girls + hotel room = fun!

Valerie, who lives in Arkansas, came to Grove to stay the night with Crystal, who was visiting from Texas. We all went to school together but I didn't know Crystal like I did Val and Pounce and it had been years since I had seen her. I couldn't believe how very much the same she looked! Pounce called me a few hours ago and told me they were going to pick me up and that we would go and get some ice cream. The ice cream was good and all but the real fun happened when we got back to the hotel room that Valerie and Crystal were staying in tonight (the little girl is Crystal's niece). Who says that you need games or alcohol or food or whatever for entertainment! All we needed was old memories and a few bouts of gas to keep us laughing!
I love you girls!

Happy 50th Birthday, Dad!

I have a very young Dad. He was only 17 when I was born. All my life I have heard things like, "That's your Dad?! He's so young!" Even so, I still can't believe that my Dad turned 50 today. We really wanted this day to be special for him so we planned a surprise birthday party for him at El Vallarta in Jay. He thought he was having a daddy/daughter date with April but instead he had all of us waiting on him. There were 2 tables and 3 booths full of people, black balloons, presents and a cake. One of the things El Vallarta is known for is birthdays. They always bring out sopapillas, Mexican hats, and end up smearing your face with whipped cream after singing Happy Birthday to you.

One of the best parts was Logan crying after Poppy got creamed....and Hyrum thinking up of ways to eat Poppy's face!

Poppy got a kick out of Hyrum licking his face!I hope you know how much we love you, Poppy-Dad!

Mom verses Dad

This is why I think David is a better parent than I am most of the time: Look at all that toothpaste slobber on his shirt!

Unfortunately I think to much of the mess that will need to be cleaned up afterwards instead of the lesson that Hyrum could learn in doing it himself. I sure am glad we have Daddies around!

Happy Birthday Aunt Linda!

Aunt Linda, Dad's sister, lives in Washington but is staying with Mom and Dad for about a week. Aunt Linda and Dad's sister, Michelle Willingham (Mickie), died last week. She had a heart attack and was on life support for a few days before she passed away. As they always are, death and funerals are something no one wants to attend or be a part of but if there is anything positive you can find out of them is that of family gathering. Aunt Linda flew into Oklahoma to travel with Dad and Mom to Georgia for Mickie's funeral.

Unfortunately for Aunt Linda, Mickie's funeral was on her birthday. So we really wanted to do something for Aunt Linda while she was here with us to make her birthday a somewhat happy one. She thought she was coming over to April's house to come over and swim, which she did, but really we just wanted to celebrate her birthday. Isn't she pretty? Some people get prettier with age. Not many of us do but I have to say that I really think that Aunt Linda looks prettier now than the last time I saw her over 13 years ago.
Some of the things I remember about Aunt Linda:
-My family always told me that I had "aunt Linda's nose" growing up.
-That I always thought that Aunt Linda had a very distinct voice and I still do. If she was to call me in 10 years from now and I hadn't talked to her in those 10 years, I would instantly know it was her before she told me who she was.
-That she puts up with Dad! My Dad is very much a kid at heart and just like he does with us kids, he loves to pick on her. She just yells, "Ronald!" but he always goes back to picking on her which tells me that he knows she can take it and that they have that type of relationship that he could do that with her and enjoy it.
And probably the strongest memory is how much she likes Oklahoma. I remember wishing that her, Ray, and the girls would move out by us, when I was growing up. For some reason she seems to like all this heat and our redneck way of life.
Happy 47th birthday Aunt Linda!

4th of July

I usually ponder on this day much more than I did this year. I think a lot about our soldiers both now and past. But as I'm finishing up the day and writing on here about tonight I'm realizing that I wasn't as "in tuned" with the day as I usually am on the 4th of July. I hope I am not like that next year and remember my many blessings because of those soldiers. I did have a good experience at church, though, with a girl whose Dad is leaving for Afghanistan in a few months. Jasia Liftee is this sweet teenager in our branch that is always coming up to me and giving me hugs. I'm not sure I deserve all the attention she gives me but she loves me all the same. She came up to me today after sacrament with just a hint of tears in her eyes and gave me the usual sweet Jasia hug. I held on tight this time, though and asked how she was doing and when her Dad was leaving. Asking her that made me think of the possibility of losing her Dad and instantly I was so thankful for her and her family and what they will be sacrificing and what they already have in years past. And I am so grateful that David is here with me. I know it is selfish. But it's true. I'm so grateful.

Happy 69th Birthday, Grandma!

Today is my Grandma Thatcher's birthday. Today was also the night of the Grove City Fireworks for the 4th of July. So when Spring Houck invited our family to come and sit with her family a few days ago, I thought what a perfect way to surprise Grandma with some attention! The majority of my family was there along with the Wilson and Houck families and the missionaries. In all we had 30 people there which made it all the funner. Here is April trying to get Grandma's cake out to her without the wind blowing out the candles. I think she made it just in time!
The is the gift from her great grandbabies. It is a "MeMaw's treasure box." Inside were chocolate goodies and notes from each of her great grandchildren.

I love this picture! I love it when you can capture a picture in the middle of a laugh! April, Morgan, Amanda, and I were kinda doing this chain line of getting the cake out to everyone. We got down to the very end and I guess Morgan and April got up at the same time, the cake wasn't balanced anymore and well, you can see the outcome! I think they both felt bad at first but I just laughed and thought it was so funny and a perfect moment for a picture! Before we knew it, I think everyone got a big kick out of it.

While we were waiting for the fireworks to start some of us walked over to where the firefighters were passing out free watermelon. Can you believe some of the slices they were handing out?! And I couldn't pass up a staged picture of the kiddos spitting out their seeds at me.

I didn't even try to attempt to get any pictures of the actual fireworks. It was nice just to sit back, watch, and not worry about getting the perfect picture.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

I'm not a cartoon lover. When a new cartoon comes out and we have the funds to take them to the theater to watch it I always seem to find a way out of taking them. The kids know pretty much that if they get to see a cartoon in the theater that they are going with Daddy or that MeMaw and Pa are taking them. I'm the same way about renting cartoons. I usually clean the house or something while the kids and Daddy watch it. So it was a nice surprise that when David started watching the cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender on the Nickelodeon channel, that I actually liked it. Aang is such a good little boy on the show and I like the humor in it. So when M. Night Shyamalan made the movie of it with real life people I was actually excited to see it. Sure, it wasn't a cartoon but hey, progress right?! Anyways, we invited Uncle Steve to come with us and as you can see we came decked out!It was so fun watching the boys get excited as we talked about putting Aang's arrow on their heads. I felt almost as giddy as they did....ok, maybe even a little more!