heading home...

yesterday i rec'd the phone call that i have not been wanting to receive and am still in shock

my dad has 7 to 10 day left of live as his kidneys have shut down.

my brother jeff and i head out in the am to spend our final days with my dad in Maine.

please pray for us and our time together.

please pray for my mother as last monday her mother died and now she's saying goodbye to her husband of 40 years.

i can't find words. only tears.

2010 dance recital

this year brooke's dance team performed "Thriller" by Michael Jackson and they did excellent!

they wore prom dresses that were dirty, ripped, and bloody as they just crawl out of grave.

the crowd just loved it.

brooke doing tap dance

sorry pictures are not very good.

(the camera was having issues or i was having issues with the camera)

tap


jazz.
and again sorry the pictures are awful but she's cute.
good thing they get their dance pictures done tonight from a professional
so i atleast get a few good dance pictures this year.

my boy & his turkey

brady pictured with his turkey he got saturday a.m.

ohh to be young again....

so the kids are both out of school now, as of Wednesday, and already have been going crazy

we had two girls spend the night the other night and they seem to have caught every moment on camera.

i was told by them that they had too since it's the last day of school and first day of summer.

"duh mom?? GEEZ, MOM, why are you like a dork?"

brooke & kendall bowling alley
kendall even wanted a picture with brooke's dad

not sure?? don't ask.
but hey look dawn is wearing brooke's tutu from dance years ago.
cute. (and are they hopping?)




kendall, brooke, dawn


after school hang out at taco johns
(remember your main hang out as a teen?? those were the days)

taco johns

girl power hand shake (i believe)

and my mom and dad are mean because they made me finish track.

but hey we are done and we are cool.

what would i do without my friends??

it says: FOR JULIE
ONLY! GET WELL! HEART KERRI AND AVERY:)

YUMMY SOUP

WITH VEGGIES TO MAKE ME FEEL BETTER.

most of u know i've been sick for about a week. (since i've whined about it on my blog a few times) anywho today after i got home from work my friends husband was at the door with this jar. thanks ben.

his wife and little girl avery made it for me FOR ME ONLY! That's right you seen it.

so please stay out of it, my family.

for once they want me to be selfish and eat it by myself without sharing.

Thanks Dishmans you're the best!

grammie wilson was just lovely all around...

my grandma passed away on Monday the 17th

this is a picture taking on one of her almost last outings

(sorry not very clear my brother took it with his phone and sent it to us.)

i’ll never forget how frequently my grandma brought Jesus into everyday conversations, i loved this women very very much and i know she’s wrapped around the feet of Jesus at this very moment, worshiping the God she has devoted her whole life to! i’ll miss grandma so much but i know i’ll see her again someday! she is with Jesus! today on my facebook account i had this message from a girl my grandma used to teach sunday school too. so i thought i'd share so you can see the effect she had on people. she writes:

"I am sorry to hear of the loss of your grandmother. I still remember her teaching me in Sunday school 30 years ago. I am thankful for her investing in me. You and your family are in my prayers. The cool thing is the seeds she planted in us go with us wherever we go and into our ministry. She may never have stepped foot in Haiti but by investing in me, she was there too. She will be missed."

Thank you Denise for the kind words! She was truly amazing.

welcome home.

we are getting closer and closer to being unpacked and get things put away! ya!

things i'm loving about the new home are....

2 bathrooms

a kitchen with more cabinets and space

bay window to set plants or junk

steps up to the front door

(exspecially during Halloween so i can decorate with pumpkins)

a basement

(i lived without one in our old house for 14 years, so you can imagine the excitement)

a big back yard

privacy fence around the back yard

the paint and colors chosen for the rooms

i'm so close to safeway that i can walk to get a few groceries if needed

(my son informed me i can even go for the whole grocery list and just drive the shopping cart all the way home and return it when i was done. i'm thinking i wouldn't be caught dead doing that. I mean come on i know people and they may think i've gone mad)

i live in walking distance to rec center and a outdoor track (no excuses now huh?)

my children can walk to the middle school

yes they both will be in middle school next year:(

plenty of planting room outside for flowers :)

i have a laundry room that is just that.

(last home our only bathroom was also the laundry room)

the bedrooms are all good size

things i could do without about the new home....

big backyard (mowing)

being close to middle school

(imagine all the friends they will bring home)

being so close to rec center and outdoor track

(now i have no excuse for being fat and lazy)

our neighbors on the right plays in a band

a moment of weakness

i guess one good thing about having strep throat this week is i was able to lay around and read my book. and boy was it good. if you are looking for something to read, i would suggest this book. i can't wait to read more of her books.

as for me...my ears are still plugged my face hurts along with my throat...but somehow i'm still going to fight hard to enjoy the weekend!

they rec'd GOLD...

remember here how i told you i was headed out in the early am hours on a saturday (my only day off. it's ok i'll get over it.) to go to six flags with the 7/8 grade band and show choir?? well i did and every single one of them brought home gold awards. this picture is of the 7th grade band (since that is the one my daughter played in). after they played, we ran like kids to all the rides. well i ran like a kid they are already kids so for some reason it was harder on me.

our home and the writing on the wall.

this post is manly for my mom as i promised her pictures of the new home

please keep in mind we are no where close for everything being

in its place yet so excuse the mess.

bad picture of the downstairs living area

(i will get a better one later)
kitchen

upstairs living area from the front door way


downstairs bath and shower room

brooke's walk in closet

now brooke is having trouble getting stuff

unpack and put away so the rest of her room will have to wait

she's been busy every night with band, dance classes,

choir concerts, softball practices

well you get the idea.

oh and planning her 13th birthday party which is in couple weeks.

main bath upstairs.

wall in the husbands and my room

yet another wall in our bedroom reads:

love always and forever.

on your way down stairs you have

eat. sleep. hunt. for you know who

writing on the laundry room wall:

i'm thankful for piles of laundry

it means my loved ones are nearby.

