Heffernan Family Reunion ~ Bob's Big Sports Day Saturday

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Saturday we managed to mobilize almost the entire crowd of 40+ bodies (no small task!) for a walk around Black Butte Ranch. Daddy pushing the Doodle...

Francie slept the first half of the walk but on the way home she started whole body convulsions in her Chariot when she saw the horses and had to get out to go see them up close! She is obsessed with animals now and clicks her tongue when she see's a horse like she wants it to "go." No Vaulting or Polo allowed in your future child.

Tom and Heff leading the troops

Francie and Isabel giving each other kisses...

Brothers Brian and Craig couldn't resist :)

Silly Daddies! :)

Back at the house Isabel coudln't stop hugging Francie! She kept following her and wrapping her arms around her like her little doll :) It was too cute.

Aunt Sarah and Ellie

Craig (in his very chic 2007 Heff Family Reunion shirt... or is it his wife's? :) giving Mark a haircut on the deck

These angelic faces proceeded to COLLECT all the fallen hair from Mark (a lot of hair) and "Freddy" (Rick Cahill/Grandpa Pops, the kids for some unknown reason call him Freddy) They made a mold of freshly cut hair and were rubbing on their shirts... I wonder why they were so itchy all night!?

"Cut it shorter Uncle Craig, we need more hair!"

Big Cousins Ellie and Maggie with Francie and Isabel

Kate found a way to get even more dirty (the hair wasn't enough) before heading over to Bob's Big Sports Day (in the matching cousin outfits we got the kiddies)

Roadies for the Family Softball game (and teh only time I got in a car all week)

Francie and Aunt Kat... in her Fancy new shoes Jannie and Grandpa Fed-Exed from their road trip!

Silly Uncle Bob trying to match Maureen's belly! (She is due on Francie's birthday... only 6 weeks away!)

Happy Aunt Andrea stretching to "pinch run" (her wrists are still in bad shape from her 10 pound baby in a bucket seat issues!)

Girls on the swings

Everybody plays! Roman helping Katie and Daddy has Francie in the outfield :)

Cheerleaders on the sidelines

Francie holding on to Donald

Girls in purple raiding the beer supply... I thought these outfits were an appropriate cross between camo and tye-dye for our Red Bluff-meets-Oregon Reunion :)
Ellie in green
Isabel in blue
Aunt Francy cuddling with her buddy (and namesake!) Francie :)

RUN Aunt Kat RUN! (Can you submit this photo to your "Leg Perfect" infomercial??:)

Brothers Tom and Bob on the bench

Aunt Tricia and Aunt Francy with 9 of the 12 gremlins on the play structure!

Busy bodies

The Aunts with Babes (keeping um occupied with those Puffs while they last!)

"Hey... what happened to our Puffs IzzaBizza?"

Emmy, Ellie and Maggie

Cute Ashley

Dr Doug and his with-child-wife Maureen

I can't beleive I'm even posting this picture... yes I am barefoot and yes, you can agree with my husband I am not very good at ball sports (at least the ball is in front of me and not behind my swing!!)

Grace. Before dinner at the house...

Happy Cousins... until Ellie let go of this choke hold on her sister and Kate started screaming!

The whole clan getting ready for the obligatory group photo while I mess with the tripod and timer settings (thanks for pulling through on the assistance Allison:)

And the final product (with a little doctoring:) missing the John Heffernan's but other than that EVERYONE accounted for in this picture! Not bad :)

Silly dad... I like to wear a helmet ONLY when I don't need to :)

The Heffs

Ever-thoughtful Aunt Francy had planned a group birthday celebration for ALL 12 kids Saturday night! She made cupcakes with a candle in each for every kid and had presents for them at the table. It was so sweet and very entertaining :)

Francie pretty excited (and half naked to fully enjoy the frosting:) making her "blow out your candles!" attempt

"Is this really for me?" (practicing for September!)

