long time, no blog :)

wow!! has it been that long since we've updated everyone? my apologies to family and friends. it's been a crazy, hectic summer, but i'll do my best to catch you up on the highlights.

1. i finished my first year of teaching in nyc. i had a great year with my pre-k class and i'm looking forward to another year of fun.

2. lusinda left to return to her home in south africa. i'm so glad we got to share this experience with her. she was a life-saver and is now a permanent part of our family. we went bowling at chealsey piers for her last night.




3. in may, the kids were treated to a special trip with nana and papa josh. they spent a little time in nyc seeing a broadway show and visiting the american girl store (poor papa josh), and then they set off for gettysburg and hershey, pennsylvania to do some sightseeing and to visit hershey's theme park.






4. in late june, we visited albuquerque for the first annual winfield family (that's angela's side) reunion. we had a blast catching up with everyone, swimming, eating good food, going to gardunos (i don't think there's ever been a family event that didn't include eating at gardunos), playing wii, shooting pool, and laughing till it hurt. our family consists of 7 children, 4 of which have spouses, and 9 grandchildren (soon to be 10!). we number 22 in these 3 generations.









5. we celebrated jessica's 11th birthday by taking a 3 hour cruise around nyc. we had a great time learning some interesting facts and little known history about our hometown.



6. the girls spent 4 weeks at day camp at my ymca, so we got to see each other throughout the day. then the girls left for camp mcallister in upstate new york. they spent two weeks swimming in the lake, horseback riding, making new friends, playing outdoor games, going for hikes, etc. don't feel too bad for clay and i, though. we celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary while the kids were away. clay made the most of our two weeks of freedom. he planned a special dinner and/or event for each night and he swept me away to a castle in the hudson valley for the weekend. we'll spare you pictures on that one :).

the girls spent their days at oma and b-bob's exploring the mountains behind the house. we had almost forgotten the wonders that blue skies and warm weather can do.

hailey chilling at oma and b-bob's

our trip to albuquerque

since we were in denver for the wedding, we decided to make a trip down to albuquerque to see everyone there while we were on spring break. this is a giant ice cream cone in raton that i took pictures with when i was my girls' age.

easter sunday

this easter was bitter-sweet. clay's grandmother passed away easter morning, so while we are missing her company, we are so grateful for the time we had with her.


at grandpa's house there was a lot of competition (more than 20 cousins worth) for the eggs, so this was a very serious hunt.


cora, james, and hannah

hailey, maddy, and jess

the ever cool, but oh so big for 4 months, james

we kept cora and hannah overnight at our hotel to give the newlyweds a little honeymoon. we spent easter morning swimming with all 5 girls.

sarah's wedding

my little sister, sarah, got married the day before easter, april 11. we had a great weekend of celebrating, catching up, laughing, and dancing. congratulations patrick and sarah!! congratulations to wil (who officiated the ceremony) for not passing out! :)

some of the many cousins

my dad and sister walking down the isle

another happy couple

a toast to the bride and groom

leslie, sarah, wil, me,and stephen

the kids, having no wedding obligations to attend to, spent their days playing.

my birthday

i celebrated another trip around the sun this month, so the girls, clay, and lusinda took me out to our favorite local restaurant, cafe enduro. hailey made me a cake all by herself, jess made me a card, and maddy made me a scrapbook about our family.