Showering My Sister with Love... A Truly Wordless Wednesday!

i heart faces... Baby's 1st Wheels!

Who says the driving age is sixteen?!

I'm only one and have my own set of wheels!

The timing for this week's i heart faces prompt,"Vroom! Vroom!," is totally perfect as it was the Doodlebug's first birthday party this weekend and Kippy (her grandfather, but you can't call him that!) showed up with a big surprise!

As my mom tells the story -- they were in Toys R Us and she was looking at the Little People toys in the little kid aisle when my Dad walked up with a Power Wheels box in his hand!  She texted me: "Daddy's present for Dagny-- Will Joe kill him?" and I told her that although we were trying to enforce a "no gifts" rule at the party, somehow I'd make an exception if they decided to go this route!  They didn't tell me if they bought it,  but when I saw the mischievous grin on my Dad's face when he walked in (same mischievous face Dagny inherited from him!) I just knew he did!

It was a hit... Joe laughed and Dagny got right on (all by herself).  She knew exactly what it was for and was bouncing up and down... it wasn't until Scott helped her press the power button that she realized that it actually moved!  She had such a blast playing on it on Saturday at the Ranch and was all over it yesterday at home!

He's Here!

As I was falling asleep last night, I got a text message from Aunt Jackie that contained one thing... a photo of the newest McFatridge! Austin Wells arrived two weeks early on March 29th, weighed in at 6 lb, 9 oz, and is 19.5 inches long! I can't wait to meet the little guy!

Congrats Amy & JD!

Inauguration

I know I've been a bad blogger lately, and there's no good excuse for it, so I'm going to make an effort to catch up in the next few days... First up, Inauguration Weekend!

The week before Inauguration, Mom and Dad decided that they wanted to come down and join in the festivities... we didn't have any big plans or tickets to anything good (because I simply thought about it too late), but we didn't let that stop us from going!

We went down to the Inauguration Concert at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday. Somehow we were able to metro right down to Farragut North, follow the flow of people onto the mall, and somehow ended up getting through the security gates and into the actual concert area... which apparently was quite difficult as many of our friends were stuck out on the mall!

There were some definite goosebumps as the Obamas were introduced... it was all so very cool! The concert was great and luckily we had layered up enough to keep warm!







And then came Inauguration Day... Joe Sr. decided to join us, so we all met at my house at 4am to head over to the Metro. We hit a bit of traffic getting into the metro station, but once we got in and parked, we were lucky enough to get on an empty train and snag some seats! We were downtown by 6:15 and came out of the metro station to the chaos... the vendors were already out and people were trying to figure out which gates to get to! The coolest part of the early AM was that there were helicopters with spotlights circling the area... and it totally felt like a scene from Batman or a fun action movie!







Our big glitch of the day was the water main break at the security gate we needed to get through. We got in the line/crowd at 6:30am and anxiously waited for the gates to open at 7. Well, 7am came and went, 8am came and went, and finally a gate opened at 8:30 and the crowd (which at that point filled 4 blocks of space) pushed forward. We were about 20 feet away from the gate for the next 2 hours, but nobody was getting through. It was getting a little hairy with the pushing and we literally got scared for our safety and decided to turn back and try to get in another way. We later found out that they never fully opened the gate due to a water main break.

I begged and pleaded at the Residence Entrance to my building (which we're never allowed to enter through) and explained our story to the security guards and secret service... I think they got tired of looking at me (clearly, I wasn't going anywhere) and let us sneak through! Joe Sr. also pointed out that somehow we got through but Former VA Governor Allen was turned away at the door (his office is in my building)!

Once we were in my office, we had a great view of Pennsylvania Ave and ended up having easy access to the parade route! The Secret Service was very accomodating and let us out without too much trouble... To Daddy's sheer joy, Ann Curry of the Today show was set up in front of my building! Because the aforementioned gate never opened, people couldn't get to our area of the parade route and we were able to get only a few rows back from the street (without having to wait in the cold all day)!











...and then they got out of the Limo!! Joe got a few great shots of the Obamas as they walked right by us!!



It was worth the chaos and cold... We made it... we were there... and couldn't be happier about it!



Here's the slideshow of all of our photos...

Merry Kissmas!

Sully hasn't gotten down the whole "sit" thing yet, so here's Sirius in front of the tree...