Isabel and her Mom singing Happy Birthday! (Isa's an old pro turning ONE last week)

"Hummmm... this stuff is pretty tasty..."

"Can I really have that whole cupcake Dad?"

Going for it...

and NOT happy once she realized the chocolate frosting did not come off very easily! She wiped it all over her jeans and was an unhappy camper :)

Dad to the rescue to hose her off

Isabel the seasoned One Year Old knows what to do!

Heffernan Family Reunion ~ Friday Arrival and Dinner

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August 1-8, 2008 was the Annual Heffernan Family Reunion at Black Butte Ranch (near Bend, Oregon).  In attendance were The Tom, Pat and Bob Heffernan broods as well as the Cahill Clan. The ever increasing number of babies meant there were a total of 31 adults and 12 kids (under the age of 6!) Bob and Francy have a beautiful house in Black Butte Ranch they open up for all of the family meals, events and gametimes. We rented three other houses a short walk away and spent lots of time on the bike trails, hiking/walking paths, poolside and of course cozied up to the nearest bar :) We had great food and great company catching up with the family.... I am lucky to have married into such a big, FUN family!!  The Tom Heffernan's stayed the whole week this year and we had a great 'family' vacation... Francie's first of many!

As soon as we arrived we all set out on a walk (after I UNPACKED our 12 bags:) Francie and Ellie rode in her Chariot

Aunt Francy (aka LaLa) with her new sign from Tricia and Pat for the cabin! (Tom in the background keeping the party under control) Uncle Bob and Aunt Francy are so good to all of us all week opening their home to the whole crowd.

Roman, Ashley and Kate get down and dirty in Opa Bob and Lala's fun backyard

Izza-Bizza worn out after their plane ride to Redmond, OR from LA snuggling into Mom

Francie trying to figure out the deal with these beans in the sandbox (she was literally rolling around in them after she got used to this!)

Isabel perked up and she and Francie had SO much fun playing together! They reunited like long lost friends and Isabel couldn't keep her hands/arms/kisses off her cousin Francie-pants:)

Colleen, Jackie and Katie

Sister-in-lawly-love.... Sarah and Andrea

Donald (with Kat) was able to come for almost the whole week minus a 36 hour break to ship some cattle!

"Lemme see that hat mister."

Kate always the joker :)

Cousin Jana with her adorable girls Emily (6) and Ashley (4). Jana is married to Heff's cousin Kevin (Bob and Francy's oldest) and they live in Lake Oswego with most of the Bob and Pat Heffernans. These girls were the leaders of the pack and so sweet.

Dirty Francie playing in the closet with Ashley. Opa Bob and Lala have so many fun toys.

Reading bedtime stories to the babies on the landing (nowhere near ready to go to sleep, but we tried:)



"Oooh-oooh" climbing up and down the nice carpeted stairs over and over and over...

Aunt Kat and I passing out the party favors...

To keep Opa Bob happy... customized Coozies so no one could leave "dead soldiers" without finishing their drinks... or at least without anyone knowing who the culprit was!

The rest of Friday night, we all sat around outside with our beer IN coozies for awhile before we turned in to get some sleep for "Bob's Big Sports Day" Saturday!

Almost Home...

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After a week away, 3 days and 23 hours total in the car... Our usually happy backseat passenger is ready to get out of the carseat! We've listened to the same "Raffi Favorites" CD 49 times, we've read books and played games and she isn't having anything anymore. After 30 minutes of screaming, I didn't notice the period of silence was only because she had found her wipes and pulled every last one out to throw them all over the car :) 76 miles to go... Screaming has resumed.
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Cousins

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Francie has been searching for wireless internet up here in the mountains but no luck! She is a little upset her blog friends think she forgot about them. :) We're having fun with all the Heffernan cousins and will have LOTS of pictures to post very soon!!! Until then... Here are the trouble makers Francie and Isabel at the pool sunning their naked bodies in matching flower-bum suits! Many more matching cousin pics coming soon.
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Dinner with a View

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Wednesday night we had dinner at our friends Anne and Sergey's newly remodeled place with a few other couples. It was a really clear night and amazing to see huge, wide-open views around here, it's at the top of the tallest building in town and cool to look down from there. The food was delicious and the company was even better!

