Getting to spend time with "My Second Family"...

Speaking of friends, and seeing Melissa last night for Clayton's Birthday Party....I thought I'd take a moment to talk about what I consider to be "My Second Family", the Workmans. They lived just 2 houses down from us. Mel & I have been friends since we were 4 years old (yea, it's been a while!). She's still the same cute Mel (or Missy as we called her then :}) she's always been...has hardly changed a bit! I love it when I get the chance to see her! Of course we have many memories together....a few that stand out would have to be the many nights we slept out in their trailer (which made it easy to do our Toilet Papering runs-and oh, did we do a lot of that! :}-and walks to 7-11 late at night with our coins to buy the penny candy!); our adventures at Church Camps & activities; playing in the field by the school; playing Barbies & Fisher Price; our bike rides down to Skaggs for ice cream cones; our many nights outside with all the neighborhood kids playing Kick The Can or Steal The Flag (that was great-we had tons of kids in the neighborhood...it was awesome that we all often played together! I miss seeing that these days..just not the same anymore!); my visit with her in Boston...and sharing our pregnancies together during that time (Clayton & Kaley are only about 6 weeks apart); our trip to Lake Powell; and the bit of mischief we got into in our teenage years (who, us? I know...and sorry Mel, I was probably the bad influence there :}). I remember how heart broken we were when her mom passed away when we were only 9 years old, she was SUCH a sweet lady who always took care of all of us kids in the neighborhood! I'll also never forget the time her brother, Tom, fell out of the tree at Murray Park..some of my other siblings were there with him, it was a very scary time! He was very lucky to be alive...I believe he broke about every bone in his body! I am still reminded of that often every time we play softball there at the same spot it happened. Her dad would always make sure I had breakfast before we headed off to school (even if I all ready ate, he'd still insist I have whatever he made! Can I blame him for being an overeater?! j/k!). They always treated me like one of their own & I will always appreciate having the relationship I do with them!! Here's to many more years together my friend!!

Happy Birthday Clayton...who's now a big 6 year old, WOW!

Her sweet daughter, Lauren

Her sister, Karen, and Dad

Her niece, Anna, with her two boys...Micah & Isaah, and Kaley of course

Oh, look at that face! :}

And Micah insisted I take a picture of him too...even if he was shoving pizza in his face at the time!

Kaley, the fish she is, was very excited that it was a pool party!

THANKS AGAIN MEL & SHANE.....SO GREAT TO SEE YA'LL!!

A Blast From The Past...

You know, it's funny how life just sneaks right by you, how fast it really goes. Every now & then you wonder about old friends...Will you ever see them again? Are they doing well? Did they ever have kids? You know, all that stuff that goes through your mind. Well I was quite surprised last night to run into an old friend, Amanda Pickin, back from our days at Lume' (oh, now there was quite the joke of a company; but, we won't go there). And of all places, to see her at a birthday party of my long time friend, Melissa's, son. Funny what a small world it really is! I don't think I've even seen her since our wedding, which was 16 years ago! (We all got laid off...just two weeks before our ceremony...that was fun...NOT! :}) It was so great to catch up...and funny to find out that we are practically neighbors too...CRAZY! Glad to hear she is doing well! It's made me think a lot about our other friends there & what they might be up to. Who knows, maybe we'll run into them someday too! :} Maybe I'll have to do a little internet searching & see if I can find them too. Just because you may not see your old friends for years, doesn't mean you forget them or don't appreciate the friendship you had! Here's to reuniting with old friends again! :}

Another day at the football field...

Today's game was another rough one for the boys, though they still played a good game...just a tough team to beat! Another learning lesson...we hope so at least! Still fun to watch 'em play!
It was nice of Uncle Greg & Aunt Angie to come & support Bradon too! Plus that gave us some time with cute lil' Jazzy...she's such a cutie!

"Go Team!!"
Silly Mommy!
He's such a cute brother, still giving loves to his sis though he was bummed about the loss!
After the game we celebrated the birth of Coach Eddy's latest addition, Diamond Loya (only 6 days old!)
Congratulations Loyas...she's a beauty!

Happy Birthday Tina!

"40 & FABULOUS!!"

