Strickler Family...

Getting together with my Mom's side of the family seems almost impossible.  But this past year, we added three new additions to the family, and my oldest cousins and I decided we all needed to get together and take a family picture.  It just so happened that Memorial Day weekend worked well for ALL of us, and it was also right before my Grandmother's 85th birthday, an added bonus.  So on Saturday, we all descended on Staunton, Va and drove our children, and parents, crazy with copious pictures.  

As you can see in the first one, Miss Hannah did not find this fun.  Actually, with everything going on, I didn't realize it was time for a bottle. Shortly thereafter, she was her happy self again.  And this picture is proof that she isn't always happy. 

(Left to Right, Back to Front) 

Ava, Jackson, Hannah, Carson, & Beatrix

 

Hannah, Carson, & Bea

 The entire Strickler Family

the Grandchildren with spouses/girlfriends

(Left to Right, Back to Front)

Jon (spouse), Skip (cousin), Marisa (cousin), 

Jake (spouse), Nathan (you know him!)

Annie (cousin - married to Jon), Elizabeth (dating Skip)

 Bethany (cousin), Ginny (cousin - married to Jake), & Me.

 
Oh, and yes, we all planned to wear white and green with splashes of pink.  We put WAY too much thought into this.

Annie with her youngest Carson, Me & Miss Hannah

If only Ava would have smiled...  

she was totally DONE by this point. 

 Ava & Jackson with Nana

 Carson & Hannah

 Carson & Bea

 Ava with Nana

Ava with PawPaw

I love this sequence...  

 Carson "Oooo, I love your hat."

 Bea "That't MY hat!"

Babies are much happier when they have something to chew on.

Nana with her Grandchildren (6) and Great Grandchildren (5)

 Nana (Grandma to me!) with Uncle David's family

Flying Bea

Nana with Uncle Mark's family 

(Jackson was about as thrilled as Ava)

 Our family with Grandma aka "Nana"

 fixing the porch swing

 Our photographer for the day was Jon's brother Jimmy.  We couldn't leave him out of the pictures.  We are all looking forward to seeing the ones he took... hopefully they are better than the ones we took. 

 sweethearts!

 not too bad...  quite a bit of cropping had to take place   ;o)

 cousins

Ginny (middle) and I are only 6 months apart in age.  

We have some incredibly bad Olan Mills pictures of us from when we are babies. 

 Fast Friends.  Jackson and Ava reunited after 2 years

On Sunday morning before we headed back to WV, Ava went exploring with PawPaw.  

 isn't it just beautiful? 

 one of my favorite places, the front porch swing, Ava likes it too.

Once back in WV it was too nice not to be outside.  The winter has really done it's work on us, and we are enjoying the green grass and blue skies of WV.

How high can she go?

 High enough to kick the leaves.  She was thrilled. 

 Racing with Daddy.

 I don't know why in the world I even included this picture...  maybe just proof that I can still do it. (and no, I didn't get much air, the trampoline needs major tightening, very little bounce.)

Ava & Hannah with Mimi & PawPaw before we left.