The Gantt Family

Briana Leaves Us!

2009-07-08T21:02:00.002-04:00

So this is what I see this morning when I'm trying to get ready for work.

It wouldn't go away.

I kept hoping it would dissapear and it wouldn't.

I walked passed it a few times and it was still there.

Darn it!

My sweet Briana left me this morning to go have some

fun with her best friend in Tampa, Florida.

Remember the story?

She saved her money so she could buy a plane ticket?

Yep, so today was the day she left.

Ho Hum!

Wo is me!

She's SOOO happy

and I cried!

(no picture of that- that would be too scary!)

Have fun for 10 whole days!!
I already miss her!!

The Night Sky

2009-07-08T20:51:00.002-04:00

I took these pictures a few weeks ago when it was raining

outside at about 10:00 PM! Amazing, isn't it?

What's so amazing about living in Michigan is that in July the

sky is still sooo bright at 10:00 at night. Two nights ago

I went outside at 10:15 and could see down the road in the

neighborhood still. If I remember tonight, I'm going to take

a picture to let you see what I'm talking about! :)

Our "Sweet" Friends

2009-07-06T14:10:00.002-04:00

Two weeks ago our friends, Bob and Catherine Sweet called us to say they were "passing through" Michigan (Yeah, right! Who passes through Michigan?) and they wanted to stop in and see us. I was thrilled! These are our friends from our short stay in Virginia. We love the Sweets!! Actually, they live in Texas now. They moved about a year after we left. I guess they couldn't stand it without us. Just kidding.

Anyway, I invited them over for dinner and we had alot of fun. Their very grown up and tall children came over and played Wii with Brandi and Brooke all afternoon. That was fun! (Briana missed out on seeing them because she was at Girls Camp that week) They have an older son who is on a mission who is not pictured with them. But aren't they a great looking family?

Come back and see us!!

Jonathan trying to get away with NOT smiling for me! I'm sorry, that doesn't work in my house!! I know it's cool not to smile, but come on!

Much better!

Random SC pictures

2009-07-05T20:57:00.007-04:00

My Dad and brother have 3 firework stands throughout

the Columbia area. Here they are one night

setting up and pricing before the holidays.

Show me the $$$!! :)

(my cute little mommy dear)

Me and my baby brother, Jeff and my older sister, Lisa. The men on Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to some of the men that I love!!
(nice shirt, dad) :)

Lisa, me and Mom

Cousins on the Joyner side

Cousins on the Gantt side

Myrtle Beach for the day

2009-07-05T20:47:00.002-04:00

Getting into the ocean...

These girls haven't been to the beach in many many years!

Our last beach trip was when we lived in Virginia and we

went to Virginia Beach- that was over 6 years ago!

Yikes! Where does the time go?

They had so much fun!!

Mermaid #1

Mermaid #2

The Flower Girls

2009-07-05T20:42:00.001-04:00

The two flower girls. So cute, aren't they? Little poser...
Side view of the hair...

Back view of the hair.

Jimmy's Wedding

2009-07-05T20:32:00.004-04:00

We had a fun trip going down to SC two days after school ended for Jimmy's wedding. It was a little unique in the fact that my dad married Jimmy and Elsa, Ronnie translated the ceremony from English to Spanish for Elsa's family who is from Mexico. And Brooke was a flower girl. So it was a total family affair. :) Here are a few pictures from that.

This is Ronnie's mom and dad. My cute little nephews, Caleb and Dylan. So handsome!!
The girls before the wedding.

Jimmy and Elsa at the rehersal.

I am so glad these two are happy!

Dancin fool--

2009-07-05T20:26:00.002-04:00

Briana's dance recital was on Mother's Day this year. (I know... that was crazy!) But it was fun to watch her dance and all the other great dancers that day. So here's Briana in curlers. I'm sure she'll thank me later for posting this picture. :) And then in her costume. Their theme was an Egyptian theme.

This was taken on the day of the rehersal.

Some pictures..

2009-07-05T20:02:00.003-04:00

Briana's hair BEFORE...

Briana's hair AFTER... I just love her new haircut!! Very cute!!

Mother's Day- Ronnie and me

Me and the girls

Briana's Birthday cake

(silly Brooke in the background) :0

Briana and her friends

(another silly look from Brooke)

Much Needed Updates

2009-07-05T19:38:00.006-04:00

I can hardly believe that I haven't posted anything new in two whole months. The end of the school year was sooooo busy between church related activities, school awards programs, band concerts, dance recitals, and end of the year field trips, and other extra curricular activities that I could barely keep my own head screwed on straight. So I was gently reminded by Ronnie's mom during our recent trip to South Carolina that I need to keep this updated!! I know I have family stalkers out there who like to look at our pictures and what we've been up to! :) So here's for you, Grandma Cooley and the rest of the family!
I'll briefly summarize what we've been doing then I'll just post pictures.

Right after Briana stapled her thumb (yes, she's all better now!) She had a birthday! My not so little girl turned 13! ... she's an official teenager now. Heaven help us! :) Cause we need it. She had a small party with some friends from school and had a great time celebrating.

Ronnie is still plugging along at his job. He is a commissioned salesman for his company and has done quite well in the last few years. But this year his sales are in the tank, and it's really effected (affected?) our income. So we are thankful that he has a job and isn't doing as badly as some other salesmen at his company are doing. But we are very blessed to still be able to survive it all. We had to cut out everything that the girls love doing... tennis, swimming, gymnastics, dance. We decided that we'd rather pay our mortgage and buy food than pay for those other things. :) So with many of our expenses cut, we are doing okay. I also started looking for a job at the end of March. Which was very scary, because I haven't worked outside our home in NINE years! I can hardly believe it's been that long since I left the Governor's Office. Anyway, it has been- and I was so nervous. But I had several interviews within the two month period of April and May. (I think about 6 or 7- which was surprising for this economy!) I knew the girls were getting out of school for the summer, so I really didn't pursue it aggressively during June. However, one of the companies that I had interviewed with at the beginning of April called me back a few weeks ago and hired me. So right now I am working part time helping our family make ends meet. This past week they talked to me about going full time within the next few weeks. (because they like me, maybe?) ;0 I still don't know why or how I got this job exactly, I just know that when you keep God's commandments, He blesses you for it. It is a direct answer to our family's prayers. And we feel like God has always had his hand in our lives. For that we are so grateful.

We were just in South Carolina a few weeks ago for Ronnie's brother's wedding. We were able to stay for about 10 days. It was great to see all of the family! We also went to Myrtle Beach one day during our trip and we had a blast. Briana, Brandi and Brooke just loved it. Although they had to get used to the ocean water- salty, big waves. It's not like swimming in Lake Michigan!! No waves to knock ya down and no salt to get in your eyes!! And no chapped thighs!! :) Anyway, I will post some pictures now. I think that's it in a nutshell. We love ya'll! And I'll try to be better!! :)

A Trip to the E.R.

2009-05-05T21:22:00.004-04:00

So I'm folding clothes today in the middle of my living room floor around 2:30... the phone rings. It's the school. "Hello, Mrs. Gantt? I have your daughter here. She has a staple in her thumb." My first reaction is "Ooooh-kay." "I think you need to come get her and take her to the doctor right away."

I honestly wasn't thinking it would be too bad. I get to the school and see Briana she's got a big smile on her face. (maybe shock?) So I look at her thumb- and the staple is ALL THE WAY THROUGH HER THUMB! I actually saw the staple on the top of her thumb and then end of the staple on the other side of her thumb. Yowsa!

Panic set in for one second. So now I'm just trying to get out of there as fast as possible with her! Luckily enough the hospital is just right up the road. So into the ER we go. They plucked it out, gave her a tetina shot and a scrip for some antibiotics and we were out of there in 40 minutes! Amazing for an ER, isn't it? :) Anyway, Briana was such a trooper. She never whined, complained or cried! She did yell out when they plucked it out, but hello... wouldn't you yell too? :) I told her if she felt like yelling, then yell, dangit!

So that was our excitement for the day.

Brandi's Birthday party- She's 9!!

2009-05-05T21:05:00.004-04:00

So I realize that I never posted pictures of Brandi's 9th Birthday Party! She had some friends over for an UN-sleepover. That party ended at 10:30 pm. We had her party a month late because we have been so busy. She wanted a sleepover, but we could not find time for a Friday night into a Saturday morning, so we just compromised and had an UN-sleepover. I'm pretty sure the girls had a blast!! And I was glad when 10:30 rolled around and all the giggling, laughing, silly girls all went home! Whew! What a night!

Brandi is in blue- back left under the balloons. ;)

Cool moves

2009-04-19T19:42:00.006-04:00

Cool videos. Watch and enjoy. :)

NJHS induction

2009-04-19T19:28:00.003-04:00

This past week Briana had her "official" induction into the National Junior Honor Society. What an honor!

Congrats, Briana!!

holding her certificate

standing below the NJHS sign at the school

Briana is the one looking down at her candle (on the right behind the boy in blue)

all the kids that were inducted

Briana Impresses Us Once Again

2009-04-02T17:58:00.003-04:00

Briana is now a member of the National Jr. Honor Society!!

A few weeks ago, Briana was invited to be considered for National Jr. Honor Society. She had to fill out an application listing accomplishments she has had both within the community, academics, service, citzenship and character. After filling it out it would be reviewed and the committe and they would let her know if she made it.

And she made it!

It is a big honor to be selected. So Congratulations, Briana!!

Here's what it says on their website about NJHS:

The National Honor Society (NHS) and National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) are the nation's premier organizations established to recognize outstanding high school and middle level students. More than just an honor roll, NHS and NJHS serve to honor those students who have demonstrated excellence in the areas of Scholarship, Leadership, Service, and Character (and Citizenship for NJHS). These characteristics have been associated with membership in the organization since their beginnings in 1921 and 1929.
Today, it is estimated that more than one million students participate in activities of the NHS and NJHS. NHS and NJHS chapters are found in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, many U.S. Territories, and Canada. Chapter membership not only recognizes students for their accomplishments, but challenges them to develop further through active involvement in school activities and community service.

'Ode to Briana

2009-03-06T21:58:00.002-05:00

How do I love Briana?

Let me count the ways...

1. She's a great dishwasher

2. She can do the dishes

3. She's an awesome washer of the dishes.

I'm just kidding.

I have really been impressed with Briana lately. She is proving that she's growing up and that she is a responsible young lady. She is a great help around the house. She has two nights a week that she cleans the kitchen. (huge help for mom! :D ) And she 'usually' doesn't complain and she's getting so much better at it!! Yay!

She has this friend that used to live here in Michigan that was our neighbor in the townhouse in Silverbooke. Her name is Mano. Her parents moved to Tampa, Florida about 2 & 1/2 years ago and they have remained friends. They talk on the phone all the time, and they email each other all the time- even after all this time. And for 2 1/2 years they have been making plans for Briana to go to Florida to visit. The first two years I have protested this and have always told Briana, "So sorry, you are not flying to Tampa Florida to see Mano". She has persisted. And I persisted right back. And what I thought would be a faded friendship at 10 years old has just been stronger since they've been apart. Now that Briana is a 'tad' bit older, Ronnie told her that if she saved enough money to buy a plane ticket, then she could go. Well, guess what? The child has saved $280.00 in a matter of months. (And that's after she paid her tithing on it all.)

What?? Did she just save enough money to buy a plane ticket? Oh my goodness! Why did Ronnie promise her she could go? (deep breath)

So now what?

She gets to go to Tampa, Florida this summer... that's what! But the twist is... not by herself! (like she thinks) Ronnie has an account in Tampa that he will fly out to see so Briana can go with him so she gets to see her very best long lost friend.

The moral of the story is not to promise your kids something if they have the tenacity to achieve it. Because you have to deliver!!

Actually, I am very proud of Briana. She is a hard worker at everything. At school and at home. She has been babysitting ALOT (obviously). Babysitting jobs just keep falling in her lap for some reason and she's happy to do it. It really has been a blessing to her to have these babysitting jobs. She was in tears last summer wondering how she could earn any money and this year the Lord has answered her prayers. She has had alot of opportunities that she hasn't had to seek out to earn the money she needed. She is one happy girl~ and I'm happy that everything has worked out the way she wanted it to.

Love you, Briana!!

Have Fun in Florida! (with your daddy) haha

More on Gymnastics

2009-03-06T21:30:00.004-05:00

This is for all the grandparents- (who love all these little details...)

Last Saturday, Brandi had her third gymnastics meet of the year. I am still learning how to take good pictures and I definitely haven't mastered it yet. So alot of pictures that I took were taken after the cartwheel on the beam, after the landing over the vault, etc. So I didn't post alot of them. But anyway, I'm hoping at the end of this month at her next two meets, I can get some great pictures.

Anyway, Brandi's division is the Eight Year Old Division (until later this month when she turns 9!) But anyway, at this particular meet, there were only three teams instead of the usual five teams and it just so happened that there was only one other 8 year old she had to compete against. But great for her, because she was able to get 1st place in her events! Yay! :) Brandi was happy. She got to stand on the First Place podium holding her First Place ribbons.

2nd place in the hand stand competition.

This picture is of Brandi's teammate. But I posted it because my neighbor has a picture of Brandi in the exact pose and I wanted you to be able to visualize Brandi. (I'm still trying to get her to email me Brandi's picture) But this next picture is of Brandi's landing after fliping over the vault.

I was so far away trying to zoom in on this picture. So it's fuzzy. But she's doing her routine on the balance beam.

First Place Ribbons

Huron Valley Silver Team

(Brandi is in the 2nd row, 2nd to the left)

Bring on the snow...

2009-02-24T15:47:00.003-05:00

... because Ronnie has a new toy!!

I'm due

2009-02-18T19:32:00.018-05:00

for a post, that is. haha

So here's the latest on our family...

1. Brooke lost her first tooth

2. Brandi being happy - almost always! :D

She's still practicing a lot for her gymnastics. She had her 2nd meet last month. She placed 5th place in each of her events. She has another meet next week and two more in March. I watched her practice tonight and WOW! She's really getting so much better. I can hardly believe she can do round-off back handsprings, back walkovers or that she can do cartwheels on a high beam. I'm so proud of her.

3. Friday the 13th Brooke's first grade class had a field trip to the bowling alley.

The bowling alley put the flourescents on for GLOW BOWL and we were all glowing!! Even Brooke's fingernails !

4. Briana had a Valentine's Dance at school-

she looked so cute, but unfortunately my camera was in the back of Ronnie's car and he wasn't home... so no pictures! But here is my cute little 12 yr old doing what she loves doing best... reading in bed.

(eeww, don't look at the pillow. It was a pillow she made at girls camp last year. Her friends signed it and the ink ran in the wash. It looks really gross in this picture. But she loves this pillow! :0 )

5. Valentine's Day

Valentine's day was nice. Ronnie bought me a new cell phone because mine was very old and falling apart. So now I'm all updated with new technology. lol Anyway, we went for Japanese food. It is one of our favorites. The girls had a good day, too. They got lots of goodies .

6. Our First Red Wings Game

It was awesome! It's so much better live than on watching it on TV!! And it just so happened to be a fantastic, high scoring game. Ronnie scored some tickets from work at the last minute, so I went with him and we invited Naoko and Corey Perriton from church and had such a fun time together! We laughed all night.

7. Just chillin'

I need to take lessons from Sparkles. She knows how to relax, man!

8. And last but not least, my new computer addiction is now

That's why I haven't posted in a few weeks. I'm certifiably addicted. If I'm on the computer messin' around, it's usually on Facebook. I've been neglecting my blog and everybody else's. I have my days of no fb, then I have days where I always want to see what everybody's doing or saying! (I might have to start a facebook anonymous support group). haha I'm just kidding. But...

It is fun.

Owl on the Mailbox

2009-01-26T14:23:00.003-05:00

First things first: No, I haven't made the delicious looking chocolate chip cookie dough brownies yet. I'm waiting until I have someone who can help me eat them. I know that I'll be eating way too many of them- so I'm holding off until I can take them somewhere-- maybe to the Super Bowl party this Sunday or something!! :)

So, this morning Ronnie and I were at the school with Brooke. And our neighbor Kelly Feather is Brooke's 1st grade teacher and she was showing us some pictures that she took this morning of this OWL on top of our mailboxes!! (Our mailboxes are grouped together - not out by our houses by the road) Anyway- so when I came home from school, I was looking for the owl, but I must have looked in the wrong place, because I didn't see it as I drove past. Then I was talking to my other neighbor, Amy who said she just saw it. So I decided to drive back down by the mailboxes to take another look. Lo and Behold! There he was!! An Owl on our mailboxes. Look how beautiful! Actually, he was rested nice and cozy on Amy Day's mailbox. How cool!! So I snapped a few pictures. Jeff Day was driving home about that same time, so he stopped and decided to check his mail to see what would happen. The owl freaked out a little, (duh, Jeff! :) flew out onto Jeff's car, then flew back in and landed on another mailbox. So I took some of Jeff too. But I won't steal their thunder, I know they're going to post those on their blog.

Enjoy the pictures... this isn't something we see very often!!

Look at those freaky eyes!! Even when they were closed, I walked around and it followed me the whole time. His head would turn to wherever I was. I didn't know if he was going to attach or what!! But thankfully I came away unscathed.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

2009-01-20T18:24:00.006-05:00

Forgive me for showing pictures of the most sinful thing on earth!!

But I think I will just have to make these within the next few days!

I can't resist!

(photo and recipe from http://www.bakerella.blogspot.com/)

I love looking at this baking blog. It makes me want to bake bake bake!!

2009-01-16T08:30:00.006-05:00

SNOW: GOT IT.

CURRENT TEMP: -10

WIND CHILL: -25 to -30

SCHOOL: OUT

YIPPIE!

This is the coldest in 5 1/2 years that we've ever seen! Brrrr!

Snowfall Video #1

2009-01-12T20:15:00.003-05:00

In case you're wondering what 6-7 inches of snow looks like! :)

2009-01-11T22:40:00.001-05:00

stay tuned for one more video, i can't get it to load, it's late and i'll try again tomorrow. :)

Video#2 of backyard

2009-01-11T21:21:00.002-05:00

Christmas Morning

2008-12-29T14:04:00.004-05:00

Christmas is always so fun. I love the girls waking up and running to see what Santa left for them. There's such an excitement that isn't around any other time of the year.

This year the hot items were:

Briana's guitar, lots of clothes, jewelry, and a docking station for her ipod

Brandi's ipod and a docking station, coat (the brown one she's modeling in the picture) and clothes and boots

and Brooke got a talking Barbie styling head, a very cool horse that walks,

a Color Explosion pad, and camera for kids and of course a few new clothes, too.

They were very excited with all of their gifts and it was a wonderful Christmas day.

Ronnie surprised me with a new GPS for my car. So cool! I really wanted one! :)

Poor Ronnie only got pajama pants and a new hoodie.

Good thing he's not very materialistic. He doesn't much care about getting gifts.

The girls all picked out little gifts at their school holiday shop for each other and for us. It was really cute to see what they thought we would really like. They did an excellent job.

We hope your Christmas was great, too!

Have a safe and happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-23T20:29:00.006-05:00

Merry Christmas

to all of our family and friends.

So, if you are wondering why you haven't pulled a Christmas card from your mailbox from The Gantt's this year, I hope you're not still checking the mailbox...it's not coming! :)

The mere thought of taking cute pictures with cute outfits and finding a cute card and mailing them all out has really put me over the edge this year. Something had to go, and this was it. Sorry folks! I had a good two weeks where I couldn't get anything done due to sickness and a broken garage door that took two days out of my precious December. (long story)... so forgive me!

We're grateful at this time of year because we know our family has been so blessed. We are grateful also at this time to be able to reflect on our Savior's miraculous birth. We have a testimony that HE lives and HE loves us! We are so grateful for this knowledge.

We also love and appreciate all of you so much. You have all touched our family's lives in many different ways. We thank you for your love and support.

But just know that we love all of you and thank you for all the cute Christmas cards and letters we've been getting. We love hearing from you and seeing how all of your families are growing. We have had a wonderful year as a family and if you've kept up with our blog, you've already read all about it!

Anyway, HO HO HO!!

Hope you've been good, because Santa Claus comes tomorrow night!!

Love,

The Gantt's

Wicked Weather

2008-12-21T13:42:00.005-05:00

This past Friday was a SNOW DAY around here!! All of the schools were cancelled because we had up to a foot of snow!! I don't know what the actually amount was... who cares at this point, right? I'm not so sure I've seen this much snow fall at once the whole 5 1/2 years we've been up here! It's been close...very very close.

I kept wondering how in the world we were going to shovel our way out of our driveway because we haven't broken down to buy a snow plow yet- we only have 2 snow shovels. And I'm sorry, with this weather that just won't do! Ronnie was out and about at work and with his back that recently went out, there was no way he would be shoveling. So I'm watching the truck that plows our neighborhood come through and plow the roads. While I'm standing in my garage watching the girls play, the truck goes into one of our neighbors driveways and starts plowing their driveway. LIGHTBULB MOMENT-- I remembered in our Association newsletter last month they posted a phone number to the company and had a quote for plowing driveways. So I quickly get on the phone and asked if they would radio their guy to come to our house and plow us out! I told Ronnie that was the best $35.00 I've spent all year! Ten minutes later they were gone and my driveway and my sidewalks were clear !

Anyway, I took a picture of the girls playing in the front yard. Remember that picture a few posts ago of our house with some snow in the yard? Well, I took another one to compare it to. WOW! Look at the difference! To top it off, we got another inch or so last night and we're getting another round tomorrow, Tuesday and Wednesday. All of you with your 70 degree weather, count your blessings. We have a week left of weather in the 20's. Today is all of 10 degrees. :)

Even though we had WICKED weather on Friday... that didn't stop us from going to the Detroit Opera House to see WICKED that night! It was FABULOUS!!! It was a little hike getting there because of the storm that came through, but thanks to Ronnie's 'expert' driving skills we made it there safe and sound.

Briana, Brandi and Brooke loved it! We especially loved Galinda- with a 'Ga'. Brooke laughed at her so many times - she was really entertaining.

Anyway- we're happy, safe and warm and we love ya'll!

Happy Holidays Video

2008-12-17T14:26:00.004-05:00

Lunch with Brooke

2008-12-17T14:16:00.003-05:00

Today I had lunch with Brooke at school. Each class of first graders sang us Christmas songs (aren't they all so cute?) and we did a few activities with them. Here is Brooke's class- she's on the right bottom side with the blue shirt on. (I know- I didn't think to put her in Christmas colors this morning!!) Oh well! I'm just the mom-- I can't think of everything!! :) Her teacher , Mrs. FeatherHer good friend, Jordin.

Jordin is actually the only other little girl in her class

that is as tiny as Brooke. They were also in the same

kindergarten class last year and were the only two peanuts

in class! :) I guess they've bonded.

Brooke's crazy pictures

2008-12-17T14:11:00.004-05:00

Last week when I was pretty much feeling like CRUD, Brooke asked me if she could use my camera to take some pictures. I said "Sure!" and I'm sure I must have fallen back asleep. Well, I had forgotten all about it until today when I took the camera to school to take some pictures. So the following pictures are random- VERY random pictures that Brooke took. Some are actually good, while others are, well- you'll see! :)
I love that every once in awhile she decides to turn the camera around and take pictures of herself. Too funny!

Brooke's crazy pictures

2008-12-17T14:09:00.000-05:00

Brandi's First Gymnastics Meet

2008-12-07T09:26:00.004-05:00

What a fantastic day we had on Saturday! It was Brandi's first gymnastics meet. She could hardly eat breakfast in the morning because she was so nervous. But it all turned out well. Brandi was great!! She had a routine on the beam, bars and had to squat on the vault. Many of my pictures turned out so blury because I was too far away and it's hard when they're swinging around bars, leaping on the beam and running to the vault- it's all in motion and I couldn't focus. So you aren't going to see alot of action pictures, here. I'll try to take better pictures at her next competition.

Anyway, here are the results from the awards ceremony... Brandi got 5th place on the bars, 6th place on the vault and 7th place on the beam in her age group. Once she can do a round-off with two back hand springs, she can have a floor routine. But for now, she can only do a round off with one back handspring. (still...not too shabby, right?! :) We are so proud of her for placing on each of her events! She has three ribbons that we're going to start our collection with!

She'll have one more meet in January and Feb, then 2 in March and one more in April. So it'll be interesting to see how well she'll improve over the next few months. She's only been in gymnastics since last January. She's accomplished alot this last year. I was watching the older girls (12 & 13 yr. olds) compete and I couldn't help but get excited to think that in the next 4 or 5 years she'll be doing these amazing things that the big girls were doing. She definitely has natural talent for this.

this is a blury picture of her doing a split on the beam.

Whew! What a long day! But it was all worth it!

This is for you, Grandma Cooley

2008-12-04T10:29:00.004-05:00

This week was the Young Women's in Excellence at Church. The theme this year has been "Be Steadfast and Immovable, Always Abounding in Good Works" taken from the scripture in Mosiah 5:15. Each of the girls had to tell a story about someone in their family who has been an example of being steadfast and immovable.

So here's Briana's story (word for word) about Grandma Cooley:

My grandmother was the youngest of four children. A completely average girl and did well in school. She was fine until she was 11 years old. That year a mosquito bit her and gave her encephalitis. She went into a coma for about 3 weeks. During those three weeks, she got lots of brain damage. When she woke up, she had to learn everything all over again. She had to re-learn how to walk, talk, everything. It was very difficult for her back in school. In fact, in 9th grade she dropped out. It is still very difficult for her to do things like read and write. To this day, she has epilepsy, or uncontrollable seiqures. She has nearly died 3 times in her life. She is very faithful to the church even though she didn't grow up a member. She joined in 1966. She grew up, got married, and had kids, just like a normal person. One of those kids was my dad. Even though she may seem handicapped, she served a mission in the temple, learned the ordinances in Spanish, and has read Jesus the Christ all the way through even though it's like really big. She also studies the scriptures every day. My grandmother is such an example to me. She never quits. To show that, she is working on 15,000 geneology names. My grandma has shown steadfastness and immovability, and I love her.

What I loved about that night was that almost every single girl talked about one of their grandparents. That just goes to show you how much influence they have on our children. I am so proud of Briana for writing such a beautiful story about her grandma. We are so grateful to have family members that are good examples to my children. We have many!

Really?!?!?!? Already? !?!?!?

2008-11-25T19:13:00.004-05:00

SAY IT ISN'T SO!!!

This morning at the bus stop...

Our house at the beginning of winter...

