Family Fun with My Fellas

The original plan a couple months ago was to take the boys camping this weekend. We eventually decided against a big camping trip right now, but just did a bunch of little family stuff once the weather finally cooperated.

We started off taking the boys to get Zachary's new bike - an early birthday present again this year. He had outgrown his other one, and Evan has been wanting to ride it more and more as well. We also got Evan a helmet (with DRAGONS on it...). Both boys were super jazzed, and Zachary rode his bike from the bike isle all the way through the store, through the checkout and out to the van.

We then took the boys to see Julie and Dan and then made a pilgrimage to Jump It to let them run off some steam (maybe wear them out just a tad...). Later on, we began our "camping" adventure in our back yard! ...In the following pictures, please disregard the brick patio... I've pretty much given up on it... it REALLY needs to be replaced!!

Cook-out on the grill and s'mores with the fire pit!
Just chilling out...
Smile, Zach!
Family gathering around the fire
After dinner, the boys spent a ridiculous amount of time on their bikes. Those boys LOVE riding bikes!!



Marcus set up two tents... one for the boys to play in, and then one for us to sleep in. Zachary and I ended up spending the whole night in the tent (until 5 a.m., when Zachary woke me up to tell me that now that the sun is up, he should ride his bike again). Evan and Marcus went back inside after only a few hours. Evan was just too wound up to sleep outside. Let's hope our camp-out at Uncle Jeff's will run a little more smoothly for him!




This week I begin my new job - super excited and a little bit nervous. Hope everyone out there had a great weekend... Happy Memorial Day!

Good News!

It's officially official! Last week I interviewed for, and was offered the position of Associate Director for Prospect Management & Tracking. I'm still with the same department at Purdue and working with the same fantastic people, but my responsibilities have increased and my focus has shifted from research. I am super excited!!

I have some huge shoes to fill... the person I replaced is a bit of a rock star, but I plan to work hard and hopefully distinguish myself!

Garden 2.0

It took Marcus and I about two hours of working at lightning speed, but we managed to get the garden in after work today! This year, it's a little bigger and we have tomatoes, green beans, red and green peppers, onions and corn. The pumpkins were planted in the back yard this year to keep them safe from the neighborhood children...

Here's hopin' for a good crop in year two!!

Brotherly Love

Just a couple of pictures from last week. Love my boys!!

Birthday Bash - Part 2

These are more pictures of Grandma Sullivan's birthday bash. All of these were taken by Marcus' uncle Stephen. Stephen and Jennifer own and operate Portraits FX out of Shererville, IN. If you're in the area, and need a good photographer, check out their site!

In the meantime, enjoy the shots that feature the Knotts family!

75 is the New 30

Grandma Sullivan with 7 of her 8 kids...
Stephen, Annette, Shari, Jeff, Joyce, Jeanette & Samantha
Marcus' grandmother has been 29 in all the years I've known her, and rumor has it, even longer than that! She finally decided it was time to graduate from the 20's, and her family spent about a year planning a big bash for the matriarch in honor of the occasion!

It started off Friday night with dinner at Harvey Hinklemeyers and then swimming with the kids. I don't have any pictures of the swimming party since I was in the pool with the boys. They couldn't be more different... Evan wanted to do nothing but jump into the pool over and over again. Zach? Well, he had to be touching the bottom of the pool, and even with a life vest, he was pretty much petrified.

The next day, we went back to Peru, to a local park to take pictures of as much of the family that could attend. (I'll post those when Stephen finishes editing them.) Each of her kids' families wore a different color. My mother-in-law, Jeanette, picked baby blue for us, thank you very much! It's why we are all dressed alike in the following pictures. Here's how we spent the rest of the day:

Starting off with some play time in the park...

Lehna & Zach
Marcus & Evan
Tait & Maya
"Hey, baby... going my way?"
Niki, Stephanie & me
Mr. Thrill-Seeker
Marcus' cousin Jeff and his son Jakob
Howdy, Handsome!
After the park, we ate lunch at the local root beer/hot dog stand, put flowers at the cemetery where Marcus's dad and step-mom are buried, and then went over to the Grissom AFB to look at some of their displays...

"Tower, this is Ghost Rider requesting a flyby."

"I feel the need... the need for speed!!"
Walking around the static displays
Maya, Lehna, Zachary & Evan...
... who was really, REALLY in need of a nap!!
At 2:00, party #1 (open house at the firehouse community center) began...

The cake!!!
Silly girl!!
Evan watching the coy pond at the firehouse
Hanging out with Grandpa Terry
What a sweet boy...
(Please note: this picture was taken approximately 5 minutes before Evan hit his no-nap saturation point and began his downward spiral to a blue-eyed shrieking male banchee...)
I think this is my favorite shot of the day, and it was taken by ZACHARY!!
Due to Evan's spectacular melt-down, we loaded the boys in the car so Short Round could catch some Z's. Marcus took us to all his old haunts from his childhood, and we drove around until party #2 began. This was the family dinner... OH, MY GOODNESS... THE FOOD!!!

Jennifer and Samuel waiting to eat...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRANDMA!!