Anna Grows

Spring soccer finally arrived!  Anna was excited to start again and was anxiously looking forward to another season with Coach Tom.  Of course the most exciting two things about the beginning of the soccer season are the shirt color and the team name. This spring Anna will be sporting a light blue uniform.  Coach Tom had everyone's name put on the back of the shirt.  Anna was VERY excited about this, although was a bit concerned that she is not "Anna F." to distinguish her from "Anna R."  Apparently Anna R. had the same concern.  Both Annas have been in class together since pre-school and are quite accustom to using their last initial.  According to Anna R's Dad, she even signs her Christmas card  to her parents as "Anna R." less they get confused as to which Anna it is from.  The other important soccer accessory this year is coordinating socks for the team, which really pull the whole uniform together. Coach Tom has taken tight control o...

Anna is serenaded by Uncle Joe It was with great sadness that we learned of Uncle Joe's passing on April 5 after a long illness. Anna was able to see Uncle Joe on Easter Sunday and is still trying to reconcile how a week later he can be gone.  Like the many families and friends of Uncle Joe's, Anna always enjoyed visiting him.  He always had a joke or funny story to tell her (tonight she was re-telling one of Uncle Joe's stories about a runaway hot dog).  He also taught her a lot about training and caring for dogs.  Anna is concerned about how sad Bonnie must be now that he is gone. Anna joined the rest of the family in New York for the funeral services.  One of the bright spots of any funeral is the chance to see family and friends that have not gathered in years.  Anna enjoyed seeing her cousins and promptly attached herself to Andrew and Luke.  Cousin James gave a very moving tribute to his Dad at the funeral and Aunt Mary sang a beautiful p...

Coloring eggs with James Anna enjoyed Easter Break with just over a week off school (March 29 - April 5).  She enjoyed a couple of trips during her vacation. The first trip was an Easter Sunday visit to New York to join Aunt Mary, Uncle Joe, Cousin James, and Aunt Loren for Easter dinner.  Prior to hitting the road, Anna awoke early to find that the Easter bunny paid a visit and hid eggs around the house.  Following the early morning egg hunt, Mom managed to find a 7 AM Easter mass in Vienna before hitting the road.  This may have been the quickest Easter mass ever thanks to no music whatsoever (definitely a minimalist service).  The whole thing was over in less than 45 minutes. Anna arrived at Aunt Mary's house to find that the Easter bunny also left her basket there (definitely a much nicer basket).  Aunt Mary made Easter bread, including a special bread basket with an Easter egg for Anna.  Anna had time to color eggs with cousin James, visit...