tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49578467571193236992024-03-19T05:56:49.840-07:00The PAGE pagepage familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02631059853277401785noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957846757119323699.post-12354304750528265482012-08-22T13:55:00.000-07:002012-08-22T13:55:09.100-07:00I'm back!I am trying to jump in to the blogging world again. This is just to let you know, in case you ever check this page, that I will be updating. Well, I don't think I can go back and try to catch up on everything that has happened since my last post 3 years ago. But I will hit highlights. Stay tuned...page familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02631059853277401785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957846757119323699.post-75747603115891917952010-02-08T19:43:00.000-08:002010-02-09T16:43:09.456-08:00Christmas 2009I know I'm very late on this, but I did want to post about our Christmas.I've included highlight photos, but for more, please check out our slideshow above. There are a lot, so be warned. :) We had found out that Brian was going to be off the entire week of Christmas. His mom usually comes out for Christmas, but she decided that she wouldn't come this year so that we could take a trip to Ohio to see Brian's birth father and the rest of that side of the family. (Thank you, very much, Cherie! We missed you, but appreciated being able to go to Ohio!) The kids were supposed to be in school up through Wednesday, the 23rd, but we left on Tuesday to go to Ohio. It had to be one of the most pleasant road trips we've taken in a long time. Usually someone is cranky about one thing or another and rubs off on just about everyone else. But somehow we had a small Christmas miracle, in that no one really got cranky the whole way there! <br /><P><A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7sy9BmWl0MmPRWCudETnG3z7ROM0eEphy_lrM3DPTxJN6isbArGOiF8I_vzD9MESJNQleVD77Z2dL4O9gESau73BE3BiQtA2SjM6QPEnoL4y319WMRt-37EhjReEobqnJ7eszBZmc7ME/s1600-h/IMG_7507.JPG"><IMG style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421985145503834946 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7sy9BmWl0MmPRWCudETnG3z7ROM0eEphy_lrM3DPTxJN6isbArGOiF8I_vzD9MESJNQleVD77Z2dL4O9gESau73BE3BiQtA2SjM6QPEnoL4y319WMRt-37EhjReEobqnJ7eszBZmc7ME/s320/IMG_7507.JPG"></A> We stopped a number of times for potty breaks and lunch, so we got to their home about 6:30 that evening. We were staying with Brian's birth father and his wife (Roy and Jackie, for future reference). One of Brian's half brother's was there with his wife and daughter and dog. We enjoyed an evening of pizza and visiting. Our girls played very nicely with their cousin who is 9, so right between our oldest girls in age. She even slept over 2 nights in a row and they all had a ball, staying up till midnight and gabbing, doing what girls do best! The next day we played and prepared for the rest of the family to come over for dinner that night. The rest of the family included another half brother and his wife and 2 year old son; a step-brother and his wife and 4 kids; and one of Brian's aunts with her daughter/son-in-law and 3 kids. So it was quite a houseful. 2 of the families came mid-day and the kids got to put together gingerbread houses. They had fun, although some of the kids had a hard time getting the frosting to stick the pieces together. 2 out of 3 of the houses turned out, so I guess that's not too shabby! <A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAklYIEOyHqEaTuDlWsC_giYyiuBF8H0CWgjiAznnlL2XaEH0G3Wgq8sfsnBgBB45JaeO0OnGO6PZUQxNHEjFSXxRuOBbUb8s76M3qYgDmxdoHahaaDBBUsVpxAqjgpgj4dGom0uPJDrE/s1600-h/IMG_7573.JPG"><IMG style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421985152186564818 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAklYIEOyHqEaTuDlWsC_giYyiuBF8H0CWgjiAznnlL2XaEH0G3Wgq8sfsnBgBB45JaeO0OnGO6PZUQxNHEjFSXxRuOBbUb8s76M3qYgDmxdoHahaaDBBUsVpxAqjgpgj4dGom0uPJDrE/s320/IMG_7573.JPG"></A> We had a photo shoot to try to get pictures of all of us together. The grown-ups decided that we should just take pictures of the kids. So we took a whole lot of pictures! Each family, girl cousins, boy cousins, grandkids with grandparents, etc. We did manage to get pictures of Grandpa Roy and all 4 of the grown boys. <A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi91PXQ3Uy6QMQE7_UBeuOdDwkldluVHCLwr1rsJl2fH4zC0s34RO9Qj_dLpL4a73sKxb-N6CaNRlD16FTTFyu_Ni1RY1cWZ7ejUdOydqnY-dMraVOgRM0vn9dea8HCez9JjowQ7Kuk2-w/s1600-h/IMG_7657.JPG"><IMG style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436090785759345858 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi91PXQ3Uy6QMQE7_UBeuOdDwkldluVHCLwr1rsJl2fH4zC0s34RO9Qj_dLpL4a73sKxb-N6CaNRlD16FTTFyu_Ni1RY1cWZ7ejUdOydqnY-dMraVOgRM0vn9dea8HCez9JjowQ7Kuk2-w/s320/IMG_7657.JPG"></A> From left to right: Brian; his half-brother, Aaron; father, Roy; half-brother, Terry; and step-brother, Tony. <A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh05EiuvOFPPfUUu_yvpJD6L23yeEFWbZiFJzb2bzYq7LnDxmF5_jAtfrrtYLHBYGsPx0emI_gW4mUsxexkPoeut6RohsNXGAR85IuN9gLz3vINhR1_I0hS3WG3ZMasZez5eWCWjxlHelE/s1600-h/IMG_7582.JPG"><IMG style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421985154026430338 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh05EiuvOFPPfUUu_yvpJD6L23yeEFWbZiFJzb2bzYq7LnDxmF5_jAtfrrtYLHBYGsPx0emI_gW4mUsxexkPoeut6RohsNXGAR85IuN9gLz3vINhR1_I0hS3WG3ZMasZez5eWCWjxlHelE/s320/IMG_7582.JPG"></A> <A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSNb4V_zJdQZLzXs_bndXYMoMFlwC2YDgRuIpQH0ym9Ih-0mY4BsxEBqAsZMZLZNku2_ErCTfnmX8m4z-iLSYbdSoWdOepd-4_izwUxaRgVDZ2XC7rkykYY2yAmhyBa5vfVX5cvA3LOTE/s1600-h/IMG_7586.JPG"><IMG style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 230px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421985160543297746 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSNb4V_zJdQZLzXs_bndXYMoMFlwC2YDgRuIpQH0ym9Ih-0mY4BsxEBqAsZMZLZNku2_ErCTfnmX8m4z-iLSYbdSoWdOepd-4_izwUxaRgVDZ2XC7rkykYY2yAmhyBa5vfVX5cvA3LOTE/s320/IMG_7586.JPG"></A> <A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikl1uF7HOM-Zdm-QIGbBErOIoPqTd8RsxsIeiSLxZMQt8c1Ev1RaikvYPxv2d6J8QeFfx5pmga0_XX9rnkuyUHYi4KNyGtqG9i7OizrbS4dxU6IC6lb_KSllsZN5bD4VXIXdGUTiB3T_E/s1600-h/bestcousins.JPG"><IMG style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 285px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421985141337168834 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikl1uF7HOM-Zdm-QIGbBErOIoPqTd8RsxsIeiSLxZMQt8c1Ev1RaikvYPxv2d6J8QeFfx5pmga0_XX9rnkuyUHYi4KNyGtqG9i7OizrbS4dxU6IC6lb_KSllsZN5bD4VXIXdGUTiB3T_E/s320/bestcousins.JPG"></A> </P><br /><P></P><br /><P><A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH_z-XmaCs32jU8xT013SQ0klD46pP7oA1ufwlVzA6c2g4Fgj7wHxe4fIOQbaArb9rkqgorY7Mm9t6Ugjb2QsdVVEKj50gibSZoTxc1MsvmBx-uP6v5eApRPmXv1lT5wReHUZEAGCSI1c/s1600-h/IMG_7612.JPG"><IMG style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436078985656352754 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH_z-XmaCs32jU8xT013SQ0klD46pP7oA1ufwlVzA6c2g4Fgj7wHxe4fIOQbaArb9rkqgorY7Mm9t6Ugjb2QsdVVEKj50gibSZoTxc1MsvmBx-uP6v5eApRPmXv1lT5wReHUZEAGCSI1c/s320/IMG_7612.JPG"></A></P><A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihGqxzZHrus0_U7miWCaXNbu758bZPyMCGKWoYKbFUkT1UQh8Af1zcG9Y91SsmfXg_6EG7C_GLhQeZtuxeecDeokcnleXlhRRxEOO8YkMrmZ1Zv7gBrhqHk3dY4ABuzQQUmsVwMshRuQw/s1600-h/IMG_7606.JPG"><IMG style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436078980209295074 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihGqxzZHrus0_U7miWCaXNbu758bZPyMCGKWoYKbFUkT1UQh8Af1zcG9Y91SsmfXg_6EG7C_GLhQeZtuxeecDeokcnleXlhRRxEOO8YkMrmZ1Zv7gBrhqHk3dY4ABuzQQUmsVwMshRuQw/s320/IMG_7606.JPG"></A> <A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7fGhlL2dWRzI7vYcB0ZghX7_FtVTJuKKJ98gglb0vPHW4kAscHQuMuwYMScFJc74BUT330XELg44tl4POBpfBXJXL0Pd9iGIAi7JqWBesmseow9Bq-joSECiPb5ezOryu5EswnVT_IsI/s1600-h/IMG_7605.JPG"><IMG style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 304px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436078972426983602 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7fGhlL2dWRzI7vYcB0ZghX7_FtVTJuKKJ98gglb0vPHW4kAscHQuMuwYMScFJc74BUT330XELg44tl4POBpfBXJXL0Pd9iGIAi7JqWBesmseow9Bq-joSECiPb5ezOryu5EswnVT_IsI/s320/IMG_7605.JPG"></A> Troy, the 2 year old, REALLY did NOT like having his picture taken. this is probably the best one we got! It looks like he's laughing, but oh, quite the contrary! That's why everyone else IS laughing/smiling. He was really a riot about the picture thing! <A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtudl6lWGBd5QGdQYjHTQ5TXoLMPyiQ1Y2g8pqZNZVUYW88Dtwq7CSrMS-pAbXWrnmFKfHZDdK-Tvg8217ywEaZoUCg3ru101bmGlgJds-PH-eHAnCFdZ-knpdl6HqUkzQqCYzbb3rIIg/s1600-h/IMG_7589.JPG"><IMG style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 218px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436078967621626962 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtudl6lWGBd5QGdQYjHTQ5TXoLMPyiQ1Y2g8pqZNZVUYW88Dtwq7CSrMS-pAbXWrnmFKfHZDdK-Tvg8217ywEaZoUCg3ru101bmGlgJds-PH-eHAnCFdZ-knpdl6HqUkzQqCYzbb3rIIg/s320/IMG_7589.JPG"></A> Grandpa Roy had an ATV that he tied a sled onto and pulled the kids around in the snow. They hadn't gotten as much snow as we did in Philly, but there was enough to play in and go sledding. So they spent a good portion of Wednesday and Thursday doing that. <br /><OBJECT id=BLOG_video-5fe91aa78262d796 class=BLOG_video_class width=320 height=266 contentId="5fe91aa78262d796"></OBJECT><br /><A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUapEfGgIcvyRBmJZ1OAhQR0RQsB6n1VI89uWeeB6DEXHCvR4o65WTSZPOvDrHhncHnmmM13wGW4jpCBq0aVE43DRy_a83cBcRDmjYxBIFWKv0jmIXp-5KbPsxzQY1wqrQFbVnzHDqCvk/s1600-h/IMG_7774.JPG"><IMG style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436093968931142002 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUapEfGgIcvyRBmJZ1OAhQR0RQsB6n1VI89uWeeB6DEXHCvR4o65WTSZPOvDrHhncHnmmM13wGW4jpCBq0aVE43DRy_a83cBcRDmjYxBIFWKv0jmIXp-5KbPsxzQY1wqrQFbVnzHDqCvk/s320/IMG_7774.JPG"></A> <A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTAjZDzEEAMUGUKoJBkk4LtIsU0h3BYVBgQQNUkAtDq6pUATLom7fqdaFbDv-pTLNW985bQhKu-HhCpwlmH694vvqxkWq5A8nqDzc4SSg7ewu6hH0d1OmGcjKbw3BfUU5zV5yFhjgS60Y/s1600-h/IMG_7753.JPG"><IMG style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436085237456731154 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTAjZDzEEAMUGUKoJBkk4LtIsU0h3BYVBgQQNUkAtDq6pUATLom7fqdaFbDv-pTLNW985bQhKu-HhCpwlmH694vvqxkWq5A8nqDzc4SSg7ewu6hH0d1OmGcjKbw3BfUU5zV5yFhjgS60Y/s320/IMG_7753.JPG"></A> <A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0BfYpG8gE7VrHUkiwWt_-GuWwaGWBtsjVrDG-u2q2VzZELU_Ny2Nfro9fYgPYhYwbhOlkITwvH21QO18XIII2sX3d4Tc82onmb6sp7S76gcGL4bVEDriEZYf0ph4hbngUy7B5Jb5f-Ls/s1600-h/IMG_7749.JPG"><IMG style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436085231977379634 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0BfYpG8gE7VrHUkiwWt_-GuWwaGWBtsjVrDG-u2q2VzZELU_Ny2Nfro9fYgPYhYwbhOlkITwvH21QO18XIII2sX3d4Tc82onmb6sp7S76gcGL4bVEDriEZYf0ph4hbngUy7B5Jb5f-Ls/s320/IMG_7749.JPG"></A> <A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvTZnz_a3kxRPAhhR5bD9lZTTSCEVwjjDk3_N0g_ApyLCReNKaDa_KBrXQbesF8WVosfFKOBJhvh6T3-3LuRbCSTVZ1KXQhRiG4TnIqHXqP3oC6Ot9BWwL9xaN9_8bSNRduyz6ieEzpMc/s1600-h/IMG_7744.JPG"><IMG style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436085228943481090 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvTZnz_a3kxRPAhhR5bD9lZTTSCEVwjjDk3_N0g_ApyLCReNKaDa_KBrXQbesF8WVosfFKOBJhvh6T3-3LuRbCSTVZ1KXQhRiG4TnIqHXqP3oC6Ot9BWwL9xaN9_8bSNRduyz6ieEzpMc/s320/IMG_7744.JPG"></A> Brian's aunt and one of her daughter's and the daughter's family came over for dinner and we enjoyed a nice dinner with the family! After dinner, we had a gift exchange...mostly for the kids, although there were a few smaller gifts for the grown-ups as well. <A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLSLRAxZ1lfzsclYj1YWv9PUI3m75rMnQ2QQOY4YLIScWaa5bZ2DIyGUB5tj9lbtcgye1A-NeMrS7FBLXDVC4dlHGNYQ-I4KCl24VFiuvf7oQr9s8L7QX9AJn6a7RgXYFQSTtK5MIW3BY/s1600-h/IMG_7661.JPG"><IMG style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436085245388316866 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLSLRAxZ1lfzsclYj1YWv9PUI3m75rMnQ2QQOY4YLIScWaa5bZ2DIyGUB5tj9lbtcgye1A-NeMrS7FBLXDVC4dlHGNYQ-I4KCl24VFiuvf7oQr9s8L7QX9AJn6a7RgXYFQSTtK5MIW3BY/s320/IMG_7661.JPG"></A> On Christmas Eve, Roy and Jackie, and Aaron and his daughter Haley, drove around with us, showing us family homes and some of the other family "sites". This is where Brian lived with Roy and Cherie many years ago, when Brian was just a baby. <A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1HihX9KGudeTF5eVdhM2aR_pH7nIV9xrvCR3FnF3ULmhocqtqGoSsK-qrVmh_L0IK9BmOkgGP-1x5tP5GwFUe-Exfwrakuf_L7AykpHteES4Vgp_el9oBGeEHM5mGsqgbYXAHulSEbYs/s1600-h/IMG_7810.JPG"><IMG style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436093972080572050 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1HihX9KGudeTF5eVdhM2aR_pH7nIV9xrvCR3FnF3ULmhocqtqGoSsK-qrVmh_L0IK9BmOkgGP-1x5tP5GwFUe-Exfwrakuf_L7AykpHteES4Vgp_el9oBGeEHM5mGsqgbYXAHulSEbYs/s320/IMG_7810.JPG"></A> The girls received their traditional new Christmast pajamas on Christmas Eve. <A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtWd7ivF_u70JLH6Ys-nc0iRZyye0EP0DrIpw91anpBgA3eCdAhsS0QlIFZhJ1Lh4pygZMMwL7vTZ-vef3FSlmn3JO6Lr79M3H5-wltNh0R2QK4BvohxZDybkVk73_u0VOcwU1zDNlrUw/s1600-h/IMG_7849.JPG"><IMG style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436093984295803410 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtWd7ivF_u70JLH6Ys-nc0iRZyye0EP0DrIpw91anpBgA3eCdAhsS0QlIFZhJ1Lh4pygZMMwL7vTZ-vef3FSlmn3JO6Lr79M3H5-wltNh0R2QK4BvohxZDybkVk73_u0VOcwU1zDNlrUw/s320/IMG_7849.JPG"></A> Since we were traveling for Christmas, we spread our presents out over the week, so the girls only opened a few in Ohio on Christmas morning. We did manage to bring the stockings and Santa found us in Ohio. <A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF8lav_X1YyEqTKM1Med2BwEAZEXQtT1-JpT_-GPfku2e1-UmGfWqdBgVcxghoS2zqJkW81NHr5aMpPCmRIydZrGXyYBx5YFleGtxcaxqdEsPlLitTL88TGwaOpkwylUAoP5DaeUJbekQ/s1600-h/IMG_7852.JPG"><IMG style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436093974745087170 border=0 alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF8lav_X1YyEqTKM1Med2BwEAZEXQtT1-JpT_-GPfku2e1-UmGfWqdBgVcxghoS2zqJkW81NHr5aMpPCmRIydZrGXyYBx5YFleGtxcaxqdEsPlLitTL88TGwaOpkwylUAoP5DaeUJbekQ/s320/IMG_7852.JPG"></A> It was a very, very nice Christmas. It was wonderful getting to know the Vollmer's better, to feel very much a part of the family, like we were never missing from their lives. And what a great time of year to spend with such fantastic people! Thank you, Vollmers!page familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02631059853277401785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957846757119323699.post-26658637934067343632009-12-28T19:30:00.000-08:002019-03-05T21:24:13.007-08:00SNOWED IN!If you've followed the weather recently, you would know that the east coast was pounded by a snow storm the weekend before Christmas. It was actually a pretty great event for us. We had nowhere to be that weekend. Brian even had the weekend off of work. We stayed home and played and spent time together! Church was even cancelled. It was a great snowfall, in my opinion. It ended up being close to 24 inches of snow! It was the nice fluffy kind, with no ice. That's the best kind, I think! We spent the weekend playing in the snow (snow angels, sledding,etc.), having hot chocolate, playing Wii, watching Christmas movies, playing Mad Gab and Apples to Apples, making cookies, sleeping, etc....<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia9egzOzvqj9OPj2na1gG66Y6DlDwhltVBryyeIKGPfezlYQWJskz5ObcupTTL-2VNnkkwrq54CU05MLIeHDNPWQL-m8jmUacyT6QyVBsdD8aTPfGXisxMJ2SHAk4KedFiQdNKM-mV_hc/s1600-h/IMG_7362.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420498437372802674" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia9egzOzvqj9OPj2na1gG66Y6DlDwhltVBryyeIKGPfezlYQWJskz5ObcupTTL-2VNnkkwrq54CU05MLIeHDNPWQL-m8jmUacyT6QyVBsdD8aTPfGXisxMJ2SHAk4KedFiQdNKM-mV_hc/s320/IMG_7362.JPG" style="cursor: hand; height: 320px; width: 240px;" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzXgSPhsNNgdPjIQvy7Dmt6Mo6VjSpLuZLOSxZmEvuY5ijfvJyzq_6UwNOqr-eTALzI0BgPDEg62wWESWXMunpkihDp4GGvjZuJQbEqiobsRrHTxlM6tEXUanOQTH5jZ0ui0GK9ILUFkQ/s1600-h/IMG_7333.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420498433938580914" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzXgSPhsNNgdPjIQvy7Dmt6Mo6VjSpLuZLOSxZmEvuY5ijfvJyzq_6UwNOqr-eTALzI0BgPDEg62wWESWXMunpkihDp4GGvjZuJQbEqiobsRrHTxlM6tEXUanOQTH5jZ0ui0GK9ILUFkQ/s320/IMG_7333.JPG" style="cursor: hand; height: 240px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIxlGnzHae8KdZgcVlCHRYfNBUNvSUCQRUt8DpoYK713ycDhyphenhyphenYYLNYQE-IMByWvm9TYkNx5nZpmff7acwmtMkseuhqOSshKxLwTVALkgEuUeys2chiBJySIbJR17kQdgStpe4mKl_S8vw/s1600-h/IMG_7373.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420511111558982914" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIxlGnzHae8KdZgcVlCHRYfNBUNvSUCQRUt8DpoYK713ycDhyphenhyphenYYLNYQE-IMByWvm9TYkNx5nZpmff7acwmtMkseuhqOSshKxLwTVALkgEuUeys2chiBJySIbJR17kQdgStpe4mKl_S8vw/s320/IMG_7373.JPG" style="cursor: hand; height: 240px; width: 320px;" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcYun4j3l7b07lX0MLcepip-mz1ZzeMqbonrXCCce-Ss9pIpHh59VO0QkxKKU_rOnAC6BD9KLx9Y22IDhx6ok3Z1-OLQocRduk-qOeowfM9ofKgjqaTR9p5qO5JAVeOshx6dnAPdnOZiQ/s1600-h/IMG_7379.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420511115336808626" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcYun4j3l7b07lX0MLcepip-mz1ZzeMqbonrXCCce-Ss9pIpHh59VO0QkxKKU_rOnAC6BD9KLx9Y22IDhx6ok3Z1-OLQocRduk-qOeowfM9ofKgjqaTR9p5qO5JAVeOshx6dnAPdnOZiQ/s320/IMG_7379.JPG" style="cursor: hand; height: 240px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR_lnBglxvFMZ472mZV_F7NtbcQoatpHYFh3fnaX4tgjay91WhmH2q0u1F-mpMQHbw1k6s1JlKHoJFCIuo2PXHcWa_7mvHaefrOtX0NiZeBoJA5t6D2f2752WgzJxM16AaC6BRq2ivfhM/s1600-h/IMG_7369.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420511775035117010" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR_lnBglxvFMZ472mZV_F7NtbcQoatpHYFh3fnaX4tgjay91WhmH2q0u1F-mpMQHbw1k6s1JlKHoJFCIuo2PXHcWa_7mvHaefrOtX0NiZeBoJA5t6D2f2752WgzJxM16AaC6BRq2ivfhM/s320/IMG_7369.JPG" style="cursor: hand; height: 240px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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We also let the girls open a couple of presents....<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizjyK148yr6dYr2I-M1dNaYYVpUDMMdrIxfe0Go__bP9W0rwQX2aU1DDHba8cUXyGuCB_7f-BsCkXrRGVLliwBakSRPykW9cUzkpJVuccVDOetP-MZuksZ0Zb-8UQ7n4kTI81JZRWDt5c/s1600-h/IMG_7489.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420512203803448914" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizjyK148yr6dYr2I-M1dNaYYVpUDMMdrIxfe0Go__bP9W0rwQX2aU1DDHba8cUXyGuCB_7f-BsCkXrRGVLliwBakSRPykW9cUzkpJVuccVDOetP-MZuksZ0Zb-8UQ7n4kTI81JZRWDt5c/s320/IMG_7489.JPG" style="cursor: hand; height: 240px; width: 320px;" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ71XFI9UKlZatJFGXsmwuQNTx6dsp7ILdwWiE4SfgxBVrh-I_EiEwjyN6WIZyJNIynBkDmO6Ru50nS_PYDH88FSvv-liLC4xVO726ETy5ldrzadHg4pVcYdBOO0vztkeGiAWTIeZzSys/s1600-h/IMG_7491.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420512212896119458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ71XFI9UKlZatJFGXsmwuQNTx6dsp7ILdwWiE4SfgxBVrh-I_EiEwjyN6WIZyJNIynBkDmO6Ru50nS_PYDH88FSvv-liLC4xVO726ETy5ldrzadHg4pVcYdBOO0vztkeGiAWTIeZzSys/s320/IMG_7491.JPG" style="cursor: hand; height: 240px; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_0reTUQFSP3IXvRXAMsmQTXFW1tK1GS9QMlvU67T3cyfw5IZCYhyES6VTTp0dGzI7DsUWr2zGzvB2mkARQ_A7X1SBCXfuogRH4xh34ZeYf_6ImhjtvotWKaTyoyQMkqidE8bz_LasuwQ/s1600-h/IMG_7495.JPG"> <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420512219174506082" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_0reTUQFSP3IXvRXAMsmQTXFW1tK1GS9QMlvU67T3cyfw5IZCYhyES6VTTp0dGzI7DsUWr2zGzvB2mkARQ_A7X1SBCXfuogRH4xh34ZeYf_6ImhjtvotWKaTyoyQMkqidE8bz_LasuwQ/s320/IMG_7495.JPG" style="cursor: hand; height: 320px; width: 240px;" /></a><br />
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It was a very nice weekendpage familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02631059853277401785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957846757119323699.post-87743493356708638292009-11-17T13:18:00.000-08:002009-11-17T13:21:43.843-08:00Things that make my heart sing<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5wjzDWogo6Fu8UxlexRIIz5bThGyXSKqSZLmFTxFKV69DLO8Rmu3mQzoGJqgg4e2aQDqWDAnvxv-aX-UYC5qYAqKKyX-WvW69kJ1ZBCWnDA9g9UK6K3FxDxJV80227pW3cqYli5uj6wc/s1600/041.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5wjzDWogo6Fu8UxlexRIIz5bThGyXSKqSZLmFTxFKV69DLO8Rmu3mQzoGJqgg4e2aQDqWDAnvxv-aX-UYC5qYAqKKyX-WvW69kJ1ZBCWnDA9g9UK6K3FxDxJV80227pW3cqYli5uj6wc/s320/041.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405185759597036994" /></a><br />Ally to mommy the other day: "Mommy is my best friend...of ever".<br /><br />Ahhhhh....need I say more?page familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02631059853277401785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957846757119323699.post-70586486023917098532009-11-05T07:10:00.000-08:002009-11-06T16:10:15.307-08:00Halloween and Stuff<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-SAXXzlvW5-067lRdAYnUHfK8c5C6mj9lTeIZHXuuUCsTRwyJyntuews1ljMHpRJqwMFylTYnRn1DbZd3rZDYINTy4swV1mrexo-C0-4hsNrVFOWiw8lfE69Z5QKo1_PIHkzErmIMO1U/s1600-h/916.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 240px; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400649402930009298" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-SAXXzlvW5-067lRdAYnUHfK8c5C6mj9lTeIZHXuuUCsTRwyJyntuews1ljMHpRJqwMFylTYnRn1DbZd3rZDYINTy4swV1mrexo-C0-4hsNrVFOWiw8lfE69Z5QKo1_PIHkzErmIMO1U/s320/916.JPG" /></a></div><br /><br /><div>You didn't think you'd hear from me again so soon, did ya!? Well, here I am. I was reading all my friends' blogs and everyone had their Halloween pictures up so I thought I better put mine up!</div><br /><br /><div>With Halloween on Saturday this year, all the school celebrations were on Friday, which, as some of you know, was my birthday. So after being surprised with 2 big breakfasts from oldest daughter and hubby (they did not communicate about doing breakfast for me), the rest of the day was dedicated to Halloween stuff. I made pumpkin bread and pumpkin cookies for the girls' class parties at school. At around1:30 Ally, who dressed up as Dora the Explorer, and I went to the school to watch a parade around the outside of the school. Always a fun thing to watch. There are some very creative costumes. The teachers always have a theme they work with. This year they were hippies, thanks to some new school merchandise (ie. tie-dyed shirts with the school logo). Anyway, that's not really relevant.....</div><br /><br /><div>Courtney wanted to originally be the wicked witch from Wicked/Wizard of Oz. But I didn't have time, money, or know-how to get/make that. We found a black/purple striped witches hat that's I'd bought for $1 last year and she decided to be a black/purple witch. We found a black/purple dress for $5 and a friend of our's had black/purple striped stockings. It was perfect and she looked nice.</div><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZP9u6wqHD-7t4Xs58adHLLE79UP19_4PGmeaCl8V7Y2eBeflZyjVdxl1OXwHLxzR1Ai37Fuxxhs5r8ycfPJ7qCnjTWlvNB0qHuClGLyQaNleDCwpbUM4_g6SHDlQjUmDtL9vpRTbTi1A/s1600-h/777.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 240px; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400649394790942530" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZP9u6wqHD-7t4Xs58adHLLE79UP19_4PGmeaCl8V7Y2eBeflZyjVdxl1OXwHLxzR1Ai37Fuxxhs5r8ycfPJ7qCnjTWlvNB0qHuClGLyQaNleDCwpbUM4_g6SHDlQjUmDtL9vpRTbTi1A/s320/777.JPG" /></a>></div><br /><br /><div>Jessica went for my idea for her to be something made out of a box. There are lots of things you can do with a box. We came up with an ipod. She loves to listen to my ipod nano, so that was appropriate for her. She decided to make it a green one, because she had an "Apple camp" tshirt she had received from attending a computer class at the Apple store this summer. She could wear that underneath since we were leaving the back open. It had the Apple logo on it. Then she wanted to spray paint her hair green. </div><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFxpSRwxTYeSq_WdFoWW9vHfw5BfDoc1K2FH4BciR4mCivJHFvF7TbROtsQo7But7RBuPLlscmjFHVHHMsUpLmtDEbOesS24GqKkffsoMQyhyphenhyphenyPAzDdTRFyE5fYmnP4FC053WSeuFvhXg/s1600-h/762.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400649387494333186" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFxpSRwxTYeSq_WdFoWW9vHfw5BfDoc1K2FH4BciR4mCivJHFvF7TbROtsQo7But7RBuPLlscmjFHVHHMsUpLmtDEbOesS24GqKkffsoMQyhyphenhyphenyPAzDdTRFyE5fYmnP4FC053WSeuFvhXg/s320/762.JPG" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKu_-9iFlzrtSMcdqoOSevmaJZT4X5n6QbQJUHS0yDVue_7K6Be5K6q6kf8ikoLDq5GlJVkrZprEzpwX83mTHl8FIZTZiKqaueNHqP8VVE3Uvpaek2F9m7bJcqrgXSuQ9b2nkZlqCwbB8/s1600-h/908.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400649405677105698" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKu_-9iFlzrtSMcdqoOSevmaJZT4X5n6QbQJUHS0yDVue_7K6Be5K6q6kf8ikoLDq5GlJVkrZprEzpwX83mTHl8FIZTZiKqaueNHqP8VVE3Uvpaek2F9m7bJcqrgXSuQ9b2nkZlqCwbB8/s320/908.JPG" /></a>></div><br /><br /><div>Ally would change her mind every day, sometimes twice a day, about what she wanted to be. Sometimes it was a princess, sometimes a monster, sometimes Dora...etc.... We finally settled on Dora since we had a costume that Jessica had worn when she was 3. She didn't wear the wig on Halloween night, but I did manage to get a couple of pictures of her in it at the school before she pulled it off. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGgRDnABZ9CdhU9PNixlyc-QDIVYwkHA3-rcW3miP8D1dcM3unbFoox_CSL7NUtz1iT5H-dlbmIW7fCgpWT-UEU3nbAyVQZsB1GRt82kYm2k96RwJcVVxQ4hRwolBNhYlCNBkoj4EiwqI/s1600-h/820.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 240px; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400649398340853474" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGgRDnABZ9CdhU9PNixlyc-QDIVYwkHA3-rcW3miP8D1dcM3unbFoox_CSL7NUtz1iT5H-dlbmIW7fCgpWT-UEU3nbAyVQZsB1GRt82kYm2k96RwJcVVxQ4hRwolBNhYlCNBkoj4EiwqI/s320/820.JPG" /></a>></div><br /><br /><div>I usually get a bunch of nice pictures of the kids before they go out, but we never got our act together to do that.....too much to do!</div><br /><br /><div>Something cool happened for my birthday later in the day. My dad came to visit. He had been working in Pittsburgh for the week and made arrangements to get over to Philly and visit for the weekend. Such a nice birthday present! We didn't do anything too exciting while he was here, but it was so super nice to have him here! Thanks, dad, for coming!!! </div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMVR8A52-u1QEMwSCQdyiDBMaQZBlZmx1tEcGGkJ_45scNEnYvwTZ06KYcmwPPlUwRruu6tzLcutmpF7qQTr6knHEZ2sj9fTEXHKbK-TXLO42kfjCFUqpraojOenbe3ZVrVZ844WquQiE/s1600-h/003.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400651702625713298" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMVR8A52-u1QEMwSCQdyiDBMaQZBlZmx1tEcGGkJ_45scNEnYvwTZ06KYcmwPPlUwRruu6tzLcutmpF7qQTr6knHEZ2sj9fTEXHKbK-TXLO42kfjCFUqpraojOenbe3ZVrVZ844WquQiE/s320/003.JPG" /></a></div><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqK8l1_7rM20bEKGYS-Fmy-S70z0kXdsrMyu1oTSOIxctCup38L_Qx9vXYkfVSNuN8JpXzaIyJVTUdDij0wep4YFHayi7IpSbw2SNG4TX6jpEz_9_ioVnMG6o-y2oBn2PmvCKvOoBa0sI/s1600-h/007.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400651700523225458" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqK8l1_7rM20bEKGYS-Fmy-S70z0kXdsrMyu1oTSOIxctCup38L_Qx9vXYkfVSNuN8JpXzaIyJVTUdDij0wep4YFHayi7IpSbw2SNG4TX6jpEz_9_ioVnMG6o-y2oBn2PmvCKvOoBa0sI/s320/007.JPG" /></a>></div><br /><br /><div>We attended our new ward's halloween party on friday night with my dad. We got there late, and had some chili and had the kids play games. It was weird because we didn't know very many people. Just a couple of families were there from our original ward. I did meet a couple of people, but it was weird to be at a new ward's activity. </div><br /><br /><div>On Saturday, Brian took my dad to go get a Philly cheesesteak and then Brian went to a Pearl Jam Concert in the afternoon/evening while we went with my dad to crash the new Broomall ward's (with part of our old ward) Halloween party. They also had chili and games plus they had trick-or-treating. It was a completely different feeling. I still didn't know everyone, because of all the people from the other ward, but it felt much more comfortable. I realized that this might be a harder move than I thought. I was trying to have a good attitude about switching wards but it is sad to not be seeing the same people each week that I've seen for the last 4 years. Especially since I did not actually move. I'm used to that....moving and going to a new ward, but knowing that all my friends are still in the general vicinity...that's different and a harder.</div><br /><br /><div>Anyway, enough about that.... We came home and made a quick dinner of frito salad and then got ready to go trick-or-treating. We have a tradition of going with the Murphy's and this year was no different except we didn't get going until 6:40 and they had to start without us. We met up with them eventually, but then it started raining. Not good for a cardboard ipod costume painted with washable paint....we only lasted about 40 minutes.</div><br /><br /><div>Courtney wasn't so much into the candy this year and only hit about 10 houses. She was ready to go home before the rest of us. </div><br /><br /><div>The Great Pumpkin came that night. He takes most of the candy away and replaces it with something more lasting and less tooth-decaying....this time it was a movie and stuffed animals. They get to keep about 20 pieces and have to give up the rest. Courtney actually only kept 15...just the KitKats and Smarties.</div><br /><br /><div>We had a nice Halloween weekend. And a nice visit with Grandpa! </div><br /><br /><div>Here are some fall pictures....I love this time of year here. I don't get the fantastic shots I want to of the trees, but hopefully you can get an idea of how pretty it is here. </div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiijWiRcygCjNuQlDqQb4cfvgQ_uhJu74aJL4auZO-EN8CfTTDexpW-AWslAIhKaRaIl4FgYvk1ERzi4YVqbq9ZxnG6CT0JFWtN-AAIoK8SNqKN8VdF12uuHRFu8D2fs1-o71WIPZ2SRz4/s1600-h/926.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400653571518100066" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiijWiRcygCjNuQlDqQb4cfvgQ_uhJu74aJL4auZO-EN8CfTTDexpW-AWslAIhKaRaIl4FgYvk1ERzi4YVqbq9ZxnG6CT0JFWtN-AAIoK8SNqKN8VdF12uuHRFu8D2fs1-o71WIPZ2SRz4/s320/926.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-eHCCRVs7W8NGOgdOW_PzGjQH66vNT2USmhwsO_ra2-0AnYjz1dagXgcD5xwQMH3J5S3VY2WTUb9JUmrVR1pUUeHHrj4ywyeGlWWlOJrbCGTevoxch0c0NWZRCkg5uBI_wKYq49OomdA/s1600-h/016.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400653568865815986" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-eHCCRVs7W8NGOgdOW_PzGjQH66vNT2USmhwsO_ra2-0AnYjz1dagXgcD5xwQMH3J5S3VY2WTUb9JUmrVR1pUUeHHrj4ywyeGlWWlOJrbCGTevoxch0c0NWZRCkg5uBI_wKYq49OomdA/s320/016.JPG" /></a>></div><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi09PzMJuWmuQb0Gcu_CpgVa5D7MaiqL32C6SWu4C0SAn5WhSg43qc0xnIuHjYf_oYizKJJdkuekKNobF9Vf2U2jqA4dceCBmV7mMZYR07nzdyJ9kQz_Cn1ZlGMrqnQI-tkUxxIcCxOxws/s1600-h/807.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400653566033469954" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi09PzMJuWmuQb0Gcu_CpgVa5D7MaiqL32C6SWu4C0SAn5WhSg43qc0xnIuHjYf_oYizKJJdkuekKNobF9Vf2U2jqA4dceCBmV7mMZYR07nzdyJ9kQz_Cn1ZlGMrqnQI-tkUxxIcCxOxws/s320/807.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHvSd5Zugd8x8G3ayGNOPylZ9T3_GaclJ_7s02xhrV-MngUrMcxv-BuodEfLZagPS_RlFXIqXEHPKFvgWrG2Pb_pOAvJpIhokIsFeO6SVytmux6B2Ufm9h5CNkhzDWAffR6phOWjinxmc/s1600-h/786.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 240px; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400653557358361554" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHvSd5Zugd8x8G3ayGNOPylZ9T3_GaclJ_7s02xhrV-MngUrMcxv-BuodEfLZagPS_RlFXIqXEHPKFvgWrG2Pb_pOAvJpIhokIsFeO6SVytmux6B2Ufm9h5CNkhzDWAffR6phOWjinxmc/s320/786.JPG" /></a></div><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjpNXxns5tdiUwc6Cf4Yz83S74eIQgpgUjhxU8TR9o1LAlyLSmVvCiE73CFNfdlo8w5BFxEINOvgI8WevXbl5zsUCEZ9YTveW2Xb2C6HP6f-kAMowV8ZqrM5s0Zt9HaVqe4st2tNO27J8/s1600-h/782.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400653549628892626" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjpNXxns5tdiUwc6Cf4Yz83S74eIQgpgUjhxU8TR9o1LAlyLSmVvCiE73CFNfdlo8w5BFxEINOvgI8WevXbl5zsUCEZ9YTveW2Xb2C6HP6f-kAMowV8ZqrM5s0Zt9HaVqe4st2tNO27J8/s320/782.JPG" /></a>></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8qJZ2vT7yU71vjEdfmG-m2PRKjbmY0LG2ecThGcUCy5UMasdHMlH-KK8MVw7T0uxV8CljVWrPVL9XWcKqCoJ_RldquvW7v2ifWRy2cvJ4ZpO7fXCiUVISnxfSrOBYMj5ilYOGpBNtHlA/s1600-h/931.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400654664292463378" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8qJZ2vT7yU71vjEdfmG-m2PRKjbmY0LG2ecThGcUCy5UMasdHMlH-KK8MVw7T0uxV8CljVWrPVL9XWcKqCoJ_RldquvW7v2ifWRy2cvJ4ZpO7fXCiUVISnxfSrOBYMj5ilYOGpBNtHlA/s320/931.JPG" /></a>></div><br /><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOge6-3tpBzY6XQOTih2ngMqNTqx-pszbYIdpIYXWIttYQ7EwFz-rQWsbFbUJ4MdaUIhIiAdAP_J3IVpMyyz_90zOrhO_kaNj1Hp1khvw81JlqrXEPbrsepg7RCKXeDtLG4iGMRrqOxeQ/s1600-h/927.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400654661231756834" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOge6-3tpBzY6XQOTih2ngMqNTqx-pszbYIdpIYXWIttYQ7EwFz-rQWsbFbUJ4MdaUIhIiAdAP_J3IVpMyyz_90zOrhO_kaNj1Hp1khvw81JlqrXEPbrsepg7RCKXeDtLG4iGMRrqOxeQ/s320/927.JPG" /></a>></div><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq-xvX-TCXH8m_tEndMSGN18IMBeWaXKstJXMru7PQ9kSyk6eBCUkW-z2yIC-6mNEsAr6iTjJGRH4gaCrxIPFy9rUgSaT9THS4wnpUBC3RlLpVSTNN_Z1bhn9RHvvgotXirEsHUyQ354s/s1600-h/924.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400654654142589490" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq-xvX-TCXH8m_tEndMSGN18IMBeWaXKstJXMru7PQ9kSyk6eBCUkW-z2yIC-6mNEsAr6iTjJGRH4gaCrxIPFy9rUgSaT9THS4wnpUBC3RlLpVSTNN_Z1bhn9RHvvgotXirEsHUyQ354s/s320/924.JPG" /></a>></div><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2qSZ7mxztuaF6aWIP9EFpvpR-YxtxVO5Y_C8y3qaErQfM_MtMGyW9B_TpfdeyE08mFzE66IEtr42zxXhiIOEsbjwspDHVL53iE6sioc7FPmU2O3f-gvGZvXzNQf-TF2W_4Le7H-hyjXA/s1600-h/923.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400654649392292658" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2qSZ7mxztuaF6aWIP9EFpvpR-YxtxVO5Y_C8y3qaErQfM_MtMGyW9B_TpfdeyE08mFzE66IEtr42zxXhiIOEsbjwspDHVL53iE6sioc7FPmU2O3f-gvGZvXzNQf-TF2W_4Le7H-hyjXA/s320/923.JPG" /></a>></div>page familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02631059853277401785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957846757119323699.post-91530970506717949832009-10-21T10:46:00.000-07:002009-10-25T21:11:13.760-07:00I'm so behind!!!I know, I know! The last post said that I would try to catch up and I promised a more detail posting. Sorry! I don't know what happened. I do know that very recently my computer has been acting up so I haven't liked to try to do anything extensive on it. But now I am "allowed" to use Brian's computer as my own now....previously not allowed full access to it, in the sense that I couldn't put my pictures and music on it or download anything. Don't ask.... :) But he saw how frustrating the other computer was getting and broke down and realized there is no real harm in me using "his" computer. It's faster and newer and so far, better....for now. It is still a PC so we'll see....<br /><br />Anyway, enough about that....<br /><br />The latest, biggest news in our lives is that we went through a drastic ward boundaries realignment last Sunday, with only 4 days notice that we were even having a special sacrament meeting with 4 other congregations. Most people speculated that a few families from the northern and southern areas would get divided out, to balance out the other surrounding congregations. Here's what they did....<br /><br />They released our Bishopric and everyone in the ward from all of their callings. Then they read the new boundaries. They read the changes by school districts. They basically eliminated our ward (the largest) and divided us up into the 4 other congregations, putting the school district we are in, in a ward that meets in the city! A not-so-great part of town....with a gate around it and, I believe, bars on the windows.<br /><br />No one is happy about it...Some are deciding to jump right in, but are still not thrilled about it. It really was a ward family for many many people. I was sad and bummed, and I've only been here for 4 years. Some have lived in that ward their entire lives. I can't imagine how hard it is for them. What many were upset about is that there was no notice, no chance to say farewell, have a final party....I guess that's how it usually works, but changes like this are not very common here....it's been 10 years since they rearranged the boundaries. None of Courtney's and Jessica's friends are moving with us to the city so that's hard for them....Well, one girl from Acheivement days but she will be turning 12 in Dec and thus going to YW.<br /><br />They also cancelled Halloween parties, Acheivement Days for the week, and postponed the primary program which was only 3 weeks away. They gave permission to do that in January. I was bummed about the timing since I was the primary pianist, something I have always wanted to do. And so to be released like that was disappointing.<br /><br />So our first time in the city is this week and we shall see how it goes.....we know NOTHING about that ward. No one going with us seems to know anything either. Our new bishop is actually someone who just got put in from our ward, so that's good. Or is it bad? How soon before we get callings???? :) JK. I'm ready for it!<br /><br /><br />Everything else is the same. Brian works and works and works and works. The kids are in school---5th and 3rd grades. Jessica is playing piano, Courtney playing flute. Ally entertains by singing and dancing and acting! I am busy helping with school stuff. Not doing Girl Scouts, really this year, except helping occasionally in Jessica's troop.<br /><br /><div>As I look back at some of our pictures, I realize we've got a lot to catch up on....I'll try to do it briefly..</div><br /><div>Courtney and Brian took a trip to NY to celebrate Courtney's 10th birthday! I can't believe we have a 10 year old!!!!! Double digits....She has wanted to see "Wicked" for the longest time and so Brian took her on a Wednesday to go try to get in to see it. We told her they would try but that the chances that they could get discount tickets were very slim. She was just excited to go to NY with her dad! </div><br /><div>They got there and put their names in a lottery to buy tickets for the matinee. When Brian called and told me, I thought "you're crazy. If you get picked, there's no way we can afford to buy those tickets." He said he had to do it anyway and see if he got them. He'd figure something out. ahhhhh...stressed me out. Tickets can be in the $200 range!!! I hung up with him, and called my friend who told me that the lottery is to be able to purchase tickets for about $25 each! And good seats, too! A few minutes later, Brian called back and said he had been one of 4 people picked. I was so happy for them! And even happier that it was only going to cost $50 total for both of them to see it. Know where the seats were? (Well, you do if you've heard this story already) Front and center, right behind the orchestra pit! Courtney could look down into the pit by the conductor! She was on cloud 9!!! It could not have been a more perfect birthday gift! It really went well! (Picture to come later when I can track it down.)</div><br /><div>After the show, Brian took her to the American Girl store because she had gotten a lot of birthday money and wanted to buy herself a doll. She had 2 dolls already, but there was something cool for her about buying her own doll (almost $100, I might add).</div><br /><div>And aside from her leaving her purse on a train (complete with a small AG doll she had bought earlier in the week, 2 pool passes, and a few other things that were disappointing to lose), the trip was a BLAST for her. I only wish I could have gone and shared that with her. But it was special because it was a daddy-daughter thing she will NEVER forget.</div><br />We were able to meet our "new" family, Brian's birth father and everyone else, at a lake house owned by Brian's aunt. Only Brian didn't get to go, he had to work. But the girls and I went. It was the first weekend after school got out, so it was a nice way to kick off the summer. We went out on their boat, where the girls got to do some tubing, jetskiing and cliff jumping. It was such a nice weekend and we really felt included and like part of the family, even though we've only known them for a short time. Those who were there were...Brian's birth father and his wife, Brian's 2 half brothers and their wives and children (one each), Brian's Aunt, Uncle, and 2 cousins. It was pretty cool to be part of their family. We hope to do many other things with them in the future and hopefully Brian will be able to join us sometimes!<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWsDXEGF7veBSEFxs3FYgXxcCycAhSbSvFk49kTAJe0JUXcNJRWg3b5kvz5ZsLbceXs0bp2gzE_a2o3HIic7fWaHOKnXrcrZOD-kDH0Tyx1r9IEdhOUOS5h_08gkyZdjOaE6DV13vk0Go/s1600-h/IMG_4055.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396742143486985410" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWsDXEGF7veBSEFxs3FYgXxcCycAhSbSvFk49kTAJe0JUXcNJRWg3b5kvz5ZsLbceXs0bp2gzE_a2o3HIic7fWaHOKnXrcrZOD-kDH0Tyx1r9IEdhOUOS5h_08gkyZdjOaE6DV13vk0Go/s320/IMG_4055.JPG" /></a> </div><div> </div><div>We met some friends down at the beach in Ocean City, NJ. Their family has a beach house a few blocks away and it was nice to spend the day with them. It wasn't the best weather, a bit overcast and chilly, but the kids didn't let that keep them out of the water. Ally was a little nervous about the waves but the other girls totally went for it with boogie boards and shell searches!<br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPwL3hiTGrshFujA-b1GW5PRZJyxBHuf8cRHivxfxezP4CAjxJbP7zRR5TMnX0REPo9ah0vvbus5hiSlahZJtQQOm-MapJD3-A0zLyApkhk0a_lRyM7SSDR_GkpAaptTp-dJpDswoRrPU/s1600-h/IMG_5354.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396742136446705122" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPwL3hiTGrshFujA-b1GW5PRZJyxBHuf8cRHivxfxezP4CAjxJbP7zRR5TMnX0REPo9ah0vvbus5hiSlahZJtQQOm-MapJD3-A0zLyApkhk0a_lRyM7SSDR_GkpAaptTp-dJpDswoRrPU/s320/IMG_5354.JPG" /></a><br /><br />We took the opportunity, on one of Brian's rare days off, to go to the NJ aquarium. We can get a nice picture of the city of Philadelphia from the aquarium, so we did that. We loved seeing sharks, stingrays, exotic fish, dolphins, etc.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhga6fwoj8gxevC8PU15IM1BP90n6kxzi1o92DV8JkLBjDlUI2IypIBUbddVUziydTN7o6ejBi_motvIjFVwNTrkkPf3Zv3XBYUWDGs5AAJJVU5B9Bq3qppNgDs30XVVP0qzkuVBqFAjlQ/s1600-h/IMG_5088.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396742131631368162" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhga6fwoj8gxevC8PU15IM1BP90n6kxzi1o92DV8JkLBjDlUI2IypIBUbddVUziydTN7o6ejBi_motvIjFVwNTrkkPf3Zv3XBYUWDGs5AAJJVU5B9Bq3qppNgDs30XVVP0qzkuVBqFAjlQ/s320/IMG_5088.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br />During the summer we found out that Lowe's Home Improvement store does free kids' workshops twice a month. So we've started going. Sometimes we know what they are doing, sometimes we just go The girls seem to enjoy it and we've been lucky that Brian has gotten to go almost every time. I think he's only missed 1.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFP-WGOC56exPceb3Zbqf8nP7PGx9UfzYYqN1UIrS4mMcXa0fvAzeF5OquudBlGGkLTTy9B4lit9i6r4rIpbWVfdTE93WqWlDXn0yjqdPBOv6k0aG3vsMuosKSUPJZnDvHpkkZ46Sz6Io/s1600-h/IMG_3836.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 240px; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396752368185983458" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFP-WGOC56exPceb3Zbqf8nP7PGx9UfzYYqN1UIrS4mMcXa0fvAzeF5OquudBlGGkLTTy9B4lit9i6r4rIpbWVfdTE93WqWlDXn0yjqdPBOv6k0aG3vsMuosKSUPJZnDvHpkkZ46Sz6Io/s320/IMG_3836.JPG" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS46xMKLAz3FLnGA6__uP9XauntRyXCTffUS19a2eTyAXDhHnziC1iO51vNM_-99xUF24tR66nFuj51PHHRE9KTQwaOcgrUHUxO4Q-vilNXIBtFP-lamJK4yO4INsFVaPefFNsA1W4rf8/s1600-h/IMG_3835.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 240px; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396752365247291378" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS46xMKLAz3FLnGA6__uP9XauntRyXCTffUS19a2eTyAXDhHnziC1iO51vNM_-99xUF24tR66nFuj51PHHRE9KTQwaOcgrUHUxO4Q-vilNXIBtFP-lamJK4yO4INsFVaPefFNsA1W4rf8/s320/IMG_3835.JPG" /></a><br />Here are more from the beach. I was too tired to put them in the right order on the blog, so I just left them here.... </div><div>It was so very beautiful and relaxing!!</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-LKucjnkWbnjfqWOtPCmup-c66bdi5UDME8jFTQTZhXw98Wtdgd4CVS_J1qVzYhoJsxWAfVMruhu_wNHnpNdC05amyUvR9-CeJm6N1wZf0zKD_Dng7FXz6eaMfsm5QI4uKKDCjk1Mokk/s1600-h/IMG_4082.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396752358730698994" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-LKucjnkWbnjfqWOtPCmup-c66bdi5UDME8jFTQTZhXw98Wtdgd4CVS_J1qVzYhoJsxWAfVMruhu_wNHnpNdC05amyUvR9-CeJm6N1wZf0zKD_Dng7FXz6eaMfsm5QI4uKKDCjk1Mokk/s320/IMG_4082.JPG" /></a><br /><br />Uncle Bob letting Ally drive the boat. Everyone was so nice and kind to the kids and very helpful, since I was a single mom that day. They just really did a good job of "taking care of us" and making us have a comfortable and fun visit. <br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLpAAIeVlAzGm95LV8RPudlNR74pGn6i9aTSPHeM67CNLQ5Ma0V1S2ZHE5fgeAlyK1v7UtkdOEzzSTlroAKVecgSUzC-IIW_S3do0et_7mdmcwnfBiG5J-WSYxZKooHzZECo_EsMfX_eQ/s1600-h/IMG_3973.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 240px; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396752353552579746" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLpAAIeVlAzGm95LV8RPudlNR74pGn6i9aTSPHeM67CNLQ5Ma0V1S2ZHE5fgeAlyK1v7UtkdOEzzSTlroAKVecgSUzC-IIW_S3do0et_7mdmcwnfBiG5J-WSYxZKooHzZECo_EsMfX_eQ/s320/IMG_3973.JPG" /></a><br /><br />On the boat before going out. Courtney is still trying to get her life jacket on.<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbiNAnjijRAfEOMledKMMEiIfAH8wAb8iPWY_M1dr9smowirDZN0hTLXjP-8d_XL0Q_-f4nO5waI5iVrcr5gcML6-uZSM4BNTiLh3vfKCGv6xMhoWF7E49NJtBwkV4kaIIZFnAmIxtWMw/s1600-h/IMG_3938.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396752344897726370" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbiNAnjijRAfEOMledKMMEiIfAH8wAb8iPWY_M1dr9smowirDZN0hTLXjP-8d_XL0Q_-f4nO5waI5iVrcr5gcML6-uZSM4BNTiLh3vfKCGv6xMhoWF7E49NJtBwkV4kaIIZFnAmIxtWMw/s320/IMG_3938.JPG" /></a><br /></div><div>I'm not done updating, but I'm tired and I want to get this published tonight, so I hope you enjoy this new stuff!</div><div> </div><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> </div><div></div></div></div></div></div>page familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02631059853277401785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957846757119323699.post-57754869422959001282009-06-06T05:15:00.000-07:002009-06-06T05:30:01.476-07:00New Post<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV6uHvom9h7A23ycRqB9BiZXBCpa8U7IavG2j2HxFqA7GbHyqKFLjWCEJ8tDc0C16xBN3KgTQLLnbPqsH-9V2rALnYCfu9BjxKw3LnYOwzE5xm0sNBlCl1er_sCJpUbXSbjXlZxqQCkSw/s1600-h/smiley%2520face.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344189891666547714" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV6uHvom9h7A23ycRqB9BiZXBCpa8U7IavG2j2HxFqA7GbHyqKFLjWCEJ8tDc0C16xBN3KgTQLLnbPqsH-9V2rALnYCfu9BjxKw3LnYOwzE5xm0sNBlCl1er_sCJpUbXSbjXlZxqQCkSw/s320/smiley%2520face.jpg" /></a> I am aware that I have not posted in a LONG time....I've been lazy. But some of my faithful followers have informed me that it's definitely time to update, as they are "bored" with my blog! :) I think they might be bored even if I update. Not much to report. But thanks for the reminder! I will try to update tomorrow. I have a primary lesson to plan today and a house to clean. Tomorrow should be more calm, I think.<br /><br />Until then, here are a few pictures to tide you over till I can update!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZGq00OsitCXA7nFIqBjP71j2PYKCIQ3fiB70B1GA7JEFssR8FykjVOxKpX2FYLmAvTdMIvYZ08Ywp1KG6z7D5a1S_sJ25eMy2PModPxZg9p8y6HRsIeWgy7bjW9_EwnF9j7xNdWPafIE/s1600-h/097.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344189900064663058" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZGq00OsitCXA7nFIqBjP71j2PYKCIQ3fiB70B1GA7JEFssR8FykjVOxKpX2FYLmAvTdMIvYZ08Ywp1KG6z7D5a1S_sJ25eMy2PModPxZg9p8y6HRsIeWgy7bjW9_EwnF9j7xNdWPafIE/s320/097.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha41FtpUW8jUlk29eiJ3xmKWUe9pCcxAgLySjCkKztuoljlAfYAjkPgVk-XwnDst3v1MRW4lR0jVPlqcDi-L2J3xjhBYpKdbGdZIhUut3jVh_RE4VFrHzV-mCJQ4bKO0vnKgXD-PN_LVU/s1600-h/IMG_3390.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344189911493648514" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha41FtpUW8jUlk29eiJ3xmKWUe9pCcxAgLySjCkKztuoljlAfYAjkPgVk-XwnDst3v1MRW4lR0jVPlqcDi-L2J3xjhBYpKdbGdZIhUut3jVh_RE4VFrHzV-mCJQ4bKO0vnKgXD-PN_LVU/s320/IMG_3390.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEW1OWwRW46BeGriTLNUHiToDf7i5YkcVvi4eQD2hXeB8B3x8IyNuobt_3U1qMghCiKkilFx7ktFkos6sQPEIp5hGnJkwa7APhqPnDVXbAhTpeMxXx7FjLt5Kt93ifCGKBiGQlZ8rs7W4/s1600-h/095.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344189907145282562" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEW1OWwRW46BeGriTLNUHiToDf7i5YkcVvi4eQD2hXeB8B3x8IyNuobt_3U1qMghCiKkilFx7ktFkos6sQPEIp5hGnJkwa7APhqPnDVXbAhTpeMxXx7FjLt5Kt93ifCGKBiGQlZ8rs7W4/s320/095.JPG" /></a>page familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02631059853277401785noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957846757119323699.post-27199806288813912342009-04-04T20:22:00.000-07:002009-04-04T21:16:10.109-07:00Jessica's Special Day<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv-QLLaPerX6nhUMpZ7Abg2C7PkboxZNijSL6u04LJR84v-2PeT4wmx1sL87OXD-X1PXUnzy-OKCifVwUjmb-4GNbzBn07bupEMnbAYDKekIX5lrn4XiGJRCO92T6-WN3o5TwCdfEZJZU/s1600-h/IMG_2670.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv-QLLaPerX6nhUMpZ7Abg2C7PkboxZNijSL6u04LJR84v-2PeT4wmx1sL87OXD-X1PXUnzy-OKCifVwUjmb-4GNbzBn07bupEMnbAYDKekIX5lrn4XiGJRCO92T6-WN3o5TwCdfEZJZU/s320/IMG_2670.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321042846167524482" /></a><br /><br />Today is Jessica's birthday! She is 8 years old and so we celebrated by having her baptized today! It was a very special day! Everything went so smoothly and well. IT was a bit of a miracle, really! <br /><br /><br />Jessica is a very sweet, sensitive and caring person. She has the spirit of a peacemaker. She has a strong desire to do what is right, even when it's hard. The last couple of weeks, as we have focused on her upcoming baptism, the mood in our home changed a bit. Not a day goes by where someone gets irritated with someone else and gets a bit heated. some days are slightly less than others, but at least once a day, we usually have some sort of drama. I mean, 3 girls? How does that NOT happen?? Anyway, lately, as Jessica has prepared herself mentally and spiritually for her baptism, and as we focused more on that event as a family, I definitely saw a change. When I mentioned it to Jess one night, and complimented her on her obvious change, she said she she was starting to feel different and that she thought it was because of the Holy Ghost. That brought tears to my eyes, as I rejoiced in the fact that my sweet little Jessica could recognize that. Even before she was baptized.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT_CVK92C8ot7kdnijA-_3CZGkT-RrqFaqm2OEpqNySqKBQDm1pCoAclr5vlDs2nZKxOqo4VAhCPpDpgjLfWJKh-fmYdofrOOlZwrv9TRk6jv2cylWdhtjDlEIqTkGtH4J4VU-_cGyKV0/s1600-h/IMG_2564.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT_CVK92C8ot7kdnijA-_3CZGkT-RrqFaqm2OEpqNySqKBQDm1pCoAclr5vlDs2nZKxOqo4VAhCPpDpgjLfWJKh-fmYdofrOOlZwrv9TRk6jv2cylWdhtjDlEIqTkGtH4J4VU-_cGyKV0/s320/IMG_2564.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321052417535496850" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1RkoC7-z_JLUFuVuwRYgNp5a2QmC1OCZ0NRmjz3z0n_sdPK_XpeCK4uX_D4cShm0X6kq8GO02lSYdWbGo7ZEvzJsZG6HdwoEyTlQEeA0xBDU_HLAEpX-jOf_5PnOTB54jQPjqVGTQIX0/s1600-h/IMG_2588.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1RkoC7-z_JLUFuVuwRYgNp5a2QmC1OCZ0NRmjz3z0n_sdPK_XpeCK4uX_D4cShm0X6kq8GO02lSYdWbGo7ZEvzJsZG6HdwoEyTlQEeA0xBDU_HLAEpX-jOf_5PnOTB54jQPjqVGTQIX0/s320/IMG_2588.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321052721593160546" /></a><br />This morning she wanted to open presents first thing in the morning. Since we knew it would be a busy day, we agreed. She opened a bunch of presents that included, but weren't limited to, Jonas Brothers items, including tickets to a summer concert, an MP3 player, and various books and other items. She was thrilled with her gifts. We ate french toast, on which we placed 4 candles, that represented 2 years each (I had run out of candles, so we made it work.) <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgroPu9B1QIhGipKbUuQlVGYGzHGpRCRzmzzWtaSn21RcsYHn9qgq2TSdp4D9feXWuYvNhsP3s7SpwV-MzqbPWOB9xc7m9_Yokp2CS_MLyrhVCNa0xv4kGCm9LVSuHa-eTn9uCMLb5DC4I/s1600-h/IMG_2601.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgroPu9B1QIhGipKbUuQlVGYGzHGpRCRzmzzWtaSn21RcsYHn9qgq2TSdp4D9feXWuYvNhsP3s7SpwV-MzqbPWOB9xc7m9_Yokp2CS_MLyrhVCNa0xv4kGCm9LVSuHa-eTn9uCMLb5DC4I/s320/IMG_2601.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321053235813610626" /></a><br /><br />The girls played with a couple of things that Jessica got for about 30 minutes and then we proceeded to get everyone showered and ready for the baptism. We even had time for little photo shoot outside before leaving. My mom mad this beautiful white dress for Jessica! Another miracle that, even thought Jess wasn't there to be fitted to it, the dress fit her perfectly!!! Thanks mom, for all your hard work on it! It really is a perfect dress!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2OmFzSMMLNmo8bf9C_9TZwB-S6Urgfroonz4-yX2-la0pjXNZ-O_muv9_ojz4BAu_kHBhy7sdFZabjhF78nX_3BRT6_hAubxmHkj-PAYHafd6U9s_bhQOkJZodYLSD8u7tB6ciIAiByk/s1600-h/IMG_2622.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2OmFzSMMLNmo8bf9C_9TZwB-S6Urgfroonz4-yX2-la0pjXNZ-O_muv9_ojz4BAu_kHBhy7sdFZabjhF78nX_3BRT6_hAubxmHkj-PAYHafd6U9s_bhQOkJZodYLSD8u7tB6ciIAiByk/s320/IMG_2622.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321053248380654418" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoVcqZkt1TsIXEje2lPOpNn0B3O03Ns3AvlOXjghMYCPx-n2MHsy2Qovk6iLrCgKO2n-EpGJLp0_u1TiMWDdOnVS8tUA869S5fp6BsbFo_BXc3o-bevQQq2VO7uu23yBPCx_ISy37J-ZA/s1600-h/IMG_2615.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoVcqZkt1TsIXEje2lPOpNn0B3O03Ns3AvlOXjghMYCPx-n2MHsy2Qovk6iLrCgKO2n-EpGJLp0_u1TiMWDdOnVS8tUA869S5fp6BsbFo_BXc3o-bevQQq2VO7uu23yBPCx_ISy37J-ZA/s320/IMG_2615.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321053246458709458" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP8YMf0HDczka0SEVUIZg99pPme0F7cSgAZNZbusOvXvs7u3Fvbz3qcfiycc8i4tYA4z5MFtNzur1G2OHi2vZLLs83zlhjRZbIcXU2qyWXcHPsgWSEyddxCcA6FMTCFrJCCR_IN1FxIas/s1600-h/IMG_2611.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP8YMf0HDczka0SEVUIZg99pPme0F7cSgAZNZbusOvXvs7u3Fvbz3qcfiycc8i4tYA4z5MFtNzur1G2OHi2vZLLs83zlhjRZbIcXU2qyWXcHPsgWSEyddxCcA6FMTCFrJCCR_IN1FxIas/s320/IMG_2611.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321053244901777170" /></a><br /><br /><br />We had to go early to turn on the font and set up chairs and everything. So for a 2:30 baptism, we thought we'd get there about 11:30 and set up and then get to watch the first session of conference. Well, even though the morning was very smooth and relaxed, when 11:00 hit, I was NOT quite ready and then felt we had to rush. We didn't get out of the house till about 11:20. We still planned to feed kids on the way there, but felt we were running out of time to stop anywhere. It takes 2 1/2-3 hours to fill the font, so getting there early was crucial.<br /><br />We decided to drop Brian off at the church, so he could do the font and start setting up and I would go with the kids to get something to eat and bring it back. He also needed to look for something to wear. Silly me, I picked a white jumpsuit out last week for Jessica, brought it home, washed it, she tried it on, etc. Didnt' even think about doing the same for Brian! OOPS! anyway, that was one of the reasons to get there early.<br /><br />Turns out, we didn't get to watch any of conference, although we listened to the last 30 minutes of it.<br /><br />The baptism was so nice. Many people from our ward came. We even had 2 of our on-member school friends and families (or parts of them) come, which we were thrilled about! Jessica's missionary spirit was jumping for joy with that! Many people helped make this a successful day...Katie Fewkes, Joylyn Brown, Amy Jorgensen, Troy Janes, Bishop Scott Stallings, Rita Ebeling, Nichole Neat, Courtney, Brian, Jessica, etc., all had a part in the program. And many others helped by assisting in the ordinances, helping with food, and others. If you are any of these people, and you are reading this...our heartfelt gratitude goes out to you for your love and service to our family!!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdNk6FFXAPbSuVK5PYrD6Zh7G14E_dj3J3DSKXr85AK5vYeHZdPK_sMQt4X_ubHmmGPm01sK5vNfq43n_DjrJdUWyAHOL3xlyuz5XYnMuGqhArTbB8GuMDnVtT_O3orOQcadnURSpnHL8/s1600-h/IMG_2648.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdNk6FFXAPbSuVK5PYrD6Zh7G14E_dj3J3DSKXr85AK5vYeHZdPK_sMQt4X_ubHmmGPm01sK5vNfq43n_DjrJdUWyAHOL3xlyuz5XYnMuGqhArTbB8GuMDnVtT_O3orOQcadnURSpnHL8/s320/IMG_2648.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321054365827269330" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoHaw-RI_xp6AnOAi7a0Ir1tfUJERlTn6Qhd7LlY-ubCt-B-gEJjJcwzBI4yC3S-u9o6HfQV3mcMnH14JWBnhJo7qEgH6XjqAgc9pCA950SyBaCro0e-EJr-JujPkeGvcrV9BOuaiK8vk/s1600-h/IMG_2643.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoHaw-RI_xp6AnOAi7a0Ir1tfUJERlTn6Qhd7LlY-ubCt-B-gEJjJcwzBI4yC3S-u9o6HfQV3mcMnH14JWBnhJo7qEgH6XjqAgc9pCA950SyBaCro0e-EJr-JujPkeGvcrV9BOuaiK8vk/s320/IMG_2643.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321054358098623634" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwa14OcEs4U4KiXQ9JnkWqs5ogT0cMQS6kuGgM1OCYMcJmbrQFraJ90aLlWSbiaaGCeuU5vlBOtyKvHNbc4ONI2Hq4AGBru65o6kAJAKzB-sUBJWWZr6fd7m3djC3vcgo2unFDIPFLymg/s1600-h/IMG_2654.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwa14OcEs4U4KiXQ9JnkWqs5ogT0cMQS6kuGgM1OCYMcJmbrQFraJ90aLlWSbiaaGCeuU5vlBOtyKvHNbc4ONI2Hq4AGBru65o6kAJAKzB-sUBJWWZr6fd7m3djC3vcgo2unFDIPFLymg/s320/IMG_2654.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321054369928714642" /></a><br />I gave the talk on baptism and I was a mess. I actually hadn't prepared as well as I would have liked to...I got swamped with other aspects of the baptism and other aspects of my life. I wish I had made that the priority. And the fact that I was a bit emotional about the events of the day, didn't help me get through the talk without crying every 2 minutes. Oy, vey! <br /><br />Courtney and I played a piano/flute duet and Jessica played a piano solo. We all did a very fine job, if I do say so myself. <br /><br />We wish those of you who weren't there could have been there, but we felt your thoughts and prayers were with us.<br /><br />Jessica looked beautiful and really enjoyed her day. It was a sweet day, filled with happy feelings, good friends, good weather for picture taking, and yummy refreshments. Unfortunately Jessica started feeling sick in the early evening and 30 minutes after going to sleep, she woke up and vomitted! What a way to end your birthday! At least it didn't ruin her happy day!<br /><br />We are grateful to have Jessica in our family and want to wish her a very special day today! We love you Jessica! <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-tKAfCqfcUIOF_Z8VfjlYMaak9s99qqWMq5c-Nsrl8rEKYOqtx-JQMtUnyIugM7p_N3fw8yqMDW2GItrY7Ht6htVaGbfvcDP5G_TID2omZ5bzl-JCzM8EQGkdoHkyw5AY50BfxZZCXO8/s1600-h/IMG_2673.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-tKAfCqfcUIOF_Z8VfjlYMaak9s99qqWMq5c-Nsrl8rEKYOqtx-JQMtUnyIugM7p_N3fw8yqMDW2GItrY7Ht6htVaGbfvcDP5G_TID2omZ5bzl-JCzM8EQGkdoHkyw5AY50BfxZZCXO8/s320/IMG_2673.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321055202370250354" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXeMAvP1nToeIgtP0qsM8Lge-PPV-VbY_FjmXo_mEPIaHQrUcZbBnnYA83H2aGV7G4FIgCh2kW8jivyd1un7aDtv3N6w9-O2dZaFsVJT0by9bcFEstuZnk0UG5FkIfDksQAFIwy_PV_2s/s1600-h/IMG_2675.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXeMAvP1nToeIgtP0qsM8Lge-PPV-VbY_FjmXo_mEPIaHQrUcZbBnnYA83H2aGV7G4FIgCh2kW8jivyd1un7aDtv3N6w9-O2dZaFsVJT0by9bcFEstuZnk0UG5FkIfDksQAFIwy_PV_2s/s320/IMG_2675.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321055191569507570" /></a>page familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02631059853277401785noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957846757119323699.post-38647100300217658712009-03-31T17:32:00.001-07:002009-03-31T17:39:27.578-07:00Courtney tells jokesCourtney told us a couple of jokes tonight. Here's the first one...<br /><br />A mushroom walks into a boy's party. The boy says, "Hey, you aren't allowed here!" The mushroom says, "Why not? I'm a Fun-Gi!" <br /><br />Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!<br /><br />Why was the celery so embarrassed when he opened the fridge?<br />Cuz he saw the salad dressing!<br /><br />One of our favorites:<br /><br />Why does Piglet need a bath?<br />Cuz he plays with Pooh!<br /><br />My kids are so punny!page familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02631059853277401785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957846757119323699.post-67947061872143591262009-03-27T14:33:00.000-07:002009-03-27T19:58:58.611-07:00Ally Sings and Dances<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzq2vLGtkywRutBF27gEKWnuZbJGbk4J1pAsoxQAb0xkZ34zhecVKVoABpCWfsEgz6zSzA5zIKsyhJBJJO4Fg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyqnBTtnGdPgOF_d6_I-4JnShcTSRz-NZffQQb4T2wE5WNGWk-Cv-KWpGOQwn5WabmtgcAogHAhwNmYRY0gzQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>page familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02631059853277401785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957846757119323699.post-57239530241918617762009-03-27T11:41:00.000-07:002009-03-27T11:57:23.502-07:00Some nice pictures<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxOnaKW563wfMgdUlgM6kOe6N7vEb2mMDLA9cfW7pukWZ-dt8cENfENncZ6M1NJOa1cMzye69hLhQC6ZSm_DCF7of5wG2deAZpEN-sBCsrxcy4fIQZZ3UYagHZAh-okIpYrR-ZD0YQ3yM/s1600-h/girls+at+Alicia%27s+baby+shower.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317940537666484258" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxOnaKW563wfMgdUlgM6kOe6N7vEb2mMDLA9cfW7pukWZ-dt8cENfENncZ6M1NJOa1cMzye69hLhQC6ZSm_DCF7of5wG2deAZpEN-sBCsrxcy4fIQZZ3UYagHZAh-okIpYrR-ZD0YQ3yM/s320/girls+at+Alicia%27s+baby+shower.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Back in January, we attended the baby shower of a friend who used to live next door to us. One of her friends went around taking pictures and snapped a couple of the girls. Except for Ally's eyes looking a bit droopy in the black and white, I think these might be among my favorite pictures of them. And I have a LOT of pictures of them! Oh, and Jess is a bit fuzzy but I still think it's great!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikD85Njk3XUtrVUprGpVPszkspTpsmwx00wcE5ueAxi5bDMXj7drsz1yw1nC4UWTSll_qOggcHCKwJplA1TOg2aH-J1TKGuSo9Ls7turCH3_S_YPNP0zFGlwa1gsjJV2LbEPrSfcXFl6I/s1600-h/Alicia's+baby+shower.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317940544158593618" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikD85Njk3XUtrVUprGpVPszkspTpsmwx00wcE5ueAxi5bDMXj7drsz1yw1nC4UWTSll_qOggcHCKwJplA1TOg2aH-J1TKGuSo9Ls7turCH3_S_YPNP0zFGlwa1gsjJV2LbEPrSfcXFl6I/s320/Alicia's+baby+shower.jpg" border="0" /></a>page familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02631059853277401785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957846757119323699.post-39648687151167135442009-03-21T18:18:00.001-07:002009-03-21T18:40:42.158-07:00I've been slacking on my blogging...would that be "slogging?" Or "blacking"? or "blocking"? <br /><br />anyway, there are stories to tell, but I wanted to post a video tonight that made me laugh. It's not really anything super exciting, but I enjoyed it and wanted to share. Courtney was playing around with our camera the other day while I was frosting a cake.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxUmdpjBCG0rh7aYlzCNYpsIoWru4RcAZZYVlBengb7d2PTZxLIElGHbu2I0nRveFINybfTdqPcy8g-vCapBw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br /> I just loved her excitement so much that, even though I initially thought I wouldn't keep the video, I decided that I loved the sound of her voice and it should be saved.<br /><br />(And as a sidenote, the cake I decorated was for a friend's baby shower lunch. I do not claim to be any sort of cake decorating expert, to say the least, but I had fun doing this and might do it again. The finished product is below.) I don't know why it ended up sideways and upside down when I posted it. Sorry. I tried to fix it.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDNe6mXZmcWf91_jA0BT-_ehpEddxrcRzu9O3W3lwTWg7Yb_9E0MqkcJccLk3zWNEvzbBxYtvybfel7_TmtfW3_1gLjF20O-Sc88m_NMqAy8YPS66hAHg9LGZKlIPjRdWeW6rNuUoMRvE/s1600-h/IMG_2479.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDNe6mXZmcWf91_jA0BT-_ehpEddxrcRzu9O3W3lwTWg7Yb_9E0MqkcJccLk3zWNEvzbBxYtvybfel7_TmtfW3_1gLjF20O-Sc88m_NMqAy8YPS66hAHg9LGZKlIPjRdWeW6rNuUoMRvE/s320/IMG_2479.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315820524672154018" /></a>page familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02631059853277401785noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957846757119323699.post-63357184620390831232009-02-19T18:22:00.000-08:002009-02-19T18:34:42.246-08:00Tooth Fairy concernsMy darling older daughters made me laugh tonight! Courtney lost one of her molars while brushing her teeth. She has lost most of her teeth by this point, but she always gets excited about it. I mean, what kid doesn't get excited about an extra $1 for doing nothing except growning up? At one point she asked me if I would tell her who the tooth fairy was. Jessica asked if the tooth fairy was tiny or if she was big like me. I said I would leave that up to their imagination. Courtney again asked me when I would tell her who the tooth fairy is. She told me that if it was the parents who do it, then she should know for when she is a parent. She'll have to know to do it. The funniest thing came next. She asked me if I would tell her who the tooth fairy was when she turns 18. Of course, I promised that when she's 18, I will tell her who the tooth fairy is! (Jess wanted to be told at the same time as Courtney, but she will be 16.) She then thought that I promised that because my hope was that they would forget before then and I would not really have to tell them. I said "I will be happy to tell you who the tooth fairy is when you are 18!" I thought it was funny and had to share!page familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02631059853277401785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957846757119323699.post-7949516151676736282009-02-09T10:47:00.000-08:002009-02-09T11:40:28.237-08:00Please Touch Museum<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9OU1NUJrEn9jqqYNzGmGHffntFjxGLUbfoh4zHoFAmDFbeZXfnVYrXnjLHZJbHQvXBJgc0V-oWL4lCtaYCviTminH3M08FLe5DU1A4i3ebqMGneANvOMEST3dSi5_D7fzfLt9HabK5uc/s1600-h/IMG_2240.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300873776294303426" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9OU1NUJrEn9jqqYNzGmGHffntFjxGLUbfoh4zHoFAmDFbeZXfnVYrXnjLHZJbHQvXBJgc0V-oWL4lCtaYCviTminH3M08FLe5DU1A4i3ebqMGneANvOMEST3dSi5_D7fzfLt9HabK5uc/s320/IMG_2240.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />On the first Wednesday of every month, from 5-7pm, the Please Touch Museum offers admission for $2/person. Otherwise it's super expensive. So we decided to take advantage of it. It is just a big play place for kids...hence the name...<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSEBZwLXz1f1pPM81U0z00EyVOlMH_D2klhXVq9oDEjj3Xe5qMbjJ6pf13ErluMNYjTc3mBpfVzTodBoT2IK8YRCGlw2lUeKG3gS8z97WKVou17MB-SghwITe3-dSIcnbiJfpnGSnQavg/s1600-h/IMG_2358.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300873778493082306" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSEBZwLXz1f1pPM81U0z00EyVOlMH_D2klhXVq9oDEjj3Xe5qMbjJ6pf13ErluMNYjTc3mBpfVzTodBoT2IK8YRCGlw2lUeKG3gS8z97WKVou17MB-SghwITe3-dSIcnbiJfpnGSnQavg/s320/IMG_2358.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />This was an elephant made entirely out of old junk toys and and gadgets and things. It was hard to tell what it was made out of until you got up close. Seriously, all broken toys and things. Pretty cool. Below is a replica of the Statue of Liberty Torch made the same way.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxuLg_G2uidnsfeqj8qpCOard1rkgxfJhoAhZq89gKEYOkEIdELWDuSw7qtJFJsIFP7M3pcP2KBOeno5mjWPtjepi5q-IvA0leH4EwhAIqoGfBA_-E4FTH71DckGo-xZ2hkdyKdirPMGc/s1600-h/IMG_2353.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300873776936029538" style="WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxuLg_G2uidnsfeqj8qpCOard1rkgxfJhoAhZq89gKEYOkEIdELWDuSw7qtJFJsIFP7M3pcP2KBOeno5mjWPtjepi5q-IvA0leH4EwhAIqoGfBA_-E4FTH71DckGo-xZ2hkdyKdirPMGc/s320/IMG_2353.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />A giant floor piano, similar to the one in the movie "Big" and the one displayed at FAO Schwarz in NY. Always a fun thing to do.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVjgWGh0DKj8H1dAkx4vJ5PZpJOiYrp9mTdnb2Ho7TDhjJprFtPBZ_XkKndC5grAS1nMewtrD9MgvNzNVoQhzjPjaNqNqiyMwD4Gf_gJjZQxp-APlO7Ak5JFvDIKxDKJZZnpW6GW29HIY/s1600-h/IMG_2381.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300873774933752818" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVjgWGh0DKj8H1dAkx4vJ5PZpJOiYrp9mTdnb2Ho7TDhjJprFtPBZ_XkKndC5grAS1nMewtrD9MgvNzNVoQhzjPjaNqNqiyMwD4Gf_gJjZQxp-APlO7Ak5JFvDIKxDKJZZnpW6GW29HIY/s320/IMG_2381.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />A fancy display of Etch-A-Sketch art. Couldn't really get a good close-up on any one particular piece, but they were all animals, and so well done!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs_kKsREXHZUihnokbskXkmJDW80ZDjjnJIoA0v2S6ApHVlBKuQVhmMxf61jEdHfVPUlS_doDUkpXVvYZG8In46PdzvN0peW2uxC6HlAz0RznjXBzMr25WybgtLwzcDdpuwWl5SKFqdFk/s1600-h/IMG_2376.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300873774209860578" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs_kKsREXHZUihnokbskXkmJDW80ZDjjnJIoA0v2S6ApHVlBKuQVhmMxf61jEdHfVPUlS_doDUkpXVvYZG8In46PdzvN0peW2uxC6HlAz0RznjXBzMr25WybgtLwzcDdpuwWl5SKFqdFk/s320/IMG_2376.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />There was an Alice in Wonderland display, complete with the maze, Queen of Hearts, Cheshire Cat, and the Mad Hatter Tea Party.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijWajzDk9mfZqbtSKKmpSur_6i9DDL2rj6rKd0p_YHgPKtyPMwYIVBsVfEnkeC8LsCnmIss0X7LnYNMny01PqPGrWUeqs3OZYyh2y3doPmyYjYcSWSe4184_h0tefbDUs6mZVM0mjmZfw/s1600-h/IMG_2347.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300873263630210130" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijWajzDk9mfZqbtSKKmpSur_6i9DDL2rj6rKd0p_YHgPKtyPMwYIVBsVfEnkeC8LsCnmIss0X7LnYNMny01PqPGrWUeqs3OZYyh2y3doPmyYjYcSWSe4184_h0tefbDUs6mZVM0mjmZfw/s320/IMG_2347.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />A building blocks area. The grown-ups had as much fun as the kids...mostly knocking down the things the kids built! Courtney was proud of her Coliseum she built.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjurnS4ZNPH8nEijUmWbok1_wxZGNEOsWbl3Y_j6hfE7CiHPlmD001C22BOCUBLu_MLi29Va9Is8NjJUUibQfZL9DBntJ7Hr10gToOsOWdiov1uRQYXcpZOeYOp_wYsf7Xg5SkTfMdCiOI/s1600-h/IMG_2332.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300873254165437458" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjurnS4ZNPH8nEijUmWbok1_wxZGNEOsWbl3Y_j6hfE7CiHPlmD001C22BOCUBLu_MLi29Va9Is8NjJUUibQfZL9DBntJ7Hr10gToOsOWdiov1uRQYXcpZOeYOp_wYsf7Xg5SkTfMdCiOI/s320/IMG_2332.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />Our little baker...<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKdoUIhVu-IBBJz1lPkwBcvvlEuuPALH9w2oYGUkajXO3kNWGX0cC9xvRLD2ST1QxQURengGrTPNjV6gqNym4ZRU3FibK0ZLt4nVETCCs5mUAUhER_deTIZIogYRzfMRIHTmERp0JvhfY/s1600-h/IMG_2319.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300873243435282978" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKdoUIhVu-IBBJz1lPkwBcvvlEuuPALH9w2oYGUkajXO3kNWGX0cC9xvRLD2ST1QxQURengGrTPNjV6gqNym4ZRU3FibK0ZLt4nVETCCs5mUAUhER_deTIZIogYRzfMRIHTmERp0JvhfY/s320/IMG_2319.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />Our shopper...she knows what to do...<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT9LJeF70xw0wBWwhh9930qIQev3OIeFSRy21nbIaY5A3eD98KO1m1gj1KX03V0snFhO3cbT42Ib7r9cEQz6JM5rNGTx-dLr7Kz3LRvmKtVgyefbFXWdTuBvNblf4XEQ-cxdW7cqeW4HM/s1600-h/IMG_2313.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300873197674567026" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT9LJeF70xw0wBWwhh9930qIQev3OIeFSRy21nbIaY5A3eD98KO1m1gj1KX03V0snFhO3cbT42Ib7r9cEQz6JM5rNGTx-dLr7Kz3LRvmKtVgyefbFXWdTuBvNblf4XEQ-cxdW7cqeW4HM/s320/IMG_2313.JPG" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4zifmfzcLLE0_tiRxPKHQF3JbE7XU9LLSoGv04gcVOSJCeiooLKGP7ecVEhDHt5Bz7JuBbe3ASWPheF2v9QO2KK_WQgD2jZP4rXA4dOpkQwWfB50_qcRjpl5Xdax9E19HcWJBSDBTJck/s1600-h/IMG_2308.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300873193350756674" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4zifmfzcLLE0_tiRxPKHQF3JbE7XU9LLSoGv04gcVOSJCeiooLKGP7ecVEhDHt5Bz7JuBbe3ASWPheF2v9QO2KK_WQgD2jZP4rXA4dOpkQwWfB50_qcRjpl5Xdax9E19HcWJBSDBTJck/s320/IMG_2308.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />Dress up time was the best!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDRd0MJGyKJCu3Q3e2uMCa3OThxFvi4LZA9R6bfriCg8EzhMdEQ-S4b6cynoDe46nqxlicTLhg5sfKtlMVtzuSOZVGGN_dgMrAPjbVUCTChvPQiAdXNkzXFjszXMw5vKf3Vf63EYZf7FE/s1600-h/IMG_2298.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300883641700619650" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDRd0MJGyKJCu3Q3e2uMCa3OThxFvi4LZA9R6bfriCg8EzhMdEQ-S4b6cynoDe46nqxlicTLhg5sfKtlMVtzuSOZVGGN_dgMrAPjbVUCTChvPQiAdXNkzXFjszXMw5vKf3Vf63EYZf7FE/s320/IMG_2298.JPG" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW0fApLf8A1r0ABPu57J99loEoCAb5iJSuwDemC80Z2N26QNavthpq7JM5gLQsjI3X2prDzLx9uSsxIS10mzfTZlaS2ZxyAJ5mjNUBP9Xgch6tY1TgNT75AMGHTcXA0rcDcLVwmvB0VXE/s1600-h/IMG_2297.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300883641792623442" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW0fApLf8A1r0ABPu57J99loEoCAb5iJSuwDemC80Z2N26QNavthpq7JM5gLQsjI3X2prDzLx9uSsxIS10mzfTZlaS2ZxyAJ5mjNUBP9Xgch6tY1TgNT75AMGHTcXA0rcDcLVwmvB0VXE/s320/IMG_2297.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZHtlK8G1tSUBCNr6X5N9IneGu24QPRjvqaywG4Ng-EPeDVfCMKlr6yH8o-q-_h4VoOhoCZtRiOaxLaMyN-xgeieyy-WkDp2VxfOUbxL4_JhAL65-IulrBuUXeXNrYsE_C20JVkSPhn8c/s1600-h/IMG_2290.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300883638306887154" style="WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZHtlK8G1tSUBCNr6X5N9IneGu24QPRjvqaywG4Ng-EPeDVfCMKlr6yH8o-q-_h4VoOhoCZtRiOaxLaMyN-xgeieyy-WkDp2VxfOUbxL4_JhAL65-IulrBuUXeXNrYsE_C20JVkSPhn8c/s320/IMG_2290.JPG" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTnF4M26VKUNb2BjFkAcrGcNqpDZ3jBIg0GYnFjo_9tRMCmwfyQY1ToiNdLksNDKDRnetxOlRnr7wyrGanzAE553s6lepXLo9KJT0hVSLlAghvSjOYq5ZhQ28-cF6xazpnJ0QI6JQJpX4/s1600-h/IMG_2292.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300872634928688258" style="WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTnF4M26VKUNb2BjFkAcrGcNqpDZ3jBIg0GYnFjo_9tRMCmwfyQY1ToiNdLksNDKDRnetxOlRnr7wyrGanzAE553s6lepXLo9KJT0hVSLlAghvSjOYq5ZhQ28-cF6xazpnJ0QI6JQJpX4/s320/IMG_2292.JPG" border="0" /></a> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300872633510764754" style="WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggtTipf2lGlfx9Fy95PgcwlO9uaSWRBJ-BVt-Oz78Oa2tY3YuP_Gru7Ch2lOKJ9tRUaBZykx_n_eevWsfdJ343ImwNC2ROPKT0_KMnm0jqXM4cQuk5Bf-T828XFirhHeA0RcTJFfHj9aU/s320/IMG_2285.JPG" border="0" /><br />A flying bicycle was fun. Pedalling kept you up in the air. Courtney was a little too big for this activity....little miss long legs....<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4b1UEJmCvJb89A-o3cNiLiQwy3s2R3YY7mGsPzKCQzAKSNoAQxPuXVHfPSiEZRLoM1zzLFJ4L6ea-LgfXKHnFH-wG__DVnproOtRpwVT-1xW1JE3v6Ep_uZt26C-LBxpZhaVQc8eLtQs/s1600-h/IMG_2273.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300872632785130098" style="WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4b1UEJmCvJb89A-o3cNiLiQwy3s2R3YY7mGsPzKCQzAKSNoAQxPuXVHfPSiEZRLoM1zzLFJ4L6ea-LgfXKHnFH-wG__DVnproOtRpwVT-1xW1JE3v6Ep_uZt26C-LBxpZhaVQc8eLtQs/s320/IMG_2273.JPG" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpzMYpznWm20PIMbd3kNvb-_FxPbbuua8NA2P38ivywLLgUsL90PG6zW4EgK0G_l2LSuGCRitRnImZTjxRIQvTiFNFdeQnFxY9qO1wFN307Dy61bwGjVRF2sRe_6zTVru70NfzdVsu610/s1600-h/IMG_2271.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300872201554377042" style="WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpzMYpznWm20PIMbd3kNvb-_FxPbbuua8NA2P38ivywLLgUsL90PG6zW4EgK0G_l2LSuGCRitRnImZTjxRIQvTiFNFdeQnFxY9qO1wFN307Dy61bwGjVRF2sRe_6zTVru70NfzdVsu610/s320/IMG_2271.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />A bulldozer for the balls...<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy6ivXEkTSf-UTzme9c9dLqbU9wY83Y7Y4XgPrUsIQHsPzwfp1bLMgqqYZ_8vzCHOa62A7rB__iq9IqdAi_COyjGhTkOsHXtKpweNIz8m_qdTl-4xlS24aEfwk28lzR5WS2cmX1ubMhsU/s1600-h/IMG_2257.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300872628559249634" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy6ivXEkTSf-UTzme9c9dLqbU9wY83Y7Y4XgPrUsIQHsPzwfp1bLMgqqYZ_8vzCHOa62A7rB__iq9IqdAi_COyjGhTkOsHXtKpweNIz8m_qdTl-4xlS24aEfwk28lzR5WS2cmX1ubMhsU/s320/IMG_2257.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />Brian got stuck carrying Jessica's coat and he made it silly...Ally loves to pretend to drive...<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi38EdRCD-3k-_BqOO0B7z6D9W7Lk0V50HNuqlDi9bpHblr78ehsFp4E6HIEKuK692gD1PK3Ce8jjArxXbVmM5mQAlp95QGJdVOfJe_h-VSjbCuv9JjG9rFVzE-3-YBEZF1t_yw-Y8Mzpo/s1600-h/IMG_2252.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300872629126179602" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi38EdRCD-3k-_BqOO0B7z6D9W7Lk0V50HNuqlDi9bpHblr78ehsFp4E6HIEKuK692gD1PK3Ce8jjArxXbVmM5mQAlp95QGJdVOfJe_h-VSjbCuv9JjG9rFVzE-3-YBEZF1t_yw-Y8Mzpo/s320/IMG_2252.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />A giant guitar sat in the lobby of the museum...<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeUrakm7B8yF_NzjLp65LCLrSRDuE4XXkd7Bc1bPURGRq67WcLM8j-A_f46pPkkMhsRVVoGwvsLdnQdy9d4g-6eMug_xp5IGi_6bkqf8pUkU2O5_XL_NaZwjOns4AxfsC7ZC0R9BQNiEM/s1600-h/IMG_2245.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300872195623250146" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeUrakm7B8yF_NzjLp65LCLrSRDuE4XXkd7Bc1bPURGRq67WcLM8j-A_f46pPkkMhsRVVoGwvsLdnQdy9d4g-6eMug_xp5IGi_6bkqf8pUkU2O5_XL_NaZwjOns4AxfsC7ZC0R9BQNiEM/s320/IMG_2245.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />And of course, they all wanted to be the Statue of Liberty! We love America!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxFGUNZyT5gG9llqvjdLaW6PPfU4ToUwPFGhyHHqPlCWalIj-q3XBiacO5pWjJHvH_iWNpDCO06HesEBf65lgzyW4VSEmxF25tOLMdw9AHhZDafhrMUpsbXF72OWv5vF7qhqnxVkrHAu0/s1600-h/IMG_2243.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300872197105599346" style="WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxFGUNZyT5gG9llqvjdLaW6PPfU4ToUwPFGhyHHqPlCWalIj-q3XBiacO5pWjJHvH_iWNpDCO06HesEBf65lgzyW4VSEmxF25tOLMdw9AHhZDafhrMUpsbXF72OWv5vF7qhqnxVkrHAu0/s320/IMG_2243.JPG" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1CLIzMhTnsFbzMX68deM8LH-cpm9eE4rXXmkHg0PPWcXLXFRaT4dSdiQ7QWKrfsLCcbA5umZlD4auH-a5Tw4VG7iMsXiu7O-x2goZgp04aw2u48hkeg3fSYnijtmitcLYZIfLrYSrv3s/s1600-h/IMG_2244.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300872187416644786" style="WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1CLIzMhTnsFbzMX68deM8LH-cpm9eE4rXXmkHg0PPWcXLXFRaT4dSdiQ7QWKrfsLCcbA5umZlD4auH-a5Tw4VG7iMsXiu7O-x2goZgp04aw2u48hkeg3fSYnijtmitcLYZIfLrYSrv3s/s320/IMG_2244.JPG" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlj4UH7xHkKhR1cs9-FIPSg18mZZeOiW_F2uj-snag7pPvRXligTqb7XWnxt693ud0eaDOCaxOClbWy9WVj4cREprZ-tuQqYWErpfAHyGmf1ku2E825S-hhuxmFX5VxN-jHjiBOQ-0R5g/s1600-h/IMG_2242.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300872184651972626" style="WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlj4UH7xHkKhR1cs9-FIPSg18mZZeOiW_F2uj-snag7pPvRXligTqb7XWnxt693ud0eaDOCaxOClbWy9WVj4cREprZ-tuQqYWErpfAHyGmf1ku2E825S-hhuxmFX5VxN-jHjiBOQ-0R5g/s320/IMG_2242.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />It was a quick 2 hours, but now that we know we can do it every month, we can do more next time! Time and money well spent.page familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02631059853277401785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957846757119323699.post-80350312173947642892009-02-06T17:56:00.001-08:002009-02-07T05:22:15.893-08:00Broomall 1st ward Family talent showOur family participated in the ward primary family talent show. Julie and Brian on trumpet, Courtney on flute and Jessica on piano. Sadly, the friend who was filming it didn't pan over to Jessica on the piano, and we were unintentionally hiding Courtney behind the music stand. And you can't hear the flute and piano over the trumpets But maybe you get the idea. I think it went well, we got lots of compliments.<br /><br />Remember Brian and I haven't played in at least 10 years. This is our Page Family Band debut. Enjoy!<br /><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nUeZ-Kw5cCU&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nUeZ-Kw5cCU&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>page familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02631059853277401785noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957846757119323699.post-42259127926728835602009-01-18T21:13:00.001-08:002009-01-18T21:29:04.514-08:00Under Construction....I've decided to try to switch the background on my blog and change it a bit. I've seen so many cute blogs and I want to find a nice one. I can't decide right now which one to do, so if you visit often, you may see a different background each time you visit. Sorry...be patient...Or maybe you like the variety, who knows? anyway, after I get a background I really like, I'll update it with interesting tidbits about our family's goings-on, of which we have none right now...<br /><br />By the way, I'm trying to change the background of my posts...it's blue now, but even when I change my template background, it continues to stay blue...I tried to change it under fonts and colors, but it won't change. Any tips? Still a rookie here! That's why I kept it on the other one for so long! thanks in advance!page familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02631059853277401785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957846757119323699.post-12809252421162414402008-12-31T05:48:00.000-08:002008-12-31T05:59:33.243-08:00Post for some friends<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYBBV0xQBGV6pvJnc2rwizNUoLkMiiLods_ob_BbChBw4eNpFKK1JBK0UrFq2lw5hg8p0cSt6Mj-AoAPaJkifZEkF_BmsEBbdtCBT4Hiata5yugJGmTOXoXwkOLi6TE6k4OANSIBKrfNw/s1600-h/stevenjocelyn.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285952777296941554" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 142px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYBBV0xQBGV6pvJnc2rwizNUoLkMiiLods_ob_BbChBw4eNpFKK1JBK0UrFq2lw5hg8p0cSt6Mj-AoAPaJkifZEkF_BmsEBbdtCBT4Hiata5yugJGmTOXoXwkOLi6TE6k4OANSIBKrfNw/s320/stevenjocelyn.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />I have a couple of friends who are in need some help. My friends,Steven and Jocelyn Jones, are looking to adopt. Please check out their website <a href="http://www.stevenandjocelyn.blogspot.com/">http://www.stevenandjocelyn.blogspot.com/</a>. If anyone out there knows someone who is considering putting their baby up for adoption, please let them know about Steven and Jocelyn. They are a wonderful couple! Thank you!page familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02631059853277401785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957846757119323699.post-64089685018370267332008-12-27T18:36:00.000-08:002008-12-27T19:30:34.492-08:00Christmas picsWell, another Christmas has come and gone. And we had a very enjoyable one. We had Brian's mom here until Christmas day around 2pm. We were very happy to have her. We had fun and were sad to send her away. Hopefully it won't be another year before we see her again!<br /><br /><br />We had Christmas Eve dinner at a friends house. She was married to an Italian guy and learned to do the 7 fishes for Christmas dinners. Yummy. I'm not normally a fish/seafood kind of person but it was quite yummy. Not what I'm traditionally use to, but I'll take it. Brian was in heaven! He LOVES seafood. There was crab, scallops (is that right?), lobster, flounder, shrimp, salmon, and I forget which other one. Anyway...she went all out.<br /><p>Here are some shots from our Christmas celebrations!<br /></p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7coWjr56n4_gDoMyK3CD3PC4F4yNYnzmZLOCwPGhoDgRYXGCpGLqRIDp7jjAsZU3LopbxeQ2cCEY6Op6iN0ufzeRxaNh9FoB-xtCFzEfIrp-olvdWn7cn-zHItzfSedFvkMQH_vCZ12I/s1600-h/IMG_1606.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284668041116074802" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7coWjr56n4_gDoMyK3CD3PC4F4yNYnzmZLOCwPGhoDgRYXGCpGLqRIDp7jjAsZU3LopbxeQ2cCEY6Op6iN0ufzeRxaNh9FoB-xtCFzEfIrp-olvdWn7cn-zHItzfSedFvkMQH_vCZ12I/s320/IMG_1606.JPG" border="0" /></a> With our friends Davis and Liana on Christmas Eve.<br /><br /><br /><div> </div><div> </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB_5M2LizXMISyfXD8Ac5xHHnV5Q239bkVVjtkffCGYNXeeuo83UbSG4VFeQBQ6qu4NYtydTzGyQKUHGRZtCgXbVktVR38eq2VllNMUd1pbyQz-oaqtCsWhsyEBSTRilQc-ljdIHZpAZA/s1600-h/IMG_1614.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284668045263157954" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB_5M2LizXMISyfXD8Ac5xHHnV5Q239bkVVjtkffCGYNXeeuo83UbSG4VFeQBQ6qu4NYtydTzGyQKUHGRZtCgXbVktVR38eq2VllNMUd1pbyQz-oaqtCsWhsyEBSTRilQc-ljdIHZpAZA/s320/IMG_1614.JPG" border="0" /></a> New pajamas on Christmas Eve are a tradition at our house! Don't they look nice? :)<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxJgzj9GT5yVOAWWE2mUzOrDM-DY10Xzr5BmmE5XhUe5Ls6k0Xy2AeUDZEJdUr69iuqwP3d4vxCRhth8ScvfAMJF3lyhjXMgdK5tK6o6XRjXB93ZrmncUK1afoDTt0nOpwQj69gzfHkWI/s1600-h/IMG_1640.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284668050147719602" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxJgzj9GT5yVOAWWE2mUzOrDM-DY10Xzr5BmmE5XhUe5Ls6k0Xy2AeUDZEJdUr69iuqwP3d4vxCRhth8ScvfAMJF3lyhjXMgdK5tK6o6XRjXB93ZrmncUK1afoDTt0nOpwQj69gzfHkWI/s320/IMG_1640.JPG" border="0" /></a>Christmas morning....prolonging the torture for the kids...we have to take some pictures!<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglSh9UkIMY5pTMbNpVaoW1DOCZcqjiV0Xd1xL4zKbn_0rmkhsrju1CMTAgd_8IZjO9QJ1Ef0_DvoxMUHDX5t5tUAFav5sTUYZPs20avvsqUmVDmLkvOobzJb72ivfw4dloh173rC4SdUo/s1600-h/IMG_1642.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284668055603084946" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglSh9UkIMY5pTMbNpVaoW1DOCZcqjiV0Xd1xL4zKbn_0rmkhsrju1CMTAgd_8IZjO9QJ1Ef0_DvoxMUHDX5t5tUAFav5sTUYZPs20avvsqUmVDmLkvOobzJb72ivfw4dloh173rC4SdUo/s320/IMG_1642.JPG" border="0" /></a> More torture....<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaaXlE1EwwwMp11CpoiLcYGGvjHRHs7bWcc40-7Jf1bMDzMzUak9dDvvri0DXe5JxUI_JWKlZKXcUAdX6E-PXhjdu5yAEmD_Wp0xWcLvQZukeaKdBmCsPiVl77I5AJVVfZkogUVWGnzyk/s1600-h/IMG_1679.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284670693459982610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaaXlE1EwwwMp11CpoiLcYGGvjHRHs7bWcc40-7Jf1bMDzMzUak9dDvvri0DXe5JxUI_JWKlZKXcUAdX6E-PXhjdu5yAEmD_Wp0xWcLvQZukeaKdBmCsPiVl77I5AJVVfZkogUVWGnzyk/s320/IMG_1679.JPG" border="0" /></a> Jessica loves the Jonas Brothers! She was very excited about this gift!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3e-Ksc-UxlDplXOe0yrV_9Ao9Jq5sOAuvz5JzdHQQ4lXPS3Kcw3FOInoXNCKKwDjYAAeJpzb2SKkiJ9f02njsFpSFnLcH8xVV5ps70FYwc507a6-2Y12joYaIFxBxdnB5IJkQiuB9IBo/s1600-h/IMG_1647.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284675191197107778" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3e-Ksc-UxlDplXOe0yrV_9Ao9Jq5sOAuvz5JzdHQQ4lXPS3Kcw3FOInoXNCKKwDjYAAeJpzb2SKkiJ9f02njsFpSFnLcH8xVV5ps70FYwc507a6-2Y12joYaIFxBxdnB5IJkQiuB9IBo/s320/IMG_1647.JPG" border="0" /></a> Ally loves to play with the Fisher Price Little People (And so does Mommy, that's why Ally gets them!) This is one of 3 sets that she got!<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEdlx4eWaxymtYosepm7FG3BiNEpbJ5UTnLABUx_dZyJcRTkGP15Kh8ecI272cf0MzcVpTG3e50RaR15iBH3j5wPJnVJMg1f9a55MzVFiWCx3-LE2c4N1T5PcI52Ukgv-7v6GSFj0vfIc/s1600-h/IMG_1705.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284670705525074162" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEdlx4eWaxymtYosepm7FG3BiNEpbJ5UTnLABUx_dZyJcRTkGP15Kh8ecI272cf0MzcVpTG3e50RaR15iBH3j5wPJnVJMg1f9a55MzVFiWCx3-LE2c4N1T5PcI52Ukgv-7v6GSFj0vfIc/s320/IMG_1705.JPG" border="0" /></a> The long-awaited XBOX 360 finds it's way to Brian's hands! <br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxIJi7jHPh4qswQ4MBbOOfe2GU_TPjTCbI7k_LxdobY4J1RT1_bgxUck6Qwo3977tAiX9UhMGewhvhz0Q04TqggrUJQ6_Aa6UcjkjJWGYBxgRkVqKST_jrQ6IZtPnBjMXGhnodbk9XpiE/s1600-h/IMG_1694.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284670710390097698" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxIJi7jHPh4qswQ4MBbOOfe2GU_TPjTCbI7k_LxdobY4J1RT1_bgxUck6Qwo3977tAiX9UhMGewhvhz0Q04TqggrUJQ6_Aa6UcjkjJWGYBxgRkVqKST_jrQ6IZtPnBjMXGhnodbk9XpiE/s320/IMG_1694.JPG" border="0" /></a>Grandma Shumway worked hard on making little outfits for the girls' American Girl dolls! They look beautiful..Thanks, Grandma! (Courtney got blue, Jessica got pink)<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFr-gkvi5rnRNoh9AQ5FNbQ76NdA-0xjETb4nbiEBTuLQJ4080azhiS4Rw-gzsycPYE8sN-73lR42R1QdUMSk2lYN-ovHdZpGYwmxbDD1kUoBBP_sivik-vCgZ_5CG7gvKhL7qBxYZH04/s1600-h/IMG_1727.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284670709073701538" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFr-gkvi5rnRNoh9AQ5FNbQ76NdA-0xjETb4nbiEBTuLQJ4080azhiS4Rw-gzsycPYE8sN-73lR42R1QdUMSk2lYN-ovHdZpGYwmxbDD1kUoBBP_sivik-vCgZ_5CG7gvKhL7qBxYZH04/s320/IMG_1727.JPG" border="0" /></a> The biggest surprise (from Grandma Page)!!!! They had NO idea they were getting this! It's already been tons of fun for everyone!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyQpsilolSb876IDpF8plRawonKvg4Mrk3OFnve4hl3ny6n_e-foEZtXuhFTOVo6POYv6Xi-JS_5MBQ8fbBRrm6tNUjEJ86XvFkV-VY3OTEK7XapsFXVxC-U2fZ2QNxC_wNMtj1k83psY/s1600-h/IMG_1734.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284670718903608162" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyQpsilolSb876IDpF8plRawonKvg4Mrk3OFnve4hl3ny6n_e-foEZtXuhFTOVo6POYv6Xi-JS_5MBQ8fbBRrm6tNUjEJ86XvFkV-VY3OTEK7XapsFXVxC-U2fZ2QNxC_wNMtj1k83psY/s320/IMG_1734.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Christmas morning, after presents, we made breakfast burritos. Something that we have decided is a fun tradition for us. We've done it a few years in a row now. For dinner we went to another friends house with some other families from our ward. Ham, sweet potatoes, rolls, veggies, cranberry salad...the more traditional meal....but oh, so yummy. They make this to-die-for ham sauce. It's just a sweet mustard sauce, but that's why I say yes when they invite us for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners. :)</div><div> </div><div><br /><br />We read Luke 2 before opening presents in the morning. It is another wonderful tradition that we started to make sure we keep the true meaning of the holiday in mind. I know I speak for all of my family members when I say we are truly grateful for this time of year to celebrate the birth and life of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. </div><div> </div><div><br /><br />We look forward to celebrating the passing of this year and the dawning of a New Year. Wish you all the best in this coming year! 2009!!! wow!</div><div> </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>page familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02631059853277401785noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957846757119323699.post-69830803837451370572008-12-20T19:31:00.000-08:002008-12-20T20:43:15.062-08:00Christmastime is here...happiness and cheer...<div><span style="font-family:verdana;color:#cc0000;"><span style="font-size:180%;">It's the most wonderful time of the year...<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="color:#009900;">City sidewalks, busy sidewalks...<br /></span><br />Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays...</span></span><span style="font-size:180%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:lucida grande;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:180%;color:#006600;">We wish you a Merry Christmas....</span></div><br /><div></div><div>We love this time of year. And it comes early for our kids this year. Grandma Page came to visit! She flew in on Thursday but leaves on Christmas day, in the afternoon. We have been shopping, and baking, and eating, and watching movies and wrapping, and listening to never-ending Christmas music on the radio (2 stations to choose from this year!) and...well, you get the idea.<br /></div><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRhcI4iaTW-G6uLG7ibqEGIdLqg3JzQ8o7CP1mpstmSN1dBjWITMKF84JTYrNLI5RCblrxvfUEL1M_rGrqvifNmWz1KtDYuujQX3a4151POz2uScLSi2QhigmJnwQvZ0G_LrZX7Gj2qNM/s1600-h/IMG_1517.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282084356880097170" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRhcI4iaTW-G6uLG7ibqEGIdLqg3JzQ8o7CP1mpstmSN1dBjWITMKF84JTYrNLI5RCblrxvfUEL1M_rGrqvifNmWz1KtDYuujQX3a4151POz2uScLSi2QhigmJnwQvZ0G_LrZX7Gj2qNM/s320/IMG_1517.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />There are lots of presents under the tree and Ally decided to help herself to one a little bit early. She loved the book and games and bag that was all part of the same present, but she seemed most excited about the candy that was included. (Thanks, Tony and Becky!) :)<br /><br /><br />We took the kids on a surprise drive this evening. We would NOT tell them where we were going. This is one of Courtney's Christmas presents from Grandma Page....<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMGaUIgPiHmv7wDNy2FIh2r6omNHGPuyorvhLWW6t-N8rVM6ZHSvC1JK5LbA92qqbjGJjZab9OC1pobBb8HUvQ8DuteRD49DjXPqNCbgtTPsAurhYCpTGDfJNycDI2s_GgFHX9tH6ihQs/s1600-h/IMG_1549.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282084331240744450" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMGaUIgPiHmv7wDNy2FIh2r6omNHGPuyorvhLWW6t-N8rVM6ZHSvC1JK5LbA92qqbjGJjZab9OC1pobBb8HUvQ8DuteRD49DjXPqNCbgtTPsAurhYCpTGDfJNycDI2s_GgFHX9tH6ihQs/s320/IMG_1549.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglYS5QC3IV93Ur-WozCDgBMvhEpY15G5v-PNMGfUA4lo6ky-HcUsy8DOcMTIL9KnnUchVdJBtoBLIsRaHtJuOYZnnhl2kPGnl_EPVLRtcwlm8x-bDHp8mekxr2DqqIA16W2SVauPnTxB8/s1600-h/IMG_1564.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282084338172870178" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglYS5QC3IV93Ur-WozCDgBMvhEpY15G5v-PNMGfUA4lo6ky-HcUsy8DOcMTIL9KnnUchVdJBtoBLIsRaHtJuOYZnnhl2kPGnl_EPVLRtcwlm8x-bDHp8mekxr2DqqIA16W2SVauPnTxB8/s320/IMG_1564.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPHn3XsZcVMWE4WMtz7JOqKHm-7whdn9hae4Cde7__gv4OGh9zClmN0j4f6P8oMOLi0YjOxgVHse3MX47iyKUPYTgdS4HmR5izuKKSeQwW4b6cVyJmBLuHfguJR7nbVJeJRFm6hADgIbA/s1600-h/IMG_1569.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282097826970301218" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPHn3XsZcVMWE4WMtz7JOqKHm-7whdn9hae4Cde7__gv4OGh9zClmN0j4f6P8oMOLi0YjOxgVHse3MX47iyKUPYTgdS4HmR5izuKKSeQwW4b6cVyJmBLuHfguJR7nbVJeJRFm6hADgIbA/s320/IMG_1569.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUEop6HBKfYskyw51oIGQrxHSMv3RFBrJAxGfC1nVTElYOIJFUtrjXT-pYqRlSrGjWxJZ8rnbeTN159JEOSdom92BWbNN73RG2CNz4jXOoeoeWOUBQtK05ljT4YZ7feSgCwhk0KDf4tLU/s1600-h/IMG_1567.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282093177975395586" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 262px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUEop6HBKfYskyw51oIGQrxHSMv3RFBrJAxGfC1nVTElYOIJFUtrjXT-pYqRlSrGjWxJZ8rnbeTN159JEOSdom92BWbNN73RG2CNz4jXOoeoeWOUBQtK05ljT4YZ7feSgCwhk0KDf4tLU/s320/IMG_1567.