.

Grace was excited to fly - the last time she was on an airplane she was a baby so doesn't remember !

Shawn and Grace coordinated flights to arrive in Boston at the same time as his Mom, brother Scott, and sisters Heidi and Kelly.  They spent the rest of the day walking around Boston and seeing some highlights - first stop was Regina's Pizza in the North End.

Delicious Pizza with her godmother!

Then they visited 2 different bakeries for dessert - so much good food, it's hard to pick just 1 place 

Nana helping Grace make the tough choice

Cool sites around the city

Visiting Faneuil Hall Marketplace

The next day they surprised Nana Whitty - she did not know they were coming for her birthday!

Grace made her a card

At Nana Whitty's assisted living home

They had a lovely visit with Nana Whitty that day - Shawn's brother Keith and wife Peri and son Ethan joined them.

Grace even played piano for the residents and they all loved it!

Dinner out, enjoying some New England seafood and stuffed quahogs

It was a big treat to visit with Shawn's Aunt Norma - the last time he saw her was at our wedding almost 13 years ago.

  The next day they visited some local Portuguese favorites - Barcelo's Bakery - Portuguese bakery in Fall River

Portugal Marketplace - Fall River

Visiting the house that Shawn's Dad grew up in

Visiting the house his Mom grew up in, Nana Whitty's house, she lived there until she moved into senior apartments in her 90's.

Face Masks in the evening with her Nana and Aunts at the hotel :-)

At the party - around 40 friends and relatives were their to celebrate her wonderful 104 years - she is still very healthy with the exception of her eye sight and still is sharp as a tack!  They sang happy birthday to her and they Auntie Dale surprised Grace by also singing and bringing a cake to her since her birthday is the next week.

The boys and I Face Timed in to wish Nana Whitty a very Happy Birthday!

They also surprised us and Grace by celebrating her birthday with Nana Whitty - how special is that!!!!

Grace and her Great Nana celebrating their 9th and 104th birthdays together :-)