Happy Birthday Grandpa

My Grandpa turned 80 years old today! We are having a party for him on saturday.. but tonight was just a small dinner of his kids and grandkids. Only 22 of us tonight... and we were missing 7 people. :( We missed you! This is a picture of my grandpa... looks pretty good for 80 huh? Looks pretty good, period, I think! :)

My Aunt Vicki and Uncle Jay always look so cute!

My cousin Nicole and her boyfriend, Robert. He called everyone of us by name as he was leaving.. very impressive.

My cousin Stev-0 and her bf Justin.. they are always laughing. I love it when my family is happy.

My cousin Josh is very photogenic. I think this pic is facebook worthy.

Justin and Josh... normally when those names go together it's a different Justin, my cousin Justin... Josh's brother... but he had football tonight and couldn't make it... are you keeping up? It can be very confusing to the outside world. WE understand PERFECTLY.

My cousins Emily and Stevie have never seen a camera before and they didn't know to smile.. they are quick learners though...

See... much better.

My men.. Kev and my brother, Jeff. He's all old now. and ubber proud of it. :)

My cousin/sister, Ember and her BF Josh... who we call ALT or Boyfriend Josh because of the afore mentioned Josh who is also her brother. We got a thing for J names in my family. Believe it or not.. this picture was posed.

I love this picture. They are so cute together. They really get one another and it just makes me happy that they have found one another.

My cousin-in-law April and her step-daughter, my 2nd cousin, Ashley. Ashley is about to be a teenager and is sooo excited about it. She's super cute!

My parents! Sometimes, I think that they coordinate their outfits... because they always seem to compliment one another. Maybe it's just years of togetherness. I can't see my Dad going along with that. :)

My grandparents!! These two have been together for 65 years!! Like I said in a previous post, they met and started dating when they were 15. I get to spend most of my time with these two and they really are an inspiration. I love it when they steal kisses and take moments to tell the other one how much they appreciate and love them. It's not all sunshine and daisies.. but after 65 years... they are still so in love! I'm really going to miss them when I start teaching...

My cousin Kenny and his wife, April.... Kenny says he doesn't take good pictures.. but I disagree!

My Big Lil' brother after too many camera flashes...

M.L.E. shows off her new sunglasses... right after this she told me.. "I'm gonna toot in the bathroom"... or so I thought she said... she actually said.. "I'm going to the bathroom." But I like mine better. I followed her in there and made a tooting noise. GOD I love my family!

My g-parents LOVE their dog, Missie. That seems like an understatement... but I can't think of any way else to word it. Gma cooks Missie's meals from a doggie cookbook... anyway.. this is Gpa's gift from Gma. And it's perfect!

He also got a cookie jar for Missie... Gpa has everything he could ever want and is hard to shop for... I am digging the idea of giving him things for Missie.. because he just lights up. :) Good job guys!

My 2nd cousin Makenzie... who has started calling me, Aunt Alyssa. Gotta say I love that. She's adorable but she's also a handful. (that's an understatement too) :)

ALT liked Emmy's glasses soooo much that he had to try them on...

Kev-o and me... I think we're pretty cute in love too. :)

We baked a 80th birthday worthy cake.. I say we... but I had nothing to do with it... for Saturday... tonight we ate cream puffs. SOO GOOD!

And Gpa blew out his candles! He missed one as I came rushing to get a picture and was waiting for me to get the camera ready to blow out the last candle. Gma can't hear very well and she blew it out right before I pressed the button... so we staged this one. Wanted to tell the story in case it looks funny.

It was a great night. I am so lucky to have such a large close knit family. We really enjoy each other and that's what it's all about.
Happy Birthday Grandpa! Here's to 80 more!!