Our stockings were hung by the window with care...

I know this post is rather late, but it's been quite a busy holiday season! As it has become custom in our house, Joe and I exchanged gifts around December 22nd... Once there are wrapped presents under the tree, there's just no point in waiting! ;) And, yes, we will actually wait for Xmas day when we have kids... but until then, we'll do it our way! ;)

Proving that we really think alike, Joe and I both bought each other JK Rowling's Tales of Beedle the Bard... as Joe said, "It's the gift of the Magi for Nerds!"

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve with the Richardson's, Christmas Day at the Kilcoyne's, and Boxing Day at the McFatridge's!

Sully had the honor of being the Christmas Elf this year since he fit into Finley's costume! ;) :)


We really had a great holiday and totally lucked out with the gifts this year... a new Blackberry, Sewing Machine, Camera Flash, Alex Ovechkin FatHead, Stained Glass Window of the Caps Eagle, Melting Pot, and so much more! We are so grateful for everyone's generosity and are thankful to have been able to spend the holidays with those we love!

Here's a slideshow of our photos:

Giving Thanks!

I know I'm a bit late on this post, but I wanted to write about Thanksgiving before I get to Christmas! Amy-Beth and Joe A came into PA for Thanksgiving this year, so I made sure we were there for the festivities!

We, of course, started at the Willow on Wednesday evening... with Alicia D behind the bar, Mom didn't have a chance at sobriety! She really wasn't that bad, but we do have documentation of a killer text message conversation that she was having with Scott (who had to work)! ABC and Joe A were troopers and brought over Cheryl to hang out after their long travel day... the Willow was packed, but all-in-all it was a fun night (even if I was Ally's DD... which is an adventure in itself!)!

Aunt Jackie, Uncle Don, and Jaclyn joined the normal crew for a yummy Thanksgiving Dinner! Daddy got creative and managed to expand the dining room table made for 8 to sit 14... you'd have to see it to believe it! Even desert had extra pizazz as Aunt Jackie got Jaclyn a birthday cake from Weinrich's... YUM!!

We introduced Joe A to historical Philadelphia on Friday... passing by Independence Hall, seeing the Liberty Bell, visiting the gift shop at Betsy Ross' house (my second time at the gift shop, yet I've never been inside!), and even attempting to answer the age-old debate... Pat's or Geno's?! I'm not sure how others felt, but I'm definitely on Pat's side! :)

Here are a few photos from the week...

WG Community Day!

Luckily for me, my birthday celebrations continued into the next weekend! We went up to PA for Dad's Community Day and ended up having a great weekend... Mom and I went shopping at King if Prussia for a dress to wear to some of these weddings coming up, we then got our eyebrows threaded (which, btw, if waxing hurts you as much as it does me, go with the painless threading!), and then we met up with Daddy and Joe (who golfed all day) and met Gmom, Gpa, and Cheryl for Dinner and a Movie! We got yummy pizza at Tonelli's... thank god Gmom likes meaty pizza b/c she picked out the best pizza with pepperoni, sausage, and meatballs on it!! YUMMY!!! After dinner we all went to see Iron Man! :) Such a great movie... the best we've seen in a long time! All that and... more presents!! I'm still getting pics, but I got a totall cute green Coach Bucket hat, Lilly Pulitzer Makeup Cases (full of stuff!), and a wall monogram! I'll get pics of the wall when it's finished!

Sunday we headed to Mason's Mill for Dad's Community Day! If you weren't there, you missed "Camp Director Kippy" in action... he had complete control of the day and it went off without a hitch! Gmom and Gpa came over to hang out and we also met up with Aunt Jackie, Chrissy, Rick, and their kids! Aunt Jackie got a new dobie puppy on Saturday, so she showed us pics of Seusse!! Sooo cute! The weather held out and it was a beautiful day! I really can't say enough about how great my Pops was... I was so proud of him!

Here are some of the pics I got from the day!

Around Town...

We all slept in a little bit on Saturday, but once we got up and moving it was a fun-filled day!

We visited Gmom's house as they were putting up their new fence! It's beautiful (can't believe I didn't have a camera with me) and so were the itty bitty kitties!

Next stop - Aunt Jackie and Uncle Don's house! This is all about the dogs...

Trigger and Dinali (JD and Amy's Dogs)



Finley


...and the Sirius Black Attack!

