THE BASS FAMILY

Jesikah Made it to All County!

2012-02-15T15:08:00.002-06:00

Band try-outs for All County were a little over a week ago. Jesikah plays the clarinet and decided to try-out. It was a lot to learn and prepare. She had to learn a song called, "Chanson Op 35" by R Gliere. It was a bit difficult for her. In addition, she had to memorize all the scales. During the audition, first they played their piece, then the judge could ask them to play any scales and they had to be able to do it. Lastly, they had to sightread up to 3 pieces.

Jesikah was very nervous and she made a couple of mistakes, but I thought she did well regardless. She didn't think she made it because she made those mistakes, but that night, we found out that she MADE IT! She was ranked #6 out of 12. I was very proud of her! First, for making the decision to try-out. Second, for working hard to learn everything. And, third, for making all-county band. This coming Friday and Saturday, she gets to go practice with the All-County band and do a concert on Saturday.

I really like the middle school band teacher. Jesikah has never had a clarinet lesson and is doing very well for only her second year in band. She and I are preparing a piano and clarinet piece to play in church. It has been fun. It has made me want to have a family band. I want Tessa to start flute next year in band because it would go well with piano and clarinet. Jarem wants to learn the violin, but I am not sure if he would be made fun of for it because some people consider it a "girly" instrument. I want Jarem to learn the trumpet too and then move to french horn. But I do want a violin player as well.

Here is the link for Jesikah playing Chanson before try-outs that morning.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZJL_8lOL0U

Polka-dotted Devils Cake

2012-02-08T10:53:00.047-06:00

Above is the picture that my brother, James, gave us for Christmas. I love it and was so happy to find a place for it right above our family home evening board. This family home evening board has been working out great, and everyone loves having turns doing everything. As you can see, Jesikah was the treat this past Monday, which is what this post is really about. :)

Jesikah didn't have a lot of time to make a treat because of after-school activities, but she LOVES to bake (especially desserts). I told her she needed to do something quick, but she decided this cake was quick enough. It wasn't, is what we figured out part way through. Regardless though, I was trying to help her get it made quickly and adding ingredients into the mixing bowl. She started freaking out because I hadn't sifted the flour and I didn't mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. She is very much a perfectionist and I was helping to move this along quickly. Well, about this time, I told her I was not going to get yelled at for helping so she could finish alone and I went upstairs.

Later, after it was baked, she wanted my help putting the layers together. While I was transferring the top layer to the cake, a chunk fell off! You can't imagine her dismay! I quickly repaired it and started frosting hoping to get it done before she saw it, but it was not quickly enough. Again, she starting freaking out and was blaming me for everything that was going wrong. Again, I left and let her finish. She ended up with a two-layer cake that was more waterfall style. I thought it turned out pretty, but I guess it was my fault that part of the back fell off and the layers had to be tiered. Anyway, let's just say, this cake was a source of contention not only between us, but between everyone because Jesikah couldn't take her turns in the game we were playing because she kept having to leave to work on the cake.

When it was all said and done, Eric said something like, "We should have known better than to make a devil's cake for family home evening." Everyone laughed at the irony! The devil is the father of contention, and contention was what we had a lot of all during the process. So we determined, we would not have anymore devil's cakes for family night! :)

Changes

2012-02-08T10:53:00.006-06:00

This past Sunday there was a new ward created in Clarksville. Clarksville 2nd and 3rd wards were split to create a new ward, which is 5th ward. This is exciting to see the church growing so much in this area. That makes 5 wards in Clarksville. We are part of the new 5th ward, but we are with most of the previous 3rd ward members. Our ward didn't have a lot of change, but we did lose about 10-12 families and got a new bishopric. Below is a picture of the 3 new bishoprics that were created due to the split. This is a picture that will be going in the paper. Eric is third from the right. He is the 1st counselor in the new bishopric. He is happy to do whatever calling he is asked, but was thinking he was going to get released with the change and have more free time. :) He did get released from the 2nd counselor to the bishop in 3rd ward and put in the 5th ward as the first counselor. He is excited to be working with the young men and young women now instead of the primary. Primary is a lot of work and he really enjoys the teenagers more. He will also be working with a new bishop and 2nd counselor, so he is excited to learn from them.

Funny thing is, because it is a new ward, everyone was released from their callings in their previous wards and they are starting out with a fresh palette. I hope I get my calling back as the ward music leader because I have LOVED that calling and only had it a few months. It is a lot of fun to create music and help others use their talents as well.

Honey

2012-02-08T10:51:00.017-06:00

I am so grateful for my friend, Laura, who got me motivated to do this project! I bought a 60 lb bin of local honey last year. It has been sitting on the floor of my pantry gathering dust. I needed to transfer it into quart jars so I could more easily use it, but it has gotten ignored.

Well, Laura texted me the other day wanting to buy some honey from me. I proceeded to tell her that it was all still in this giant jug. Sweet Laura offered to help me jar all the honey if she could buy some. This morning she came over, and we got it done within an hour. The honey tasted delicious and was so smooth. I can't wait to finally start using it! You can probably see the big bin in the background propped in the sink getting the last drops of honey into the 19th quart jar (not counting Laura's 2). Thank you Laura for your help and for giving me the kick in the pants that I needed to get this done! :)

Some Random Things

2012-02-08T06:18:00.002-06:00

I like the iPhone blogger app for a lot of reasons. However, just a few simple things (I think they would be simple) could make it so much better:

1) I can't turn my phone sideways to type, which makes the typing screen skinny and difficult to type on.
2) The pictures come up in random order and you can't type under the pictures. That makes it difficult to organize a post.
3) What you edit on the iphone stays on the iphone even if you update it on the computer.

What I love is: it is extremely convenient to transfer pictures from my phone to the blog! I tell you this because, you may see pictures without a lot of words posted. That is because I have to publish to get the pictures from my phone to the blog but I want to wait to do the rest of the typing on the computer.

In this post are just a few random things that I have pictures of which have happened in the last couple of weeks.

Tessa's Solar System project (she made Saturn). It is very glittery on the top with swirls.

I used my first pizza box to make a giant cookie for bunko! Since Bunko is a dice game, I decided to freehand some dice. I thought it was kind of cute. I am an alternate for Bunko if someone can't come and it suits me perfect because I don't have the monthly commitment but can go and have fun on occasion. In this group everyone brings something and everyone comes home with something. I like that.

Tessa and Jarem had a lot of fun building towers with Jenga blocks on Sunday afternoon. I had just laid down on my bed to take a Sunday afternoon nap when Jarem came in wanting me to come and see his tower. My tired body did not want to get up, so I gave him my phone and told him to go take a picture on my phone and bring it to me so I could see it. He was happy with this option AND so was I. Here is the tower he built. I was surprised it stayed up.

This dress Jesikah and I found at Deb. She LOVED it and she said she wants a prom dress exactly like this someday(with a shrug, of course), so I took a picture of it for her. This was a couple of weeks ago during a night out with Jesikah. She had a really difficult week, so I decided to take her out on Friday night to get away from everything. She loved that and wanted to go to the mall. We shopped at the mall. She got some new tennis shoes, which she wants to use to start walking and running afterschool. She has a goal to get in shape so she can try-out for the basketball team next year. She has a long way to go, but she is a motivated girl who knows what she wants and is willing to work for it.

We spotted a new salon, a "Brow Spa". She wanted to try it out, so she paid with her own money to get her eyebrows shaped. They don't use hot wax, they do it the way my friend said they do in India using 2 threads. It was very interesting to watch, and Jesikah said it hurt pretty bad, but they turned out perfect. I bought her a very cute tank top with a giftcard I had for only $8. Then we ate at ChickFilA. All in all it was a fun night.

More Dance Pics

2012-02-04T19:49:00.000-06:00

The next couple of pictures are putting on the corsage:

We almost forgot the corsage, but I was glad we remembered. It looked so beautiful with her dress!

Leaving our house! Good thing Armani provided an umbrella because our umbrellas are nothing we would want pictures of. In fact, they could be considered a stabbing hazard! I can't believe that my boy is 16 and old enough to date! I hope they have a great time!

Alex's First Date

2012-02-04T18:00:00.002-06:00

Armani Martinez asked Alex to Winter Fest which is a school dance at their high school. She goes to our church and is in his seminary class. They had a good time dancing together at one of the stake dances recently and the next day she asked him to the dance. It probably would have taken him FOREVER to get the guts up to ask a girl on a date, so it was good she asked him. :) He was pretty nervous but I think he was excited too. They looked so cute together. Here's some pictures that Jesikah took on my phone. I used my new editing app on my phone to adjust them a little and change the color on a couple of them. I will add some pictures from my camera later. My auto-focus no longer works on my camera, so I need to decide whether to deal with the manual focus, get it fixed, or get something else.

Tessa Is Recognized

2012-01-28T09:52:00.001-06:00

Last week Tessa was recognized in an awards assembly for getting straight A's on her report card.

In addition, she also was invited to become a member of Jr Beta club. Her Beta club induction ceremony was held last Thursday. This club requires that students keep their grades very high and do not have any disciplinary problems. We are very proud of all she has accomplished this year.

The first picture is of the awards ceremony. The second two pictures are of the beta induction ceremony where Tessa received her certificate and pin from the principal and vice principal.

New Year's Resolutions

2012-01-21T13:27:00.033-06:00

I know that it is mid-January already, but I am not going to miss posting my resolutions this year. My friend Susan told me that my new year's resolution should be to post my new year's resolutions. :) In making new year's resolutions, I like to review my ones from last year. In thinking back, I thought I had completely failed at last year's goals. But when I went back and reviewed my 4 goals from last year, I did better than I thought. These were my last year's goals:

1) Prioritize and stay on top of things better--I did better at this but still have a long ways to go. My iphone calendar has been great though. It is really helping me stay more organized because I always have it with to put things in when I find out about them.

2) Exercise at least 4 days a week-I accomplished this one!! I have been running with my good friend Priya 5 days a week ever since last May. It has been great! The second part of this goal was to lose 8 more pounds which I didn't accomplish. In fact, I gained some of what I had already lost back. However, I was able to maintain my weight as long as I've been running. Now, if I could only change my diet I could lose the rest.

3) Do regular piano lessons with the girls-I failed at this one. I did pretty good through maybe March and then didn't do anything except help them learn Christmas songs the rest of the year. Alex did make good progress with his new teacher though, but quit at the end of December. He is continuing to work on hymns and Jesikah is now taking his spot with the new teacher. Now, if I could only just teach Tessa...
4) De-clutter/de-junk and re-organize every room in the house and donate or sell things we no longer use--I made it probably half-way through the house on this one but didn't accomplish it.

As for last years, I would like to continue working on the ones I didn't accomplish and maintain the ones I did.

Now for my new goals...

