Michigan Averys

Pizza Anyone?

2011-02-07T19:35:00.002-05:00

This is what I found in my refrigerator this morning. I guess that's what happens when you have leftovers from a Super Bowl Party in the ER?

For some reason I don't want to eat anything from the fridge today...

The Only One In Gym Clothes...

2010-12-16T22:52:00.005-05:00

I messed up.

I messed up a lot.

Have you met Jaleigh? She is the one that came out obsessed with anything "beautiful". Who loves her clothes so much, she actually morns growing out of them. Really. She cries.

This is the girl, that right after she folded all her clothes said, "Hey Mom! Do you think we could go shopping and get some more?!"

She doesn't like "old" clothes, even though most of her clothes are hand-me-downs. She tolerates it, but doesn't like it.

She has been known to wear dresses with tennis shoes on gym days, because she wants to dress pretty. When I can get her in gym clothes, it is quite a compromise.

Today I got her in gym clothes.

I got her in gym clothes because we were saving her really special outfit for Friday. The day she has her big 1st grade Christmas performance. The show she has been practicing "J is for joy that is filling the air!" over and over for. The day of the big Christmas Party!

Except the performance isn't on Friday apparently. The performance was today. The Christmas Party isn't on Friday either. The Christmas Party was today...

And she was wearing gym clothes.

"All the girls had beautiful dresses and curly hair, Mom. All the boys were wearing handsome clothes. Everyone. And I was the only one wearing gym clothes."

Not just any gym clothes either.

She was wearing "old" gym clothes passed down to her from her now 14 year old cousin. And her "dirty" gym shoes too. "Ugly dirty gym shoes..."

The details unfolded throughout the night tonight.

"When Mazy saw me crying, she started crying and gave me a hug. Then she said, 'Why are you crying? Are you OK?' So I told her that I was sad because my Dad wasn't coming to see me. She said it would be OK, but I was really sad, Mom!"

"When Aubrey saw how sad I was, she told me were I could get a beautiful dress like hers. I know right where it is. It's the first Walmart, and you go to the compartment and they are right there. I think we saw them before, didn't we Mom? So do you think we can go to Walmart right now? Aubrey has a pink dress, so could we get a red one?" I reminded her that we already had a fancy outfit all ready to go for tomorrow, which hopefully will still be ok in the morning.

Nathan said when she got off the bus she said, "Dad! You forgot my performance today!" and burst into tears which continued for 45 minutes.

I called Jaleigh's teacher as soon as I found out. She filled me in with more pathetic news, like that Jaleigh begged her all day to call Nathan but her teacher was sure Nathan already knew. I'm sure he would have if his wife had written it on the calender for the right day...

She let me know that there would be an all school sing along tomorrow afternoon. (Which is incredibly long and boring...)

BUT.....

Guess who will be in the front row of the audience singing right along?

And guess who will be the only one in a beautiful dress with curly hair?

I doubt I will ever get her in gym clothes again...

Look What I Found

2010-12-15T21:13:00.000-05:00

...under the tree this morning.Asleep in Heavenly peace.

A Fun Filled Fall Week!

2010-11-04T22:52:00.008-04:00

Our crazy week started with a Super Hero day at school for Miss J. Yes, of course she wore that outfit to school, and in morning prayers asked that she be able to "help lots of people today". I am certain that she did!

The very next day, Jaleigh (FINALLY) lost her front tooth!! The tooth fairy got fancy and brought her a golden dollar for her tooth this time!

We had to cancel going to the trunk or treat at church, because we hadn't had any family time to even get to the farm for pumpkins. We missed seeing everyone, but we had so much fun with the farm to ourselves (who else spends money on pumpkins 3 days before you throw them away?) playing, eating doughnuts, drinking cider, feeding the animals, and picking out the best pumpkins!

Nathan got serious with the Dremmel this year and Ethan's pumpkin! He really is soo creative!

I love seeing them shine! Don't they look great?!

Saroya's first season in travel soccer was exciting. She found some serious passion and talent in herself. The last tournament game of the year she had 4 of the 5 goals and an assist for the other. She was an animal! The coach asked her if she had raw meat for dinner. In perfect Saroya style she replied, "No. We had ham." :) All night she repeated, "I am just so proud of myself! I can't believe I made 4 goals!!"

Her team mad it to the consolidation game in the finals, and it went to double overtime, DOUBLE shootout, and finally lost the game by one point in sudden death. It was a bummer, but they felt good about the job they had done! And what an exciting game! Better yet to me, is that they got the sportsmanship award in their league. Watch out next season ladies!! (Saroya is in the blue hat on the end)

Ethan's team had an easy win for the championship. Undefeated in travel soccer so far!! They are such a great team with such talent. It is so fun to watch them! (Ethan is in the black hat, middle row, second from the left)

On Halloween, Sweet princess Belle Jaleigh and the brilliant Hermione Granger Avery

stopped by for a spell.
We went Trick-Or-Treating with some friends of ours, and it was a good time. The kids always opted for the heaviest candy when given a choice...

The next day, we rushed to the dentist to unload the candy (1$ per pound), get cash, toys and a light up toothbrush. Can I tell you how much we love this dentist?!?

Jaleigh walked in the door and grunted, "Can I get a little help here???"

After the candy sell, we rushed home to clean up the leaves in the yard for FHE. WHEW!!!!

After so much go- we finally decided to stay. Light a fire, be together, and just be. Exactly the way I love it.

I am so happy with this family I have been blessed with. Not only do we love each other, we like each other a whole lot too.

2010-09-07T21:56:00.002-04:00

I totally failed on first day pictures this year. Ethan left when it was still dark out, but I love his 1st grade-like smile. Love it. 7th grade for this kid, and just a few small inches away from being my height. Eeek!!!

When I took the girls to school today, I forgot my camera and didn't take a picture before we left. Saroya suggested that we take an "after the first day" picture when they got home "to keep things exciting". Since there wasn't another option, we did just that. Unfortunately she was horrified that I decided to take the picture in front of all the kids on the bus and everyone at the bus stop. Who knew??? Oh yeah, she's in 4th grade now. I should know that.

Happy 1st day kids!

Changing

2010-08-15T00:49:00.002-04:00

When I walked out my door this is what I saw.

A sign of the changing season... already. But also a reminder of how much things are changing around here. So many things on the horizon but all up in the air. Praying that when the dust settles, so will our nerves.

Change brings growth I know, but sometimes it is soo uncomfortable too. Yuck.

One of the changes I have been thinking about is that I love photography... a lot- but not all aspects. I am going to try to move in the direction that makes me feel creative (which is weird for me to say about myself) and happy. Just saying it makes me happy.

I have been taking a trip down memory lane lately with all my fave bands from the High School days. I still love them!! Music has always been something that connects me. Connects me to my feelings, thoughts and memories. I don't know how I survived (like that I am still alive...) my teenage years. I was insane. CRAZY insane. My parents will be so happy to see me acknowledge that publicly- and I don't know how they made it either. Every wrinkle, grey hair, lost hair, heart problem or memory loss that they will ever have has my name on it. I am sorry. I kind of laugh a little about some things because it is so unbelievable. I guess I was born to show them what they were made of. And I can tell you too- solid steel thank goodness.

Thinking of back then- first I pray that all my kids will be prefect like my sisters. (Hey- it's in the genes somewhere, right??) Also- I realize that through the changes that I have had in my life, I- WE have created such a great life. I am not sorry about that. And I am not sorry for the things that I have learned along the way. I needed every lesson I have learned. I know I am rambling, and it's almost 2am, but suffice it to say, I am ready- come what may.

... and long live 80's alternative bands. :)

Outdoors... FINALLY

2010-07-31T20:34:00.014-04:00

Our summer schedule has been crazy. Crazy with good things- like Scout Camp, Family Reunion, Academic Camp, Girls Camp, Activity Day Camp. But it hasn't been the kind of Summer we yearn for during the long months of winter and school. The kind of summer we dream of is full of us together camping, exploring, adventuring and connecting.

Finally- we found a week we could go and just be.

By the time we got all packed up, um- you could say we looked ridiculous. RE-DIC-U-LOUS.
And so what that semi's were blazing past us up the smallest incline?

I hesitate to tell you about our favorite campground, because it really is a secret gem. We have always gotten a spot- last minute or holiday weekend- they are there for us. It is amazing. Then I remembered there are only 5 people that read my blog so I'll share it with you. You might remember when I blogged about it here? You will NOT be disappointed. Its called River Farm Campground in quaint little Pentwater MI. It is 10 minutes north of Silver Lake Sand Dunes, and 15 minutes south of Ludington. We stay here and enjoy all there is to do in all 3 towns. Really, the campground itself has so much to offer too. Ok- now if I start not getting a site when I call....

Nathan took the kids for a walk while I got all the details set up in the camper, and came back with one of his many "finger bouquets" as I call them, to decorate our table. I think he called this one "4th of July" because it reminded him of fireworks.

The fashion for the week was swimsuit and Keens. Every day- for the whole week!!

Mode of transportation?

Tubes,

Kayaks,
and Bikes.
Days filled with swimming

Tube jumping

Exploring

And even a little summer crushin' .

Late nights around the campfire eating sticky smores

and then talking just he and I, while the kids read themselves to sleep.

One of the MANY great things about this campground, is that it is on Pentwater River. Its a small river that I have never seen anyone on. LOVE IT!

We had never ventured out too far, but now that we all have Kayaks we decided to go all the way.

About a half mile down, we came to this huge sand dune. We stopped to explore and cool off.

Nathan said I had to get a look from the top. He was so right.Are you seeing this?? Not a soul in sight and we are having the time of our lives! Just stunning, isn't it?It was a beautiful river.

Another day we stopped at a great park in Ludington. Jaleigh made fast friends a few girls her "very own age".

I overheard their conversation...

"If you want to play with us, we will show you a very secret place. You can't tell anyone about it. Not even your parents. No one. Well, except my Grandma. We can tell her, cause she NEVER gets me in trouble..."

and they ran off to their very secret location...

Isn't that sweet?? I think it's true too....

And speaking of Grandma, I saw this at the beach one day and couldn't stop laughing. This is exactly something my mom would do... :)

By the end of the week, most of our books were read, some were a little sunburned, and all of us were eaten up

But we had the week we had been looking forward to for so long. Together.

Mission Accomplished!

Someone...

2010-07-15T20:43:00.002-04:00

is NOT happy with me.

In related news, we have lots of beautiful auburn hair available for wigs, oil spills, or pillow stuffing.

Half Way to 12...

2010-07-12T02:13:00.001-04:00

We love you sooo much Miss J, Happy Birthday!

Movie Time FUN

2010-07-10T19:53:00.000-04:00

Taking advantage of some serious jet lag- we loaded up the van and took our family to the Drive In movies! It was so fun that we wondered why we hadn't done it before.

The double feature was

and Couples Retreat. We thought- great! We will all watch Toy Story and then the kids will go to sleep while we watch Couples Retreat.

The sky was amazing as we as we waited for the show to begin
and I might just be nostalgic, but I LOVED the speakers!!

Where else can you eat popcorn, watermelon & grapes while watching a new release?

I also loved that I could turn around and watch cute Jake across the way occasionally.

When the first movie was over, we told the kids it was time to go to sleep.... then we realized we had three "not babies" who also had serious jet lag.

We closed the van up, tuned the radio station to the next movie over, "The Karate Kid" and the kids watched that while Nathan and I sat outside with our own speakers and watched our movie. It was PERFECT!!

3 new release movies for $27.00?? Awesome!

Getting home at 2:30am?? Let's just say we all slept in a LONG time! :)

Strokin' the Good Luck

2010-06-23T10:28:00.005-04:00

Back in April, Ethan entered a Earth Day photo contest. When he got home from school he was super bummed. He said they didn't allow you to use photoshop in the entries, so he was disqualified. I went on a rant about the fact that the rules didn't state that and it wasn't fair. I told him I was proud of him anyway and that he did a great job on the picture.

That night was Parent Teacher Conferences. When we got there, hanging right on the office window was Ethan's picture with a first place ribbon!! He wanted to surprise me so he made up the whole photoshop story... stinker. I was soooo EXCITED! What a great surprise!

He won an "I Love Earth" t-shirt & bracelet, Target gift certificate and a "Tough Boy" Sigg water bottle. Perfect for him!

Fast forward a month and we were at a school fundraiser for Saroya & Jaleigh's school. They had about 25 different raffles you could enter. I bought both girls a few tickets and let them enter what they wanted to. Saroya had her eye on a set of 3 large Webkinz so she put her ticket in that one, as well as a few others. Guess what she won...

EXACTLY what she wanted!! Welcome Nicole, Toby and Avery!!

At the same fundraiser, Jaleigh entered about everything she had tickets for. As usual, she wanted everything, but she was SURE she would be having a limo ride with her principal. I kept trying to explain a raffle and just because you enter it, it didn't mean you get to win the prize.

Then we got the call. She won the Limo ride!! Her first words (after a very high pitched scream) were "What am I going to wear?" followed by "We need to go shopping for a dress that goes all the way to the ground!"

I was able to convince her to get a dress that spins out far rather than goes to the floor when we found "glass slippers". Whew!

On her very last day of school, we took her to get her haircut. The place we go always does a little up-do complete with "fairy dust" after the cut, but they gave her the royal treatment that day. She even got a mini- manicure! OH that girl was in HEAVEN!!

As she walked to her school that day, hands outstretched by her side, she stopped dead in her tracks, and cupped her hands over her mouth. "Oh my gosh!! There is the RED CARPET!!! I can't BELIEVE IT!!" then she squealed!

The limo took them all to lunch and then they dropped Jaleigh off at her last day of school picnic. She exited the limo in all of her glory in front of every kindergartner in her school. She ate it up! She insisted on playing on the playground with all her friends in her dress and "glass slippers".

It was a day for her that she will never forget. We just got word that her limo ride made the local newspaper too! What a dream...

I think we could get used to this kind of luck!

Soccer tough

2010-06-13T16:49:00.013-04:00

What a great soccer season we had this year! The kids remained tough through it all.

We start the review with this years "Most Improved"- Miss J.

For a kid who started the year complaining because she wanted pink soccer shoes, specific shorts, and who worried more about how her hair and outfit looked on the field- this kid has come the furthest.

She plays best when on the field with all boys.

She is a unstoppable as goalie
and never lets one through...unless she is your best friend.

Jaleigh had the best season this year because she thinks she won all her games. Hurray Jaleigh!

Next up- Award for "Hard Core Player of the Year"- Saroya.

She broke her arm the day of her second practice- just two days before her first game. She soldiered on and had a great season.

She played mostly defensive sweeper(?) and gave the goalie lots of pep talks while waiting for the action.

She hustled scored and blocked the ball thru the whole season.

They ended their season with only losing one game, but her opponents were fast friends as soon as the game was over. Way to go Saroya!!

And Ethan... Ethan gets the Award for Most Intense Season.

This year, Ethan played on a travel team for the first time. I was apprehensive about it because I didn't know how we could make 3 games at different times and places, but thanks to friends and grandparents, it all worked out.

Ethan took on the position of goalie most of the season- like, 95% of the season. He still managed to score a couple of goals when he was playing forward so that was fun for him.

Ethan in the orange goalie shirt

His team was so cohesive it was awesome to watch. They were a really tight team and played great soccer.

I loved that when a goalie from the High School team was watching Ethan- he said, "Man that kid has a PUNT!"

