FRIENDS OVER TO STAY

Marissa, Jenny and Jessica (January 2009)

Devon hugging Adam at bedtime
Three "innocent" boys

Four person "Group Hug!"
Male bonding

Emma and Adam are so cute together.

WOW! What a storm. The news stated that 176,000 people in Kentucky are without power and it could take up to 10 days to restore all power. The ice from the storm broke power lines and blew transformers. The kids have missed an entire week of school (to date)...and who knows how much more (hopefully none!)

Some of our very good friends, the Orr are without power and don't have a generator, so we've had them move in with us until power is restored. It's been a blast! Jessica and Jenny, Seth, Robert and Devon have all been friends for nearly six years. Best of Friends.

The boys are having a ball together, (sadly for me - not much work is getting done) but they are having a great time!

Jessica and Jenny have been inseparable.

Marissa has been playing with Emma, their 4 year old daughter, and from time to time helping watch Adam the 18 month baby.

Last night we had a pasta feast - followed by the "Lowe" premier of "Fireproof" We were all in tears by the end of the movie - what a GREAT movie.

SNOW DAYS - Four in a row (and waiting)

On Monday I was wondering why we missed school - by 8 a.m. there wasn't anything on the roads, but the kids didn't care - they had a day off school. They were thrilled. Little did they know they would end up missing school three more days in a row (and maybe more). As predicted it snowed several inches Monday night. We made the most of ever moment. Early in the day we (Devon, Marissa, Jessica, Mommy, Robert, and friends Aaron, and Luc) played snow soccer. This was a blast. The ball would glide across the icy snow, but then it would also get stuck in our footprints and just stop dead. The game ended in a tie - 1-1 girls vs boys.

Later that day we walked over to the golf course hill and went sledding with friends. Sledding is always "so much fun" Everyone loves to slide down the hill as fast as they can.

Robert ready to go!
Devon sledding with some new friends! Devon was so nice to help other kids
(especially the smaller ones by giving them a push)

Let's make a Lowe Chain! Robert, Marissa, Devon and Jessica ready to go!

Marissa and Robert -

brother and sister AND best friends!

Marissa, Robert and Jessica

The Three Musketeers!

Sledding evolved into surfing down the hill. What a blast!

The other side of snow days!

One of the trees in my front yard

My River Birch tree has definitely had better days.

Poor trees!

If you can believe this the kids will be out of school four full days in a row due to snow and there is no idea when they will return. We've just had a severe winter storm come through delivering snow, sleet, rain, freezing rain and more snow. We are lucky that none of our trees split. Several trees in the neighborhood and area have split, and even taken down power lines.

Haven't posted in a while

Hi friends and family,

This has been a crazy week. I got back from Arizona on Sunday - It's so nice to be home. Well, on Monday Marissa was playing with some friends and somehow hurt her back. She just bent down to pick up a piece of paper and pop! We took her to the doctor - luckily it wasn't a bone issue, just a severe strain. She missed the entire week of school. It was a very long week.

Thank goodness, by the next Sunday, she felt much better. It is such a good feeling to see your children feel better! It's so hard to see them hurt and unable to do their normal activities.

Take care!

More Basketball

JESSICA'S STATISTICS

Points: 45

Rebounds: 111

Steals: 14

Blocked Shots: 13 Going for the basket!
Jessica in action!

She shut her down...no shot for you!


Jessica stole the ball and dribbled down to pass the ball for two point!
Go #22!

We are so proud of Jessica. She is doing great!!!

Jessica's Birthday

Jessica before blowing out the 16 candles on her cake. Opening some presents!
More presents!

My darling delightful oldest daughter celebrated her Sweet Sixteenth birthday. She is now 16 years old. Old enough to drive, old enough to date. WOW!

As a tribute to Jessica let me just tell you I am one of the most lucky mothers on Earth. She is so tender hearted, loving and kind. She is funny, and sweet and fun to be around. I love her as a daughter, a person, and a friend. And if that weren't enough she is also very conscientious of her friends, studies and her responsibilities. She is well balanced - giving everything that is important to her the time, dedication and commitment it deserves. She is dedicated to her religion, attending seminary every morning and earning her Young Women's medallion. She has wonderful friends with the same values she holds dear. She is very attentive to her studies and earns honor roll grades. Jessica loves to read. She devours books, however she is also actively involved in sports. She plays JV and Varsity basketball for the high school, and she runs on the schools Track and Field Team (setting a new school record her Freshman year). She does service for her church and for Beta Club (and her mom). She loves Twilight, Harry Potter, her family, friends and animals.

Trip to Phoenix

Well, I've just returned from my trip to Phoenix Arizona where I attended the National Board meeting for American Mothers, Inc.

It is always such a treat to get together with the special ladies that serve on the board. We had a great time, and we were even productive too!

While in Phoenix, I was also able to visit with my dad and Alison. What a special treat. The last time we were together was last year at Thanksgiving. We had a lovely time chatting about the struggles of raising kids today, schools, sports and of course bragging about my kids, his grandkids. Later we had a wonderful dinner at the Compass Restaurant. It sits at the top of the Hyatt in downtown Phoenix and revolves so you can see the entire area. The evening lights were beautiful.

The best part of the trip was seeing my dad and step mom, the worse part of the trip was forgetting my camera - I have no pictures...boo!

3 v 3 Champions!

Robert's soccer team divided up it's players to participate in a 3 v 3 tournament. Robert was on Mason, Parker and Eric's team. They are called the Rocks Stars because their coaches name is Rock. (CUTE)

They had an amazing time:
Rock Stars 13 - TSC Academy 3
Rock Stars 9 - Cardinals 2
Rock Stars 9 - TSC U9 1
Rock Stars 10 - Chargers 0

The Championship game was against their own team mates...that was hard to play against your friends. It was a very close game until the end...
Rock Stars 1 vs Rock Stars 2
Robert's team scored 9 while the other team scored 6. Robert's team won the whole thing! Tournament Champions. They were very excited to win, but sorry they had to beat the friends and teammates.