Grandma's 89th Birthday

January 27, 2011, Thursday - We decided to celebrate Grandma's 89th Birthday a day early - this is so we could surprise her....her son flew in from Florida and she didn't know it. We let Grandma get in the door and take off her coat. Her oldest daughter, Aunt Sue came today from 3 1/2 hours away. Grandma knew she was coming. Aunt Sue starting asking how Grandma's heart is & she said "OK", and Aunt Sue said "do you think it is strong?" and then Uncle Steve came walking up to her from the other room. He was about 5 feet away when she finally figured out who was coming towards her. Her mouth dropped and she was so SURPRISED! Thankfully she did have a strong heart or she might have passed out. :)
Mom prepared a lovely lasagna meal & we had Turtle Pie. Grandma enjoyed opening presents and feeling the love. Brittany provided an impromptu balloon show after. What a fun evening! Happy Birthday Grandma!

Brittany's 9th Birthday

January 18, 2011, Tuesday - Happy 9th Birthday to our wonderful daughter, Brittany today!
We had a unexpected rain and freeze late last night & that lead to a 2 hour delay for school. The special birthday snack that I bring to her class had to be given out at lunch time. Not the ideal, but at least we got to do it and do it on her birthday. The kids really enjoyed the popcorn and animal cookies. I enjoyed eating lunch with Brittany too.
Dance practice is tonight & we treated her dance troop to homemade puppy & kitty chocolate suckers. After dance we took Brittany to one of her favorite restaurants -Chick-fil-A. Tuesday night is family night & so Brittany & Nathan got to make a craft - snow stick measure. She enjoyed opening more presents & eating yummy chicken.Singing Happy Birthday to Brittany at dance

Brittany's 9th Birthday Party

January 16, 2011, Sunday - Today we celebrated Brittany's 9th Birthday at the local bowling alley. The kids played 2 rounds of bowling, ate pizza and cake, Brittany opened presents and then they all got to spend their tokens in the game room. It was a very fun filled afternoon.
Brittany was really feeling the birthday spirit. She got 4 strikes and 5 spares! It was her lucky day. She also won the Jackpot on the light game & received over 100 tickets. Way to Go!
We love you, Brittany!

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January 10, 11, 12, 13, 2011, Monday - Thursday - Monday school was canceled because the weatherman was calling for lots of snow. Well, no snow all day until about 2:30pm it started coming. No school Tuesday & no school Wed. They were on a 2 hour delay Thursday. And Friday back to normal. What a crazy week.
We went sledding Tuesday in the morning. It was super fun! We could start two houses up and sled all the way to the stop sign. Tuesday night the kids went sledding with daddy.
Tuesday night

Livin' on a Boat

January 8 & 9, 2011, Saturday & Sunday - My brother graduated from Officer Candidate School with the United States Coast Guard Dec. 2010. He has been living on a 34 ft sailboat ever since. Well, we were finally able to get away and go visit him and see his "place". After 4 1/2 hours on the road when we arrived we were not able to see Cameron. He had to inspect a foreign ship in the morning & was expected to be done by noon. Well, they found something on the ship that was possible going to be a major violation...so things drug out. 4 more hours later Cameron was finally able to enjoy his Saturday with us. We met him at his boat & he gave us a tour. Oh, I forget to mention it snowed like crazy when we were eating lunch. It was like we were inside a snow globe. We had never seen snow like that before. It was little round balls, just coming down like crazy.
We got on Cameron's boat. Pretty neat to finally see it after hearing stories from the other relatives that had visited him. He had a heater on and it was 57 degrees inside. Boy, it was cold. We kept our jackets on. Visited for a little while and then headed out to find the hotel. The dock was wet from the snow when we went to the boat.....when we came out it had turned a little icy. We had to be careful walking. There are no railings on the dock. You slip and boom, you are in the harbor. No thanks!
Enjoyed hanging out at the hotel and taking the kids swimming. Had Papa John's for supper & got a good night's rest.
Enjoyed a lovely continental breakfast in the morning. Then we drove through downtown Portsmouth. Took pictures in front of the harbor and said our good byes. Thanks for a great weekend, bro!
This is the USS New York. It was commissioned on Nov. 2, 2009. It is made from 7.5 tons of World Trade Center Steel. "We're very proud that the twisted steel from the World Trade Center towers will soon be used to forge an even strong national defense," said New York Gov. George Pataki. "The USS New York will soon be defending freedom and combating terrorism around the globe, while also ensuring that the world never forgets the evil attacks of September 11, 2001 and the courage and strength New Yorkers showed in response to terror."
The ship’s official motto is “Never Forget”. Pretty awesome that we got to see this ship right across from where Cameron "lives in a boat".