A family reunion...

This may turn into a really long story, but a good one at that. I hope you'll read on...

I'd like to tell you about a part of my family some of you don't know about. This is the family of Larry London. I met the family when I was 18. After many years of waiting for this moment, I found him. My birth father. I had all those questions of who did I look like? Who's eyes do I have, etc. I didn't take after my mother's side too much and never really knew where I got my good looks. (Ha!Ha!)

I had a mom & a dad, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and many other relatives that every kid has to guide them & love them. I couldn't have asked for more. These are the people that made me who I am and created memories that I cherish every day.

My mother gave me a name of a woman, Esther London, and said that she was my grandmother. I called her immediately and connected instantly. We agreed that we should meet and the rest of the family would like to meet me as well. Unfortunately, I found out that my birth father succumbed to a brain tumor in 1981. He never knew about me and I would never get a chance to meet him. This was a little disappointing, but I had a father that treated me as his own who could never be replaced. I wasn't looking for a father, just answers for curious questions.

Christmas time rolled around and it was time to meet my new family. In the back of my head, I hesitated because we had no real proof at this point that they were related to me & I to them. Overwhelming to say the least, I met everyone. I stayed for about a week and enjoyed every minute. This was my family and we all knew it. I caught people staring at me and telling me how unbelievable it was to see me. It was like looking at him all over again. According to most, I had many features of his as well as some mannerisms. I thought that was really cool. Answers weren't just what I found. I found so much more. Family.

Over the years past, I have had a chance to visit New York once and Florida 3 times to see the family. The visits are so few and far between, but some of us manage to keep in touch and I cherish that. I have become close to a few of my cousins and wish I could become closer to the rest of them. I didn't realize how much time had gotten away from us, but realized this during my trip. Not everyone was able to make it for the party, but I was able to reconnect and strengthen some bonds with those family members I met so long ago.

For those of you who don't know already, I was fortunate enough to take a 3 day trip to Florida in the beginning of June. I specifically went for my Grandma's 85th birthday party. I haven't seen her or the rest of my family in 9 years. My grandma was surprised to say the least since she didn't know I was coming, as well as her brother she hadn't seen in 10 years, and a grandson & great-grandson she last saw about 5 years ago. It was a wonderful time and it was definitely worth all of the rearranging of schedules to get there.

This visit was very special for me because I am now older and can appreciate it a little more. My family was as welcoming this time as they have been in the past. It's like old friends just picking up where they left off. I have included some photos from my trip. I hope you enjoy them.

I shared this with you because this website is designated for everyone to know MY family. They are definitely a part of my life and I wanted all of you to see who they are. I have accepted that I will never meet Larry London, but through his (my) family, I have the opportunity to see photos and hear the stories about him and what kind of person he was. Some people go a lifetime taking for granted the ones they love, but I have a chance to love the family I've always known as well as a whole other branch of the family tree. How lucky am I?

Without further adieu...

Larry (18 months)--I see a little of Anthony in this picture.

Larry, as a teenager.

London family photo: my grandma, aunts & uncles.
L to R: Molly, Phil, Grandma Esther, Jacqui, & Marc


My Grandma Esther & I


My Aunt Molly's family...(whom Molly is named after, obviously)
My cousins Kevin & Jason, Aunt Molly & Uncle Victor
(cousins not pictured: Valerie & Steven)

My cousin Jason & his family:
Tyler, Jason, Michell, & Kayla

Lana & Uncle Phil

My Aunt Jacqui & Mike
(my gracious hosts during my visit)

My Uncle Marc and his family:
(L to R) Their grandson Ryan, Aunt Donna, Eric (Ryan's father), Jen, John (Jen's fiance), and Uncle Marc


The London cousins & not one looks alike, in my opinion!
(5 cousins missing in photo)

Well, there you have it. A whole lot of people you won't know, but thought I'd share. Thanks for taking interest in my story. It's hard to keep up with, but I thought it was worth a shot.

Odds & Ends

Phew...even though this is the first post you'll read, this is the last of 4! I think I've made up for my lack of updating. I suppose I will learn my lesson and update a little more often. I'm getting there! Here's some odds & ends photos that I've accumulated recently! This is just some fun moments that I get the chance to share with you. There's always a story behind each one. Enjoy!

Devyn's BFF, Ally and her new little brother. Devyn was honored because she was the only friend that got to see him in the hospital. He's a cutie.

