June-cap

 

June, as seen through my phone picture archives.

Thankful Tuesday: Caden Edition

My friend Donna delivered her sweet baby boy early this morning.  Welcome to the world, Caden.  I’m thankful you are here, I am thankful you are healthy and I am thankful your momma can drink wine with me again.

The Inductee

This weekend we went home to celebrate with my dad-in-law, who was getting inducted into the Lincoln County Sports Hall of Fame.  Sports has always been a big part of his life, from his years playing at USC (“the real Carolina”) to coaching the high school team at Lincolnton to being a Saturday-morning quarterback for Matt’s football career (kidding!), so it was touching to see that so many other people recognized the dedication and hard work he’s always put forth. 

Giving his speech…

The whole fam (Derek & Micah, Mom & Dad, Matt & Meg)

Dad with his twin brother Don and little sister Paige

Congrats! What an exciting night and a great honor!

Squash Sammies, Again

It’s summer!  Which means gardens overflowing with squash and basil which means…

Squash Sandwiches!

Here’s the recipe (2010) as well as the video tutorial (2009) at the bottom of the page.   Clearly, these are on repeat in our household.

Comforting

My Dad’s love language is information.

Every trip home I find a stack of newspapers in my room, folded so the relevant articles are apparent.

It makes me laugh, it makes me roll my eyes a little bit but it’s comforting. 

30,000 Feet

Whenever Matt and I fly home, I always have the window seat –by virtue of being about 10 inches shorter than him, it’s been determined he could use the extra legroom.  I never mind: I love looking out airplane windows. I love seeing the Earth from above, like my own little version of a Google Map Satellite view.  I love seeing the land below change shapes and colors, and my favorite thing to do as I fly into Rochester is to pick out the Erie Canal and the Interstate Highway and try to find my house.  I never have, although I’ve found my high school, my elementary school and our downtown village plenty of times.

This time flying back from Rochester to Greensboro, we had a connection in La Guardia.  The plane we were on was the definition of puddle jumper, and we flew lower than I ever have in my life.  I’m not kidding when I say I had my face pressed to the window (okay I am kidding – it’s kind of gross, airplane windows, right?)… but I couldn’t take my eyes off the ground.  It was amazing to watch the topography of my home state change: from the suburban sprawl of Rochester, to the easily-picked out Finger Lakes surrounded by farmlands, to the rough bumps of the Catskills and the finally to the condensed urban landscape surrounding New York City. 

It was almost a surreal experience, and I couldn’t stop taking pictures out my window as if I could preserve the experience forever.  I know it’s cliché, but when I’m looking at the world from above, I can’t help but realize just how big and small the world is, all at the same time.  Momentarily, I remember that we’re all in this together.

The Morning After

Pictures on my phone, remembering the night before.  We had so much fun. 

They Did.

Congratulations, Mr. & Mrs. Morris.  A beautiful bride, a handsome groom, happy family, cherished friends, clinking glasses….

And a rockin’ DJ.  Your life is off to a happily ever after start.

{Katie + Dylan – 06.18.11}

Practice Makes Perfect

You know you’re in trouble when you get weepy at the wedding rehearsal, right?

I just can’t believe my baby sis is getting married.  In my mind, she’s still the 11 year old pretending to be Dominique Moceanu in our backyard, doing back handsprings in the grass and landing with a perfect stick and a smile full of braces. 

Now, she’s standing up in front of the Judge, one of my Dad’s best friends from college, holding the hands of her fiancé, looking in his eyes and practicing their vows.  (Stop saying them out loud!  I’m already crying!)

I am so happy to be witness to this marriage.  You know, when you just know that two people found each other on purpose? 

The groom & bride to be!

The groomsmen

And the bridesmaids…

And a gratuitous Oak Hill shot just to keep for your viewing pleasure.

After practicing their yes-we-do’s, the bridal party and out of town guests filed into our family’s backyard for a casual barbecue (Dinosaur BBQ!) dinner and to officially kick off the weekend of celebrating these two.

The décor was done by Katie’s wedding planner/our good family friend, Meredith.  Meredith’s the daughter of my Dad’s childhood best friend, and we have literally know her & her sister, Lauren, since birth.  The centerpieces were put together by Dylan’s sister, Lindsay.

The beverages traveled all the way from Wisconsin!

The party in full swing…

A mix of Katie’s high school friends & both their college friends…

With two very handsome men – my husband & my brother!

(My brother is single and I can almost guarantee does not read my blog…. so email me if you would like to be set up with a very smart, very funny, musical, handsome guy who is extremely terrible at returning emails and texts.)

(Ya like that Mom?  Think it’ll work?)

My dad giving his toast roast.

Laughing on the outside, probably crying on the inside. 

Ready to bring these 2 families together!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

It just so happened that the day we arrived in Pittsford for Katie’s wedding was my Dad’s 60th birthday!  Having a birthday so close to Father’s Day has sometimes meant my Dad gets a little short changed on the birthday celebrations – I mean, who wouldn’t be tempted to take the card you’ve given him on his birthday, use a little white out and voila… Father’s Day card?!

Kidding.  Totally not allowed in the Claffey household.  We respect all major holidays. 

But really, it was so nice to get to be home on my Dad’s birthday, and a monumental one at that, to make him feel extra special.  We had debated various versions of the perfect Dad Claffey Birthday Celebration… ideas were tossed around about restaurants to go to or events to do, people to invite, until finally it was decided that my Dad’s ideal birthday celebration would be: steaks & clams on the grill, cold beers in the fridge and the US Open on TV.  As a bonus, he would be allowed to go to bed as early as he would like.

We were right on the money: this at-home, with just his family seemed to suit him just right.

Happy Birthday, Dad.  You’ve made 60 look good.