1) Find ways to spend time with Alex every day-I want to build my relationship with Alex so I am determined to find ways to spend time together and at least have pleasant conversations. If I don't accomplish an hour, I am ok with that as long as I have positive associations with him each day. I have already been doing this one and have seen improvement in our relationship although he does fight it. You may say, "what about the other kids?" Well, I feel like I already have ways of spending time in place with all the others each day and each week, and those relationships aren't struggling.

2) Follow Through and Stop Nagging-I need to be better about following through with what I tell the kids and not constantly bug them about things they need to do. Whether it is a consequence if they don't do something or a reward or whatever. I tend to easily be convinced to let them have a friend even if their jobs are not done even though that is the rule or not do something that I promised I would. I have been working on this one already and the kids are responding. I am determined to stop nagging the kids and let the natural consequence or set consequence come. This is something that we were taught in the parenting class I took last year. It is a tough one for me because I want to keep reminding them so they don't have to face the consequence, but it gets me irritated and it gets them irritated and is many times the source of arguments. I think that as long as the rules are in place and the consequence is followed through, it will be much more successful.

3) Complete my blog books for 2010 and 2011

Tessa's 5th Grade Dance

2012-01-21T12:16:00.002-06:00

To motivate students to behave in 5th grade, the principal holds 2 parties or "dances" for all students who didn't get sent to the principal's office or kicked off the bus that semester. They have pizza, soda, goodies, and then music, dancing, and don't forget friends!

The dancing isn't the boy-girl type, it is more like line dances or group dancing. I asked Tessa if she would like me to come and help with the food, and she said yes. The first half, I helped with the food, and the second half I went into the dance and watched and interacted with her. It was fun and she was so happy I was there. She kept coming over and talking to me or hugging me. It made me feel grateful I decided to go. She had a great time and loves dancing and being with her friends.

One thing that was kind of funny was that the boy next door had "asked her" to the dance. It's funny how 5th graders do that since it isn't even a boy-girl thing. Anyway, I guess Tessa said yes and then later wasn't sure what that meant. Then the week before, she told him that she wanted to hang out with her friends and didn't want to feel like she just had to be with him during the dance. She said she was nice about it, and he seemed fine. I was glad that she thought it through and thought he might expect her to spend time with him.

I can't believe that she will be old enough to go to middle school next year.

Proportions

2012-01-21T11:28:00.002-06:00

Jesikah had to turn in a math project this week on proportions. As is the "Jesikah way", she wanted to do something "fancy" even though it could have been something simple. :) She loves to bake, so she found a way to incorporate baking into it. She had to have an example of something that was proportional and not proportional.

She decided on cookies and milk. A giant round cookie and a small heart shaped cookie represented in-proportional while two jugs of milk in different sizes represented proportional.

It was the first time we have ever made a giant cookie. It was fun and a learning process. It turned out really good. One thing I learned is when you ask to buy a pizza box at Sam's club, they come in lots of 50! Yes I bought all 50 for only $14! Now what to do with the remaining 49... I can make giant cookies for valentines day, and every meal that I make for someone else will now be pizza until further notice! :)

Her project was due on Tuesday, and she didn't get to report until Friday. I was a little irritated that the teacher didn't let her go first since hers was perishable. But, this is the teacher that Alex had for Math in 7th grade. And while I won't go into details, those of you who remember the teacher that was awful to Alex...this is the one. That said, Jesikah hasn't had the same problems (thank heavens)! Her teacher kept everything in the refrigerator, but Jesikah was pretty worried that the cookie would be stale, and I was too. A cardboard box just doesn't keep cookies fresh even in the fridge. In the end, it all worked out. The cookie still tasted really good (according to Jesikah) and everyone loved having cookies and milk during school.

Cold Campout

2012-01-17T19:45:00.002-06:00

Alex went on a scout campout to Bodie farm this past Friday night to Saturday. They slept in the barn out there. He had a great time. He got a little cold, but he said that he was okay.

I think the temperature got down to the high teens that night. He said they had a lot of fun. He always has a lot of fun with his church friends and leaders. They played capture the flag and one of their leaders even brought his Christmas tree for them to burn. I think that was the most exciting event of the night! Here are a few pictures that I captured from his phone:

He said that his hot chocolate was too hot so he left it and went to play capture the flag. When he got back it was frozen.

Their area inside the barn. It looks like they have a snack shelf in the back there. :)

Jarems awards

2012-01-12T13:47:00.001-06:00

Every nine weeks Jarem's school has an awards assembly. Jarem did really well this nine weeks. He received the award for all A's, the art award, and a reading award. The art award only goes to one person per class so I was really proud of him. We'll see what Tessa gets tomorrow.

Its snowing!

2012-01-12T13:22:00.001-06:00

I think this is our first real snow of the season. Here's a few pictures:

Gingerbread marshmallows

2012-01-10T15:29:00.001-06:00

I found some gingerbread marshmallows on sale at Walmart for $.37. They were still soft so I decided to buy them. I never knew the kids would have so much fun with little gingerbread marshmallows. Jarem and Tessa dressed them and put them in all kinds of different poses and configurations. They had so much fun with them. Jarem pretended they were two football teams in huddles going against each other. Tessa pretended hers were cheerleaders doing formations and cheering the football team on. All in all it was a well spent $.37.

Cricut and Vinyl

2012-01-10T11:40:00.001-06:00

I finally tried using vinyl with my Cricut. I've had all the supplies for a while but I haven't dared try it. I was really surprised how easy it was. I cut out names for my new family home evening plaque. I was happy with results.

Cotton Candy

2012-01-10T11:15:00.002-06:00

On Saturday, everyone worked really hard and we accomplished a lot of projects and cleaning around the house. As a reward, we decided to treat the kids to Golden Corral for dinner (which is their favorite restaurant). To our surprise, cotton candy suddenly showed up on the dessert table as we were ready for dessert. I have been to Golden Corral many times in my life in many different places, but I have never seen cotton candy there before.

It couldn't have been a better surprise for the kids. Cotton candy is one of Jesikah's all-time favorites, which she rarely gets. The girls discovered it first then Jarem was a close second. Alex was watching them longingly, but was a little apprehensive because he wasn't sure if that was a little kid thing to do or not. I helped him out by picking one up for him and bringing it over to him. He seemed a little embarrassed at first, but he soon was enjoying it just as much as the rest of them, and he was the first one done! Alex loves anything with sugar so it didn't surprise me that he loved it so much.

Jarem with a cotton candy beard

Jarem using the tube as a horn

This was especially funny for any of you who have ever seen the Office episode where Michael sings the little song, "My horn can pierce the sky" when Dwight had bought up all the "princess unicorns" (which was the toy of the year for Christmas) to sell online. Anyway, I guess you just have to see it. Eric and his brother laughed about the episode for so long, and then we had to see it, so we watched it. I didn't want the kids to see it because there was a couple of questionable things, but they really wanted to see "my horn can pierce the sky" part, so I let them see just that part and now it is kind of a family joke.

Patti's 1880s Settlement

2011-12-30T10:11:00.000-06:00

Note: This is the first time I have tried posting from my iphone and the pictures appeared in the post in a different order than I uploaded them, so it is a little random.

On December 30, we went to Patti's 1880s settlement in Kentucky with Kyle and Jessica. I had been talking about going all Christmas break, and we finally had an available day. Alex decided to go to a friend's house, so he didn't come with us and Jesikah was feeling sick with stomach sickness so she stayed home. It was weird just having 2 kids along. I thought it was a cute little old-fashioned village, but I think Eric, Kyle, and Jessica were expecting a little more or maybe something different. Maybe I talked it up too much to convince them. :) I had never been there before, but several people told me it was a fun place with good food, so we went.

I enjoyed looking around the shops and I think Tessa liked it too, but everyone else seemed a little bored. We ended up having a good time though just getting out and being together. We walked around the small village for about 1 hour before our restaurant reservation. Kyle and Eric were so glad we didn't get there any earlier as we had planned. :)

We ate at Patti's Restaurant. Their house specialty is their 2 inch Porkchop and their lemon meringue pie with 7-9 inch meringue. I decided to get the 2 inch pork chop since I like to get the house specialty. It definitely was large! I ate about half and took the rest home which went into sandwiches for Eric and I the next day AND the black-eyed peas and ham which is our tradition for New Year's Eve. It was delicious! They were out of lemon meringue (which is Eric's favorite), but we did take two pies home: a butterscotch pecan and a chess pie. They were both good, but super, super rich. They could only be handled in small doses. The kids didn't like the pecan because of the nuts and we thought Eric's dad would eat it who came on New Year's Eve, but apparently he doesn't like butterscotch. In the end, we only ate a couple of pieces and Eric took the rest to work and they finished it off. We did eat the chess, but it went very slowly. I guess we picked the wrong kinds.

They had a fun area with several Christmas trees and decorations, so we took most of the pictures there.

My pork chop!

I got this picture while inside the shopping looking out at Jarem and Kyle playing chess.

Even the grilled cheese sandwiches were giant!

Christmas Day

2011-12-25T16:06:00.000-06:00

Well, I snuck in the room before everyone and saw that I got an iphone from Santa(yeah), so I used it to take pictures...still not as good as my camera though. However, Kyle and Jess helped me out by taking pictures from their camera too and letting me upload them. You'll be able to tell the ones from their Nikon versus my phone.

Before anyone came in the room

Coming upstairs Christmas morning

Alex didn't even want to wake up on Christmas

Looking at their Santa gifts

Jarem got a 2-wheel bike, and Jesikah and Tessa both got huge lego sets. Alex got an iphone. Me too. Eric got a guitar.

And stockings

Kyle, Taegan, and Jess

Each of the kids got one of these packs in their stockings

Jarem trying out his bike

TJ and Kalin

After Santa gifts and stockings, we had breakfast of our traditional almond roll and then got ready for church.
I had planned a Christmas music program for sacrament meeting that day. I was playing the piano for all the numbers and was a little nervous about everything going well. In addition, Sister Klein had called me on Christmas eve and said her husband was in the hospital and wanted me to play the organ on Christmas too. This was causing me a bit of anxiety because I am not completely comfortable on the organ and would rather have time to practice before playing, but of course, there was no time. I could have played the piano, but having the organ is nice on Christmas so I just sucked it up and did it. We did arrive about 30 minutes early so I could run through the songs. I felt like everything went very well. This was the first choir our ward has had in the 3 1/2 years that we have lived here. Both the director and I were inexperienced in putting together a choir. I thought it went amazingly well, and the other numbers too. It wasn't perfect, but considering where it was just a few weeks ago, I was very happy with it.

When we got home, everyone was ready for lunch. Eric had some things to take care of with a lady from church who he home teaches and so we waited until he got home and ate too. Then we started opening presents around 1ish?

