I miss you, Mom.

I still can't believe what I'm about to write. We lost Mom-- the boys' Gramma-- early on the morning of March 27.
I don't have what it takes to write anything worthy of her memory right now-- if I can muster it at all, it'll have to wait a while-- but I did put together a slideshow of these pictures collected over the years. For anyone who knew her, I hope you find a few images here that make you smile and remember her for the warm, loving-- and *so* strong!-- person she was. We miss her dearly.

The songs are by our friend, Geoff Smith.

Onward to the Great Smokies

After a couple of days in Knoxville, we continued on to Sevierville, in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, where we met Gramma, Grampa, and Patty (who'd driven separately), and family who'd traveled from New York and Minneapolis-- my aunt, cousin, his wife, and their kids. We all stayed in a gigantic cabin on the side of a hill with a beautiful view of the mountains.

We spent a lot of the quality time in that long weekend relaxing around the cabin and doing a lot of catching up.. but we got out and did a few things in the area as well.

We took the kids to Splash Country one day, and then Dollywood the next. Another day, a group of us went into nearby Gatlinburg and visited the local aquarium-- Aidan and Bryce got a real kick out of that! Meanwhile, another group of us did some hiking up in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Word is there was a bear siting along the path. You'll have to contact my cousin Robert to verify that.

[Just one note-- Dollywood and Splash Country are both, we think, really great theme parks. We had a group of kids ranging in age from 12 to 4 and the parks were each organized in such a way that we were able to split off and do some fun things for each of the kids and then meet back in a central place without too much difficulty. We werent' sure what to expect before we got there, but we were really impressed with both parks.]

setting up for dinner in the cabin

the kids immediately found the hottub!

generations

the boys at Dollywood with the Veggie Tales

touring around Dollywood

Bryce and Megan on the carousel

Once Bryce was sure that the giant scarecrow wouldn't eat him, he gave him a big hug!

Jennifer took the younger kids on the mini Roller Coaster

Dad and Eileen at the Aquarium

Amanda and the kids @ the aquarium

watching the Manta Rays

Want more pictures? Check out these and a few other pictures from our trip on our Flickr page. The flickr page also has the HUGE full size versions of each of these pictures.

Scenes from Mother's Day

We had a great Mother's Day celebration at our house this afternoon with Mama, Gramma and Grampa, Aunt Patty, and Aunt Laura.

We can't ever do enough to show our Mothers throughout the year just how important and special they are.. but on a day like today, it's good to take some special time to honor them for everything they do for us.

After dinner, Bryce chose to honor his Mom and Gramma with an interpretive dance as Iron Man, his new favorite superhero. Bryce is in talks with the Schermerhorn to commission "Iron Man: The Opera" based on his performance. We'll keep you posted.

Aunt Patty in the Country Music Half Marathon!

Today, the boys and I brought Gramma downtown to watch Aunt Patty run in the Country Music Half Marathon.. the boys were really good at 'helping' Gramma to navigate the streets downtown and find a good spot along the course to watch for Patty.

We setup our chairs just outside LP Field (where the Titans play) in the last 1/2 mile or so of the course.Patty spotted us and came over to give the boys each a big high-five.

After the race, we were able to find Patty in the 'Family Reunion' area and take a couple of pictures. Aidan was VERY proud to hold Patty's medal.

Congratulations, Patty!

We're thinking of you...

For all of us here in Tennessee, a note to Aunty Jean and all the family back home in Fitchburg..

We're thinking of you today.

Love,
Kieran

(photo credit: Rick Cinclair, Worcester Telegram & Gazette)


Update: here are links to the Sentinel story, "Honoring the Fallen," on the dedication. Also the Telegram story, along with an audio slideshow from the ceremony.

July Fourth, Part 2

Phase 2 of our Independence Day celebration involved going into town to watch the Nashville downtown fireworks display with Aunt Laura, Aunt Frances, and Uncle Wyatt..