They were undefeated the whole season, and even went into the playoffs having earned The Sportsmanship Award from the league. To me- that says a lot. Some of the teams they played would get frustrated when they were losing and start "playing the body"- which meant they would throw elbows, trip and push. Our boys held on trong though. In the playoffs- every game was a shut-out. NO goals were scored on them. "Yeah-that's my son playing goalie..." :)
This is exactly the moment that Ethan told me to leave- I was distracting him...

Going into the playoffs we were pretty confident- 1st place and undefeated. Then the game started...

It ended up being a no- score game. AHHH!! That meant that we went into 2- 5 minute overtime games, sudden death. Whoever makes the first goal wins it all. No score again. Next up... Shoot out.

Each team chooses 5 kickers that will try to make a goal on the other goalie- one at a time. best of 5 wins it. Wait... 5 of their top shooters blasting the ball into MY SON??? I was sweating, shaking, about to throw up- wanting to take his spot.

It was WAY more intense than it seems here!!!

And we ended it... 3-2 OUR TEAM!!!!I had my hair colored after that one.... MAN it was stressful!! Congratulations to Ethan on a spectacular season!

I always say- my favorite athletes are my kids, and my favorite sport is whatever they are playing. Great job kids!!

2010-05-29T20:08:00.005-04:00

This weekend, we went out for breakfast,Laid around,
Played in the mudTried on new glassesGot creative with dinnerCycled at sunset and ended with an amazing light show. Welcome back summer.

Bring on the Flowers!

2010-05-03T23:07:00.000-04:00

After a long cold winter- I always look forward to our annual trip to the greenhouse. It is fresh, warm, bright, and a tad humid. It is so breathtaking to me every time.

For the last several years, it has been just my neighbor, Miss J & I. This year was no exception, but it will be the last year for Miss J. Next year she will be in school all day. I will miss the perspective she has on this trip. Everything is so romantic in her view. Why do they grow soo fast?? :) I LOVE you Miss J!!

A Friday Too Early for the Beach

2010-04-23T21:21:00.008-04:00

Parent Teacher Conferences can only mean one thing... A DAY OFF!! :)

We did the whole Conference thing- the kids got great reports, we got good suggestions for the summer, and we even stopped by the book fair and got the kids something special.
Then we packed lunches- picked up some a couple of Ethan's friends (we have pretty much adopted each others families- they are so great!) and we headed out to our favorite hiking spot.
Being the end of April- we knew it would be too cold for the beach- but a hike would be perfect.

So we hiked.
I love watching the paths the kids choose. Over fallen trees, up hills and down exploring all along. "Check this out!" "Wait for me!" "Hey- how did you get up there?" echoing all around- yet to me- it was serene. This is exactly what a childhood should be.

When Nathan and I reached the destination- the stunning dune top view of the Lake- the kids had long since "settled" in. Shoes, socks, sweatshirts and coats were left behind and they made a beeline to the desolate April beach.

It was amazing. The sun and the breeze were warm and perfect. It felt like our little secret that this was a perfect beach day. It shouldn't have been, right? Michigan in April could still mean snow!

We relaxed, played and made our mark.
As we left, the boys discussed how cool it would be if a reporter saw their message in the sand. It would turn into the story of the year. They determined that they would end up on TV resolving the long mystery of the message left on a desolate beach, in the end of April. I love that they still allow themselves to believe in magic & mystery.

Then we ended with a delicious not-thought-out-at-all picnic. And it was great.

Life lesson #2375- Go even if it doesn't make sense, and believe in the impossible.

Something... Anything

2010-04-20T09:34:00.006-04:00

When you get soo far behind on blogging- you just need to start somewhere. I need to go back, and blog about the past, but for now I just need to post something... anything to get me going.

So here it is. Yesterday I taught Ethan to use the manual settings on my camera. His first ever Depth of Field shot...

Then I taught him a little photoshop.

And today he entered his first ever Earth Day photo contest. I couldn't be more proud!!

Another first today- Saroya is going to play soccer with a broken arm (who knew swings were so dangerous?). Its a good thing she is such a tuffy.

And undoubtedly today, Jaleigh will make a fashion statement... Not a first-or a last.

(this is the outfit that Jaleigh wanted to wear when I told her we were going to a Boy Scout Court of Honor...)

Just Because

2010-03-10T01:21:00.001-05:00

I adore this kid...

Just the Two of us...

2010-03-09T21:45:00.009-05:00

When Nathan brought up the idea of just the two of us getting away, my initial response was- there is no way. What would we do with the kids, how would we have the time, money... the list went on forever. He kept going forward with the idea though, and I am SO glad he did!

He arranged for a ski in ski out condo up north for a few days at the end of January. As the date got closer, we both felt like we needed the vacation more than ever. My parents were gracious enough to take the kids for us when we went so we packed up our snowboards and a few other essentials and headed out!

I was so looking forward to doing everything we wanted to do- and nothing we didn't want to. Stay up late and sleep in, or go to sleep early and sleep in late. Sleeping in late was definitely part of the plan no matter what we did. :)

We got checked in around 7:30ish and we were starving. We found out there was a restaurant right on the resort property so we planned to go there for dinner. Nathan suggested that we get cleaned up for dinner- but I was too hungry so we went in our "cleaning, driving, I washed everything else" clothes. As soon as I walked in I knew I should have taken Nathan's advice and cleaned up. yikes...

The meal was amazing, TOTALLY EXPENSIVE, and we ate in our grubbies. Oh well. We got our fancy restaurant!! :)

The next 4 days were bliss. We were right next door to the pool and hot tub room and rarely saw anyone else there.

We were able to so completely relax and connect it was incredible. We discussed things that would normally be extremely stressful, but with no other distraction we were able to just see each others side of things without being anxious or frustrated. It was awesome! We soo needed that.

We went snowboarding a lot. We got great deals on lift tickets the whole time which was an added bonus! I loved that we were right on one of the runs because it meant that we could snowboard for a while, and come back for a while, and then go out again and it was not a big deal. Totally the way to go...

We took a little day trip to Traverse City too. We were cool enough to use this cool retro thing called a map... made of PAPER! ;)

We went to see a movie (for grown ups!) and did a little shopping before going to this cool place for dinner. It was a total shot in the dark but we got shot a bulls eye. The food was sooo good, and the theming was very cool.We got sooo full!! :)

It was a much needed get away and we loved every minute. We promised ourselves we wouldn't let too much time pass before our next trip- just the two of us. I really feel like after this trip I was a better wife, mother and Holly. Why does it take so much for us to allow ourselves the things we soo need?

It is sad to say, that I had some glimpses of my marriage I hadn't seen in a while, that I didn't know where missing. Since this trip, we have managed to continue to keep these feelings in the forefront.

1. When we left from home, the speakers in the car weren't working. At first it was strange to know we were going to be in the car for 3 hours with no sound but ourselves. It was amazing how fast that feeling past when we started talking about things just to talk. We used to love going on road trips so that we could just talk for hours on end. We loved it, and we finally were able to do that again. So often it gets to the point when we are only discussing the kids, money, or other things that we "need" to talk about. It wasn't until we were almost home after our trip that the radio suddenly started working. Now it seemed like an unwelcome distraction. We still, after all these years, love talking to and hearing each other.

2. We really like each other a lot. I remember in our newlywed bliss feeling like I was so lucky that I could just always be with my best friend. We were so excited to have so much fun together and just hang out. Of course over the years we have still had fun, but it has been mixed in with work, responsibility, kids, schedules and all the other things that take time away from just "hanging out" with each other. I felt the same way I did in the beginning this weekend. I am so lucky to just be with the coolest person on earth, and I really like him alot. :)

3. We laughed so much on this trip and it felt soo good! I had some soy chocolate ice cream that I was just eating out of the carton while we were there. At one point, we were in the hot tub talking to some people about their stay. My lips were dry so I licked them. I tasted chocolate. I was horrified! I poked Nathan. "Do I have chocolate around my mouth?!?"

He looked at me, "Um... yeah."

"Are you kidding me? Why didn't you tell me?!"
Then he says, "I know it sounds weird, but honestly- it looked normal.

Nice. We couldn't stop laughing. :) I am glad that I am married to someone that makes me so happy, and someone that I can laugh with. I mean like- cheek hurting laugh. Love that.

When we got home, we were probably more happy to see the kids than they were to see us. They had so much fun being with my parents. They keep asking us if we are going away anytime soon. I am going to take that as they want to be with grandpa & grandma rather than NOT be with us... Either way- I hope it won't be too long.

And for the record- we fell asleep by 10:30 every night, and were up by 8am. So why is it that it is after 1am (and I have to get up at 6am) am I still awake?!?

Thanks again Nathan- for the time of my life! I LOVE YOU!!!

NYE in NY-OP

2010-02-07T23:21:00.011-05:00

Because Blogger hates me and because I am so behind, I give you a picture only post of our first great adventure of the new year. New Years Eve in New York- Orchard Park! Thanks Garricks- it was the best!!

Disney World Take 2

2010-01-14T10:24:00.019-05:00

Yeah, we did it again. Over the top this time! 10 days and 29 people all together. Wow.

Our flight left on Thanksgiving Day in the afternoon but we found a "stay and fly" package that would actually save us money in parking. So we went down on Wed afternoon and stayed in a hotel. It was nice to be completely ready and there. The kids spent time working on homework so it wouldn't be so bad when we got back.

Oh yeah, did I mention that we only had Ethan's camera for this trip?? Ugg.....

Anyway- we set out the next afternoon to the airport.

It didn't really occur to me that this was Jaleigh's first flight until we got on the plane and she started frantically studying the Aircraft Safety card. Unfortunately sometime near the end of the flight she decided that we were going to have a crash landing and announced it loud and clear. Over and over again. She wasn't scared, just very matter-of-fact. I assured her that the pilot was a very good one and he wouldn't have any trouble landing. "But good pilots have crash landings all the time!!" she insisted until we landed without incident.

Through the "Magical Express" service WDW has, they collected all our luggage and had it sent to our room. We were able to go right to the resort and have a most magnificent Thanksgiving dinner (one of which was made especially for me completely lactose-free. Yes- it made me tear up.), and then catch up with the Garricks at the Magic Kingdom.

Some of the highlights on Friday included a "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" Breakfast with our favorite Mary Poppins,

Finding a new favorite ride- Tomorrowland Transit Authority

and searching for (and making up our own) Hidden Mickey's

Speaking of hidden mickeys can I just post a few we found? The kids really got into finding Mickey's this time.

After Derek and Sunny got there on Saturday, we were inseparable. There were enough of us to do everything we wanted to do, and not to many of us to get it all done. Everyone really enjoyed being together. Actually- they really impressed us a TON. Having jet lag, a two & a half year old, and being 7 months pregnant- I never heard a complaint or of anyone needing a rest. They were about as hard core as they come! I never got tired of seeing well trained men in white coats come to my table to see how they could make my lactose-free dining the most tantalizing meal I had ever come across,

running into friends all around the parks

Seeing my family wear pink lei's :)
hanging out with characters

wait times like this on all our favorite rides

and seeing this on all the video games in our resort on the last morning. The best part of all though- was being there with both of my sisters and their families. We love being together, and being in a place we all love just made it all the better. Until next time...

This Halloween..

2009-10-31T21:20:00.011-04:00

I loved that I could only see leaves instead of road on my morning run.I loved seeing the leaves fly away from the tippy tops of trees like bats with a spooky sky backdrop. I loved this Pirate and this Indian girl.
I loved how beautiful this plain old road could look on a dreary rainy day. I loved this friend who got all dressed up to take my girls trick or treating and spoil them to death,

So I could stay home with this sick little boy whom I love very much.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Pumpkin Post

2009-10-27T21:20:00.006-04:00

All that plus Apple Cinnamon doughnuts, Apple Cider Slushies, and yummy homemade fudge.

Yeah- it was a pretty good day!

They Said It Would Rain...

2009-09-27T20:33:00.022-04:00

But I still wanted to go on our last camping trip of the year. What is better than fall camping?Nathan said there is nothing worse than camping ANY time when it just rains. I still wanted to go.

I won.

We had exactly one hour to get everything packed up and out the door. Eek. That's not much time, but I was determined to get it done.

As we were putting the final things in the camper Nathan says, "Oh- I got called into work tonight." This after already working 75 hours THIS WEEK. "I will get you guys set up and then I will go in. I will be back before you wake up in the morning."

Still going...

Then one of the kids (who shall remain nameless) said they would prefer to stay home and play video games.

Now we were going for SURE!

The campground we decided on is owned by a co-worker of Nathan's. It is small so it's never too crowded and the property is stunning! Hiking trails, pond with a row boat, and a beautiful boardwalk that takes you out to a river supplied with a kayak and canoe. Words just don't do it justice. Actually- I'm not even sure pictures do!

I think that the thing I love the most about camping is connecting.
We all took turns in the kayak- something the kids have been wanting to try for a long time.

The skies continued to look ominous, but we kept on like it was the perfect day. And it really was. The kids remembered that it was way more fun to learn to whistle a piece of grass, and to search for bad guys in the woods than it is to master a new Wii game...
Miss J collected leaves

and found uses for them along the way. I realized that a one hour packing job doesn't actually DO the job, so we were all excited to go out to eat at a fun little restaurant.

Yeah, the rain came but amazingly it only came when we got in the car to go somewhere. By the time we got there- it was done.

I HAD to stop along the road to get a few early fall beach pictures

This last weekend was just what we needed to keep us going. We all agreed that it was perfect.
Now, does anyone have any kayaks for sale???

Stupid Cape Just Chokes Me Anyway

2009-09-21T22:53:00.005-04:00

Every so often I get a superwoman complex. I feel like I need to be doing more of some things, less of other things, and everything else in between. Every other women can do it, right??

I went for the cape the other night.

uh.... yeah.

I decided I would can tomatoes, do the laundry, wash the dishes and pick up the house... all at the same time. Start time? 10:30p on a school night.

By the time the night was over I had broken 3 quart jars, dropped a nasty rusty dirty ring into the stewing tomatoes, and 5 quarts didn't seal.

In the midst of the canning, I notice that the washing machine is exceptionally loud. I opened it and noticed that the agitator was not moving. I did my best to research the problem in between blanching tomatoes, and by the end of the night, I had the washing machine torn apart.

Now the kitchen is a horrendous disaster with tomato splashes, canning supplies, tools, washing machine parts, and laundry everywhere.

Funny because things like this affect me differently than they do my husband. I just get really tired. Well- that and it is now like 2am and the kids will be up soon.

While I was quickly cleaning up what I could, I started sneezing like crazy!

Finally sleep.

Woke up the next morning, ordered the part to fix the washing machine- $2.95. Awesome!

Decided to make spaghetti sauce with the tomatoes that didn't seal for the neighbors to be nice . Great idea!

Realized that my nose was running terribly, I had a headache and my throat was on fire. Not so good.

Washing machine part will be delivered in 5-7 days. Um, yeah. That is a bag of scrubs with "stuff" on them from Nathan's work last night. Gross. 5-7 days is a long time...

Delivered a container of freshly made spaghetti sauce to the neighbors who graciously accepted, but found out later, they still had leftovers from the spaghetti they made for dinner last night.

As usual, I sit and wonder how "everyone else" does it all. I only tried to be superwoman for one night, and it all backfired.

Then I remembered something we found while cleaning out my Grandma's house.

I clearly need to be in on the secret. Anyone know where to get this stuff?? :)

You Better Believe It!

2009-09-15T23:21:00.010-04:00

Saroya is definitely NOT one to give up. She asked and asked when she would be able to try again on water skis. So many times have been canceled due to our vacations, phone being down, and lastly Ethan being sick. Today, we finally made it out!!

