Congrats Kimmie and Mike!!!

I just got pictures of my new nephew! He's so adorable!

Aiden Michael Cotter

Papa Gary and Aiden.

Pictures of Joel in "Gianni Schicchi"

Congratulations to Joel and the all the cast of Winthrop's production of Puccini's "Gianni Schicchi." I've heard nothing but good things from faculty, staff, and audience members that saw it. It was a pleasure for me to photograph the dress rehearsals. Here's a few of many outstanding moments I caught.

Family members of the recently deceased Buoso Donati reading the will they discover they've been left out of.

Simone (Joel's character) is saddened by this news.

Ciesca (Heather Wilcox-Stone) bribing Gianni Schicchi (Peter Barton) to get the best parts of Buoso Donati's estate as Simone looks on.

Simone letting Gianni Schicchi know that he wishes to own Buoso's land in Fucecchio.

Donati Family members arguing over who should receive the best parts of Buoso's estate.

On a Lighter Note

I hadn't posted for a while, so here's some goofy pictures of Gary, too. This picture also happens to have a funny story to go along with it. About a month ago, I laid Gary down for a nap. Well, as soon as I sat down in the livingroom with Joel, Gary yelled that he had to go potty. Since we're trying to teach him a little more independence, I told him to get up and sit on the potty by himself and then go back to bed. Joel and I continued to veg out in front of the TV and didn't hear anything but the potty flush. We assumed that he went back to bed. WRONG! Joel walked by the bathroom a little while later to find Gary, naked in the sink, slathering Bath & Body Works lotion and soap ALL OVER HIMSELF!!!! When we asked why he did this, he told us that he had gotten some poop on his finger when he wiped himself, and he was trying to wash his stinky finger! HAHHHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Even after a bath, he smelled like a French Whore for days!

Here is Gary with one of the "Hot Babes." He loves to play with Hannah. Gary and Hannah have very similar personalities, so it's fun for us to watch them click!
Here's Gary with the funny wax lips mom sent a long time ago. We found them again on Valentine's Day, so this was a very appropriate "gimmee a kiss" picture! He didn't want to eat the lips though.

REALLY?!? Why do people let their kids play with FIREWORKS?!?!?

Joel and I decided to have a lazy Sunday morning and go to mass in the evening. We slept in after playing cards with Dan and Stephanie late into the night on Saturday. After we got up, I made breakfast, and then Joel decided to bike to campus and sing for a while. Gary and I stayed home and got some sun while enjoying our coffee on the balcony. I was contemplating hitting the shower when Gary and I heard what sounded like a gun going off. I looked up and saw a firework flare exploding from the trees. I told Gary to get inside so he wouldn't get hurt in case anything flew up on the balcony. Gary, who still thought it was gunfire, was saying, "Call 9-1-1! Mom, call 9-1-1!" I knew I was going to call the police to report the little rats that set off a firework so close to buildings, but then I took Gary's advice when I saw a small fire in the pine needles below. I told the 9-1-1 operator what happened and hung up. Gary and I watched the fire get bigger for a minute, and then I called 9-1-1 back to let them know the fire was getting REALLY BIG, REALLY FAST. She let me know the trucks were on the way. I hung up, and three seconds later the pine trees literally exploded in flames. I saw the writing on the wall, so I threw my bike into our living room (I hoped that only our balcony would get it), grabbed Gary, his shoes that were by the door, and my purse (in case we needed a hotel later), then RAN out the door barefoot to our parking lot screaming "GO, GO, GO!!!!!" the entire way. By this time the entire complex could see smoke and flames, and a couple of guys from other buildings heroically went to bang on the doors of the building to make sure everybody got out. (All the top floor people bolted when they saw what was going on after hearing me scream.) After what seemed like an eternity, the fire crews arrived and put out the flames. The only thing that happened to the inside of our apartment was dirty carpets from fire fighters walking around checking the attic crawl spaces for any smoldering ashes. And the apartment manager had that cleaned up later in the afternoon. Thank God we didn't go to mass and I didn't get my shower... no one would have seen the fire until it was already HUGE! And thank God the wind was blowing just right: the arson investigator said that if it had varied just a little more, our building really would have gone up in smoke.

Our charred pine trees.
Our apartment is on top. Gary's bedroom windows are the open ones.
Because of the wind direction, our neighbors unfortunately saw more damage.
You can see how close flames got. The tree on the right stands against our building and it has charred pine needles underneath it!!!!