Introducing, The Twins!

As some of you know, my Aunt in law and uncle in law welcomed baby twins recently.  The twins arrived via surrogate at 29 weeks on March 5.  They were born weighing a little over 3 pounds each.  They finally got to come home at the beginning of May.  I, of course, have taken a bunch of pictures of them but I wanted to wait to share them with you. 

This past weekend, I went over to their house and did my first newborn "photo shoot" with the twins.  Oh man, it was way harder than I anticipated. 

Here is Mr Grant "Frog Legs" Collin:

And his sister, Ms Rachael "Rebel Girl" Ruth:

And the trouble twins together:

Mr Grant has been having a hard time with his food, so he was not a happy camper.  And my "rebel girl" behaved like an angel.  So much so, we just let her sleep where she was for awhile.

I will do another post with pictures later, but I wanted to share these.  I am not a photographer, and I still have a lot to learn with editing, but it sure was fun getting to play with these two little angels.

Hope you like them!

Mother's Day in Vermont

Our last day in Vermont was Mother's Day.  My mom planned a hiking trip up on our family land near Guildhall, Vermont.  With a bum knee, hiking was not really an option for me so we made some other plans.  Mom took my brother and Daniel with her on her hiking trip, so Allen, Connor and I were left to fend for ourselves.

My wonderful Aunt Anne offered to drive us up to Stowe, Vermont to meet my Uncle Steve and his family for brunch.  We ate at the Vonn Trapp family lodge.... as in The Vonn Trapp family that the Sound of Music was written about.  They settled in Stowe Vermont and now the land that they settled on is a resort.

The brunch was amazing..... fresh oatmeal bar, fresh yogurt bar, fresh eggs, bacon and french toast with fresh hot REAL maple syrup.  Oh man!  I was in heaven!  After brunch we decided to explore (a very little) the area.  There were some Scottish Highland cows that we went and visited.

There were also some pigs down a big hill, so I did not go.  There was a beautiful deli by the pigs.  We didn't eat there, but we did take a picture.

After that, my Aunt drove us up a mountain to show us the ski resorts that make Stowe famous.  Believe it or not Floridians, there was still snow on the ground.  In May.  So, of course we had to stop and let Connor check it out!

He loved it!  Until it got in his crocs and he started screaming because it was so cold.  (Note to self:  next time we get in the snow, wear something other than crocs).  We drove around a little more and headed into downtown Stowe.  We stopped at a little store and bought some only-in-Vermont kind of stuff.  Maple walnut caramels, pure cider jelly and some handmade pewter. 

We left Stowe and on the way back to Aunt Anne's house we stopped for "creemees."  We also went by grandma and grandpa's gravesite one more time.

Still beautiful! 

We went back to Anne's and then eventually back to Jay's house.  The road to Jay's house has some amazing views so Allen, Danny, Connor and I went on a walk so we could take some pictures of the view.

See that belly on me?  That is what I like to call a food baby.... that is what emotional and boredom eating for 5 days with no restrictions will do to you...... oh well.  Plus I was standing kind of funny.  Don't want anyone to think I am preggers ;)

  The night ended with a Funk family game of hearts.  This has been a tradition of sorts in my family for years.  When there is a group of us together, there will be a hearts game or two played.  This year, with no grandparents to make us behave, the game got a little out of control but it was a ton of fun!

It was a wonderful Mother's Day.  I was in a beautiful state and got to relax and not rush anything.  I really appreciate my uncle Steve for including us in his day and my Aunt Anne for driving us around.  It was an awesome way to celebrate all of the mothers in our family and our grandmother. 

Saying Goodbye to Grandma Funk

My grandma passed away February 1, 2013.  Her funeral was in Vermont this past weekend.  My family and I (including Danny and mom) made the trip up to Vermont from Jacksonville last Thursday.  It was Connor's first time on a plane and Daniel's second, so we were a little worried about the trip!  Plus, I had a immobilizing brace on my knee.  It made it that much more fun!

We arrived in Barre, Vermont at my cousin Jay's house around 8 p.m.  We were pretty exhausted, so we ate and went to bed.  The next morning we got up and went to a memorial service for my grandma in Springfield, Vermont.  This is the town where my mom and her brothers and sisters spent the later years of their childhood.  It is also the town that we would go to visit our grandparents.  After the service, we drove by the old house.  I was very emotional.... more so than I thought I would be.  This place was a staple of my childhood and chances are that we will never see it again.  That was a hard reality to face.  Springfield is about an hour and a half away from where we were staying, so on the way home we stopped to get "creemees".... soft serve ice cream.  We came upon a "gas station" where they had a deli, sold ammunition, and ice cream.  The views around it were incredible, so we took a break and ate our "creemees."

He was a mess.... glad we had more clothes for him to wear the next day!

skipping stones in the creek

We got back to Jay's and just hung out the rest of the day.

It is mud season in Vermont.....

Connor, Jay's daughter Lydia and cousin Kaila



The next day was a difficult one.  It was grandma's funeral.... not a day that I was looking forward too. 

family pic before (since we are NEVER this dressed up)

The funeral was in a beautiful Catholic church in Montpeilier, Vermont.  Montpeilier is the town where my mom was born and my Aunt Anne still lives.  Danny, Allen, Daniel and the rest of my uncles and male cousins were the palbearers.  I did a reading from the bible during the service.  It was beautiful.  I know grandma would have loved it.  We also had a graveside service.  That was beautiful as well.  We all laid mini pink roses on grandma's maple casket.  Daniel and Connor made a heart shapped mosiac steeping stone and laid it on the gravesite.  It was again, beautiful.  Grandma was finally laid to rest next to her husband under the maple trees on the side of a mountain in Vermont.  Everything that she wanted.

After the service, we went to a reception at a restaurant in Montpeilier.  We ate and chatted and had a little fun after a hard couple of days.

All of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren

Connor, Jay, Lydia and Uncle Danny

  After the reception it was time to relax for awhile.  Then, everyone headed over to Jay's house for dinner.

The next day was Mother's Day..... I will have a post about that in a little while.

I know my Grandma was smiling down on us for those 2 days.  Both services were amazing and her entire family, 7 children, 8 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren were all there together.  It was a wonderful celebration of my grandma, Dorothy Mae Stephens Funk's life.  I am blessed to have had her as a grandma for so many years.  She was sweet, caring, kind, and she loved to dance.  I will forever miss her. 

The last time my boys saw her..... the last time I saw her dance