Our hostess with the mostess Anne
 

Ahhhh.... the sun setting over the new Safeway :)

Heff on the deck

My very sweet, cute husband who puts up with me

Francie slept the WHOLE dinner in her Chariot bike stroller.... adult conversation and eating with two hands is nice sometimes. (thanks for wearing her out Estelle and Wesley)

Some friends had their 6 week old there though who was a perfect gentleman during dinner and kept us all entertained

Sergey entertains with the baby

Just you wait Anne ;)


I missed Francie... so I woke her up. I know, I broke the cardinal rule "NEVER WAKE A SLEEPING BABY!" but I did and it was worth it. After she got over this grumpy face.


"Ohhhh... Anne and Sergey always have the coolest toys!" This thing was like a laptop-light-bright-music-maker. Francie was obsessed with it.

Francie proud of herself and looking up at Anne... do you see her top teeth? I'm so sad, no more gummy smile ;(

Francie teaches Dad how to make music on the lightbright

PJ time!

"I'm gonna get that baby-on-a-lovesac"
 

"I know he's cute but look at me... I'm SO BIG"

"Aw man. This kid knows the so-big trick too. I better break out my Elk calls."

Sergey just chilling with the babies


 

Francie's Friends

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Francie's friends came over to play Wednesday afternoon... Estelle has been galavanting all over France for almost a month and Wes has been busy hosting pool parties at his pad while we were sick. We hadn't seen them in so long it was fun to watch them crawl all over each other and talk their secret baby language (luckily Emma the neighbor came over to translate for us:)

Francie anxiously waiting for her friends to come over (ok truthfully I was 15 minutes late and Estelle and Icie were already here climbing on the new toys waiting for US!)

Wesley William

Estelle Sofianne


back from France with a baby-talk French accent and TEETH!

Busy-body Babies

Emma and her "Best Buddy in the Whole World" Francie (who is cracking up)

The boys stick together... Owen and Wes poppin' a wheelie

How many kids can you fit on a Kangaroo Climber?

"Ooooo! Look at me Estelle! I can do it too!"

Her Funny-Guy Scrunched-up Face

Paige and Wesley


Icie and Estelle


Icie and I think these two are going to battle it out when they are older to be the one in charge :) We'll enjoy it now while they still share driving duties on the same car!


You know we've finished the champagne when I agree to prove to Paige I can still do the splits WHILE she has my camera in her hand! Ouch.

Francie the Big Girl Princess

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Tuesday Francie got to play with the big kids at Brilliant Babies while I got things settled at work for awhile so we can go on vacation again... she played dress-up with some of the older girls and luckily we have a "beautiful" princess tu-tu just her size :)


"Mom. I am a big girl AND a princess today. Please don't bother me."


How long until she can say... "I can do it myself!" (Yeah, I wasn't get much done. It's too much fun to play with the babies!)


She had to make the trek to Dad's office to show him her Tu-Tu!


 

"See ya."


Francie's New Toys

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Monday Aunt Kat, Francie and I ran a few errands... she got me out of the house at 9:30am (I'm still kind of sick, but I rallied) and we hit the mother-lode of "my husband refuses to go to" stores. In this order: Target, Applebee's for lunch (I can't help it, but I LOVE the Oriental Chicken Salad!) Mervyn's, Toys R Us, JoAnn's Fabrics, Old Navy and JoAnn's fabric again... only this time it was the one 15 miles away. WOW. We almost went to WalMart to top it all off but resisted in favor of the bottle of wine waiting for us at home. We were on a mission for some "surprises" for the Heffernan Family Reunion week and it had to be done.  We cleared out the clearance bin at Redwood City JoAnn's and had to hit up the Mountain View one because we needed TWO MORE of the "surprises" to account for all 35 adults and 12 kiddies who will hopefully all be at the reunion (anyone who doesn't show up owes us the time we sat in traffic on the freeway to drive to Mountain View. No, really it wasn't that bad. :) We can't wait to bring the treats to the Heffs in Black Butte!