The first thing our kids opened was their $20 from Grandma Cindi! Nothing like cash to make them smile!

Alex got a University of Oregon sweatshirt

Jarem got a scooter from Tessa

Sunny got earring from Jesikah

TJ got a phone and ipod charger from Sunny

Jess also got earrings from Jesikah

Taegan got a ...

HAT! And as cute as it was, he threw a fit right after this because he wanted it OFF.

Grandma got 2 mothers necklaces from us...one silver and one gold with the birthstones of her kids

Grandpa got gourmet black licorice from Tessa

Eric was kind of tucked back in the corner surrounded by gifts

Jarem excited that he got Legos too

Tessa got a Lego figure from Jesikah

Kalin excited about his gift

Jessica and Taegan having a cute moment

Kyle and Jessica and Taegan had their own Christmas before they left home because they weren't going to have a lot of room in their car, so they didn't really have much to open.

3 brothers with beanie caps knitted by their step-mom, Collette...can you see the family resemblance?

And 3 sister-in-laws, we also got cute hats and scarves too!

Kalin got Finn McMissile and he couldn't have been happier. He played with it everyday that he was here.

From the other angle...look at all those cameras on Kalin :)

Alex already in his sweatshirt

Lego guy from Jesikah...she gave each of her siblings 3 gifts

Each of the kids also got a knitted stocking filled with candy from Collette! She must have spent so many hours!

Tessa got a candy cane from Jesikah individually wrapped as her second gift.

Lyla was SO excited about her baby doll

So sweet...her parents couldn't have chosen better

Knife set that we got them

Mug to grandma from Jarem

Mug to Grandpa from Jesikah

Candle to Grandma from Jesikah

Alex gave Jarem his ipod shuffle and his gameboy DS! Couldn't be better for a 6 year old!

Jarem tackling Alex to give him a hug

Jarem got Alex a lego set

Jarem getting another hug from Alex

Jesikah hugging Tessa for her gift

It was a lego bride and groom set

Jess got a surprise present...6 tubes of body cream from B&BW! :)

Eric opening gift from Tessa. He won't like this pic because it looked like he had a double chin

Hugs from Tessa

Tessa gave grandma an ornament with cupcakes on a cake base. Very cute!

Hugs from Jesikah for his gift...the forbidden forest Lego set

A remote control helicopter for Alex...these are awesome. Eric got one too.

Makeup kit for Jesikah

Jesikah's gift to Alex. Iphone accessories individually wrapped

2 Cases, screen protectors, a stylus, and headphones

Tessa was excited about the city of Ember set of books

I made Tessa this book through Heritage Makers of her first year. She was excited to finally have a baby book.

Jarem also got a baby book

Tessa got Epic Yarn Kirby from Alex!

More of Jarem's book

Jarem was very excited about this Lego set from Jesikah

Tessa got this Lego set from Jesikah: City Corner

All in all, everyone was spoiled, and it was a very merry Christmas. Not only because of the gifts but because of the family that we were surrounded by. We cut down on gifts this year by only giving each child 4 gifts from us. But, with gifts from grandparents, friends, and gifts to and from each other, they were still very spoiled. It seemed that we were opening gifts long after everyone else was done and we were almost anxious to finish by the end. It was also a wonderful Christmas for me because it was on Sunday so we were able to attend church and enjoy the true meaning of Christmas as well. And secondly, because a lot of stress was relieved after the church program and organ playing and then I could truly relax and enjoy Christmas.

Christmas Eve: Gifts

2011-12-24T15:54:00.000-06:00

Our family has the tradition of opening pajamas every Christmas eve. This year we added a book exchange for all the cousins, so they could exchange gifts too. We started with the younger ones because it's too hard for them to wait.

Everyone got into their pajamas and then it was off to bed for the kids. Some of the adults stayed up and enjoyed the evening and talked. It was fun to be together with family.

Alex handed Lyla the first gift

She loved her books.

Taegan was next

He got a Curious George pat-a-cake

Next Taegan

Next Jarem

He got a drawing book, 2 sticker books, and

Knuffle Bunny Free

Next Tessa

She got Ivy and Bean books 3-6

Jesikah got...

And Alex got the newest one in the Wimpy Kid series. He's collected all of them through the years.

Now pajama time! We let me all open them at once on the count of 3.

Eric and I got pajamas too

After everyone got their pajamas on, it was off to bed for the younger ones. Some of us adults stayed up and talked until late. It was fun to be together with family again.

Christmas Eve Music & Nativity

2011-12-24T14:20:00.001-06:00

After eating, we usually start our annual program. This includes performances by any or all and then the reading and acting out of the nativity story. This year it started out a little differently because after dinner, I took a quick chance to go to the piano and run through the music I would be playing on Christmas Day at church. Since Alex, Jesikah, and Eric are all in the choir...they all eventually migrated in to sing as well as Tessa who has also been there for all of the practices. Then my mom and TJ joined in as well, and they sang all three of the choir songs together while I played and we even repeated a couple of them. It was a very enjoyable experience for me to be there creating music together with my family.

Then, we officially started our program. Alex, Jesikah, and Tessa each played one song on the piano, and then the girls sang, "When Christmas Comes to Town".

Eric waiting for the girls to sing

Girls singing

Jessica and Taegan

My parents with Jarem and Kalin watching the show

Me coming back from turning on the music

Kyle and Taegan

Then, we moved into the nativity:

Jesikah helping Tessa be "great with child"

Mary and Joseph on the donkey (aka Eric)

Riding to Bethlehem

Baby Jesus (Taegan) is born. (He didn't last too long though)

And lo the angel of the Lord appeared

And the shepherds were sore afraid. (TJ and Kalin as sheep)

Everyone gathered around baby Jesus

Mary with Jesus (remote for distraction)

And the wisemen brought gold coins for Jesus

Christmas Eve Smorgasbord

2011-12-24T13:31:00.011-06:00

I am breaking down Christmas Eve into 3 blog posts since I have so many pictures. Part 1: Christmas Eve Smorgasbord, Part 2: Christmas Eve Music and Navitity, and Part 3: Christmas Eve Gifts.
It is a tradition for us to have a smorgasbord of food on Christmas Eve as well as clam chowder, so we did it all. There was a lot of food, and it was delicious. Everyone pitched in and helped prepare and clean up. This was a fabulous group of guests to help in both cooking and cleaning. It really took the pressure off of me.

With Alex

Family and Lights

2011-12-23T13:24:00.000-06:00

Thursday afternoon (Dec 22nd), the rest of our guests arrived. Grandpa Bass came (just for one night). Also, Eric's brother, TJ and Sunshine came with their 2 children (Lyle and Kalin) from Gainesville, Florida. We also had Kyle and Jessica and little Taegan from Huntsville, Alabama. We were excited to have a full house to share Christmas with.

Tessa and Jarem ready to watch a movie with cousins, Lyla and Kalin

Grandpa Bass with his huge bowl of ice cream sitting next to TJ

The following day, my parents, Jesikah, Tessa, Jarem, Sunny, Kalin, and I went to the Opryland Hotel to see the lights. It was all of their first time. Even our kids hadn't seen the lights at Christmas.

Everyone minus Sunny and I outside the hotel

Kung Fu Panda was there...he was a live person that would imitate people

Poinsettias at the bottom of the big tree outdoors.

It was a pleasant night, and we even found free parking. Jessica was thoughtful to stay home and make dinner and Taegan also was sick. The husbands and Grandpa Bass had been golfing earlier and had been too cold to go out again. Jessica had a delicious dinner waiting for us when we arrived home of sweet pork, seasoned rice, yummy sauces, and pico de gallo. We all got the recipe! My camera quit working, so I had to take all these pictures on my phone. So sad!

Baking with Grandma and Grandpa

2011-12-22T13:06:00.000-06:00

We were the lucky ones that got to have my parents for Christmas this year. This was the longest they have ever stayed, and we enjoyed every minute of it. They arrived on December 18th and didn't leave until December 28th. When they are here, it just feels like home...very warm and inviting. They helped me with Tessa's Christmas party on Monday(since I am the room mother) and then on Tuesday we made Christmas cookies and goodies all day and delivered them to neighbors that evening. The kids and I had so much fun decorating cookies with Grandma and Grandpa. On Wednesday, they made gingerbread houses with us(everything homemade) and we all had fun decorating them. Thursday, they helped me clean and cook for the rest of our guests that would be arriving that day.

Fancy sugar cookies

Look at the roses on the side of the house...that was Jesikah's brilliant idea

The roses are made of a spice drop cut in half, and a starburst warmed, flattened and rolled. They were so cute! Tessa made some lilies too that you can see at the corners of the house. Even Santa was coming out of the chimney. We all loved decorating. Even Alex decorated the chimney after my dad reminded him that he only has a few Christmases left at home. :)

Holiday Music Performances

2011-12-15T12:48:00.000-06:00

Within 5 days(Dec 10-15), we attended 3 musical performances for our children: Alex's piano recital, Jesikah's band concert, and Tessa's honor choir Christmas concert. I do enjoy all the music around the holidays, but it also puts stress on me to learn music since I typically accompany a lot this time of year. I accompanied all 7 songs for Tessa's Christmas concert which featured 3rd, 4th, 5th, and honor choir.

Alex playing Fantasia at his piano recital

We were very proud of Alex at his piano recital. He learned and memorized a five page song that was beyond his level and did a great job. It's sad, but due to his resistance and lack of responsibility towards piano lessons recently, Eric and I made the decision to take him out of lessons after this recital and give Jesikah the opportunity. Alex has improved much since taking from Mrs. Robbins and we are happy with the progress he has made. He will continue working on hymns since he plays in priesthood meeting each week.

Jesikah playing the clarinet during the band concert

The band concert was really great and in several parts where we could hear just the clarinets, they sounded really amazing.

Tessa in the center(slightly left) looking straight at the camera with the Santa hat, smiling

This was only half of the group that performed

Many of the teachers

Mrs. Ford (the school principal) invited all the teachers to come up and be recognized. Their elementary school has recently been ranked in the top 5% of Tennessee. It really is a great school with amazing faculty.

Me behind the piano (picture courtesy of Jarem)

Jarem had to sit by a friend of ours since Eric didn't arrive until late due to his work schedule

Jesikah and I behind the piano. Jesikah helped me turn pages.

All the grades and honor choir sounded great. I am always my own worst critic and although the piano was fine, there was a couple of things that could have been improved.

Pictures with Santa

2011-12-13T12:23:00.001-06:00

Jarem and Tessa sitting on Santa's lap at our ward Christmas party last weekend. It was a good time, but very poorly attended. Jarem figured out who Santa was right away since it is one of Alex's friends, Patrick (a big, tall guy). He did a great job though. Jarem said he wanted a two-wheel bike and Tessa said she wanted Legos.

