Homecoming Dance

Here are some pictures of Brendan and Caitlin going to Homecoming Dance. It was actually held at the school for the first time and they brought in all these giant video screens, a DJ and couches outside with a red carpet. Brendan said it turned out to be really fun. Only two more dances before he graduates..Sadie Hawkins and Prom..

I was thinking about it... both Emily and Brendan have not missed one single dance with their school ...and have gone to many dances with someone at other schools as well. Can you add up the money I've spent? LOL. It's funny because there is such a difference in boys and girls...Emily had to shop and shop to find that perfect dress, make an appt. at MAC for make-up, also have her toes and nails done, hair appt. for the day of the dance..get together early in the day and spend all day with all her friends so they could get ready together...

For Brendan... we went to Macy's (it only took one store)shopping for his shirt and tie to match Caitlin's dress on the Thursday before the dance and he already had black pants that he wore only once before so he wore those... He didn't even want to try it on and was annoyed that I had the lady measure him to make sure we had the right neck size at least..Funny! It was the first dance that he didn't need me to drive him or pick him up...it made me sad. :( They looked so cute though.

We all met at one of Brendan's friends house to take pictures of them and all their friends and the parents had a professional photographer set up in the backyard to take pictures and they are going to E-mail it to us. I also took this one there. Nice idea!







Doesn't he look thrilled? Apparently I was taking too many and he couldn't stand up straight anymore.. :)








Gary let Brendan take his car..how cute is he opening up the door for her? Awwwww....

Amy Concert

I went to see Amy Grant at the Mariner's Church in Irvine a few weeks ago...what a beautiful church! Amy re-released her Lead Me On CD, which was one of her best CD's and one of my favorites. She is on tour for this CD and her older music. It was such a great concert. She also put together her same band from that tour years ago..many who have gone on to solo projects and working with other musicians, for example, her guitar player from that tour is now Keith Urban's guitar player and he was there, which made my friend Crystal very happy..one step closer to Keith. LOL It was a long day but so worth it. We had soundcheck passes so we got to go watch that early in the afternoon and met some fun people. It was fun to see how they work out the "bugs" from the night before and rehearse parts over and over. They were all really funny. We also had passes to a pre-show party later in the evening before the concert. Amy sang a couple acoustic songs at that. The actual concert started at 8:00 and it was so good!!!. So much energy and so inspiring. It was fun to hear the older songs performed.

Soundcheck



Soundcheck

Pre-Show Party



Chris Rodriguez..for Crystal

Random Pictures

I have so many cute pictures that I just uploaded from my camera so I'm just posting some of them in no order





Emily and Caleb playing at the park.




I love this picture of Caleb trying to look over the top. He's so cute!





Lauren and Emily at Disneyland




Emily, Steven and Caleb at Disneyland on Monsters Inc.,



Steven and Caleb at Disneyland



Me and Emily on the new Toy Story ride at Disneyland with our 3D glasses



Angela and Caleb on the Toy Story ride at Disneyland

Brendan and Caitlin at Brendan's birthday dinner

Brendan's 18th Birthday Party

A month later I'm finally getting these posted...anyway, for Brendan's 18th birthday party we rented out the Youth Center and it turned out to be a great place to have a party (we actually reserved it already for Lauren's bridal shower in March). They have a great kitchen area. It's always scary to have a room that big and worry if enough people will come to fill it up. :) It was invite only and we had a list at the door to prevent uninvited guests and people just walking by coming in (which I was worried about) It was a great party and fun to see Brendan's friends...some that he's played hockey with for years...friends from school...some he's known since 1st grade....all grown up now. Everyone seemed to have fun. We had a DJ and gave them all glow stick necklaces or bracelets to wear while they were dancing where the lights were darker...they worked up an appetite... We had two 5 feet burritos and a ton of food and not too many leftovers so I was happy about that. I'm very thankful to my great friends for helping me at the party and also calming my nerves the whole week before. My baby is 18! I can't believe it. Emily will be 21 in January..Scary



Brendan and his crazy glow-in-the-dark glasses that he just had to have.



Emily and Jill taking a break from helping set up.



