July is full of birthdays for our family. We start with Jeffrey’s birthday on the 1st and as the month goes on we add Nana, Pa, Jennifer, Mike, Ethan, and Clay. So we might as well just put a huge birthday bow around the entire month of July – it’s a party-filled month. Today was Nana’s special day and she loved having the kids at home and talking to everyone. We even had calls from the vacationing grandkids…Jeffrey and Jennifer.
Fun times and party traditions at home! Loved the food, fun, and fireworks at Clay & Ann’s this week. It’s the best party of the summer! Even though it rained, it didn’t slow the kids down a bit. Fun on the trampoline and playing washers and of course grabbing a snack between activities. And to top the evening off – we had fabulous fireworks!
Sleeping Angels!
You have to check out Chemenn’s blog for more very cool Easter pics!
Warm weather returns to El Paso in time for a beautiful Easter weekend. To me, Easter is really the beginning of Spring. Now I can look forward to the dreaded summer months. I am definately not a summer person. Not much about summer I actually like, maybe the roses blooming and the longer hours of daylight - but that’s about it. But back to my original topic – Easter – which is something I really enjoy. Why do I enjoy Easter you ask? Because, Easter always brings a renewed sense of Hope, a new burst of energy, and a reminder of all the wonderful things in our lives. Plus I love Easter egg hunts! I know – I’m way too old to get excited about Easter egg hunts – but I just can’t help it. I love to buy the candy, fill the plastic eggs, and hide them in trees, grass, and any nook and cranny you can find. And then, the best part is watching all the little ones scurry around filling their baskets or buckets with all the treasures.
Granny and Pa sent Emily the cutest Easter basket filled with chocolate goodies and “money” eggs, which Emily loves. She doesn’t eat much of the candy (her parents do that); but she loves counting the dollars and quarters in the Money eggs. She collected enough money eggs to pay for her upcoming field trip and had some spending money left over. What a treat!
The grandsons & their parents (AKA Jeffrey & Chemenn and Jennifer & Mike) spent Easter in KY! That’s the best – Sunday dinner on Granny’s back porch and rides around the farm on the tractor and wagon. Festivities this year even included a night out with the extended Chugg clan at the newest local restaurant and a trip to see real bunnies at Pa’s friends farm. Such fun! Pics below to prove the fun! What can I say – I sure love my family – they are the best and I’m not prejudiced at all! (That’s not a joke – I make that decision based on pure objectivity!)
Look what I just found! It’s an adorable video of Lincoln dancing to tunes from Lighting McQueen (you know, the star character of the movie, Cars). Watch him boogie down!
doneWell it’s January 11th and I am just now getting around to updating my blog with all the Christmas festivities… So much for my “staying on top of things” resolution. Oh well, I knew it was a long shot anyway!
This Christmas was a blast with all the kids home…almost all were home, Alex is still tracting away in the Philippines. But he was definitely in our thoughts and we did get to talk to him on Christmas Eve. So that was great! Below are some shots of the grandsons playing, munching, watching movies, and of course with Santa!
Click on pictures to enlarge.
Halloween is a big deal in El Paso. A much bigger deal than in KY; not that we didn’t enjoy the events & fun of the season at home; but it takes on a life of it’s own here in the border country. For example, at home, Halloween is often cold and rainy but this year the temp was about 80 degrees. Great weather for trick or treating! Another different tradition is that the kids get out of school a 1/2 day for Halloween – that’s a little weird to me – but Emily loved it. Anyway – with another new experience under our belts, we enjoyed the sights and sounds of the spooky-holiday, watching the trick or treaters, and having fun passing out candy!
Here’s Emily and Jeff getting ready for the Trick-or-Treaters!
Life has certainly been busy, busy here lately. I’m so far behind on posting that’s it’s embarrassing! But at last a quiet minute (well, not really so quiet) to get caught up and to brag just a bit. You see, that’s what blogs are for – for bragging about whatever you like. And I definately have some bragging to do today!
First of all, I’m going to start with our oldest – Jeffrey. Not really for any particular reason, but I always seem to have to do things in some sort of order. So I start with Jeffrey and end with Emily. (Maybe that’s a peek at some weird personality trait that I’ve been hiding all these years.)