It was a PERFECT day. 80 degrees, bright blue sky, silky smooth water, and no one but a turtle on a log around.
She was ready, excited and determined to give it her best.With a couple of rough starts-

and a couple more falls, she was always right back to try again.

Then she finally DID IT, and continued to get up every time she tried after that!

She took two rides all around the lake, which is a big deal when your arms feel like rubber for working at getting up for a good half hour! Nothing feels better than working hard... and succeeding!!! YEA SAROYA!!

Before this summer, Avery family- 1 water skier. After this summer, Avery family- 4 water skiers (and one that REALLY wanted too! Maybe next summer??).

Perfect end to a perfect summer.

Tomorrow's weather forecast- Sunny, clear and 71 degrees...

Welcome Fall.

We are ready!

I Probably Should Be Blogging...

2009-09-12T21:22:00.020-04:00

Right?

I mean- Ethan has gotten his Webelos rank in Cub Scouts, Arrow of Light and crossed over into Boy Scouts. Not only that, but Nathan was able to advance his WHOLE den to those ranks all while going to school, getting all A's, and working to support our family. I think that is blog-worthy anyway.

You would think I would want to blog about our last minute trip to the sand dunes with our friends on Labor Day Weekend. That was so fun!
The kids were so conflicted seeing a "school bus" that day, but amazed by the snowmobile skimming on the water and monster semi truck dune buggy!I would seem ungrateful for the good time we had if I didn't document that!

I especially should be blogging about the fact that I now have 3 different kids, leaving for 3 different schools, at 3 different times during the day.

Wait... I just said 3 kids in school. Three kids in SCHOOL. Not to mention a husband in yet another school!

That means I have a little bit of "me" time for the first time in.... a long time. A lot of that time is spent getting kids off and back home, but I have time. That is probably the BIGGEST reason I should be blogging.

It seems however, that in those 11 years of having kids underfoot constantly I have neglected to do a lot of "necessary" things. So instead of blogging I have found myself getting into the guts of my house. Surprisingly, I love it. I might only have 2 hours a day to myself this year, but I HAVE TWO HOURS TO MYSELF!!!

I will want to remember that on that very first day of Kindergarten, Jaleigh raised her hand and when called on said, "Um, I haven't actually ever been to this school before, and I haven't been in Kindergarten, and I haven't even been on a bus before, and I think I should be quiet now."

Pure genius.

I HAVE to remember that after that very first day of school, someone actually slept on the TOP BUNK for the very first time. And NO ONE'S head got chopped off by the fan either! (Not that we have EVER had that ceiling fan on- and even if it was on, it would be no where near anyone's head...) Ok, so it might have been the school induced coma that my kids fell into way before bedtime, and she might have just barely been on the top bunk, but for me, that is blogging news!

I really want to blog about the sweet things my husband does for me. Like the time last week when he said he had plans with a friend after working 5 days in a row. He secretly canceled them, ran a bunch of errands for me, and surprised me with the sweetest 2 page letter, flowers and my first ever i-pod. He said that "now that you are a runner" (HA!!!) it might be easier to have something smaller (than my 5lb mp3 player that is the size of my hand!!) and he made sure he didn't spend any more money than he would have had he gone out with his friend. Little things like that mean SOO much to me! Not just nice and sweet, but thoughtful. Love him...

Yeah, so I really should be making more time to blog... Don't ya think??

Not tonight though, I feel like watching a movie instead...

Time Out

2009-09-01T23:22:00.000-04:00

After a short very busy week, we needed more wide open spaces.

We headed up to Sleeping Bear National Park on suggestions from several friends. We had been to Sleeping Bear several years ago with Nathan's parents, but weren't really all that impressed. Apparently we didn't get the visitors map, because there was SOO much to do!

The first day we were there, we just set up camp and crashed. Nathan had just come off a 13 hour shift and I got a lovely 2 hours of sleep after getting everything ready to go. Our WONDERFUL kids just read, played games and slept until we woke up 2 hours later. It's amazing how great 2 hours of really hard sleep can feel.

We noticed that the campground was very quiet with lots of older campers, and not too many kids. It was kind of strange. One of our camping neighbors was especially nice and brought over kindling when we were having trouble starting a fire with damp wood. One night, he played his harmonica for his wife, and had Nathan & I smiling and the kids dancing around. So cool!

Then the neighbor on the other side of us... He seemed nice enough, but there was just one thing ...

He wouldn't wear pants!! He had a little black speedo (I hope that's what it was) that he wore all the time, but that's it for the lower region. I'm sorry. Can I just say? If it is cold enough to wear a sweatshirt- it is probably cold enough to wear pants. And furthermore, pants are not optional attire. Hat, yes. Pants, No. uggg.....

As we explored the area, we went on a cool scenic drive that led to a Lake Michigan Overlook. As Nathan and the kids walked down the dune to get a good look, it looked as if they had come to the end of the world! I was freaking out, so I followed them to the most unbelievable view.

Stunning blue for as far as you could see.

I decided that I love this color blue for a backdrop!
This is Ethan saying, "Can't we go all the way down??"
Can you see how steep this thing is?!?
This is Nathan telling Ethan, "Tomorrow". The kids thought it was so fun to play with my anxiety... We watched a Old Fashion Blacksmith's demonstration

and the kids helped with a re-enactment of a U.S. Lifesaving Service boat rescue.

Nathan and the kids even indulged me in a visit to Traverse City for a while, to visit an old favorite place we took Ethan as a baby. 11 years has certainly changed things there! It wasn't as magical, actually kind of gross, but it was still a great day, and the kids had fun.
While Nathan & I were NOT successfully taking a self portrait, (could you just die for that smile?! LOVE IT!!)

The kids were playing on this playground.

Miss J happened to loose one of her "favorite" earrings (every pair of earrings are her favorites!). EEK!! After about 5 or 10 minutes of searching through the sand, I earned my SuperMom cape thankyouverymuch!

Our neighbors joined us for the end of the week, and eventually the "overLOOK" became an "overCLIMB". Nathan took ALL the kids (except for Miss J) ALL the way down!! It was quite a workout, but they all made it back up!

The sun wasn't as bright the second day, so the colors weren't as vibrant, but still sooo beautiful!

I was lucky enough to get out and do some quaint "little town" shopping with the girls one day. Man- I need to do that more often!! We found some of the coolest things! One of which is something I hadn't seen since I lived in England a LONG time ago, and before that as a kid. I fell in love with these! When is the last time you saw milk being sold in glass bottles??

And who wouldn't want to eat here?? YUM!!

I am soo not ready to be done with the summer...

P.S. I am looking for some different music for my running playlist. What is your favorite exercising music?

Sometimes Dreams...

2009-08-22T10:09:00.002-04:00

are as good as reality.

Last night I had a good dream.

I DID the photo shoot. Without anyone around. It was awesome, and I woke up knowing that I could do it. I knew I could....

:)

Wanted: Spine

2009-08-21T17:14:00.002-04:00

Photo shoot.
Ready, Excited.
Lots of people- one with big camera & excellent lens.
Intimidated.
"Camera Girl" tells me I'm doing it wrong. (I'm not...)
Crumble, Fold, Leave.
Grrr....

P.S. In case you were wondering, I don't shoot weddings. (anymore)

Perfect 6

2009-08-18T20:56:00.014-04:00

With days not too hot, but hot enough and the water exactly the right temperature we spent a perfect 6 days... together.

We canoed to the beach, and for a nighttime guided tour, and we rode our bikes everywhere else.

This kid blew me away. We biked roughly 2 miles up and down hills. This kid never stopped, and never wrecked. (ALMOST, when dad decided to "race" her down a hill, but she held steady!) She's been without training wheels for how long?

We hiked inspiring trails every day

we came upon a "natural" playground. The kids had fun playing on the see-saw until Ethan got a little rowdy. Nathan decided to "have a go" with Ethan. Can you see Ethan's body all tensed up? You know what happened next...

One evening we went into town to a special "Movie in the Park" that the kids thought was just magical! Everyone just showed up with blankets and lawn chairs and hung around until the movie started at dusk.

They even had a little boat ride for the kids to pass the time. Price of the entire night? $2.50 for 3 bags of popcorn and a soft pretzel. Memories? Priceless.

Almost every night ended with a snack of some kind

And of course a fire!

On our last perfect night, we drove into a local town for a "homecoming" fireworks show over the lake. While we were waiting, Saroya learned to whistle with a blade of grass!

It was so much more beautiful watching the reflection on the water, and since we got a waterfront seat, I got some cool pictures!

A perfect way to finish a perfect week.

Now we are home for laundry, a wedding and work before heading out on another adventure next week. We can't WAIT!

Full Swing Summer

2009-08-05T22:13:00.009-04:00

This week has been crazy fun busy. Oh, and just so you know, weeks during the summer don't go Sunday to Saturday, they just start and end when you want them to! :) So our "weekend" started on Friday night with a "Cruzin" Parade at a local town. We happened upon this parade several years ago, and I was surprised by how much we liked it! We have been back every year since then. I don't know if it was more fun to watch the parade or the kids.

LOVE Sundays for the totally relaxed days they are (after church!)

MONDAY, Guess who started doing something VERY cool???

Then on Tuesday we did a little of this with some friends from Nathan's work.

Today, we had a surprise for the kids when a friend invited us to go boating with him. Out of our family, I am the only one who has water skied. After today though... (love the picture Ethan took of me that focused on the water drops instead of me?? I DO!!)

It was AWESOME!! Saroya even tried, and I bet she could have gotten up if her ski's had been smaller to fit her feet.
Next time...

And one last thing, just to document it so I have some accountability, I have been "workin' on my fitness", and I need a few witnesses!! :)

There is another surprise in store for tomorrow for the kids that has to do with fast rides and water, but I can't ruin the surprise JUST yet!! :)

HURRAY for summer!

Just a Hike

2009-08-01T21:28:00.015-04:00

Seems like I have been a little un-inspired lately. Have you been able to tell from my blog???

I mean, we have had some super-great visitors and hade a blast at the sand dunes with friends.
Of course we have been to the beach

and the kids have been having fun with friends.

Farmer Jaleigh was able to grow a few things this year, thanks to our kind neighbor "Farmer Dave"

and the big kids have been doing a lot of this...

but ya know, I just couldn't get into documenting (aka "blogging").

Then a few days ago we decided to hit a trail...

It didn't start out so good, we forgot the water in the van. So while Nathan and the big kids went back and got it, Miss J & I waited on a bench.

I just sat and watched her. I don't know if it is because it's not strange for her to want to hike in a dress

or because since the day she was born, her legs never hang without having her ankles crossed

but I just realized that I couldn't let these days slip by.
As the water and the rest of the family arrived, we continued along the way.

I just couldn't stop taking pictures!!

Miss J got tired along the way but as usual, Nathan came to her rescue by applying the very rare and efficient "energy plant".

It worked like a charm!!
She would look at me side sideways and say, "Mom- is Dad really serious?" I asked her if she thought he was. She said yes! Who am I to argue?

So as I sit here, I realize how behind I am and how much I let fall by the wayside. I need to get better at finding a better balance in my life. August is going to be a really busy month, and then it's back to school, but I need to do better. And I will.

I mean... who wants to forget this???

Happy Birthday America! (...and Nathan!)

2009-07-04T18:04:00.002-04:00

Magic Day @ The Magic Kingdom

2009-05-01T22:36:00.016-04:00

Wednesday morning started early with a wake up call from Mickey Mouse himself! (Is getting up before 7am ever ok on vacation?!?) We were excited because we had breakfast reservations at the Grand Floridian with Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland, The Mad Hatter, Pooh & Tigger. On top of that, we were going to be able to ride the monorail for the first time.

Walking into the Grand Floridian was stunning! It was... well, grand! Jaleigh was wearing her first of 3 princess dresses. As we were walking down the (very grand) staircase, I turned to see Jaleigh holding up the front of her dress- very princess-like- and Saroya holding up the back of her dress. I wish I had my camera out- it would have been priceless.

In the lobby, the florists were re-doing a flower arrangement and gave the girls some of the longest stem roses I have ever seen!

The breakfast was fantastic (again a chef to show me around and TONS of options!!), the Characters were really lovely and came around alot, we ate a ton and were ready to have a great day! We WILL definitely do this again.

We didn't get to the park until 10:30a because of our breakfast, so we started to the right and just started seeing things. I think we may have started with Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin because we liked Toy Story Mania so much and heard it was similar. It was fun, but Toy Story Mania wins hands down!

We hit Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor which was HILARIOUS. Then I got bugged because I think the longest wait we ever did that day was for Tomorrowland Indy Speedway, and we can do that exact kind of ride 5 minutes from our house. In the end of the day, the kids loved it, so I guess it didn't matter.

After the Tomorrowland ride, we decided to separate while Nathan, Ethan & Saroya went on Space Mountain (Saroya was NOT a fan!)

Jaleigh and I went for a walk through Mickey & Minnie's houses and then for a leisurely ride on the train over to "Frontierland". (I know, I know... ME on a train. It was nothing!)

We met up with everyone there and headed to Pirates of the Caribbean. LOVED IT! I was worried that the kids wouldn't like it, but Nathan said, "They will be fine." And they were!

We went to Aladdin's Magic carpets,

The Swiss Family Robinson tree house, The hilariously funny Jungle Cruise,

and then... THEN we ate Dole Whips for lunch! (Did you know that these dreamy desserts are dairy free??? :D)

On our way over to Fantasyland, we noticed a parade was coming through. We had a terrible view, and didn't even try to get closer, but Jaleigh was THRILLED! She kept saying, "Here I am Princesses!! HERE I AM!!!" So funny!!

We stopped to see a few things, but then ate dinner at Pinocchio's Village Haus. Again, pizza for the kids and DELICIOUS salads for Nathan and I. OH- and you see that book on the table in the foreground? It is a total Walt Disney World MUST have. It's called Passporter's Walt Disney World. Thank you SOO much BETH!

After dinner, we went on a few of what turned out to be MY favorite rides! Peter Pan's Flight and It's a Small World.

The girls really wanted to see Tinkerbell & Friends in Pixie Hollow but the wait was 60 minutes- at least 30 minutes longer than anything we had waited for. I figured that with the holiday crowd showing up in a few days, this would be the shortest wait we could get. The boys waited with us for a while, but then I told them to go ahead and we would catch up to them. They had TV screens showing movies, so the wait wasn't bad at all. I don't even think we ended up waiting that long. Reguardless- it was totally worth it for the girls!

One glimpse of the castle and we knew what time it was!

We got an "insider tip" from an employee on where to stand so that Tinkerbell would fly right over our heads- so we found our spot, got a few snacks, and waited for the show. (Saroya is on the phone with Grandma Pam & Grandpa Dave who called to say, "Why haven't we heard from you??" :)

Perfect end to a perfect day! Ok- and even though I flimed it on another day when the Garricks were with us, I just wanted to post it here too... I couldn't wait! :)

Day 3- Animal Kingdom!

2009-04-30T21:48:00.010-04:00

After a late night, we were still determined to get a early start. We made it to the bus stop by 8:10am. Plenty of time to get there before the park opened at 9am. Hurray!!

As we made a dash to Kilimanjaro Safaris to get fast passes the scenery was amazing! There was so much attention to detail, I just wanted to walk slowly and take it all in. We knew we would have more time later, so we just soaked in as much as we could and got our fast passes. We were lucky enough to make it for the first showing of The Festival of the Lion King, and get front row seats!

It was in-your-face, high energy, great singing, and just spectacular! I think this was Nathan's favorite show. Might have been mine too!

We stopped for a few character greetings along the way to the Kilimanjaro Safari.

