Christmas

Wow, it's been forever since I wrote.  I'm not even going to try to catch up.  I'm just going to start from right now. 

Right now, Nathan and I are hanging out on the couch.  Zihan is doing homework or studying for her TOEFL test at the table, I think. Dan is just coming in from shoveling and cleaning off the roof.  Church was cancelled due to snow so I got to sleep in!  It was heavenly.

Last night, Dan and I went to his company Christmas dinner at Marco's in Lewiston.  We sat at a table with Cherie and Kendall, Kori and Tim, and another couple from the Bangor store.  It was a lot of fun visiting with everyone.  The group talked a lot about Disney because the Hills are going in a couple weeks, Tim and Kori have gone several times, and the other couple had gone, too.

This Christmas, we're doing something new.  I found a 12 days of Christmas activity on Pinterest that I printed out.  We're reading a story each night, and eating a treat that goes with it.  I know you're supposed to start it on Christmas day, but I'm kind of doing it backwards and started yesterday, so our last day will be on Christmas.  I hope it will be a fun activity. 

Nathan has his Lego calendar this year (this is the 4th or 5th year).  He chose the Lego city one instead of the Star Wars one he chose last year.  I filled our regular advent calendar with Lindtt white chocolate truffles for Zihan because she doesn't like regular chocolate.  She's been eating one each day.  She loves it.  She loves our tree, too, and Lillian made her a stocking to match Megan and Nathan's. 

The biggest news of all is that I may be starting a new job!  It still needs to be approved by one of the higher ups but it's looking good.  I'll be working for Western Governor's University as an evaluator.  It will only be part-time for a while, so money will be tight, but I'm willing to sacrifice in order to have less stress.  I'll be working from home.  I'll be able to bring Nathan to school and back each day, and hopefully do some volunteering at Boxberry.  I'm so excited!    I am a little nervous about the financial aspect, but I'm so ready for a change.     

Corn chowder & Bread bowls

Things are going really well.  We've had Zihan for exactly one month last Friday.  It feels like we've known her forever.  It's really weird.  She fits in perfectly with our family.  She likes just spending time at home, so we don't feel like we need to entertain her all the time.  She spends time with us, too, and is always pleasant and nice to us.  She's never grouchy.  We tried playing some piano duets together the other day, which was fun.  We had Chinese food on Friday night, which she loved.  She still cracks us up with the things she says.  The other day, I told her I wasn't feeling well, and she said, "Oh, you're so poor!" in a sympathetic voice.   I think she said that because I'm always saying "Poor Zihan!" when she's hurt.  She is doing cross country, and she had her first meet on Friday.  Her coach told her she did a great job for her first time!

Nathan is loving his new school.  He's already gone on two field trips, to Education Day at the fair and to Scriber's Mill.  His teacher just sent home goals on Friday, which he'll be working towards during the year.  He likes the fact that recess is longer.  I went to pick him up the other day and a little girl was telling me about a game they've been playing at recess.  It sounded pretty elaborate! 

I've been reading a lot again.  In the past few weeks I've read Learn Me Good by John Pearson, Everything I Was by Corinne Demas, and The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen or something like that.  The Running Dream was so good!  It's one of the best books I've read in a long time!  So inspiring!  Oh, and I also finished reading a book to Nathan about the Titanic called Dangerous Waters by Gregory Mone.

Last night Dan and I made corn chowder and bread bowls.  It was so delicious! I love fall foods! 

Zihan

Zihan came in on Tuesday night at 11:10 or so.  I had made her a big sign with my Cricut that said, "Welcome Zihan."  She was really tired from her long flight (about 26 hours), but she was really friendly and sweet.  She was surprised that we lived one hour away from the airport.  When we got home we showed her around the house and she was really surprised by the towels (she said, "You say this is house, but it is hotel!"  It was so funny.   She was also surprised to hear that Dan built the addition, the size of our house, our food storage, and the towels.  She gave each of us gifts:  me a scarf, Dan a book, and Nathan and Megan a red Chinese knot each.  After we showed her around and she gave us gifts we went to bed.  It was around quarter of 2! 

The next morning I made pancakes, which she loved.  She's eaten everything I've given her so far.  We've had two fruit Coolatas from Dunkin Donuts, spaghetti pie, Oriental Beef Steak, bagels, and a turkey sandwich.

Yesterday we went to school and she helped me do my bulletin board.  Then we went to Walmart so she could get some clothes (she didn't have many short-sleeved shirts).  Then we came home and took a nap.  She's still trying to overcome jet lag.  In the evening, Mike, Hilda, and Elin came over.  She also met mom, dad, and Felicia that day. 

Today we went to the high school and registered her for classes and then we went to Auburn to get her a new phone. It took quite a while, so we finally got home at about 2.  She is exhausted so she's sleeping again.  Hopefully she will get on the right schedule soon. 

We are really enjoying her so far.  She is always smiling and in a good mood.  She is cheerful and kind.  Today in the car she cracked me up.  She tends to be dramatic in the way she explains things.  She asked how much longer the car ride was and I said, "About 20 minutes."  She said, "20 minutes?!  You must pulling my leg!"  I laughed so hard.  Then she was saying how tired she was.  She said, waving her arms around, "I miss home.  Our home.  I miss the bread...the milk...the air conditioning.  I'm coming!  Wait for me!"  like she was talking to the house.  I was laughing so hard.  She said, "Why you laughing so much?"

I can't wait for Megan to meet her.  I think they'll get along great.    

End of Summer

I can't believe it's the end of summer!  I go back to school in less than two weeks!  Yikes!  Well, as is my tradition, I'll list everything we were able to do this summer.  It was a busy one!

• Nathan and I went to York's Wild Kingdom and went camping with the Atwaters
• Ashley came for two weeks
• The whole fam went to Ashland, New Hampshire for a week-long vacation
• While on vacation we went to Clark's Trading Post, Whale's Tale Water Park, the Budweiser Factory to see the Clydesdale horses, and Canobie Lake Park
• Got caught up on Project Life
• Organized the mudroom, my scrapbook room, the Tupperware cupboard, and the CD's
• Chaperoned Girls' Camp for 5 days
• Dan, Nathan, Megan, and I went to Palmyra, New York to see the Hill Cumora Pageant and church history sites
• Did math and spelling with Nathan almost every day
• Read to Nathan
• Read a lot
• Put Nathan's 3rd grade school stuff in his binder
• Went to Olivia and Chris's wedding!  8-11-13
• Saw Elin a few times
• Went to the temple once (Megan and Dan went twice)
• Made an authentic Chinese meal with Tanya
• Saw a marionette show at Deertrees (Peter and the Wolf)
• Accompanied Jessica Fleck on the piano when she played her flute in church
• Celebrated Olivia and Felicia's 21st birthday
• Had a couple Cooper get-togethers
• Had our piano tuned
• Went swimming in Waterford with the Atwaters
• Went swimming at Mom and Dad's a lot
• Helped Shelli and Allyson with a project while the kids swam
• Saw several movies:  Gatsby, Epic, Turbo, Descipable Me, Smurfs 2, and Planes
• Lost 10 pounds
• Did some scrapbooking with Kathy
• Nathan and I experimented with shrinking plastic paper
• Was introduced to Candy Crush Saga by my nieces and became addicted! 

It was a fun summer and very busy! 

Books!

Earlier in the summer I was in the mood to read a lot.  I found lots of books that were free or only 99 cents for my kindle app.  Here are the titles of the books I read:

Liberty Hill by Sonja Heisenger
Silent Tears by Kay Bratt
Finding Mia by Rachel K. Burke
Little Prisoners by Casey Watson
Just a Boy by Casey Watson
The Boy No One Loved by Casey Watson
The Rules of Dreaming by Bruce Hartman
Riversong by Tess Thompson
Pretty Woman Spitting by Leanna Adams

Despicable Me

Nathan and I saw this movie a couple times this summer.  We were really looking forward to it because we loved the first Despicable Me movie.  We love the second one too.  Emily went with us when we saw it yesterday.  Nathan's been trying to collect the toys from McDonald's.  He has three of them so far. 