The Law School Graduate!
We recently traveled to Nashville to attend the Vanderbilt Law School graduation ceremony. Yes, Jeffrey graduated from Law School in May! Yeah – way to go son! Of course we knew when he was about 8 years old that he would accomplish this – so it’s really no surprise. We knew he do it. But we are certainly proud of him. He has worked and studied very hard – now just one more big test to go! One thing is for sure though, that diploma should have Chemenn’s name on it too! He couldn’t have made it without her! Check out the pictures below and see Chemenn’s blog for more photos. It was a great day!
More Adventures in the Big Apple (or somewhere in Jersey!)
This just in…a late Easter picture of Beautiful Jen and WIld Man Ethan. The ever photogenic Jen is smiling, but Wild Man just wasn’t in to the photo shoot. But hey, his little vest is adorable!
Next we have pictures of the ever-adventurous Wild Man and his Dad on their first Father and Sons campout! What a blast! And then the little Dude takes in the circus in New York. See I told you it’s been a busy, busy few months!
The Typhoon Boy!
This takes us to Elder Alex serving in the typhoon season of the Philippines. And unfortunately I have no pictures to share. But it seems the small village where he is serving was pretty much wiped out by storms. They estimated the town would be without power for about 2 months. The storm was pretty stong, but all the members and missionaries were accounted for and safe. There was an accident with his companion, who fell and cut his arm. He’s fine, though. Alex carried him to the hospital through the storm and we assumed got his arm sewed up – but Alex’s note really didn’t say that. All in all – they are fine and are having fun with all the excitement! But here’s a picture of Alex in case you don’t remember what he looks like.
The Science Fair
Now comes Emily…she’s been very busy at school and getting ready for summer. She recently competed in the science fair and won First Place, Blue Ribbon for her class. It was quite exciting. (And a little messy…)
And last but certainly not least – The Mother’s Day Surprise!!!!
We wanted something special for our Mom’s this year. Being so far away now has not been fun. We knew we would be in Nashville for Jeffrey’s graduation and decided to drive on up to KY to surprise the grandmothers. And I must say, I think they were very surprised! It was so nice to have all the kids (except Alex of course) all together and to see the grandparents! We had a blast on the farm and Nana and Aunt Darlene couldn’t believe how the little ones had grown. Check out the pics below:
Here are some Easter pictures of the “scattered” Chugg family!! Pictures are from the Texans, the New Yorkers, and from the Nashville crew – you figure it out! (But you know that KY will always be our home – no matter where we go!) The Philipino Chugg is doing just fine – he’s eating rice, walking alot, and says it’s very hot there – but is in otherwise good spirits. We haven’t received any pictures from the Philippines yet…but maybe soon! Check out the Easter festivities below! Chemenn has more pics on her blog, too! Mr. Ethan & family enjoyed a day at the circus for Easter and we’re hoping to get some pictures of that very soon too! (Hint, Jen!!!)
Lincoln meets the snow! While visiting family in Utah for Christmas, little Lincoln learns first hand about the greatest snow on earth! He even had some deer come to say Merry Christmas! Check out these adorable pictures with Mom and Dad and Utah cousins…
Wishing all our family and friends a very merry Christmas and a happy and healthy and fun new year!! Click on the pictures above to see enlargements. All the pictures taken for the Christmas festivities have been posted on the family website and uploaded to Shutterfly. Check them out!! Merry Christmas, everyone!!
Just received new pictures of the Jersey Boy and took some new shots of the Nashville Lincolnator! Just can’t help myself – they are so cute and get more and more adorable with every picture.
Ethan is learning more words and talking like a little man! We just love his phone calls to hear his little voice say “Hi Popa, Hi RaRa”! Lincoln is crawling everywhere and pulling up to everything. He’s Mister Smiley all the time.
Happy Thanksgiving! Hope all our family and friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and ate plenty of turkey. I must say that Mom’s dressing and dumplings this year were totally outstanding! Here’s a picture of us attempting to get the annual family picture in front of the fireplace at the Coon Club. (Sure missed Jen, Mike, Ethan, & Alex)
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