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HAPPY NEW YEAR!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Posted by Susan at 10:48 AM 0 comments
Merry Christmas Everyone, thank you for all the gifts. Our only wish is that we could've been with everyone, but we love and miss you all so much! Thanks for making our Christmas so wonderful!!
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So, we found this little hole in the wall mexican restaurant near our house that we just love. Viva Mexico! Izabella has a crush on one of the waiters there, his name is Oscar! He waits on us all the time, it makes me wonder if he remembers us, the way that Izabella remembers him. One time, she ordered a strawberry daquari and when he brought it to her he touched the back of her head and when he walked off she said, "I think he loves me too!" so stinkin cute!
The last time that we were there, Steve made sure to ask for his section. Izabella gets very shy when he's around, but by the end of the dinner she's got some nerve up, so this time she wrote him this little letter. I thought it was so cute that I took a picture of it with my cell phone (that's why the quality is so bad!) He was very sweet when she gave it to him, she can't wait to see him again!
Posted by Susan at 2:56 PM 0 comments
Happy Thanksgiving.....
We are spending this holiday with our friends (and old neighbors) Lara and Rodney, their kids and her sister and brother in law, Leah and Rohan. So, no turkey cooking for us. However, Ms. Lara gave me a list of things to bring to even things out. I made a chocolate cake yesterday, my spinach and artichoke dip and this morning I am working on green beans and mashed potatoes. I decided to do fresh green beans this year. It's been a long time since I've cleaned and snapped these. My mom and I used to pick our own green beans and I would sit on the porch and clean and snap them and then we'd can them, so that's brought back some nice memories. We used to pick lots of our own veggies and I even remember making our own apple sauce! Good times...
Taylor came down Tuesday night, I'll post more about this later, but she drove her new car down...and yes she made it in one piece and with no help from anyone. I guess she'll be driving herself down from now on. Maybe we'll get to see her more often now, it's just a 3 hour drive door to door.....
This year, like every year, we are thankful for our health and the health of those we love, our family, which we miss dearly and wish we were able to be home with for the holidays, and our friends, who always bring us so much joy.
We love and miss everyone and wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Posted by Susan at 8:54 AM 0 comments
So, you know our anniversary was in October. I haven't been sleeping very well and when Steve and I sat down and thought about how long we'd had our bed, we were going on almost 13 years on the same mattress. So, we got ourselves a new bed, which we love. Then, I was able to sweet talk him into rearranging the furniture in our bedroom and get a new set for the new bed. Below are the results of what I was able to do....I've always loved the blue and chocolate together and now I have it! I think it turned out pretty well and it actually makes our room look a lot bigger and brighter. It's nice to wake up to this every morning.
Posted by Susan at 7:23 PM 0 comments
So, Izabella got this assignment 2 weeks ago. She had to pick a book, read it twice and then do a book report on it. She had 3 choices for how she wanted to present her book report. She could make a T-shirt, do a shoe box type of thing or make her own book. Which ever she chose she had to include the title and author, the setting of the book, 3 words from the book and their meanings and then she had to write 3 sentences about why someone should read the book she chose. Well, she chose to make her own book. She chose the book "The English Roses" by Madonna. Excellent book I have to say. It's about a group of 4 girls, The English Roses, that all hang out together but there's one little girl, Binah, who they tease, make fun of and do not include in anything they do, just because other people comment on how beautiful she is. A fairy visits The English Roses one night and let's them see into Binah's world without her knowing about it. They come to find that her mother had died when she was very little and she has to do all of the chores, cook the meals for her and her father and get her homework done each day. They come to find out that they shouldn't judge someone based on what others say about them and jealously is a big ugly green monster.....It's a great story, especially for this age because kids can be so mean and nasty to each other. They never realize how it feels until they get the same treatment in return. I was happy that Izabella picked this story for her report. Below you will see the report that she turned in and Steve and I couldn't be prouder of her. She did everything all on her own with NO help from either one of us! (if you can't see the pictures or want to see more detail, just click on each on and they will enlarge)
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After we went Trick or treating, I had a sleep over at the house for all the girls. I think I'm crazy! 5 little girls all on a sugar buzz! They watched movies while all the mom's and dad's sat in our garage talking about everything from politics (yuck!) to scary movies, etc. Always a good time!
