Family Visit & Miscellaneous

Its been awhile since the blog has been updated and there is much to be caught up. I'll try to knock out a few posts over the next few days. This post features pictures from the end of Mom, Robin and Shelly's visit to Newport as well as a few other random pictures.

The first photo shows the family on the porch of the new house that John and Brenda are buying in Mystic. The family made the trip down on the Monday after Mother's Day.


Brenda, Mom, Sophia, John, Robin and Shelly at 70 Mariner's Lane -- John and Brenda's soon-to-be new house.

After touring the new house, the family headed downtown Mystic for some shopping and sightseeing. Unfortunately, we didn't take many pictures that day. All we have is the photo of Sophia below.

Sophia on the pier in downtown Mystic letting the wind blow her hair around.

Shelly ended up flying out on Tuesday, while Mom and Robin stayed until Wednesday morning.


Robin and Mom saying goodbye to Sophia on Wednesday morning.

During the week after the Spencer family visit, John, Brenda and Sophia went out to dinner at a local restaurant they have been eying for awhile. The restaurant is a local seafood dive called Flo's Clamshack and here are some pictures from the visit.


Sophia and Brenda outside of Flo's.


John's tremendous plate of fried seafood.


Sophia enjoying some french fries.


John and Sophia posing outside of Flo's.


The last picture is from the Dayton, Ohio Great Strides Walk. After completing the walk in Providence, Robin volunteered to help at the Dayton walk. In the end, Robin, Jennifer and Lizzy all walked the Dayton Great Strides as well as helping out the CF foundation.

Jennifer, Lizzy and Robin at the Dayton Great Strides Walk.

Mother's Day & Brenda's Birthday

May 13th was a big day in the Spencer household. Mom, Robin and Shelly were in town, it was Mother's day and it was Brenda's birthday! We started the day with a gift exchange for all the Mother's and for Brenda.

Mom, Shelly, Robin and Brenda with their gifts.

Here is collage of Brenda holding all the great gifts she received.

After exchanging gifts, Brenda, John, Sophia, Robin and Mom headed out for a special Mother's day brunch at the Newport Officer's Club. (Since Shelly had surprised us with her visit, we didn't have a ticket for her. She "reluctantly" agreed to spend a couple of hours at the Newport Grand Casino playing the slot machines while we ate.)

Brenda, John, Sophia and Mom being seated for the meal.

Sophia has learned a new trick -- sticking her tongue out at her father.

Aunt Robin & Sophia

After the brunch, the family took advantage of the beautiful weather and took a stroll around the scenic surroundings of the club.

Mom, Sophia, John and Robin with the marina in the background. (Robin and Mom are holding their Mother's Day Carnations.)

The ladies with the Newport Bridge in the background.

Sophia enjoying the scenery.

After the stroll around the Officer's Club, and picking Shelly up at the Casino, the family took a ride to Easton's Beach (also called First Beach) in Newport.

Robin thinking about taking a swim.

Sophia and Aunt Shelly. (Sophia is chewing on Shelly's sunglasses.)

Brenda, Sophia and John.

Robin working on her tan.

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Great Strides Walk

On Saturday, John, Brenda, Sophia and 42 of our closest friends and family assembled in Providence, Rhode Island for the annual Great Strides walk. The walk is the largest fund raiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation each year. The walk was a culmination of about a five months of work and preparation for us. John's Mom, and sisters, Robin and Shelly, flew into Rhode Island on Friday night to participate in the walk. (Shelly surprised John and Brenda -- they didn't know she was making the trip.)

After rising early on Saturday morning, John, Brenda and the Ohio gang were making great progess to get to the walk on time until Brenda noticed the tire was flat on Sophia's stroller! Luckily, Dave Vavasseur came to the rescue. He made a NASCAR-style rapid repair to the tire allowing the team the chance to hit the road on time.

Dave making last-minute repairs to Sophia's stroller.

Do you know how long it takes five ladies to get ready?

The local Kohl's stores put together teams for the walk as well. One of the stores specfically walked in honor of Sophia.

Here is Sophia posing with "Team Sophia" from Kohls in Seekonk.

Before the walk, everyone put on their new "Sophia Striders" shirts and snacked on the food and beverages provided by Dunkin' Donuts. Brenda's friend Gina was the designer of the Sophia Striders logo.

Sophia, Robin, Mom and Shelly (with Wanda in the background) getting ready for the walk.

The whole team getting ready for the start.

Mr. and Mrs. MacDonald. (Wanda sneaks into another picture.)

The ladies from Connecticut: Katie, Wanda, Gina & Sally.

The walk started at 9:00am and wound through Roger Williams Park. It was advertised as a 2.5mile walk, but the consensus was it was actually closer to three miles.

Amy, Ava, Alyssa, Jana and Thomas

Jack, Patrick and Mollie

Benjamin, Jeremiah and Christa

Vincent and Dad

Mom Spencer, Lorraine, Sophia, Mom Sasso, Brenda and Dad

Brenda signaling the one-mile to go marker

Brenda and Sophia taking a break by the lake

The Moms and Lorraine getting near the finish

A welcome sight

After the race there was music, food and an awards presentation.

Christa and Jeremiah enjoying their Subway subs

The Spencer Clan

Roger Williams park offers Swan paddle boat rides. A few people from the team decided to head out on the water.

Rich and Michael (Shel and Vincent in the background)

Mollie, Jack and Patrick

The Sophia's Striders Team

Back Row: Jan, Rex, Tasha, River (hidden), Susan, Lynne, Mr. MacDonald, Mrs. MacDonald, Shel, Jeremiah, Brigid, Patrick, Jack, Mollie, Dad
Middle Row: Alyssa, Sally, Zoe (facing backward), Eva, Sarah, Gina, Wanda, Katie, Brenda, Sophia, Shelly, Christa, Benjamin, Lorraine, Nana, Mom Sasso, Mom Spencer
Front Row: Ava, Amy, Vincent, Cherie, John, Thomas, Jana, Michael, Rich, Zack, Maura, Robin

After all the counting, Sophia's Striders earned over $11,000! This was a great effort which we really appreciate. We look forward to seeing everyone at next year's walk.

One tired little girl after a very exciting day

Army Ball

(EDITORS NOTE: I know many of you tune into this blog for updated pictures of Sophia. For that crowd, this blog entry is going to disappoint. However, we promise many, many pictures of Sophia in the next two entries.!)

Last weekend John and Brenda attended the annual Army Ball at the Hyatt Regency on Goat Island. Below are some pictures from the event.

John and Brenda

John, Brenda, Dave and Becky

Charlie, Collette, Brenda and John

Brenda and Collette

Brenda and Denise