Francie did get some new TOYS at Toys R Us.  This was my first trip to Toys R Us actually having my own child. I can foresee many more trips to that dark hole unless I can instill my love of Amazon Prime on my daughter. The first new favorite toy is this Step 2 Kangaroo Climber. She loved the Carter Triplets and I hadn't even thought about something like this for her age but right out of the box it kept her entertained for two hours while Aunt Kat and I worked on personalizing the surprises. (As you can see she can hardly contain her excitement in the top picture... I took this as soon as I put her in it for the first time)

"Come on Ollie, I'll show you how to do it."

Francie also got her first car :) She loves it! She says "ca! ca!" when she sees it and I can push her around the sidewalk. I saw one of my friends at playgroup with one of these for her little boy and she says she throws it in the car and uses it as a stroller sometimes!

Silly Francie Faces... out in the front yard again for Round Two in PJ's
 

"I love my new toys... I can't even decide which one to play with!"

She figured out how to climb half way up and SLIDE down... "Weee!"

Open. Close. Open. Close... All night long :)

Francie's Sunlight on Sunday (=Tivo for Me!)

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Sunday Heff had a Dad and Francie Day while I caught up on "Tori & Dean, Home Sweet Hollywood" and "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List". I love Bravo. Oh AND I watched all 8 marathon episodes of The Next Food Network Star. Sometimes it's nice to be sick and do nothing productive whatsoever. :) Heff got Francie her Vitamin D for the day with a long hike in the morning and playtime outside in the playpit with the hose and her trucks in the afternoon. I had to venture outside with my camera when I heard her belly laughing at the dog trying to eat the water she was spraying down his throat.


Francie wants to submit these for a Jenny Craig "Before" and "After"
  

Time out for some teething... "No Mom I said TEETHING, not TIVO."

  

Hanging out doing a whole lot of nothing with Mom


Dad took her to 8:00 mass in the morning before their six-mile hike up (and down) Windy Hill. I hate to admit I was sort of excited to have an excuse not to go this time.... we went last weekend with Uncle Mark and Aunt Sarah and it was beautiful/fun/a good hike etc (all the things I'm supposed to say right?) but my toes are still black and blue with blisters from the downhill. My feet weren't made for walkin. Here is a picture from last week though... it is a pretty place!

Francie Keeping Busy Around the House

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I was sick this weekend (no fun in July) so we were at home just hanging out around the house.  Francie was forced to entertain herself with her dog.  Jannie sent us home with Francie's favorite vintage Fisher-Price Shape Sorter so Francie could think of playing at Jannie's house during her Jannie-hiatus... and of course Francie dispersed the blocks to all ends of our house where Ollie promptly chewed them to pieces. eBay here I come.

"You're right Ollie... this is the best spot in the house for chewing on my blocks. No wonder mom always finds them here." 

"Look Mom I can dance in Ollie's bed!"

"I'm outta here and I'm taking my block with me."

"I think I'll try chewing over here where I can hide from Mom and that annoying camera"

"Ummm... this block even tastes good over here in the kitchen. Ollie will love it all slobbered up when I pass it off to him to finish."

"Huh!? How did you find me?" (Notice Heff's handiwork "childproofing" system on the cabinets)

Jannie and Grampa came over for ONE LAST GOODBYE to their little Francie-doo (Side note, Grandpa decided he likes "Grampa" since that's how we say it and what we called my Grampa... I guess if he's giving out the hunskies we'll spell it any way he wants:)

Who is more sad to be saying goodbye Jannie or Francie... or Grampa!?

