Today is little Ivy’s Birthday. She is now ONE! Little Ivy is as cute as a button, but is still a little scared of her Uncle Greg. I always seem to catch her off guard when I say hello to her. Anyway, I will post pictures of her Birthday later this weekend. So stay tuned.

*Birthday Pictures are online!*

Another Birthday this week! It is Chris M, not to be cornfused with Chris B who also has a Birthday, but that is next week. So Chris in honor of your Birthday today, here are some virtual coffee beans. Do with them what you want, and Happy Birthday!

Danyelle was telling me how she and Chris went to eat at Maggiano’s over the weekend, and it reminded me of a little story I thought I would share. One morning when Jackie and I lived in Calibre Springs Apartments in Atlanta I was out walking Scooter and came across a woman’s wallet in the parking lot. I picked it up and looked inside to get a name and address. Right away I knew the face of the lady on her driver’s license, but the address was not of any apartment around. The office was not open, so I could not turn it in. I decided to wait until lunch to go by there. When I came back from lunch luck would have it that the lady was out looking for her wallet. I walked up to her and said “are you looking for this?” I was a little cautious when approaching her, I was afraid she would think I stole it or something and would come out swinging (I know, I’m weird). Anyway she was so thrilled to see her wallet; she insisted that she repay me. I insisted that she do no such thing and it was no problem. She kept on and on and really wanted to give me some money, and then she moved on to getting me a gift card for some place to eat. She kept asking me “where did I like to eat?” I do not like being put on the spot, and my mind went blank, I could not for the life of me think of a restaurant I liked to eat at, so I try to think of any inexpensive places to eat around Atlanta. So without realizing it I said the 1st place that came into my head “MAGGIANO’S!” immediately I saw her gulp and stumble and go pale in the face, and in my head I’m like “no! no! Chili’s I mean Chili’s!!” but it was too late. She regrouped took a deep breath and said she would get me some beer, and walked off. I went from feeling like a hero for finding her wallet to a zero in 10 seconds flat. So to this day whenever I see of hear about Maggiano’s I think about that poor little old lady and how she thought I was trying to rip her off by asking for a big fancy full sit down meal for finding her wallet. I never saw any beer or the lady again, and by the way if you don’t know by now Maggiano’s is Not Cheap! Plus if you see a wallet on the ground, run away from it. (No don’t do that, I’m kidding.)

Today is Dad Colson’s Birthday! In the time that I have known my father-in-law I have learned to call him by many names. First it was Mr. Colson, and as time went on and I got to know him better it became Mr. C. One day I slipped up and got too comfortable and told him to “Giddy-Up Bob” as he was walking in front of me (there was no comment). In Hawaii I learned the secret meaning of his code name “Chuck”, which is a great story that only he can share.

One time during our Thanksgiving trip we were out hiking and talking about all the meat we were going to eat when we got home. He was real excited about all the “venison” he had back at the house, and how tasty it was going to be. Me being the Irish man that I am wanted to know what kind of fish “venison” was? (chirp chirp) I got no response from that question….but I continued on talking about how much I liked fish and named all the fish I had tried; “but I sure have never had any venison” I would say and was real excited to try it. It was not until we started grilling the “venison” did I realize it was deer meat. I have no idea where I got the idea that venison was a fish. It’s very much NOT a fish.

Today without any hesitation I can call him Dad. My father is one of a kind, who I love dearly; Dad Colson is just like that in his own special way. He raised four amazing girls who all married four great guys. His son-in-laws all know how lucky they are to have one amazing father-in-law who will help them with anything that life throws their way. From four daughters, to four sons, to five grandchildren ( with number six on the way), life can only get sweeter from here Bob.

Happy Birthday Chuck, and giddy-up!
Love,
All of Us.

Today Chris and Danyelle celebrate their 10 Year Wedding Anniversary! Next to our parents, your marraige is a model to follow. We love you guys, and hope you have a great weekend!

I have tons of memories of growing up in Ireland (no duh! I hear you all say), but I especially remember where I spent the 1st part of my childhood days growing up. Using Google Maps I found the house I grew up in. I also marked all the places in the neighborhood that meant something to me. Here is the google link. The picture above has the points marked.

1. This was our house. If you zoom in you can see a small black smudge in the back yard. This was the shed my dad built for all his birds. He must have had a few hundred. We also would set up traps in the backyard and catch the cats that would hang out there. It was nothing fancy, just a box, a stick propping it up, and a string to pull it away when the cat when in. Good times.

2. This is the tree I fell out of when I was almost caught trespassing on private property. If you made it to this tree without the grounds keeper seeing you, it was an accomplishment that everyone would talk about. One day I made it, but was seen, and fell from about 20 feet up. I got wedged between to branches to break my fall, but cut about a 12 inch gash up my ribcage. I never told my parents, and just let it heal. Ouch! I ran for my life as the old man chased me on his bicycle. That was the last time I went in there.

3. “The Green” is what we called this field, this is where we played soccer and would have huge grass fights every summer when the city would come and cut the grass. We also would jump off the wall that surrounded the field and land in big piles of grass. I got in trouble a lot for doing this. It led to many groundings that lasted weeks.

4. See that faded dirt circle? This is where the bonfires were lit. One night a year a fire was built there, it’s just something that the kids did, no adult supervision, it was very dangerous. Wood was gathered for days and pilled up into huge stacks. Then the older boys would try and jump over the fire when it got low enough. Seems dumb now, but back then it was the thing to do.

6. “The Square Green” this was where the rival kids to our “green” would play soccer. It was like Westside story Irish style.

7. This was where we would throw buckets of water down the footpath the night before school so they next morning we could skate down the hill. I have knocked my head many times on that footpath. That might explain some things about me

8. “The Black Gate” this was another way into St Nissans private school. It was also a meeting point when a fight was about to break out.

9. “Dooneen Rd” or “around the corner” as we called it. This was where the “bad boys” lived. Older boys lived on this street, but it also was where the cute girls lived. So if you wanted to see a cute girl, this was the place to do it, but there was a risk of being caught by a “bad boy” and paying the price for it.

10. This was where we would ride our bikes, and wait for the dogs to all come running out and chase us. If you got caught you were left to be eaten. No one ever got caught, but it sure was a rush to be chased, and have a dog chomping at your heels.

There are many more spots if I kept zooming out, but I will leave them be. The older I got the further I got to explore outside my box. The danger level also went up. It is fun to look down and see all these landmarks of my childhood. I am sure God had a good laugh with this view and seeing all my adventures play out below him.

Today is Mothers Day! I can’t think of a better group of mothers to be surrounded by each day.

1st we have my mom who gave up her life in Ireland being close to her mom so that Jennifer and I would have a better life here in America.

2nd we have Mom Colson who raised four girls who all are and will be amazing mothers.

3rd we have Danyelle who is raising three boys, all of which are growing up to be fine young men.

4th we have Kelly who is a mom to be very soon and wants nothing more then to be just that.

5th we have Jackie who is a momma to her pups, and spoils them rotten.

6th we have Amy who loves her kids in such a visible form you can see it in everything she does.

Thank you moms for all you do and Happy Mothers Day!