It's a Wonderful Life

2011-12-12T10:48:00.003-06:00

Alex was in his school play, "It's a Wonderful Life". They performed 3 nights (Dec 1-3). He played the part of Uncle Billy. He had a great time because some of his friends were also in the play. They had a big cast. Our next door neighbor is the drama teacher, so she keeps Alex involved in the plays as much as possible. Eric and I were able to go to 2 out of the 3 performances, and it was amazing! One of the nights, we took the kids, and they thoroughly enjoyed it too. They had big crowds every night. Just one of the nights, they had more people there than all 3 of their nights together at the last play! It was a great success! (Watch for Alex in the red sweater vest and bowtie). He was the comic relief in the play. My favorite scene of his was when he taunted and harrassed Mr Potter about the Bailey Boys. He was hilarious. You'd think he'd had experience harrassing and teasing or something... What else are siblings for? But seriously, we were very proud of his effort. (By the way, all credit for the pictures goes to Paula Peek whose daughter was Alex's wife in the play) My camera wouldn't take a thing in the dark.

George at the beginning

George meeting Clarence the angel

Clarence: "He's not listening"

Graduation party

Alex's first appearance as Uncle Billy in the red vest

George and Mary courtship

Uncle Billy: "Come Quick"

George and Mary wedding

Congrats

Kiss

Bank in trouble

Everyone wants their money

Give me my money

Handing out money

We did it!

Toast

Counting money

Harrassing Mr Potter about the Bailey boys being in the paper

Accidentally tucks money in newspaper and hands it to Mr Potter

Talking on phone

Turmoil

Something bad has happened

How much money?

George to Uncle Billy: "What were you thinking you stupid silly old fool?"

What to do

We got the money

All George's friends pitched in to help

A merry Christmas afterall

Should Auld Aquaintance Be Forgot

Running Club

2011-12-11T20:00:00.000-06:00

Here is Tessa running in her school sponsored Running Club. This past week our local newspaper ran an article on her school's Running Club and this was one of the pictures that they included with the article. (See below in italics). They meet once a week after-school for about an hour to run. Tessa enjoys it and it is a fun, free, and convenient way for her to stay in shape. She is also a part of 4 other school clubs which are before or after school: Honor Choir, Computer Club, Jr. Beta Club, and in January she gets to start Club Invention. It is a great way for schools to help kids her age to get involved for free and and very convenient for the parents to only provide transportation one way. I am very grateful to all the teachers who dedicate their time and energy to sponsor clubs such as these.

A rapidly growing running program at Rossview Elementary is helping to identify and encourage future track and cross country stars, and more importantly, teach kids the importance of regular exercise.

Under the guidance of Rossview P.E. teacher and former Austin Peay cross country runner Mark McNiel, more than 160 students stayed after school Wednesday to run laps around the gym as Christmas music played over the sound system. That was the start of the hour-long weekly meeting for the Rossview Running Club, which McNiel said had about 100 fewer kids when he started it three years ago.

He ran cross country for the Govs from 1993-1997 and has also coached high school teams at Rossview at Northeast during his 13 years of teaching. After he numbered the kids off into 31 groups to perform various cross-training exercises, he said his new role was an adjustment.

"The competition (aspect) is totally different," he said.

McNiel tries to give additional encouragement to those kids who are doing especially well, and he said some of them even do races such as the 1-mile or 5K runs at Saturday's Jingle Bell Jog. The school is also getting a $40,000 200-meter track next spring with funds raised by the parent teachers organization.

"That'll allow us to do a lot, especially from being outside," said McNiel, who said when the weather allows they generally go out to the high school track and run as far as two miles.

Rossview High cross country coach Wade White said the club is one of the few school-sponsored sports in Clarksville for elementary students, and he shares McNiel's hopes that it will get students off the couch and into the habit of doing some physical activity.

Live Nativity

2011-12-07T10:58:00.000-06:00

As part of the Festival of the Nativity, the kids and Eric chose to participate in the live nativity. Since I was playing the piano off and on during different times, I didn't get the chance, but they really enjoyed it and they sure did look cute. It started out with Eric volunteering to be a wiseman, and then when the kids were done singing, they all wanted to join him.

Festival of the Nativity

2011-12-06T12:05:00.000-06:00

This past weekend our church held a community event called "The Festival of the Nativity". It was very amazing. They had nativities displayed from around the world as well as beautiful trees and decorations. Also, there was live music played all during the 3 day festival (4-9 each evening).

Friday and Sunday, I spent the entire 4-9pm period of time at the festival. I accompanied for several people who were performing and stayed to listen to other performers. Friday night, they had a performance of the Messiah by the Nashville Community Choir and orchestra. There were about 90 members including choir and orchestra. It was an amazing performance. Saturday I was there for about an hour and got to hear the bell choir from Madison Street United Methodist Church of which I took a couple of pictures at the bottom. Sunday was another excellent night including the Cumberland Winds, and 4 members from 2 different country bands in Nashville who did an hour performance that was amazing. Then, there was the First Presidency Devotional broadcast which is always wonderful. Eric and the kids participated in the live nativity which was outside the church on Friday night. It was a very uplifting weekend!

My shell nativity

Bethlehem village

Jesikah's favorite: nativity in a glass ball

Tessa's favorite: eskimo nativity

Standing from the stage looking into the chapel

Bell Choir

Putting up the Christmas Tree

2011-11-28T11:14:00.001-06:00

It seems too overwhelming for us to put up the Christmas tree and decorate it in the same day. This year, we put it up last night (Sunday, November 27th) and decorated it tonight for family home evening. Jarem and Tessa have been SO excited about the holidays this year. They are begging me to get the decorations out for every holiday. I think it just makes it feel special for them.

I put the top on the tree this year:

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures during the process of decorating, but everyone helped and here was the end result:

It's Finally Happened!

2011-11-26T11:03:00.000-06:00

Jarem has waited long for this day! He finally lost his first tooth! He has been telling us that he has loose teeth for what seems like years now, but they weren't loose, and when they were, just barely. But, it has finally happened!! He got $5 for his first tooth from the tooth fairy, but will likely get $1 for each additional. He is a lucky boy! He was most excited to tell his class and get put something on the lost tooth chart at school.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-24T10:59:00.001-06:00

We had Thanksgiving at our house this year with Kyle, Jessica, and Taegan. It was relaxed, but also a very enjoyable one. Kyle and Eric left to go hunting at their dad's on Thanksgiving late afternoon, which left Jessica and I to shop for Christmas. Jesikah also came with us this year. Wal-Mart and Kohl's had insane lines, but I think we ended up with everything we wanted and more. :)

The feast

Pies (2 chocolate, 2 pumpkin, and a cherry which they took to their dad's)

Cute Taegan

Loading up our plates

Eric getting sweet potatoes

After dinner, we rested for a little bit and then I took some family pictures of Kyle, Jessica, and Taegan for their Christmas cards. I thought they turned out really cute. It was a beautiful day. Such a cute little family! Kyle also took pictures of us which I will post later.

A Day of Reunions

2011-11-19T09:46:00.036-06:00

Nick and Jeremy on a different day

Me and my friend, Linda, on a different occasion

What a fun day! It just so happened that two families of our dear friends were coming to Nashville today from different places at different times. The bad part...I didn't get a single picture! The first, Linda Howe (who now lives in Huntsville, AL), was planning to meet Tina, Elke, and I for lunch at Panera Bread. It was so wonderful to see her again. She is such a neat friend, and such an example to me of so much I want to become. She is so talented and such a wonderful mother. It was great to talk with her and get caught up for a couple of hours. Alex came with me because Linda brought her two sons, Nick and Jeremy who are almost like brothers to Alex. Alex had a good time with them. We shopped for a little bit, and then Tina drove me to meet Eric and the other kids for our second engagement: Dinner with the Parks.

We were planning to meet at the Cheesecake Factory, but I didn't consider how busy it would be on a Saturday night and dinner for 14, just wasn't feasible. We ended up miraculously getting a table at Carraba's with only a ten minute wait. They were good friends of ours when we lived in Washington, and they now live in Georgia. It was so great to see them. Our kids all match up in ages and grades, so it was fun to see them interact or not. :) I missed getting any pictures of all of us, but I stole one from her blog from that same night after dinner when they attended the Rockettes at the Grand Ole Opry. They came to show the grandparents the sights in Nashville and the really covered everything in a short time.

Alex is 16

2011-11-13T09:02:00.000-06:00

Alex's birthday seemed to keep on going for several days. These pictures were taken after church on Sunday. I had offered to make or buy him a cake. He finally decided he wanted me to buy the Sara Lee frozen cheesecakes. The disadvantage, of course, was that they had to thaw for a day. He wanted one for himself and a couple for everyone else to share. That was fine because they were quite small. So, Sunday was the day for birthday cheesecake. We sat around, ate cheesecake and talked and laughed. It was an enjoyable afternoon. I love days like that.

Alex with his cheesecake

Trying to hide behind his tie from the camera

Jesikah

Tessa

Alex messing with Jarem

Trying to make him smile, I think

Jesikah made Alex a very clever card

And attached a Snicker's bar. On the otherside was a heartfelt note to him.

These two often don't get along, so it was great to have a tender moment between them, however brief it may have been.

I remember the day Alex was born. What proud parents Eric and I were! We were both emotional that we had been trusted to care for this precious little baby boy. He was such a good baby. He was always happy and hardly ever cried. He always slept all night unless he was sick, which was SUCH a blessing with Eric and I both still students and both working to make ends meet. We are very proud of Alex and all he has become in his 16 years of life. We are so glad he is part of our family and we love him very much. Here are 16 things we love about Alex:

1) He is smart.
2) He keeps us his grades and maintains straight A's most all the time without any encouragement on our end.
3) He has a strong testimony of the gospel.
4) He lives what he believes no matter where he is.
5) He is not afraid to share his beliefs with others or stand up for his standards.
6) He has clean language-he doesn't cuss.
7) He is a great soccer player.
8) He has a talent for the piano.
9) He plays the piano in Priesthood meeting every week even though it makes him nervous, and he has really improved.
10) He enjoys singing and he is good at it. He has worked to learn both tenor (before his voice change) and bass parts now.
11) He has a strong determination to do what is right and is always trying to improve himself.
12) He is a good example to his friends and younger siblings.
13) He can be a fun brother. Sometimes he will spend hours making up stories and acting them out with Legos to entertain Tessa and Jarem.
14) He is good at drama. He made the part of Uncle Billy in the school play, "It's a Wonderful Life", and his drama teacher cannot say enough good about him.
15) He has a good plan for his future and he's already making preparations for his mission and college.
16) He has a good sense of humor.

We are so blessed to have Alex in our family.

