1. One of my favorite toys growing up was a Fisher Price record player. I could stay in my room for hours listening to kids records and story books.
2. I had a love hate relationship w/ The Wizard of Oz. I always wanted to watch the movie or listen to the record, but as soon as the lady on the bicycle showed up and took away Toto I would lose it.
3. I loved going to school. A lot of people hated school (ahem, Loren), but not me. I hope Nolan will love it too!
4. My parents both ride motorcycles, and so we spent a lot of time on the back w/ them. Once we rode to Niagra Falls. That was the farthest we ever went.
5. When I was 7 I spent the week surrounding July 4th in the hospital. I was diagnosed w/ Juvenile Diabetes (type 1), and can remember watching fireworks out of the hospital window.
6. I used to be so embarrassed of my mom. After I got diabetes she was at my school everyday. At the time, I didn't really understand why, and so when we were walking in a line somewhere w/ my class, and I would see my mom in the hall I would look the other way, and hope no one else in my class noticed she was there. By the way, my brother was the exact opposite. He would run over to my mom and give her a hug.
7. I didn't know how lucky I was then, but my parents took us to see a good number of the US National parks. We always camped, and I have a lot of great memories from seeing all of these amazing places. I'm sure I can't name all of them, but I have been blessed to see Yellowstone, Yosimite, Glacier, Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills, Acadia, the Smokies, Everglades, Badlands, Grand Tetons, Redwood, Sequoia, Crater Lake, Arches Zion, Oympic, Mt. Ranier, Washington DC, Grand Canyon, and I have probably missed some, but I can't remember. When others were saving to go to Disney my parents were saving to take us to the National Parks. Weird to most people I'm sure, but not to me!
8. I used to want to be a park ranger when I grew up. Probably b/c of number 7. Somewhere a long the way I decided I wanted to live closer to civilization, and pushed that dream to the side.
It really surprised us that Vegas actually was more conservative in clothing to cover the body more than any place we ever lived. We enjoyed it so much, there was so much that famlies could do!! I have to admit I got a little tired of hearing the same question, "What on earth is Joe going to do in Vegas?" & Are there really Christians in Vegas? The church was very small, but lots of vistors each service. We met so many people that I keep in touch with now. We had a lot of people in our home and saved a lot of people motel & food money at the Griffin bed & breakfast!!! LOL!! I loved it! I'm so glad you & Nolan were able to help your mom out during the time she took care of your grandpa. It has been just a short time since you lost him. What is it like living in IN compared to AZ? I really miss the west and the weather!!! What took you all the way to IN? Have a great weekend!
Did you and Loren meet when you were in school in AZ or was it in FL? I think it is just because I suffer with pain so much that I love the dry heat! I know with all these green things comes much humidity!!!! How neat that you were able to suppor Stacy King the way you all did. I missed both services today due to the weather's effects on this body. Any change in any direction will take me down. I don't know how people just don't go to services anytime they can. Makes me sad when I can't go.
I have fibromyalgia (FMS) I'v also had 4 back surgeries & waiting on my 5th. I have herrington rods from L3 to S1. They will take those rods out and put longer ones in, after they do a diskectomy & fusion at L2-3. And they may have to make the opening at L2-3 wider, they hope the buldging disc is what is preventing 75% of my spinal column going down through the opening. Also the right rod right now is pressing against and destorting my spinal sac. so It is very uncomfortable. I'm praying that I can have surgery sometime in Jan. They feel that they can take 75% of the added pain away. I have to go to a very skilled surgeon, most Orthopedic & Neuro surgeons don't want to touch me. So I have found a surgeon at KU Medical Center in KS. Now I juat wait and try to be patient. The drop or rise in pressure really affects me. So that is why I love the west so much. Now I still have pain, but nothing like I do living here. But I love the people here a lot!
Sure, I'd love to have the pampers coupons! Thanks! I didn't make it to Kmart. By the time we got home, we were just beat. We fed the boys cereal for supper (I know, I'm a good mom!) and went to bed. Thanks for telling me about it, anyway! Did we decide on cooking out on the 18th?
Mom said she's pretty sure they can watch the kids the 18th, so just let us know what time! Looking forward to it! Want us to bring any games or anything else?
I know I got the email. I thought I would see if we could meet at 7:15 instead, unless you just want to go ahead without me. If you would rather not wait on me, it is fine. you just make the call.
