Edgemon Family Gathering and Marissa's 12th B-day party!

Once every 4-6 weeks, my father's side of the family has a small family get together. After my brother's passing in July 2008, we realized the only time we saw each other was at weddings or funerals. Life is way too short not to spend time with your family! We also had my niece, Marissa's, 12th b-day party that day. It was a surprise to her!

The Birthday Girl

Our Sweet Nanny

John, Keith and Steve

Aunt Gerri (the chef)

My Handsome Hubby

Rissa being surprised with a birthday cake

Happy 12th Birthday Marissa

Making her wish

Keith being Keith

Now, that's better!

Gabe with his Great Grandmother

Opening her gifts

Gabe telling Rissa how cool that game is

Foosball Fun

Ryann & her Daddy teaming up on Gabe and John

John and Gabe with the comeback

Family Fun

Last night, my cousin Keith, his wife Quin and their daughter Ryann came over to our house to exchange Christmas gifts and spend some time together. It started off with some dinner (burgers, dogs, baked beans and fries). Sorry about the raw burger, Quin! Then we had warm, freshly baked brownies with ice cream! (yum) After that, we let the kids open their gifts. Gabe got a Nerf gun set, clothes and a gift card to Toys-R-Us. Marissa got more clothes, girly lotions and a necklace. Ryann got the book "Oliva" for her Leap Frog Pad and a Littlest Pet Shop stuffed animal that you can log on to the internet like the Webkins. When the kids were all done with that, we all headed up stairs to the game/play room. There, we started out taking turns at Guitar Hero. We all had fun, but Keith took it a little too seriously. We thought by the end of his 50th try, he was going to smash the guitar. He got really good though. John was over at the karaoke machine singing a little axle rose. The kids were all driving remote control cars and shooting each other with Nerf guns. While all of this was going on, the pup, Mo Chuisle was going nuts! She had never seen so much going on at one time. She was chasing the cars, trying to eat nerf darts and biting at the guitar. Finally, she just layed down and fell asleep in the middle of it all. One by one, they all started to fall asleep. First it was Gabe, then Quin, and then Marissa. Ryann, being the little night owl she is, was still going strong. She started to cry, even though it was midnight, when Mommy and Daddy said it was time to go home. We had a great time spending time with our family.

Gabe about to open his gifts



Ryann just told us that she already has the book "Olivia"

Marissa excited about all of her gifts

Keith and Ryann playing Guitar Hero

Keith, on try # 42

Quin was trying to teach Keith how to be as good as her

Keith was wondering, how'd she get so good?

The Pro


Ryann learning from the pro


Marissa and Ryann playing basketball


John, Gabe and Ryann singing Karaoke

John and Gabe singing a little axle

Ryann used the Spy ATV car

Gabe looking sneaky

Mo Chuisle going nuts over the remote control car

They decided it would be funny to tie the dogs chew toy to the remote control car

Mo Chuisle passed out


Ryann still going strong

Quin, Gabe and Ryann cuddling up

"Mo Chuisle" our new pup and Christmas morning

Sadly enough about a month ago Freckles, our Jack Russel Terrier, suddenly died : ( We are all very heart broken. It seemed so strange not having him around anymore. He was a big part of our family. But we realize life goes on... and so we got a new pup for the whole family for Christmas! We are very excited, but still love and miss Freckles everyday! He will never be forgotten.



Our new pup is an African Boerboel. It is a very rare breed. They are from South Africa. Not many people know about this breed. My husband and I have been researching dogs for a while now and decided on this breed for many different reasons. First and foremost they are great with children. Secondly, they were breed to be guard dogs, very protective of their home and family. Another factor was their life span. Even though they are a large breed, their life span is 12-14 years. These dogs can reach 200 lbs. Our female will probably be somewhere between 130- 150 lbs. Having said that, we are starting to train her immediately so that she knows we are boss no matter how big she gets.



We brought "Mo Chuisle" (pronounced Macushla) home Christmas Eve night. She was a surprise to our children. Her name means, Pulse of my heart or Little Darling in Irish. She is 8 weeks old and weighs 13 lbs. She is growing by the minute. She already knows to go to the front door and whine when she needs to go out and do her business (easy to train). She is very playful and we have noticed a bit of stubbornness. Daddy will break her of that. He is the most stubborn person I've ever met!



We are thrilled to welcome "Mo Chuisle" to our family!