My Niece Amy's 19th Birthday and my Nephew Alex's 23rd Birthday

My niece turned nineteen on Friday, April 19th. I texted her wishing her a happy birthday. On Sunday, we went to my brother Vaughn and sister Adrina's house to celebrate two birthdays; one was Amy's and the other was Alex's. We saw the family. My nephews, niece and great-niece were there. I took a lot of pictures of everybody with my camera. My nephew Alex was barbecuing burgers on the grill. The ladies were all in the kitchen. I gave them both a gift card. We all sat around a table and talked. Some people were outside and my brother and his friends were smoking cigars. We all had Armenian food. Some people ate dinner inside and some ate outside. It was a great time.

Easter Sunday and my Birthday

My nephew Ron, his wife Jen and his daughter Tyler all invited us for a birthday and Easter celebration. My whole family was there, it was nice to see them all. I bought them all Easter baskets and gave them to all my great-nieces and nephews. We had hors d'oeuvres, they were delicious. I was so happy my great-niece Stella came. I was holding her; she was so cute. I took a lot of pictures of her when people were holding her. My two nephews were cooking Armenian food on the shishkabob machine. Jen and my brother Mike were helping out in the kitchen; they were such a good help. The food was so delicious. They had a neat kids' table; there were Easter marshmallow bunnies assorted on the table; all the kids had so much fun on the table. The grown ups had fun on our own table too. After dinner, they sang happy birthday to me. It made me really happy. They bought me a chocolate cake. I have a great family.

My Mom's 89th Birthday

Our whole family, including her grandchildren, got together and celebrated my mom's eighty-ninth birthday. My two brothers gave a toast to her. They wished her a happy birthday and a long life. I took a picture of all the grandchildren with their grandmother. We also took a picture with our mom. We all had fun celebrating her birthday. We all pitched in for the party ad brought different things. We sang happy birthday to her and then we ate ate. She loved the cake. We're lucky to have her as a mom. 
Love, Diane

My Niece Mara is Turning 16

On March 30, Mara is turning sixteen. I can't believe she grew up so fast. I remember when she was little. I used to play with her a lot when she came to Philadelphia. We used to play Mario on the Nintendo. I am a very proud aunt. She loves to read and play sports at school. Her grandmother Vicki is very proud of her as well. She wishes her a happy sixteenth birthday. I used to send her Walt Disney movies in the mail for her collection, like Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Aladdin, One Hundred Dalmatians and more. We email each other frequently. I was very happy when she joined Facebook. She has grown into a beautiful young lady. Love, Aunt Diane 

Red Velvet Layer Cake

Red velvet layer cake with 5 cup cream cheese frosting

Makes 12 to 16 servings

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

2 1/2 cups sugar

6 large eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons unsweetend cocoa

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 ounce red food coloring

For the frosting:

24 ounce cream cheese softened [8-ounce packages]

3/4 cup butter softened

48 ounces powdered sugar

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, (to be continued)

Colleen and Jon's Engagement

On February 14, 2013, Jon asked Colleen for her hand in marriage. My niece Colleen called me on the 15th, and told me that she got engaged. Being her aunt, I was very excited about the news. She showed me the ring, and I thought it was so beautiful. I can't wait until she sets a date. The whole family was very happy. She was born in Bryn Mawr Hospital, May 6, 1983. I was happy. I'm very lucky to have a niece like her. I like Jon very much. Love, Aunt Diane

My Baking Club

On Sunday, December 16, 2012, my nieces Amy, Jen, Tyler and my nephew Sevan
came over to their grandmom Vicki's house to bake with me. We have a family tradition of meeting every December and baking cookies.
I taught my nieces and nephews how to bake. We all have a great time baking cookies and we take pictures with their grandmom Vicki. I was so happy we kept it in the family. I am so glad that my nieces and nephews bake with me. When my great niece Stella gets older, she will bake with us, Shellie, my nephew Ron, Mat, Alex, Brian, Leo and my niece's dog Henry.
I love baking with all my nieces and nephews.
Love, Aunt Diane

The ORDination of Julie

On Friday, Harry, Veronica and Colleen drove up to New York to see Julie Hoplamazian become a priest (ordination) on Saturday, December 8th, 2012. "To the sacred order of priests to become a priest in the church of the cathedral of the incarnation garden city of New York."
The music was so great. The church was so beautiful. Julie did a beautiful job. I am so proud of my cousin Julie. I took great pictures of everything. Afterwards we all went to the hall to have some food.
We saw lots of family. We had such a great time.
The sermon Julie gave was beautiful.
We are so proud of Julie.
Love, Cousin Diane

Christmas Day

Mom, Ed and I went to Harry and Veronica's house for Christmas. Colleen, Jon, Henry, Brian, Lizzy and her mom were there. Veronica's sister Caroline, her brother-in-law and her nephew were there. We had such a great time. I took lots of pictures. Harry and Veronica were great cooks, they had great food. We sat around the table and talked for a long time. I had so much fun with my niece Colleen and my nephew Brian. The Christmas tree was so pretty.

Thanksgiving

Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Mark's family was flying in from Chicago to Philadelphia to spend Thanksgiving with his family.
We went to Vaughn and Adrineh's  house for dinner to see Mark and his family.
I took lots of group shots, like a nice picture of grandmom Vicki with her grandchildren.
We had a great time.

Thursday, November 22, 2012
We spent Thanksgiving Day at Vaughn and Adrineh's.
Harry carved the turkey for Thanksgiving and my three nephews were riding bikes.
Alex took Leo for a ride and I took lots of pictures of the family. We sat around the table and talked
and said prayers. We had such great food, it was nice see all my nieces and nephews.
Vaughn and Adrineh did a great job.
 
Friday, November 23, 2012
After Thanksgiving we all got together, including Aunt Marie, me, Aunt Rachel, Aunt Veronica and Aunt Adrineh.
The nieces came too (Colleen,Anna,Amy,Mara,Lena,Jen). We all went to the nail salon to get our nails and feet done. Then, we went out to lunch and then went shopping. They modeled their clothes for us. They all looked so pretty.
Then we all went out to get ice cream. Finally we came back to Vaughn and Adrineh's house
to have delicious armenian food.
Mark and Vaughn were putting shish kebabs and cooking them on the machine. My cousin Michael was holding the flashlight to see how it was going. I took a picture of Vaughn holding the shishes with the meat on it.
I also took a picture of Mark, Harry, Vaughn, Alex, Brian and Ronnie.
They all did a great job cooking. I met Amy's boyfriend and anna's boyfriend, they are nice.
We all had a great time.

Saturday, November 23, 2012
We went to breakfast at Vaughn and Adrineh's house. Vaughn made all of us breakfast.
Mom, Mark, Leo, Harry, Vaughn, Michael, Leslie, the girls and I went to the mall and then out to dinner. We sang happy birthday to Mark.
Their dad had to go back to Chicago on Sunday.

It was a really fun few days.
Love, Aunt Diane