Kilimanjaro Safari's was probably the this I was looking forward to the most, and the biggest disappointment. It was cool to see all the animals close(ish), but they tried to make it seem too real, which just made it obvious how not real it was. That dosen't make much sense, and anyway- the kids loved it so that's all that matters. It was still fun!

After the Safari, we decided to catch a showing of the Finding Nemo Musical. I had a tip that this show was great, and it did not disappoint! The music, acting and costumes were awesome! We had close seats, but they were off to the left. I think I would have rather been further back to get a better view. We found what WE think was another "Hidden Mickey". (I love how Saroya is pretending to hold her breath like she is under water!) It's funny, because even today April 30th- Saroya pointed out a "Hidden Mickey" on a picture in my room. They are all still looking, like Disney sprinkled Mickey heads all over the world!We took a break after the show to have lunch. Nathan & I ate at the Flame Tree Barbecue which had the biggest most delicious sandwiches. I can't remember what Nathan had, but I know I LOVED my sandwich! :)

The kids ate at Restaurantosaurus, which is essentially chicken nuggets and fries. Perfect for mot having to fight with kids to eat! :)

After lunch we walked over to Kali River Rapids to see what the wait was. 10 minutes. Sweet! We walked on and everyone LOVED it. Actually the girls and I went on it again while Nathan & Ethan ran over to ride Expedition Everest.

The girls and I had some extra time, so as we were walking around, we noticed that "It's Tough to be a Bug" only had a 10 minute wait, so we went to see that. YIKES!! It was horrifying for the girls...ok and a little scary for me too. It was the centipedes running across my back I think that got me!

We all found each other, toured the Tree of Life and then only had a few minutes before the park closed.

Since Animal Kingdom closed at 5pm, we decided to make dinner reservations at Hollywood Studios @ Hollywood & Vine for 6:35p. Only problem with that was that we arrived there at 5:30p, and Nathan had some work that he needed to do and the kids wanted to go swimming. I checked with the restaurant to see if there were any earlier times available and she said, "How about right now?" I about screamed I was so happy! I was shocked that they had an opening, knowing how busy the park seemed to be. It was great service, and a buffet- which is normally scary to me with my food issues- but the chef came out and pointed out exactly what I could eat, and offered to make me a few things too! In fact- she even brought me dairy free ice cream, two chocolate chip cookies and a brownie! Luckily the cookies and brownies were pre-packaged so I took them with me.

Sometime during dinner, I noticed the kids talking quietly and pointing. When I asked what what going on, Saroya said, "Jaleigh saw Gabriella from High School Musical!" I looked over, and a waitress did look shockingly like her! Jaleigh was absolutely star stuck! Finally she asked me to go with her to say, "hi". I walked up to a girl named Daniella whose badge says she is from Mexico.

"Um, excuse me... My daughter thinks you are Gabriella from High School Musical."

She turned and said very humbly. "Aww...she does??" And knelt down to talk right to Jaleigh.

"Do you think I am Gabriella?? You are so nice!" and gave Jaleigh a really sweet hug. I could have kissed her for doing that. For never crushing her by saying, "No, I am not her" but let her have her moment. Her dream! Before we left we asked if we could get a picture and she said, "Of course!!"

We left as her manager approached her to find out what was going on. I really hope she gets some kind of recognition for the way she handled the situation, because it really meant the world to Jaleigh. Magic again- the best!

We headed home after dinner and had plenty of time for swimming, homework, and an early night to sleep. The next day we were finally heading to the MAGIC KINGDOM!!!

So, As I Was Saying...

2009-04-28T22:34:00.012-04:00

We woke up early on our first full day at Disney World. Our plan was to get to Hollywood Studios before it opened. Then we would be the "only ones there" and be able to jump on any ride. (HA!)

We got to the bus stop about 8:45a, not as early as I had hoped but we were sooo excited. We watched the first bus come- Animal Kingdom, the second- Epcot, third- Magic Kingdom, fourth- Animal Kingdom.... We were starting to think we were at the wrong place. Then we realized that maybe we weren't the only people that had the idea of getting there "early". Eventually the bus came and we were officially on our way!

We had a plan (thanks to careful preparation and direction from Beth) and we ran to get fastpasses to the newest attraction Toy Story Mania. As far as rides go, this was Saroya's FAVORITE. It was pretty awesome. It involves 3D glasses, Midway games, and trying to beat Dad's score! So much fun.

Jaleigh and I hung out and watched the Jedi Training Academy while Nathan & the older kids rode the Star Tours ride- another big hit. We decided to run over and see if we could do something Jaleigh would like to do, and got to the Beauty and the Beast show just 5 minutes before it began. It was a packed house, but they led us straight down to the front of the auditorium, and we sat 2 rows from the front of the stage. One look at Jaleigh and I knew exactly what people mean about Disney World's "magic". She was beside herself with excitement. We had lunch at the Pizza Planet (from the Toy Story Movie), and it was SOO GOOD!! Nathan and I had salads that were fantastic, and the kids had pizza with grapes and rice crispy treats shaped like a Mickey Head. Not bad for "park food".

We watched the High School Musical 3 street show (which of course had the kids dancing like crazy!!) and Jaleigh was lucky enough to be called up to be in the show with the dancers. Yeah- magic again... :)

The kids had a snack credit that they could use every day- so they opted for the Chocolate Covered Mickey Head ice cream bars.

While we were waiting for the afternoon "Block Party Bash" Ethan & Saroya took the opportunity to trade pins.

By this time, Miss J thinks she is a "cast member" herself, and marches right out to the entertainers to dance in the show. She wasn't paying a bit of attention to what anyone else was doing, she was working the crowd. :)

We went to see the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, and it was great! I think I spent just as much time watching the show as I did watching my own family with smiles plastered all over their faces.

After the show, it was time for our dinner reservations at the 50's Prime Time Cafe. I was soo excited about this. The premise is you are at your "Mom's" house and you sit at a 50's style table with an 50's black and white TV playing old re-runs at the table. The waiters are supposed to treat you like kids reminding you to "eat your veggies" and "keep your elbows off the table". I thought it would be so fun. Nathan didn't think it was. (Which kinda was funny to me too!) He totally thought the guy was annoying and rude. Saroya was scared of the server and had a few tears because she didn't like the Mac & Cheese (GROSS!!!). We told her it was ok, she didn't have to eat it. Overall, I don't think I would go back there because I wasn't impressed with the food, and Nathan wasn't impressed with the service... (he! he!!) BUT!!! I do think I found a hidden Mickey there. Nathan says no, but I think it is. Can you see it?!

We took some time after dinner to get some character autographs and before we knew it we were into the "extra magic hours". That was so great because the whole place cleared out. We weren't really sure what to do. I asked a lady in the area for an "insider tip" and she said that all the big characters are in the Magic of Disney Animation show so you can get autographs. There was no waiting so we went. IT was interesting, but apparently all of the characters were at the Playhouse Disney Dance Party going on next door, so we went over.

Imagine a dance party with bubbles flying through the air, Disney Characters doing the "Locomotion" and a kid friendly CRAZY DJ running the show! It was a blast. Perfect thing to do at 11:00 at night. They announced that there were some guys making balloon things for kids. THEY WERE AMAZING!!! This one guy had crazy skills and all the kids walked away happy.

Happy that is until Nathan was trying to find a "safe place" to put Saroya's prized possession back in our room. It went a little like this.

"Dad, maybe you shouldn't put it there."

"No, it's Ok sweetie. Look."

"But Dad, the wall might pop it.... "

POP!!!!

Then lots of very, very, sad tears and a balloon Teddy Bear's leg shrinking quickly. It took a LONG time for her to get over that one. Nathan felt TERRIBLE!!! She forgave him quickly, but she was still very very sad. Luckily we got a picture forever! :)

The other bummer about that day was realizing that we missed Fantasmic on the only day we could have seen it. BLAH!!

Oh well. Next time..... :) It was an amazing start to an amazing week!

Hotel Avery

2009-04-24T23:41:00.013-04:00

Nathan grew up in the hospitality business, his family owning a motel, but I don't think he realized he would be "back in business" for a while! Maybe it is the 27 towels that I have in my closet from an amazing family reunion we had at our house this past summer. Maybe I just have a "social fixation" that is never satisfied, but what ever the reason is, we have been very fortunate in the past couple of months to have some great house guests come to stay with us.

First there was Grandma Old Ears. She was fresh out of rehab for a broken hip, so we loaded her up and brought her to our home.

Oh she and jaleigh had soo much fun! Grandma Old Ears would teach Jaleigh such fun things at meal time, like how they could squirt each other by biting down on a fresh grape.

Grandma was supposed to use her walker, but didn't like to. When I would get after her, she would have Jaleigh jump on the walker seat and take her on a ride all through the house.

When grandma would get tired out, Jaleigh would snuggle right up to her and stay there as long as grandma wanted her to. It was so sweet!

I loved the time we were able to spend with Grandma Old Ears. I loved the way Saroya would always ask grandma if she needed anything in her super loud voice (she never talks quietly to Grandma Old Ears!) and would ask Grandma to brush her hair for her. I loved that when Ethan would get home from school with all 11 years of his coolness, he would find grandma and give her a hug (and duck away when grandma's lips came searching for him!). I love that she and Nathan had a big old rib cookoff and the two of them devoured the whole thing! I love that I got to be with her and help her in her time of need.

After Grandma left Saroya said, "I am really going to miss Grandma Old Ears, no one has ever made my hair softer than she did. And she never HURTS me when she brushes my hair (glaring at me)." All and all I am so thankful we were all able to have that time. We will cherish those memories forever.

Then a couple weeks later, we got to have someone come and stay with us that we had never met or even talked to before. Her name oddly enough... Holly.

The story is amazing, much like the people involved in the story are amazing. It's an adoption story starting with the stunning strength and unconditional love of a teenage girl for her baby and the adoptive parents she chose, to the unbelievable respect, adoration, and unspeakable gratitude the adoptive parents feel toward this special teenage girl. And somehow, somewhere, there I was with my camera. Can you feel the gravity of that?

Neena was one of "my" young women when I was YW President, and we have always had a good relationship. She had talked with me about possibly having Holly (the adoptive mom) come and stay with us while she was here in Michigan. Of course we said yes. I must admit I was a little nervous- I had never met her before- but somehow I knew it would be fine.

From the time we first said "Hello" it was fantastic. She is fantastic! You would have thought we were long lost friends! She amazed me with her creativity and gusto. She made the most adorable fairy dolls, and even gathered all the girls around to show us how to do it one night. I told her one day that she should open an etsy shop. She said, "Ok!" and did it right then! (click here to see it!)

It was really weird to say my name so much (I don't think I have never really talked to another Holly), and it was comical how alike we are in so many ways! I really enjoyed the time we spent together.

The night before the baby was born, Neena, Holly and I had a junk food and movie night here. It was so much fun! The best part was after the movie though, when we all just layed on the bed and talked, and talked, and talked.

Then.....

he came...

And then he came...and they were parents at last, for the first time.

We were so excited that they got to come "home" to our house for a while. You know I can't just have them "at the house" and not do a little photo shoot, right?

Yes... I do have more pictures (snap) and I am so thankful. Thankful to have been a witness to something so beautiful, so amazing and yet all of them so humble to have been a part. Stunning...

So forgive us for our absence and the missed birthdays, anniversaries, etc., I know there are many who can "do it all". Clearly- I am not one of them! :) I will do my best going forward. I can't wait to continue to document our adventures...

She Insisted!!

2009-03-25T23:50:00.003-04:00

Just a tiny little post (before I dive into all the KETCHUP that needs to be done...)

When she talked to Nathan on the phone just after the haircut she said, "Oh Daddy! It is absolutely FABULOUS!"

For the rest of the day, every time she walked by a mirror she would stop, dance and admire herself. I guess she's happy with it! More to come.... I promise!!

A Perfect End

2009-02-26T23:59:00.002-05:00

I have had so many sweet well wishers, and a few crazy blog posts from Nikki and Sunny, and some really nice gifts during this crazy busy day of mine... Thanks soo much to all of you. I am touched.

Tonight as I was quickly trying to get the girls off to sleep before jumping in to the final day of hell week for Ethan (5 projects and catch up work) Jaleigh said her prayers...

"Heavenly Father, I am thankful it is my mom's birthday today and I am going to sing her a song when I am done with my prayer..." After a big hug from both of my girls, this...

Perfect...

The Trip Part 1

2009-02-24T22:16:00.010-05:00

I LOVE a road trip. Heck- I love ANY trip. But this trip was different. I was excited for this long awaited trip for so many reasons. Spending 100% of our time together, getting away from the mundane day to day stuff, getting a break from the 100+ inches of snow we have had this season, seeing the sun AND feeling it, going to Disney World for the first time, and really the list goes on. I had a plan and we were going to see if it worked...

The night before we left, I washed every particle of clothing and bedding, I scrubbed this house from floor to ceiling, and I got everything we needed packed in the van ready to go.

Oh yeah. The van. I officially changed the name of our van while on these journeys to "the mini" kind of like "the winny" because when we are driving down the road- it sure feels like we are in some kind of Winnebago...

So the plan was that we would get up at 4am, just jump in the car and go. Nathan went to bed early and set the alarm, and I finished up around the house.

I woke up to a faint alarm going off and kids jumping around, giggling, and screaming with delight. I looked at the clock to see 4:15am. Then Ethan came in as awake as if it were noon.

"I thought we were leaving at 4:00!" We dragged ourselves out of bed and did the best we could to get ready fast. We were in the mini at 5am.

I told the kids they needed to go back to sleep- so there would be no movie watching until the sun came up. By the time the sun came up- none of them had gone back to sleep, and they were watching movies...

I think we stopped for breakfast that morning somewhere in Indiana, but we ate lunch on the go.
On our way through Tennessee, I noticed kids outside jumping on trampolines with shorts on. I thought- "Wow. They are brave!" and didn't think much more of it. Then we got to a rest area. Saroya got out of the car and a huge smile crept across her face. "I think I want to take my sweatshirt off and just have short sleeves!!" As I watched her spin around with her arms out and face towards the sky, I was so happy. We have missed the sun and the warmth sooo much! We all played catch for a little bit with a ball that Ethan had (surprise, surprise...). None of us really wanted to get back in the car- we would have been happy to stay there in that 65 degree weather longer, but we knew we needed to keep going, and that it was just going to get warmer.

One of my longstanding rules about road tripping is that you HAVE to travel ugly... And we did. :) I love that Ethan kind of has a Kool Aide smile and I don't have a stitch of make-up on... Oh! We saw the most amazing thing driving down the mountain in Chattanooga! I took a picture with my little ol' point and shoot- you can see how well it did... but I couldn't delete it because we had never seen a semi-truck actually NEED to use the "runaway ramp" that they always have going down the mountains. You can kind of see there was still smoke coming up around the semi, and there were others there to assist him. It was really breath-taking to see. That man must have just had the ride of his LIFE!!

We finally stopped in Georgia for dinner (my kids were so funny listening to the people around us using "y'all" and "momma" and "granny"with the southern drawls)and then for the night around 11:30p. We were DEAD tired. The kids held on too, until about 10:30p. It was a LONG day- but we were glad we got so far. I love how zombie-ish the girls look in this picture. I really don't think they opened their eyes on the way in to the room!

We got up, ate (I mean eavesdropped on some more southern folk talk) and were on the road again by 9:30am.

At 2:35 ON THE DOT

Disney World!!!

Ethan kept snapping pictures, Saroya kept saying, "This MUST be a dream" and Jaleigh replied, "I'M NOT DREAMING!!!" Oh it was a great moment.

As we were making our way in, I took a picture of this guy driving a truck with Michigan plates because he looks EXACTLY like someone I know. Nathan thinks I am crazy for taking pictures of random people.