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwtzmsoZkLBu9FzzMLhJsvmBxOrKrXFZ5p_HdJvLE9mXgiTPLlnfq_KShFrTg3Yyo7HCBVrlQDv0xAERUu2SB9OFxBOc5DxDqgRcZzI-GAKdVaw90gMtMRaGGBHFQI9O_PAdqRxHLGLUA/s1600-h/IMG_1547.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282098971618635970" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwtzmsoZkLBu9FzzMLhJsvmBxOrKrXFZ5p_HdJvLE9mXgiTPLlnfq_KShFrTg3Yyo7HCBVrlQDv0xAERUu2SB9OFxBOc5DxDqgRcZzI-GAKdVaw90gMtMRaGGBHFQI9O_PAdqRxHLGLUA/s320/IMG_1547.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />When Courtney was 5, we went to the mall with some friends. Her friend, Sally, ended up getting her ears pierced. Courtney was so distraught because "Now Sally was the prettiest!" Those were her 5 year old words! Anyway, to calm her down, I promised her that she could get her ears pierced when she was 10. Well, when I said that, I thought that she might forget by this time. Boy was I wrong. So as she is getting closer to turning 10, she talks about it more and more. When Grandma Page was asking about Christmas ideas for the girls, we had a hard time coming up with something super great for Courtney. At some point, I briefly thought about the ear-piercing thing...but didn't want to go back on my word about her having to be 10. But it would be a fantastic surprise. So after some serious thought, Brian and I decided that it would be fine. We also thought it would be fun for Cherie too. So that's what we did.... <p></p><p>She tried to be brave...she did really well. But when it was over, she hugged me really tight while she cried for 30 seconds. :( Poor thing. But she said it was definitely worth it. Anyway, it was really a sweet and exciting night for everyone.</p><p>Jessica got to come home and unwrap a present too....not to be left out of the early present opening experience. She opened hers from Tony and Becky. (new family members) And was thrilled with writing tools, and journal. And a bag with her initial on it.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Dlx5h-AiWDwiB-k5xg4Xl6s_Oq5LTKKvtH9y23_u9dCqSueNv9QtaRvQRiKoZ4CwuPsdGt2a8U7Te_gjNW1FVUhQJ9hXfZZoUBQEPi7PPkT9XeblszyRdHboz3C9l_4QDHi5iqLT-dk/s1600-h/IMG_1578.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282097829235980578" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Dlx5h-AiWDwiB-k5xg4Xl6s_Oq5LTKKvtH9y23_u9dCqSueNv9QtaRvQRiKoZ4CwuPsdGt2a8U7Te_gjNW1FVUhQJ9hXfZZoUBQEPi7PPkT9XeblszyRdHboz3C9l_4QDHi5iqLT-dk/s320/IMG_1578.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /></p><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcfIPE7Z6qlYaaZSb-elOyy89YF4AxXxh1q1oPUZG4-IZ9HzQKH9FYN6X4bKGrdMvbDGtDMZuS1F3HkgiGIlw0nYzSMaj481itOhsk3_XDskt9YesLRFaJHvUL1lBv1_corMcsokh8s5U/s1600-h/IMG_1576.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282097823201391458" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcfIPE7Z6qlYaaZSb-elOyy89YF4AxXxh1q1oPUZG4-IZ9HzQKH9FYN6X4bKGrdMvbDGtDMZuS1F3HkgiGIlw0nYzSMaj481itOhsk3_XDskt9YesLRFaJHvUL1lBv1_corMcsokh8s5U/s320/IMG_1576.JPG" border="0" /></a> We look forward to being able to spend time with Grandma Page, but we are sad we can't be with all of our other Grandparents and family members this time! We did discover the wonder that is the webcam and we look forward to being able to visit that way!<br /><br /><p>Have a great week, everyone!<br /><br /><br /></p><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div>page familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02631059853277401785noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957846757119323699.post-45408807089730310472008-12-14T13:18:00.000-08:002008-12-14T14:03:54.378-08:00Connecticut tripAbout a month ago, Brian started thinking it was time to start sending feelers out for jobs. He's not done until September but he thought he'd see what was available. He got a hold of a The Hospital of Central Connecticut and after a few emails and phone calls back and forth, they offered to bring us to the area for an interview. We don't know much about Connecticut, but figured it usually is pretty during fall and spring months. Cold during the winter...etc. That's about it. But since we haven't really ruled out going anywhere if the job is right, we jumped at this chance. They wanted to bring me up as well. And when I mentioned that we had kids they offered to have us bring them too, they would even spring for an adjoining hotel room. (They were paying for all travel expenses. One of the perks to interview most places). Anyway, so we drove up on Monday this past week.<br /><br />It didn't go as smoothly as we had hoped. We borrowed a GPS from some friends, thinking "this will be a breeze, how hard could it be?" Well.....a trip that should have taken 4 1/2 hours or so ended up taking 7 1/2!!!! I won't go into too many details...but GPS, turns out, not so easy to use the first time! We shouldn't have put all our faith in that thing! On the way home, we used Google Maps, printed out on paper. GPS helped more once we reached our destination, and driving around town. Long trips....don't recommend using just GPS.<br /><br />Anyway, we stayed at The Farmington Inn, in none other than Farmington, CT. :) The kids did get their own room, that was adjoining to ours. They loved it! They each had a 4 post, queen size bed. Well, except Ally who was in a port-a-crib. But she thought that was just as fantastic! I was glad she felt that way, it made it so she slept all night! YEAH! Anyway, the kids loved the sheets and the beds, and that they had a tv in their room. (Which went off fairly early, before they fell asleep.)<br /><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFKI_7Iz4rgq0v1KdSZz40m8Nwl_kvzzfr3JammUsU3TAvFU0QT8ypwhhjzVSKKtvFVDftivmmyJNaLkVkvkT_tRCvd4tGP56-66Ri2hMcxaWsQkFNE8XQre_kwNe1bwVD4P0qfdTiKhA/s1600-h/IMG_1435.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5279761330470707810" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFKI_7Iz4rgq0v1KdSZz40m8Nwl_kvzzfr3JammUsU3TAvFU0QT8ypwhhjzVSKKtvFVDftivmmyJNaLkVkvkT_tRCvd4tGP56-66Ri2hMcxaWsQkFNE8XQre_kwNe1bwVD4P0qfdTiKhA/s320/IMG_1435.JPG" border="0" /></a> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><br /> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbhDx-nlx4ksnQVcizbe97qViRqqd0J6ODNBW395vGDU45wZN-v_HZrWqNocUN2OyKSK_RxOWq27d-_8ciS2YBZDYLr9LnjeoyQ_jgZp7_H9X_n7SqNMnJbiToZrO4UX7yjpQm_J4_ic0/s1600-h/IMG_1428.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5279761322789563570" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbhDx-nlx4ksnQVcizbe97qViRqqd0J6ODNBW395vGDU45wZN-v_HZrWqNocUN2OyKSK_RxOWq27d-_8ciS2YBZDYLr9LnjeoyQ_jgZp7_H9X_n7SqNMnJbiToZrO4UX7yjpQm_J4_ic0/s320/IMG_1428.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The hospital also told us to go to the restaurant next to the hotel for dinner. So we did. It was called Piccolo Arancia, or something like that. It was probably the nicest restaurant the kids have gone to in years....at least since we moved here! It was just a nice Italian place...Brian and I have been to fancier. But it was pretty nice. The kids stuck to their tradition of chicken fingers and pizza...good pizza, mind you...and they were complimented on their polite behavior by the waitress. We had a nice time... </p><p></p><p><br /><br /></p><p></p><p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQadHDGRAHw1rYh3maxa8zrKwumeniRt2_etApOByaCKaRxtJ6AzXu89iI5Z9_My8zt5lU8fOuOcjjlcOwFqjn2DaJyo7MHEP3bmnvHfOKkrEbxmKdLkD3oJavZVSYiy6voZqSrakqoh8/s1600-h/IMG_1443.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5279761333782913714" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQadHDGRAHw1rYh3maxa8zrKwumeniRt2_etApOByaCKaRxtJ6AzXu89iI5Z9_My8zt5lU8fOuOcjjlcOwFqjn2DaJyo7MHEP3bmnvHfOKkrEbxmKdLkD3oJavZVSYiy6voZqSrakqoh8/s320/IMG_1443.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Brian had 2 interviews scheduled for Tuesday morning. And long story short...he liked both of them, for different reasons. One hospital told him he was #3 on their list, out of the top 5 of their favorites. They are only hiring 2 though. The doctor told us that they hoped to make a decision before Christmas. So we'll see if he even gets an offer....stay tuned.<br /><br />We originally planned to stay two nights, and have him interview at two other hospitals the next day. But we couldn't guarantee that one of those hospitals would pay for the second night in the hotel. At a corporate rate of $150/night/room, we weren't in a position to pay for the second night ourselves. After some real serious deliberation and discussion with a recruiter that helped organize all this, I decided to cancel the second night. We drove home on tuesday after Brian's second interview... (and after backtracking 30 miles to the hotel to pick up an ipod and headphones that I had forgotten to pack when we checked out)<br /><br />So we'll see what happens....but we are beginning to look for jobs which is exciting..!!! yeah!<br /><br /></p>page familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02631059853277401785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957846757119323699.post-66891113005475547632008-11-30T16:09:00.000-08:002008-11-30T16:57:10.343-08:00Meeting new family...the Vollmers!Hi...long time no see! So I've been told I need to post something new. So I guess it's time to catch up on what's been going on.<br /><br />One of the biggest stories in our lives is that Brian has been reunited with his birth father, after about 25 years. Without going into detail, they were unable to get together most of Brian's life. After Brian and I got married, we would periodically try to find Roy, his birth father, but didn't really know where to find him or what would happen if we did. Sometime after Greg passed away, Brian thought it was time to try to find Roy again. So we started with the internet...wow what an amazing thing!!!<br /><br />So, we looked up his name in the white pages, found a guy with the same name in Ohio, where we knew he was from. We actually called the number...that led to getting phone numbers for 2 sons he had from another marriage. Brian left a message with one of them. Before we heard back from them though, I thought I'd try finding him on facebook.com. We didn't know much about him, and didn't know if he was a facebook kind of guy, but there was a Roy from OH listed. I sent a message to this Roy, to find out if he was the one we were looking for. A day or two later, I received a message from Tony, Roy's stepson, saying, that it was indeed the Roy we were looking for, but Roy didn't really use the facebook site. Tony put us in touch with his mom and Roy!!! This all happened inside of a week!<br /><br />After a day or two of emailing back and forth with Roy and Jackie, I emailed them our phone numbers for them to get a hold of us at their convenience. The end of that week, while at the pool with my kids, I got a message on my phone from Roy for the first time. Brian was able to talk to him for the first time 2 days later. (He had been working 12 hour shifts and couldn't connect with Roy sooner.) Anyway, they had been actually living in GA for the last 3 years or so, but were moving back up to OH soon. After a few weeks of phone calls and emails, we made a plan to meet!<br /><br />They happened to be going to be in Harrisburg, PA for a family wedding the weekend of Labor Day. Brian was off, so we drove over to Harrisburg (just under 2 hours away), and met them in their hotel. WOW!!! I was overcome with emotion, partly because, as a parent, I couldn't imagine being separated from my child for so long! And feeling happy for Brian because that part of his background was no longer going to be such a mystery!!<br /><br />Turns out we met not only Roy and his wife, Jackie, but Jackie's son, Tony and his wife and 4 kids; one of Brian's aunts; and one of Brian's half-brothers, named Aaron and his wife and daughter. He has 2 half brothers, but one of them didn't make it. We met 5 of the 6 cousins that my kids now have on that side. We went swimming in the hotel pool with Tony's family, while visiting with Roy, Jackie and Jane. Then we met up with Aaron and his family to have lunch and then go back to the pool and swim some more. The wedding they were going to wasn't until 4pm or so, so we stayed until about 2:30 or so visiting. It was surprisingly comfortable, everyone made us feel so welcome and part of the family from the get-go. The only regret is that we didn't get together sooner in our lives. The kids are very excited to have more family in their lives. Not that we don't like the ones that we already have, but more is even better!!!! We hope to develop good relationships with them!<br /><br />Here are some pictures!<br />Brian and Roy for the first time in 25 years!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg38G3tijjcDJocmPYH0x_ml1Tag1-3XRnGJ5KU8wj66IRovEhZNUFSl5gNv6mwhiVw53JTD6bxueaeOiAmet60EIRdlmchJt0LYhQpRZGIlms06XZOKbyX3Z2Wml94GBCZEwuVWpn6J8/s1600-h/brianroy3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274613636095150754" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg38G3tijjcDJocmPYH0x_ml1Tag1-3XRnGJ5KU8wj66IRovEhZNUFSl5gNv6mwhiVw53JTD6bxueaeOiAmet60EIRdlmchJt0LYhQpRZGIlms06XZOKbyX3Z2Wml94GBCZEwuVWpn6J8/s320/brianroy3.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />This is the kids at lunch making Ohio State and Arizona State signs. Turns out the brothers are all OH ST fans.....something ASU fans don't like. :) But good to know that the brothers are HUGE football fans! Brian alwasy wanted a sibling and would even tell his mom that he'd take a sister! Turns out he has 3 "brothers"! And the have similar interests! What a great thing for Brian! (One of the little girls was actually in the wedding so she was busy getting ready for that and didn't get to go to lunch with us.)<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEnCtt2166PzNAzbU85VyCMU-KcwQqfOHe4jQcHN1jkEOXsGjBJCHy0faCk3Kl_M4OepwH3uL45-Z7BRDig7iNsdupSRdCwxyGeztLxpX4nu_YoHuMlAACoownnnG6yMakM8KL8NhUKlA/s1600-h/lunch5.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274613651057875010" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEnCtt2166PzNAzbU85VyCMU-KcwQqfOHe4jQcHN1jkEOXsGjBJCHy0faCk3Kl_M4OepwH3uL45-Z7BRDig7iNsdupSRdCwxyGeztLxpX4nu_YoHuMlAACoownnnG6yMakM8KL8NhUKlA/s320/lunch5.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />This is the girls with Grandpa Vollmer. Can't say much about this except...wow!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilmEr_e5AFSRFbuVHCZw24Mw8QdKA5DqZrCWWj3_vFVrExbO4-edWWZpRGbobiQupXFndlauHvKXnN3CQjzw9eyyuYHA2tSh3-Eefhyphenhyphen-ayoQnGZwKRAqv9PlhrCKkZmf0uVSluQdiZ1Lo/s1600-h/grandpavollmer2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274613653099769026" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilmEr_e5AFSRFbuVHCZw24Mw8QdKA5DqZrCWWj3_vFVrExbO4-edWWZpRGbobiQupXFndlauHvKXnN3CQjzw9eyyuYHA2tSh3-Eefhyphenhyphen-ayoQnGZwKRAqv9PlhrCKkZmf0uVSluQdiZ1Lo/s320/grandpavollmer2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Apparently Grandpa is a BIG hit with grandkids, and he loves them to pieces! Enough to let a turtle sit on his head for a picture! Kobe is behind Roy, Haley in the back, and Keegan next to Roy and Courtney. The kids seemed to hit it off!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaje6PHEyRGJcohoEFga8aRU1hyphenhyphencOI6otL3iMBrD9QDMU_irfc1OsY4Qv5psj_m2oifXTHpTA5fouS4w1lcsQffOSkUdcd-BketXta6TJYZ7PHq4A-d0DXfa6W-q9d6ZuxuId1lCYsK-Y/s1600-h/grandpastairs2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274613643597473026" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 225px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaje6PHEyRGJcohoEFga8aRU1hyphenhyphencOI6otL3iMBrD9QDMU_irfc1OsY4Qv5psj_m2oifXTHpTA5fouS4w1lcsQffOSkUdcd-BketXta6TJYZ7PHq4A-d0DXfa6W-q9d6ZuxuId1lCYsK-Y/s320/grandpastairs2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Our family and Roy!