~God Bless America~

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

I hope it was a wonderful day for everyone.

Here in Alaska we celebrated much like usual. The regular gang came out for the big celebration. Grandpa brought Amber and AJ, the Holmes family of 5 were there and The Norwood's came out with 3 of their 4. (Barry cheated and slept in.) Lastly, throw in Calvin, AJ's friend who has been one of the gang for many years now as well.















The parade was set to begin at 11:00 so we arrived at 10:00. You know, it can get rather crowded around here and it's tradition to sit right in front of the IGA. (They have the cleanest & closest restrooms.) Besides securing our favorite parade-watching spot, arriving early also gives plenty of time to purchase donuts, walk nearby to get a coffee and visit with friends up and down the street. In fact, one old friend I happened upon yesterday just returned from Florida and a visit to the Magic Kingdom. He was trying to make me jealous of the 93 degree weather he experienced (endured!) but I didn't buy it. The weather has been pretty awesome here.

We all wore our very best 4th of July attire and made quite a display of red, white and blue bling.



































Grandpa was feeling much better ( He has been quite ill); it was wonderful to see him back in prankster mode. Cori, Cassi and Cali were glad to be able to hang all over him once more!












Cali was a joy this year. She thoroughly enjoyed waving at everyone that passed by.















The older kids love waiting for the candy. I never let them eat it all and usually give most of it away but I guess it's the thrill of getting it that still makes it so fun!

As for me, the parade is a great way to enjoy the wonderment and excitement of childhood. I love that my children still have the opportunity to be young and carefree. And the ones who aren't so young, well they still humor me and isn't that great too?






















After the parade we headed over to the park strip for some more community meet and greet. And for some great junk food. The kids played in the trees while we lazed around a bit.







































Once we grew tired of being lazy...well some of us never do...we left to head for Grandpa house for some BBQ. Unfortunately Scott had to work for a little while so he didn't go with us. The kids and I had lots of fun though. The Norwood's came out to share in the remainder of the day with us and we were finally able to connect with GiGi who worked the early part of the day.

After filling our guts we took to our new favorite past time at Grandpa's house. Super jumping everyone on the trampoline. The younger kids love it and the big kids get some real air. I love trying to catch awesome photos of them doing it!
Here are a few.






Here is GiGi. Isn't the photo a hoot! I haven't seen her allow the kids to do this to her before. My kids thought it was the best!






Cassi has become quite good at maneuvering herself for good photos and for coming upright while looking cool too!









I am certain this photo will find it's way to the senior slide show in a couple of years. And AJ's children will one day love this picture too!




I don't know how Calvin managed it but it looked like he levitated right off the trampoline. We made him sit up after that in order to get good shots but this one seemed to cool not to share.







The big guys love to try and throw Amber BIG so she is very cautious but in case you couldn't tell, she loves it!!!





We did manage to get everyone still for a split second for a shot of the gang! It is amazing what wonderful and fantastic kids they have all become. One day soon I will post an old shot so you can see the changes in them. It is an amazing and beautiful thing. I am incredibly proud of each one of them.











God Bless the USA and each one of you.

*Cassi Receives Coach's Award*

Well not that I don't brag but I truly try not to. As a mom, it's hard not to and hopefully those who know me well, know it's pride that causes me to share. And love; the love I have for my children and the love I have for others whom I believe want to be apart of their lives.

In all honesty, tonight I just want to BRAG! I am so proud!

Cassi had her first ever Cheer Banquet tonight. It was a pretty laid back affair but other than that we really didn't know what to expect of the evening. We were simply invited and wouldn't have missed it.

There were 4 girls on Cassi's mini team this year. Actually we started with 6 but by the end, we were down to 4. All of the girls received medals for their participation and then they awarded a Coach's award. They explained that it was chosen by the coach's and was awarded for commitment, focus, concentration, dedication and skill. Cassi's name was called and we were so excited. Being that it related to younger girls I was very conscientious that I didn't want anyone's feelings hurt but I wanted to jump up and down. Cassi is rarely one for the spotlight however she was glowing as she walked back to her chair.






There really aren't any other details other than to say I could not wait to tell everyone we knew. I know you all will be excited too. Thank you for allowing me this place to share and for following this blog that I enjoy sharing with.

Love you!

~A Trip To The Park~

The weather is starting to warm up here in Alaska...finally. The days are longer are everyone is impatient to be running around in shorts and heading to the beach. We are no exception.

