I was a devil and my friend Mary was a Kentucky Derby spectator (she had a hat and binoculars, but not in this picture).

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Hope everyone had a Spooktacular time!  Let’s add our crazy costume photos here, to see how everyone celebrated All Hallow’s Eve!

Pumpkins from the Norton House: L-R, David, Brian (Mark's Friend), Meghan, Mark

David as a DC tourist

Meghan as Elmo

Thank you all for a wonderful 12 x2! Here are some family pics from the W street par-tay! Thanks again and hope everyone had fun!

xoxo,

Gaga

Colleen is 12×2!

And that means that she has lived TWICE as long as MK!  (Whose arrival marks an important day in history or the dividing line of what we call pre- and post-Gaga.)  Either way, this Irish beauty is a star today.  (Although slightly more sane than the Gaga on the right.)  Enjoy your day!

Hey family! I just wanted to share with you that today, High Point University rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange! It is an incredible thing for High Point to be able to do. I have posted the link for you all to watch as our President, Dr. Nido Qubein along with other faculty and students ended the day on Wall Street! Pretty cool!

http://www.nyse.com/events/1255082641171.html

Happy Birthday David! The oldest Culotta grandchild is exactly that- old! Leave David some birthday love here!

Live it up you party animal!

Happy Birthday David!  We hope you have a great birthday!  Today is a special day – your golden birthday!  Enjoy turning 28 on the 28th.

Aunt Margot sent me pictures to upload onto this entry, but I can’t seem to copy them from her slideshow.  I’ll work with her on getting some good photos on this page, because you deserve it, David!

Please click on this link to see some photos from last night’s Culotta birthday celebration for David!  (Go to the end of the slideshow).

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=15kvphix.bsy3ww19&x=1&y=ajbquh&localeid=en_US

Molly

Well, I caved.  I was at the animal shelter and this one just stole my heart.  It really needed a home and I felt like we had a special bond.  So I scooped him up.  Duke is a little smaller than what I had envisioned my first dog to be, but he’s really courageous and spunky and adjusting to life really well.  Mark has even accepted him as his own, and is going to care for him when I’m at at night school.  What do you think? Our precious boy!

Happy Labor Day!  It’s a great feeling to have a long weekend and an even better feeling to be treated to dinner by your cousin!  As I was buying books at Georgetown the other day (an arduous process, which I’m sure never happens in Stephanie’s store), I thought I’d call Colleen on the off chance she might not be working.  (She always is when I’m on campus.)  Sure enough, she’s was just getting ready to make pasta, so she picked me up, and she, Alex and I had an impromptu dinner party.  Perfect way to start a long weekend.  Thanks, cuz!

Mary Susan (DeZinno) and Lucas Kenyon welcomed their first child, Dylan Thomas Kenyon, on August 21, 2009.  Dylan was 7lbs 2oz 20in.  Mother and baby are doing great!

HAPPY 90th Birthday Pop Pop!

So very few of us ever reach such a milestone, and so very few of us are spoiled to have our dads and grandfathers in our lives for so many years.  But Pop Pop and we are some of the lucky ones.  On August, 10, Pop Pop had a BUSY day, the kind fit for a king, and a king he was.  Sure, we might have gone a little overboard, but you only turn 90 once, and sometimes not at all. First he was greeted by his office staff and treated to lunch at the practice he started.  He had his favorite Chinese chicken wings, and for desert, a delicious blueberry pie made with love by granddaughter, Meghan. He was even surprised by a life long patient and fellow nonagenarian, Mrs. Campagna.  Between the two of them, they shared a lot of memories.

Later in the day, Bridget, Mary Kate, Meghan, and Aunt Kathy surprised Pop Pop at his house with just shy of ninety cupcakes to share with all his neighbors, so they could share in the occasion.  Everyone loved them, and loved him more!  We passed them out during a piano serenade, and Pop Pop had a song dedicated to him…kind of a strange song for the occasion, but it was Sinatra, so we let it slide.  Regardless, he was beaming.

Finally, on Tuesday night, we celebrated one extra day more at Aunt Kathy’s with baked ziti, Italian Sausage and apple crisp and apple pie.  As per new tradition started by Uncle Paul in Colorado in honor of Uncle Bobby’s Birthday, Pop Pop had to wear a crazy hat.  Clearly, his humor wasn’t lost as he eschewed his age during Grace, and didn’t mind the trick candles.  As always, those not here with us were on Pop Pop’s mind, but for those of you who couldn’t be there, we know you were in spirit, and I hope that these video memories capture a little bit what the day was like.  Here’s to many more birthdays to come!