Soccer State Championship

2011-11-12T09:05:00.000-06:00

The last game of the state tournament was on Saturday, November 12th. Eric and I travelled to Murfreesboro to watch the game. It turned out to be quite a disappointing game. The referees made many bad calls against our team that cost our team a few goals and our team just wasn't playing their best. They kept having turnovers in the same place time after time. In the end, the other team won by 3 or 4 points.

I was frustrated because there were some loud obnoxious ladies behind us from the other team that kept making snotty remarks. Near the end of the game, I heard them say that they "really hope they have these refs for their next game because they are really good". Of course, knowing full well that the refs had made many bad calls in favor of their team. I wanted to go give those ladies a piece of my mind at the end of the game, but I withstood the temptation. I am not really a competitive person, and not usually one to be upset whether they win or lose, but I was thoroughly irritated by the end of the game, and Eric more so.

Alex's whole team had given up by the last quarter and you could see it. It was kind of a sad last game of the season. Had the won, they would have gone to the championship game. But, they have a lot they can be proud of. They had a great season. Like I told Alex, the reason he signed up was to improve his skills for school soccer, and he accomplished that.

Here's a few pictures of the game: (Alex is #2)

11/11/11

2011-11-11T17:37:00.002-06:00

It was kind of cool that Alex's 16th birthday landed on 11/11/11. He decided to have his 16th birthday party on Thursday the 10th until Friday the 11th. He made the decision to skip the soccer mandatory dinner in lieu of his 16th party and sleepover. It meant he had to do 50 push-ups the next day before the game, but the coach said he wouldn't penalize him as far as play time in the tournament. He felt it was worth it, so we let him make that decision.

He invited 7 boys over for pizza, games, and a sleepover. Two of them were not able to make it due to family travelling and work, but the other 5 came. I think they all had a good time. Some of them were not able to come until late because of a football banquet that night, so the real fun didn't start until late. They had fun playing Wii Mario Kart, especially. That is a game that never gets old no matter how old you are. It is always fun for all ages. They also played some other games like Apples to Apples and other video games and did the typical rough-housing that boys do. Eric was downstairs for awhile, and I asked him to take some pictures. He gave one of the boys my camera to take pictures. Here's what we got:

Patrick and Josh

Josh

Bryan (the one Eric gave the camera to)

Unfortunately, some of their rough-housing resulted in this. I felt bad because this was a vase my parents brought us back from Cancun that was on the fireplace mantle. They felt really bad afterward though, and were more careful after that. Alex has been trying to piece it back together. They liked having the basement to themselves.

The next morning we got up and I made homemade cinnamon rolls (because that is what Alex wanted), and Eric made some scrambled eggs. They boys enjoyed it. They stayed a little longer and then some of them had to leave.

Hugh and Jared were able to stay a little longer, so I got a couple of pictures of them playing some more Wii:

We had to leave for the soccer state championship by 4:30 that evening. It really was a great accomplishment that they made it to the tournament because in addition to just making it, their coach had moved them up a level bracket this year, so we were very proud of the team. Jarem and Tessa came (Jesikah had an activity she went to with a friend) with Eric and I and we headed to the location of the tournament (which was 30 minutes past Nashville).

Traffic was heavy, but we made it on-time. They had a good game, but lost by a small margin. Alex had a good game and got a lot of playing time. It was very COLD at the game, but we had dressed warm and stayed pretty warm. Jarem and Tessa were quite disinterested in the game, however, and were continually trying to draw our attention away from the game (especially Jarem).

We didn't get home until around midnight. We didn't have a chance for Alex to open his presents from us, because his friends stayed almost until we left. Then we got home and it was so late that we were all just beat. So his presents were still waiting for him the next morning on the table. He got up early and was ready to open them. (As you can see in the pictures, he slept in his soccer attire he was so tired).

He mostly got clothes, which was what he asked for. He loved the navy sweatshirt and the khaki shorts. That said though, I think he kind of disappointed to only get clothes. He did get some money from his Grandma and also from his friends. After trading in a couple of shirts that were the wrong size, he ended up with enough to buy Star Wars the Clone Wars, Season 2 and 3. He ended up a happy. (Above: Jarem built a lego creation for him and included some of his favorite guys as a birthday gift for Alex) It was very sweet.

Eric's Trip to Vanderbilt

2011-11-10T18:31:00.001-06:00

I had to take Eric to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville this week (Tuesday, Nov 8). He had a growth/mole removed on his face during the last week of September that had suddenly appeared and grown at an alarming rate. When it was removed, they thought it was benign, but after sending it to pathology, it ended up being squamous cell carcinoma.

See the growth next to his left eye-that is what was removed

Eric had to have MOHS surgery done at Vanderbilt. This is where they cut deep below the surface to get surrounding tissue and then do samples for pathology to make sure they got it all. I was nervous for him because the spot was right next to his left eye where his optical nerve is. It all worked out though, and since I am writing this later, I can say that it is healing quite well. They say that it is quite common to get more of these after you have had one, so he needs to be very careful about wearing sunscreen. Everyone in the office waiting was over 70, and when I finally thought I saw someone our age, I realized he was waiting for his mother. The lady that prepped us said that the average age for this surgery is 75. I guess it must be due to all Eric's sun exposure as a child that he got this so young.

All bandaged up

Travel Soccer

2011-11-09T11:59:00.000-06:00

One of the parents on the team got these great action shots of Alex

Alex's team after winning one of their tournaments (Alex wasn't pictured since this last game was on Sunday)

Alex has been playing travel soccer (for the first time) this fall. They started conditioning in July and their season ends this weekend with the state championships. Alex wanted to do it to improve his skills for school soccer in the spring. I do believe that his skills have improved, but it has been somewhat of a struggle for us...not only expensive, but SO many scheduling conflicts.

When the season started, we were told that practices were Tuesday and Thursday with games on the weekends. We knew that Sundays would be a problem since we don't participate in sports on Sunday, but we talked with the coach about that early on, and he was very understanding. Early on in the season, the coach changed the practices to Mondays and Thursdays. This wasn't great for us since we have family home evening on Monday nights, but we have just tried to deal with it. Then multiple times he has changed or added a practice on Wednesday (which is our youth group night), and the time always seems to conflict. There have just been so many things about the travelling on the weekends and the weekly schedule that have been difficult.

Also, Alex decided early on that he didn't like this as much as he thought he would, and it was even a struggle to get him to go to practices for awhile, especially in the beginning. They are much harder practices than he is used to. He has been better lately, but it was his decision to do this and we agreed to pay for it. That makes it very frustrating when he puts up a fight to go.

Then there are the games where we travel 5 hours round trip for Alex to play 5-10 minutes. Alex is good, but is not considered one of the best players on his team. This means that if they are playing a hard team, he doesn't get much play time. After these games, he gets down on himself because he must not have done well. There were a few times where he seemed so nervous that he might mess up and get pulled out that he was (1) afraid to get in there and do anything, and (2) messing up because he was so nervous he was going to. Don't get me wrong though, he has had games where he has played very well too and gotten a lot of playing time. It really has been kind of a roller coaster for his self-esteem. Competitive sports put such high pressure on these kids to perform well. I definitely could not have taken that kind of pressure at his age, so I do feel for him at times.

On the up side, it has been nice to have some one-on-one time with Alex while driving to some of the tournaments. Usually Eric and I trade off going, but I have taken him to the past few. Alex isn't one who likes to open up and talk much, so these long drives have usually been a good relationship-building experience (and we need as many of those as we can get). And, I do really like his coach and feel that he has taught Alex a lot.

The first day of the state championship is this Friday (Nov 11) in Murfeesboro, which is also Alex's 16th birthday. The kids have Friday and Monday off school for Veteran's day and because of the soccer schedule, he doesn't have a single night available to have a party or friends. Even Thursday night the coach has organized a MANDATORY team dinner for companionship. I do feel bad for him because he has 2 days off school, a weekend, and his 16th birthday, and not a day available to celebrate it with friends. He wants to skip the tournament, but his team has worked hard to get there and they are seed #2. It's a big deal and I feel he needs to see it through. But, at the same time, I know that there is a good chance he won't get much playing time, and then he will just be depressed the whole weekend. I also want him to have a good 16th birthday. What to do...what to do?

Halloween 2011

2011-11-05T11:21:00.000-05:00

This is a picture of the kids at the trunk or treat on Saturday night(October 29). Alex brought a couple of friends who went inside and played ball during the trunk or treat. It wasn't very well attended, but there were enough to make it worthwhile. Because there weren't a lot of people, all the kids kept going around and around. I think when all the kids had come around for the 4th time, I closed shop. I told my kids that twice was probably enough. Anyway, they all had a good time.

Then on Monday, we had a little open house type thing at our house. One of our good friends used to do this in Washington on Halloween when we lived there. They would have chili, soups, and breads for everyone on Halloween. People could stop by and eat before going trick or treating. It was very nice not to have to worry about a meal on Halloween and also to be with friends. We decided to try it this year, and it was a lot of fun. We enjoyed being with some of our friends on Halloween, and the kids enjoyed going out trick or treating with some of their friends. The only problem was...it made it into a pretty late night. Also, it does add extra stress to an already busy day with getting costumes together and all. Eric was home to help all day that day which was VERY helpful. I was not feeling very well, so it helped SO much. I am not sure yet if we will make it into a tradition or not, but if we do it again next year, we will invite more people. We had tons of food leftover, and with people coming and going, we could have accomodated more. We will have to think it through, but it was a VERY fun night.

Fortune teller, greek goddess, and leprechaun

Jarem's costume seemed to be a favorite of everyone. It made me happy when people asked me where I got it (since it was thrown together with odds and ends). :) I thought they all turned out good this year though, especially considering the very low price we paid.

Jesikah wanted to be a greek goddess, but the costume she liked cost $50, and I didn't want to put that much money into a costume. She looked online and found a greek goddess costume that she could make from a sheet. I was proud of her for being resourceful instead of getting upset. We had a white twin sheet that was available for use, and so with a little cutting and a couple of seams with the sewing machine, it made a pretty nice costume. We did buy the gold rope for a couple of dollars and the ivy to go around her head. I thought it turned out very pretty, and she was happy with the result which is sometimes hard to come by these days. She spent about an hour ironing it so it wouldn't look like a sheet. :)

Should Teenagers Trick or Treat?

2011-11-01T11:36:00.000-05:00

Should Teenagers Trick or Treat? What age is too old for trick or treating? These questions have been nagging at me ever since yesterday when my 15-year begged and pleaded to go trick or treating. The last time he went was just before he turned 13. I have always felt that kids should stop trick or treating around age 12 or 13. When I was a kid, we stopped at age 12. That seemed normal for most families then. Now-a-days, it seems people are trick or treating later and later, even adults are trick or treating sometimes.

