The Parrillo Family

We kicked off Thanksgiving with a "Black Wednesday" meet up at Solemn Oath Brewery in Naperville with our friend Mark, Matt (and his Dad) and the Morans.  Had plenty of tasty beer with some good friends. I don't post about Thanksgiving every year, but you can find a few year's worth of memories here on the blog . On Thanksgiving morning, Nat ran the Turkey Trot and the kids worked on their 'turkeys'. Then we got doll'd up and went over to Aunt Linda's house for our first tasty meal. And ended the night at Grammy and Grandad's place for our second tasty meal - and some quality time watching football with Uncle Frank (for me, at least!). We have SOOOOOO much to be thankful for and we were so lucky and fortunate to be able to spend the holiday (maybe my favorite holiday??) with the ones we love.

We weren't in Coloma for the 4th of July for the first time in many years because we were in Europe with the Marini family and arrived back on the 3rd, so this year, as the holiday weekend wound down, we were able to join the Moran's and the girls' Uncle Bill, Aunt Sisi and Frank's bestie out at the Naperville Ribfest.   We've been to Ribfest in the past, but I don' think I've posted any photos here on the blog before.  The Ribfest is what you would expect:  bbq and carnival.  They also have music acts, but we didn't go for that.  We were there for the ribs and pork and to win a few carnival games for the girls.   That's Eloise up there posing so proud with her giant, stuffed Emoji that we won at a game.   And here she is taking in some soft serve with her Godmother Aunt Sisi: Frank the tank was there, too!  Here he is goofing around with Granddad.  The jetlag really hit SD hard and she fell asleep in Grammy's lap...

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...

Christmas morning this year was a unique one!  Sure...there were presents.  And coffee cake.  And tears when there were no more presents to open.  But...the venue had changed! We were lucky to wake up Christmas Day out in Naperville where we were joined by a very merry and full house.  Grammy and Granddad were there, but so were the Foxes and all the Moranimals.  While it wasn't exactly 'on tradition', it is certainly a Christmas morning that we won't soon forget. We were so fortunate to have a great place to celebrate and be surrounded by family.  Ellie in particular loved being in the middle of so much activity. Santa found out where the kids were staying and made sure to drink his eggnog and eat some of his treats.  He also left a note! Nothing says Christmas morning like matching pajamas, right? The girls loved having Grammy and Granddad there when they opened their presents.  This was *way* better than the normal Goo...

Right after Thanksgiving, the Morans' hosted a wedding shower for Charlie and Sasha out in Naperville.  It was Paris-themed, and in typical Moran-party-fashion, Dianne, Natalie and Elise did a bang-up job with the decor and food. Eloise played the part of hostess well.  She always does.  She was up front, welcoming guests 'to Paris'.  With her beret, flag and mustache! Ellie wanted to make sure she had a photo with the bride-to-be, Sasha! The happy couple. In addition to the sign you see above (wow...what a sign!), Ellie made her own chalkboard sign that says "Welcome to Paris" that was prominently displayed in the front hall. The Rostans showed up strong for the shower! Here's Noonie and Grampy Ray: Sasha and Molly: A big contingent of Moranimals and two Silvers.   Look at those 'staches! And even Frank got in on the action.  I brought him over to the shower as it wound down.  He found a good sp...