Cassi and Cori had friends spend the night on Friday so we decided to go spend some time at the park. You all will recognize Wren but this is the first time Cassi's friend Cierra,from school, has spent the night.

We call this park the Halloween park because we park here every year when we go trick-or-treating. We also have several cookouts here each summer as there is an excellent field to play soccer on as well as the park being there to keep the little ones occupied.








































While Cali and I chased each other, Cassi practiced her gymnastics skills by doing the helicopter on the rings. Cori and Wren were creating an imaginary store of some sort which is a pretty regular thing with those two. I can only hope as adults they end up being half the entrepreneurs they try to be in their youth.






















It was about 7:30 when we got to the park on Friday. Our sunset is happening about 9:30 in the evening so we still had plenty of time to play. Since the two older girls had friends to play with, Cali and I had time to spend together.

She is just learning about slides and things or actually I should say she is just gaining the confidence to do it by herself. She has long know the joy she feels when she is on them. I took the camera like I usually do and started trying to get Cali's picture while she was playing. Some how this became a game of get my picture if you can.

It turned out to be a very fun game however she is so determined to beat me at it that she ends up moving very fast. She took a couple of spills from time to time that scared me but affected her little.

I thought you all might enjoy these photos. They certainly aren't portrait quality pictures however I hoped you might sense the day's story. I was a fun time for me as a mother and it is a memory I will keep with me. I felt her joy in simply running and trying not to get caught and I tried to catch it in film for all of you.













































































In the end I'd have to say that we all came out winners Friday night.








Love you all!

~Happy Easter~

Happy Easter to all of you. It was another blessed day in Alaska and we hope for all of you as well.

Scott and I were roused from sleep to many cries of glee and grinning eyes pleading to come hunt some Easter eggs
and rummage through Easter prizes. Cori explained that she and Cassi only found 1 or 2 eggs already but were ready to find more. Then she explained that she was sure there were more than the 8 in her basket. Apparently they had been up early and figured out there were easy eggs for Cali, which they did leave in place and harder hidden eggs for them. They got a jump on things before waking us up. They saved finding a few knowing Mom and Dad would want photos.























After a somewhat slow morning, we headed out to Grandpa's house. And it was off again for another hunt. The Easter Bunny hides the Easter baskets at Grandpa's house so the girls had to work for them. Cori found hers in the TRASH can, ewww! Cali really checked hers out and had a great time pouring tea
water) for everyone all day. I think Denali liked the tea the best. Cassi loved the new pants in her Easter basket and quickly
put them on.













AJ wrapped all the silver eggs in preparation for the big hunt later in the afternoon.

















Amber surprised everyone by having her hair cut off the other day also so we took the opportunity to take a photo of the lack of hair in the family.















Around 3:00 in the afternoon we headed for Holly's house for the annual easter egg hunt. I don't know exactly how many we hid but considering it took me at least an hour to fill eggs, I am pretty sure I filled nearly 200 hundred, possibly more. Holly did a huge amount of them too. All of the kids had more than they needed and plenty to fill an afternoon with fun.








































































Like usual, we hid silver eggs. Growing up Grandpa hid 1 silver egg with a large amount of cash in it; we have since changed it to hiding many silver eggs with an assortment of prizes and cash. These are the coveted eggs and trust me when I tell WE fight for them. I never hide the silver eggs. This is mostly because I like to antagonize the kids and find them before they do. I listen for the clues just like they do and then push them down in the snow to get one step ahead.





































The day is great fun for me and it takes me back to memories of my youth. I enjoy sharing those memories with my children and making new ones that they will look back on in years to come. As you might notice from the photos, no place is sacred and physical strength can come in handy. In the end the hardest eggs fall into to the hands of the oldest kids simply because the youngest are content to relax and watch the frenzy.


































































To some of us the fun is in the winning and then to some, well there is the cash!













And then to others, it's all about those beautiful colors and fancy Easter baskets.





















Since Scott and Grandpa hide the hardest eggs worth the best prizes, they don't get to hunt for them. However, speaking from experience, they take the least falls and go home with the fewest injuries. And they comfort the fallen.





















Once all the eggs have been found, everyone heads inside to see what they've found. Some of us use the opportunity to take more photos and eat...again.










Then we all go home realizing that, of course, it's worth it and gee, I'm glad we decided to do it one more year. And me, I am just wondering how many years I'll be digging out my 39 year old Easter basket to go find some silver eggs.





Happy Easter to All of You from All of Us!