The Rings

The Rings

Dad & Mom
Dad & my brother Gene
The Norton Girls

The highlight of the night at the 30th Anniversary Party was when my parents exchanged gifts. My Dad(as my sister and I knew) had bought my Mom an eternity ring and my Mom (again, as Mallory and I knew) had bought my Dad a wedding ring. Now my Dad has NEVER worn a wedding ring because it would have gotten ruined in his business, so my mom was finally going to buy him one now that he's "semi-retired." Well the big surprise came when my Dad gave my Mom the little box that revealed a gold wedding band. I was dumbfounded and so was Mallory, since we both knew he was buying her a ring w/ diamonds on it. He said he had finally gotten a present my Mom had always wanted...a wedding ring for himself!! He actually bought himself a wedding ring! Well, that kind of spoiled the gift my Mom had bought for him! He then gave her the ring with the diamonds, which she loved! But all 3 of the rings were beautiful and my Dad ended up keeping the one he had bought for himself since it fit better. We just couldn't believe my Dad had kept that secret from us and actually thought of doing something so clever!

Mom & Dad's 30th Anniversary Party

Our Family

Hana & Morgan The Fabulous Fox Family

I know I've been slacking on this post but work has been slightly busy. This past Saturday Mallory, my brother Gene and I threw a 30th Anniversary Party for my parents at the St. Francis Xavier Parish Center. It was a lot of work, but well worth it. My parents loved the party and we had a really good turnout of family members and their friends. Special thanks go out to everyone who helped make this party possible by running errands and bringing food, and especially to Mrs. Barbara, Mr. Tim and Meredith Fox who all went above and beyond. They helped us secure the room, set-up, decorate, find the song my parents danced to at their wedding, clean up and even brought delicious gumbo. Meredith, you should definitely go into party planning...you have a knack for it!

Congratulations, Morgan!

Morgan found out today that she made the school choir!! She had to audition two separate times during music class and finally heard back about it today. She'll be practicing during the week at school and then they'll sing at different school events. She's very excited!!!! I guess she takes after Grampy and Nanny!

Meet Viola

My sister Mallory adopted a puppy yesterday that is a combination of chihuahua and rat terrier. She named her Viola (pronounced Vi-la) after a character in Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night. Apparently the dog adoption process in North Carolina is a little demanding. Mallory had to interview with three separate people before one lady had to go do a house visit to make sure my parents' house was an ok environment for the dog. Surprisingly Mallory didn't have to leave a blood or urine sample! She was finally able to bring the puppy home today, so welcome Viola!

1st Day of School!

Morgan started 3rd grade today!! I cannot believe she's a 3rd grader already! She started a new school and was so excited about going, especially since she got to ride the bus this morning. It picks her up right in front of our house, so she just has to walk out the door and across the street and she's on her way! She met a lot of new people and one girl in her class is also named Morgan and she lives in our subdivision, too. I guess Morgans stick together because she said they played together at recess. She also auditioned for the school choir during music class...she's already a joiner!

Morgan's Home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After 2 long months, Morgan is finally back at home!! My dad drove her in today and after lots of hugs and kisses, we all celebrated her homecoming by going out to eat at the Abita Brew Pub. I was amazed at how tall she has gotten since I last saw her! She looks so much older, too! I'm just glad that she's finally home!!!!

Happy Birthday Hattie!!

Today is Hattie's 10th Birthday, which makes her 70 in dog years! Hattie is my parents' Scottie dog and they got her when I was a freshman in college. Poor dog...they actually bought her a pink polo to wear! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HATTIE!!!!!

Having Fun with Cousins

Morgan has been staying with Grammy, Grampy and Nanny in Asheville for the past few weeks. While she has been there, my brother Gene, his wife Saya and their kids Jarod and Hana were also visiting my parents, so Morgan got to spend some time with them. They had lots of fun going fishing since Grammy & Grampy bought all the kids fishing poles.

They also got to celebrate Grampy's 63rd Birthday and ate yummy chocolate cake...I'm upset I missed out on that!

And then they went to Tweetsie Railroad in North Carolina and then drove down to Pigeon Forge, TN. While they were there, they got to go to Dollywood for a few days. That's lots of excitement for one week!!

Julian's Farewell Dinner

A tradition whenever Julian comes in town is to go to dinner with all of the family. We normally go to Piccadilly because that is one of Julian's favorites but this time we went to Macaroni Grill, which I'm pretty sure he enjoyed seeing that he devoured the chocolate cake for dessert. Last night we met Mere, Pa and Granny and Kenny, Jenny, John & Katie for the farewell dinner. Kirk left this morning to fly Julian back to Charlotte. We had a great time this summer with him and we look forward to seeing him again at Christmas. Goodbye, Julian...we'll miss you!!

