What's up Cuz

This giant fellow is my little cousin Justin. I don't know Justin very well, since he is 12.5 years younger than me and grew up in New Hampshire whereas I lived in Maryland. My dad has 7 brothers and sisters (Mom has 4) and therefore, I have many, many cousins (at least 19 cousins on Dad's side alone). So, you can imagine that the cousins I knew best were the ones closest to my age. Anyway, I heard that this one was working for the Washington Nationals and traveling with the team, so when John and I went to the baseball game last night, I decided to give Justin a call just to see what he looked like. Last time I saw him, he was probably a Freshman in high school and I guarantee you he wasn't this big. So, when I asked him how will I spot him in a crowd (other than the fact that he is 6'5" tall), he said, "I'm very good looking". Funny kid. It was great to see him, catch up for a few minutes. It is probably the most I've ever talked to him in my life, but nice to see a cousin that I never really knew. I'm hoping we can catch up with him when he comes back to town in September. Anyway, tell me....do you see a family resemblance??? Haha. I really got the short genes, huh? I have many cousins that are this tall, so for those of you who wonder how I deal with such a tall husband, well, I've been around it my whole life. I have a few female cousins in Utah that are WAY over 6'.

Tired girl and Tater the clown

Last week, my friend Denise called to ask if T could spend the night....uh, let me think about it....yes! T was so excited to have a little change in routine. She says her life isn't as fun as it used to be before I started working. Well, she had a great time hanging out with the girlfriends, as Denise likes to call them, so much so that the next evening, this is how she looked (picture taken at 6:36pm).

Today we attended a birthday party at the local pizza place for one of J's buddies from school. They had a very talented clown who painted faces and did a magic show. Take a look...

We have so many wonderful friends here....I have been left wondering so often lately-why are we trying to leave? No matter-our house hasn't sold yet anyway!

Beautiful Kids

Here are some pics (I took them, and yes, I think they are quite good) of my beautiful kids while we were up in Maryland. Yes, the little boy is a bit of a pain in the you know what some times, but he is darn cute.

The girl....well, she is a pleaser. So sweet. And, she wouldn't be mine without a little sass. She has that too!

Oh, and the husband....I like him, too. I don't know what I'd do without him!!!

Thank God for my beautiful family.

10 Things I love about Maryland

1. Crabs, Crabs, Crabs-Yes for those of you that don't know, Maryland crabs are blue before they are steamed. Now, this is what I call art!

2. Snowballs-Frozen Ice/Sugar water for $1.25. Keeping cool on a hot summer day-priceless.

3. Water and The Cheaspeake Bay. The 'Paradise Ain't Cheap' sign in the kitchen is right! But boy, is it beautiful.

View from Dad's yard below-awesome entertainment built in watching the boats and jet skiis go by all day.

Thomas Point Lighthouse-Near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-we took a cruise there the morning of July 4.

4. Indian Food with Mom-yummo.

5. Hunan Manor Egg Rolls

6. Crab Bomb from Jerry's Seafood-Crab soup from Jerry's, heck even the bread is awesome.

7. Old friends

8. Family

9. Kevin's dad's pool-what a setting!

T enjoying the waterfall and hot tub at Kev's dad's house.

10. Wave Runner rides and Crusing on the boat at Dad's

T and Grampy on the wave runner. Very fun-couldn't take her fast enough.

4th of July boat ride

We had a great visit home-got to see some great friends, visit with family, relax and in case you didn't notice, we ATE all our favorite things. A visit to the Washington/Baltimore area would not be complete without enjoying some (or a lot) of the local food. I think I actually got to everything on my list. Thanks to all who hosted us and made time to get together. It was great to see all of you.