When we were pulling into our resort, the man at the gate said, "Are you checking in?" We said, "Yes" then he smiled and said, "Welcome Home." I was so giddy I was yelling, "HE SAID WELCOME HOME!! HE SAID WELCOME HOME!" Just a little thing, but it meant so much to us who had traveled so far. Ok... maybe just me. But I think it was nice.

We spent the next little while getting acquainted with the surroundings (while I frantically and obnoxiously sanitized everything I could think of. Beth and her family had just spent a week at Disney World where they and lots of others caught a wicked stomach bug). We decided to take the boat down to Downtown Disney and have a look around.

Before going I got some Disney pins from e-bay for the kids. All the employees that have pins on will trade pins with the kids for whatever they want. It was something I thought Ethan would really get in to. All three of the kids we pro- traders after that first night. Saroya would stop an employee in the middle of a parade and ask to trade pins and they would! We spent all of our time that night in the pin trading store.

After we got back from there, we realized it was after 8pm, and we hadn't had dinner or done the grocery shopping we needed to do. The Walmart near Disney World was as busy as it is the day after Thanksgiving- and that is no exaggeration. I had to walk around the parking lot for 15+ minutes looking for a cart. Oh yeah, and we got lost on the way back to the resort... It was a rough night.

But we were finally there- ready to begin our next adventure- and we were ready!

The Kids Have Fallen in LOVE...

2009-01-30T13:45:00.016-05:00

...with the new corn filled heating pads Miss J & I made. They love to warm them in the microwave and put them in their beds while they brush their teeth. Then their beds are nice and warm to crawl into. We have all loved "street sledding & snowboarding" with Nathan's quad.

Saroya and Jaleigh are still in love with Gymnastics

And we all think Ethan is a HERO on the ice. People I don't even know are screaming "COME ON ETHAN!!" during games. :)

Miss J fell in love with cosmetology. (EEK!!!)
Ethan just LOVES making Mickey Ear pancakes in anticipation of our upcoming trip.

Now hopefully all this love will start melting some of this snow....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

2009-01-09T21:22:00.001-05:00

HA!! I got my computer fixed! The best part about it though, is that I figured it out myself! Yeah, I know. I am a techie genius. Anyway- so back to blogging!

Ok- so since the Tangren's were in town for the holiday and the Garricks were NOT, we decided to take ourselves out to New York to crash their party. :P

It was perfect driving until the last hour. Then it was like we hit a wall of blizzard that stayed with us the rest of the way. I called ahead and told Nikki to get some heating pads ready, because every muscle in my body was tense. Ouch.

We got there on New Years Eve really early, so we tried to sleep in as much as possible- but not the kids. They got busy making plans and catching up. I love that they all love being together.

The kids played downstairs and worked on a "JERKY*" Carnival event for the first day of the year. (*Jillie, Ethan, Reagan, Kobe, and SaroYa)

Oh yeah, and Hyrum fell in love that very first day! (Is he soo cute??)
I skipped breakfast so Greg treated me to the most amazing sandwich ever at Wegmans. Seriously- if you live anywhere near a Wegmans and don't eat or shop there... you should be ashamed. I even brought home some special sandwich sauce this time! A vacation started at Wegmans is always a very good thing.

Jillie had a bad thanksgiving because she had just started orthodontic treatment which made it hard to eat, so Nikki (being the amazing mother that she is..) decided to do "Thanksgiving Dinner II" with all the trimmings. It was nice because we were all there to help get things together, and we were all there to eat it! :) I don't usually make Thanksgiving dinner, so it was interesting to see what Nikki goes through.

YUCK.

We had turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, cheesy potatoes, sweet potatoes, rolls (Oh my- the ROLLS...),

green beans, salad, stuffing, pie, and I am sure there was more, I just can't remember. It was GOOD!!! Everyone was pretty happy about it.

The kids had been begging to go to the church to clean and play basketball, so we loaded them up and went to the church. Apparently the Stepford Wives go to church there, because there wasn't even a speck of chalk on the boards, no garbage in the trash cans, not even a smudge on the windows (until after we were there... :)! So not much cleaning, a lot of playing.

Derek got crafty showing us his ball balancing act...

After a much needed energy release, we went home for an illegal firework display, and watched the countdown in the same state it was happening in! :)

The next day I got a second chance to take some pictures of all the grand kids and thankfully- we may have a few decent ones.

We went to see movie (3 different groups seeing 3 different movies!), the kids ate the biggest pizza ever and the adults feasted on the best Chicken Scampi (oh I my mouth is watering just thinking about it!), and then it was time for the carnival. What imaginations these kids have!! They had 16 different activities (I think) planned and they were all fun. I didn't have my camera out, but Ethan caught some pictures with his. They quizzed Derek on everything from sound bites from different Wii games to the decor of Reagan's room. He did AMAZINGLY well. Then everyone had to get a costume on. I realized how REALLY uncomfortable I am with masks during this little ditty...

There was a bean toss game, a raffle for a sucker, a coloring contest, a snack bar and so much more. It was really fun for everyone. I love it when those kids put their heads together!

We spent the rest of the trip in Palmyra visiting the historical sites. It gives you a whole different perspective on things to be standing in a tiny log home where Joseph, and was it 11 others?, lived in the middle of the winter. Walking through the Sacred Grove in the deep snow, I loved it.

On our way home to Michigan from the Garricks, we stopped off in Kirtland to go through the temple, and the other historical sites. SUCH a difference not being there in the summer! The missionary couples at the LDS historical sites are always so great, not in a rush in the least even if you are the last ones for the night. They even opened up the visitors center for us so that we could have a potty break before hitting the road again. I will never tire of church historical sites. Even if you are not a member of our church, there is always a good reason to stop. What isn't to love about this???

A big THANK YOU going out to Greg Nikki and the kids for having us ALL! See you guys in February!

THE Holiday Season

2008-12-28T21:22:00.001-05:00

Ok- I have eaten a big piece of humble pie (and every other pie in sight apparently...) and have decided to just do one huge Holiday Season post with everything. I know it is lame, and late- but Miss J just had her school Christmas party today so I am still good. Right? Put your Santa hat back on- because we are taking a big ole' step back in time!

Aren't these cookies adorable? My neighbor brought them over for us!

We were super excited and happy to have Sunny & her darling family along for the whole sha-bang. We started out getting the all important Christmas tree..

Gosh- they eve helped us put up the tree and decorate! As quick as we decorated the tree, Hyrum un-decorated it. He is such a cutie.

A few days later, we were lucky enough to have some other visitors from out west. Grandma & Grandpa Avery came out to be here for Saroya's Baptism. They were such a help in getting the final preparations underway.

The Baptism was so great! We had family members there from all over! (Utah, Nevada, New York and GR!) Everyone braved the blizzard and joined us for that special night. So touching. Saroya decided that she wanted her cousin Jillie and Ethan to do the talks on baptism and the Holy Ghost. At first I wondered about how that would go, but then I got to thinking. Who better to learn from than someone that sees things so simply still and can explain things so she could understand them. Ethan forgot his talk at home so he had to do it all from memory, but both talks were short, sweet and absolutely perfect.

We had a quick meal for everyone after the baptism, took some pics of the grand kids that didn't turn out

and then went BOWLING!!! :) Random, I know- but we had everyone here so we had to have a party!

This is a picture of Nathan's dad... and if there are any Avery's reading this- you know EXACTLY what happened next. :) He is a trooper though and has a good sense of humor about it all. Thank goodness because it was pretty funny!

So after the busy weekend and many hugs and goodbyes, we took the Grandparents back to the airport (I think they had seen enough snow to last them a lifetime!! :) and wished them well on their next adventure on a mission in Texas!

After we dropped them off, we headed over to Grandma Old Ears to decorate for Christmas. I think it is something we all look forward to. Grandma wasn't too sure about the "pink flowers" in the tree and we took bets on whether she was taking them off as soon as we left, but when we went back after Christmas they were still there. :)

After Grandma's we scooped up Sunny and Hyrum and took them home with us for the rest of the week! We had lots of books read by Sunny...
and we saw lots of sleepy baby yawns.
and we were CRAZY busy as always, but we LOVED having them here.

The next week was spent quickly making and shopping for last minute gifts. The weather just got worse and worse- lots of watching this at night

and this during the day. Even got the last day before Christmas break off for a snow day!

Then the BIG DAY!! We got Derek back from Utah and we were ready to party!

Could you just eat this kid up??
We made sure to keep to tradition by doing the Christmas Caroling we all love! But we also stopped for some service snow shoveling along the way- and then helping ourselves up a driveway we got stuck in (we couldn't skip that house you know!)

We did finally make it back, just in time for a reading of the REAL Christmas story from a kids book this time, and then a quick visit from St. Nick before he headed out for the night. So nice of him...

The next morning the kids were excited to see what Santa had brought them this year. We tore open all the gifts- and can I just say this? My camera had a VERY good Christmas....The kids ran downstairs and spent the next little while like this... Before long the next party had arrived ready for our traditional Christmas breakfast and more present exchanging.

We went ice skating too but those pictures are on Ethan's new camera (!!) and we haven't downloaded them yet. It was fun and funny all rolled up in one freezing cold night!

There were of course other family and friend parties which are so good to connect with everyone you haven't seen in so long.
The party that we have with my Dad's family is always a rousing "White Elephant" type game with nice presents instead of silly ones. This year was no exception! We ended the night watching a DVD my cousin put together of pictures of my sweet Grandma Nellie in her younger years and even had her singing "I Know that My Redeemer Lives" (I think it was). Such a treasure! Thanks Andy! You did awesome!

Next up... New Years in New York!!

Seriously...

2008-12-23T23:00:00.000-05:00

More than 61 inches of snow THIS MONTH, and 10 more for tomorrow.

We had to dig a way to out neighbors house to bring a Christmas treat,

Saroya's bedtime prayers usually go something like this, "...and help us to get lots of snow. Not too-too-too much snow, but a lot." Tonight it was a little different. "Heavenly Father, we are thankful for all the snow, but we have enough, I think. Jaleigh won't be able to walk in it anymore."

It's true. I think we have enough. And as far as Jaleigh goes? We just made her into a snowgirl...

2008-12-19T18:46:00.004-05:00

This,

this,
and this

can only mean one thing...

SNOW DAY!!!!

Some parents might get a little worked up about the fact that the day BEFORE christmas break, we had a snow day. Not me. I took all the teacher gifts in yesterday, Saroya had her class party yesterday, and Ethan had a movie day yesterday (well- if you had your homework done).

For me, today was going to be run, run, run to all the kids schools with christmas parties and sing a-longs. Instead we had a BIG family breakfast at 11am and stayed in pj's until after noon. :) Then Nathan took the kids out to play in the snow. I was able to get a lot of christmas sewing, christmas card writing, and laundry done. And hopefully, HOPEFULLY, I will get caught up on blogging tonight so I don'thave to rename this blog, "What the Avery's did a really long time ago." I actually might still need to... Scroll down to see any updates I may have had time to do. Sometimes it's nice to have an excuse to stay home all day! ... Now if we can just dig out of this 10 inches before the next round comes tomorrow night! AHHH!!

My 8 Year old girl

2008-12-04T23:18:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday Saroya!!!

(Thank you SOOO Much to Nikki for putting this video together. You didn't have time, but you did it anyway. THANK YOU!!!!)

Turkey Time Re-visited

2008-11-28T21:14:00.003-05:00

The holiday train is at full speed, and I am running along side as fast as I can, but I can't catch up! So here is my Thanksgiving rewind. Bear with me, there WILL be more installments!

Saroya's acting debut was this year at a very festive rendition of the highly popular (at her school) 2nd grade production of "Turkey Tango". Jaleigh was more than excited...
Saroya knew her lines and executed them with dramatic gusto. (And just what exactly is that kid behind her doing?)When Ethan's class preformed the same show years ago, he did whatever he could to NOT be photographed. He hid behind everyone. Saroya on the other hand is one for the spotlight, and took matters into her own hands when her view was obstucted.

OH she is a child after my own heart....

The next morning after watching the traditional Macy's Day Parade (I actually pulled Jaleigh out of the bathtub soaking wet so she wouldn't miss the Little Mermaid performance. I know... nerd.) we went to my parents house.

Look who surprised us....

And not only Hyrum, but Sunny & Derek too!! CRAZY! And the genius part of all of this, is that Sunny & Hyrum are staying until JANUARY 5TH!!!! Can I get a whoop whoop? Derek is going to go back to work, but will be back for Christmas and New Years. The Tangrens AGAIN bag the best Christmas present of the year, and it isn't even Christmas yet. I can't even speak to the pure gravity of what this means to me!! I know it is going to be tough for Derek and I want him to know how unbelievably thankful for his and their sacrifice. How do you give a better present than time?

After all the gorging and chatting, we got down to business. Or should I say the boys did...

And then another surprise...

My cousin Abby & her boyfriend showed up from Traverse City. FUN! Apparently her boyfriend is now her HUSBAND and they are going to have a baby in March! Congratulations!! I was glad they stopped by- we obviously don't see them enough!

After all the excitement, we headed home with a promise from Sunny & Derek that we would see them soon. Besides...3am was going to come early for me. (Yes I did shop, and yes I AM crazy....)

Thanksgiving MUST do...

2008-11-25T22:05:00.003-05:00

Most amazing picture and idea from Stie.

So I just got done making 36 of these most adorable things for the kids school parties. No- I am not done yet, but I needed to share the greatness of them.

1. They are simple!!

2. The INVENTOR'S directions are hilarious and easy to follow.

3. They are delightful and everyone will think Martha came over for Thanksgiving prep.

4. They are DELICIOUS!!!

5. The kids love helping make them.

So go there now, and make them tonight...

Oh- and for the love of Pete and all of mankind, PLEASE remove the umbilical cords from the eggs you are cooking with. Thank you...

Funny...

2008-11-25T20:37:00.005-05:00

Tonight my kids were watching this...

Which is something I "make" them do at every holiday because it gave me so much pleasure as a child. :) After watching it today, I have a new reason to "make" them watch it. It is a history lesson!

The story comes to the part where Charlie's grandma takes them all to Thanksgiving Dinner. They all (like 8 or 9 of them) load in to the back of her station wagon that looks something like this...

Ethan says dreamily, "I wish they still made cars like that..." :) It made me laugh! Our Grandma had a monster station wagon like that, that probably could have fit 9 or 10 kids I bet! I loved that thing. I think we called it "The Limo". Did you ever have a station wagon? If you still have one today, you rock my entire world- and I want a ride (along with 8 of my friends).

Another funny...
Ethan was working on his homework tonight. Him sitting at the table, me on the computer right next to him. He says, "How do you spell 'written?'"

I open my mouth to speak and Saroya speaks up from the other room like he was talking to her. "W-R-I-T-T-E-N."

I start laughing. Ethan starts laughing. Saroya wonders what is wrong. "What? Did I spell it wrong?"

Ethan says, "No one needs to know about this..."
Then we all laugh.

(I did get his permission to blog it. :)

(Update on Ethan... We went to a specialist today and were started on a treatment that has an 80% chance of taking care of it FOR GOOD!! Here's hoping!!)

The Hunting Trip

2008-11-17T14:07:00.011-05:00

Hunting season finally began here in Michigan this weekend. YA HOO!! For my mom, sister, aunt & I that meant going to the biggest outlet mall in the mid-west for our annual SHOPPING TRIP!! This place is HUGE! 150+ stores and even more savings because it was the 13th annual "Deer Hunter Widows Weekend". Watch out!

