The Parrillo Family

Natalie and Frankie made a mid-week visit to see Great Grampy at his house in Oak Lawn.  They brought him a little Christmas tree to brighten up his place for the holidays.  Frankie decorated it himself and it is now sitting in a place of honor.  While they were there, Grampy showed him some photos and talked about family.  A really nice visit.

Look who made it down to the beach in La Jolla?  Great Grampy spent some time (in the shade) on the sand with five of his great grandchildren.  We were in town for Uncle Peter's wedding - that is taking place in a few days. 

Over Labor Day weekend, we couldn't find SD for a little bit when we were up in Wisconsin.  Turns out, she was sitting with Great Grampy out on the front porch where he was spending some time reading with his iPad.  But SD insisted she show him all about the games that are on there.  He was so patient with her as he always is! 

Having a birthday that takes place close to Halloween and having the name "Frank" seem to indicate that A LOT of your childhood birthdays are going to be centered around the holiday and various monsters.  So, it should come as no surprise that just like last year , Frankie had a 'monster' birthday.   On his actual birthday, Frankie got a little bit of help from his sisters to blow out the candle on his monster ice cream cake. Here's the photos from his 2nd birthday party .  And here's the photos from his 1st birthday party .   Then a few days later, we had a party where the whole family came over to celebrate Frank.  Here's Great Grampy Ray and Great Uncle Frank settled in on the couch watching Frankie's bestie cousin play with some toys in our family room. Nat made a monster cake.  It was awesome! And while there were LOTS of awesome presents that Frankie was so happy to receive, one of them got a littl...

We're a divided house.  I'm a White Sox fan.  Nat is a die hard Cubs fan.  And with the Cubs being the best team in baseball and not just being in the World Series but also winning it, the excitement has been contagious with our kids.  Just look at the three of them wearing their Cubs gear.  Nat was so happy to share this fun experience with them.   Ellie stayed up late on a couple of games to take it all in.  And the song "Go Cubs Go" was being sung all around the house.  Even Frankie sings it! But, Nat's excitement wasn't just about the Cubs winning, it was about having Grampy see *his* team, the Cubs, who he's watched for 90 years finally win the whole thing.  So, Nat and Aunt Sisi and Grammy along with SD went out to get Grampy Ray a "W Flag" to fly at his house in the South Suburbs. Here's SD and her Great Grampy 'Flying the W'! And here's SD with Grammy and her dad out front of his house.  How happy was he that...

Earlier this month, the entire Rostan-side of the Moran family gathered out in Naperville for Grampy Ray's 90th Birthday party.  Can you believe it?!?  Ray looks pretty great for 90!   The theme of the party was a Hawaiian Luau and as you'd expect, Dianne, Natalie and Elise delivered on the theme.  It started with Ray's specil Lei and special scepter that was a HUGE fiddlehead fern.  That's Ray posing with them up top. You can tell that Ray is a pretty special guy based on how everybody showed up, but you already knew that.  He's a constant reminder of what it means to be a kind, caring, loving man and a real role model for all the men and boys in the family.  Happy Birthday, Ray!  Can't wait for 91! And...now...on with the photos: Cousin JF posing with the balloons: SD joining him: Frankie trying to jump into Granddad's pond! Cousin JF playing outside: The Big Beefy loved being outside on the slide: All dec...