As I've mentioned, this year is a big year for landmark birthdays for many of our friends. Last night we got to celebrate good friend, Tina's, Big 40 Birthday at Bonko night. She had to put up with a little bit of "old jokes" & party favors; but, all in fun of course! :} The true celebration will be on our visit to NY together next month..so, I'm not far behind her myself! I thought this would be a good time to tell you more about our friend, Tina. She is such a good person...truly cares for others & will do ANYTHING for her loved ones. I'm not exaggerating either...she cooks a feast about every night for whoever happens to be at her house that night, has taken in many people who have been in their life transitions, will stop whatever she's doing if a friend is in need. We all had to watch her, and her family, go through a scary time in her life when her son, Cameron, was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 5. She was a single mom & putting herself through school as well during it all. Though we know not easy what-so-ever, she was so strong & managed to do it all, and be there every day for Cameron! He's now 16 & doing well...which we are so proud of him & his fight as well! Happy Birthday Tina...may your 40's be your best years yet!! We love you girlfriend!!

She just had to wear the party favors!

"You're a WHAT? Get your butt over here girl!" :}

Yea, you made it! :}Roll 'em Baby!

Sure do love Girl's Night Out! :}

We Will Not Forget...

With yesterday being the Anniversary of the tragic 9/11 events, I hope you all took a moment to stop & think about what happened, to think about those who had to personally suffer from the tragedy, and to remember what a beautiful country we live in. 7 years later, I continue to feel just shocked when I watch any clips, still in disbelief this could happen...it's so surreal. I know there's lots of shows & news clips on the event; but, I was in awe of The History Channel's show last night....'102 Minutes That Changed The World'. This was unfiltered, as it happened, from more than 100 eyewitnesses...thier own personal videos, reactions as it was happening. Truly heartbreaking & more reality then I could even imagine. Not that you want to "relive" the moment; but, it is history that we were all a part of & can't forget! Though you knew what was next, you couldn't help but just plea for them to run. You couldn't look at thier eyes on the screen and begin to understand how that person felt at that moment. My heart continues to go out to those who personally had to experience it somehow. I will be visiting Ground Zero next month & can only imagine the feelings we will have knowing what has happened there. I so wish I could have seen The World Trade Center itself; but, will be sure to give my respects to those who were there that day.

Let the Dancing Begin!

Summer break is officially over & Kaley is more than excited to be back at dance class. This year I promised her she could also do cheer class as well as dance. Though I suppose having her take gymnastics would be appropriate if she really wants to be a cheerleader; but, we'll stick with that for now! She wants to be "just like Anjila"...too cute! And nice that she has such an adorable, smart & driven cousin to look up too! :} But, Kaley is not the only dancer in the household...Dylan has been wanting to start up Hip-Hop classes himself. We told him he could if he got his black belt (though we think he was hoping he could be done with Tae Kwon Do & do Hip Hop instead; but, since we are contracted for another year...it's either both, or no dance...sorry bud!). So he begins tonight & is excited to "bust a move". This ought to be fun...right up his alley! To make it even more exciting is the fact his teacher, Terry, was a previous contestant on "So You Think You Can Dance"...even made it a few rounds. We can't wait to see them both in the recitals doing thier thing!

Farewell Grandaddy Eaton...

We knew after Grandmother passed away, that it probably wouldn't be long for Grandaddy, Frank Eaton, to follow her. Those two were inseperable & I can only imagine how much he has missed her these last two months. So, yesterday was his turn to leave this earth. You realize that happens in old age; but, still hard to see a family member/loved one go. We so wish we could have spent more time with them over the last 20 years; but, we appreciated every chance we did get to go back to Florida to see them. My personal memories involve Easter Dinner at the Holiday House (how excited they were to meet thier first Great-Grandchild then and kept wanting to hold Bradon), swinging on thier old swing, and Grandmother trying to stuff more grapefruits from her tree into my bag (nevermind I couldn't actually take them home on the plane with me!) Doug has some fun stories growing up...sounds like they did a lot with their Grandparents. He'll also never forget falling off the back of Grandaddy's truck while he was moving either (back then we didn't seem to see the danger in letting kids ride in the back of the pickup, did we? I think he learned his lesson! :}). Again, we are especially glad that we were able to go visit with them last year...we knew that would more than likely be our last visit. We appreciated the chance to get to see them, and we really appreciate cousin, Scooter, taking good care of them all these years! Goodbye Grandaddy...we will not forget you!