The Parrillo Family

We went down to Champaign for the Illini vs. Wisconsin football game and to celebrate the day with the Parrillo family - including the two cousins who are in school there.  What happened in that game?  Oh, you know...nothing big.  Just our Fighting Illini upsetting a top-five Wisconsin football team on a last-second field goal.  Oh...but we left the game going into the fourth quarter to go back to the tailgate.  (Shame.) We enjoyed a beautiful day, indoctrinated the kids into the ways of gameday at Grange Grove and built a ton of memories.  Oh yeah...and we stopped briefly in to Sigma Chi.  The place was a dump!

The Parrillo family was fortunate to gather in Twin Lakes for annual Camp Parrillo.  Looks like even little Lizzie snuck in there in the bottom left.  We spent a cool weekend hanging around, eating too much and laughing a lot. 

For a weekend in early August, we were fortunate enough to gather most of the Parrillo family up in Twin Lakes for a 'right before back to school' get-together.  The girls had fun hanging with their older cousins and Nat and I loved being able to spend time with my sisters, my parents and Equation Boy/Man.  It was a low-key affair, but was so nice to be able to be together up there and we're grateful for the Morans for making it happen! The first night of the weekend included a makeup session/party with the girls applying makeup to themselves and the older cousins.  The older girls were good sports.   And we spent a lot of time out on the water in the boat.  The Big Beef wanted to be in the captain's seat the whole day. Here's the girls posing with their cousin who just came back from being abroad for two years. With Papa's big tube, we were able to get three little ones and the Goozer on the tube together.  Eloise an...

Over the weekend, we gathered at Aunt Sharon's house and our 'own' house (Thanks, Marinis!) to celebrate the Moms that we love.   I've posted photos from Mother's Day celebration here on the blog that was all the way back in 201 1 when Eloise was not quite two years old.  Sadie wasn't quite in the world yet!  I also posted some photos in 2012 when SD was, indeed, in the world.   There's also this post of Eloise's first-ever Mother's Day card .   This year, we started the day with breakfast at our own house and some home-made gifts from the girls to Nat.  After a nice walk to-and-from Church, we went over to Aunt Sharon's house for brunch to celebrate with Noonie and the Coyles and Dyers as well as Grandma and Grandpa Marini and Aunt Lisa.  The Swiss Family Marinis were missed!  But...we *did* do something on Mother's Day for Sadie's Godmother Vic, so I'll post about that another day. I posted about Natalie and Mo...

Here's a video of our visit to Noonie and Papa's house for Christmas Eve 2013.  If you are reading this in your email and can NOT see the video above, click here to watch the video on our site .

Christmas Eve at Noonie and Papa's house is epic.  At least, that's how I always remember it.  And...that's how I'm hoping my two girls will remember it, too! We packed up the girls and headed down to Frankfort for the full day of festivities.  We played games, eat lots of snacks, went to church and sat in the way, way, back and even had a visit from Santa.  It was a perfect day and one I hope the girls will remember! There's a ton of photos, so if you are reading this in your email and can NOT see the slideshow below, click here to see all of the photos .

Eloise and I woke up Momma with a hot cup of Starbuck's coffee, and a scrambled eggs and toast breakfast in bed.  It is tough to really pamper Nat in any way on Mother's Day because there is such a scramble throughout the day.  We went to Nat's folks house in the afternoon to celebrate with her Mom (as well as with Aunt Elise - Eloise's Godmother), and in the morning, Nat worked her magic to pull together an amazing brunch at our house with my entire family.  Natalie is an amazing mother - and wife - and does so much for so many people that I am always taken aback by the way she handles situations and the grace she possesses.  Both Eloise and I are VERY lucky to have her in our lives! As for the day, we got lucky as the weather cooperated and we were able to spend much of the day outside in the backyard.  All the cousins got together and - while it appears that Eloise *really* loves her cousin J, the bearhug was the sweetest thing in person!  Such a cu...