Yes, Francie is still in her PJ's at noon. She is half Simonson-I-mean-Arnerich!



Have fun on your adventure Jannie and GRAMPA!!!

Oh No Jannie's Leaving!?

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Jannie and Grandpa are off for a big road trip tomorrow! We had a "going away" dinner at home Friday night with the Johnets, The Heffs and James & Em.  We are going to miss Jannie and Grandpa!! I don't know what my mom is going to do as she won't see Francie for TWO WHOLE WEEKS! When they get back from their road trip we will have just left for the Heffernan Family Reunion in Black Butte, Oregon.  My parents are driving the Suburban back to Baby Ann to have at school next year... they are taking a leisurely route and hitting a few of the states they don't have (we are all in competition.... I am at 41 states, Jannie at 42 and my Dad at 48!) They are hopefully going to get North and South Dakota putting my dad in the lead with ALL 50 STATES! Heff and I are jealous :)


Looking at her NEW copy of the "DOG" book Jannie bought her (the old one is barely holding on)

Having fun with Uncle James

This girl loves her John Deere! (in her camo pants and wife beater :) Grandpa John appearantly likes her girly frills and told me her outfit "left a little to be desired"!

"Watch what you say about my wardrobe Grandpa."

She couldn't get the ATV to "move" when she was on it so she jumped off and pushed it over to Auntie Em and got back on to press the "singing" button once she got there!
 

Em rewarded her with some "drop the golf balls" on the ladder golf :)

Playing with her Grandpa

"Don't they know there is an airplane up there right now and they are all looking at that darn camera!!"

Uncle James thinks he runs this pizzaria!

 

Silly Uncle James.

Yummmmmy pizzas out of the pizza oven!

"You guys ate all the pizza while I was playing with my Shape Sorter!" Don't worry Francie... with only 7 of us here for dinner tonight, there is PLENTY left :) We usually have such a crowd for pizza nights the slices go FAST so it was nice to have a small, quiet night to make our own and have too much to go around. Jannie challenged Heff and I against James and Em to make our own taste-tester pizzas. I won. :) of course.


We have a family tradition (one of our favorites!) that my dad hands out the "Hunskies" sometimes for special occasions or for not much of a reason at all. My Grandpa used to sneak us some money when we were little and my dad took over the tradition and "upped the anty" a little bit. It all started when Baby Ann was like 6 years old and was the only kid who agreed to go out to dinner with my parents (the boys and I were too busy being pre-teens) so my Dad gave her a hundred dollar bill after dinner which she proudly paraded around the house to rub in our faces :)  My dad gave Baby Ann a really funny card for her birthday this year from Francie with a $100 bill in it that said it "you can have this one Ann, Grandpa gives me one everyday." Ann was not so amused! So last night Jannie gave Francie her first FULL piggy bank (Jannie started a new tradition filling piggy banks in the laundry room to give to "grandkids" as they get full for a special treat)- this piggy from my bachelorette party at the Venetian in Vegas- and Grandpa gave her a a special treat too. :)

"Seriously Grandpa?! My first Hunskie!?!?"

"Woo-hoo! Let's go to Vegas Baby!"

Francie's Fun Friday

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Francie had a busy Friday... first we went to see our neighbor Emma's summer camp play "Peter Pan" in Palo Alto. It was so cute! The kids were between 6 and 10 years and did a great job for two short weeks of practicing. I love kids plays :) Francie was enthralled until she fell asleep for a little nap. It's a good thing she got over her fear of clapping and loud noises, there were lots of proud parents in the room! We got to see Emma after the show and Francie practically jumped into her arms, she loves Emma :)

Emma is the pirate in red with the eye patch 

Emma wanted to introduce Francie to all of her friends from camp

Friday afternoon we went over to the Carter's to hang out with the whole family for a few hours before Beth and Jill had to fly back to San Diego. They were all in Tahoe all week getting tan and playing with the triplets. Francie loved their Kangaroo Climber Grandma Georgia made sure to have for their visit... that's a full house! 