Brendan and Caitlin

He loves the movie cars and he loves the color green and this green and black went with his party color theme! Yes, it was an 18-year-old's party.LOL

Another Alaska Trip for Em

Emily went to see Steven again in Alaska before being deployed. She was gone for two weeks. His mom and his sister came the second week. She saw a moose on the side of the road for the first time. She got to see Sarah Palin as she came to the base to speak to the troops. This is also the first time she has been there without snow. It's so pretty. Here are some of her pictures.



Emily and Steven

She said this pictures goes far over to the right with many more soldiers she was not able to fit in the picture.

This is so pretty!
Sarah Palin





Please keep Steven in your prayers (and Emily as she adjusts to not talking to Steven every night on the phone...it's been four days since he's been able to call....she's missng him)

Brendan's First Day Of His Last Year Of School

My baby is a senior this year.....here he is on the way to school on his first day...one pencil in hand..no backup, no pencil pouch, no backpack..,minimal paper so his 1/2 inch notebook won't be too thick, notebook decorated on the front with pictures of girlfriend, pictures of hockey...when I was in school...I had my pencil pouch full of pens and pencils, pencil sharpener, eraser, as much paper as I could fit in my notebook, dividers to separate my subjects..... (was I a nerd?) He has a light schedule, which includes a T.A. class for a teacher who loves him and lets him eat and text message during her class and he gets out before lunch because he has his credits needed for senior year but still....he was also chosen to be a senior seminar leader so he's having a great senior year so far. It's crazy how they take senior pictures over the summer. They change so much. I guess they are trying to spread out the cost of senior year and help us out a bit..ha.

So This Is Cool Disney News....

Disneyland and Disney World are giving a free ticket on your birthday in 2009.
Read About It Here

Touching Story

This is kind of long but it's worth watching. I've always loved Steven Curtis Chapman's music and when I initially heard this story their pain and loss affected me. What a neat family they are and their faith in God is incredible. By part three my tears were flowing and I needed a kleenex for sure!


part one


part two


part three


part four


part five


part six

28 Random Things

My friend Shelly sent this to me in E-mail so I thought I’d post my answers here. I won’t “tag” anyone but if you read my blog it would be fun to see your answers on your blog. She actually did 50 things, I know I probably have more than 50 odd things about me but I am only doing 28 (I know, random number).


Sometimes I only eat the chocolate off a chocolate-covered Altoid cinnamon mint and throw away the mint.

I don’t like any kind of fruit juice, especially grape juice, and when taking communion I quickly scan all the cups to find the one that has the least amount in it.

One of my best friends and I have been friends since Kindergarten.

When I was little I always thought there was something “magic and exciting” behind the walls of Disneyland and would try to peek whenever a gate or door would open. To this day, I could seriously sit on a bench at Disneyland for way too many hours and be happy.

I wish I liked Blueberries, grapes, oranges and avocado (not together).

I love to be barefoot outside and feel “earth”, especially sand at the beach and really green grass.

I tried out for a game show called “Supermarket Sweep” with my sister.

I love to hear my kids laughing

I love the sound of water and waves crashing. I love the sound of rain and I love to watch it hit water. I love the sound of wind chimes.

I miss my sister and my mom every single day.

I eat the middle of a dill pickle and throw away the skin.

I like to fish (with a bobber) and don’t mind putting the bait on the hook or cleaning fish.

I smile when I see elder people and I love talking to them.

I am B.J. Thomas’ biggest fan and have been since I was 11-years-old (I think everyone knows that about me).

I love to have the A/C on high and cover up with a blanket or wear a sweatshirt.

I only drink Aqua-Fina water--slightly slushy is my favorite.

I am a “dipper” and dip food in random things, including dipping my morning toast in my coffee. Olive Garden bread sticks dipped in alfredo sauce-yummy!

I love to stay up late and only need six hours of sleep.

I still watch I Love Lucy reruns.

I don’t like scary movies.

I love to roller-blade.

I love the smell of laundry in the dryer.

I’m not a vegetarian but I don’t like red meat.

Too often, I rent movies and take them back without even watching them.

I am terrified of tornados but I love to watch extreme weather shows or “live feeds” of tornado chasers.