The view from inside my room after the boys opened a brand new box of Q-tips from under the bathroom sink! Notice the empty box of evidence to the right.

Just a really cute picture of Molly & her natural beauty.

I got home from exercise class one night and noticed Jake nowhere to be found. The girls said he went up to rock Dominick, and this is how I found them. I guess about an hour had passed and he was MIA.

I think the shirt says it all!

Dominick sporting a new pair of Diego sunglasses.

My other cool dude and his Spiderman glasses.

Well, I should start by saying, this was not staged. This is in honor of our friend who we call "Mr.Safety". Dominick rolled out of the garage and this is what we saw...

I snuck into their room during naptime. I just couldn't resist! He loves his woobie!

Just needed to show everyone that Dominick still loves his little socks.

Another year older, still a dork!

Anthony showing his cute little personality. He's so sweet.

Anthony enjoying his peace & quiet and the very rare occasion that he has control of the remote.

Well, there you have it. Come back & visit soon. Please feel free to send a comment if you want. I get them emailed to me. Just post it as a guest or whatever option it gives you. Bye for now!

4th of July & Alayna's 11th birthday

The celebration of our independence also means time to party until the cows come home (or the fireworks are over) for Alayna's 11th birthday bash. We went to my sister-in-law's house again where we ate A LOT and watched the fireworks at the nearby school. The kids had a lot of fun on the slip n slide, lit fireworks (the legal ones, of course) and had a silly string fight.

Alayna chose to not to have a cake or cupcakes this year, so she had a plate of brownies. Who doesn't love brownies? She was the recipient of lots of clothes, gift cards, jewelry, and some ITunes for her IPOD. She was in hog heaven. She's already used her gift cards and has worn every outfit. Her grandma also got her another piece to add to her Willow Tree collection.

Not much else to say, I think that the following pictures pretty much says it all...

Birthday brownies



Anthony away from all the crazies shooting water and no one knew it was him. There was water flying everywhere.



Dominick in his "cool dude" Spiderman glasses. He wore them all day long.

Devyn & her Poppy.

SILLY STRING QUEENS
L to R: Molly, Olivia, Laura, Devyn, Alayna, & Grace

Strike a pose.

Everyone squirt the birthday girl!

Paybacks...

Alayna with her twin cousins, Grace & Olivia

A "sunny" hello from Molly!

And that, my friends, is how we spent the 4th of July, 2008.

Devyn's 8th birthday 200

My little baby girl who's now the ripe 'ol age of 8!

Devyn celebrated her 8th birthday twice this year. Once for the family party, June 21st, and also on her actual birthday of June 24th. She received lots of clothes with accessories, which she never minds, $ towards a Nintendo DS and some games for it. On her birthday, she purchased a white Nintendo DS and loves it. Not to mention the fact that her sisters (& brothers) all want to play with it and she is the "boss" of it and can tell them when they can play and for how long. She enjoys that thoroughly, especially with Alayna, who put restrictions on Devyn while listening to her IPOD. It was a victorious day for Devyn, she made everyone wait until she was ready to let them use it, even when she wasn't. Fun for her to see them sweat a little bit! Paybacks are well-deserved when you're the youngest.

Since my camera was MIA for about a week (found it 2 days after her birthday) I unfortunately don't have any pictures of her party. They are on video camera and I don't think I have a cord to connect to the computer. So, in a valiant effort, I included a picture of her that was taken 2 days after her Bday. She's still 8, so I think I'm safe!

I am also including some photos of the person who loves her video game more than she does...

Just a little R&R for Anthony

Molly helping Anthony with the tricky part of the Bratz game that most normal 2 year olds can't do.

Yet another priceless moment with the game & Anthony.

Father's Day 2008

Poppy, Jake, & the girls (their #1 fans)

As a tradition, Jake & his dad play a round of golf on Father's Day every year. It varies everytime on who makes up the foursome, but this year it was with 2 of Jake's co-workers. Jake shot an incredible game with the lowest score he's made in awhile. I think it was 76, but don't hold me to that score.

When they got home, he & his dad were greeted by girls with their "I Love Dad" shirts. It was a fun day and we had a great dinner. I sure wish he could get out to golf a little bit more often than his schedule allows him.

Photo Slide w/music (turn speakers on)

DEVY DOODLE BUBBLES

It's that time of year again...the dreaded 2nd grade box-a-saurus project. Devyn chose to replicate a hadrosaur. We found this dinosaur on the internet because there was just one recently discovered and there was a lot of interesting information. She had a choice to write a factual report or make one up. My daughter, the author, made her own. The dino's name is Dakota, like the real one. If you'd like to read a little more on this--just type hadrosaur and search.

