monkey party!

J. Weisse turned one-years-old on Nov. 1, 2008. We had a Monkey Party and invited all his cousins and second cousins and good friends too.

Jack was my protege and co-party planner. He helped me turn the Burch's porch into a jungle by making vines and palm trees and hanging lots of monkeys everywhere. He was so excited about it, but I think the vision in his head was something bigger than any of us could have handled. He is my god-son and he just may take after me and become a scenic designer.

We played pin-the-banana on the monkey.

And had a monkey photo cutout (thanks Dad)

Jimmy got more presents than he could handle

And he demolished his monkey cake.

After it was all over, he had some time to start enjoying his gifts.

Here he is on his "digger."

I can't believe he is already one!  We love him so!

narnia for halloween

The Burch cousins and the Speier kids decided to be the characters from The Chronicles of Narnia for Halloween and wanted Jimmy to play along. They decided to take characters from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and Prince Caspian.  

Jack was Peter:

Lily was Susan:

Audry was Lucy:

And Lucy was another Lucy:

Finn was Mr. Tumnus

And Jimmy was Reepicheep

(just a coincidence, but that was his grandmother's nickname in college)

I think these two have a different amount of seriousness when it comes to "getting into character.":

These two were just too cute! 

Zach and I did a last minute costume of Juno and Paulie Bleeker..

Emily got this idea from a magazine somewhere, but we came up with our own creations. I did a few, but my best work is the one in the down left corner...

His eye is exploding.

Danny went as Shaun of the Dead

so I was being his zombie.

Finn and Jimmy didn't so much trick or treat as much as get pushed around the neighborhood in a stroller playing with glowsticks.  Luckily Jimmy wasn't yet excited about the candy.

By the end of the night the kids were all insane...

Oh and Jimmy's grandma also sent him this costume so I thought we should include it. Here he is talking to Nano on Skype to show it off. Unfortunately, Phoenix was still too hot to actually wear it outside.

hello phoenix

I got a job teaching Intro to Technical Theatre at Glendale Community College and we had very little professionally keeping us in Morgantown, so we decided to make the move to Arizona.  In August of '08 we moved our little family to Phoenix.   I had obviously been wanting to be closer to my family, but it was nice to have an excuse to move, even if it was a small one.   It was hot, but at least it was the end of the summer and Zach got the worst before the best.  We were greeted by lots of family and friends who were happy to have us as Phoenicians now.  

goodbye mo-town

Our last summer in Morgantown was a lot of fun because Aunts Nat and Angie came home and lived with us ,too.  Then Aunt Michelle came back to the States after two years of being in Cape Verde, Africa with the Peace Corps.  The whole family was finally together for a picture for the first time since our wedding.   Of course, there is an extra little guy in the picture now...

And Jimmy got to meet his Great Grandparents Sobey...

It was a summer of Grilling... 

Relaxing...

The Outer Banks with the Weisse Side of the Family...

 Lots of Weddings...

 A couple of Birthdays... 

And Many Goodbyes.

mary's last semester

A month before Jimmy was born, I managed to finish up my thesis scenic design for Another Part of the Forest.  My feet were too fat to wear my paint shoes, and man was my back killing me trying to paint that floor, but I guess it all turned out all right.  It was a relief to be done!

Then I just had three more classes and writing my thesis paper.  

I got through it all just fine thanks to 

my wonderful husband...

my very helpful sister-in-law...

and lots of visits to DC to see the family and friends there. 

Oh and of course, we drank a lot too... well mostly just Jimmy. 

It was fun and tiring, but eventually I got my MFA!!!

jimmy and the holy spirit

On Janaury 12, 2008 Jimmy was baptized at St. John's in Morgantown.

Zach wore this same outfit when he was baptized as did all his sisters. Jimmy may be embarrassed by it someday, but I think it is so sweet! Thank you Nana's college roommate for making it back in 1982.

He slept through a lot of the ceremony so the good news is there was no crying.
Bess came for the ceremony to be his Godmother.  His godfather, Joe, couldn't make it, so Nano stood in his place. 

The Weisse family (at least those in attendance).

Hooray for a new little Catholic!

christmas 2007

Our stockings hung by the chimney with care

Jimmy under the tree in his basket with Pooh and Piglet (just like his first ornament)...

He dozed off before midnight mass...

He may not look that excited about his Christmas loot, but just try getting it out of those little hands...

turkey baby

On Jimmy's first Thanksgiving we wondered if the turkey was bigger than him so we decided to compare them...