Yesterday, a whole big group of teenagers from church wanted to go trick or treating together. Alex wanted to go too. After we verified who he was going with and where, Eric and I told him he could go but not trick or treat. (Afterall he hasn't trick or treated since he was 13 and he turns 16 next week. Besides, he didn't even have a costume.) When his friend's mom came to pick him up, I went out to talk to her to make sure of the plan. She said, "There is a whole big group of kids from church going trick or treating and Alex is the ONLY one not allowed to trick or treat." Then, I really felt like we were the mean parents. I kind of caved and said, "Well, I don't really care if he collects candy I guess, but he doesn't even have a costume". I was so mad! One that I kind of caved under pressure and second, that no other parents seemed to feel the same way that I did about this. This particular parent seems to be much more lenient with her kids than we are on many levels, but I felt that if all the other parents felt fine with it, maybe it was my problem. Maybe we were the mean ones?

I don't want to be the mean parent, and I really do want him to go out and have a good time with his friends, I just didn't think it should have been trick or treating that they did. I mean, they are all in high school. I have heard many people say that they do not like teenagers trick or treating at their houses. One person said, "If you are taller than the person who answers the door, you should be done." Alex is probably 5'10" or 5'11" now, so definitely taller than many answering the door. I don't mind if they all get together to do something else. In fact, I told him they could all come to our house and eat and hang out. We had tons of food prepared.

As it turned out, one of our sweet friends pitied poor Alex when he showed up to trick or treat at her house (costumeless and bagless), and she said, "This will not do." So she gave him a costume and a pillowcase to collect candy! I guess I was grateful that she gave him something because I am sure he stuck out like a sore thumb and felt like an idiot walking with the trick or treaters but not trick or treating. I didn't want him to feel like a misfit either, so I am glad he ended up having a good time even though I still really don't think high schoolers should be trick or treating. Maybe I am wrong. I will rethink this for next year. Give me your opinions on teenagers trick or treating.

Couldn't Be Happier

2011-10-29T16:16:00.000-05:00

Scene where Glinda is singing, "Couldn't Be Happier"

For those of you who have seen the broadway musical, Wicked, you will remember the phrase, "couldn't be happier". It was one of Glinda's songs near the end of the show. I have been singing this song over and over this past week because last weekend I was lucky enough to get to see Wicked in Nashville. I went with Jesikah (my daughter) and my sister-in-law, Jessica. Jessica also brought a friend. We had an awesome time and we "couldn't have been happier" about it. However, I was thinking of other things that I couldn't be happier about just for fun.

1) I couldn't be happier about Jarem and Tessa's teachers this year. Tessa's teacher is SO perfect for her. She 'gets' her so well! Everytime I see her teacher she just raves and raves about how much she enjoys Tessa. With Tessa, she is brilliant, but sometimes teacher's don't get her quirkiness or sense of humor. This teacher LOVES it and understands her like no one I have ever seen, and Tessa is very happy there too.

Jarem has a wonderful teacher too. She is so kind and gentle, but so incredibly good with classroom management and teaching. I was in his class this week and just couldn't have been more impressed with her manner and teaching methods. He does have a different teacher in the afternoon who is "stricter" by his definition, but I think they both do a great job and I am very happy about his teachers.

2) I couldn't be happier about the season of Fall. The leaves are so beautiful and the temperatures are amazing. Everywhere where I go, I am in awe of the beauty around me. And when I am outside, I feel like I need to just drink in the beautifully perfect days while they last. This is most definitely the season to live in Tennessee.

3) I couldn't be happier that my children all did their Saturday jobs today with NO nagging from me. We worked on getting them re-motivated last week at family council because their jobs have been scarcely getting done, and it worked! That makes me very happy.

There are many more, but I am going to stick with these three since they are the ones I am feeling most grateful for at this very moment.

First Frost

2011-10-29T15:46:00.000-05:00

Last night we had our first frost. It seemed like it came a little early this year, but I looked at the stats and I guess it is fairly normal. I know one year my roses were still blooming into mid-December. It doesn't look like it was cold enough to get my roses this time either. It just barely reached below freezing, but we had a good amount of frost on the ground. I took these pictures out my back window when I got up this morning, but the sun had already started to burn it off. The trees are sure beautiful everywhere lately! I absolutely love fall with the warm days and frosty nights.

Rubber Bands

2011-10-29T14:32:00.002-05:00

Rubber Band Wear

•Rubber bands are to be worn 24-hours per day, except when eating or brushing your teeth. Failure to wear your rubber bands, as instructed, can result in treatment running longer than expected. It may also affect the finished orthodontic treatment result.

•Change your rubber bands at least a few times per day with new rubber bands. Typically when you eat meals and brush your teeth. The rubber bands will eventually lose their elasticity.

THE END RESULT, IN ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT, IS ONLY AS GOOD AS THE PATIENT THAT FOLLOWS INSTRUCTIONS!

Yes, these are the same instructions Alex was given 6 weeks ago when his orthodontist introduced him to rubber bands. He was less than thrilled (as we all were). He tried them out for a few days, he felt the pain was relentless and wouldn't go away. He didn't want to bother with them. He would put them in when I would nag him about it, but I didn't nag nearly enough and he NEVER wore them otherwise. I kept warning him about having his braces on longer, etc. He wasn't concerned. Well yesterday he went back to the orthodontist for his 6 week check-up. As you may have guessed, they told him, "YOU HAVE TO WEAR YOUR RUBBER BANDS ALL THE TIME IN ORDER FOR THEM TO WORK." Then they talked to me about it. I notice that he wore them all day yesterday and last night, so I HOPE he has learned his lesson. I already warned him that if we go another month without making any progress, he will pay the monthly bill. And, I think he understands how serious I am about that!

High Heels

2011-10-28T23:09:00.000-05:00

So, I mentioned shopping for high heels in my last post. Here's the story:

Jesikah tried out for the middle school play over a month ago. She got a part as an "understudy". If you don't know what that is (cause I didn't), it means that she is a substitute for the real person who got the part. She still has to show up to all the practices(which are twice a week until March), memorize all the lines, and get all the clothes, shoes, etc...but she probably won't even be in the play. She might. I have tried to be positive about it because she was really happy she got a part and has really been trying to find her niche lately.

But, this high heel thing has just recently pushed me over the edge to grumpy. She came home this week after her Monday practice and said that she IS REQUIRED to have high heels (as high as you can find) for her part. Like many of you, I was less than thrilled for these reasons:

1) I feel she is too young to wear super high heels. A small heel is ok, but I feel that super high heels make girls look promiscuous and make boys notice them. There is just something about some types of heels that makes a girl feel "sexy" and I don't want that for my girl...not yet.
2) She doesn't own any, and I don't want to buy her first pair for a PLAY.
3) Once she has them, she will want to wear them other times too.
4) Shoes are expensive and she is very picky about what she likes and doesn't.
5) There is a good chance she won't even be in the play, so it would be a waste.

So, that said, I decided I would look at Goodwill while I was there two nights ago for some lightly used heels. Low and behold, I found some that had a decent size heel that I felt comfortable with, and they looked new in Jesikah's size!! Yeah!! I brought them home, she complained about them, said they were the wrong color, and then finally decided that she liked them and they would work. Whew! The following day she went to drama practice and came home last night telling me that wedges aren't allowed. Well that would have been nice to know. So it is back to square one. Last night while we were shopping for costume accessories, we looked at the heels. They are so expensive, and I really can't stand to see her in the super high ones. What to do, what to do???

These are the wedges at found at Goodwill...they look new!

Tired! And you will be too after you read this! :)

2011-10-28T12:05:00.002-05:00

Well, it has been a crazy few days! I am usually one to start thinking about my kid's costumes for Halloween around the beginning of October and then eventually get it pulled together by the end of October. Last year, however, Jesikah got out the dress-up box and pulled together costumes for she, Tessa, and Jarem with things we already had. That was GREAT!! This year, I just haven't been into it. Jarem and Tessa begged me to put up the Fall decorations, and we finally got some of them out last week. But, the costumes have been the farthest thing from my mind. The costume box has been pretty much depleted of anything that hasn't already been worn by everyone and I just didn't have any ideas.

At the beginning of the week I told myself, "It is time to focus on pulling some costumes together." I didn't want to spend a lot of money on those cheaply made costumes you can buy. Truth be known, I didn't want to spend any money...but the inspiration was just not flowing. I put it off until Jesikah got on the computer looking for costumes on Tuesday and I decided I could use some inspiration. When I saw a picture of a fortune teller, I thought that would be a perfect costume for Tessa and we could pull it together with some things from home and just a few things from the store. I still didn't have an idea for Jarem, but decided to take Tessa shopping at Goodwill on Wednesday afterschool (which didn't end up being until almost 5 since she has running club on Wednesdays after school). Maybe I would find something for Jarem too?

We found some things at Goodwill that were perfect for Tessa's costume. Of course, there were alterations that would need to be made, but I knew I could do it. The skirt was my size, not Tessa's. It had a perfect blingy waistband that we were going to cut and use it as a belt. Then somehow make the skirt smaller to fit her. The jewelry was broken but perfect for the costume and I knew I could fix it, and with a few other minor fixes she would be in business. All I found for Jarem at Goodwill was a green-striped polo shirt and a hat that I liked. Still no idea how they would translate into a costume.

We were under a time constraint while shopping. Alex and Jesikah had a combined boy and girl Fall church activity which was out at a barn and they were going to learn to ballroom dance and waltz as well as eat donuts from a string and have hot chocolate. They both were really looking forward to it. It started at 7pm, and Goodwill is on the other end of town. We knew we were limited on time and were doing very well until we got in line to pay...

Not a person had been waiting in line the whole time we were there, so of course, we weren't expecting to wait. Funny thing was, everyone seemed to migrate over to check-out at exactly the same time. Suddenly there were probably 5 people in front of us and one cashier as well as several behind us. The lady at the counter was trying to make some kind of return/exchange something. After 10 minutes when the cashier figured out she couldn't do it, she called the manager who must have taken another 10-15 minutes to make it up there. Then she took care of it and instead of opening another checkstand, left. By this time, I knew we were going to be late, BUT I wasn't about to leave my stuff and go like I'd seen someone else do. Finally, finally, finally, I made it through the line and got checked out. I had no idea what time it was and was very surprised I hadn't received a call from Alex or Jesikah yet. I soon found out why...When I got out to the car, there was my phone with 13 missed calls!! Well, to wrap up this long story, we were late (about 13 minutes) and they still had a great time while Tessa, Jarem, and I waited cause we didn't have time to go home and back. We got home late, worn out and went to bed.

