Category Archives: Family matters

In which we discuss matters of the family.

Unimaginable

I read about Brian and Katie and their little girl, Emily while Poppy and Pete were napping. And it took a good deal of self-restraint not to go wake them up and squeeze them both. It’s easy to forget some days what a blessing it is to have healthy children.

Emily has a cancerous tumor growing at the base of her brain. Despite her doctors’ expectations, she survived an initial surgery. Since they’re temporarily relocating for Emily’s care, the family is facing extra living costs on top of the medical expenses.

I can’t imagine going through what that family is facing.

If you’d like to help them out financially, you can do so here through PayPal. The family has also set up a trust fund at Bank of America. According to their friend’s site, “This means that you can walk into any Bank of America location and make an anonymous donation into the account for Emily Mandell.”

Six kids. One photoshoot.

The GrandkidsI’ve been trying to take a good portrait of The Grandkids for my in-laws for years. It was hard enough to get a photo where no one was making a weird face when there were only three kids. Now that there are six of them, I’d assumed it would be impossible.

When we all gathered last weekend for my mother-in-law’s birthday, I tried once again to gather the kids together for a photo. It took a few minutes to get them all in one place. By some sort of miracle a few of the shots I snapped were actually pretty good — everyone looking normal and smiling naturally, no one missing from the frame.

I took this one just as the wriggly two-year-old bolted. The shot captures their personalities so well. Poppy’s on the run, Sophie’s overcome by the goofiness of it all, Sam’s plotting something, Claire can’t keep her little hands off Pete’s dome, Pete’s resigned to being pawed and Wilson’s just enjoying the chaos.

As it turns out, it’s my favorite from our little session.

Aunt Judy

Aunt Judy passed away this evening. I know that she was in so much pain, and I know that she’s in a better place now. But it still hurts.