I wonder what it'll look like by the end of the season!

Uggh... Take me away!! :)

The Greatest Show on Earth!

2008-11-25T19:00:00.005-05:00

Alright, I know I didn't post this when we went, but there are some cute pictures I wanted to share - I'm just getting around to it. We went to the circus to celebrate Brooke and Ronnie's birthday two weekends ago. We had a really fun time laughing, giggling and watching the amazing performers do acrobatics and dancing. We also really loved the animals. Our favorites were these little white dogs. I wish I knew what kind they were- but they had them running up stairs, sliding down slides and even doing backflips! It was sooo cute! Brooke laughed her little tiny head off. I really loved the tigers. Wow! Those animals are amazing. Anyway, enjoy the pictures.

This picture is so dark... but it's the tigers. OOOOOH... they were sca-ry!!

I Did It!

2008-11-21T11:33:00.005-05:00

Last night, I did it! I went to the 12:01 am showing of Twilight. It was so fun. Dinner at Olive Garden with about 20 of us insane women from church first- and then- what we've all been waiting for... what we've all been counting down the days for...THE movie. So here's my synopsis. If you've read the book, you know how completely in love, infactuated, obsessed Bella is with Edward. That's the only part I really didn't get in this movie... I didn't feel her passion for him! So I was a little disappointed. I know there's so much to crunch into a two hour movie, but some things were just missing for me. Some scenes should have built up the intensity a little more... their talks, Edward's family, the tracking scene. It was all way too quick and choppy for me. And I wanted Bella to have more personality... can anyone say 'bor-ing'. I'm sorry, but Bella was bland and boring. I just wanted her to smile!!! Just once, smile. I know that was her character, but come on!! Give me something to work with here!!!
But, having said that I really enjoyed myself. It's never going to be a bad evening when you're out with a ton of friends giggling and laughing like teenagers. hee hee
Now I'm going to have to find a way to stay awake tonight for the play "A Christmas Carol". So far, I'm not tired today even though I got home around 2:30'ish this morning. I'm sure it will hit me late this afternoon and I'll have to pick myself up off the floor!! Wish me luck! I've got to stay awake until at least 9:30 tonight.

Wasted Day!

2008-11-18T08:44:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was one of those days that you think to yourself at the end of the day, "What have I done all day?" And you really can't name one good thing! I was busy all day, but doing what? I never sat down to even watch a tv show! I had a load of laundry in the dryer that was in my plans all day to get out and fold and I never did! I've realized that when I have to get out of the house to run an errand or two, it takes up my whole day! My day is shot! I went to the chiropractor at 10 am and decided I would run to Kohl's and Home Goods to see if I could find a Thanksgiving table runner. (We have 4 families coming for dinner) After I went to both places, I was hungry, so I decided to stop for something to eat. But what would I eat? I get sick of fast food and I was in the car driving and would think of a place, then turn around and start heading the other direction. Then I would change my mind as I would think of another place. So I would turn around again and start heading another direction. I think I wasted 15-20 min. just driving in circles trying to figure out what I would eat for lunch!!! Ridiculous, isn't it? Anyway, so I ended up at Baja Fresh eating taquitos, rice and beans. Mmm, just kidding- not even that great! Then I head home and what do I do but find myself on the computer all afternoon wasting time. Suddenly, Briana's home from school. That means in another hour, Brooke will be home- (Brandi is already at gymnastics - she is picked up from school by my neighbor)...then my Monday nights will fly right out the door because now I have to make dinner, pick up Brandi from gymnastics and take Briana to dance at 8:00. Uggh!! What a wasted day! I have a new goal today... I'm staying off the computer and getting some work done!! So GOODBYE!!

2008-11-13T12:59:00.004-05:00

I found this crazy website on Twilight. The web address sounds like a rehab for Twilight fans... twilighters anonymous. ha ha ha!! But I couldn't resist...I took the Quiz to see what character I am most like on Twilight and this is what it said:

"You are thoughtful and care very deeply for your family. A loving home is of great
importance to you and you always try to make people feel welcome. Although you have a great capacity to love, you also have a great capacity to hurt, so at times you can be
sensitive. You're firm when you need to be, but people trust your judgment and
appreciate the kind way you always handle things."

What do you think? Does this sound like me?

Better late than never...

2008-11-06T09:34:00.006-05:00

Halloween was really great this year. Except for Brooke not feeling well and not being able to trick or treat! I was at the school on Friday helping in Brooke's class for a couple of hours in the morning. Around lunch time, I was going to head back home for lunch and then run back to the school for their Halloween party. But Brooke told me that her head was hurting. So I signed her out and took her back home with me for lunch and gave her some medicine and let her rest for a little bit before the party. When we got home, she rested and got a dose of Tylenol. Right when we were getting up to get ready to go back to school, she told me she was dizzy!! Poor baby- she had a fever and we had to stay home the rest of the day. So she missed her party at school and on that night, she still had a fever, so here's what she did for Halloween. She sat on the porch while Ronnie gave out candy.

Brandi and Samantha trick or treating as "Sleepover Twins". They made up their own costume and all I had to buy were two crowns. :)

Brooke was watching everyone else get ready and she couldn't. So sad.

The weekend before, we had a party at church. This is Brooke's Witch costume. Oooh-- scary!

Brooke the Wicked Witch and Spiderman

Friends at church...

Brooke's reaction to Ronnie... hilarious!

Brooke turns 6!!

2008-11-05T20:34:00.003-05:00

Today is Brooke's big Number 6 !! She was so excited to turn 6 years old. She requested her favorite meal for dinner... spaghetti. I made cookies and took them to school today for her to share with her class. Then I came home and made cupcakes for us tonight. Her and Briana decorated them while I was picking up Brandi from gymnastics. Next weekend we're celebrating her birthday by going to Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus!! That is her big birthday present.

So here she is thinking about what to wish for...

This is her favorite present... a robe! (Would you really think a 6 yr old would want a robe for their birthday? Well, that's my Brookie-pooh!) :)

"Are ya 1...Are ya 2... Are ya 3... Are ya 4... Are ya 5... Are ya 6... STOP!!"

Nassau, Bahamas

2008-10-17T12:08:00.009-04:00

How's This For An Anniversary Gift??

Yes, Ronnie and I spent 4 days, 3 nights on a Cruise to the Bahamas! It was fabulous! It was so fun to have Ronnie all to myself with nowhere to go, nothing I HAD to do and nobody that I had to take anywhere! We found ourselves wandering around not knowing what exactly to do first. There was alot of different activities and games on the ship. We did avoid the gambling and drinking that goes on on the cruise, though. :) So, we woke up at 4am on Friday morning to make our 6:30'ish flight to Miami. By the time we flew to Miami, took a shuttle to the Port, got on the boat around 3:00pm, we were exhausted. (okay, just me. Ronnie was just fine.) Once we got on the ship, we were so lost. You would think that some of those levels would go straight through. Oh no!! Not even! You have to figure out which elevator takes you to which level that will take you to wherever you're trying to go. Not an easy task!! We backtracked so much- going up and down stairs, and up and down elevators. So by the time we unloaded our bags in our room and made it back up to take a look at how beautiful everything was, I forgot my camera! I was way too tired to go get it, and too afraid I'd never find Ronnie again so I missed out on some very beautiful pictures. Anyway, here's a few...

Look at the beautiful blue water! We couldn't get over how gorgeous it was!

Getting off the ship in Nassau

This is the day that the ship did ALOT of rocking- I look ill. :)

This is the first night on the ship. I was sooo exhausted-I forgot to bring the camera up to take pictures in Miami.

Each night if you want to eat in the dining room, you have a dining time and table assignment. So each night you get to eat with the same people and have the same waiter and waitress. Ronnie and I were so lucky to get these three great gals from Tennessee. They were alot of fun to dine with! And it was a breath of fresh air to hear their southern accents!! :)

Our dining group. We had the cutest waiter and waitress. Fang and Hardenow. I can't remember how you spell his name, but they just told us to call him "I don't know" :) They also made it alot fun.

Everybody say... Y -M -C -A!!

Happy 15 years!!

2008-10-07T17:15:00.004-04:00

Today is mine and Ronnie's Anniversary!! We have been married for a Very Happy 15 years!! We've got very special plans to celebrate. I'll post all that next week. For now, I'll keep you in suspense. :) Most of you that I talk to often know already... but for the rest, you'll have to wait and see!!
Happy Anniversary, HONEY. I LOVE YOU!!

(Not the best picture in the world... however it 's the only one I have right now!! )

Look What I Can Do!

2008-10-07T17:09:00.004-04:00

So Ronnie and the girls picked me up from the airport and we go through the "What's everyone been doing?" questions. Well, Brooke told me that she could ride her bike!! Ronnie put her on the bike on Saturday with no training wheels and she just took off. No falling, no wobbling (too bad), and just away she went. So of course, the first thing she does when we pulled up was jump on her bike to show me what she can do!! She rode down the sidewalk, down the cul-de-sac, back to the house and around again and never fell down... not even once!! I'm so proud of her!! Too bad it's the end of summer and she won't have much time to keep up the practice. Before too long, we'll have snow and those bikes won't see the light of day for a very long time!! :)

2008-10-07T17:07:00.004-04:00

I finally (after FOREVER) got Slide to work... My pictures are below~ Enjoy!!