When I was in high school I once memorized 100 Bible verses to be accepted into a "summer servant" program at my church.

I only like drinking out of paper cups or plastic disposable cups.

I love to be the first person up in the morning.

Fun Stuff

I love office supplies and "to do" lists (and checking them off!). I came across this site. How cute are these? The blue one even comes in different colors.

Check out this site here

Brendan and Hockey

He's in the red jersey, white helmet and #6. He's always had #6 ever since he started playing hockey at 5-years-old.

Two of his greatest fans, sister and girlfriend!

High school hockey is over but Brendan has moved onto a new team through Anaheim Ice. It's much more physical and I hide my eyes alot more than high school hockey. They get away with alot more that's for sure. He played in this league last year too. It's definitely exciting. He loves it though! We bundle up in jackets and blankets and our boots. It's so cold in there! ..

Do You Remember These Camp Songs?

I came across this fun quiz and it brought back memories.. I got 9/10 right.
http://www.funtrivia.com/playquiz/quiz1692611362220.html

I was a big camp girl through my church when I was growing up. I went to Pioneer Girls Camp, Winter Camp, Summer Camp, Hume Lake over and over, Forest Home, and others that I can't even remember the name of. My Mom would sometimes make me go to "work day" that our church offered to earn some of the money to go. I've pulled my share of weeds and painted fences, etc. My friends would always go and we would always all get together in the same cabin and we had so much fun.

Besides the great memories of the long bus trips where we would take over the whole back seat of the big blue church bus, sitting on top of a whole row of sleeping bags the whole way looking out the back window (so dangerous and I would never want my kids to do that, but it was so fun for us and our seat each camping outing!), eating a box of cereal on the way, memories of the bus breaking down leaving us stranded on the side of the road waiting for help, our fun counselors, the drama that always happened with someone getting mad at someone for spending too much time with someone else, or the drama with boys and the tears that followed being mad at each other with our counselor in the middle trying to fix it, the campfire the Friday before you leave where everyone would just sit and cry because you are so touched, or just funny things we did, my favorite part was always the music. I LOVE camp songs. I LOVE church music.

I like the worship music that we have now in church but it's different than the music I grew up with. I love the old Baptist hymnals we had at church. I love the classic hymns. I think I can say I "collect" hymn Cd's because I have so many and I can't get enough of them. When I'm in a Christian Bookstore I go right for that kind of music to see what I don't have. I also love the song books to go with them. Just As I am, Rock Of Ages, Amazing Grace, How Great Thou Art, Softly and Tenderly, What a Friend We Have In Jesus, I love them. As a child sitting in the "big church" I can't remember many sermons but I can remember many many songs we sang. I can remember standing in the middle of my Mom and my Grandma and I can still hear them singing "The Old Rugged Cross" next to me. It's comforting music to me.

We also sang great songs in my youth department that some of my friends and I have been trying to remember the names of lately. I went to the same church from 6-weeks-old through having my first child and still have some of the same friends from then so I have great memories from that church.

Thinking About My Sister On Her Birthday

Today my sister would have turned 50-years-old. It would be very easy to write a long emotional post about how much I miss her, what we would have been doing for her 50th birthday if she were still here, and how things were normal on her last birthday, because thinking about her at all brings automatic tears, but in her memory I wanted to just post some of my favorite pictures that Lauren recently put on my computer and concentrate on how awesome it must be for her to be in heaven right now!

Lauren and Laurie.


Nichole and Laurie at the Dodger game.


The whole family at the Dodger game. I love this picture of all of them.


I think this was her birthday last year.....


I love these pictures of us scrapbooking because we had so much fun that night. This was taken last year. We talked and talked about stuff and laughed so hard at things that we were crying. We couldn't stop laughing or be serious. Lauren took a lot of pictures of us that night and I'm so glad. I love this picture where she puts her hand up to Lauren so she can get composure before the picture.


This picture makes me laugh because we both have the same expression on our face biting our bottom lip as we are trying to be serious and not laugh. So fake. :)

Where's George?

