Danny's Birthday Cake

August '09

Danny should be going to California at the end of August. He says there may not be any time to visit because he has to work, but he'll try to be in touch as he knows more.

July '09

From the big family reunion at my cousin Steve's in Maryland, to Tony's 22nd birthday...

Early Summer '09

From the top:

Baby T and Brianna

Marty and Joey in the yard

Frances at George's house for a barbecue

Baby T turned 1 year old! (party at his other Grandma's)

Sebastian graduated!

He plans to attend middle school and become a professional baseball player.

Seb had a great baseball season. I do not know his stats for the year, but he hit well. That personal trainer is paying off! He loves baseball and works really hard to do well. His team won the league championship and Seb made it to all stars! It was a drama-filled season, but he is on to bigger and better leagues!

Seb's first skateboarding competition. He skated in the 14 and under group. He didn't make the top 6. But, it was an experience and his first time, so we are ready for next time!

23 years ago today...

Frances is 8 !!

As usual, we had our family party on the Sunday afternoon closest to the actual birthday. She chose hamburgers and french fries, and frosted brownies for her cake.

She is an outdoorsy girl, so she chose her bike - a mini beach cruiser that is cute! She also asked for a jump rope.

The usual crowd was here - all having fun!

southwest airlines That is the link to see the good picture. It isn't on the homepage anymore.

Another Danny and co. sighting! This time on Southwest Airline's website. My cousin Kathy saw it and told her sister Eileen, who sent me an -email. Ironically, she told me to let her know if there were ever any new sightings, and I told her to tell me! I didn't think it would taker her hours to find one! That's what I call service! (I like exclamation marks!) Even weirder, I was on Southwest's site last night to buy a ticket for my mom and I didn't even notice this picture. It may be new today, or I am just not all that observant. Either way, we never know when a picture will show up, and these we have never even gotten copies of! I think it is cute.

I guess some news about the sale of our property would be nice for anyone following this ongoing saga. (Staring in September 2005! Thanks, city of Virginia Beach!) The only problem is that the news is bad. So, for over year now we have had this contract on the property from a local developer. He's a pretty big local name, so he is dependable and has a respectable professional reputation to protect. He paid a nice down payment, required by the contract, which may or may not be in escrow. We followed through with our part, petitioning VDOT to release the drainage ditch on the property to us. We sold the swampy parts to the city. Now it is Mr. Developer's turn to move forward. He says he can't get financing. He probably can't, even though he is on the board of a local bank that is doing pretty well. The rules have changed and he would have to put up a large chunk of his own money because the banks aren't allowed to gamble so much anymore. He says he can't do that. I thought my neighbors would be in a bigger hurry and want to renegotiate to a lower price, but they don't. That is good, because we still are slightly better off than we were to start and haven't lost much in this, so far. But all of this dreaming of a bigger house or no debt has been fun! It still may happen, but our timeline is drawing out even longer.

Happy New Year!
Yes, it is late for that, but it is Chinese New Year, so there!

What's new with us? Cars!

Joe's pimpin' new ride is above.

And, Seb showing off his wheels: