What's that, Rebecca?
Making faces with Alex.
What a precious picture - Grandpa and Rebecca!
Kaitlyn telling Uncle Tim a story.
THE CROSS HAPPY FAMILY: Sometimes we're cross, Sometimes we're happy, Always we're a family!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Kaitlyn Miller's Baby Blessing
We were happy and privileged to be able to attend our neice Kaitlyn Miller's baby blessing this past Sunday, May 16th. She is such a precious, beautiful baby! We had a wonderful day with the Millers!
What's that, Rebecca?
Making faces with Alex.
What a precious picture - Grandpa and Rebecca!
Kaitlyn telling Uncle Tim a story.
What's that, Rebecca?
Making faces with Alex.
What a precious picture - Grandpa and Rebecca!
Kaitlyn telling Uncle Tim a story.
National Honor Society Induction
Eliza was inducted into the National Honor Society on May 12th. She insists she didn't do anything special to get in it, but I happen to know they are only offered the application if they are eligible meaning they have to have good grades and be a good student and be involved. I noticed all of the inductees this year were involved in Church and other community activities. We are super proud of her - she works hard and does an excellent job with everything she has to do! I didn't get any good pictures, unfortunately, my camera kept taking forever to take the shot, so I missed the good moments. Anyway, here at least is a picture of her walking back to her seat after being given the flower and certificate.
ADVENTURELAND! May 1st, 2010
We went to Adventureland on May 1st. Janesville's Junior High Band performed at a building in Adventureland in the morning for a regional contest. All the band kids get in free and their families get in half price. So I invited Mom and Dad to come with us and then thought it would be really fun to bring my nephew Alex with us, too. It was SO fun! We had a blast watching him on the rides. It was his first time at an amusement park, so he was amazed at everything! Eliza was so sweet and just hung out with us all day, patiently watching Alex ride the rides and then later, her and I and Grandpa went on some rollercoasters.
Amanda spent the day with her friends. We saw her in the morning when she performed with her band and then a few times throughout the day, but we never thought to get any pictures of us with her and all the pictures of her with the band turned out blurry. So, here's a very short video of just the beginning of one of her band pieces (the whole video is just way too long to put on here!). She is playing the bells. This is the only evidence we have that she was even there that day! Sad!
First ride for Alex was the merry-go-round with Grandpa.
Next was the airplanes! The first time he went around, his airplane would not go up like the others. We thought it was because he wasn't pulling the stick back, so we were yelling to him to pull the stick back. He pulled on that thing with all his might, but it wouldn't go up. He didn't get mad, though, he just patiently waited. So when the ride stopped, the guy who was running the ride said the airplane was not working and gave Alex another ride right away. He was so happy his new plane went up and was so cute waving to us!
Grandpa, Eliza and I got to ride on The Balloon Race ride with Alex. It's like hot air balloons going around in a circle. I love the look on his face in this picture. He got us laughing really hard because a big drip of water from off the balloon fell onto his pants. He said, "Hey, something dropped on my pants!" I said, "It must've dripped off the balloon!" He said, "That silly-billy balloon!" And then busted up laughing at himself. That made all of us laugh, so he kept saying it over and over and busting up laughing every time. It was SO funny!!
Alex giving us the "thumbs up" on the Puff Dragon ride!
Alex and I on the Chuckwagons. He thought this was really fun and loved waving at Grandma, Grandpa, Tim and Eliza on the ground.
This ride is a bunch of different kinds of vehicles going around in a circle (have you ever noticed most kiddie rides go around and around in a circle??). Alex wanted to ride in the firetruck, but when he got to it, there were other kids on it already. So, he started crying and came running back to us. So, this Dad sitting nearby saw what was going on and it was his kids on the firetruck and they'd gotten to ride already, so he went and told them to get in the back of the firetruck. So, this picture is of Dad taking him back to the firetruck, but the poor little guy was so traumatized, he was still crying and it was so cute because he covered his mouth with his hand the whole time he was crying.
So then, Dad put him on the firetruck, but Alex was still upset because he didn't know those kids and he didn't want them in the back of his firetruck!! I'm sure if his Mom and Dad were there, he wouldn't have gotten his way... but as you can see here, the back of the firetruck is empty! That's the benefit of going to Adventureland with Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt and Uncle! By the way, the Dad that had his kids get off the firetruck could be David Petrucka's twin! Wish I would've gotten a picture of him.
Alex loved that ride and wanted to go on it over and over. He rode a tractor and a truck and I don't even know what else or how many times he got to ride it. Here he is on a PINK motorcycle making a great face! (Did I mention the bike is "PINK"?)
This ride called The Convoy is how we finally got Alex off the previous ride. This was a line of semi truck cabs that...guess what...go around in a circle! Only this was more like a train on a track and the circle was more of a wavy oval. I thought this picture was just so precious!! Just look at that angelic little face!
Alex went around once in one of the middle cabs, but he got right off and ran to the front cab!! He wanted to be the driver! It was so cute - when the lady operating the ride was set to go, she said to Alex, "Are we ready, Mr. Driver?" He smiled and nodded! I think he felt very important!
Grandpa and Alex had a great time on the bumper cars! He was smiling and laughing the whole time. But he was so silly and kept pulling his hat down over his eyes! Unfortunately, the middle part of the video turned out really blurry. Oh well, you'll get the idea, anyway!
I just have to interject a little story here. There was a ride called Frog Hopper that's like a baby version of the Space Shot. The picture below is just an image of the ride off the web, so that I don't have to try to describe it. Anyway, I was trying to get Alex to get on the ride, but he wouldn't because there were other kids on it and he wanted to go on it by himself. So, this lady was standing there watching her kids and saw what was going on and told Alex that her kids were up there and that they would help him and sit by him and that they were really nice and would love to ride with him. So, in a very enthusiastic voice, I said "Hey, Alex, that sounds so fun Do you want to ride with them and make some new friends?" And he kinda screwed up his face and put one finger up to his mouth and said, "Mmmmm.... I'm having an idea... No, thank you!" It was hilarious!
We rode on this little train all around the park. It was pretty boring, but I thought this was a really cute picture of Alex with Grandma.
Alex zonked out! Tired little guy after a day of excitement!
I wish we would've gotten a picture of him on his favorite ride of the day, the Sawmill Splash. (Picture from the web below.) He giggled the whole way down!
Eliza and I on the Log Ride. Notice how smart I am - I wore a rain coat and put the hood up when we got to the top. Unfortunately, it blew right off!
I was so soaking wet! This is Eliza laughing that I sat up front and got soaked and she hardly got wet at all!
I know you can hardly see Eliza's face, but I think this is SUCH a cool picture!
Last ride of the day, the Sky Lift. I think this is so sweet of Eliza and Tim.
Amanda spent the day with her friends. We saw her in the morning when she performed with her band and then a few times throughout the day, but we never thought to get any pictures of us with her and all the pictures of her with the band turned out blurry. So, here's a very short video of just the beginning of one of her band pieces (the whole video is just way too long to put on here!). She is playing the bells. This is the only evidence we have that she was even there that day! Sad!
First ride for Alex was the merry-go-round with Grandpa.
Next was the airplanes! The first time he went around, his airplane would not go up like the others. We thought it was because he wasn't pulling the stick back, so we were yelling to him to pull the stick back. He pulled on that thing with all his might, but it wouldn't go up. He didn't get mad, though, he just patiently waited. So when the ride stopped, the guy who was running the ride said the airplane was not working and gave Alex another ride right away. He was so happy his new plane went up and was so cute waving to us!
Grandpa, Eliza and I got to ride on The Balloon Race ride with Alex. It's like hot air balloons going around in a circle. I love the look on his face in this picture. He got us laughing really hard because a big drip of water from off the balloon fell onto his pants. He said, "Hey, something dropped on my pants!" I said, "It must've dripped off the balloon!" He said, "That silly-billy balloon!" And then busted up laughing at himself. That made all of us laugh, so he kept saying it over and over and busting up laughing every time. It was SO funny!!
Alex giving us the "thumbs up" on the Puff Dragon ride!
Alex and I on the Chuckwagons. He thought this was really fun and loved waving at Grandma, Grandpa, Tim and Eliza on the ground.
This ride is a bunch of different kinds of vehicles going around in a circle (have you ever noticed most kiddie rides go around and around in a circle??). Alex wanted to ride in the firetruck, but when he got to it, there were other kids on it already. So, he started crying and came running back to us. So, this Dad sitting nearby saw what was going on and it was his kids on the firetruck and they'd gotten to ride already, so he went and told them to get in the back of the firetruck. So, this picture is of Dad taking him back to the firetruck, but the poor little guy was so traumatized, he was still crying and it was so cute because he covered his mouth with his hand the whole time he was crying.
So then, Dad put him on the firetruck, but Alex was still upset because he didn't know those kids and he didn't want them in the back of his firetruck!! I'm sure if his Mom and Dad were there, he wouldn't have gotten his way... but as you can see here, the back of the firetruck is empty! That's the benefit of going to Adventureland with Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt and Uncle! By the way, the Dad that had his kids get off the firetruck could be David Petrucka's twin! Wish I would've gotten a picture of him.
Alex loved that ride and wanted to go on it over and over. He rode a tractor and a truck and I don't even know what else or how many times he got to ride it. Here he is on a PINK motorcycle making a great face! (Did I mention the bike is "PINK"?)
This ride called The Convoy is how we finally got Alex off the previous ride. This was a line of semi truck cabs that...guess what...go around in a circle! Only this was more like a train on a track and the circle was more of a wavy oval. I thought this picture was just so precious!! Just look at that angelic little face!
Alex went around once in one of the middle cabs, but he got right off and ran to the front cab!! He wanted to be the driver! It was so cute - when the lady operating the ride was set to go, she said to Alex, "Are we ready, Mr. Driver?" He smiled and nodded! I think he felt very important!
Grandpa and Alex had a great time on the bumper cars! He was smiling and laughing the whole time. But he was so silly and kept pulling his hat down over his eyes! Unfortunately, the middle part of the video turned out really blurry. Oh well, you'll get the idea, anyway!
I just have to interject a little story here. There was a ride called Frog Hopper that's like a baby version of the Space Shot. The picture below is just an image of the ride off the web, so that I don't have to try to describe it. Anyway, I was trying to get Alex to get on the ride, but he wouldn't because there were other kids on it and he wanted to go on it by himself. So, this lady was standing there watching her kids and saw what was going on and told Alex that her kids were up there and that they would help him and sit by him and that they were really nice and would love to ride with him. So, in a very enthusiastic voice, I said "Hey, Alex, that sounds so fun Do you want to ride with them and make some new friends?" And he kinda screwed up his face and put one finger up to his mouth and said, "Mmmmm.... I'm having an idea... No, thank you!" It was hilarious!
We rode on this little train all around the park. It was pretty boring, but I thought this was a really cute picture of Alex with Grandma.
Alex zonked out! Tired little guy after a day of excitement!
I wish we would've gotten a picture of him on his favorite ride of the day, the Sawmill Splash. (Picture from the web below.) He giggled the whole way down!
Eliza and I on the Log Ride. Notice how smart I am - I wore a rain coat and put the hood up when we got to the top. Unfortunately, it blew right off!
I was so soaking wet! This is Eliza laughing that I sat up front and got soaked and she hardly got wet at all!
I know you can hardly see Eliza's face, but I think this is SUCH a cool picture!
Last ride of the day, the Sky Lift. I think this is so sweet of Eliza and Tim.
AMANDA - TRACK STAR!
This was Amanda's first year of track. She was dead every night coming home from practice because the Coach worked her so hard! (By the way, her Coach was one of Heidi's classmates!) But she survived and did really well! She is an awesome runner! She ran in relays - 4 x 100, 4 x 200, 4 x 400, Distance Medley and some others. Her relay teams always did very well, usually coming in 2nd! The girls team as a whole won 1st place in two meets. One of the things I love about track is that they get ribbons or medals for everything they do! It's so cool. I also don't mind going to track meets, even though they are rather long and kinda boring, because if I go alone I take a book and read whenever Amanda's not running, and if I go with someone, it gives us time to just sit and visit which I don't usually take the time to do. So, anyway, here are some pictures and videos of her in track. In this first picture, she is being handed a baton in a relay race at the Janesville track meet. She is the girl in the front in the black and white uniform.
The next two pictures are at the track meet in Dike. This was the coldiest, rainiest, windiest, yuckiest day ever. I felt so bad for the kids having to stand out there in the cold and run! I was able to park my car close to the track and I sat in my car the whole time and just got out when she ran. She was a trooper, though, and just had fun and didn't complain at all. Whenever she wasn't running, she pulled on sweatpants and a jacket, but it didn't matter, she was still freezing! The silly thing was that they finally did cancel the track meet but not until there were only two races left, and one of those was Amanda's. She was all set and ready to run, and they shut it down! Just stupid! And then, I got stuck in the mud trying to get out of there, but a nice young guy pushed me out. It was quite a day!!
This one was at the meet in Tripoli. She's just warming up for her next race.
This video is at the Tripoli track meet. I love it because she runs her little heart out and pulls into the lead. It's so cool! A guy walks in front of the camera for a moment and if you listen carefully, you can hear me say, "DUDE!" Also, Grandma & Grandpa were with me at this track meet, so you can hear them cheering her on!
Janesville Girls won 1st place at the Tripoli track meet!! In this video, you'll hear the announcer announce their 1st place win and then they do this awesome "victory run". If you want to count, she is the 13th girl to get up and run around the circle. Then they huddle and hold up the trophy. It's pretty cool! I was SO proud and so happy I caught this on video!
And finally, here is her track picture for this year! I love this picture! Isn't she beautiful?
The next two pictures are at the track meet in Dike. This was the coldiest, rainiest, windiest, yuckiest day ever. I felt so bad for the kids having to stand out there in the cold and run! I was able to park my car close to the track and I sat in my car the whole time and just got out when she ran. She was a trooper, though, and just had fun and didn't complain at all. Whenever she wasn't running, she pulled on sweatpants and a jacket, but it didn't matter, she was still freezing! The silly thing was that they finally did cancel the track meet but not until there were only two races left, and one of those was Amanda's. She was all set and ready to run, and they shut it down! Just stupid! And then, I got stuck in the mud trying to get out of there, but a nice young guy pushed me out. It was quite a day!!
This one was at the meet in Tripoli. She's just warming up for her next race.
This video is at the Tripoli track meet. I love it because she runs her little heart out and pulls into the lead. It's so cool! A guy walks in front of the camera for a moment and if you listen carefully, you can hear me say, "DUDE!" Also, Grandma & Grandpa were with me at this track meet, so you can hear them cheering her on!
Janesville Girls won 1st place at the Tripoli track meet!! In this video, you'll hear the announcer announce their 1st place win and then they do this awesome "victory run". If you want to count, she is the 13th girl to get up and run around the circle. Then they huddle and hold up the trophy. It's pretty cool! I was SO proud and so happy I caught this on video!
And finally, here is her track picture for this year! I love this picture! Isn't she beautiful?
Monday, May 17, 2010
AMANDA IS A TEENAGER!! 13TH BIRTHDAY...
I can't believe our youngest is a teenager! I also can't believe how blessed I am to have such wonderful teenagers! For Amanda's birthday, we had a family party at home with Grandma and Grandpa.
When I went through the pictures we took at the party, there were none of her holding up her gifts except one that was really blurry. They were all of her opening the gifts. So, today (over a month later), I took pictures of her with her gifts. Bonus...she got her braces on today, so you also get to see her with braces! She was not too happy about having to smile in these pictures, but she was a good sport and did it anyway. She got a whole bunch of books from Nana, Papa Bear, Julie, Auntie Tammy, Heather, Grandma and Grandpa and us.
Her favorite color right now is orange and she saw this orange frame when we were out shopping one day and loved it, so she got it for her birthday. Also, we have been getting her the Precious Moments "Growing up in Grace" series, and this is the age 13 one.
She also got a candy bar poster from the Young Women's Presidency. It says, "We were at the movies, watching 3 Musketeers, when we heard someone Whisper that it was your birthday! We are all so very Extremely excited for you! We hope your day is Extra-ordinary from dawn to Dark because Baby, you're worth it!! So go and have fun being the birthday Star today!! We love you!!"
When I went through the pictures we took at the party, there were none of her holding up her gifts except one that was really blurry. They were all of her opening the gifts. So, today (over a month later), I took pictures of her with her gifts. Bonus...she got her braces on today, so you also get to see her with braces! She was not too happy about having to smile in these pictures, but she was a good sport and did it anyway. She got a whole bunch of books from Nana, Papa Bear, Julie, Auntie Tammy, Heather, Grandma and Grandpa and us.
