Lv2Scrp

Beanie Babies

Adriana is spending the night.
She found Sara's Beanie Babies :)

Christmas '08!

Christmas Day - Early Afternoon
Sara and Nick, Marc and Alissa arrive at exactly the same time!

We leave for grandma and grandpa's house right away ....

Beautiful Cousins
Cindi, Sara & Anjelica

Marc with cousins ... Michael, Theresa and Adriana

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Nothing like the sound of a 3-year-old's laughter :)
Sara and Adriana

Alissa, Marc and Michael

Marc played Santa this year :)

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The best picture of the season

 
all the cousins together
except Danae

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Finally we head back home to open our presents.
And just enjoy the night.

 

 

 

Merry Christmas!

 

[thanks]giving 2008

 

Thanksgiving at my in-laws
clockwise left to right: Nick, Alan, Hannah, Raquel, Abe, Paula, Maria, Grandma, Denny, Marc, Alissa

Things are always the best they can be [for me] when I'm with my family.  That means Marc and Alissa being home from Kalamazoo.  And Nick and Sara being with us too :)  That's what this Thanksgiving was for Denny and me ... and it was wonderful!

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Wednesday afternoon: Marc and Sara arrive from Kalamazoo shortly before 4pm.
This time they brought their dog Saber ... Abby has a friend to play with!



... going for a walk (Marc sees me with the camera, haha!) ...

Soon we head over to Kensington .  We are having a Thanksgiving Eve Dinner tonight.  I get to introduce Marc and Alissa (and Sara's roommate Megan who has joined us) to a bunch of my co-workers.  Sara and Nick aren't here though, because they're at Nick's dad's.

After dinner, we go down to the auditorium for the service.  I volunteer in the bullpen, but tonight is my first time working backstage.  I'm a little nervous, but everything goes fine, and the service is awesome!

After church, Denny and I stop at Gus O'Connor's in downtown Rochester for a drink with a ton of Marc and Sara's friends from high school that they are meeting up with.

So many of these guys were like my own kids when Marc and Sara were in high school.





It was great seeing them again!!

Note to self:  You know you're getting old when your son buys you a shot to take with him!
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Thanksgiving Morning at our house ... Marc and Alissa pose with Abby and Saber.



And later, at Grandma and Grandpa's house ... with their dog Winnie.



Meanwhile, in Grandma and Grandpa's kitchen, [Uncle] Denny carves the turkey.
left to right: Uncle Alan, Aunt Maria, Nick, Sara and [Uncle] Denny



... and within seconds, the family is lining up ....................!

me, Alissa and Marc

After dinner, everyone piles into the living room in front of the TV.



Michael and Nick decide to play the game of "Life".

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After a full day of eating and visiting in Wyandotte,
Denny and I (with Marc and Alissa) head back home to Rochester.
Nick and Sara were off to see Nick's mom.



We decide to play

"Battle of the Sexes"
Marc and Denny vs. Alissa and Pam

Ummm ... yeah, the girls won!

Q. The Vulcan range of motorcycles is made by which company?
A. Kawasaki !!!!!  **

** This was sooo funny, Alissa and I kept accidentally and randomly getting answers right, that we really shouldn't have known, haha!  The guys were like, 'what the heck?!?!'
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Friday morning ... Denny cooked breakfast:
Eggs, canadian bacon, hash browns, corned beef hash, toast, orange juice, coffee ... Mmmmmm!



After breakfast, we watched some old home movies from the fall of 1989
when Marc and Sara were 3 and 2 ... was that really 19 years ago?!?

Then Marc found a WWF Royal Rumble video from 1998, haha!



Abby and Saber were bored ...



... as was Nathan ...

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Far too soon, it was time for them to head back to Kalamazoo.



Abby and Saber watch as they pack up the car.





One last Thanksgiving Weekend pic .. love you guys soooo much  : )

... miss you already ...

.

[more] Theresa & Adriana

Their birthday party was today :)  Theresa turned six and Adriana turned three.

All the kids got bubbles at the party.



Michael and Adriana.  Cute :)



Uncle Alan took Sara for a ride on his Harley.



The cake was almost as magical as the girls with their fairy wings.



Adriana flying, with some help from Nick!



Sara and Nick.

 

A panoramic of the whole party!

Denny's Birthday

One of the best days ever.

Chilly, about 60 degrees.  Pouring down rain.  Marc and Alissa here from Kalamazoo.  Sara and Nick are here too.  Pot roast in the crock pot since 10 a.m.  Mashed potatoes, peas, carrots and cornbread.  Sweet tea.  Cake and ice cream for dessert.

Detroit Lions Football on the new HDTV.

   Nothing better.

