It's all about family!

The next generation of Cornells.

It has been long overdue, but the Cornells had the first family reunion in way too many years. This is a picture of what would be my grandparents' great-grandchildren. There are 16 and not all of them are there. My mom was excited to point out that 9 of the 16 are her grandchildren. :) The reunion was at Chenango Valley State Park on Memorial Day weekend. Lunch was catered by Mijo's. The kids all had a great time and enjoyed some swimming after lunch.

Even without the swimming there were ways to keep cool. When all else fails use the buckets from "dirt cake" to fill with water.

We were excited to have Marci and her family here from Alabama. For many it was the first opportunity to see not only Manning (Marci's daughter) but Paityn as well (Dustin's daughter). These little girls were born the same day about 5 hours apart! Yes, we know Paityn and Manning, kind of corny, but kind of cute at the same time. There is no doubt who these beautiful babies belong to!

A picture of the siblings and their spouses. Six of the nine children were in attendance.

Miss Mackenzie was rather attached to cousin Brent for a while. :)

There were water balloons for the kids although since they are all under the age of 10 they didn't really grasp the concept right away.

Mackenzie seemed a bit confused at times by all of the chaos.

Our little buddy, TJ, rather enjoying his dirt cake.

Grampie and Paityn

Jonathan and Kaiden (Eric's son) went to UPK together this year and are little buddies.

Brycen, Crystal's son

Hailey and Paityn - What a good big sister!

Ty holding his cousin Manning with Connor peaking into the picture :)

One last photo of all of the kids. I have seen so many pictures like this from my childhood of my cousins and me. It is hard to believe that these are our kids. We are hoping for this to be a yearly event and that all of these kids create some wonderful bonds and memories together.

Back row l-r: Dominic and Mackenzie Forrest, Brady Sheppard, Jonathan Forrest, Ty Abell and Manning Sheppard, Connor Meltzer, Kenna Abell, Francesca Pisciotti, Cassandra Forrest

Front row: l-r Antonella(Ella) Pisciotti, Kaiden Cornell, Thomas(TJ) Pisciotti, Hailey and Paityn Contri, Brycen Cornell

Living life

For the first time ever, the kids got to enter the creek that runs behind our house. Friends Jacob and Joslyn joined in the fun. There were buckets and lots of splashing. A good time was had by all. We bought water shoes for everyone for further adventures.
Dominic and Jonathan

Jacob and Dominic

Cassie, Joslyn and Dominic

A little snuggle time with Daddy

Cassie wearing her brothers' clothes! LOL

Dom feeding Kenzie a snack. Both of the boys are so good with her. :)

Jonathan received the coveted Principal's Award for the third marking period. He was so proud and loved going bowling with Mrs. Warnow, the principal, as his reward for winning this award.

Hailey (cousin) came over for a playdate in early May. It was her first chance to try out the new swingset. Everyone had so much fun. Cassie and Hailey have been together since they started "daycare" at Grammie's house at just a few months old. They are like sisters. It is quite comical to listen to their little conversations at the table in Mom's house. We think they are going to be a dangerous combination when they enter school.

The girls even have matching bikes!

A "little" project and a dream becomes a reality

We have been promising a swingset to Dominic for several years now. It was something that he wanted badly, but we were hesitant to just throw one up on the yard. Five years ago we bought the adjacent lot with the idea that one day it would be an awesome, open yard for our kids to play on. Our dreams were ambitious as the lot was occupied by a half dozen trees, over a dozen shrubs, yards and yards of concrete sidewalks and pads, a single-wide trailer and a 30 by 60 garage. It took us four years to clear the lot and it was time this spring to make good on our promise. Below is what used to be the "house next door." The concrete on the right is half of the slab that the 30 by 60 garage used to sit on, instant basketball court! The garage bordered us within 3-5 feet of the property line.
This was the start. A night of mommy and daddy getting the base ready and finding a fairly level spot to call home for the swingset. This started to raise a lot of interest as to what the final project would be.
Soon after adding some floors at the different levels the upper level went up and our neighbor called her husband at work in disbelief. LOL

The lowest level has a picnic table perfect for our four kids to sit at. In the final pictures it is difficult to see as it is hidden behind the rock wall.

Once the roof was installed Grampie was called for assistance in adding the walls and railings as well as to help finish the project. Daddy was at the point that he needed an extra set of hands and Dominic and Jonathan didn't qualify.

We had a regular construction zone, but things progressed quickly.

It was difficult to keep the kids away from the action and soon they were "overseeing" the project. This is one of my favorite pictures from the whole project.

The rockwall and slide went on and the kids were soon enjoying the swingset. Even Cassie and her little legs quickly mastered the rockwall.

So excited to have a slide!

The perfect swingset for 4 very active kids. Kenzie's baby swing has replaced one of the regular swings for now, and she loves sliding with her brothers.

It was a very exciting week as this project unfolded. Norm took a couple of days off from work. He took his time and let the kids help. Dominic was so excited to use the cordless drill. It will be the source of lots of fun and laughter for many years to come. And we know that we helped build it together!

Happy Easter!!

Easter 2010

Our four little Blessings!

All holidays can be a little chaotic, especially when you live in the same town as mommy and daddy's parents. We got up that morning and eagerly tromped down the stairs to see what goodies awaited. Gramie Braman joined us for breakfast and then we dressed and headed to Grammie and Grampie Contri's to meet up with the whole family and join in with all the cousins for an Easter egg hunt. There were tons of eggs, tons of giggles and obviously tons of candy! We played outside and enjoyed a yummy meal made by Grammie.

We then ventured back home for naps and Easter dinner with Grammie Braman and Aunt Cretie. A snap shot from a typical ride in the van. :)

Mackenzie

Dominic - getting SO big!

A moment that melted my heart!

Kenzie enjoying her stash

Checking out the goodies

Mommy is still waiting to come down the stairs. She stayed upstairs to make sure no one suprised the Easter bunny ;)

egg dying