When Jarem saw the green shirt and hat, he thought of a leprechaun or Luigi. I liked both ideas and looked up costume ideas for both. I decided that whichever I found the accessories for first would be IT. So after Alex's orthodontist appointment(saved for another post) and dinner, I headed out once again. (Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike going to the store and running errands?) Anyway, Jesikah NEEDED to go because she is in a play and needed high heels (again, saved for another post). So, off we went. Two hours, $50, and four stores later. We finally made it home. I was worn out, once again, but this time it was after 9 o'clock and I still had not started working on either costume (which both needed things made, and adjusted)! I had no hope of making it to bed anytime soon (and since I get up at 4:50am, usually I am in bed by 9:30). Well, I will save you the details and say that things went amazingly well, inspiration was finally flowing, and I made it to bed by 10:30pm which really was surprising.

Of course there was more to be done this morning since I changed my mind about Jarem's outfit and had to make some last minute adjustments. I then I faced the consequences of not having time at home the past two nights. We couldn't find Jarem's homework, backpack, and his buckles kept falling off his shoes. When we did find his homework, it wasn't finished like he had told me it was. Jesikah was supposed to help him while I was gone the first night. He supposed to write in a sentence whether he thought the story was real or make-believe and why. Also, another sentence about the main idea. This was what I found:

It says, "This is a real story because people really do this." Either way, the inventive spelling was darling even though it is supposed to be written correctly and he is missing a sentence. Not to mention the other page that also was not finished.

Also, I was asked to play the piano for the elementary honor choir(4th & 5th grades by audition) this year which is Friday mornings at 8am. Tessa is in honor choir, and I really am more than happy to do it, but this morning was not the day for me to be ready early. Regardless though, we made it only a couple of minutes late. I pulled Jarem out of class to finish his homework, got to watch the costume parade, and now I am sitting in a messy house just TIRED!

But it was all worth it to see how cute these costumes turned out:

Yes, I decided on leprechaun

Cutest leprechaun ever!

Walking with his class giving me the "no more pictures" look

Here comes Tessa's class. Her teacher in the red stripes is Waldo in Where's Waldo.

And there is Tessa in the parade

She was debating on whether she should be a fortune teller or a gypsy. With the crystal ball though, she ended up a fortune teller. And she has her book with the fortune teller in it. (They call it Storybook Character Day and they are supposed dress up like a character in a book).

I was happy with how her costume turned out too.

Each grade team of teachers made a painted pumpkin for display in the front lobby. Then all the classes voted on which one was best. Here are a couple of them:

Now that I got that out, it is time to face the mess below:... sewing box, scissors, hot glue, fabric scraps, tape, rick rack, ribbon, leftover breakfast cereal, and the rest!

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-26T13:28:00.000-05:00

What's Fall without going to the Pumpkin Patch? Jarem had his annual field trip to the pumpkin patch this past Thursday, October 20th. It was a cold, windy day with highs only in the 50's. I was hesitant to even go, but he was insistent. Besides, I kept reminding myself that this might be the last year he goes on a field trip to the pumpkin patch. They don't do many field trips here, and as they get older it is fewer and fewer. In the end, I was glad I went. We bundled up, and the cold wasn't bad except during lunch. At least the sun was out, and the fall colors really are beautiful just lately. We went to Honeysuckle Hills Farm.

This was pretty cute! The 3 little pigs with brick house, stick house, and straw house (not pictured)

Also, Jarem is holding hot cider. We got that to warm up, and he loved it. I think the pigs may have been his favorite thing.

Teaching time...learning about how pumpkins grow and bees

Waiting for the hayride, which they didn't have room for parents:( Jarem was so sad.

Just coming off the big tube slide...he loved it!

Picking his pumpkin! He is a boy who knows what he wants. :)

Proud of his choice

Showing me

Getting back on the bus to go home

Some Fall trees!

It was a great day!

Cocoa Beach, Swimming, and Cousins!

2011-10-26T10:25:00.001-05:00

We spent Tuesday and Wednesday at Cocoa Beach, while staying at a hotel next to Cocoa Beach on Tuesday night. Grandma Cindi met us down there and spent two days with us. It was a nice time. The kids love the beach. They completely entertain themselves with the sand and the waves.

Tessa's sand castle

Closer view

Taegan making funny faces on the surf board

Kids playing in the waves

They tried to jump into the waves as they came

Jarem liked to do a dance move into each wave throwing his hip into the wave...it was funny!

Looks like Jesikah got hit with a wave

Jessica, Kyle, and Taegan with Grandma Cindi taking the picture

Jarem hauling water to fill the little pool that Grandma brought.

Taegan, Jarem, and Jessica in the pool

The boys with their rented surf boards. They enjoyed the surfing.

In the hotel pool the following day:

Playing football...probably making a face since I was taking a picture

Jesikah in the hot tub

Tessa with the football

Grandma Cindi

We stopped at the Ron Jon surf shop before leaving Cocoa Beach...everyone got a t-shirt.

Alex holding Taegan in Ron Jon (I was proud of my trick getting Taegan to smile)

We spent Wednesday night and Thursday night with Grandma Guelde. While there, we enjoyed her company and the kids loved the pool (swimming multiple times). They certainly got in a lot of swimming. They also enjoyed getting reacquainted with their second cousins, Marley and Allison. They are Alex and Jesikah's ages and we usually get to see them when we come to Florida. They spent the night there with us the second night. I didn't even get a single picture at Grandma Guelde's house. I will have to do better next time.

We spent the last night of our vacation with TJ and Sunshine. Their daughter Lyla connected with Tessa right away. It was really cute since Jesikah is usually the one the babies like. It was fun for Tessa to have that connection to her cousin. The boys went golfing during the day, and then we had a girl's night out when they got back. It was a fun way to end a good vacation.

Tessa and Lyla

***Funny thing was, when we left Tennessee to go on vacation, the weather was beautiful. The farther south we got, the rainier it got. We started thinking we should have vacationed in Tennessee where the forecast called for beautiful weather rather than going to Florida where the forecast called for rain. As it turned out, it was sunny everyday and the few showers that we got were between things we were doing so it all worked out beautifully.

Sea World-Orlando

2011-10-24T21:37:00.000-05:00

The kid's fall break was the week of October 10-14. We decided to make another trip down to Florida with Kyle and Jessica for fall break. There is always plenty to do there, and we get to see family too. This time we wanted to make it as inexpensive as possible. Since Eric is getting out of the Army this year, he doesn't get his last bonus which normally comes in October. This has made things a bit tight.

Fortunately, Eric has plenty of family who were more than happy to let us stay with them. Eric's mom has a house in Kissimmee so we stayed there the first 2 nights, the third night we got a hotel at Cocoa Beach. Then we stayed 2 nights with Eric's grandma in Ocala, and the last night we spent with Eric's brother, TJ and his wife Sunny. We got to spend a lot of time with Kyle, Jessica, and Taegan while there. We also spent time with Eric's Grandma Guelde, his mom, and his brother TJ's family. We spent time at the beach, swimming at Grandma's pool and also in the hotel pool. We mostly just enjoyed spending time with family.

We did go to Sea World the first day. With the military promotion, they allow a servicemember and 3 dependents in FREE!! So, we only paid for 2 admissions and I got a buy one, get one 1/2 deal. So, we decided this would be our last chance to use that since we will be getting out of the military next early summer.

SeaWorld was a lot of fun. When we first got there, we were confused about where to start. We are used to using the "Unofficial Guide to the Theme Parks" to help us make the most use of our time. I forgot about using it for SeaWorld so we didn't have it along. SeaWorld has about 6-7 big rides now as well as shows and aquariums. We didn't get there until 12pm and it closed at 6pm, so we wanted to make the best use of our time. After walking around for a bit and checking things out, we made a plan of what we wanted to see and do for the day. We walked through the aquariums, and went to 2 shows. We all went on a Splash Mountain type ride, and then Eric and the older kids went on two extreme roller coaster type rides while Jarem and I found the Shamu's play area.

Sting ray area: (they were swimming above us)

Starfish

Two cute girls with the clownfish

Penguins (I liked that snow was coming down from the celing...the first place I've seen penguins with snow)

Jarem pouting...something to do with his slushee

Slushie break!

The girls sharing one

Below are pictures of the dolphin show: Blue Horizons. It was quite dynamic with not only dolphins, but gymnasts, divers, and a storyline (of sorts): "Join a young girl named Marina as she discovers the secrets of the sea and sky in a mesmerizing blue world of adventure and wonder. This unique, theatrical spectacular features dolphins, false killer whales, tropical birds and acrobats. Let Blue Horizons take you on a journey usually reserved for dreams."

While the kids and Eric went on the more extreme rides, Jarem and I went to the kid's zone. There were huge nets to climb, kid's rides, slides and tunnels, etc.

Jarem on the play ship

Jarem and I rode this jellyfish ride

Jarem's favorite ride was this ship that rocks back and forth

We all met at the Shamu Show at the end of the day called One Ocean. Their description of the show: "Dive into the exhilaration of the sea in our all-new Shamu show, One Ocean. The energy and spirit of the ocean envelops you in a multi-sensory celebration of life underneath the sea that entertains as it educates and inspires. Majestic killer whales join you on a journey into a world that drenches your senses in the vivid colors, vitality and global rhythms of the ocean. Dancing fountains set the stage as you connect with thrilling sea creatures and realize we are all part of one world, one ocean. Your soul is ignited as our worlds are united… and you realize that we all have the power to make a difference in this planet we share. "

.

The show was great, but it was a little disappointing that people cannot get in the water with the whales anymore since the accident. Still, it was great!

Leaving the park, we had a good day!

James' Wedding

2011-09-26T16:55:00.000-05:00

My little brother, James, got married this past weekend. He married a beautiful girl named RaTray. We spent most of the weekend in the car since the wedding was in Colorado Springs, but what time we did spend with family in Colorado was lovely. We mistakenly thought it was only a 12 hour drive to Colorado Springs, but it is 18 each way. We found out about 10 days before, but we didn't have enough time to change our plans (such as buy a plane ticket or take more time off work or school), so we were stuck with our fate. That is what we get for not planning more carefully.

We left Friday around 10:30am, drove 12+ hours arriving at a hotel around midnight. We slept til 6am (which was 5am Colorado time), showered, ate breakfast and were back on the road bright and early, arriving in Colorado Springs a little after 11am their time. My parents paid for a wonderful lunch for everyone at Golden Corral. We spent a couple of hours balling melons and cutting fruit for the reception as well as and socializing. Then we headed back to James' house to get dressed for the wedding. The wedding started at 5:30pm.

Below, we are getting everyone's corsages on before the wedding:

James and my mom

What a cute little ring bearer!