2008-10-07T17:07:00.001-04:00

Visit to SC

2008-10-07T15:46:00.004-04:00

I had a great visit to South Carolina this past weekend to visit my family. The original plan was that we were having a birthday party for my grandma who turned 89 last Monday. So it ends up that the day before my grandma was admitted into the hospital with congestive heart failure. She is still there, but doing better. So even though grandma wasn't able to go to her own party, we still got together at Pine Island Country Club in Irmo. The weather was 80 degrees and sunny. It was such a gorgeous day!! (When I left Michigan at 59 degrees and freezing!!) Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins that I haven't seen mostly in 12 years were all there. It was so great to see everyone and get reaquainted with each other. I have a great family. I am so blessed to have so many people to love! :) Here are a few pictures from my trip. I tried to get the Slide program to show them, but it wouldn't work for some reason. So here are just a few.

This is my brother, Jeffrey and Jase.

My Sister Lisa, Ricky and Me.

My Sister In Law, Emily and new baby.

These are all my cousins on my dad's side except Gina and Jody.

My family... except Ronnie and the girls.

BET YOU CAN'T EAT JUST ONE...

2008-09-28T17:14:00.003-04:00

So these are my yummy boiled peanuts. I finally got around to boiling the last of the 10 pounds that I ordered. I've put most of them in the freezer so I can pull them out anytime I get the 'hankerin' for 'em. I just re-boil for a few minutes, and I'm good to go!! They're like Lay's potato chips... bet you can't eat just one!!
Brandi wants to know why I keep taking pictures of our food. haha

Yum-O-Licious!!

2008-09-28T16:50:00.002-04:00

Look what we just ate!! Those apples we got from the Orchard were deee-licious in this apple crisp.

You know you're not in the south anymore when...

2008-09-26T21:57:00.005-04:00

Okay, I've lived here in Michigan coming up on 5 1/2 years now. (goodness, it doesn't seem that long). Anyway, I am reminded all the time that I am NOT in the good 'old south. Here's what I mean. I've concocted my own list of what I encounter when I come to the realization that I am far from home.

You Know You're Not in the South Anymore When...

1. ... people are mystified and so curious about grits. These are the questions I get... "What is it?" "What do you eat with it?" "How do you make them?" "Is it like cream of wheat?"
I'm going to have a grits party one day. Hey, just thought of something - we just had grits for dinner tonight. haha They were yummy.

2....I have to order raw peanuts online just so I can boil them myself (because they do not know what those are up here!!). Then you offer them to friends and they say, "A What peanut?" then I answer, " A boiled peanut"... their reply... "Eewww!" Nobody I know from home would ever say that!!

3. ... people think it is so cute that my children say "Yes Ma'am, No Ma'am, Yes Sir and No Sir". Where I come from, it's not cute, you get a spankin if you don't say it!!

4. ... when you go to the grocery store and you talk to the cashier and she asks, "Where are you from?" Most of the time, I just answer "Commerce". haha I know they're so confused. Actually, most of the time I'll let them looked confused before I tell them I'm from South Carolina. Then I get, "Oh, I thought you had an accent." Well, DUH!! I usually tell people that if they think I have an accent, wait til they hear the rest of my relatives. Whew! Most of them sound like Paula Deen. :)

5. ... everyone around you thinks a Bar-B-Q is something you DO (which results in burgers, hotdogs or steak), not something you EAT. :)

Okay, that was fun. If I think of others, I'll add them. But for now those are all the things that comes to mind . Most of those happen ALL THE TIME. I love Michigan, the people here are so sweet and alot of fun. And I love being the southerner that stands out in the crowd of northerners. And if I EVER start talking like a NORTHERNER, somebody shoot me!!!

2008-09-26T21:24:00.005-04:00

GO LAKELAND HIGH SCHOOL !!
This is where we were tonight...

Briana's Middle School got to play with the High School band tonight for their Homecoming Game... The middle school is in the green shirts, and high school the white shirts. So first, they played the fight song while the football team ran through at the beginning of the game. Then they played a song at half-time. It was so fun! I haven't been to a high school game since I WAS in high school. Briana said to me tonight exactly what I told Ronnie during the game...

"I never watched the game, I just talked to all my friends. I never knew what was happening, I just cheered when everyone else cheered." That was pretty much the same thing Briana said. Who cares about watching the game when all your friends are there?? Right?? :)

This picture is hard to see, but this is during half time walking out onto the field. She's looking backwards while walking forwards. (she used to be famous for that when she was 2 yrs old.) hahaThe End. We left at half time. So I hope they're winning tonight.

Where Have I Been, You Ask?

2008-09-26T15:54:00.004-04:00

I know, you've missed me. lol
I haven't blogged in weeks because I've been so busy around here. Here's what I've been up to--
1. I've been organizing. If you came over to my house and looked around, you wouldn't notice anything obvious. But trust me, I've been busy! I finally went into the basement grabbed boxes and boxes of clothes and went through them- made a Salvation Army pile and a pile that I could give away to friends. I forgot how many cute clothes the girls had! It's almost so sad to give them away, knowing I'll never need them again. But in the same breath, it's a sigh of relief knowing I'll never need them again. :) But I sent out an email to friends in the ward who could use them and I think I've got a home for all the clothes. So I'm glad they're going to people I know who can use them.
2. I also organized our outside freezer. That wasn't too difficult, though.
3. I've been going to the gym to work out. So far, nothing... I still weigh the same. Ughh!!
4. I've gone in to read to Brandi's 3rd grade class. I'm one of the Reading Moms.
5. Driving my kids back and forth from church, gymnastics and dance.
6. Fill in the blank- You know you're getting old when...
Here's how I fill in the blank... You know you're getting old when you have to go to the doctor to see if you have arthritis in your knee!! Thank goodness I don't! But the past week has been miserable. I spent 4 days barely being able to walk around. I've been limping around and whining alot about my knee hurting. My next step is an MRI to see if there's a cyst or torn ligaments. I told the Dr I wasn't ready for an MRI yet and I'll come back when it gets worse. (why do we do that to ourselves?) But now it only hurts a little bit- not alot. That's my reasoning. I want it to hurt really bad before I have an MRI... It just doesn't seem like they'll find anything if it's not really really bad. I know, bad reasoning.
Anyway- so yes, I've been busy. Mainly trying to maintain and keep my house up. I've got many projects written down that I still haven't gotten to. But I've got until June to finish.

Fun at the Orchard

2008-09-26T15:09:00.007-04:00

Our favorite fall activity here in Michigan is visiting the apple orchards. There is a great orchard right up the road from us. So last night we went to get some fresh apples and have apple cider and donughts. Yum!!

We didn't do the tractor ride last night- but you can get on the tractor, it will take you to the part of the orchard that you want to pick apples from and drop you off to fill up your bags. We didn't have much time last night, so we just decided we'd do it later.

Ronnie trying to convince the chickens to come eat... didn't work.

They were too 'chicken'

The animals were hilarious last night- we had geese chasing us, making the loudest, weirdest noise they could possibly make. Finally a staff member came and chased them around the farm (that was funny all in itself) and put them behind the fence. Then we had roosters crowing at us, goats chasing the girls beside the fence for more food.

All in all, what a blast!

I always knew my children and husband were animals!!

Here are a few pictures of the girls feeding the animals.

Sorry Briana, I cut off your head. :)
There's her head!

This orchard is fantastic!

All year 'round they have different things that they grow that you can go and either pick yourself or just buy from them. The last 2 years I've gotten their fresh sweet corn, shucked it, put it in the freezer and it lasted us all winter long. Oh my goodness- that corn is sooo good. They also have things like asparagus (not crazy about), strawberries, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, honey from their own hives... etc... etc...

Maybe this weekend I'll bake an apple pie. Wish me luck.

Back to the Old Grind...

2008-09-02T20:50:00.007-04:00

Today was our first day back at school. YAY!! Briana was off to 7th grade, Brandi off to 3rd grade and Brooke to the big 1st grade. (thus, the #1 sign she's making in the last picture)

I had a very busy day once they left- so it hardly felt like my first day home alone with no kids. Before I knew it, Briana was walking through the door. What? You're home already?

Anyway, they all had a wonderful day at school, which I am very grateful for. Brooke's first grade teacher is her best friend's mom, which is our next door neighbor. So I can always get the inside scoop if I need it. :)

So when Brooke gets home today she asked me if I was sad all day because they were all gone. I told her I was very sad. So I asked her, "What am I going to do? You're going to be gone every day now? Should I be sad every day?" To that she replied, "Mom, you'll have to get used to it, because I am going to get married one day." (What the heck? Where did that come from? ) So I told her that would be a very long ways away and I don't know if I can EVER get used to her being gone. Anyway, glad my children are happy with their first day!!

