Welcome Baby Shelby

Introducing the newest member to the Olea family, Shelby KR Olea. I am the proud aunt of a new baby girl. Shelby was born August 28, 2008 and 11:25 pm. She weighted in at 7 lbs. 5.6 oz. and was 21 inches long. She already has the Olea spunk. Congratulations Kelly and Raul on your new baby girl.

Walk In The Park

Last weekend was quite an event. It took me about a week to recover. Last Sunday was the annual Walk In The Park event for the Down Syndrome Association Of Greater St. Louis at Busch Stadium. Everyone that participates gets to walk around the field at Busch Stadium before the game and then the top fundraisers get to go out on the field with the players for the national anthem and the top fundraiser throws the first pitch. I felt so lucky to a part of this event. The kids were so excited it was hard not to be excited for them. I can't wait until next year. To view more photos from the Walk In The Park go to http://www.photobiz.com/portfolio/gallerylogin.cfm?eventID=164373. Or to learn more about all the other wonderful events held by the Down Syndrome of Greater St. Louis visit their website at http://www.dsagsl.org/.

Happy Birthday Cameron

My son Cameron turned 10 years old this Saturday. He came to me one night in March with a baseball schedule and informed me that the Cards were playing a home game the day of his birthday and he wanted a birthday party at Busch Stadium. Well, after lots of planing, we pulled it off. Saturday we took Cameron, seven of his closest friends and a few adults ( I'm not that crazy!) to Busch Stadium for the Cards Vs. Marlins. Leading 9 kids through a crowd isn't as easy as it sounds so of course we got to our seats after the first inning started and we missed the first home run by Pujols. All in all it was an exciting game. The kids had a great time and we didn't lose anyone. I'm still waiting for my "Coolest Mom Ever" award. Maybe it got lost in the mail.

Happy Labor Day!

Those of you that know me know that I am a huge fan of the Blues. This weekend was a special treat for me. The Muddy Blues Festival took place this weekend down on the landing. It's a great opportunity to see fantastic local talent as well as musicians that come in town especially to pay tribute to one of the best blues towns in the country. There were three stages so it was fun to just walk around and see how different each band grooved to there own beat. I was only able to make it to one night and had the privilege to see Kim Massie (a local legend). She really got the crowd moving as she closed out the night with a little Led Zeppelin tune called "Whole Lotta Love"!

Family bonding at its best

I know, I'm extremely late in getting this post up. Well here it is...my family vacation. This is a special time of year when my family gets together for the weekend and rents a rustic little cabin off of the North Fork river. No t.v., no video games, no phones and no other people. Just good ole family bonding and a river. I lost the watermelon seed spitting contest, but that's no surprise. The kids caught lots of lizards (and eventually let them go). I was a little disappointed because we never roasted any marshmallows. It was the hottest weekend of the year so a camp fire sounded like a prettysilly idea. There's always next year!

Happy 4th of July weekend!

Happy 4Th everyone. We had a wonderful weekend. First, my family has a long standing tradition of going to the Fair of St. Louis parade down town. The kids had a blast catching all the candy and getting covered in confetti. My uncle, Bill Griffin, designs the floats and directs the parade and this year was one of his best. The dance teams and musicians that were on the floats added real pizazz this year. As a finale, the last float had Drake Bell ( from the hit Nickelodeon TV show Drake and Josh). My kids went crazy... And me too! Afterwards we went to the Drake Bell concert, which was full of screaming 13 year old girls. Another long standing tradition is fireworks on the Arch grounds. The crowd this year was much smaller than it has been in the past. The Fair was moved to Soldiers Memorial Park due to the flood waters that reached half way up the Arch Stairs. There were still a good sized group of "die-hards" that went to the Arch grounds and we were one of them. It made for a fun packed family weekend, but I still found time to fit in a few family portrait sessions at McNair Park. Can't wait until next year.

Welcome Baby Ian

Congratulations to my uncle Ben, his wife Ann and their son Jimmy. They welcomed the arrival of

Ian Manual Kershman

at 10pm on June 9Th. He weighed 7lb 3oz and measured 20 inches. He is an adorable addition to the family. Here are a few photos of him on his first full day in our world. He was surprisingly alert for about 10 minutes. Follow the link to view more photos of baby Ian. http://www.photobiz.com/slideshowbiz/slideshow.cfm?slideshowID=20577&photographerID=1673