Rachel's 13th Birthday~
Date: November 20, 2013
I can't believe my firstborn is now a teenager.  How did I let that happen?  Well, anyway, we wanted to plan something for her birthday that would be special and fun, yet sweet and a little adventurous-something that would reflect Rachel's heart.  After throwing around a few ideas we decided on inviting a few friends to join her on what we called a "Quest 2 Bless".  We let the girls know that their mission was to set out on a quest to bless 13 unidentified, unsuspecting individuals.  What a blessing it turned out to be for all of us!  Anthony came up with the great clues, and with a little help from the other 6 Sansanos, he hid them all over town.  I was the chauffeur. Toting 7 'tweens' was a hoot!   The girls had a blast finding and deciphering the clues.  And the response from most of the recipients was heartwarming.  A great reminder that it truly is more of a blessing to give than to receive!

They began by delivering flowers to a local nursing home.

Next stop: Newton Park.  Clues led them from home plate to the foul pole where quarters were cleverly hidden.  Quarters?  That's right, quarters.  They were off to share their 'buried treasure' with the locals at the laundry mat! 

They then headed to Domino's to deliver pizza...

                                                                                           to the Fire Station! 

          The Firemen were so sweet! They all even sang Happy Birthday to Rachel!

        The girls then did everything from handing out cold Gatorade at the       

"Y" to surprising unsuspecting shoppers with gift cards at Winn Dixie.

 

 What a night!  After their mission was accomplished...Dinner was served!

                                                         Happy Birthday Rachel!!!

A trip to the Beach~

Date: September 2013

One of the best things about being in Alabama is the proximity to the beach!  For Ryan's birthday we took a quick trip to Destin, Florida.  We stayed at Eglin AFB.  The weather was beautiful and we had a wonderful time! 

While I was sunbathing, reading or otherwise just not paying attention, Brady volunteered to be buried in the sand.  So, needless to say, the other children wasted no time dumping, pouring and packing sand around him while Anthony snapped some great pictures!

Once he was sufficiently covered, they placed a sandbucket on his head and then convinced me they had caught some type of tiny sea creature and persuaded me to carefully look under the bucket...you know, so the tiny creature wouldn't scurry away.  Well, their little plan to give Mom a heart attack was thwarted when the 'creature' started laughing before I could remove the bucket!  Nice try, guys!  Sorry about the sand in your eyes, Brady!  :)
                               

It's hard to believe that just five years ago we were on that same beach and there were only 4 little Sansanos!

That was then....

                                    

       

 

                                                                         
                                                                          SHARK!

 

 

This is  now...WOW!

 

Hope's 1st Year

Date: July 21, 2013
.
Hope.  Then....

 

 

 

And now...

 

 

 

Hope was evidently born with 2 settings.  On (full speed).  And off.  Trouble was, the off setting apparently could only be activated while she was being held.  It also seemed to have some sort of short circuit that tripped the full speed setting within 30 (45 on a good day!) minutes of activation.  

She would sleep just about anywhere...anytime...as long as she was in the arms...

 

                                                      

                                              (Or legs?) of a loved one!                                                          

She is the quintessential cat-napper.  Her battery is fully charged with just a few minutes of sleep.  Which, ordinarily, would be a problem for an infant.  Not her.  She is happy and content just to be with her 'friends':  Rachel, Lauren, Ryan, Brady, Glory and- not so much, Sean. ;)  As long as they are within sight or, better yet, reach -she is delighted!  And delightful! 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Talledega Motor Speedway~

Date: October 20, 2013 
Okay, so watching little cars race around in circles for hours doesn't exactly sound like a good time to me.  Unlike Brady, I guess I've just never been too impressed with fast cars (now fast runners-they impress me.  But, that's another post.) ;)  Add in the prospect of the deafening noise reducing my little ones to tears and I just about  decided to stay home.   I'm SO glad I didn't.

    Anthony's instructor had landed the whole seminar and their families pretty amazing seats

                                                         right across from pit row!

 

 

 

My boys were ecstatic! In addition to that, we had a friend at church who told us he would be working at the speedway that weekend and he told us to give him a call when we got there.  Little did we know what credentials and the equivalent of an all-access pass could do for you!


Oh my goodness!


                                 For starters, we went for a helicopter ride over the track!.

 

 

Look at that smile!

 

 

 

Brady was all business.

 

 

 

The views were spectacular!

 

 

                           And as if that weren't enough,  all (ALL!) of us piled in for a ride...

 

 

 

   to the INFIELD!

                                 

 

We stayed in the infield long enough to watch the warm up and first few laps of the race.
Let me just say those cars are FAST and LOUD!  What an amazing experience!

                     And, we even managed to get the only family picture we'd taken all year!