Camping in Muskegon

2008-09-01T21:44:00.002-04:00

Okay, don't be shocked! But I actually went camping this weekend on the western side of the state on Lake Michigan. I know my mom and dad are falling over with shock. :) I learned alot about how to be prepared for next year, though! We left Wednesday and came back Saturday. 4 days, 3 nights in a tent. What fun! All I have to say is thank goodness for air matresses!! Enjoy the pictures.

Slide pictures- Muskegon

2008-09-01T21:14:00.004-04:00

Gymnastics

2008-08-31T21:19:00.003-04:00

We have good news!!

But first, some background... Brandi started gymnastics last February because she was always flipping around the house non-stop. I knew she'd be good at it. So I signed her up for classes. So this past June, the coaches evaluated the kids to see who they would recommend to be on the pre-team classes. And Brandi was one of them. So that meant that she would practice all summer long, 4 hours a week, learning back handsprings, and more difficult moves on the vault, bars, beams and the floor. So try-outs for the team were this past Monday where she had to do all sorts of things. She was really hoping to make the team. The team is divided into 3 groups: the Bronze, Silver and Gold. Bronze is the lowest team and Gold, obviously the highest team. Well, she made Silver!! Yay for Brandi! She is so happy. So now this means that she will continue to practice 4 hrs a week and will start competing in gymnastics meets with other gymnasts from other areas. Pretty cool, isn't it? We think she has come a long ways in 6 months of practice!! Here are a few pictures- they're not great- it was hard to get a good picture.

Congratulations, Brandi!!

Gymnastics

2008-08-31T21:06:00.004-04:00

Brooke has also been taking gymnastics all summer. She has also been taking since February of this year. She has really enjoyed it- but has told me that she doesn't want to take it anymore. :( I wish I could talk her into it, because she's really good! Look how limber the child is! :)

Maybe she needs a break- I'll sign her up next session.

This is a candlestick.

This is a bridge.

(I tried this one day to show the girls that I really could do it and OWW! I realized that I'm not so limber anymore. That hurt!!)

A split. Almost all the way down! Look how limber she is compared to the other girls! Go Brooke! :)
On the balance beam.
On the bars.

Voting for President

2008-08-18T14:03:00.004-04:00

I love reading Ian's funny quotes on Amy Day's blog. He is so cute. I think Brooke and Ian should start a funny sayings club. They are both so darn funny with the things that they come up with. Here's a very matter of fact conversation Brooke and I had just out of the blue this morning:

Brooke: Mom, what president are you cheering for?

Mom: What?

Brooke: What president are you cheering for?

Mom: Oh, do you mean which president am I voting for?

Brooke: Yeah.

Mom: Probably John McCain.

Brooke: Yeah, I'm voting for him too.

Mom: Sorry Brooke, but you have to be 18 yrs old to vote.

Brooke: Oh.

Scary or Cute? You Be the Judge...

2008-08-12T09:53:00.002-04:00

We headed on down to Milford (a whole 8 min away) on Saturday to Milford Memories which is a downtown festival. The kids were dying to have their faces painted (except Briana). For some reason, I've never let them get their faces painted... now I know why!! Yikes!! So what do you think? Scary or Cute?

Sweet and Sassy

2008-08-12T09:33:00.002-04:00

Brooke went to her "BFF"'s (another story for later)birthday party at Sweet and Sassy. It's a cute little place that does make-overs for kids. They fix hair, paint nails and dress up. Then when they're all made up, they get to walk down the runway and pose and shake their bon-bons. She has glitter in her hair... look closely. (That apparently was the best part) I'd say Brooke was feeling a little 'sassy' when she got home. :)

Obsessed

2008-08-08T09:47:00.003-04:00

Whew! 756 pages later, I finished Breaking Dawn Wednesday night. Okay, my synopsis... it was a fabulous book. I can't imagine how writers can be so vivid in their imagination to write such intricate, detailed stories. On the other hand, I was a little disappointed during some parts. But I won't go into detail as to not give anything away. :)
So now I'm back to my life- maybe I'll cook and clean again for my family. haha

Next on my agenda is to see the Twilight movie.

See ya later, alligator!

2008-08-02T19:17:00.003-04:00

The rest of my week will be taken. Sorry- we'll have to cancel gymanastics, tennis, grocery store visits, church, dinner and whatever else comes my way this week. Sorry children, you'll have to find a new mom this week. I'll be engrossed in Breaking Dawn, the next book in the Twilight Series. Yippie!!

Remember When...

2008-07-26T13:37:00.003-04:00

This comes from Heather's blog. Thanks Heather, Great Game!
Remember when? Here is a fun little game...Leave a comment on my blog of a memory that you and I have had together. It doesn't matter if you've known me for a short time, or a long time, anything you remember! Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't have a blog, then I'll email you a fun memory. On your mark... Get Set... Blog!

Want some?

2008-07-26T13:15:00.006-04:00

Everytime I make these cookies, somebody always- never fails- asks for the recipe. My mom would make us these cookies as little kids. Then when we got old enough to bake, we made them. And we're still making 'em. :) So here's the recipe for anyone who is dying for a

great cookie recipe... (or as my kids and Ronnie would say, THE BEST cookie recipe EVER) But you can be the judge.

In a mixer, blend 1 cup shortening (yes, Crisco), 1 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup sugar. Beat in 1 tsp vanilla and 2 eggs. Sift (or whisk together) in a seperate bowl, 2 1/4 cups plain flour, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking soda. Add that to the mixer. Mix well. Stir in 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips. Drop by spoonfuls to cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 min. It's just that easy!

The secret is to let them get slightly brown on top, then take them out of the oven while they're still a little melty and gooey. Let sit for a few minutes before transfering them to a cooling rack.

YUM!! Go ahead... try it! Let me know how they turn out!! :)

My Flowers

2008-07-26T12:49:00.003-04:00

This is the front of my house. Last year when we moved in, it didn't look like this at all! I've done alot of weeding and re-planting and put down some new dirt and mulch. It made the biggest difference. Doesn't it look pretty? I thought it was, so I wanted you to see it.

(Amy, do you recognize the wooden pots? :)

Palmyra Trip

2008-07-13T21:14:00.003-04:00

This weekend our family drove to Palmyra, NY to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant. The last time I saw it, I was probably 13 or 14 yrs old. So it's been a long time. Ronnie has never been and obviously, it was the girl's first time. Since it starts at dusk, Brandi and Brooke were exhausted and slept through most of it. They were troopers though because they woke up at 5am in the morning to start our trip, and here it is at 9:00 pm hoping they would still be awake to watch an hour and a half play. Nah, didn't happen. But it was a great to be there. We had so much fun.

This is the Palmyra temple. The grounds are beautiful, there were flowers everywhere!! My picture doesn't show how beautiful it really was.
In the Sacred Grove...
Taking a quick break from walking...doesn't she takes the cutest pictures. :)
Lunchtime...
I love this statue of Christ. When you see it in person up close, it is so powerful. Anyway, this was at the visitor's center in Palmyra.

At the pageant

2008-07-13T21:02:00.003-04:00

One of the cast members from the pagenat talking to the girls. We had tons of people stop to talk to us, but this one stayed and talked to the girls for a long time, so I snapped a picture. She was cute.

Waiting for the pageant to start- notice that Ronnie, Brandi and Briana all have i-pods hanging from their ears. Nice talkin' to ya!
Brooke being Miss Social-lite, she makes more friends than anyone I've ever seen. She met this little girl that was sitting down on our row. She's 3 and adorable. They played together for over an hour. It turns out that her grandmother is Nancy Giles's sister from Irmo! It's a small world after all!

Niagara Falls

2008-07-13T20:58:00.002-04:00

On Saturday, we made our way to Niagara Falls- it's only about 2 hrs away from Palmyra. What a beautiful sight!! :)

Maid of the Mist boatride

2008-07-13T20:50:00.003-04:00

Waiting in line at the Maid of the Mist boatride. It takes you right into the falls.
this is where the boat went

About to get on the boat...

We stopped for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe- this is Briana's Big Bite

And Ronnie's Big Bite. Yow-sa! That's a big mouth! :)

ice cream

2008-07-13T20:15:00.004-04:00

It's sooo hot out- ice cream sounds good.

Is there a 5 yr old out there that can eat a chocolate ice cream cone without wearing it?

I don't think so... glad to know my kids are normal. :)

isn't that a sight to see?

The end of our trip! What a blast! We can't wait to go back!!

Reading...

2008-06-24T12:21:00.004-04:00

I've tried to be better at picking up books and reading them over the past few years. And I have to admit, I've been pretty good at keeping my goal.
I wanted to share a few books I've read this summer that have been really good. The first one is called 20 Wishes by Debbie Macomber. The next is called The Wednesday Letters by Jason F Wright. Both are feel-good books- with people trying to do better with their lives despite traumas they've had. I'm glad I read them. It makes me think about my own life and what I can do to improve it.
So pick up a book and read!! :)

Where Do I Begin?