The dogs went a little crazy playing together for a while... all of them had a blast!
Click below for all of the photos!

March 2008

The added bonus was that Chrissy is in town wih the boys... just wanted to add some blog love to my mini-cousins Shawn and Zach!

Where else could you find the McFatridges? The Willow, of course!

Joe and I headed up home for the weekend to celebrate Dad's 50th with the family! We met up with Grandmom, Grampa, Cheryl, Scott, Mom and Dad for dinner at Phil's Tavern in Ambler. I cannot begin to convey how much food we had... it was crazy... and yummy! It was so nice to finally sit down with everyone!

The McFatridge's went home and planted ourselves on the couch- until Ally showed up! Nobody knew she was coming home, so we were just shocked when she walked through the door! Turns out, JD and Amy made it to PA the same day (on their road trip from Alaska to Georgia), Chrissy was in town with the boys... which meant that Jaclyn was the only one missing!

It didn't take long to get us off the couch and we rolled over to (where else?!) The Willow. JD and Jeff were back to their antics as their wives watched on from a distance! It was a truly "McFatridge Night" as they did shots for Daddy's 50th (I believe JD said that the shots were A Redneck Chasing a Mexican Down a Gold Mine... NO idea what was in it!) After calling Jaclyn and harassing her via voicemail (I'm Not Playing Anymore.... Ahhhhhh!) b/c she was smart enough not to pick up. All in all, it was so much fun being back with my family and cousins at The Willow.


The McFatridge Kids (sans Jaclyn)

Joe and Laurel

Daddy, Ally, and JD

Dad with his Kids! :)


Cheers!

JD and Jeff being... JD and Jeff!

Awww... JD and Chrissy

Happy 50th Birthday Daddy!

I can't believe its here... the big 5-0! I've always had the "young parents," so its kinda crazy that they're hitting those milestone birthdays! ;)

This photo was taken at my Mom's prom and just says it all about my dad (if you have any reservations about the color choice, don't worry- he had 5 different ruffled shirts to go with that tux!)! He's full of life and is just the best- I can't really go on without getting all mushy about how awesome Kip is, so I'll keep it to that! Anyway, just wanted to give him a shout out (not too loud as I'm pretty sure he's quite hung over from his guys day out yesterday!;) )! :)

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Thanksgiving 2007

Thanksgiving at the McFatridge's was wonderful this year! Mom had set a beautiful table for everyone and the food was just fabulous! We were so excited to have ABC and the Joneses in town for the holiday, so the house was packed with lots of excitement!

There was A LOT of Guitar Hero...

A LOT of hugs and kisses...

some friendly fighting...

and, of course, a fabulous feast!!

So Thankful for Today!!

My cousin is finally on his way home from his tour in Iraq!! He'll be home in Alaska in a week or so... so I won't get to see him, but I'm just so excited for his wife and our family... having everyone together again... it's just makes Thanksgiving so much better (having something so HUGE to be Thankful for)!!
That's all... I'm just jumping through my skin excited... just please keep in (and all troops!) in your prayers for a safe trip back to US Soil!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you want to send a soldier some holiday cheer.... When you are making out your Christmas card list this year, please include the following:


A Recovering American soldier/airman/sailor/marine
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center6900 Georgia Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20307-5001

**Thanks Ellie for sending this on!

Weekend in LA

So; the Chamberlins headed out to Los Angeles in August for Amy Beth's big birthday! All of the photos are online at http://picasaweb.google.com/thehighcs... but here are a few of my faves!

Stars Hollow! Yes, the real Stars Hollow... we took a tour of the Warner Bros. Backlot!

The Orpheum... Amy Beth's fabulous loft is right above it!

Watch out for those crazies on Venice Beach!

Mommy and Me :)

Amy's Joe... not to be confused with "The Real Joe"... but he earned a five star rating and thumbs up from me... even if he can't park a car (but hey, niether can I!)!

ABC's Party! Such an awesome event! Here's me and my gorgeous Mommy!

Parker came in from Vegas!

...and the birthday girl herself! My favorite, ABC!

All Aboard the Hogwarts Express!

Okay, so we've already established that we're one big family of Harry Potter freakazoids... here's more evidence to prove it! :) And don't worry... Joe's in the photo, he just has his invisibility cloak on! ;)