 

We've had such a busy summer so far.  It's been really fun, but I don't feel like I'm getting much done as far as projects go.  We are making lots of good memories, though!  Last weekend we went to the Hill Cumorah Pageant, which was so awesome!  We drove down on Friday, which took almost the whole day, and checked into our hotel.  Then we drove over to the Pageant, saved some seats, and then went into the visitor's center for a while. We saw the Christus and watched a movie about the restoration.  We also saw Books of Mormon in lots of different languages, which was really cool.  We told them about Zihan coming and they gave us a free Chinese Book of Mormon.  It looks so neat.  That evening we were waiting for the pageant to start, and the skies darkened and it got really windy.  When the actors came out we went on a search for Nephi.  We found him and got a really cool picture of him with Nathan.  Eventually it started raining and then lightning.  They ended up canceling the play, which was a bummer.  It was definitely the right thing to do, though, because there was some serious lightning.  The next day we went to see the sights, like the Grandin building where the Book of Mormon was first published, the LDS bookstore next to it (where Nathan bought a Moroni action figure and Megan got a book), and then we had lunch at a good Chinese place right there on Main street.  Then we went to the Joseph Smith log house, frame house, barn, and the Sacred Grove.  Unfortunately, it was raining off and on all morning and by the time we got to the Sacred Grove it started pouring.    We went over to the Pageant and luckily it started clearing  up.  We saved our seats and then Nathan and Dan climbed up to the top of Hill Cumorah while Megan and I read in the car.  When they got back, Nathan and I went back to the visitor's center and did everything again.  One of the neatest things about this trip was seeing how much Nathan was interested in everything.  He has really matured.  I was so happy to see how interested he was in everything.  We went back to our seats and we ended up talking to a couple for about an hour!  They were so nice, and we were all just killing time, so we talked and talked.  By the time we left, we practically knew their whole life story:-)  We bought some really good chicken dinners right next door to the pageant.  When the actors came out Nathan and I walked around getting autographs.  He really wanted to find Nephi so he could get his autograph.  The pageant started around 9:15.  It was great!  The kids were both entranced the whole time.  They loved it!  At the end, they both said it was the best play they have ever seen.  The next morning we headed for home and stopped at Olive Garden for lunch.  It was such a great weekend!  I'm so glad we made the trip.

 

We got Zihan's flight itinerary yesterday.  She is coming on August 20th.  We are so excited!  I hope she likes it here and we get along really well.          



Vacation

We had a nice, relaxing vacation last week.  We went to Ashland, New Hampshire, which was only about 2 1/2 hours away, but we liked the resort and we were able to do some fun things.  We went to see the Budweiser Clydesdales, Clark's Trading Post (where we saw a bear show and Chinese Acrobats and Nathan rode the bumper boats), Canobie Lake Park (which was a lot of fun), and Whale's Tale ( a water park with a wave pool and a lazy river).  We also just hung out at the resort a lot, where we watched movies, played games, and went swimming (they had indoor and outdoor pools and hot tubs).  Dan and I played horseshoes and shuffleboard.  I lost at both, but it was still fun.  We went to church on Sunday (I love going to new wards).  the girls went out a couple of times to do stuff, just the two of them, like a movie and shopping.  It was a nice vacation.  Dan always does all the cooking and laundry when we are on vacation, so it makes it really relaxing for me.  He's so sweet!

I hurt my back somehow on Saturday, and I had a rough couple of days on Sunday and Monday. I was in so much pain.  I couldn't even get out of bed for a while.  Tuesday and today were better, luckily.  I hope it heals quickly because I have so much I want to get done this summer!

My mom is coming home tomorrow morning from her trip to Utah.  She went out with Marge to do some Glenn Beck stuff and to visit people they knew, like the Blakes and our friend Keyth.  I'm excited to see Mom again.  I've missed her!  You're never to old to want your mom!  Hahaha!

Felicia and her boyfriend Mike moved into Mike's old trailer across from Kelly and Erland.  Mike's already built a new front porch.  I'm so excited that they are so nearby.  I love it. 

