Well, I am thrilled to say that it’s finally done – Aaron and I bought a house yesterday. We are officially homeowners! It has been a long road of ups and downs and we want to say thanks to all of you who have supported us throughout this process and made us laugh during the lower moments. We have some work to do, but once it’s all set up we hope you all will come and make use of our guest room. Click on the photo above to see a few pictures of the house.

Back in late August we had a birthday cookout for Dad at Mom and Dad’s house. It was a hot August day and while James and I tried to stay cool in the kiddie pool (check out the photos), Aaron cooked lunch on the grill. It was a fun family get-together. After lunch while Dad was opening presents Justin decided to show the whole family that he was figuring out this whole walking thing. He spent much of the afternoon doing the Frankenstein walk (wobbling along with his arms straight out in front of him) back and forth between his mom and dad. Click on the picture of Dad above to see the photos from the party.

Well, I am posting things out of order here, as I still have stuff to post for September, but this news is too exciting to wait…
Congratulations to my brother James and his girlfriend Chrissy who got engaged last week. James proposed in a unique way that really only he can explain – but I’ll try to cover the highlights: he created a crossword puzzle and left it for Chrissy to find, once solved the crossword puzzle directed Chrissy to the place they met (Borders) where he was waiting, then they went out for a fancy dinner, once back at their apartment James put on a penguin costume (Chrissy’s favorite animal) and played a DVD. The DVD was the result of weeks of James’ planning and calling in favors – but it featured Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon (two ESPN guys from a show called Pardon the Interruption) on their show’s set, who on James’ behalf, asked Chrissy to marry James. It’s actually quite funny. The happy couple is thinking about a fall 2008 wedding. We’re very excited and happy for them both. Click on the above photo to see a couple other pictures of James in a penguin costume.

We also have an MP3 of the interview on WTIC about the proposal.

Our summer vacation continued with more of the same – which was a great thing. Aaron and Joe decided they wanted to try their hand at fishing – so after a trip to a local bait shop they spent several afternoons baiting, casting, waiting, re-baiting, etc. They never caught a thing – but it was damn funny to watch. We continued to have beautiful weather, Justin continued to charm us all and we enjoyed our break from life and relaxed by the sea. It was a fabulous.

Click on the photo of the fisherman above to view the second half of vacation photos.