2008-06-17T14:38:00.005-04:00

I know I'm hit or miss on writing, so where do I begin to catch up? :) The girls let out of school last week. Here's what we had to deal with the last week of school--

Doesn't that look like fun? It looks like a pharmacy!! :) All of the girls got strep throat. They got better just in time to attend their last day of school. Lucky them. haha

On the up side- This is of Brooke in her kindergarten program and with her teacher, Mrs. Plomer, who retired this year. She was a little ball of fire. The kids loved her so much.

Here is a picture of Briana receiving her Academic High Honors awards for having a 3.95 GPA. (actually, those pictures didn't turn out so well- it was too dark. So we took one of her when she got home) We don't have report cards yet, so I think that's what her GPA is. She has straight A's. Briana was asked to be in the Honors Math Program for 7th grade next year. They will be studying Pre-Algebra. Yippie! :) Go Briana!!

This is her best friend, Izzy.

What's wrong with me? I didn't get a picture of Brandi! Shame on me. But Brandi had a fun last day of school. She forgot her lunch box, so I had to run it to the school around 10am. I only did that because it was the last day and she had depleted the money in her lunch account. So I ran it up to her only to be called an hour later to tell me that she had fallen off the monkey bars. So I went back up to the school to pick her up. I brought her home, gave her Tylenol, fed her lunch (she brought her lunchbox back home and ate it- so much for the first trip) and then I took her back because she couldn't bare missing the last day playing games, etc. with her friends. She was fine- we took her to the chiropractor the next morning and they fixed her all back up. :) So no pictures of her. Oh well. I will post some pictures later of her doing some of her gymnastics moves. She's pretty darn good! :) Yay for Summer!

Slip 'n Slide Fun

2008-06-02T20:31:00.003-04:00

The girls just had to get out the slip 'n slide with all of this warm weather we've had. Alec, Ian and Hannah Day came running over with their swimsuits on too. They had a blast- so much fun as a matter of fact that the slip 'n slide tore up! But it was time for it to tear up. Aunt Pamelia gave that to Briana when she turned 5!! That was 7 years ago. So we've had it for a long time.

Happy Birthday to me!

2008-06-02T20:23:00.002-04:00

I have the nicest friends... I was treated to lunch at Red Robin's. Too fun! Ronnie gave me an IPod for my birthday. It was an early present a few weeks ago and I have really loved it! Thanks everyone for making my birthday so memorable.

Huge American Idol Fan

2008-05-20T20:30:00.005-04:00

I AM IN FRONT OF THE TV WATCHING AMERICAN IDOL EVERY TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. I CAN'T MISS IT!

Okay, I've been going back and forth for awhile now- cause I like both David's. However, David A blew it away tonight!! :)

so,

GO DAVID!

I HOPE YOU WIN!!!

WHAT A CUTIE!!

Briana Turns 12

2008-05-12T13:42:00.005-04:00

My, oh my! How time flies. Didn't I just give birth to this child? :) So, Briana turned 12 on May 9th. She had a few friends over for a sleepover. Did you notice the Giant Cupcake? I found the cake mold at Williams-Sonoma and just had to have it. The cake looked much cuter at the store, but it's still alot of fun.

Briana got an IPod Nano. She's already put 130+ songs on it. The young women at church came over on Saturday morning and surprised her with balloons and chocolate covered strawberries. They are so cute. So overall I'd say she had a very fun birthday.

Happy Birthday, Briana!!

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

2008-05-06T09:00:00.007-04:00

Happy Cinco De Mayo!
(I wish I would've posted that yesterday, though when it was actually Cinco de Mayo. )Anyway, this day used to hold only one anniversary... now we have two anniversaries on this day. First of all, Ronnie proposed to me on Cinco de Mayo 15 years ago! :) And now we have a new reason to celebrate- we moved into our house on Cinco de Mayo one year ago! So last night we had chicken enchiladas- my favorite- and chips and homemade salsa. We also had sparkling grape juice to toast with the girls. That was fun and they think it's pretty cool. Briana offered the toast. It was quite silly and I don't remember exactly what she said. But it was cute and sweet.
So HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!!

2008-04-15T10:21:00.001-04:00

Ooops- I forgot to tag someone else!!
I'm tagging Amy G and Jeanine N. :)

Seven Random Things

2008-04-14T20:15:00.004-04:00

Okay, Christy Peake. I accept your tag. I've been gone so I'm just getting around to it~ so here are my 7 Random things about myself:

1. I'm very quiet in a big group of people (like 5-6 people or more) and then when it's just somewhere between 1-3 people, I can talk their heads off! For example, in Relief Society or some type of class, you won't see me say a word! But poor Ronnie, I can talk his head off.

2. I'm a tad chlosterphobic. Examples: I will not get in a crowded elevator. I will gladly wait 15 min. for another one if I have to. If too many people start to crowd around me, I'll escape where I'm out of the way. When my children all pile on top of me, they are quickly thrown to the floor. (gently) I guess I just need my space.

3. I too, like Christy, my tagger have a hearing loss. I had tubes in my ears when I was younger. I cannot talk on the phone with my left ear. If someone leans over and whispers in that ear, I have NO CLUE what they said. I will turn my head so they can whisper in the right ear.

4. I love to shop. If you call me and I'm not home, most likely I'm shopping! Maybe that's why I loved Chicago so much! :0

5. My biggest social pet peeve... people who interrupt me when I'm talking-- to try to tell me a bigger, better story. It's rude and they're really not listening. Clearly, they're more interested in themselves. LET ME FINISH MY SENTENCE, DANGIT!! Ughhhh!!

6. I am very forgetful. I swear I was never a child... I don't remember hardly anything. I forget dates, times, etc. etc. If it involves a number or the past, I won't remember it!

7. Okay, one last thing: I asked my family about some quirks that I have... here are their responses:
from Briana- I laugh too loud and it is sometimes embarassing for her. (gee, who hasn't ever embarassed their child before?)
from Ronnie- I walk like a duck, especially in heels. (thanks, honey!)
from Brooke- I cry alot. That is true. I cry watching tv almost every night.

Don't Hate Me...

2008-04-13T20:14:00.002-04:00

But I just got back from a long weekend at Chicago. FUN... FUN...FUN! Me and 6 other women from church went and ate at great restaurants and shopped until we dropped. We also saw a musical called The Drowsy Chaperone. It was hilarious. We laughed all the way through it. If anyone ever has a chance to see it--- GO!! It's worth it!!
(I forgot my camera, so no pictures until somebody else from our trip sends them to me.)
Now I need a long weekend with my mom, sister, sister in laws and cousins and my favorite aunt. Now THAT would be fun!!

Great weather

2008-04-07T22:24:00.005-04:00

I just have to say that I was outside most of the day today because it was a whopping 73 degrees! Yippie!! Last weekend my nephews were literally walking on the frozen pond behind our house (the ice was thin, but it was still frozen). And this week it's been beautiful and warm. All the snow is gone, the pond isn't frozen anymore and the kids are actually outside riding bikes, walking around in flip flops and short sleeves. Halalujah! Spring is coming... finally! As I was weeding out old, dead leaves, I could see new green buds underneath. The excitement was overwhelming. I didn't expect to see green yet!

Having fun in the snow

2008-03-31T20:55:00.002-04:00

Jase has never seen the snow!
Lili having fun in the snow.
What is this stuff??
Love this picture!
Jeff with Jeff Jr. :)

My Baptism Day

2008-03-31T20:39:00.003-04:00

The Cutest 8 yr old on the planet!

Mommy and Me
Daddy and Me
Kissie Kissie!!

2008-03-31T20:35:00.004-04:00

This slide is of Brandi with our family having cake, opening presents and just plain 'ol having a fun time. (Sorry Brandi for making you take a shower before our party. Now all of our pictures are with wet hair and pajamas! :) Well, at least we know you're clean!!)
Thanks everybody for coming to see Brandi and us. We had a blast! We appreciate your sacrifices to be with us on this special day!!

Happy Birthday, Brandi

2008-03-31T20:33:00.002-04:00

The best easter picture ever!

2008-03-25T21:17:00.002-04:00

Okay, the story behind the first picture:
It's Easter morning, we're already running behind because we had to see what the Easter bunny brought everybody. All morning, I'm yelling, "hurry up, hurry up... or we're going to be late to church!" So I run up the stairs to see how everyone's doing about 45 min. after being awake... Brooke's sitting in front of her dresser pulling out blue jeans. So of course I freak out, pull out a dress for her, tell her to put it on, and to .... HURRY UP! So 10 min. later I walk up the stairs to do her hair, and I take one look at her and she's got everything on BACKWARDS! So we have to get dressed... AGAIN! Anyway, not a good morning, because mom was in a major PMS mood anyway-- not in the mood for the easter bunny that day, but what do you do?? Try to not kill anybody, take lots of deep breaths and remember how precious and wonderful they are! So anyway, in an effort to be nice, I wanted a picture before church, now Brooke's not in the mood. She truly tried to stop crying before I snapped the picture, but just broke down and couldn't help it. Poor girl. It's so true, if mama's not happy, aint nobody happy! We hugged, kissed and made up. :)

Happy Easter!