Mike and Hilda brought Elin over to meet Ashley and Megan.  She was so cute.  She makes the cutest expressions.  It just cracks me up.  She wasn't very impressed with the guinea pig, and she scowled and imitated him chewing.  It was so funny.  I already love her to pieces.

I've been reading a lot lately, especially since I hurt my back.  I've been reading  a lot of Casey Watson books on my Kindle.  She and her husband do therapeutic foster care, and the stories she has to tell are so interesting.  It makes me want to do foster care again. 

I've been racking my brain, trying to come up with a way to make money without having to go back to teaching in the fall.  I really don't want to go back!  I'm afraid I might not have a choice, though.  I keep going back and forth between trying to find something and just sucking it up and deciding to just teach again for another year.  I just don't know.  There are options I've come up with, but I need to know for sure that I'm going to make enough money, especially with Nathan going to Boxberry next year.  I just don't know what to do.  I love the idea of making and selling mini scrapbooks because I would be really good at that, and it would be low stress, but it wouldn't guarantee enough money.  Plus, it would only be a part-time thing anyway.  I would still need something else part-time. 

Quote

I love this quote!

 



Ahhhh, summer

Ashley is coming tonight!  We are so excited! 

I am so happy to be on summer vacation!  Nathan is too, of course.  Unfortunately, he's sick right now.  He might have strep throat.  His throat looks horrible!  We're going to the doctor's tomorrow morning, so we'll see.

We've seen Elin twice now.  She is so adorable!  She was really shy when they first got there at Mom and Dad's, but she warmed up after a while.  She was running around and smiling by the time they left.  She has little shoes that squeak when she walks.  They are too cute! She has her braces on her feet, and she does a good job walking in them.  The second time we saw her she warmed up even faster.  Felicia gave her lots of attention and she really warmed up to her.  She had Elin laughing so hard!  It was so cute!  I took a video of it, and I just watch it over and over.  I can't get enough of her laugh!  She just leaned over and said, "Hi!" to Elin when Elin bent over to pick up a card on the floor.  Then she would burst out laughing.  She thought it was so funny.  Elin also loved the horse my mom found for her at a yard sale.  It was in great condition.  It's like a rocking horse, but it doesn't rock.  It has springs.  Elin sat on it and figured out how to get it to move.  She loved it. 

Nathan and I went camping last week with the Atwaters.  It was so fun!  We went to York's Wild Kingdom for the day, then we went to find a campsite.  We found a really nice one, and set up our tent.  Nathan was so excited about the trip because he'd never been camping before.  Everything about it was so exciting to him:  putting up the tent, building the fire, cooking his own hot dogs over the fire, playing with Joseph and Ephraim, swimming in the pool, etc.  That night we had hamburgers, hot dogs, and marshmallows.  The next morning we had eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns.  It was so yummy!  After we took down the tent and packed up we went swimming at the pool and then headed out to find a  beach.  We couldn't find one that didn't charge an arm and a leg for parking, though, so we decided to just go home.  The kids were a little disappointed that we didn't go to the beach, but it was getting close to lunchtime anyway.

We've decided to send Nathan to a private school next year.  It was a big decision, but we feel good about it.  He's going to go to Boxberry.  I loved what I saw online and I've heard good things, so I checked it out.  I think he's going to love it.  They do lots of hands-on learning, art projects, field trips, guest speakers, etc.  It's going to be great.  He did go there one day before school got out to visit and be assessed by Jess, who will be his teacher in the fall.  She said there are going to be 8 or 9 students in his classroom, grades 3-6.  This is great, especially compared to 28 or so if he stayed at Oxford Elementary.  The large class size at Oxford is one of the reasons I started looking into different options.  His class size last year was fine.  He has 18 in his class, but there were three 3rd grades this year, but there will only be two fourth grades next year.  No, thank you!  I think it will be a great move for him.  The only thing that worries me is the financial aspect.  It's going to be about 500 dollars a month.  I think it will be worth it, though.

