Gannon Family Reunion

The California Crew hosted KGB's extended family for a West Coast Reunion this past week. We had great dinners every night at Rancho Relaxo and the days were full of fun activities. John and Chloe took part in the festivities while I was at work and Chloe loved getting to know her great aunts and uncles and many, many cousins! We kicked off the week in style with a concert and dinner in Napa. We all boarded buses for a fun ride...

We were treated to a fabulous dinner and wine tasting at Far Niente - gorgeous grounds and yummy wines...oh, and did I mention we all had babysitters?!

We loved seeing all of our cousins, the "second generation", who flew in from Georgia and Florida for the big event..

Rancho Relaxo was the home base and KGB was in her glory...setting up numerous activities for the "third generation" - which included 9 little ones!

And to round out the week... Liz organized a "Cousins Night Out" - now a family tradition - in the City. We went out for sushi and bowling and had a blast!

A Dunn in the Oven!

Julie and Ryan announced they are having a baby!!! They are big fans of the "Dunn" pun... anyone remember "it's a dunn deal" - yeah, it never gets old. So I thought I would pay tribute in the name of this blog post. We were in the middle of celebrating Eileen and Ryan's 32nd birthdays out at Rancho Relaxo and were all taking part in the Briggs family birthday tradition game - "I love you because..." All of the sudden, Julie tells us she loves Ryan because he is going to make a great dad - WHAT???!!!!!!! We were shocked and ecstatic (see the sisters' reaction below).

They are due January 9, 2009...so these cute cousins have to make room for one more!

Sacraments of Initiation

Sunday, July 6, 2008 was an incredibly special day for our family. We were surrounded by good friends and family as we celebrated Chloe's Baptism. Perhaps even more special... we also celebrated John's full initiation into the Catholic Church. He received his First Communion and Confirmation during a family Mass presided over by our dear friends Fr. Mario and Fr. Cameron at St. Agnes (where we got married - total full circle!). It was a memorable day in every way and it was tremendously moving for me to watch my husband and my daughter be welcomed into our faith. We hosted the whole crew for dinner at our place after -- which was fun, loud, hectic, crowded, messy --- everything family should be. Click below for the full slideshow.

Happy 4th of July!!