Our duck-billed dino had scales made of cupcake liners (1400 of them) and took 4 hours to glue and 1 hour to paint. It's cute and we were quite proud of our efforts.

Introducing...Dakota!

Devyn (the proud creator) & Dakota the hadrosaur.

Next on Devyn's social calendar was her 1st Communion in April. She is not a big fan of having her picture taken, so we have just a couple. We were honored that she chose to take a minute for us (not the best of any of us, but it will have to do.) She was so ready to get the day over with that she walked to the back of the church when the service was over, and pulled her pantyhose off as she was walking. If you know Devyn, you wouldn't be surprised.

The much anticipated jewelry box that each of the girls received from their aunt, uncle, & cousins for 1st Communion.

We have also been informed that Devyn will be a for sure candidate for braces in the future. Her jaw is too small for all of her teeth, therefore, she had to have two of her bottom baby teeth pulled. This was necessary so that the 2 permanent teeth already in would have room to move into position. I will spare you the pictures. She did great and REALLY liked the nitrous. She was a little numb & giddy.

Since she is a little of a clutz, we hope Devyn will stick to walking and not riding her bike over the summer. :) Here's hoping that she will find something that interests her this summer. That's all for now.

MONKEY IN THE MIDDLE

That's exactly what we call Molly. Speaking of monkeys, I had the pleasure of chaperoning yet another field trip this year. We took a coach bus into Madison Zoo in April. Below you will see a photo that Molly was proud of because she took it herself.

A sample of Molly's photography skills.

Molly--the model. I have this same exact picture on the bench when we came here for kindergarten. Brings back memories, my how they grow up.

Molly & I after the trip. We were exhausted from walking all day. Whew!

Our next adventure was the Brownie camping trip in May. They were 2 troops and lots of girls. We did the usual stuff like hiking, swimming, used the outdoor latrines (not Molly's favorite part), cooked over the campfire, and ate smores, of course. Our trips to the zoo and camping were 2 weeks in a row. Molly & I were able to spend a lot of quality time and enjoyed every moment of it like we always do. It's still cool to her to spend time with her mom.

Molly was startled when she knew I caught her sneaking the marshmallows. :)

Molly & one of her best buds, Jessica.

That's about it for Molly. She's still easygoing and doesn't require much attention. She is also looking forward to the summer. She plans to take some swimming lessons & hang out with her friends.

LAST, BUT NOT LEAST!

This will be my first post, but last to read. I guess for Alayna's sake, we'll just say that we saved the best for last. Since it so hard to recap the last 4 to 5 months that have swiftly passed by, we will just give you the highlights.

In May, Alayna took her last field trip of the year. We went to Galena (for those of you who don't know about it, it's a historical city) and did quite a bit of sightseeing. We saw Ulysses S. Grant's home and took a tour of that as well as various other places. I have included some photos for you to see.

Alayna's partners in crime (Elizabeth & Mackenzie)

Partial view of Galena's neighborhood from Grant Park

Downtown Galena

Next on to more big adventures of her exciting (almost) 11 year old life:

She had the fortunate opportunity to have a scuba diving lesson (in town) for a field trip for Girl Scouts. They used the snorkels, masks, flippers & air tanks. All of the girls had a great time. I was the resident photographer for the group, so it was fun watching everyone.

Alayna all decked out in scuba gear.

Alayna was able to bring her friend Mackenzie, as a guest. They are quite inseparable.

School is almost out and Alayna has big plans to hang out with her friends over the summer. Her bike is all ready to go and hopefully she will have a lot of fun. We have decided that she is old enough to ride her bike around the neighborhood as she pleases. She is smart & very cautious. With the price of gas these days, this might be the only way she can go see her friends. She is probably the most excited out of all of the kids to be out of school. Her birthday is next month and we still haven't decided what big plans we have for her. I guess we'll just wait to see. We always tell her that the fireworks are for her. Isn't that nice of us?

Jake & Alayna are headed off to Girls Scout camp tomorrow. He is spending some "quality" time with his little girl. He will have the pleasure to help chaperone 2 troops (with 3 moms & 2 other dads.) Hopefully, someone might be kind enough to take some pictures for me and I will post them soon. I can't wait to hear how it went.