Remembering Grandma Margaret!

Grandma Margaret, Papa Mike, and grandchildren (Alex, Meredith, Jenny, Richie, Rachel, and Elizabeth)

On Monday, May 19th, my Grandma Margaret passed away at the age of 85. My Grandma was a truly remarkable woman and I wanted to take a moment and remember her. There are many words to descrbe my grandmother but what immediately comes to my mind are strong, courageous, loving, humorous, and godly. Many do not know this but she survived 5 battles with life threatening cancers and 2 non-life threatening cancers. That to me is enough to sit back in awe. WOW! And to top it off, she never complained. She also loved her family dearly. I would have to say that the way in which she showed most of her love was by being willing to pick a fight with ANYONE who messed with her kids or grandkids. You didn't mess with grandma, or she would mess with you. One thing that Josh and I always remember is leaving visits with her tired from laughing so much. She never let there be a dull moment in any conversation. Grandma Margaret was a woman of faith. A woman that I would gladly model my life after. There is no question in my mind that she is in heaven dancing with the angels.

I love you grandma! You are so very missed! Until we meet again!!!!

Happy Birthday Munchkin!

As sad as it is to day, as of April 16th my little sister has turned 15 years old. I seriously can't believe. She has grown into a such beautiful young lady in what seems like months. She has the most beautiful heart and I am honored to call her my sister and friend. The 3 things that I most admire or appreciate about my little sister would be her caring heart, youthful spirit, and love for the Lord. Meredith or Mera as I call her puts others before herself and seeks out ways in which to show her love and gratitude for others. She is absolutely hilarious! She is vibrant and care free. She also has a love for the Lord and relationship with Him that I never had at her age. Her maturity in her faith is extremely humbling. Munchkin, I love you! You teach me on a daily basis how to love!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Tuesday, April 15th was my mom's birthday. We all had dinner at Flying Fish and came to my place for cake. I made my mom a homemade carrot cake and it was pretty good if I do say so myself. We spent some time going around the table sharing what we most admire or appreciate about mom and here was what was said....her giving heart, good food, willingness to go through fire for her girls, phermones (apparently dad likes the way his wife smells), and friendship with her daughters. I do have to say that my mom is one of a kind. She gives with her time, her money, and her heart. There is nothing that she wouldn't do, or at least try to do for the ones she loves. Mom, if you are reading this I think that you are one in a million and I love you dearly. Thank you for being who you are!


Mom is devouring the carrot cake. Man that picture makes me hungry.
Mom got gift certificates for her birthday. She received a gift certificate to Nancy's Nails to get a manicure and pedicure, and she also received a gift certificate to Vesta's, a retail/apparel store that mom loves!

Addison Elizabeth

Addison Elizabeth was born on Tuesday, March 25th. She weighed 8 lb. 3 oz. and was 20 inches long.

Look at those adorable chicken legs.

Jake, Addison, and Isabelle.
Sleeping Beauty!

Saturday, April 6th

We spent most of the day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was phenomenal.

We also went into SoHo. SoHo basically has any store you could even conceive of going to.

We also went to see a Broadway play. We saw August: Osage County, a play about a seriouly dysfunctional family. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.


Around 12:30 in the morning, we decided to go atop the Empire State Building. It was breathtaking, freezing, but breathtaking.

Friday, April 5th

I now declare that Josh Malone is the king of the New York City subway system. We decided to buy unlimited passes to the subway so we could go wherever we wanted to go and man did we. Josh navigated us through the city like a pro. We honestly explored so much that by the time we were heading home, our entire bodies ached. We still haven't fully recovered.

Grand Central Station


Grand Central Station clock


We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge into Brooklyn bound and determined to find some good New York pizza and did we ever. A local steered us in the direction of Grimaldi's pizza. Come to find out it actually is pretty famous, having appeared on the Food Network. How I missed that I'll never know. The pizzeria is a coal brick oven pizzeria, which come to find out these types of pizzerias are no longer allowed to be built (bad for the environment). All the existing ones have been grandfathered in.

Thursday, April 4th

We spent most of the day on Thursday in the Financial District of New York City. To all who know Josh I am sure you are saying what a surprise. Josh was right at home.


New York Stock Exchange


The famous intersection of Wall St. and Broadway.


Josh is grabbing the bull by the horns. I actually even had him put his head in the butt of the bull but it didn't come out very well. It was hilarious.


The ever so beautiful Trinity Cathedral.

After visiting the cathedral we headed to Ground Zero to see the memorial that they have for 9/11. You know after all this time hearing about the destruction that took place, it is so sombering actually seeing how immense it actually was.


Rockefeller Center (Ice skating rink)