Marc & Alissa          |     Denny & Pam    |          Nick & Sara

Happy Birthday Denny!

a long long time ago

Last weekend Denny and I drove down to Lawrenceburg, Tennessee to visit my dad.  My family is from there.

Several years ago, I research my family tree on my mom's dad's mom's side back to the 1600's and found out that in 1816, Jacob Pennington and his family were the very first settlers in Lawrence County!  I ended up writing a whole book about it and self-publishing it (it's even in a couple of libraries). 

Anyway, here's what my family tree looks like:

HENRY PENNINGTON

Henry Pennington married Elizabeth and they had a son

ABRAHAM PENNINGTON(1)

Abraham Pennington(1) married Mary Elkton and they had a son

ABRAHAM PENNINGTON(2)

Abraham Pennington(2) married Katerina Weister and they had a son

JACOB PENNINGTON(1)

Jacob Pennington(1) married Mary Cannon and they had a son

JACOB PENNINGTON(2)

Jacob Pennington(2) married Mary Tuttle and they had a son

DAVID PENNINGTON

David Pennington married Elizabeth Kirk and they had a son

YOUNG M. PENNINGTON

Young M. Pennington married Emily C. King and they had a daughter

LOUIDA PENNINGTON

Louida Pennington married Allen J. Hayes and they had a son
(Louida died shortly after my grandfather was born and Allen married her sister Marier who raised my grandfather.)

OSCAR CLINT HAYES

Oscar Clint Hayes married Mary Okalona (Lona) Mosley and they had nine children

Leo Nathaniel Hayes

James Leon Hayes

Virgil Ordell (Bud) Hayes

Gerald Carmon (Dutch) Hayes

A Stillborn Baby

Ivadell (Dell) Hayes **

Kathleen Hayes

Terry Clinton Hayes

Gary Ford Hayes

            -------->  So ... Ivadell (Dell) Hayes ... is my mom : )  

So now, whenever I go to Lawrenceburg, I always visit the old cemetery where my grandma and grandpa are buried, which is right across the road from the little white church that my grandpa helped build so long ago and my mom grew up in.  I love it there.  Some of my aunts and uncles are buried there too.  And my great-grandpa and great-grandma who I never knew.

My great-grandparents Allen and Marier Hayes in the foreground.
My grandparents Clint and Lona behind them on the right with aunts and uncles to the left.
Barnesville Methodist Church in the background.

**********

But here's the really cool thing that happened:  I found the grave of my great-great grandparents, Young and Emily C. Pennington!  It is totally hidden in the middle of a wooded area, and took some research and climbing through trees to get to ... but it was worth it.  Wow!  Amazing.

Young Pennington was 20 years old when he married Emily C. King in 1820.  They had 11 children together, one of which was Louida Pennington, who married Allen Hayes and were my great-grandparents.

                       ---------------->  And here are the pictures of their graves.

Their graves are located in the wooded area in the background.

It blends into the trees, sticks and leaves.

Emily C. Pennington 1834-1902
Young Pennington 1831-1896
Amazing.

 

[generations spanned]

Fourth of July

A great day at my brother-and sister-in law's house on Lake Orion. The sky and the water were soo blue!  And my nieces and nephews were soo cute :)  Totally love that they pile on me whenever I sit down!  And you gotta ove the picture of Adriana covering Nick and Sara with stickers while they're napping, lol!

[51]

That's me today :)  And I had the best day ever.  Marc and Alissa were still home, here for Bryce's wedding.  Sara and Nick had taken the day off too.  So we spent the day at this cool place called Canterbury Village in Lake Orion.  We browsed in the shops there, had dinner at the Castle, strolled around the grounds and even spent some time on the little beach.

This mom's perfect birthday.  Spending time with her favorite people in the world.

Thanks guys!


Marc and Alissa, Sara and Nick

Bryce's Wedding

Bryce ... it seems like yesterday that he and Marc were in high school.  Bryce was at my house all the time, just like one of my kids.  Of all Marc's friends, I probably have the most stories about Bryce :)

I dug these old pictures up both from May 2003 ... five years ago ---> hanging out at our house ... and then one from prom.

 ---------------- >     Fast forward five years, almost to the day; and here they are at Bryce's wedding!!

Marc and his girlfriend Alissa came home from Western for the weekend; Sara and Nick both got the weekend off too.  We had the best time!  And I got some great pictures  ...

                   Bryce and Holly                        Marc and Alissa                        Nick and Sara

Finally ...

... a good picture of me and Denny : )  (Don't you think we would have gotten at least one good picture in Florida?!)  This was at my in-laws on Memorial Day taken by my niece Hannah (thanks again Hannah!)