I'm also looking into doing something different, too!  I need a change from the classroom and stress of tests and paperwork, so I applied for a job at Western Governor's University, which is an online degree program.  I would be evaluating papers that college students submit in the field of education.  Unfortunately, I haven't heard back from them, though.  The other negative thing, took, is that I have to start out part time for six months before I go full time.  I'm hoping to get a job at a place like Sylvan to make up for the other hours until I can work there full time.  We'll see.  I hate not knowing exactly what I'll be doing.  I like to have things planned out!       

Elin Qiu Record!

 

 

 

Introducing my new niece!  Elin Qiu Record!  Isn't she adorable?  I can't wait to meet her in person.  Mike and Hilda are going to China in May to bring her home!  We just went to a baby shower yesterday that Hilda's family threw for them.  It was so much fun.  They got some wonderful gifts for her.  It was pretty emotional.  They had the place decorated with Chinese decorations and they also had several quotes about adoption.   When they were opening gifts, after they opened the card, the person who was giving the gift would read their quote.  It was really neat.

Reading

I've been in the mood to read a lot this year.  I decided to make a list of all the books I've read so far:

Where I Belong by Rachel Ann Nunes
Fields of Home by Rachel Ann Nunes
Flying Home by Rachel Ann Nunes
The World According to Humphrey by Betty Birney
Kisses From Katie by Katie Davis
No Greater Love by Levi Benkert
Friendship According to Humphrey by Betty Birney
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Crash by Jerry Spinelli
On Top of the World (How the Finns Educate Their Children) by Maria Kouta
Shaken by Ben Wilton
Heroes for My Son by Brad Meltzer
Titanic:  Unsinkable by Gordan Korman
Titanic:  Collision Course by Gordan Korman
Mary Poppins by Travers
Teaching: A Love Story by Elizabeth Anthony
A Flicker of Light by Roberta Kagan
This Time Forever by Rachel Ann Nunes
The Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum
Wonder by Polacio
Tent of Blue by Rachel Preston

Photo Hunters: Quirky

 

 

These are two of the quirkiest people I know!  I love them both to pieces, but they definitely have their quirks.  Dan:  doesn't like fur to such an extent that we don't have a dog, will not wear sunscreen even if it means he will get burned, could do the same things, eat the same things every week of the year.  Nathan:  can't stand the feel and sound of paper, still sleeps with his favorite baby blanket, likes to keep the packaging from everything.

Photo Hunters: Wind

 

 

No words needed:-)

Photo Hunters: Flow

When I hear the word flow I think of water, of course.  This picture was taken at Screw Auger Falls.  The kids love to play in the water, even though it's always freezing!  Can you tell from Megan's face?

Lots of church stuff to write about

This is going to be random, but I want to catch up on what's been going on.

On Saturday, I chaperoned a youth activity in Topsham.  The youth went roller skating/blading and then we went to the chapel and had lunch.  Then the youth learned a dance that they could perform at the Night of Broadway if they wanted to.  Unfortunately, none of our girls really wanted to do that, so we ended up leaving early.  The girls seemed to have a lot of fun at the roller skating place though.  That night, Megan said, "I'm obsessed with Super Saturdays now."  I'm so glad she's enjoying them.

Sunday was our Ward Conference, so our stake Young Women presidency came.  Susan LaFlamme taught the lesson, while Shannon and I met with Kathy Priest and Jenna Merriman.  It was such a inspiring meeting.  Jenna is such a spiritual leader and cares so deeply about the girls.  She gave us this great quote from James E. Faust.  He said, "We need not become paralyzed with fear of Satan's power.  He can have no power over us unless we permit it.  He is really a coward, and if we stand firm, he will retreat."  I left the meeting feeling so uplifted, not just for the girls, but for me too.

Today is a snow day!  It's been a nice, relaxing day.  I love days like this.  Nathan and I recently watched Mary Poppins and then read the original book.  Today, we watched The Wizard of Oz and started reading the book.  I always love reading the books that movies are based on.  Nathan recently saw the movie that just came out, "The Great and Powerful Oz" so he was making lots of comparisons between the book and the two movies.  I love it. 