Posted by Susan at 9:51 AM 0 comments
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When I got home last night, Izabella came running to tell me that she had yet another tooth come out. This one was knocked out by a flying acorn, go figure!
If you click on the letter above it will enlarge so that you can read it! ENJOY!
Posted by Susan at 8:40 AM 0 comments
Today is our 12th Anniversary! Hard to believe, really! When I was thinking about posting today I decided to share with you a letter I wrote to Steve back in 2000, that answers the question, why do I love you....and it's still true to this day plus some!
Posted by Susan at 9:00 AM 0 comments
I got the nicest email from Izabella's teacher this morning. She just loves her and thinks she the funniest little girl. She sent me some pictures that I thought I would share also. Part of their weekly homework is spelling, they keep a spelling journal and each week they have to pick 3 activities to do with their weekly spelling words. Izabella always picks the Spelling story where she has to take 5 of the 10 words and write a story using the 5 words. Here's a sampling of last weeks work, I think the spelling words in this one were: chest, flex, like, lift and desk. Quite creative I think! Notice the drawings that go along with the story!
Here she is busy at work at her desk. The are working on addition, subtraction, mutiples and number families right now. She loves math, so she says, let's hope that stays that way! I never did!Here's the final chapter about (her boyfriend) Chuck, sounds like a happy ending to me! Enjoy!
Posted by Susan at 10:27 AM 0 comments
I came home from work on Thursday and Izabella told me that she learned how to ride her Bike that afternoon! I couldn't believe it! She has been so close in the past few weeks and she finally did it. We're so proud of her because we knew she could do it, she just had to believe it too! NOW, she can ride with the big dogs. This is what we get to see Friday and Saturday night, jealous?
Just another night sitting out with friends talking about the week and what's going on and we all looked up to see this beautiful sky and remembered....I am SO grateful!
Posted by Susan at 10:23 PM 0 comments
Here are all the other pictures of us having fun in TX over Fall Break. We really miss everyone back home and we hope to get back there soon. We're working on it as hard as we can!
Izabella finally let go and REALLY gave swimming a shot. Look how great she did!
Posted by Susan at 7:03 PM 0 comments
While we were home we had a wonderful day and visit at Auntie Ann's and Uncle Rob's house on Sunday afternoon. Here are some shots of that day. You'll notice the girls started playing dress up and doing a nice fashion show. That's Auntie Ann, save up, you'll be having more girl time like this when Miss Ella gets big enough. By the way, I LOVE the backyard, it's really come together, I'm jealous! I think these cousins play well together! And what a bunch of good looking kids!
Posted by Susan at 11:55 AM 0 comments
David fell in love with fish when he started scuba diving years ago. So, he decided to bring that into the house. These are pictures of the 2 tanks he's got in the house. They are so cool and I can just sit and watch them for hours. You'll see him feeding some of them. There are also some pictures here of just some of the coi fish in the ponds outside next to the pool. He must have atleast 2 dozen of them and they are huge!
Posted by Susan at 11:45 AM 0 comments
While we were home, I took a ton of pictures of my brother's house. It's just beautiful! They've been in the house for about 4 years now (I think) and it's still a work in progress, but I think they 've done more than they have to finish by now. I think the last few things to do are to replace all the windows, kitchen and to finish off the rest of the basement. I love staying there when we come to town because it truly is like a resort! Anyway, here are some pictures of the house. (these are in no particular order!)
Posted by Susan at 11:10 AM 0 comments
As you all know, we had planned a big surprise party for Grandpa Bill's 70th birthday! Still can't believe you're 70 Dad!! So, we're off!
Ah, to be home again, look at that beautiful sunset!
Now for the party. We got him! He had no clue, didn't even know that we were in town! He was completed shocked and ever so grateful that so many people would come to a party just for him! I don't know why, everyone I know loves him and were happy to be there to celebrate with him. Here are a few pictures from the party. For those of you that came, THANK YOU! you made him feel so special ! and for those of you that couldn't come, we missed you but take a look at how it all turned out!Posted by Susan at 9:40 AM 0 comments