eighty years and nine months...

A couple other reasons that today is significant;

My grandpa turns eighty

and Sara is nine months old.

My grandpa was born in 1928 (obviously) and is the youngest of 10 children. Sadly, he is the only living sibling remaining after his brother Frank died about a year and a half ago. He is also my only remaining grandparent (he is my dad's dad)

When I was about five or six-ish, my dad, grandpa and grandma went on a trip out west. Which is when the picture of me in the boat with them is taken. I think it was taken in Yellowstone, or some other such western location. I especially like how my grandpa is the only person on the boat wearing a life preserver.

In 2001 I also went to Rome with him, my sister and my aunt, along with a tour group. It was during this trip that we met the pope (John Paul II, not the current one.)

Below are some pictures of us through the years.

This was from my ice-skating days, after a show.

With my brother when he was a little one

With me and Sara in May when we went to Chicago

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And Sara is 9 months old today. The months, they are a-flyin' by.

She's up to 16 pounds, 26 inches with a 17 and a half inch head.

Her latest trick is that she pulls herself up to a stand, all the time. She definately has arrived at the "needs to be watched every single second of the day" stage. I have already found her playing with scissors and grapes when she was unsupervised for a couple seconds. We definately need to buckle down and do a thorough baby-proofing of the house.

Here are some recent photos;