New additions (belated)

There have been several additions to our extended family in the past year and I have been remiss in making announcements. The neat thing has been the different ways we've added to our family: birth, adoption and marriage.

At the end of last year, Joe's sister gave birth to an absolutely adorable little girl, Carly. Here she is at nine months.

Also at the end of last year, my lovely step-sister and her husband opened their hearts and their home to a beautiful girl, Frances*. Not even waiting for the dust to settle, they've plunged right in and have now brought Frances brother, Fielding, into the family as well. (I'm still patiently waiting for pictures of Fielding - hint! hint!)

And most recently, the girls now have siblings to look up to in Chris and Sarah. They are very excited about having an older brother and sister around. When "the Clan" is together it's guaranteed to be loud and raucous and silly. What a blast!

*Sasha and Erika were fascinated with the concept of adoption when I told them about Frances. About the same time Frances arrived, Anna Nicole Smith died leaving a daughter. Sasha and Erika were insisting that I call the estate and tell them that Tia Mitzie should adopt her.