My friend gave me a dollar that he got in change with a stamp on it that said "Where's George?". It gave a website to enter the information from that dollar, the serial number, where you got it, what shape it's in, etc. and you enter your E-mail and put the dollar back in circulation and then they send you E-mail updates if people register it when they get it and you can track where it's been. The initial entry was from Amarillo, Texas in March 2005. I did this in July 2006 from Lakewood and in September 2006 it was in Santa Cruz, California and then I forgot all about it but the other day I got a new E-mail and it's now in Fowlerville, MI. Check Out Where My Dollar Has Traveled Here. It would be cool if every person registered it all along the way and told where they got it. It was pretty worn when I got it. The things people think of...I think this is interesting though. That was the first time I had ever seen this stamp and have never seen it since.

My Dad

Dad


My Dad and Lupe

Here are a few pictures of my Dad. Lupe, his caretaker, brought him over the other day. He's so cute. I really can't tell if he knows who I am. Some days I think he does but other days I think he acts the same to anyone talking to him and I'm sure he has no clue who I am. I'd like to think he does. Who knows what he is really thinking but he sure tries to talk and tell a story, you just usually can't make out what he's saying. He usually laughs at the end of his story and I love it when he does that. It breaks my heart to see him living like this but I was watching him try to tell me something the other day and I was thinking how happy I am to be able to hear his voice still, even if I can't understand anything he says. I'd give anything to be able to hear Laurie talk or my Mom. I was watching him and thinking how alot of his mannerisms are the same from when I was little. I was looking in his eyes when he spoke. It's such a debilitating disease and takes so much of them so to see some familiar things from him made me feel all kinds of emotions. I also get emotional with him because of Laurie and all we went through together with him and his sickness. It's hard to explain. I've been having emotional "missing my sister" days lately anyway.

So onto our caretaker, she's so awesome. She's the same caretaker we had when he was still living at home but when we had to put him in the home he's in now we still pay her to check-in on him four times a week for a few hours a day. She makes sure he's eating and takes him out to McDonald's or pushes him around the neighborhood in his wheelchair. I'm so thankful for her. I hate the thought of him being in a home but it helps knowing that he gets out and she's making sure he's getting a shower each day and that they are taking good care of him. He's still so strong and it's hard to move him around by yourself. I can't do it alone for sure. He doesn't help at all and you're basically holding him up or pulling him up entirely on your own. She amazes me what she does.

A funny story about my Dad, that has happened more than once.... so he basically cannot even say one word that you can understand anymore. Once in a while he will say bye if I say it enough to him but pretty much even if you ask him to say something he really tries but can't get it out then he laughs. He has an agitation time in the evening (part of the disease) and Lupe told me that when he gets agitated and annoyed with people in the home who are trying to help him he has a few curse words for them and the words come out so perfect. It's not funny but I laugh that he can remember those choice words with no problem but can't say my name! LOL.

I have really great memories of my Dad when I was growing up and my whole life really. I was always so worried when I was growing up about him not being a Christian but I'm so happy he became a Christian a week before he started getting bad. The timing was truly God and I know God has him in his care and he will be in heaven with us all.

Fun Day

Me and Freddy

Emily and Maddy

Me and Em and Abby, Maddy and Freddy

Julie putting her kids in the car

Yesterday Em and I met my friend Julie and her kids at the park. I haven't seen her in a very long time. She has twins, Freddy and Maddy, and an almost 3-year-old Abby. It was a fun day visiting. I really wanted to meet her kids and also hold those babies. Em and I were just saying a few days ago that we really wanted to hold a baby so it was perfect timing for us and there was one for each of us and we didn't have to fight over holding them. LOL. I think my blood pressure dropped major points just cuddling with them. They are really sweet and I could have held them even longer than I did. I got to feed them their bottle too!!. They have the sweetest faces and when they smile it just lights up. I love Maddy's red hair! There's something so relaxing about a baby and the way they smell and smile. So sweet! It took Abby a little bit to warm up to us but she eventually did. She had fun with all the friends she was making in the playground. She reminds me of Emily when she was her age. She's very girly. It was great seeing Julie and catching up on life. It was a really fun day and great to laugh and forget about everything for an afternoon. Thanks for driving down here to see us Julie!