Last week, we had our Young Women in Excellence meeting.  We had Courtney, Bekah, Norissa, and Michaela.  It was a lot of fun.  We had the theme of "Stand Ye in Holy Places" since it is the youth theme this year.  Shannon made origami shoes and filled them with Hershey kisses.  She also made some other decorations that went with the theme.  I made big tissue paper flowers and I also found pictures of shoes for each Young Women color.  It was a fun night.  I'm really enjoying this calling. 

We had the missionaries over for dinner this week.  I like knowing we are helping the missionaries, and I'm also hoping that Nathan will be inspired.  I want him to be excited about going on a mission. 

I found a guinea pig magazine from the UK.  I was really excited about it, but it was going to be pretty expensive, especially with shipping and handling.  They said there was a digital edition coming soon, so I waited patiently, and it eventually became available.  I bought one issue, and it was awesome!  Now I really want to order some old editions, which are cheaper than the newer ones.  I just love my little guinea pig!  I just wish that I could talk Dan into letting me get him a little companion.  Guinea pigs are actually social animals.    I held Zip earlier today and he cuddled up on the couch next to me, leaning on my leg, and went to sleep.  It was the cutest thing ever.  After a while, I picked him up, and he fell asleep again on my lap.  I had him all wrapped up in a towel, and I pulled back the edge and I could see his cute little feet.  It was the cutest thing.   

Photo Hunters: Footprints

Check out all of the thousands of footprints, made by many children going up and down that hill at school. 

Photo Hunters: Monochrome

 

 

We made these cute Valentine packages for Elder Paine and the two missionaries in our ward.  I love how they look with all of the read and pink candies.  

Photo Hunters: Steel

A few years ago I did photohunters, and I decided to do it again.  If you want to do it, the website is whistlestopphotohunt.blogspot.com.  I don't link to the site each week.  I just go on there to see what the theme is and I put it on my own blog. 

 

 

 

Check out the steel roller coaster in the background.  This was taken this summer at SeaWorld.  Fun!

Youth Conference

Megan and I went to youth conference this weekend.  It was awesome!  I was really hoping Megan and the other girls would have fun and they did!  Shannon and I had a blast too.  It was so fun watching the girls interact with the boys at the dances.  We also had some really funny experiences that provided for some fun memories.  I think we'll be laughing about these for a long time.  The weekend was full of ice breaker activites, devotionals, classes, free time, dances, a talent show, a Q&A session with the stake president, President Thomas, and a testimony meeting.  We also spent quite a bit of time practicing The Cup Song, which Michaela taught us. We practiced when we were waiting for lunch or dinner.  We even practiced at the hotel after breakfast.  We decided to stay at a hotel this year, and the amount of girls who wanted to go went from 2 to 7!  Some of our girls are really shy and we knew they would feel more comfortable if we went to a hotel, rather than staying in a host's home.  You never know who's going to sleep where and if they'll be split up, etc.  so anyway, it worked out great and the girls seemed to love it.  Shannon got us a good deal on our rooms, and it only cost our presidency less than $300.  We ended up with six girls, which I think was pretty good!  We had Megan, Michaela, Kiaya, Lexi, Courtney, and Bekka.  The girls' testimonies were definitely strengthened, and now they are all excited about the stake dances (well, most of them anyway).  We noticed a big difference between all of the youth during the first dance and the next dance.  They were so much more comfortable the second night.  The first night, they were all huddled in small groups by ward.  The second night, they were more like one big ward.  It was awesome! 

Okay, here are the funny stories:

• Kiaya needed a partner for this basketball relay race.  Lexi didn't want to do it, and Shannon was busy, so at the very last second, I had to do it!  I ran over to her, and linked arms.  We started sprining across the floor, and we realized noone else was running with us!  It was all over!  We were so embarrassed! 
• Michaela and Megan were showing off their moves at one of the dances.  Michaela had figured out what she wanted to do, and practiced it a few times out in the hall.  Everything went well, so she went out to the dance floor, where everyone was in a circle.  She started out with a split, and her pants ripped!  She was so embarrassed!  She jumped up, and the girls surrounded her so no one would see the hole as they inched their way to the bathroom.  We were all laughing so hard, even Michaela.  Adam, a boy that had been hanging out with our girls all weekend, gave her some pants to put on.  She tucked them into her stylish boots and went back out there to redeem herself!  She did an awesome job!  I was so proud of her for handling it so well! 
• I won't go into detail about the last incident because of the nature of the subject.  Let's just say we were all shocked to hear some noises coming from one of the doors at the hotel as we were walking to our rooms the second night.  The funniest thing was Lexi's face of shock!  The other funny thing was Kiaya's note, which she slipped under the door, suggesting that they be a little quieter next time.  She signed it, "Employees and guests of the hotel"  I couldn't believe she did that!  But at the same time, we were all laughing hysterically!

