Tom, Joanne and Emma with Brother John and His Family at Our Nephew Patrick’s Confirmation Luncheon

We are very close with Joanne's parents, brothers and sisters and their families. She is the second oldest of six children, who currently have 16 children of their own, ranging in age from 16 months to 16 years old. We get together often for holidays and family celebrations, as well as "spur of the moment" visits! We recently had family celebrations for three Holy Communions and a Confirmation. Typically, these parties include a lot of food, music and play!

Tom, Joanne and Emma with Some of Our Extended Family at Our Nephew Ryan’s Communion Party

At our nephew Ryan's Holy Communion party, the adults and the kids had a lot of fun jumping on the trampoline, playing ball and swinging on the swings. When the weather changed, everyone came indoors; while some played video games, others joined in a sing along around the piano, while others just played with each other in the recreation room. The children really enjoy getting together with their cousins and the older ones are great about looking after the younger ones! The adults always enjoy catching up on the latest in each others lives - the guys usually do this while playing a game of catch or watching a sporting event on TV, while the girls catch up in the kitchen! The food is always home made and there is usually so much that we all go home with left overs!

Getting together so often keeps us close and provides a great network and support system for the adults and the children. Our family is very pleased that we are planning to adopt another child! They are very supportive of us and are looking forward to having a 17th grandchild, nephew / niece, cousin!

Our Home

We live at the Jersey Shore in a community that offers a lot of family activities. Within walking distance of our home, we have an indoor pool, a public library, a wildlife refuge, playgrounds, ball fields, the elementary school, a recreation center, bicycle paths, our church, the beach and the Atlantic Ocean! We like to get out and go, so we take advantage of these offerings on a daily basis!

Emma and Her Cousins at the Neighborhood Park

Our home is a comfortable ranch style house with three bedrooms. We love to sit on our front porch and also spend a lot of time playing with Emma in our back yard. Once the warm weather arrives, we eat most of our meals out back on the picnic table! Our house is a favorite place for our extended family to visit, especially during the summer months when we spend long days on the beach digging holes, making sand castles and playing in the ocean with the kids. We have a garage filled with bikes, bogie boards, kayaks, sand buckets, shovels, kites and just about anything our family wants to play with! We love being close to the ocean and enjoy crabbing, fishing, swimming, kayaking and just taking long walks and bike rides along the beach, all year long.

Recently 2 of our nieces and our nephew came to visit for a few hours while our brother Mike and his wife Carol went out to dinner. We loaded up the wagon with bats, balls, gloves and Emma, and spent the afternoon at the ball field, playing baseball. When the game was over, we walked over to the park and played on the swings and slides until it was time to go home and eat dinner. We really appreciate being able to have so much to do with children, right in our neighborhood!