2008-03-25T21:13:00.001-04:00

Brandi's favorite outfit

2008-03-24T22:51:00.003-04:00

I had to post a picture of Brandi and her favorite outfit. She thinks she looks really cute... and I have to agree with her. :)

Restricting Access to Blog

2008-03-24T20:31:00.003-04:00

Hi! I've decided to only allow my friends and family to view our family blog. I just want to be safe. I kind of creeps me out knowing that some stranger could possibly be lurking in on my family's life. If you have an alternate email address, just let me know... I'll fix it.
Anyway, this week is going to be fun. We're preparing for everyone to come this weekend for Brandi's baptism. See ya'll soon! :)

Updates

2008-02-24T20:34:00.010-05:00

Seems like time just flies by before I even think about posting something new to the blog. So to everyone out there that has been checking and checking and nothing new... Sorry! Life seems to go on without thinking about this blog ! :)

We have been, as always, pretty busy around here. We've been battling colds and fevers this past week. I think I got hit the hardest. I haven't been sick in so long, so this has been miserable!! The kids seemed to recover within a day- I've been trying to recover now for 5 days!My really sweet neighbor brought over some chicken noodle soup and homemade breadsticks and some cupcakes tonight for dinner. Yummie

Let's see... since the Christmas letter I posted, I have enrolled Brandi and Booke in gymnastics class and they are loving it. I haven't taken the camera to capture pictures, but I will soon. Brandi is really a natural. I'm impressed by her posture and her flexibility. I knew she'd be great, but didn't really realize how great! Now there's even more flipping and cartwheels at home. Just what I knew would happen. :) Brooke is just funny with it. She's mostly in la-la land during class. Hopefully this can help her hone in on her attention span. Okay, maybe not.

This month I also threw a surprise party for a lady at church who turned 80! That was fun. We had a big turnout of all her friends. We had a nice lunch and then she got to open presents and eat birthday cake! How fun was that?! I wonder when the last time she had a birthday party and got to open presents?! She's such a sweet lady. I think we really surprised her.

Next... Valentine's Day was nice around here. Ronnie came home with roses. Aw, isn't he sweet? Our present to each other was our new tv we bought the week before.

One thing I should mention, too. Ronnie and I both went in to have a consultation on lasik eye surgery. We both were considered "candidates" but he was the only brave one to schedule surgery. To make a long story short... he couldn't have surgery because they are testing him to see if he has an eye disease called keratoconus. Basically, Ronnie's eye should be shaped like a basketball but his is shaped like a football. The dr. said that it's very rare. Maybe 1 out of 100,000 patients are diagnosed with it. They did say that there are other factors (like severe dry eye) that mimick keratocanus and hopefully he doesn't have it. We think dry eye makes sense- it's so dry here during the winter. He'll go back in a month to see if there's any progress. We'll keep ya posted. As for me, I'm not having surgery anytime soon. I watched the video and chickened out! :)

Okay, now on to the snow around here! There's just two words to say about that... 'GO AWAY'. It really is getting old really fast. But today was nice... it warmed up to 35 degrees. Yippie!
Well, that's my quick update. Talk to ya'll soon!

Our Cousins

2008-02-24T20:27:00.001-05:00

We recently went down to SC and GA to visit our family. Here are a few pictures from that trip. Don't we have the cutest cousins ever? :)

2008-02-24T20:15:00.001-05:00

Sledding is FUN

2008-01-10T16:38:00.000-05:00

We have a great hill in our neighborhood called "The Secret Hill" because you can't see it from just riding around. It's hidden. It's the perfect size for the girls. We've had so much snow between Christmas and New Years Day that we wanted to take advantage of the winter fun we can have up here. Watch these videos and you can see that it was a blast! This video is the longest, the others are quite short. Enjoy!

2008-01-10T16:34:00.000-05:00

2008-01-10T16:06:00.000-05:00

2008-01-10T15:58:00.000-05:00

2008-01-10T15:31:00.000-05:00

Christmas morning... Webkinz ... just what she wanted!
Brooke also got a Webkinz, dolls, dress-up, etc
Gotta love the Wii
Our present for New Year's (that's our sidewalk he's scraping)
Sledding in the snow!

2007 Christmas letter

2008-01-10T15:26:00.000-05:00

Another year has passed… my! Where has it gone? This year seems to have been our year of change. We’ve changed homes, which resulted in a change in schools and friends for the girls. We’ve also had personal and spiritual changes as well. We’ve had a great year as a family. We were fortunate to have so many of our family members able to come and visit us this year. From Ronnie’s brother, Jimmy to my parents and Ronnie’s parents to my sister, Lisa and my sister in law, Emily and my two cousins, Michelle and Christy and all of their children J. We seemed to have had a summer full of family. We are so thankful that all of you made such an effort to come and visit with us. We love you and had a great time with you. Here is what we’ve all been up to this past year. We’ll start with Ronnie. Ronnie is doing very well with work. It has been his most successful year so far. He loves being “The Seal Man” and is very good at what he does. With him being 100 % commission, he has to make sure he’s doing his very best all the time. But that’s Ronnie anyway. He is always trying to improve. He is a wonderful husband and father. I couldn’t ask anything more from him. He still stays busy with his sports. He played football and will be starting basketball season soon. (Although he loves it, he complains that he’s not as fast as he used to be! Poor baby, right? Briana is just beautiful and getting taller by the day (can you tell by the picture?). She is really beginning those “transition” years into a teenager. Although she’s not quite there yet, she is fast approaching. She turns 12 this next year and cannot wait to go into the Young Women’s program at church. She has also transitioned quite nicely into 6th grade this year. She has made Honor Roll this first semester with a 4.0 GPA. She loves Harry Potter and has read all the books a few times over. And she’s watched the movies several times over, too. She has also been learning to play the clarinet in band and has loved every minute of it. She’s very self-motivated when it comes to practicing. She is also now our built-in babysitter. Yippie for me and Ronnie! It’s the day we’ve been waiting for. J She does a great job helping with her sisters. Brandi is our little ball of energy. She is our little gymnast (minus the classes). She tumbles and flips around the house constantly. Thus, always finding herself injured in some way. Mom and dad seemed to have lost sympathy somewhere along the way. I thought her boundless flipping and tumbling was a stage, but she has been at this for a long time. So maybe it’s time to put her in real classes. J Brandi is always cheerful and has a great sense of humor. She is always laughing at something- (because at this age, everything’s funny for some reason). She started 2nd grade this year and has done very well. She is a great reader, like her big sister. She has made a great friend here in the neighborhood right across the street. They ended up in the same class at school this year, too. Brandi is getting very excited about her next birthday because it’s the Big 8 yrs. old. We know what that means! She will be getting baptized. She bore such a sweet testimony last Fast and Testimony meeting. It was her first time wanting to get up and bear testimony and she did so well. She is a sweet girl and we are excited for this day to come, too. Brooke is… well, what can I say about Brooke? She definitely keeps us on our toes, that’s for sure. Her little mind is constantly thinking. Much of how I described Brandi reminded me of Brooke. She too has boundless energy. She asks us a million questions and always seems to come up with the funniest things to say. Brooke started kindergarten this year and I worried that she was too young. She started at 4 yrs. old and didn’t turn 5 until last month in Nov. (Michigan’s cut off is Dec.1 and not the traditional Sept 1). So she is a young kindergartener. But already I’ve been amazed at the progress she is making. She is doing perfectly well. She may not be the most focused… but I’ve been to her class many times—I’m not sure any of those kindergarteners are very focused. Tammy is doing very well. I’ve had a year of change, too. With no longer being the Young Women’s president, I’ve found myself wondering what to do next. It was really a privilege to work with the young women of our church (the teenagers). It took up a lot of my time, which was very hard, but it was also very rewarding. But no rest for the weary, now I’m serving as the Secretary in the Relief Society. With the purchase of our new home, I’ve been actively decorating and spending lots of money. (don’t tell Ronnie … okay, he knows! This year, all the kids are in school and it’s been very different for me to have “alone time” at home. I think I drove myself crazy for awhile, but now I’m very used to it. The first day all the kids were gone, I took off shopping. Then I thought, “What am I doing leaving a quiet house?” So the next time they were gone all day, I stayed in my PJ’s, watched a movie on Lifetime and cried, then went to soak in my jetted bathtub and took a nice long, hot bath. “Ahhh!! This is the life!”, I thought. But that kind of day hasn’t happened again for some reason. Maybe I’ve snapped back into reality and realized there is so much to get done. But I think I should schedule some more of those kinds of days. Anyway, life is good. We are healthy and very happy. We love each of you and hope you have had a great year to reflect on as well. We are so grateful for such wonderful family and friends. We want each of you to know that you are thought of and missed very often.

Wii

2008-01-10T15:19:00.000-05:00

This is been the hi-light of Christmas...the Wii!