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9dFdJTuSk4ShE-0RqhRClwRhJuZ5yhE2d099p8BhlYAlGwmFDM6g35vVPqfplSeM3rbjE3k3DgMipuF38TQT-JK8ivU05N6zCst_DuqpTmzZMtSdTSq7n4oBX5Qy8Yrv2Zod7moBRueY/s1600-h/grandpavollmer3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274613637771813170" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9dFdJTuSk4ShE-0RqhRClwRhJuZ5yhE2d099p8BhlYAlGwmFDM6g35vVPqfplSeM3rbjE3k3DgMipuF38TQT-JK8ivU05N6zCst_DuqpTmzZMtSdTSq7n4oBX5Qy8Yrv2Zod7moBRueY/s320/grandpavollmer3.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />This is Jackie, or Grandma J, as she is called by the grandkids!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvdcnRHI5cGZ4yF_tpEGMUOye3vfhInAg6l8y0Or3t78gOjhfrjE2NYq1uHHs8gobazpsE_7DAUqEUmoVAq7lHAXb086zXt2cXoKlteHuNxKXGsYXOZNpI1LNLaEhUvaHa-UYXtoS8J04/s1600-h/grandmaj1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274618009458816242" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvdcnRHI5cGZ4yF_tpEGMUOye3vfhInAg6l8y0Or3t78gOjhfrjE2NYq1uHHs8gobazpsE_7DAUqEUmoVAq7lHAXb086zXt2cXoKlteHuNxKXGsYXOZNpI1LNLaEhUvaHa-UYXtoS8J04/s320/grandmaj1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />So that's been a big event in our life! We are trying to figure out a time during the holidays that we can all get together...we hope it works out! But they are going to be part of our lives from here on out and we are thrilled!!!page familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02631059853277401785noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957846757119323699.post-71880628180421082102008-09-28T13:18:00.000-07:002008-09-28T13:23:00.121-07:00Going underground...So, I know it's been a while since I've posted anything. School started and we've been busy with things. I want to update and I will. We've had a lot of interesting things happen. However, we think we have a virus on our laptop that we can't get rid of with the 3 antivirus programs that we have. SO.....sometime this week I will be taking the computer to the shop to hopefully get fixed. We will be without for about a week, maybe a little less. It's the cheapest route. Anyway, I will still check my email from the library when I can, but hopefully we'll be back on board soon and I can update you on what's been happening in our lives.page familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02631059853277401785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957846757119323699.post-23063766489487114602008-08-17T16:45:00.000-07:002008-08-17T18:49:10.490-07:00In Memory of Greg<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdBvlgwP6YIVXFEzRo1aYJFgyCVYORF8TP3aiZa6wDolL9ZtcUStm_nbVNQ1fH5rwB3_mt_hizo2c9NC_cwxp1jAgfE8oeWZM1Q7qXZkglQfBKqYOpVu8_YImg8E_au6WIfkIzPiiPBrc/s1600-h/IMG023_1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdBvlgwP6YIVXFEzRo1aYJFgyCVYORF8TP3aiZa6wDolL9ZtcUStm_nbVNQ1fH5rwB3_mt_hizo2c9NC_cwxp1jAgfE8oeWZM1Q7qXZkglQfBKqYOpVu8_YImg8E_au6WIfkIzPiiPBrc/s320/IMG023_1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235601925033784722" /></a><br />We had a sad occurance recently that actually was not too unexpected, but sad, nontheless. Brian's dad (really step-dad who raised him from a very early age), passed away on Monday, July 28, 2008, in the wee hours of morning.<br /><br />He had been quite ill for some time and his health had become extremely poor in the last months. Brian's stepbrother called on Sunday night, the 18th, and said that things weren't good. We managed to get a plane ticket for Brian for 2 days later. He flew out to California where he spent the next 6 days spending time with his dad, stepbrother, 2 uncles and a cousin...all boys. (Brian hasn't been around that much testosterone in quite some time!) Anyway, things were taken care of and the family was able to spend some time together.<br /><br />Just less than a week after Brian returned home from CA, he got the call. In some ways we are relieved that he's not suffering from his horrible bout with cancer, but it is sad to have lost him. He will be missed!<br /><br />Here are a few pictures that I could find of him. I may try to scan some more in later on. The first one is Brian, Greg, and Darien (Brian's step-brother)<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_PRu-8VzL5wVQgbeTJmhzs5G92NdBAq2tR6OlEuAY0tOd-UV7sqyFpgcJqz2wzflrd9OTreHx03CUijbGD7bJQE7SNSg8EzridbMuPgg092no596JJkUJ-rAg19N6Ya3dpm1iCotX-0/s1600-h/GUYS.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229375764978059826" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_PRu-8VzL5wVQgbeTJmhzs5G92NdBAq2tR6OlEuAY0tOd-UV7sqyFpgcJqz2wzflrd9OTreHx03CUijbGD7bJQE7SNSg8EzridbMuPgg092no596JJkUJ-rAg19N6Ya3dpm1iCotX-0/s320/GUYS.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Greg came from California, despite not feeling well, to attend Brian's medical school graduation in 2005. It was very sweet of him to do that, it meant a lot to all of us.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTliRbiywmO3oJiDWeN9-XFcExXhS3ns85wEIO-sAMUxFYzyGr6TU4LpV9MvjzDJ_WNQVim0y3V07RvOj7FkevXkbm0e9bzV22-6TEEcNTB5onVdwy4PNz3jfLqDlEbKEJpkkEDNEaMoc/s1600-h/21280009.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229375757873789602" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTliRbiywmO3oJiDWeN9-XFcExXhS3ns85wEIO-sAMUxFYzyGr6TU4LpV9MvjzDJ_WNQVim0y3V07RvOj7FkevXkbm0e9bzV22-6TEEcNTB5onVdwy4PNz3jfLqDlEbKEJpkkEDNEaMoc/s320/21280009.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />This is lunch after graduation with Brian's mom and family friend Ed. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibg4Y7OJzmGFh_J9hgJIrW3h3txUM_61jEkeuRj_Mb8ArVE20nL4m2nHnkbXhZ26D2bUF1PaYYsvMWWthIULR8oEHLseJTaBxbZOf2r7Ixq4HvDTsPUPUkBDc-3FbFHcUR1tCV7J3tvWo/s1600-h/21280006.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229375759571784754" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibg4Y7OJzmGFh_J9hgJIrW3h3txUM_61jEkeuRj_Mb8ArVE20nL4m2nHnkbXhZ26D2bUF1PaYYsvMWWthIULR8oEHLseJTaBxbZOf2r7Ixq4HvDTsPUPUkBDc-3FbFHcUR1tCV7J3tvWo/s320/21280006.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />I have only known Greg for about 14 years, and we, unfortunately, didn't get to spend a whole lot of time together, since he lived in various places, as did we. But we made some great memories when we were able to get together. The kids loved going to California to see Grandpa. We were able to visit him there about 3 times. One time we got to go to the Aquarium of the Pacific, which was grand fun. He also was able to travel to Arizona a number of times. One time we went some place like West World, (I think that's what it's called) with Grandpa and Uncle Darien. We went on a small train ride, rode ponies, and ate some BBQ, while meeting Darien's new wife Nana. <br /><br />One big thing I'm grateful to Greg for: when Brian wanted to join the church, even though his parents didn't, they were completely supportive. His dad told him that if he was going to do it, he needed to do it all the way. They took him to his church meetings and scouts and even spoke at his missionary farewell. I'm grateful that Greg made sure that he did the thing that changed his life and mine! Greg, you will be missed! We love you!page familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02631059853277401785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957846757119323699.post-23775247873519748192008-08-17T13:45:00.000-07:002008-08-17T14:14:37.416-07:00Ally is a climberHere is a video that was actually short enough to post here. Ally learned to climb up the ladder to the bunkbed a few months ago and we thought it was cool. Now she climbs all the way onto the top bed. We don't really like that since she gets very excited when she's up there, and could just topple over. But it is fun to see her do new things!<br /><br /><OBJECT class=BLOG_video_class id=BLOG_video-4180dcb9844fe8b4 height=266 width=320 contentId="4180dcb9844fe8b4"></OBJECT>page familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02631059853277401785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957846757119323699.post-43789705323883618122008-07-30T19:48:00.000-07:002008-07-30T19:54:48.798-07:00Spotlight on Jessica--3rd time's the charmOkay, I tried to publish this post a couple other times in June. I finally finished it, but when I went to publish it, I couldn't put it as the most recent unless I started a new one from this date...if that makes sense. Anyway, here is Jessica's spotlight blog.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAyG7-Fyna68u3lYkxEdlv8dl1fK6UyoNhl6dmE2q1_1V8SxhNjoL-lLnlW1WZdu6GPepekiK8hhs7tOfZkqTfYOQgTklA6OlJbTy-XDnkc67rynJoXpNK1gIciyTgG75QD39SbQk38Kc/s1600-h/IMG_0486.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229000209865436818" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAyG7-Fyna68u3lYkxEdlv8dl1fK6UyoNhl6dmE2q1_1V8SxhNjoL-lLnlW1WZdu6GPepekiK8hhs7tOfZkqTfYOQgTklA6OlJbTy-XDnkc67rynJoXpNK1gIciyTgG75QD39SbQk38Kc/s320/IMG_0486.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>The above picture was taken in front of the Palmyra Temple on a recent family trip(minus Brian, sadly) to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant and some of the sites. (more about that later)</div><br /><div>Jessica has become an AWESOME reader. Sadly, I have to admit that I did not read as much with her as I did with Courtney. (The first kid always gets the most one on one attention, right?...please say "right"...) Anyway, Jessica does not seem to have suffered very much for it. She has grown by leaps and bounds in her reading skills this year. She doesn't mind reading now, although she would much rather play. When we read scriptures, she sounds out words that I don't think I knew when I was her age. She continues to amaze us! She reads to Ally a lot and Ally loves it!</div><br /><br /><div></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnJvuVqxf0hsWWhp3T1401qaKdr_NbHkTU_Cx4AClCVFtJtnCHnp7vhes_UbztRoJQYcWMQEbYQt4LVFlTSIWxzF03kHy3sB_MgMxy95VzbQ9sROvHBWWGjJaUbXsHbUxLGxzVNhLHcK0/s1600-h/100_2438.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218847740467304434" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnJvuVqxf0hsWWhp3T1401qaKdr_NbHkTU_Cx4AClCVFtJtnCHnp7vhes_UbztRoJQYcWMQEbYQt4LVFlTSIWxzF03kHy3sB_MgMxy95VzbQ9sROvHBWWGjJaUbXsHbUxLGxzVNhLHcK0/s320/100_2438.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />She is very active right now. She has a hula hoop that she uses for jumping with, like a jumprope. She's getting pretty good at it.<br /><br />She just got her hair cut a few weeks ago. She likes to get it short when summer comes. I don't blame her, I like short hair in the summer better too. We all have such thick long hair that becomes a pain to deal with in the summer. It either gets put up in pony tails or cut. Here are some pictures...before and after. I wasn't happy with the way the Supercuts lady did her bangs and she pinned them back after cutting them, so the after picture is not right after. We waited until it looked a bit better. It doesn't look like a major haircut from the pictures but it was significant.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyj3lPfbdNT-B1B78_7NiqJf3YC37jy1GtG00agFUo8k6Jx_fMpLbYMfHmQ3DxeSSoU3ly-YsA8Ji51fDG9bgwxrCg028SKxDAhcx6pIcF9VvhOcIY8qiCsNDcW-lFHpJXWLwWyrdBT24/s1600-h/IMG_0252.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228996523249041394" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyj3lPfbdNT-B1B78_7NiqJf3YC37jy1GtG00agFUo8k6Jx_fMpLbYMfHmQ3DxeSSoU3ly-YsA8Ji51fDG9bgwxrCg028SKxDAhcx6pIcF9VvhOcIY8qiCsNDcW-lFHpJXWLwWyrdBT24/s400/IMG_0252.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWAZef7lrtwm1UG_jqB_1uDcMMfvxHvC4abtrhUiNBZVzKaQyv77xd6jDDdIfoYdHA9U7kc50UFXf82LFEyS5kUIqA0DgA2dXfvowvdEPGCiMen-wWjpXQHW36t6N5C0FZRMdzj05w7eI/s1600-h/IMG_0260.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228996528583685202" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWAZef7lrtwm1UG_jqB_1uDcMMfvxHvC4abtrhUiNBZVzKaQyv77xd6jDDdIfoYdHA9U7kc50UFXf82LFEyS5kUIqA0DgA2dXfvowvdEPGCiMen-wWjpXQHW36t6N5C0FZRMdzj05w7eI/s400/IMG_0260.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />She is our little missionary. Since kindergarten she has talked about different things she can do to tell her friends about the church. She wanted to have one friend over for Family Home Evening. (I'm embarrassed to say we never got to that.) During the school year, she decided to start a "Missionary club" in her class and she said lots of kids were in it, but she hadn't really done much in it. Now, when she has friends over or goes to their house, she has a little "Mormon museum". One day she set all kinds of things in front of and on her dresser. When the two kids that I babysit came over 2 weeks ago, she invited them to come in to the "Mormon museum". The display consisted of her scriptures, the Primary songbook, many different pass-along cards, a picture of a temple, and a few other things I can't remember right now. The kids (ages 9 and 5) were so sweet to sit and listen, even Courtney played along. I don't know if anything will happen with these two kids and their mom as far as the church goes, but we are planting a seed. No....Jessica is planting seeds! All over the place! We are so proud of her and hope be as good as she is with our missionary work!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibAEIOdFGnrGRJxjiZEMIH_1QD2wED-NFWj12XaEyfd-FxKWC1x0pzv0bL7UCYuoPOqXolQy56WurGFp4oVfVx5Je7TN6MrHwhRbs4YgnYLZcbH-gNiZEAhvrUMe-8I2A6pOYbJY4Xg74/s1600-h/IMG_0515.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229000219413443554" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibAEIOdFGnrGRJxjiZEMIH_1QD2wED-NFWj12XaEyfd-FxKWC1x0pzv0bL7UCYuoPOqXolQy56WurGFp4oVfVx5Je7TN6MrHwhRbs4YgnYLZcbH-gNiZEAhvrUMe-8I2A6pOYbJY4Xg74/s320/IMG_0515.JPG" border="0" /></a> This sunflower picture was taken in Rochester, NY, when we stayed with cousin Rebecca for the pageant. We love sunflowers in our family.<br /><br /><br /><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOmJ8kKHkNpuc7SBLMvXXMGpIryCsYuQG42CL8SS7zw7PHXnQGQIlzjL6_gNmxRESIGS8yeumK5cRNdzFLgAI5_E-RbNsg_rkri1H2p8NxTz4r3I0Bw3a4qk6YWt21VdfLQ0yPZHc5XLI/s1600-h/IMG_0413.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229000220618635298" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOmJ8kKHkNpuc7SBLMvXXMGpIryCsYuQG42CL8SS7zw7PHXnQGQIlzjL6_gNmxRESIGS8yeumK5cRNdzFLgAI5_E-RbNsg_rkri1H2p8NxTz4r3I0Bw3a4qk6YWt21VdfLQ0yPZHc5XLI/s320/IMG_0413.JPG" border="0" /></a>I really had hoped another daughter, who shall remain nameless, would fall asleep during the Pageant that started at 9:15 pm. Jessica made it through all but the last 10 minutes or so.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizNL-_vh2_-CZpcxM_WD5_dX5j-1kh-dXD9KDHnKTUYXahRLUDr0VZ2Aw-FPg-CAO-eg2TmNZQhZTdQdWGAjSLuCRtdfKi0YM4iqbhTFsWIf6t3B1hN-PfdloqWsXHsIYPJnTR6yzNeOw/s1600-h/IMG_0422.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229000228705367154" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizNL-_vh2_-CZpcxM_WD5_dX5j-1kh-dXD9KDHnKTUYXahRLUDr0VZ2Aw-FPg-CAO-eg2TmNZQhZTdQdWGAjSLuCRtdfKi0YM4iqbhTFsWIf6t3B1hN-PfdloqWsXHsIYPJnTR6yzNeOw/s320/IMG_0422.JPG" border="0" /></a> We visited the Joseph Smith homes in Palmyra, this is the log home, a replica, and the room, where Moroni visited Joseph Smith that night.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTjzvA5BRxHxmClPatGNeS2jWnyfM3lPNJVyRa3KOt-Fc80KcpqVLSBdSxQKumijBl-1ixO6kVPsup7wDcUQdkTg5PG9g03MuReLG1cpU8FVaEKy81egkdp-EACRi04A9gvAsnJcq3Jsg/s1600-h/IMG_0450.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229000237431203762" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTjzvA5BRxHxmClPatGNeS2jWnyfM3lPNJVyRa3KOt-Fc80KcpqVLSBdSxQKumijBl-1ixO6kVPsup7wDcUQdkTg5PG9g03MuReLG1cpU8FVaEKy81egkdp-EACRi04A9gvAsnJcq3Jsg/s320/IMG_0450.JPG" border="0" /></a> We took a walk through the Sacred Grove in Palmyra...such a beautiful, peaceful place.<br /><br />This summer Jessica is just trying to keep busy with swimming, playdates, trips to the library and the zoo, the AMC $1 movies, a book club with some friends, and playing with her sisters. She can't wait for the mail to come in late August to find out who her teacher for 2nd grade will be! She's excited to be a 2nd grader! WOW!<br /><br />That's Jessica! </p>page familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02631059853277401785noreply@blogger.com5