Anyway,  I'm so glad they all had a good time and seemed to really get a lot out of the classes and activities.  I hope this strengthened them enough to keep them strong when times get tough.  We heard several youth say that they were the only LDS people in their school, so I think the girls realize that they are not alone.  And they can be strong!
      

This Weekend

This weekend was so awesome!  On Friday night, when Dan got home with Megan, we ate supper, and headed to New Hampshire.  We checked in at the Red Jacket hotel, and then Dan went to the store to buy us snacks and breakfast for the next day.  We found out the hotel was showing a free movie, so we went down and watched Hotel Transylvania.  We had all seen it before, but we loved it anyway.  It's such a funny movie.  They had free popcorn and pink lemonade for everybody, plus Dan brought some Twizzlers and Cadbury eggs for us to snack on, too.
 
The next day we spent at the indoor water park there, called Kahuna Laguna.  It was so much fun.  We'd been there once before a couple of years ago, but only Megan and Nathan had gone swimming.  It was so expensive that Dan and I just watched.  This year, we planned in advance, plus we got a good deal, so we were all able to go.  It was so relaxing and fun.  It was nice to feel like it was summer for a little while.  They had four slides (two with tubes, two without), a hot tub, a wave pool, a water basketball area, and some areas for younger children with smaller slids and water spouts, etc.  We all loved it. 

On the way home, we stopped at Zeb's, of course (our tradition).  Then, for supper, we stopped at a Mexican restaurant we had noticed.   We had tacos, burritos, enchiladas, chalupas, and beans and rice.  It was so good!  We all loved it.  The kids even got fried ice cream for dessert, which they said was really good.  On the way home, we ate our candy from Zeb's and talked.  We all ended up laughing so hard!  It all started when we were talking about my snoring (apparently, it's really bad). When we were in Florida this summer the girls heard my snoring, but they didn't know what it was.  They were scared to death.  They thought there was someone outside with a chain saw, but they also thought it sounded kind of like a cow.  They were so surprised when they found out it was my snoring.  Anyway, we laughed about that for a while, but that led to more silliness.  By the end of the discussion, we were talking about cows with chain saws, and then horses with chain saws.  You had to be there, but we were all laughing so hard.   We made some great memories, and some new family jokes.  Good time, good times.

When we got home we watched a movie I had rented from Netflix.  It was a suspense movie called The House at the End of the Street.  I had seen it before, but I really wanted to see it again, and I wanted Megan and Dan to watch it .  I thought they'd both like it..  Plus, Dan is always so good at predicting the outcome.  I knew he wouldn't be able to figure this one out!  And I was right!

Sunday was a quiet day.  We went to church (I taught YW) and went to the Linger Longer afterwards.  We came home and Megan and Nathan and I watched a few episodes of Dance Moms and one episode of Cheer Perfection.  I tape those shows every week, and then Megan and I watche them when she comes.  We didn't have to bring Megan back until Monday, so she and Nathan watched Lilo and Stitch before they went to bed.

It sounds kind of sappy, but I really do feel that we got closer as a family this weekend.  We created some great memories! 

Memory Monday

Aunt Glenna!

 

I don't even know where to start when it comes to Aunt Glenna.  She was such a nice person.  I remember when I was little she would sympathize with me when Mike was being a "mean older brother"  She would tell me about all the horrible things Dad did to her when they were little!  