(this is hard to remember when it seems like it's never ending)

that's it for now. if you'll excuse me i'm going to go bury myself in more boxes

and try to get the place more organized for the next time you see it.

chocolate covered oreos...

it's a ladybug (in case you were wondering)


last night as i was cooking dinner (i do cook from time to time, my poor family) the doorbell rang and i answered it and found a nice lady with her 3 year old son holding a plate of brownies and these....

chocolate covered oreos

are u kiddin' me!!!!

that's right our neighbor actually makes and sells the mold to make these delicious treats. i check out the site and found all kinds of designs for baby showers, weddings, kid birthdays, valentine's day parties, halloween and more. take a look here

what a naughty, naughty site. i feel myself getting fatter just thinking about them.

blonde cookbook...(no offense blondes)

i rec'd this email today and found it too cute not to share..

blonde cookbook

Monday...it's fun to cook for Marvin.

today i made angel food cake. the recipe said beat 12 eggs separately.

the neighbors were nice enough to loan me the extra bowls.

Tuesday...he wanted fruit salad for supper. the recipe said serve without

dressing. so i didn't dress. what a surprise when he brought a friend home for supper.

Wednesday...a good day for rice--

the recipe said wash thoroughly before steaming the rice.

it seemed kind of silly but i took a bath anyway.

i can't say it improved the rice any.

Thursday...today he asked for salad again;

i tried a new recipe. it said prepare ingredients;

lay on bed of lettuce one hour before serving.

asked me why i was rolling around in the garden.

Friday... i found an easy recipe for cookies. its said put the ingredients in a bowl and beat it.

there must have been something wrong with this recipe.

when i got back, everything was the same as when i left.

Saturday...he did the shopping today & brought home a chicken. he asked me to dress

it for Sunday. i don't have any clothes that fit it, and for some reason he keeps

counting to ten.

Sunday... i wanted to serve roast but all i had was hamburger. suddenly i had a flash of

genius. i put the hamburger in the oven & set the controls for roast.

it still came out hamburger, much to my disappointment.

good night dear diary. this has been a very exciting week. i am eager for tomorrow to come so i can try out a new recipe. if i can talk him into buying a bigger oven, i would like to surprise him with a chocolate moose.

bus ride home from denver...????

sarah & brooke

not really sure if they were scared on the bus on the way home or what?

but for some reason they took this photo with their faces covered.

i found it humorous.

crazy night for small town of Ogallala....

lately it seems hard to watch the news without get depressed. so many bad things happening around us these days, and just leaves me wondering why??

last night we had law enforcement out like crazy in our small town. you can read about it here.

and friday night we had a 16 year old get beat with a bat by 7 other boys. he was live flighted out with major head injuries. i can't imagine, no matter what the 16 year old might have done to anger them, that he deserved to be jumped like that. sorry for the depressing post but i just keep thinking about this as people keep talking around town about them. they are the main topics lately here and everyone is feeling disbelief.

gobble gobble

chuck's turkey (the husband)

my mother is just going to kill me...i just moved into a new home and she has been patiently awaiting photo's of it on my blog and i have yet to get them on here. mom, i will get them on soon i promise. we haven't hooked up the internet at our place so i haven't had time to download the pictures here at work because i'm "working" :) anyway since i don't have home photo's for you i have a turkey photo. not chuck the turkey, but the other turkey. he wanted me to post it so you guys could see and you can show dad. him and brady will be going turkey hunting again while brooke & i are in Denver. i know it's been tough lately with life, hang in there and know we are all thinking and praying for you...pictures soon of the house.

weekend plans...

so yeah, this weekend i get to go to six flags in Denver with these girls and a bunch of more girls and boys this age. they are having a band program there and i am one of the lucky chaperons...don't hate. i know many of you are jealous that i get to wake up at 4:30 am and be on the road 3 hours with a bunch of teenagers. then spend all day at six flags going on rides with them (this scares me...the rides they might talk me into going on that i can't handle anymore) pray for me.

in other news... now that school is coming to a close this year in a few weeks, softball and baseball are starting again. my son has already had 3 practices. this picture above is from his team last year. i sat the other night and watched my son hit and man he can hit for his age. his comments on the sport is "football rules" i think every other sport to him is just entertainment until football season.

brooke confessed this week that she only joined track for her friends...

notice at least three of the girls have their tongues out??

for those of you that don't know my ray of sunshine is the one far left doing the funky hand thing...she tried to quit track as she hates it. little did she know that her dad and i feel once you agree to be apart of a team you have to stay apart of the team until the end so this year she will have to finish out track with her friends after all that's the only reason she tried out...2 be with them so she tells us. they do look like they are having fun though!