Update on Harry the Turtle: He's safely in the pond at the front of our neighborhood. Julian and Kirk brought him there on Thursday and said Harry loved being in the pond.

Rummel 20-Year Reunion

Waiting to Bowl

The Class of 1986

The Girls (Yvette, me & Nicol)

The Guys (Kirk, Lee & Gary)

Archbishop Rummel held their 20-year reunion last night (yes, Kirk is THAT old) at Rock & Bowl. We had a lot of fun hanging out w/ Lee and Yvette and Gary and Nicol, and Kirk enjoyed catching up with some of his old buddies. Everyone hung around drinking and talking for a while and then we were the only ones out of the whole reunion group to bowl. Congrats to Lee who won both games. I came in third with a 98 in the first round and then I think I ended up last in the second round. We decided to make a night of it and stayed at the Hotel Monteleone on Royal St. in the Quarter...we also didn't want to drive to Mandeville late at night. The experience at that hotel was MUCH better than what we had experienced at the Astor Crowne Plaza a few weeks ago! All in all, it was a fun night and I'm glad we went. My 10-year reunion is in October...still haven't decided if I want to go or not!

A Visit With Granny & Our New Pet

After the zoo, I met the guys at Granny's house and they had a surprise for me in the back of the truck. Kirk was at his office earlier and a turtle had tried following him inside. Well, they decided to keep him and he's in our backyard right now planning his escape. I think Poydras scared him...and wants to eat him! The poor turtle, who is still unnamed, has been walking along the fence looking for a hole so that he can get out! I don't know what we're going to do with him, but we know we need to keep Poydras away!

At the Zoo

Kirk and Julian went to the Audubon Zoo today. Julian also likes to go there everytime he comes in town for a visit.

Poydras' New Sleep Spot

We've discovered that Poydras now sleeps inside the jungle gym. He climbs up the rock wall on the right, sleeps inside and then climbs down the rock wall when he's done. We used to have a dog house for him but he would never go inside of it. Go figure!

Fun in the Sprinkler

Kirk, Julian and his neighborhood friend Randy "built" a sprinkler to run around in over the weekend. Kirk's brother Kenny invented this sprinkler system made of PVC pipes and some sprinkler heads. You can build it any way you want it and create all sorts of different things. Julian and Randy thought it would be cool to make a water slide, so they pretty much built it across the backyard and up the jungle gym to make it sprinkle on the slide. They also had water hitting the swings...very ingenious!

Going Crabbing with Pa

At the boat launch

Julian and Pa enjoying the boat ride

Pulling the net out of the water

Putting the crabs into the hamper

Friday evening, Julian and Kirk hopped on Pa's boat and went crabbing out in Lake Pontchartrain. They had a contest going to see who would catch more crabs in their net...the final score was Julian 9 and Kirk 8. Julian won!! Pa sure knows how to boil crabs. We went to a crab and shrimp boil at the Colgan house last weekend and ate our fill of the delicious seafood. Pa, when's the next crab boil???

Poydras Gets Shaved

We had Poydras shaved today. We did this last year after Katrina when he had to live indoors with us in Georgia for 2 months. Kirk has allergic asthma and can't be inside very long with cats and dogs. Poydras gets very fluffy in the winter and during the summer he starts shedding his coat, so there's usually wads of hair lying around. He also tends to get matted when his hair gets long, so it's better to get it shaved and just let him regrow his coat for the winter. Poor dog...he looks naked!

Back to Work

I never updated on my old job, but today was my official 1st day back at WLAE. Things have definitely changed over there...different people, different offices, different programs. I have a new boss (my old boss is still there, but things have been reorganized) and I'll be doing some different things. It was kind of slow today but I guess first days usually are. I still have no computer, no phone, no office supplies, but I guess I'm lucky to at least have a desk...and a job. I'm just ready to get back into working on TV projects.

Gavin's 30th Birthday

Choose Your Own Caption:

1) "What do you mean you don't have our reservation??!!"

2) "What do you mean there's no hot water??!!"

3) "You expect me to wear that robe??!!"

4) "We have a view of what?? The Hustler Club!!??"

5) "You're giving me a paper plate?? For cereal and milk??!!"

6) "There's something living under our carpet!!"

7) "You gave THEM a suite and it's MY husband's birthday!!"

"It's past my bedtime...please someone say we're done for the night!"

"I love you, man!!"

The view of Canal St. from our hotel room

Friday night we made it into New Orleans to help celebrate Gavin's 30th birthday. We had dinner at Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse and then went to see the Chee Weez perform at House of Blues. Instead of driving back across the lake after a late night, we stayed downtown at the Astor Crowne Plaza, along with Sherry & Gavin and James & Lauren. Unfortunately we all had a few problems with the hotel but fortunately we were all discounted 50% on the room. It was a really fun night, even though I stayed up WAY past my bedtime!! Happy Birthday, Gavin!!!

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