I remember going over to their house occassionally when I was growing up, especially on the Fourth of July.  They had a great view of the fireworks, so they would have a party each year.  I also remember spending several days there once, when Matt was in the hospital.  Aunt Glenna and Uncle Bernard, too, were always so nice to me. They were also both really good with Matt.  They were one of the few people my parents could ask to watch him.  As an adult, I worked in the office at Record Building Supply with Aunt Glenna and Beth a couple different times.  We would talk while were were working, so we ended up talking about all sorts of stuff.  The second time I worked there I had Nathan.  She was so good to him.  She would hold him and talk to him every day.  When he started talking, he called her "Denna."  It was so cute.  This picture was taken the Christmas before she passed away.  It was so emotional for everybody when her cancer came back.  She was only 58 when she passed away.  She is definitely missed by many people.        

This Weekend

Well, this weekend was quite relaxing, which was a welcome relief because last weekend was super busy.  Here's a recap of the weekend:

• I totally relaxed on Friday night.  I didn't feel like doing anything, including making supper (we just had leftovers).  Dan and I did end up watching a movie on Netflix and eating ice cream, though, which was fun.  We watched a thriller that totally stressed me out!  The actor was so cocky and arrogant and evil that I just wanted to reach through the tv and strangle him.  Eventually, he fell apart emotionally, which I really enjoyed.  I don't know why it stressed me out so much!:-)
• On Saturday, the Atwaters came over for a play date.  Nathan loves playing with Joseph and Ephraim, so they had  a great time.  Patricia and I visited and made homemade soft pretzels.  I ended up overcooking them (still not sure how that happened), but they were still okay.   After lunch of pretzels and chicken noodle soup, we ended up talking about recipes and menus.  We wrote out several recipes that Patricia wanted.  It was fun just visiting and talking.  Of course, little Sophie was just as cute as a button, getting into everything:-)
• For supper that night, we had Chinese food from Ocean Pearl.  Yum!   I got lots of boring things checked off my to-do list, like balancing my checkbook and things like that. 
• I've been working on Personal Progress lately, and a couple of weekends ago, Megan and I read the entire For the Strength of Youth.  We each chose three things we were going to work on.  One of the areas I wanted to work on was fasting.  I decided to fast today, which I haven't done in years, literally.  I did pretty well during church, but I could feel a headache coming on as the morning went on.  After church, I decided to take a nap because I didn't sleep well last night.  Plus, if you can't eat, you may as well be unconscious.  The time goes by faster (Heehee).  By the time I woke up I had such a huge headache.  I had to take something for it, and then wait a while for it to kick in.  I'm glad that I fasted, but I hope I don't feel like that every month.
• Tonight we watched the Superbowl.  It's basically the only time I watch football.  It was fun, though, and Dan explained everything I didn't understand.  We ended up eating chocolate chip cookies, Doritos, and cheese sticks for snacks. 
• This afternoon, Nathan and I made chocolate chip cookies, which was fun.  We've also been reading Humphrey books lately, which he's really enjoying.  We recently finished The World According to Humphrey which he read as a school project.  Now we're on Friendship According to Humphrey.   Each night, I've been trying to have him spend at least 15 minutes on Dreambox, which is a math game that we have a subscription to.  I think it's really been helping his math skills.  I love that site. 
• We got Megan's report card in the mail this weekend.  She got on the honor roll again!  She's such a good student!
• Well, here it is, 12:20 in the morning and I am still wide awake.  It's the combination of the nap and the caffeine from the Excedrin.  I'm going to finish up some stuff for school, and then hopefully I'll be able to fall asleep.     

Memory Monday

I decided to make each Monday a Memory Monday, where I put an old picture on here and write about it.  Here's my first one:

Matthew!  I love this picture of him.  I think it was taken at Gram LaFlamme's.  He was sitting on the floor, probably playing with his pick-up sticks.  I can see his gait belt, which we used to help steady him while he walked.  One of his front teeth was broken when he fell after having a seizure.  Mom and Dad got it repaired several times, but it always broke soon after (like when he sneezed and his face hit his plate), so they stopped trying to fix it and left it as is.  I can't blame them.  I wish I could hug him right now!

Hello 2013!