We decided to take our "Girls Day Out" Shopping trip to a new level. We figure we have been doing this tradition for 10 years and it was time to make it an overnighter!! :) Nikki came from New York and met My mom, Tami & I for the night. All of us forgot our swimming suits (NEXT TIME!!) so we walked over to Cracker Barrel to have a dessert instead.

Tami collected "peg board puzzles" from different tables so we could all try our luck. She got it to ONE peg TWO different times. Genius. Tami was on fire that night, because not only did she rock at playing the game, she got some shopping done at the gift shop there too!!

We got back to the room and talked, watched TV, surfed the Internet and slowly one by one, crashed. Nikki of course was the last one to drop. NST I tell ya...

Saturday morning started E A R L Y. We all jumped out of bed (ha- ha...) and made it to the outlet mall by 7:15 thanks to the shopping sergeant. (She is the one with the coat and purse on in the above picture. Ready to GO!) The stores opened at 8am, but the first 300 guests got special scratch off tickets redeemable for cash or prizes. Just look at the line ahead of us when we got there...
and the line behind us...
There was a van driving around with one of those target practice deers tied to the top of her van that cracked me up!! :) Bag um' Sista!!
While standing in line I was lucky (or loud) enough to get picked to do a game and won a $10.00 gift card to Nike!! :) I dutifully bought something for my husband with it.Once we got our little scratch off card Nikki & I were ready to take a nap. Ohh... it was going to be a long day! :)
We searched high and low to find the best deals.
Nikki's friend Angie joined us for a while, and even offered to stand in line while we shopped a few times! :) Great girl! She was really fun to have around... maybe she will come again the next time?

We fought off lunch for as long as we could, but finally decided that we needed to eat- and come up with a plan of action for the rest of the day.

The second half of the day was much like the first shopping, shopping, shopping...

By 8:30 we were getting so tired, we actually TRIED to look low for deals just so we could rest our legs and backs.
We closed up the shops at 9pm, and then went to Applebee's to eat, and laugh (ALWAYS) because we are so punch drunk.
By the time we left, we had packed mom's car just as packed as it could be. We said our goodbyes to Nikki and we started on the 2 hour journey home (for mom and Tami- 3 hours for me!!). It was so much fun!! I am SO glad that we haven't given up this tradition and thankful that I have the best girls in the world to have fun with! LOVE YOU!!

Next year's note to self.... Bathing suits, and a Friday afternoon arrival instead of Friday night, so we can scope out the sales first! :) Anyone else in?? :)

Little Update...

2008-11-11T23:48:00.004-05:00

GOOD NEWS!! Ethan & Jaleigh walked through our neighbors woods and found MY MAKEUP!!! Who knew it would make me so happy?? I will admit that the thing that makes me the happiest is that they couldn't find my little jar of Carmex and I have a monster cold sore on my lip! Maybe they decided to use it?? :) Hee Hee!

We went back to the Dr today and he was encouraged by how Ethan's knee looked. That is good. It is still a huge deep gaping hole with lots of infection still, but we are encouraged by any progress. It is about this time that I usually have a small freak-out because Ethan starts to get discouraged and I want it to be going away faster. I hate that he has to go through this.

Tonight when Jaleigh was saying her prayers she said, "Please bless Ethan's knee to get better soon. It has something green in the middle and it looks like lips on the outside." Actually it is a pretty good description! :)

I overheard Saroya telling Ethan that she said a prayer for him while he was at the hospital. He thanked her sweetly. I have such good kids.

I will keep you posted! And believe me... you DON'T want to see pictures.

Dodging Bullets

2008-11-11T09:02:00.002-05:00

When I got in the car this morning I noticed every compartment open and papers strewn around. My first thought was, "What was Nathan looking for?" Then immediately realized if Nathan had really been looking for something, the van would have been cleaner than it was in the first place. I noticed even the video screen open. Our van had been broken into.

I guess "broken into" isn't really what happened because the door was unlocked. Then they wouldn't have to break the window, right? ;) I did a quick check and realized my makeup bag was gone. Who steals a makeup bag?? Seriously! Just someone trying to tick me off I am sure.

I spent the next 45 minutes on the phone trying to get an appointment with the Doctor because Ethan has a nasty skin infection on his knee. This is our 4th time dealing with this (probably) so we kind of know the drill. I finally got the appointment... 3:50p. Since it was only 9:45a I decided to take Ethan to school.

When I went to get him from school to take him to the appointment, he is limping like crazy. I chalk it up to being dramatic around his friends and we head off to his appointment.

We got to go to a "private" entrance because of the infection. Cool!! :) It is right in the back by the patient rooms so we got to watch the nurses (and listen to them mumble about patients and the doctor!! :) and doctor go from room to room. We found out he was running 1 hour behind schedule.

When the doctor finally got there he was concerned. I have never seen him this concerned. He is usually very low key. He was concerned that the infection was soo deep and fast moving, it had spread to his joint. He pushed and squeezed soo hard on Ethan's knee, globs of junk were coming out. Ethan was crying, but trying to be tough. I was loosing it and thought I was going to be sick. Finally he said he wanted us to go to the ER to get a second opinion. I was so embarrassed when the doctor shook my had at the end because my had was all sweaty!! And remember, I am still make-up free... BLAH!

We got a room at the ER pretty quickly and the Doctor was waiting for us. He said he didn't think the infection was in his joint, but because the infection was spreading soo quickly he wanted to do a dose of IV antibiotics.

Ethan wasn't happy to get the IV, but again was so tough. 10 minutes after he started getting the meds, he started itching.

Then it got more and more intense. His face was beet red and he was crying and itching and burning. I ran to get the doctor.

Of course he was having a reaction to the medication so they quickly stopped the meds and gave him 3 other meds to counter act the reaction. Seriously!

Finally, after a nap and some strict instruction from the ER doc that if his fever went up anymore he was to come back in and he was to see the pediatrician first thing in the morning to evaluate the progress, we came home.

After a day when you just want to scream "UNCLE!!" you realize that you end up feeling so thankful for the blessings we have.

Thankful for the reminder that I really should lock my van.
Thankful for the realization that my purse was in the van all along, but it was in the very back and untouched.
Thankful for caring doctors and nurses and medications that can help us when we really need it.
Thankful that this morning his knee is still disgusting, but looking better.
Thankful for the priesthood, my husband and the peace and that brings to us all.
Thankful for our bodies that heal quickly.
Thankful the neighbor dog found my makeup bag... but it was empty.

Realizing that all day today I haven't been being shot down, but dodging bullets....

Hey Nikki....

2008-11-08T21:24:00.003-05:00

It's your BIRTHDAY!!!!

I am going to try to describe you in just 37 words....

Creative

Inquisitive

Determined

Loving

Nurturing

Perfectionist

Crafty

Blogger

Blurker

Super-hero-like :)

Convincing

Understanding

True

Honest

Night-Owl

Able

Strong

Knowledgeable

Organized

Helpful

Fun

Funny

Little

Happy

Unwavering

Open

Patient

TV-recorder

Confidant

Photographer

Inspirational

Passionate

Well-Intentioned

Friendly

Thoughtful

Amazing-at-averything

SISTER...

Thank you for being there for me ALWAYS. I wouldn't be sane without you. :) You ARE my happy pill. I can't wait to give you your present in person NEXT WEEK!! :)

Happy Birthday!

I Voted

2008-11-04T12:12:00.003-05:00

I voted because my sister told me I would be a bad mom if I didn't.

I got to stand in line for 40 minutes with chain smoking people and listen to the drama of their lives.

I got to vote for people I know nothing about (every politician tells you what you want to hear).

I will now spend the rest of the day doing things that really matter and will make a difference.

by Mark Knoller

**edit**
Great article I found....

You hear it from nearly everyone you meet on Election Day: "Hi. Did you vote?"

Answer no and you’re most likely in for an argument. "Why not?" "Don’t you know it’s your duty to vote?"

And my personal favorite: "If you don’t vote, you don’t have a right to complain about the outcome!"

Without revealing whether I voted or not, I can certainly think of reasons a person could choose not to vote.

None of the candidates appeal to you – and you reject the notion of voting for the lesser of two, three or four evils.

You support a candidate – but not enough to wait in line for hours to cast a ballot.

You believe that it's your right to vote – not your duty – and you can exercise that right or not, as you choose.

On that last point: As Americans we have many rights. But just because we have the right to freely practice our religion, doesn’t mean we have to. We have the right to free speech; that doesn’t mean we’ve got to go out and give one.

Even on the news, we're admonished by reporters and anchors to go out and vote. Is that really any of their business? Don’t they risk influencing the outcome of the election by telling people to vote.

As Americans, don’t we have the right not to be chastised or even bullied about voting? It’s really no one’s business.

Some of the people who vote boast about it by wearing small stickers on their lapels – proclaiming to the world: "I voted!"

Well, good for them. It’s their right. But good for those who don’t vote. It’s their right too. And frankly, it’s no one else’s business.

And there’s nothing in the Constitution that says if you don’t vote, you forfeit your right "to petition the government for a redress of grievances." That’s in the First Amendment – and it applies equally to voters and non-voters.

So let's ease up on those who don’t vote. Let's stop berating them or questioning their patriotism.

Now thankfully I am done discussing this.

And for the record... My kids didn't even ask if I voted...

Best Day of the YEAR!!

2008-11-02T22:08:00.002-05:00

I LOVE THIS DAY!!!

I have been looking sooo forward to this day and here are a few reasons...

1. Stayed up WAY too late talking and crafting with friends (and got a big jump on my "handmade christmas" goal) but still got enough sleep last night.

2. No trouble getting the kids up for church today, and if I hadn't backed into a tree, I would have been early to church! :)

3. At 5:30p after dinner the kids say, "If we brush our teeth right now and promise to go right to bed when you call, can we play downstairs for a little while longer?" uh... SURE! :)

4. 8pm, kids OUT!!! 10pm- I am tired and ready to go to sleep... And I know that we will ALL wake up rested in the morning.

AAAAAAAhhhhhh.... daylight savings!!! Fall Back BABY!!!

Going, Going, GONE!!!

2008-11-01T19:16:00.000-04:00

Something wonderful happened today. Today, my kids sold their candy. They took out 2 or three pieces (except Jaleigh, who GORGED herself last night to get rid of it apparently...) and then took it to a local godsend dentist that paid them $1.00 a pound for it.
As soon as we got there, there were staff waiting at the door with goodie bags filled with stickers, light up toothbrushes and even a free TCBY ice cream coupon! Then they gave the girls (Ethan was at a hockey game so he couldn't come) a paper to fill out to be entered into a drawing for an X Box 360 (and a drawing for adults to win an electric toothbrush!). Then it was time to unload!

The whole office was making a big deal about how much candy they had (I'm sure they did that with everyone) and how glad they were that the girls brought it in.

SEVEN POUNDS!! Saroya was stunned! She was just hoping for ONE pound. The dentist made it even more exciting for the kids by giving them "golden coins" as Saroya calls them.

The coolest thing about this is that the dentist is working with a charity to send the candy (and some toothbrushes!!) to our troops in Iraq. They made a big card and had the kids sign it to go along with the delivery. Saroya wrote "I hope you like candy!!" :) Saroya is sure that our troops will share her candy with Iraqi children who "have never tasted candy before."

I have seen pictures and heard numerous stories of soldiers sharing candy with the Iraqi kids- just a small gesture that bring those kids that are enduring soo much, just a little bit of joy. I am glad (and my kids are excited!)that they can help, if even in a small minuscule way.

The whole way home, Saroya just kept repeating "I can't believe I have seven dollars!!"

Ethan was just as stunned when he found out about the money they had earned, and together they decided that we would use the money to see "High School Musical 3". I found a "twilight" showing that was only $4.50 a ticket, so they used what money they had, and we had a deal!

What a HIT! I wish I could have taken a picture of the kids faces while they were watching it. Perma-smiles all around. Clapping, singing and happiness... except this part... :)

I don't know what the best part of the experience of this day was, but I can't tell you what a big relief it is to not have that candy around. I don't have to hear "can I have a piece of candy" all day long for the next two months, I don't have to find Miss J huddled in the back of the closet in a mound of candy wrappers, and I won't be sneaking a treat as I walk by the stash. It is just a good feeling all around, and I encourage you to find out if a dentist in your area might offer this service next year. It is totally worth it!!

Happy Halloween!!

2008-10-31T23:04:00.000-04:00

We have a tradition on Halloween to go out for dinner. We figure that way, they will be excited about going out to eat, and hopefully actually EAT something healthy(ish).

When we went out this time, the waitress said to Saroya, "What would you like to drink?"

Saroya promptly pulled out her pad of paper from her own waitress costume and said, "What would YOU like to drink?" The waitress was more than happy to let Saroya jump right in and do her work for her!

Later, an older gentleman walked by our table and started to talk to Jaleigh, "Well, aren't you a pretty little princess??"

Jaleigh responded, "Yes! And Ethan is an old man like YOU!"..... Luckily the older gentleman was a little hard of hearing. :) Whew!

Pumpkin, Pumpkin....

2008-10-28T22:05:00.004-04:00

It is the annual pumpkin carving show! Jaleigh's was easy- and surprising. She wanted a SCARY pumpkin. The whole time I was trying to carve it she was comforting her pumpkin. "It's OK little guy..." When it was done she wanted a scary picture with her pumpkin....

I am not really a fan of carving pumpkins, but I LOVE scooping out all the nastiness inside. Nathan does NOT scoop out. He dislikes that immensely. When it comes to carving, it always takes him the longest. He puts lots of detail and thought into what he is doing. He really gets into it.
Lucky Saroya got him to carve her pumpkin this year and he did exactly what she wanted. A friendly little house pumpkin.

See the little windows that open and close? And the door? It has hinges to open and close too.

Ethan and I worked on his "Haunted House" pumpkin. It was fun to add little details, and I think it turned out pretty good! (that is a chimney on the top that is hallow and supposed to have smoke coming out from the candle when it burns inside... That was the idea anyway.)

Finished products ready for the lighting!

I love how spooky the ghost inside of Ethan's looks. Who WAS the creative genius behind that???

Hot Off the E-Press!

2008-10-27T21:23:00.000-04:00

We had a crazy hail storm the other day. Ethan being the meteorologist that he is, says, "Mom! You gotta take a picture of me in the hail!!" We took a picture, and then e-mailed it to a local news website because they have a section of "weather photo's"...

Later that night, Nathan yells to me from the bedroom....

"Holly- did you send that picture of Ethan to the news?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I just saw his hand holding hail on TV."

I quick looked it up online, and guess who's picture was there for the top story????

Then just today, he got an e-mail from his favorite meteolorigist thanking him for the photo and information. Totally made his week!! (AND it is Halloween this week too!!)

In other news, Saroya is a news lady at her school! (You don't really have to listen to this because it is LONG... unless of course you are a grandparent. In which case you might want to grab a snack!)

A Three Hour Tour...

2008-10-11T22:46:00.010-04:00

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip.....

Nathan thinks I LOVE grocery shopping. Why does he think this you ask? Probably because Miss J is always so excited to go with me, and also because it can take... 3 HOURS. I must be having fun, Right???

Well, let me tell you all about it....

We usually start at the bathroom that way she should be good until we get done. Unfortunately, Miss J is obsessed with the hand dryer and makes sure she spends lots of time making sure every drop is off her body.

Then we get a cart. The good news is that at our grocery store they have wipes available to clean the cart for germs. The bad news is that Jaleigh loves to clean the cart.

And she cleans, and cleans, and cleans......