Francie motoring up the slide (I had to help pull her pants up to give her a little friction!)

"Hummmm..... which one should I share my toys with?"

Andrew showing his belly!

 

Francie and her buddies the Carter Triplets... I see trouble in a few years :)


Dylan


Danny


Drew


and the wild child Francie-pants!

 

"So when are you guys coming back to California!?"

 

Meeting Baby Jackson

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Jannie and I went over to met Baby Jackson last night and he is as adorable as James and Em reported! They were just home from the hospital last night and we were honored to be invited over for a visit. He is so little! I can't believe it was 10 months ago Francie was that tiny. Jackson has perfect little features and seems like a great baby. Marla is doing SUCH a good job being a mom. We got to peek around in his nursery and play with all the new baby gear, I got to pretend I am a "veteran" new mom and show them how stuff works... how fun :) We definetly overstayed our welcome when Joe brought out the wine! Thanks for the special visit girls!

I left Francie at home with Dad... "WHAT? You mean I DON"T get to go meet Jackson!?"


"Fine. Go. I get to stay here with my Dad."


Baby Jackson at 2 days old


Looking up at his favorite Auntie Em



Cute Grandpa Joe


Jackson waving at us


Checking out those perfect little newborn fingers and nose!


I got home to Francie sleeping on the couch next to her Daddy... you think she was playing in the tanbark?


Good work Dad. Heff said she was playing with him all night, talking up a storm and getting into any trouble she could find until she crawled over to him, pulled on his knee so he'd pick her up and crashed on his chest :)


Welcome Baby Jackson!

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Marla had an adorable baby boy!  Welcome to the world Jackson Powers Wright. He was born on Tuesday, July 22 at 10:30pm and weighs in at 7 pounds and 6 ounces.  Francie can't wait to meet you Baby Jackson!

Mom and Dad with their new bundle...

Very proud Auntie Em with her cute nephew (you are a lucky baby Jackson, you were born into a great family and I'm SURE Auntie Em is going to spoil you rotten :)


Uncle James remembers being here 10 months ago with his niece too! (Is that Seinfeld in the background guys?;)

Jannie even got to hold baby Jackson too! Get to knitting Jannie!!

Francie's Ooo-la-LA Trip Tuesday

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Francie and I went down to LA for the day on Tuesday for a fun-filled day of lunching, shopping and hanging out with the girls.  My good friends Anne and Linda (who co-founded 23andMe together) had a couple of meetings in LA so Francie and I hitched a ride for the day!  23 and Me is a personal human genome service... you "Spit" (in the test kit below) and they tell you everything you ever wanted to know about your genes, ancestry and inheritance. It is a great service for families so Francie and I are helping find ways to promote the business to new moms... my favorite topic.  We had a FUN day in the LA heat with the girls and even got some "business" done too.

"Where are we going Mom?"  ... Don't worry it will be fun Francie!
  

Linda shows Francie the "Airplanes!" as we take off 

"Call my agent. And stop taking pictures of me without paying my royalties"

 Mom and the Doodle getting ready to land in LA-LA-land

Francie LOVED Linda... who wouldn't when she gives you blackberries to slober on!
 

While the girls had their first meeting, Francie and I met my sister-in-law Andrea and Isabel for lunch. It was so nice of Andrea to change their plans and meet us in LA on a last minute request!


The girls seemed so excited to see each other and were crawling all over the place giving hugs 

We found a baby store to do a little shopping of course

Cousin love! Francie missed her Izza-Bizza.


After lunch, Anne and Linda and I met some friends in Beverly Hills for some shopping. Francie wanted to navigate through the LA traffic for us...

