summers past...

Annabel, at age 7, singing the Beatles

My cute Mom

Our girls doing more Beatles in the park

My birthday, July 14, has been celebrated with my parents and family for the last several years. My sister frequently has a party, in her home that is circa early 1900's. She is a great hostess and a phenomenal baker.

A barn in rural upstate New York, down the road from where my parents live.

There is an interesting theme in our life right now -- one of waiting and seeing. We are getting ready to leave for our annual summer trip, something we have done since we moved here in 2001. We are trying to firm up a place to stay near my parents, who live in upstate New York. They are in a small town, right on the Erie Canal. With this intention, I have included images from summers past that warm my heart. This is always a time of reconnecting with cousins, friends, Grandma and Grandpa, and if I get lucky I get to see all of my siblings, their spouses and kids. There are now 9 grandchildren.

My girls with my older brother's girls, who live in Chicago.

They have a lot of fun together, and are almost the same ages.

A scene from the backyard of the house we stayed in last summer. This was a common sight from my childhood days in rural Penfield, New York. One day last summer Shawn and Annabel were nowhere to be found. Sky told me they were in the cornfield. I will never forget yelling, "Shawn, Annabel, come out of the cornfield!"