So now we have empty bladders, a clean cart, and we are ready to shop. The good news is, Jaleigh loves to shop. The bad news is that Jaleigh loves to shop. She looks at everything, she touches everything, she smells everything, she wants to try everything on.

I get what I can around her browsing, but eventually I resort to bribery. "Jaleigh! Do you want to get a doughnut?" The trick is that if she gets a doughnut, she has to eat it in the cart and I can actually get something done! (Yes. I let her EAT it in the store while I shop. Remember how clean the WHOLE cart is now?)

She is usually finished by isle 5, and I have made good headway by now. Luckily, I LOVE isle 5. Isle 5 has a "spill station" which has paper towels and one of those "Caution Wet" portable signs on a post in case of accidents.

Also in isle 5, they have one of those "bring your own jug and refill it with our water" stations. Now, it only costs .29 cents to fill up a whole gallon of water, what is a few drops, right? I grab a paper towel, get it a tad bit wet, and wholla! Jaleigh can now clean herself up for the next 1-2 isles!Then, maybe it is the feel of water on her hands, or the draw of the hand dryer I don't know, but then it is time for another potty break. This potty is conveniently located at the back of the store, a secret one actually. Through the doors where only employees know...

And we resume the hand dryer routine....

It is fortunate that we can use the bathroom in the back of the store, but unfortunately we come out RIGHT next to the fish. So we stop to see them and discuss how many of them have died, and how they died, and I lift her up to the tanks at the top so she is sure to see the BIG fish. After a while we resume our shopping trip back to isle 6 or 7.

Unfortunately at the end of isle 6 or 7 is the kids clothes department. "Oh, this is beautiful! Mom, do you see this? Can we put this on my list?" (of things she wants) "Oh this is soo cute! Mom, do you think this fits me?" "It says 3-6 months. I don't think this will fit you anymore" "Aww MAN!"

Finally I ask her to help me find something in the isle of GROCERIES that she is interested in and we are off. This is where she gets creative and for instance, finds a freezer door to practice writing her "words".For the next few isles she is in the cart, out of the cart, in the cart, out of the cart, until finally....

It's potty time again. This time, the hand dryer gets a good workout because Jaleigh is especially efficient.

Here is a prime example from our shopping trip today, of how Jaleigh shops. IF you have the time.

Eventually we do finish, and we make it home with only a *few* extra pieces for her "list". Even though these outings are not my favorite, and become VERY draining, I am happy in the end of the day to have a friend that wants to be with me. The time will shortly come that I will miss having someone to "shop" with every week.

I just went around the corner to see my sweet girl, all tuckered out, trying to read one of the "extra pieces" we picked up today. I love this crazy girl!

Goodnight...

A Conference Weekend in Pictures

2008-10-05T22:37:00.000-04:00

Ok- so I know I am a little behind, just wait until I do the post from 3 months ago!! :)

YES!

2008-10-03T22:42:00.001-04:00

First big ticket, hard to find present of the season- CHECK!

GAME ON!!!

Dear Goodwill..... I Forgive You

2008-09-16T20:32:00.008-04:00

You have long been one of my bargain favorites. I would love to browse your aisles and find the most unique and nostalgic things at a great price. You supplied me with endless opportunity when it came to Halloween creativity. I even remember when we brought the young women to your store for a lesson in frugality. Man those girls got some awesome finds for the $3.00 they had! I especially LOVED it when you would sell the brand new clearance items from Target, what deals I got then!! I had learned to trust you as the ultimate in bargain shopping. And then... then you sold me this For FIVE DOLLARS MORE than I would have purchased it at the store, at REGULAR PRICE! I tried to just ignore it, I mean, $5.00 isn't really that much. BUT IT WAS FROM GOODWILL!! If I just waited a little while, the shelf was sure to go on sale at Target, and it would be an even bigger difference. No way.

I called and you offered me my money back. I had already put it together, so I brought it just as it was. After I got my money back, I spied this in the back of the store that would be PERFECT for the girls room. I was cautious this time, but I knew it was a $120.00 shelf, so the $34.99 was a steal of a deal. Right?
Except that it had no HARDWARE! I said, "Ok- I can deal with this. I will just call the manufacturer and tell them it didn't have hardware, and they will send it free of charge. :)" Well, come to find out, Target doesn't stand behind the furniture they produce and so I was stuck. And don't worry! I haven't totally forgiven Target yet either...

So after a LONG shopping trip to Lowe's, spending more money on hardware than I spent on the shelf, a lot of work from a patient and long-suffering Dad, and a lot of "jimmy rigging", we finally had our shelf.

The shelf didn't bring me as much happiness anymore, because it had turned out to be such a pain. Now every time I look at that shelf, I remember how much money I did NOT save. Grr...

Today I decided you give you another chance. With Halloween right around the corner, I needed to gather some inspiration.

HAPPY DAY!! I came away with some amazing vintage fabrics I just can't wait to sink my sewing machine into.

Plus I was able to get this pack pack for Miss J (that she so DESPERATELY wanted)

And even a good start on Saroya's Halloween costume

All for only $8.50. So I say to you Goodwill Industries, we are square. But please, don't try to mess with me any more. I will take you down... :P

Sincerely,

Mrs. Frugal and lately Vintage Lover

P.S. I really wanted this too, but it was $4.99 and I just wasn't sure. It seems a little crazy I know,

but the more I look at the possibilities, the more I like it. Not for a dress, but can you see the options this fabric has??? (Thanks to Miss J for taking the picture!) I may be back tomorrow.

JRP- SOP

2008-09-07T19:51:00.006-04:00

When I picked up the cushion on the couch and saw this, it could only mean one thing....Jaleigh decided that she needed a haircut....

When I told Jaleigh that she had used the scissors inappropriately and she would not be allowed to use them again for "a lot of days". She smiled and said, "Ok."

A few minutes later she came back and asked to use scissors again. I reminded her that she couldn't use them for a while. Again she smiled and bounded off down the hall.

After the 4th reminder that she couldn't use the scissors (in about 15 minutes) she put her hands on her hips, and while leaning forward yelled, "Well anyway, yesterday when I was a mommy, somebody did something naughty and then they wanted to use the scissors and I said YES!" Well, I guess you are a better Mommy than me...

The next morning, seeing this could only mean one thing....
Jaleigh was going to her first day of preschool!

When we were filling out paperwork for preschool, I was supposed to ask her questions and then write down what she said.

Your name is...."Jaleigh"

You like to be called... "Jaleigh Princess SOP"

Huh!?!? Ok, so the first "pre" preschool day the teacher was writing her name on her paper. "Now your name is Jaleigh, right?"

She replies, "Jaleigh Princess"

The teacher doesn't respond.

She leans forward and says even louder, "Jaleigh Princess!"

Uh, yeah. Because that is exactly what we call her at home. WHA?!?!

After the first day of school, she was telling me about a girl she was playing with. I said, "Was she the one with blonde curly hair?" She said, "Well, I wasn't looking at her hair. I was looking at her shoes. She had PRINCESS shoes on!!"

Where did I get this kid?! :) Oh- and yes she did insist on wearing the feather headband to school. That wasn't me....

I also just had to post this picture from her check up at the doctor. She was THRILLED that she got to wear a "beautiful dress" during the exam. :)

Selfless Service

2008-09-04T20:58:00.007-04:00

If I could chose a superpower to have, it would be to be able to take pictures with my eyes. Just blink, and then BAM! I could download them to my computer any time I wanted to so I would never forget that moment.

Yesterday I had my camera, but it would have been "inappropriate" so I didn't. I want to remember the beautiful things I saw.

I would have snapped a picture of the sweetest family singing at my grandpa's funeral. See, they go to my grandparents house EVERY week after church to bring them the sacrament and sing to them. They don't go home, get something to eat, relax and then find time, no- they go straight from church. Did I mention that they have 3 boys and 1 girl? 2 of them teenagers? And it is not their calling, they just do it. While they were singing (eyes fixed on grandma because they were only doing this to bring her some comfort) one of the boys put the hymn book in front of his face. Then after a minute and for the rest of the song, his sleeve wiped away tears behind that book. When the song was over, he held the book in front of his face while he walked back to his seat. I wish I had a picture of that, because I never want to forget how thoughtful and completely UNselfish they are. I was so moved.

Then I would have snapped a picture of my tough 11 year old cousin, reaching forward from behind grandma to comfort her during the very moving violin and organ performance of "Be Still My Soul" by Brother Lewis & Sis Maughn. When she turned to see who it was she whispered, "I knew it would be you". See- Danny has really been having a rough time dealing with Grandpa's death. But in that single act of selfless love, he chose to hold her hand from behind during that whole song and through the closing prayer just so she knew he was there. It was beautiful. 72 years apart, but supporting each other nonetheless.

And then- it may have still been inappropriate, but I could no longer hold off. I took some pictures of a fitting tribute to my grandfather for his service to his country. I got a couple of eye glances, but I hadn't read up on funeral etiquette so I am claiming ignorance, and great memories captured.

11 men, take time out of their day to get dressed up in their military best, in 90 degree weather (today) or a winter storm (as they did in February for my uncle) for no other reason than to pay tribute to men and women they may have never met, just so they can give all of them the full military burial they deserve. None of them young, but all of them standing just as tall and as strong as their bodies will let them. Bless them and the beautiful, selfless service that touched us all.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention after all, the selfless service my grandpa gave to his entire family. It was far reaching and powerful. As my Uncle Mark noted in the eulogy, he was a gentle and quiet man, but he never stopped smiling, loving, and giving until the end. He always kissed my grandma last before he would leave to go anywhere, and even in his heavly sedated state, he managed to kiss my grandma one last time, the night before leaving this world. He showed us that true love can and will last.... forever.

Back At It!

2008-09-02T14:45:00.004-04:00

This is how they REALLY felt...
This is how I made them pretend to be...

Happy School year!! :)

Grandpa Old Ears

2008-08-29T23:52:00.003-04:00

STREETER ( Rockford ) Mr. Harold R. Streeter, age 82, passed away on Friday morning, August 29, 2008. He was a 1944 graduate of Rockford High School. While home on furlough, Harold and Pauline eloped before he was sent overseas. S/Sgt. Streeter served during WWII in the US Army as a cook in the Philippines and Italy . His marriage to Mrs. Streeter was later sealed in the Mormon Church on December 20, 1963 in Arizona. At his church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Mr. Streeter was ordained as a High Priest on the Stake High Council. If there was a ministry that needed to be done, Mr. Streeter did it. For a time, he and Mrs. Streeter were temple workers in Chicago. For 44 years Mr. Streeter worked as a press operator for General Motors on 36th St., retiring in 1991. He was a gentleman who was a very decent man and a very hard worker. Through out his life he was a Detroit Tiger Fan. He is survived by his wife, the former Pauline Williams whom he married on December 13, 1944; his children, Pamela and David Wadsworth of Grand Rapids, Mark Richard Allen and BJ Streeter of Sugarland, TX, Valerie Lynn and Timothy Mack of Vaughn, MT, and Tamara Leigh and Michael Myckowiak of Grand Rapids; his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Jane Streeter of Rockford; 17 grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; his sister-in-law, Mrs. Barbara Armstrong; aunts, Mrs. Mary Carpenter, Mrs. Birdie Sarkees and Mrs. Lillian Atwood; and nieces and nephews and their families. Mr. Streeter was preceded in death by his son, Craig Randolph “Randy” Streeter, his parents, Alger and Elva (Dunn) Streeter; his sisters, Ruth Streeter, and Lila Isberg, and his brother, Carl Streeter.

In all of the memories I have of my Grandpa, I am so thankful to have had him as my own. He was such a GOOD man. He was so caring and loving and I loved him dearly. "Woop there!" he would say and it always made me laugh.

As a kid, some of my favorite memories were going to grandma & grandpa's house. Grandpa would bring out the old green bowl and make the best popcorn you have ever eaten. We would go on lots of walks around Rockford, but always end up at "The Darn" (since Dam is a bad word, right?) I remember going up to the corner store with grandpa where he would buy a soda and sit and talk with "the guys" for a long time. If you ever couldn't find him at home, you knew that is where he was.

He mumbled under his breath, and it wasn't until I was older that I actually paid attention to what he was saying. He was SOOO FUNNY under that breath of his. Mostly, I realized what a genius he was for saying it under his breath, and not when grandma could hear. He wasn't being critical, just funny! Then he would wink at you if he noticed that you were paying attention. :)

When I lived in England, he and grandma came to see me. I had gotten used to driving on the "other" side of the road on tiny windy passageways, and I have never driven slow... Every time he would get in the car he would say, "There she goes! Just like a bat!" and it would crack me up. My grandma was sitting in the back seat and she just couldn't hear very well. We would repeat and repeat what we were saying, and then finally my grandpa would just say something completely different and give me that wink. "Look Pauline- Cows in the ditch." and she would say, "Oh, yeah." and that would be the end of it. :)

As he got older and began to have more problems, he never once refused to play catch, read a book, give a high five, a hug or a kiss to any of my kids. Jaleigh would jump on his lap all the time, and he was always happy to have her there.

I am so thankful that the Lord saw fit for he and my grandma to be together, and for the love and affection they showed us and each other during my whole life. I am glad that he doesn't have to suffer anymore and I can't wait to see him again after this life. I am thankful that he had faith to start us on the path to an eternal life. I know I have the greatest family on earth, and I am so glad that it can continue in heaven too. We love you Grandpa!

A Boy, A Girl, and A Bed

2008-08-07T21:55:00.010-04:00

There once lived an handsome blue-eyed young man. He was frugal, creative and was well on his way to a wonderful life. While on his way to that wonderful life, he met an interesting brown-eyed girl. The two gazed into each others eyes and quickly fell in love . A wedding date was set and all was well.

Then the handsome blue-eyed young man realized that they were going to need some furniture for their wonderful life. The frugal and creative young man devised a plan. They would build their own furniture, one piece at a time. Surely their love and admiration for each other would grow as they worked together to accomplish a goal.

While apart, they would daydream of their wonderful life together and the furniture that went along with it. They decided that they would start with a bed and see what inspiration would come after that. Plans were drawn up in classes and at work, and soon they began their work.

They had more love than tools or money, so they borrowed what they could and improvised when necessary. They decided to not use any nails, only wooden pegs and as a sentimental addition, they would use some wood from recent fires that the handsome young man had valiantly fought.

One day while the girl sat on the log to brace it while her betrothed sawed away, she noticed how large the bed looked.

"My love, are you sure that this is a queen sized bed? It seems so big!"

"Of course it is darling," he replied, "I measured my cousins bed, and I am using the exact measurements. Soon you will see how beautiful this queen bed will be, and we will live happily ever after."

Later conversations with said cousin revealed that instead of having a queen bed, (as the blue-eyed young man had assumed) he slept peacefully in a CALIFORNIA KING sized bed. There was shock on the girls face, and puzzlement on the young mans. "Oh well," they said as they lovingly embraced, as the bed was now completed.

Not until after their wedding was over (and they had received all QUEEN sized sheets) did they realize what a problem this now CALIFORNIA KING SIZED bed had created. They hadn't realized how much more expensive even sheets would be, never mind the bed itself. They settled on a KING sized mattress that would have a little wiggle room in the frame, and managed to buy a sheet set for the time being. (Note that no more furniture would be made again for at least the next 10 years...)

As time crept on their lives were indeed wonderful. They had three adorable children and love and honor abounded. They were adventurous and full of curious energy. Much to their fathers delight, all of the children had beautiful brown eyes like their mother (even though their mother longed to have but one child with the lovely blue eyes of her beloved husband). The children brought their adoring parents so much joy.