"Hand over the keys Mom, I'm sick of this backseat driving thing."


Shopping for Chanel bags Fancy-Francy-Pants?
 

"I like this one Mom"

Francie, seeing as you have Simonson AND Heffernan genes...  you will never be able to shop for fashionable shoes like these :)
 

Francie on Melrose

How could we leave LA without a little PinkBerry?

Knocked out and ready to head home

"Humm, I fall asleep in a car... and I wake up on an airplane?" 

"OOOhhh.... I like flying like this mom."

She was on the move the  whole trip home

"Come and get me!" She managed to close herself in the bathroom for a little quiet time

I brought her favorite "DOG" book of course :) Francie showed Anne her favorite parts
 

We were home in time to have dinner at home with Dad to celebrate our 2 year anniversary! Happy 2 years Heff :) Thanks for letting Francie and I go on an adventure today!

Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend

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Francie and I had lunch the other day with my friend Dawn at one of our old favorite spots. Francie was a good girl and sat in her high chair most of lunch but when she got a little antsy I let her crawl around on the floor behind my chair while Dawn and I caught up on some gossip. A lady walked by and picked up something Francie found on the ground and put it on the table looking at me like "hello, choking hazard bad mom"  Dawn and I looked closer and it was a diamond earring with the stud broken off. It was in the walkway/dirt and had been there for awhile so we figured it was a fake "cubic zirconia" or a mall wanna be :)  We did the old test as a joke and scratched the water glass and sure enough it left a big ole scratch but we were still thinking it was an imposter. We walked over to a jewelry store to find out.... it is a REAL 2 carat diamond estimated to be worth nine thousand dollars! Francie has good taste in her choking hazards!! We did check with the restaurant to see if anyone had lost an earring and check the lost and found in the paper, so unless the rightful owner is reading this and can identify it (big and sparkly doesn't count) Heff says it has to go in her college fund but Francie told me she wants to go to Vegas and enter the World Series of Poker like her Uncle Jerry :)

Good work Francie :)



She was worn out after that!


HANG ON JOE!

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Tursday night we drove down to Salinas for the big Salinas Rodeo to see my little buddy Joe Wallace debut in his first Mutton Busting competition! It was SO CUTE. Joe's mom and his aunts (the Mariani girls) are all good friends of mine from growing up and we love every opportunity we get to spend with their families. They have eight grandkids between the three oldest sisters and a fourth sister, Julie, has one on the way due on Francie's due date. Joe used to hang out with me some days when his Mom Nancy was working in Menlo when he was 5-10 month old... he is a special guy and always has a place in my heart :) He did SO well and was by far the youngest Mutton Buster out there! We all bundled up in the stands, enjoyed some rodeo hot dogs and beers and had a great time with the whole Mariani clan.

And he's off! Joe's 8 (almost!) Seconds

The announcer said "How old are you kid?" He looked so little out there!

Joe didn't really want to leave the spotlight after they told the crowd to "Give it up for Joe Wallace!"

Joe on the Jumbo-screen getting his blue ribbon

Francie says "GO JOE!"

Mariani sisters Julie and Nancy watch the replay in slow motion :)

Dea had hats made up for the big event... HANG ON JOE!

It was a little chilly in the stands so Dave Mariani (grandpa to 8.5!) went to get the youngest baby Maddie something warmer

The celebrity back in the stands

Showing off the pretty blue ribbon

Francie and Maddie

Whitney there to cheer on her big brother

Emelia and Nancy

Dad Jon and Baby Maddie

Sofia watching the Buckin Broncs

Francie hanging out with Dave

The girls

Emilia snuggled up under the seats in her fancy new plush leopard print blanket her dad bought to keep the girls warm :)

Blue eyed Baby Maddie

Dave, Joe, Nancy and Whitney

And heading home with Mom

Don't mess with a Mutton Buster! Good job Joe-Joe!!