Back from Ocean Isle

Jeni and I had a great week at Ocean Isle with my parents and Doug's family. We can't thank my parents enough for all they did to make this week at the beach happen. They created this chance for Jeni and I to take Amy and Evan into the ocean (their very first time in the salt water -- Amy: "There's an awful lot of salt in this water" after taking in a mouthful), and we got to spend an entire week with our nieces and nephews, which was such a rare opportunity for us, and one we will always treasure.


You can see in the picture that everyone was out having fun on the beach, soaking in the sun, Jeni of course with the best tan.


We celebrated Jeni's birthday while we were there, too. What better way to spend her birthday than sitting on the beach, then coming in for cake and presents? She got a really cool crab picture from my parents and some great craft items from Doug and Cathy and the kids. Kelly also sent some good souvenirs from her trip to Greece for us.


I got her a string of pearls for her birthday. Now I just need to take her out so she can wear them.

I have a funny story about the "Flying Umbrella of Death" but when I typed it out it wasn't quite as funny as it was when I was thinking about what I would type while sitting on the beach. So maybe I'll retell it tomorrow...

[More pictures are up on Flickr]

Happy Birthday Chris!

Today is my brother's 40th birthday, so I thought I would put a mini-photo tour of his last forty years.

Chris - 3 months old

Chris 5 1/2 yrs and Jeni 3 days
(This was one of our mom's favorite pictures. Check out the bottoms of Chris' feet.)
Chris 5 1/2 years old
Chris 7 yrs and Jeni 2 yrs

Chris' senior portrait --AKA Studly

Chris (20 yrs) with Baby Andrew

Chris (22 yrs) with baby Aaron
Chris (24 yrs) with baby Brittany
(And yes, he's still smitten with his little girl.)

Thanksgiving 1994
(Andrew and Aaron made us all Thanksgiving day hats)

Jackie and Chris (29 yrs old) Thanksgiving 1997

Chris (38 yrs) with Andrew at his high school graduationChris, Jeni, and Dad at Andrew's graduationJackie and Chris (39 yrs) -Christmas at Gulfshores

Chris - I wish you the happiest birthday. I love you!
And remember you will always be older than me!
All my love,
your little sister

"I have been very nice this year, but my brother...he's another story"

"I have been very nice this year, but my brother...he's another story"
Originally uploaded by jenianddean

Since I've been having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit, I decided to look through some old pictures. When I looked back at all these pictures I started seeing all the pictures of my brother Chris and I. Seeing our little Christmas outfits, sitting on Santa's lap, and pictures of my mom and my grandparents really made me start thinking of Christmases past.

One specific Christmas I remember was the year that we got our pinball machine. Not a toy pinball machine, but a full arcade size pinball machine. I know the name on it said Chris, but I'm pretty sure Santa made a mistake and forgot to put my name on it. (I got a dollhouse that year.) I loved that pinball machine. I love the smell of the wood when you would open the door to get your nickles out. And watching all the lights blink on and off as the steel ball would roll on. Or how the lights all went out when you tilted it. And how Fluffy loved to chase the ball all around. I can still hear the sound of the spring being pulled back, the smack of the ball, and the flippers clicking in my head. That was a very good Christmas.

I won't get all nostalgic on here, but it was sort of mixed bag of emotions -- I guess anything that holds such special meaning to you always is.

Dean and I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. May the new year bring you joy, love, peace, and happiness.

Been a while...

I didn't realize how long it'd been since an update. We had a very nice visit with Sue, Don, Jackie and Aaron. They came in on Tuesday, and were very complimentary of the house. We enjoyed some nice company, and Jeni's great cooking. As the week went on they began scattering, Jackie and Aaron on Friday to Raleigh, NC for a tennis tournament (won 3, lost 2 matches ... we're pretty proud of him -- Jeni even made it up on Monday to see him play), Sunday morning Sue headed on down to Florida, then later Sunday we took Don to Charlotte for him to fly back to Detroit. Always on the go...

We've seen a few movies lately, too. We went with Don and Sue to see License to Wed with Robin Williams. It was cute (date movie) but I'd wait to rent it. (At moments during the movie the boy in me was distracted by the explosions next door at Transformers.) We also rented Man of the Year, also with Robin Williams. Less funny than the previews, but good like Wag the Dog was good. In the meantime, the list of movies I'd never even consider watching again continues to grow. OK, Saw II I expected to be mediocre, but Superman Returns was horrible, possibly more disappointing than Saw II only because it had promise with a good cast and hype and, come on, it's Superman, and yet is was horrible, boring and pointless. I was also disappointed by Deja Vu with Denzel Washington. I expected more from this movie. American Dreamz was funny-ish, but pointless, too, and we couldn't even get started watching Because I Said So (no, we're not intentionally watching everything Mandy Moore has been in). Still, like the big nerd I am, I'm eagerly awaiting the new Harry Potter movie. (But now I'm rambling...)

Jeni should be on the road home from Raleigh about now, caravaning with Jackie and Aaron. Her ride's only about three-and-a-half hours. Poor Jackie and Aaron are looking at about 12. Ugh! Anyhow, hopefully Jeni got some pictures of Aaron playing and we'll have something visual to post for you.

OK... this is getting too long, and even I won't want to read it, so I'm going to end it here.