Along this journey of life, their bed stayed with them. It was moved from house to house and state to state. With the addition of children, the handsome man and curious woman realized how fortunate they were to have accidentally made such a big bed. It became a place for the whole family to lay snuggle and chat, a calming shelter from the loud storm passing by, or a warm comfort to sick children. It became a boxing ring and a wrestling mat, a trampoline and movie theater. The whole family loved that bed.

Slowly however, nails became a requirement for stubborn pegs that had to be sawed off, or to repair support beams that had fallen through. The decorative rope that had at one time adorned the corners of the bed, began to be used as lasso's and started to fray and wear. The money that was needed to update bedding was instead used for a growing family, and it became a mismatched eye sore.

Finally, after several months of the bed breaking for no apparent reason and falling to the floor in the middle of the night, the brown (and now red) eyed girl decided that enough was enough. She told her husband that she would rather just stay on the floor to begin with rather than crashing there in the middle of the night and started taking the bed apart.

The creative and frugal side of that handsome man started to come out and he said, "Ok dear, but let's just keep poles of the bed for now, I think I have an idea." and they shuffled the poles to the storage room in the basement.

The bed on the floor was not the same. The once young couple had become older and had creaky knees and sore backs. They missed their old bed.

Then one day when the snow cleared and the warmth of spring settled in, the woman noticed a familiar scene that brought memories flooding back.

Instead of one bright eyed girl gazing in awe of the creative young man, excitedly waiting for their creation to come to fruition, there were now 3 children thrilled to be helping their father with whatever he happened to have in mind.

A few more tools than the last time, and a few more people to support the pole while the cutting was done,

Another ring (A tad bigger than before...) as a thoughtful gesture bringing back all the love of a young girl and her handsome groom.
And exactly the same blue eyed curious, frugal and handsome young man (just a tad bit older) making something out of nothing, to please those he loves so much.

None of the memories lost, and many yet to be had.

And they all lived happily ever after..... The End.

HELP!!! I'm Stuck on NST*!!!!

2008-08-01T23:54:00.015-04:00

*NST stands for Nikki Standard Time. Nikki Standard Time means that you go to sleep no sooner than 3am, and you get up around 8am. It doesn't change with the seasons and if you aren't used to it.... It can totally kick your trash...

The Garrick's have come and gone now for over a week. Yes, I am still on NST, and it sucks, but I am getting a lot of stuff done. ALL thanks to her getting me started and inspired on some great projects. I better start at the beginning to explain how I got on NST.

The Garrick's got to our house on Monday late afternoon. This thankfully, is another aspect of NST. You say morning, but you really end up getting there in the afternoon because you are so groggy even being an experienced NSTer. I say thankfully because at the time, I was NOT on NST and went to bed "early" so I had a lot of things to do before they came. Anyway- as soon as they got there, I put Nikki to work. See, our bedroom has been neglected since we moved here almost 5 years ago. (There will be a post on that soon, but suffice it to say, we still had sheets hanging up in the windows because it "worked".) Finally it was time to get the room done. We left all 7 kids with my WONDERFUL husband and set out to get some ideas.

By the time we got back, we only had about 30 minutes before we had to meet all the "girls" for a Bloggers Night Out (BNO- hopefully it will stick and will continue!). We got the table with a fire pit in the middle I always thought would be soo cool at the restaurant, but it ended up not being so cool to talk across. Oh well, we made it work. I was so glad Caity was feeling better and was able to make it, and perfect timing for Andrea to be here still. Perfect! We (read:I) laughed so hard at Leanne's perfume story,and she was way too sweet to make little "Try It Tuesday" bags to keep. SOO thoughtful!

After dinner, we went back to Beth's house to have some blogger chat time. It was so fun to be able to "show off" my sister. Poor Nikki is allergic to my house (or michigan, I'm not sure) so she had medicine head, but it was still soo much fun. We laughed until we cried and didn't come home until midnight.When we got home, all the kids were in bed sleeping and Nathan was reading the last man standing (Jackson) some books and he was ALMOST out. I am so thankful Nathan was so nice to let us have our time. :) I think that night, and this is where it started, we talked and stayed up until around 2:30a sampling Nathan's famous hot fudge topping and eating his fudge cake. Yum.

On Tuesday morning, Nathan got up and made breakfast for everyone. (Honestly! What a guy, huh?) I believe it was French Toast. Again... YUM! We waited for out Mom & Dad to come up and join us for a day at the beach. While we were waiting, Nathan got a little "Study Time" that he more than deserved.

The beach was soo beautiful! The water was clear, an aqua marine color, and warm! Of course all the older kids wanted to go out in the waves with Nathan.

Jackson and I splashed in the water for a little while. It is so funny when he laughs hard, so I kept doing it, just to make him laugh. :) (wow that was a brave picture to post, huh? YIKES!)

Jaleigh and Jackson tried playing a little net ball (?!?) while Grandpa and Grandma soaked in the sun.

Nikki took most of these pictures, so that is why there are none of her her. Thanks Nik! :)

After we ate dinner, we took everyone over to the Muskegon Channel to walk on the beach. It was so calm and peaceful. We would have stayed there longer if Ruth Anne's wasn't calling to us...

Kobe got the biggest ice cream cookie anyone had ever seen, and Saroya got a ice cream with eyes. Everyone got something, and it was all delicious.

Then came stage 2 of NST. By the time we got everyone situated and in bed around 11pm, Nikki says, "Ok, let's get going on that closet that drives you nuts!" Before I knew it, there she was with my whole closet on the floor and she was wiping things down.
I love it when she gets going though, because she is an expert cleaner and organizer. When she leaves my house, everything is a little straighter, a little cleaner, and a little more organized. I LOVE it! Of course I don't just sit back and watch, it really gets me in the mood to clean and organize too. A feeling that doesn't come very often...

Everything was going great and we were debating whether a trip to Meijer might be in order (right then!) to get some organizing things, (around 2:30a) when we hear the all too familiar sound of someone getting sick. It was Jackson. She quick grabbed him and got him in the tub and I quick changed out the bedding. It was kinda nice having us both there to help the situation. I finally went to bed around 3:30a, but she stayed up most the night with him being sick. YUCK!

We decided to let Nikki & Jackson sleep in while Mom, Dad & I headed for the blueberry farm. The berries were HUGE and delicious.

The Garrick's had never been to Silver Lake, so we all went to check it out. It was a perfect day with clear blue skies. Of course Dad brought his kite.

We are dinner at a local spot and then went over to Craig's Cruisers for some Go-Cart racing. We gave the camera to my Mom to take pictures and then waved when we got by her. Unfortunately, she got only a few of us and a couple of other racers that were not in our party :) We must have been too fast!

When we got home, we had the annual bonfire complete with camp songs. The kids had to get in one more game of Ghost in the Grave Yard before we sent Mom and Dad back on their way home. Needless to say, it was in fact ANOTHER late night getting the kids to bed. Once they were, Nikki says,"So what are we going to work on tonight?" and it was another 2am night. :)

By the time they had left us on Thursday, we had made so many memories and gotten so much accomplished. I am so thankful to them for coming because I know it is not the easiest trip to make, and then with her allergies and Jackson getting sick on top of it all... We all wish they lived closer. We will take NY though, it is a lot closer than other places.

So, here I sit as I have since the 21st of July at 1:42am with NST. But along with that, I have a bedroom that is totally finished, a toy room that is totally organized, and I have been getting rid of things left and right that I have had since my wedding day that I never liked. In some aspects I am thankful to have NST and wonder how long it will last. PLEASE don't call me 1st thing in the morning though! ;) Goodnight!

Grab The French Fries Ya'll....

2008-07-29T22:50:00.004-04:00

It's Ketchup time!

Yes- I have been MIA for a while, but due to popular demand... I AM BACK!!! At least for tonight. :P

I have a wierd thing about posting things sorta in order, so I need to go back. Scroll down if you want to know what we've been up to!

I Get By With A little Help From my... Sisters.

2008-07-29T22:26:00.003-04:00

Ok- I can't stop laughing. Sometimes there are things that you just don't think people will do. And then you remember that they are your sisters, and of course they will. Oh what a funny, funny thing to do! I can't believe they BOTH posted for me, on MY BLOG!! I think that's kinda like wearing my clothes without asking, isn't it? I mean, I did give Nikki my password so she could see that I did blog (on my family reunion blog) but I forgot that she doesn't believe in secrets. What would I do without my sisters? Actually, I could get used to this. I could just sit back and SEE what they come up with about my life. Ok, yeah. Never mind. I will be changing my password. I know that right now Nikki is posting comments from me all over the web. And wait- is that MY name that is signed up for "Pink Christmas?!?"

That really was sweet of you guys. It almost seemed like a birthday surprise, only better because it is just plain old Tuesday, July 29th. :)

Besides, I was gone doing this today....

Ok, Ok.... I'm back.....

Blog Jacked jr.

2008-07-29T17:15:00.008-04:00

Hi Sunny here!

I don't believe Holly anymore when she says that she's going to blog so I figured if Nikki had the password she'd surely give it to me too. And she did!

For those who don't know me, I'm Holly's little sister Sunny. You don't know me like you know Nikki because my blog is private but if you want to come and see just email me at sunnytangren@hotmail.com I'd be HAPPY to invite you. :)

I was tagged not to long ago to tell 6 quirky things about myself. And since I'm Holly today I'll tell you 6 of the quirkiest things about Holly.

1. When Holly was growing up she needed everything brand name. She couldn't even be SEEN in Kmart much less BUY anything there and now she is one of the most militant bargain shoppers I know. And that's saying something because I'M pretty frugal myself. In fact she's even been known to demand her money back from the Salvation Army because she paid too much.

2. Holly LOVES to dance as we all do. Yet like every one of us she married a non dancer. The first time she danced with her husband was at MY wedding. What about their wedding you ask. Well, that would be ME who danced with her husband at that event. I'd just gotten back from Ricks and had been country dancing a few times and Nathan and I country danced. That's right everyone NATHAN COUNTRY DANCES.

I couldn't let Nikki post all of the embarrassing pictures. I took this on the sly when they were out here to visit me in 2003. This was taken at This is the Place heritage park.

3. When we were asked as children where we wanted to get married Holly said she wanted to get married in Tokyo or Hawaii. Anywhere exotic. And where did she get married? The very exotic Chicago, our local temple at the time. THAT is a story all on it's own. They had one chaotic event after another. You can be sure that I got my marriage license well in advance when I got married in the same state. Can you guess where she went on her honeymoon?

4. I was a pretty steady part of Holly and Nathan's courtship and early marriage. I talked to Nathan at some length when he was dating Holly. He asked me if she talked about him and if she liked him. I let him know how my sister was. And he still stuck around! :) I helped Nathan make their bed ( that I hear is now a swing set ) and Holly once asked me to call Nathan when we'd been shopping too long to let him know that she would be home soon and asked me to calm him down so that she wouldn't get in trouble when she got home. I was still talking to him when she got home and he just smiled at her when she walked in.

5. Holly never wanted to get married MUCH LESS have kids growing up ( ok so maybe not NEVER). So when I'd gotten off the mission and the thought of marriage sounded like prison and slavery she was the one I asked if she liked it. By the end of the conversation I was in tears, and obviously now married. The same went for children.

6. She gets headaches when she sees anything Sci-fi. Is that not the wierdest thing ever? Why does she get headaches? Is it for real or does she just want a reason to not watch it. And what is it about sci fi she doesn't like? She says it's the wierd skin that some people have. Is that really the reason? Should she be examined to see if there is a blaster in her head?!?

Yes we are the ones who "corrupted" her children. We don't apologize. We even got them addicted to video games too.

That was fun being Holly. I spent a good deal of time in my childhood pretending I was Holly and now I got to do it for real...kind of.

We (Heart) NY Again

2008-07-28T23:12:00.016-04:00

One of my favorite NEW traditions is going to visit my sister & her family during the beginning of summertime. They really know how to show us a good time, and we always leave wanting more. Which luckily for us is the second part of the tradition. They follow us home shortly after we are there!

As always the trip is filled with many calls back and forth between adults and kids alike, "Did you leave yet? Where are you? When will you be here?" This year we left at 7am RIGHT after Nathan got off of work because if he hit the bed, there would be no getting him up again for a good long while. Especially after the kind of weekend he had with an influx of 40,000 people near the small town he works in. We won't go there, just suffice it to say that he was a saint for jumping in the car instead of jumping into bed.

The closer we got, the more frequent the calls became. Throughout the trip we kept joking with the Garrick kids that one of the kids forgot something so we had to go home and get it. When we were within a few minutes, Jillie & Reagan were BEGGING us to tell them where we were, but we wouldn't. We secretly drove around their block and dropped Saroya & Ethan off. They ran in the Garrick's backyard and jumped on the swings. We called them and said, "Geesh! Now we can't find Saroya or Ethan. Are they at your house? They really like the swings, could you check yours?" When we heard the scream, we knew they were found.

First up was a quick dip in the pool to refresh our tired bodies. Nikki shamelessly posted a picture from that already, but to prevent any more exposure, I will post this harmless one instead.

Then it was a quick trip to "Terabithia" for skipping rocks
catching "snakes",

and walking in the water.
The next day we just hung around the house making sure the kids had plenty of time to get ready for their performance (a variety show they do for us every year), swim, and have fun. Nathan led the kids in different water games including one that stuck, dodge ball.

By the end of the day, the kids were fried! (oops, sunscreen wha??) We were entertained by the kids' show and Greg's firework display as we relaxed and had fun.

On Wed morning, we waited to let a storm pass, then we jumped in the car and headed for an Amusement Park called Darien Lake. (Thanks Greg!!) It was the perfect day with perfect weather.

Oh, we all had soo much fun! Nathan and Jackson were best buds from the get-go

which meant Nikki & I got to be best buds too! (This is us taking a self-portrait while on a "drive")

Jaleigh couldn't have been happier on EVERY ride! She was so happy to be at "Michigan Adventure" and Jackson was loving "Disneyland". Call it what you want, we all had fun.

They had the coolest roller coaster I have ever seen there. It's an OCChoppers coaster, and you are literaly strapped into a "motorcycle" while you zip around this roller coaster. It was so much fun, and such a unique idea I thought.
Yes, yes it was all fun until the end. I had a screaming headache and "lost it" in a ziploc bag full of candy on the way home. I didn't notice the significance of the picture above of Kobe & Saroya until the next morning when she woke up and her whole knee was swollen from an infection in a cut.

Instead of rushing off to Palmyra for the pageant like we had planned, Nathan took Saroya to the ER and waited to get some antibiotics for her to get started on. (Bless you, honey) They didn't touch it, poke it, drain it, put a band-aid on it or even put them in a room! Nathan said it was more like a supply closet. They just looked at it and said, "Yup, it's infected. I will write you a prescription" That was $50.00 and 5 hours later thank you very much! Wha??....

The other kids were so worried about her having to go to the ER on vacation (which ironically happened to Jaleigh last year too! NOT a tradition I would like to continue) the jumped right on it and started making banners and certificates for her so when she got home she would be happy. It was soo sweet, and it DID make her feel better.

I love that they gave her a "Certificate of Achievement" for going to the ER in NY.. :)

Then FINALLY everyone put their headphones on (and a sucker in their mouth, apparently) turned on a movie, and we were off!

We got there just in time to see some actors walking around to get a quick picture and get set up. (We eat VERY well during the performance... another tradition.)

The pageant was amazing as usual and the kids were enthralled. They LOVE it!

On Friday we decided to head out to make room and time

for Greg's mom & nephew. We found a few stowaways before

we left, but we promised that we would see them again soon!

Garricks- thanks sooo much for having us.

We made great memories and can't wait to do it again!