A Glut of Pictures

Okay, this is getting embarrassing. I've had this post half finished for almost a month but can't seem to get back to it. I guess it goes to show that I can only do things in spurts. At least I'm caught up until September now! (Sorry for the triple spacing--does anyone know how to get rid of that?)

Cousins! What a way to start off our Utah vacation!

There's nothing better than slip-and-sliding with cousin Luke

and then eating popsicles to our heart's content.

This is what we did while Steven was stuck

finishing his PhD dissertation revisions.

The mastermind of our adventure: (Step-)Aunt Heidi with cousin Miles.

We couldn't get enough of all our cousins. Here with Maddie, William (the original), Thomas, and Lucas in Utah (technically Steven's cousins)

We only had time to see a few people. Here are my two best friends from high school: Rosalyn and Karin. Look at all those kids!

Cambridge in Utah!

What a treat to see so many of our Cambridge friends. You can see the Harris family in the back and part of the Hart family on the left. (Sadly, the only picture I got of them)

The Dionnes and Warnicks together again.

Which is the mom and which are the daughters?
Those Warnick girls are really growing up!

Elli Buskirk and Ben seemed to speak the same language.


Sam and Sarah Buskirk started right where they left off.

The magnificent Buskirks!

Dave and Susan Sims and their adorable kids.

Sam Brown and his favorite girls (minus Kate who couldn't make it)

My brother Steve and Brooke's wedding.

Don't they look comfortable with 5 kids?

Ben's GQ look at uncle Steve's wedding

Sam's favorite pose

Sam's GQ shot

My amazingly talented sister Kathryn performinging

at my brother's wedding reception.

Digging in Grandma Delys's impressive garden.

Cousin Luke and William with their potato bounty.

Yummy carrots in a beautiful Salem landscape.

A perfect swimming spot.

All that dissertating (and swimming) gave Steven Einstein's look.

Coldstone Ice Cream with Rob, Erin, Kathryn, and Geoff. Yum!

The rest of the crew: Marissa, Mary Ellen, and Grandpa Cowles.

Thanks for the ice cream, Dad!

A quick visit to the Brooks.

A German lunch with Kathryn and Geoff. Guten appetit!

We know you're jealous! We took a tour of High School Musical's East High.

My favorite people:
(Great) Grandma and Grandpa Waite with all the boys

At the Waite Family Reunion for my Grandpa and his four brothers.

Sam with his beloved cousin Kade (technically Cristie's cousin)

And Ben saying goodbye to Kade's brother Dylan.

Finally, back in Baltimore on the first day of school.

Ben's first day of Kindergarten!

Ben in class with Mrs. Zimmerman (in the dress)

She's such a sweet teacher that we expect birds to start singing wherever she goes.

On Steven's graduation day (technically speaking, since MIT graduation isn't until next June), we invited the Hickmans over and made Steven put on a graduation gown and walk down our stairs to "Pomp and Circumstance" where Sam awarded him a diploma.

"Steven Charles has gradually graduated from Harvard/MIT

with a PhD in Mechanical and Medical engineering."

A New Post is Coming to Town

I'm halfway to a new post--I Christmasified our playlist and changed our blog to holiday colors. I even added a bloglist. (If you don't want to be on the bloglist, just let me know.) Now if I can just stay up past 8 p.m. tomorrow night, I can actually write something meaningful. Let me know if you didn't get our "green" (emailed) Christmas letter and I'll send you a copy.

Someone Loves My Blog?

My sister-in-law Marcie tagged me with the "I Love Your Blog" award--probably because she's trying to help me jump-start my sad, decrepit blog. So, although I normally don't like this type of thing, I'll humor her for the sake of the blog. : ) If I have to tag people, then I'll choose the most likely to ever read this: Corey, Erin, Anna, Marian, and Jenny B.

Give one word answers with no explanation, then tag five bloggers with the "I love your blog award."

1. Where is your cell phone ... none
2. Where is your significant other ... lab
3. Your hair color ... natural
4. Your mother ... amazing
5. Your father ... teacher
6. Your favorite thing ... pumpkin pie
7. Your dream last night ... weird
8. Your dream goal ... be my grandparents
9. Room you're in ... kitchen
10. Your hobby ... singing
11. Your fear ... second-hand smoke
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years ... settled
13. Where were you last night ... home
14. What you're not ... in Boston
15. One of your wish-list items ... piano tuner
16. Where you grew up ... Provo
17. The last thing you ate ... yogurt
18. What are you wearing ... jeans
19. Your tv ... hidden
20. Your pet ... no
21. Your computer ... beckons
22. Your mood ... tired
23. Missing someone ... Mom
24. Your car ... questionable
25. Something you're not wearing ... frown
26. Favorite store ... sheet music
27. Your summer ... moving
28. Love someone ... family
29. Your favorite color ... Titian blue
30. Last time you laughed ... today
31. Last time you cried ... yesterday


So Sammy, who's home sick from school insisted on filling out his own list:

1. Where is you cell phone ... playroom
2. Where is your significant other ... none
3. Your hair color ... red
4. Your mother ... Cristie
5. Your father ... Steven
6. Your favorite thing ... strawberry cheesecake
7. Your dream last night ... forgot
8. Your dream goal ... CIA
9. Room you're in ... kitchen
10. Your hobby ... noises
11. Your fear ... rose thorns
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years ... junior high
13. Where were you last night ... bed
14. What you're not ... animal
15. One of your wish-list items ... gameboy
16. Where you grew up ... Boston
17. The last thing you ate ... raisin bran
18. What are you wearing ... cargo pants
19. Your tv ... black
20. Your pet ... maybe
21. Your computer ... games
22. Your mood ... crazy
23. Missing someone ... Grandma & Grandpa Waite
24. Your car ... Baloo
25. Something you're not wearing ... socks
26. Favorite store ... Target
27. Your summer ... vacationing
28. Love someone ... parents
29. Your favorite color ... black
30. Last time you laughed ... today
31. Last time you cried ... month ago

Playing Catch Up.

I don't know how all you bloggers out there do it. My kids won't let me touch the computer all day, and once they're asleep I'm too tired to do anything but the bare essentials (if that).



So out of sheer embarrassment, I'm forgoing sleep at the moment to finally catch up a bit on this blog. Here's how we spent much of August--driving:

To continue our adventures at the Charles Family Reunion, a group of us went to the Biltmore Estate, which is the country's "biggest house" built at the turn of the century and patterned after some of my favorite French chateaux. Benjamin loved the bowling alley in the basement!

On the porch at Biltmore:

The landscape was amazing!

We saw the little farm on the estate and also ate an amazingly fancy meal. The kids were surprisingly well-behaved at the restaurant and even tried new foods like catfish.

We had a magnificent talent show. Here's Amelia leading us in a revealing game of "Guess which Charles sibling . . ."

Grossmama (aka Mother Earth) led the children in a beautiful play about the seasons:

Ben was very brave in the canoe with Steven.

Cousins Sam and Amelia went out on their own.

And even Jacob asked if he could take me out on a canoe ride. What a gentleman.

On Family Picture Day, you'd never guess it was over 100 degrees and as humid as could be!

Here's the whole group, and amazingly coordinated, too.

Grossmama spent a long time getting these T-shirt colors chosen and ordered. My amazing sister-in-law Liz designed the T-shirts and even took the black-and-white picture at the bottom. Next time, we won't even need the professional photographer. (The only trouble is, how do we get Liz to take the picture AND be in it at the same time?)

Thank you, Grossmama and Grosspapa, for a wonderful family reunion!