Her favorite color right now is orange and she saw this orange frame when we were out shopping one day and loved it, so she got it for her birthday. Also, we have been getting her the Precious Moments "Growing up in Grace" series, and this is the age 13 one.
She also got a candy bar poster from the Young Women's Presidency. It says, "We were at the movies, watching 3 Musketeers, when we heard someone Whisper that it was your birthday! We are all so very Extremely excited for you! We hope your day is Extra-ordinary from dawn to Dark because Baby, you're worth it!! So go and have fun being the birthday Star today!! We love you!!"
ALEX GETS DOWN!
Our nephew, Alex, was "gettin' down" at the bowling party! Here's a great video I got of him "break dancing".
Eliza's Sweet Sixteen Surprise Party
We surprised Eliza with a party at the bowling alley. She had no idea - she just thought we were having a family night at the bowling alley. Grandma and Grandpa, Heidi, Joseph and their kids, and 4 of Eliza's best friends were waiting there for us and yelled, "Surprise!" when we came in. It was such a fun night!! It was cosmic bowling night, so we had the black lights and strobe lights and stuff. We bowled and had pizza, popcorn, pop and a cookie cake. The bowling alley gave her a painted bowling pin that her friends signed. They also had her birthday announced on the radio, which was a surprise for all of us! It was so cool - we were just sitting there, bowling and eating, and we heard on the radio, "We want to wish Eliza a sweet 16 birthday tonight!" And we knew they were talking about our Eliza cuz they mentioned her party at the bowling alley! Her friends gave her a lot of great gifts. One of her friends gave her $16 and Eliza said, "Why 16 dollars? That's such a random number!" Her friend just looked at her and after a moment, she realized, "Ooohhh, cuz it's my 16th birthday!!" He made fun of her for it for the rest of the night. It was great!
Just had to put this video on here. It's pretty great!
Just had to put this video on here. It's pretty great!Eliza's Sweet Sixteen
We've gotten Eliza a piece of a Precious Moments Train every birthday since she was born. My mom started it. This is her 16th piece. I love her smile in this picture!
We LOVED the movie Avatar!!! She was so excited when she opened this!
When we asked Eliza what she wanted for her birthday, she said, "Books!" (What a nerd!) She got 8 books, some from Nana, Papa Bear & Julie, some from Aunt Tammy & Heather, some from Grandma & Grandpa Swallow and some from Tim and I. She was thrilled!!
She also got some birthday money from us and Aunt Lauri & Uncle Matt and a friend, so I took her shopping and she also got some really awesome purple plaid Converse shoes.
Eliza also got this cute candy bar poster and balloons from the Young Women's Presidency. It says,"Last week in New York, at Zero temps, we were watching the Three Musketeers, when we heard someone Whisper that your birthday was near, we all began Gushing about what to get you. Someone kept insisting on a Turtle (but we just blamed the solar Eclipse for her weird behavior). Finally we decided, because you're so much Fun, we'd get you Bubblicious."
Saturday, May 15, 2010
JOSIE'S "TRICK"
Josie likes to play tug-of-war with her doggy bed. One day, we were playing tug-o-war with her when she did something funny that you'll be seeing in the video (I don't want to give it away). We thought it was so funny, we spent the next half hour trying to get her to do it again so that we could catch it on video. So here it is!! We're probably the only ones that find this funny. We're so goofy over our dog!
April 2010 Picture of the Month
PAINTING TOENAILS
This is one of my most favorite pictures of the girls. It's SO precious!! I have Auntie Tammy (Tim's sister) to thank for this one! THANK YOU, TAMMY!!! I love how Amanda is holding her leg and looking so serious. And Eliza looks so pleased that her sister is letting her paint her toenails. I love it!!
This is one of my most favorite pictures of the girls. It's SO precious!! I have Auntie Tammy (Tim's sister) to thank for this one! THANK YOU, TAMMY!!! I love how Amanda is holding her leg and looking so serious. And Eliza looks so pleased that her sister is letting her paint her toenails. I love it!!
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