Celebrate the 4th of July today.  Around here, it’s nice and quite in preparation for an upcoming trip to Europe, but I’m sure we’ll manage to see some fireworks somewhere before the day is through!

Happy 4th!

Wishing a Happy Father’s Day to all the dads in my family!

First off, my own dad – Gregg, dad to Kelly and Lindsay:

With Lindsay, circa 1985/1986.

With me, 1989.

Then there’s Kevin, dad to Jordan, Kara and Emily:

With Kara, Jordan, Lori and Emily, 2009.

Paul, dad to Jack:

With Jack at his second birthday party, 2003.

Chris, dad to Joe and Katherine:

With Joe, Katherine and Pam, 2005.

James, dad of Thomas, Robert, Daniel and Nicholas:

With Carol, Thomas, Robert, Daniel and Nicholas, 2005.

Popops, dad of Gregg, Kevin and Willa, and grandfather of Kelly, Lindsay, Jordan, Kara, Emily and Jack:

With Lindsay and Kelly at Emily’s Sweet Sixteen, 2007.

Ted (or Grandpa or Popop, depending on who you’re talking to!), dad of Sandy, Mary Lou, Bucky and Carol, stepdad of Cindy, Wendy, Pam and Ami, and grandfather to Kelly, Lindsay, Joe, Katherine, Russell, Laura, Thomas, Robert, Daniel, Nicholas, Brendan, Chris and Ben:

With Kelly and Katherine, 2005 (and I seem to wear that dress a lot…).

There’s also Gordon, father to Cindy, Wendy, Pam and Ami and grandfather to Kelly, Lindsay, Joe, Katherine, Russell and Laura (though only one of us ever met him), who passed away in 1981, but who should still be mentioned in our father’s day celebrations today.

Happy Father’s Day to all!

On Mother’s Day, grandma was in town and we all headed to Pino’s, where Ami performs on a regular basis, to have a Mother’s Day dinner.  The evening was filled with lots of family, laughs and singing.

Today is the day we pay tribute to all the moms out there, and as it turns out, there are quite a lot of awesome moms in my very own family (and I get to spend time with three of them today!).  So Happy Mother’s Day to my own mom, Grandma A., Grandma G., Pam, Cindy, Lori, Willa and Carol – today is your day!

(Mom yesterday on the way to the art show.)

Wishing everyone a Happy Easter today!  We’re celebrating by gathering all the usual suspects for good company, good food and good times (games galore, I hope!).

Picture of the week (and another sheepishly forgotten birthday announcement) coming later today!

Today is the day to celebrate love of all kinds!  We’ll be celebrating here with a repeat of Katherine’s birthday celebration from a few weekends ago.  Sadly, Katherine got very sick the day of the party so she couldn’t enjoy the fabulous food and company that were provided!  We’re trying again today with a Valentine’s Day Feast – everything needs to be pink!  Penne alla vodka, salad with beets, and red velvet cake with pink cream cheese icing!  I’m off to get started on the cake (heart-shaped, of course!).

We didn’t take any pictures last time, but hopefully we’ll get some today and post them later!

I also hope to reinstate the pictures of the week today – just have to find a good one first!

Happy 2010 to all!  Here’s just a preview of what we did New Year’s Eve!  More photos to come soon:

Merry Christmas to all!

Last night we continued our holiday festivities with the Russbertardo (a new word coined by Mom’s friend Timo to describe the Russell/Roberts/Liccardo side of the family) holiday tradition of getting together on Christmas Eve.  I was excited because I got to be 100% in charge of the Christmas Feast this year, and I chose to make roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes, lemon-butter green beans and an Amaretto Torte (kind of like an ice cream cake, and it was supposed to be Grand Marnier, actually, but we didn’t have any so I improvised!).

We ate, sang and made new Facebook videos for all our friends, including a special rendition of “Twas the Night Before Christmas.”

Pictures will be coming soon (most likely at the same time I post the pictures from Fake Christmas).  As I haven’t uploaded any of mine yet, here are some from PhotoBooth that Lindsay, Katherine and I took.

I can hardly believe that it’s Christmas time again, and that it’s just about time to ring in 2010!

On Sunday afternoon, the Roberts Family gathered for one of their most well-loved holiday traditions – Fake Christmas.  Some have argued that Fake Christmas is not the best name for this very joyous (and real!) of holidays but after so many years of using it, the term has gotten affectionate, and we always say it with great love and anticipation!  This year we were happy to have Kara’s boyfriend Rich with us for the first time as well as having Jordan’s girlfriend Colette joining us again, making our ever-growing dinner table an even tighter squeeze – but I say the more the merrier!  There’s just something really special about having the entire family crammed all around one table, elbows in each other’s way while we try to eat our dinner!

We were all nervous the night before, as the weather predicted a large amount of snow to our area.  Last year, Kevin, Lori, Jordan, Kara and Emily were unable to join us because of snow and while it was still fun, it was just not the same without everyone!  This year, it was almost Dad and Kathi who were snowbound, but they braved the roads and got to spend the day with everyone!  Jordan and Colette arrived shortly after, to be followed by Kevin, Lori, Kara, Emily and Rich.

We had a feast of roast pork, a medley of many vegetables, and a mushroom lasagna, intended for the vegetarians of the family but really enjoyed by all!  However, we really outdid ourselves when it came to the desserts this year!  Not only did Grandma and Jack prepare a variety of treats (including everyone’s favorite truffles wrapped in tin foil), but Kara made a chocolate-peppermint cake, and I contributed a large bowl of chocolate-mousse, cookie and whipped cream trifle!

We spent most of the day opening presents and enjoying each other’s company, while catching up with what everyone has been doing and what they will be doing shortly (which you will soon see in a new, two part series entitled “Why We’re Awesome”).

Here are a few scenes of the day, with more photos going into the photo gallery likely sometime this afternoon (when it’s not nearly midnight and I have to be up for work in a few short hours!).  Until then, enjoy a little taste of the Roberts Family Fake Christmas (including the 2009 Official Cousins Photo)!

It’s turkey day!

I hope everyone is thinking about what they are thankful for today, and I hope you are all ready to enjoy your fabulous feasts, whatever they may consist of!  I can already hear the turkey preparation going on, and will soon be joining in the cooking process.  The dessert is chilling in my refrigerator waiting for it’s final embellishment and consumption later on in the day!

Pictures to come soon!