October birthday brunch, without Adria.

Last Sunday we had brunch at our house with all of Jessica’s family and my brother and his wife. It’s a big tasty potluck affair and has become a sort of tradition. It’s fun to make breakfast food en mass, and especially fun to fill up our house with people we love. We celebrated a number of October birthdays, especially the first birthdays of Netta and Bailey (Oct 8th) and their much older and wiser cousin Charlotte (Oct 5th). We got there free cakes at lunds by bringing in birth certificates (!).

I so wish Adria was still alive to have seen her trio of beautiful granddaughters turn one. It actually breaks my heart. I know it does Jessica’s. I have to admit, I’ve been in a conscious state of denial about her loss for quite a while. She was such a enormous part of our lives, it’s hard really to quantify. It’s no small thing, especially for Jessica, and it’s taking some time to process. I haven’t even really looked at photos of her since the first couple weeks after her death. Eventually I’ll post a collection of images and I (and perhaps Jessica) can be a bit more expressive about the sense of loss and also how we’ve managed without. She really was an extraordinary woman. Honest and cynical and smart and unflinching and loving and a great great friend to our whole family. And Jessica’s dear mother, her best and closest friend. I really miss her.

What the hell is that hand doing there?

This is a photo of some cousins, including the one still growing in Amy (left) tiny belly. She’s there to represent.

Photos like this are actually sorta gross but I’m posting anyway. AHH HA HA!

Careful Bailey…..she has pincers.

What did you expect?

Aerial photo.

Uncle Dick is a gifted musician. Truly. It was really fun to hear him play a bit on the porch with Art’s untunable $5 garage sale guitar. Untunable until Dick got it, he made it sound quite nice and even gave Arthur a pick which the boy has been using daily since.