Carlos O'Kelly's

Final Celebration!  Our favorite family restaurant in Fairfax is closing after twenty some years.  We've had lots of celebrations and fun family outings at Carlos over the years so we will miss you Carlos.  Matt and Gabe, Melanie and Andrew, and Rich and I drove back to Fairfax to soak up the surroundings and good food a couple of weekends ago.  We invited Carly Zeugschmidt, our good friend to join us for our farewell dinner.  We love it.  The Chips.  The Salsa.  The Nachos Grande.  You name the item, we have tried everything.  The best shredded beef Chimi around. 

The best mouth burner is the Mas Macho Burro.  Yes, all of the men-folk have tried this item -- but never twice.  I don't believe the women have been that brave.  We had the place to ourselves because we met up at about 2:30 in the afternoon.  We had a blast.  As you can see in the above picture, Andrew is leaving loaded with a bag of chips and salsa.
                                         Matthew, Audrey, Andrew and baby Jocelyn

Melanie, Grandpa Rich and Charlotte

                                                   Andrew, Audrey, Matthew, Gabe,

                                                      Gabe and Nathan

                                                Grammie Andrea and Charlotte

This is serious fun.

                                                           Carly and Gabe

The Crowley Women with Carly Z

So we say farewell to Carlos in Fairfax.  The good news is there is another one in Fredericksburg that is not closing. 

The funny thing -- Jeremy and Andrew planned one of their driving trips to the West to stop at the Football Hall of Fame and any Carlos along the route.  I think they found one in Nebraska.  Gotta have those chips. 

Andrew and Melanie's first date:  Melanie requested Italian.  This is where Andrew took her.  Should have been a clue Melanie. 

We actually saw a waiter dump an entire tray of food here.  It was a good thing it wasn't our order. 

When I retired, my staff planned the party here.  It was a fond farewell to wonderful colleagues and friends.  Great memories.

We love you Carlos.  We will remain loyal.
Adios .

The Jeans

When Matthew was about 4 months old, he and I flew to Idaho to show him off to all of the relatives.  The first thing I had to buy for him was a genuine pair of Levis.  I hadn't been able to find any in the DC area.  But yes, Idaho had a pair.  Size 0.  Here they are:  the line is where they had to be rolled under or up depending on the boy.  They are about 36 years old.  Matt's birthday is tomorrow.  I haven't been able to part with these jeans.  They bring something to my heart.  Just seeing them makes me happy. 

Here is my favorite picture of Matthew in the Levis.  He was 18 months old.  Notice the flower in one hand and the rock in the other.  What a boy.  We lived in our townhouse in Burke, VA.

Then Jeremy came along to wear the jeans.  He was about a year old here.  Love the shag carpet.  Every thing '70s is coming back.

And here is Andrew in the jeans.  I'm not sure why I didn't snap them.  Andrew is about 14 months old.  This is in our Landmark Place house in Fairfax. 

I thought I would throw this in for effect.  What a cute daddy these boys had.  Jeremy is in the jeans.  Check out Rich's shirt.  This must have been in the days before electricity.  It appears he dressed in the dark.

Now the jeans have a new generation.  Here is Nathan (Matthew and Gabe's son who just turned one year old.

And here is Jocelyn (Andrew and Melanie's daughter who will be one in April)

So needless to say, we have probably gotten our money's worth out of the Levis.  I have pictures of Jeremy's kids in the jeans, but it is a mystery to me where those pictures are at the moment.  So this is the saga of the Levis.  I'm glad I still have them.  And........................my boys are so adorable.  I would love to snuggle those little cheeks again.  I guess that's why grandchildren are so much fun.