Three Girls and a Boy

This is a reoccuring theme; Three girls and a boy. I'll explain, but
allow me to reassure you, I am not pregnant with quadrouplettes.

Rather, I am the new sister-in-law of Pamela Byrne and the new

aunt of her girls, Lauren and Meghan. (David, too, of course!)
I love when our family grows! We went to Ohio the last weekend

of March to celebrate Aaron and Pam's wedding and to hang out
with the kids -- That's the first set of three girls and a boy. Aidan,

Lauren, Catherine, and Meghan.

The wedding was just lovely. Their photographer is going to give

them a disk of what he shot. So, I forwent picture taking and just

enjoyed the day and the company. I couldn't be happier for them.
Aaron and Pam are an awesome couple. So well matched to each

other. We wish them all the happiness in the world. (Also, thanks

to everyone who sent their best wishes to the bride and groom
and who asked how their special day went. I passed that on, and

I'm sure it was much appreciated.)

What my camera did leave Ohio with are pictures
of the kids from Friday night and them again at
The Toledo Zoo on Sunday. We managed, as always,
to pack a lot into '48 hours on the ground'. It was so
good to see them and get caught up. We also got to
meet more of Pam's family -- her sister, neice,
grandma, aunts, uncles. They really are a sweet,
fun group of people. I'm thrilled to say Aaron
has inherited wonderful in-laws!
Here are all the kids in action...


Wrestling time with Uncle David
From the back: Lauren, Catherine, Aidan,
D, and Meghan. How did the three year old
end up on the bottom of the pile?


Leap frog.


Catherine, our little monkey, swinging upside down


Look at those diverse expresions!


Pam and Lauren taking a minute to snuggle

Let me explain what you're about to see in the next
two pictures because there's a little more than meets
the eye. By way of a prelude -- my brother is always
singing. His dreams are literally set to music. He wakes
up with a song in his head, and lyrics pop into his mind
a million times a day that relate to what he sees and
hears. You get the picture. Then, there's Pam who is
always fostering in her girls an appreciation for music.
It only stands to reason these two would watch American
Idol with their kids. (Like any sain person -- that show
rocks.) The other week, they got online and after having
the kids watch the videos of all the performances, they
let them download a video of their favorite. The kids
picked Black Lewis who did a really hot rendition of
Time of the Season. All four of them know every single
word. It's adorable. So, we were all singing that song and
dancing in the kitchen on Friday night. The kids were
spinning and singing and dancing and laughing. It was
hells bells. And then Aaron put the video on and they
gathered to watch in complete silence in a matter of
seconds. So funny. Maybe it was a you-had-to-be-there
moment, but I thought it was pretty adorable. Lauren
was watching it too, but somehow she isn't in these pictures.




They told me he is a crooked singer, and he kind of is.
He does this thing with his mouth. I thought it was an
interesting way to word that observation!


I love when kids dress themselves.
Apparently the dress, the tights
and the tennis shoes were just
talking to her and begging to be worn
all at the same time. LOVE IT! In
combination with those cheeks
and those curls, how can you say
no to this one? You can't.


Pam's neices -- Grace.
(Technically, Grace makes it five girls and
a boy, but that didn't fit into my theme.)
Her outfit in this picture is so priceless.
The pinkest-dress-up-dress-ever with those
bright striped tights. It made me want to be
three again or have a three year old little girl
-- I bounced back and forth. Anyway, Grace
is seriously sweet as sugar. Great kid. You'll see
her in a couple more pictures that follow. And
with that, it's onto the zoo...


Aaron and David


Grace


Lauren


Aidan


Grace, Lauren, Catherine, and Aidan


Lauren


Catherine


Pam


Grace


David

The only question I have after leaving is, how did we
go through another weekend together without getting
a family picture of all of us together??? I'm going to
have to pack my tripod next time.

The second set of three girls and a boy isn't all in
one family but rather in four seperate ones. There
are babies popping up everywhere! The latest string
of announcements came when --

Julie Nelson (friend from Texas) found out her first
baby will be a girl. So excited for her!

Then, Shawn and Stephanie Turner (in Kansas) had
a baby girl.

Finally and most recently, Kim and Nathan Moroney
(our friends from here that moved back to Portland, OR)
had their second baby and found out the new addition
to their family is a girl, too!

Congratulations to the new moms and the new mom-to-be
on your little lady-announcements! The boy, is my baby.
Not that you haven't seen enough of him, but here are a
few more recent pics of Killian...











P.S -- Killian graduated this week into officially being a
big boy. (I realise he's been over 90 pounds and a bog boy
for a long time, but he still looks like a puppy to me.) We
retired his crate to the garage because he's done perfectly
with our trial runs of leaving him with free roam of the house
when we're away. This is also very exciting because the
crate is now freed up and ready for the new puppy-to-be!!
We haven't started looking officially, but I think it's right
around the corner, and I cannot wait!