The downtown skyline before sunset..
Aidan's not sure if he's gonna stick it out in the outdoor viewing spot..
..with Frances and Wyatt..
Aidan's uncertainty about staying outside for the fireworks was confirmed about an hour before the display started when two F-16s roared past, flying right over our spot. The roar of those jet engines, I'm sorry to report, turned both our boys into puddles on the mulch.. and they quickly decided to take up viewing positions inside the office building nearby where they could watch the display from a third-floor window.

And then...

Happy Fourth of July!

Parting gifts

Before Jimmy and Judy headed home this morning, Bryce colored a picture for Jimmy.
Bryce's favorite color these days is yellow, so the picture of the (you guessed it) firefighter doesn't have as much red in it as it probably should, but I don't think Jimmy minded..

Family Photos

A few quick pics of the family (Mama refused to get in any of them)..
Aidan took this one:
and Bryce took this one:

Firefighter Bryce (and other notes from Jimmy and Judy's visit)

With Jimmy's visit this weekend, Bryce has decided he wants to be a firefighter when he grows up!



We were all so glad to get a chance to visit with Jimmy and Judy for a few days and the boys had a ball playing with their new-found playmates!
Jimmy and Bryce worked a puzzle together...
Brave (and generous) souls that they are, Jimmy and Judy took the boys to the toy store to pick out their own birthday gifts...
Aidan plays with his new weed-eater:
Jimmy and I work to unpackage a couple of new Tonka trucks. Aidan picked out a Garbage truck with a working forklift and Bryce picked out (big surprise) a firetruck with a working ladder:
With Jimmy's counsel, Fire Chief Bryce deploys firemen to fight this highrise blaze!

Aidan takes a turn with the ladder truck:

Welcome home, Cousin Eric

Mama's Cousin Eric is home from Iraq (HURRAY!) and he came to visit Nashville for a few days, as well. We had him over for some good old American Barbecue this afternoon with Uncle Wyatt and Aunt Frances...

Constructables...

We wrapped up our little Father's Day dinner as Aunt Patty helped Bryce play with the Constructables toy that Uncle Jack sent last month.

Happy Easter!

The day is winding down now and we've finally got a few minutes to make some notes about the day here.
I'd have posted some pictures of the day's festivities, but Mom left our camera in a neighbors car the other night and we have yet to retrieve it.. so we used Aunt Laura's camera for picture taking yesterday and today.. and we've got some good ones!.. but the battery died before we could upload any. Oh well.

But take my word for it, it was quite a blow-out bash!
Aunt Patty came down last night to spend the night with us and help us get ready for the Easter Bunny's arrival.
Aidan and Bryce came downstairs this morning at about half-past six to find the overstuffed baskets the Easter Bunny had left for them. Then we had to get dressed and dash to church for 8:00 mass. Then back home for egg hunting.
Later in the afternoon, Grampa came to visit, as did Uncle Wyatt, who brought Great Grandma Edith. So we had quite a full house-- and lots of good appetites for the big meal we had prepared!

The menu included a gigantic HoneyBaked Ham, DelMonico Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole, home-made baked beans (thank you Wyatt!), squash rolls... whooah boy! and for dessert-- home-made apple pie (thank you Patty!) and carrot cake (thank you Wal-Mart bakery!)....

It's a good thing my arms are so long-- I might have trouble reaching the keyboard over my big belly after all that!

Gramma wasn't feeling so well, so she wasn't able to come up to share in all the hoopla with us today-- but we were certainly thinking of her all day today and hope she's feeling better! We sent Grampa home with a few heaping plates of left-overs, so hopefully she's been able to enjoy some of the good food we had today.

Aidan and Bryce were at a pretty high excitement level-- and they managed to maintain it through much of the day (although, getting up that early, Bryce was about ready to take a nap on my shoulder right in the middle of church this morning!)-- I know they said some pretty funny things during the day, things I'd really like to record here; but I'm honestly so tired, I can't remember what any of them are; maybe tomorrow I'll remember-- so they're sacked out now and we're hopeful, of course, that they'll sleep soundly through til morning..

Well, we can think wishfully, can't we?

Happy Easter, everyone!