The rings

Eric and I

The room before the wedding started

The backdrop

This beautiful backdrop was built by my dad and some of his hired help for my wedding. He told me that I could design any backdrop that I wanted and he would build it. One day early in the summer before my wedding, my mom and I were at the Logan Temple and looked at the windows. They were beautifully shaped and I decided that was how I wanted my backdrop to look. I drew it on a piece of paper and showed my dad. He liked it but had no idea how to make an arched backdrop like that. As it turned out, he had to use many thin pieces of mahogany, bend them into a curve and glue them all together to make the arches. It was quite the project, but it turned out beautiful! He had built a backdrop for my older sister, and I think he was planning to make a backdrop for each of my siblings, but after seeing mine, they all just wanted to use that one for their weddings. Since James is the last to marry, my dad said it was mine and wanted me to take it home with me. I, of course, didn't have any way to haul or store it at the moment, but I am going to give it some thought because I would love to have it for my kids weddings.

This is the Logan Temple: See the closest window on the bottom and look at the pattern.

Their colors were purple and silver

Guest book

For the guestbook, people just signed and wrote notes in a book that they had made of pictures of them. It was a neat book and much more personal than an official guest book.

Our girls with cousin, Kadie

My parents just before the wedding

The next two pictures are Tessa and Kadie. They are the same age and have become such good friends. Unfortunately they are blurry because I just couldn't get the light right. Flash was too bright, no flash was too blurry.

James and the man who married them waiting for the rest of the wedding party

Jarem was the first down the aisle

Next was best man: Joel, my brother

Bride and groom

It was kind of funny when the stake president who married them asked them to take each other by the right hand, and neither one could figure out which was their right hand. :)

Ceremony

Jarem providing the rings

Eric talking to my dad after the wedding about the ceremony

More of the bride and groom:

All of my family that was present: we were missing two of my sisters who went to the Burley open house

Bride and groom with my siblings and I

Brothers

Nieces and nephews

This is (L to R) Jaycee, Brenda, and Matt

Brenda Larson used to be our regular babysitter when we were little. She babysat all the time. We called her "Larson" since my sister's name is also Brenda. We loved her. She was so much fun and pretty much became part of our family. These are two or her kids with her. She actually lives in Colorado Springs and was there for the wedding. We haven't seen her in years, so that was a lot of fun.

Before the reception was even over, we changed and headed out for a long drive home. We again were able to stay in a hotel but didn't arrive until 2:30am and slept til around 8:30am. We didn't arrive home until 11pm Sunday night! What a trip! That said though, it was well worth it to spend quality time with my family and be there for this momentous occasion for James.

In the news

2011-09-24T08:40:00.001-05:00

Here's the link to the article that was printed in the leaf chronicle this morning.

http://m.theleafchronicle.com/news/article?a=2011110924001&f=550

Faith, family, fidelity. These words are at the core of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of how they approach outreach to others and of their sacred commitment to family.
Generally known as Mormons, members of the church live out their commitment daily to their biological and church family members.
Clarksville has three Latter-day Saints churches, or wards. There also is a congregation at Fort Campbell. All operate independently and are self-sustaining.
Christie Wall and Llewanne Bass are members of the Ward 3 congregation on U.S. Highway 41A South. They explained how Latter-day Saints took active roles in helping individuals, families and businesses in Clarksville and Middle Tennessee after the May 2010 floods. This same type of effort was demonstrated when large areas of southern and central Kentucky sustained heavy damage from freezing and power outages.
"We have emergency relief plans and procedures that can be activated immediately when disaster strikes," Bass said.
The Mormon philosophy of "let's provide help now" reduces the time spent identifying needs and increases the delivery of assistance. These emergency plans have been put into practice on local, regional, national and international levels.
Local Latter-day Saints participate with Hands On Clarksville in addressing the needs of others. Through their Annual Day of Service program, a specific need is identified with local government officials and community leaders. A team is created, a plan is designed and the need gets addressed. This is done in a spirit of cooperation with others, regardless of faith traditions, race, ethnicity, political affiliations or socioeconomic status.
This past spring, members of the Ward 3 congregation led an effort to help clean up and restore Mount Olive Cemetery. Similar partnerships have been forged with Sango United Methodist Church to provide shoes for children and adults, and with New Springs Thrift Stores to provide stuffed animals for children in Africa.
This same Christian compassion that extends outwardly is strengthened by a commitment to each other within each congregation and individual family.
A particular weekly event that reinforces the importance of family to Latter-day Saints is Family Home Evening. This family get-together traces its roots to 1915, but became designated in 1970 as a weekly event to be maintained by Mormon families. Each Monday evening, the family gathers for song, prayer, a Scripture lesson, a special activity associated with the focus of that evening and the Scripture lesson, and a treat for the kids.
For Eric and Rozanne Bass (no relation to Llewanne Bass), this time with their children reinforces their responsibility as parents and gives the entire family the opportunity to share the light of Christ with one another.
"To me, it is about family unity," said Alex, 15.
There are more practical benefits, too, as the children explained. "It's a time when we calm down from the day," said Jesikah, 13.
"It sets you away from your troubles," said Tess, 10.
Even Jarem, age 5, saw benefits: "I like the singing. I like the treat too."
For the over 2,000 Latter-day Saints living in the Clarksville area, the fabric that binds them to each other and to the community is woven into their Christian faith, their emphasis on family, and their ongoing fidelity of remaining true to Jesus and one
another. It is lived, not just practiced.
Tim Parrish
Freelance writer

Homecoming 2011

2011-09-23T10:09:00.000-05:00

Every year, the kids' schools have a Homecoming parade around the 3 school campus. The elementary school kids and middle school kids come out to watch the parade. I was at the school volunteering that day and stayed to watch too. I took these pictures with my phone and then emailed them several at a time and deleted them off my phone. What I learned...some of the last ones attached turned out very small and poor quality. I was very disappointed. :(

This was a giant banner honoring the 2 kids from their high school that recently died in a car accident.

Alex sitting on the sidewalk (3rd from the left) across the street from where the elementary kids were

Tessa with her two good friends Shelby and

This last one was one of those pictures what was very disappointing.

Nothing to Do

2011-09-22T07:50:00.000-05:00

So lately, I've realized that my children think I have nothing to do at home while they are at school...just an abundance of free time to relax and do whatever I want.

A couple of nights ago when Alex was on dish duty, Alex had the nerve to insist that I should have to do all the dishes since I don't have anything else to do. Eric sent him to his room and they had about an hour long talk about that.

Then on Tuesday night, we had a reporter come to our house. This reporter writes an article each week in the "Faith and Values" section of the local newspaper. He wanted to do an article on our Monday night Family Home Evenings that we do in our church. He asked Eric, I, and each of the kids several questions.

At one point he asked Tessa, "Do you think your family home evenings bring you closer to God and your family?"

Tessa said, "Well it seems like we are so busy everyday that sometimes we don't always remember God, like my dad goes to work and he is busy there, my mom takes care of the kids...well I guess she doesn't anymore...I don't really know what she does...oh I know, my mom blogs...and then we all go to school so it gives us a chance to have a night to think about spiritual things."

Yes, I was less than thrilled that Tessa thinks the only thing that I do is blog and even more thrilled that she shared that with the reporter! And, I am pretty sure that I still take care of the kids!! As most of you know, I only blog usually once every 1-2 weeks so guess I'm not even good at that. :)

So after the reporter left, I told Eric, "I can't believe that all the kids seem to think I have all of this free time to do anything I want while they are at school. Alex thinks I should make myself busy by doing dishes so he won't have to and Tessa thinks all that I do is blog ." And we had a good laugh. Alex overheard our conversation and said, "Well mom, I guess we just don't understand what you do, so maybe you should make a video so we can see what you do." I actually thought this was a good idea because a lot of what I do is "behind the scenes" type stuff that makes the household run smoothly but things they probably would never know or just don't even think about. So yesterday, I made a video of all the things I did while they were at school. Maybe we will just watch it for Family Home Evening next week! :)

(By the way, the article is going to be in the Saturday Leaf Chronicle for anyone that is interested). Hopefully he doesn't include the "blog" part. :)

Curls and Slim Jims

2011-09-09T15:06:00.001-05:00

Jesikah has been very interested in the way her hair looks this year. She will go to much effort to make sure her hair looks good. Sometimes she wears it straight and sometimes curly. She was experimenting with ways to make it curly and found that if I roll her hair in curlers with a curl enhancer then when she wakes up in the morning she looks like this! This was the second time that she did this, and I thought it turned out pretty cute. I don't know if I would have thought it was worth sleeping in curlers, but she did! :)

When I was getting out the rice to make dinner tonight, this is what I found:

These Slim Jims had been completely concealed under the rice. Then when I went to scoop the rice, I found three. I must give one of the kids credit for a very clever hiding place. Someone must have wanted these for later and thought someone else might get to them first. I hardly blame them, things sometimes disappear very quickly around here.

Asheville, NC

2011-09-08T20:44:00.000-05:00

In Asheville, we decided to visit Eric and Kyle's old house where their family lived sometime around 1991-1993. We found it and were excited that it had been well taken care of. It was a beautiful place.

Then, of couse, we had to visit the famous Biltmore House. It is a Châteauesque-styled mansion near Asheville, North Carolina, built by George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1889 and 1895. It is the largest privately-owned home in the United States around 175,000 square feet and featuring 250 rooms including 65 fireplaces, 34 bedrooms, an indoor pool, a bowling alley and more.

Filling the rooms are priceless treasures including paintings by some of the world's most highly esteemed artists such as Renoir, Sargent and Whistler. In the salon, a gaming table and chess set, once owned by Napoleon, are displayed and Ming Dynasty goldfish bowls grace the 10,000 volume library. Covering the marble and oak flooring are 50 exquisite Persian and Oriental rugs, while fine 16th-century tapestries adorn the walls.

Still owned by one of Vanderbilt's descendants, it stands today as one of the most prominent remaining examples of the Gilded Age. It was a bit pricey, so we decided to buy a year membership and we actually saved money. I think it was worth it. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a beautiful home and had a lot of things that were ahead of it's time. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take any photos inside (although I was SO tempted to sneak a couple).

It was a very rainy day, so we kept our umbrellas close all day.

Eric, Kyle, Jessica, and Alex walking toward the house.

This picture was taken from the back porch looking toward the back the house

On the back porch

Here are a couple of pictures I found online of the inside:

Banquet Room

2 story library

Since we didn't have a lot of time and it was raining too, we just drove through the gardens. However, since we have a membership now, we can go back and enjoy them another day.

A gorgeous waterfall

Sunflowers as we were driving through the property.

Before heading back home, we stopped by Five Guys for a delicious lunch! Our drive home seemed very long due to accidents, traffic and the incessant rain. Eric was a trooper and drove all the way. I really appreciated it since I hate driving when it is dark and rainy. It finally stopped raining about 20 minutes before we got home. We didn't arrive home until around 9:30 Monday night.