Oh, yeah, they had a blast! It was such a nice night, so we had a nice walk instead of freezing our hineys off. :) There is one house in our neighborhood that really does it up and had their garage door up but black-out plastic up and smokey stuff coming out. The lady was dressed up as a witch inside handing out candy. They were too scared to go in, even though Kevin walked in ahead of them. It was so funny. They always get so excited about that house and then chicken out in the end.
That's great that Nolan wanted to go by himself! Ethan and Jackson have each other, so they've never really had to be that brave! Instead, they fight over who gets to ring the doorbell! :)
i think he is a good combination of the both of them. when he is awake i think he favors mel bc he has her nose, but when he is asleep he looks exactly like dusty!
It was fine. Thankfully, a friendly couple sat next to us, so she and I chatted and the guys got to watch the game. My back was KILLING me the whole time, but I tried hard not to let Kev know. Did I tell you I hurt my back?
I did get my package. Thank you! I am going to take it to school on Monday because this week was too crazy to get anything done. Should I make copies of the order forms for the people to fill out or do I count this as a Open House party? I haven't looked through all of the paper work. I love the new stuff they have. :-)
Okay I will definitely not have the order ready by tomorrow. For some crazy reason, I didn't get any orders from school. I didn't even think about ordering samples. Some of them knew what they were but others were not sure even though I explained it. I want to take it to church because I think some of them wanted to order and my mom wanted to look at it. Is that okay if we just get it after Christmas? I forgot my book at school today so I could easily have it for you by next week.
I don't know how many of you actually knew, but I have been back to work part time for the past 6 months. It has been rough. Kudos to all of you that work jobs and take care of the house and family. I will luckily be done with this job at the end of May.
I have also found something new to do that won't require as much of my time, but enable me to help with the family finances. I am now working as a Independent demonstrator for a company called Uppercase Living. I will be working one evening a week. If you've never heard of it before check out the website and look at their online catalog. You have to login at the customer corner with my Demonstrator ID: 429362 and my token: clouse.
www.uppercaseliving.com
I will post some pictures later of some of the expressions on my wall.
Transform your walls into a celebration of your family or a canvas to express your favorite phrases! Uppercase Living offers a unique way to add decor using witty, entertaining, wise and spiritual expressions. Use any of our designed quotes or customize your own. You will love this!
I just thought of something. Maybe I could do a party when school starts back and get some teachers to order. We have school e-mail and I could e-mail everyone the link or something like that. :-)
I've been meaning to write ya-just keep forgetting!! I like that stuff. I was going to order 1-2 things at the last house we were at and just couldn't make up my mind-glad b/c we ended up moving and now we're at a place we intend to stay at for a long time. I love that stuff. How are you liking selling it? I'm still at home full time -taking pics for people every great once in a while but just don't want to commit to anything. How is your little boy doing?
Totally hear what your saying about agreeing to take pics. I don't mind it and usually end up with good results but nervous the whole time. I didn't know you could make cakes. Good to hear you are able to stay at home again.
Yes, thankfully, the water went down by that evening. We have very minimal damage. It didn't get up to the house. Kevin's car got water inside and stinks a little now, but we were very lucky not to have any major damage. Oh, our driveway and sidewalk are also cracked. We're really counting our blessings since people near us have lost their homes! Thanks for asking!
It was good to see you this weekend! We'll have to come up again soon and let the boys play some more. Maybe mom's pool will get done and we can have a swimming party with the kids. We can do that all the time when we move up there... :)
So Bradley has decided that he would like the look of a huge monogram on our living room wall instead of the picture we currently have. It would be the end of this month before we could have the money. Is it better to order on the website or do we need to mail you the order? I have a few other things I am thinking about ordering also.
I am Deb Griffin our son Gregg, wife Jenny & girls Kaylie & Lilia go to Valley! I also grew up in TN and went to school with a guy with the same last name. Your in-laws are wonderful Christians! Nice to meet you!
Hey! I am sure you will have a reunion. We just wanted to make sure anybody who would want (class or 97 or 99) to come to ours felt welcome. Keep saving your pennies.
We have three kids! Nathaniel is almost 7, Kylee is 2 and Micah is 1!! Micah was a huge surprise for us, but has been a blessing. We were up in Indiana this summer. Got to see a lot of camp people...Meagan, Melissa Cook, Carissa, the Koonces, Tim, and some others. Couldn't believe how great Donn looks!! I got to meet Tim's fiance then, now wife. Really nice. I need to email him and congratulate him! Glad we are in touch. Will try to get a picture of my kids on here so you can see them. There is one of my whole family in an older post.
Yes it all is a little confusing! And to much "inter marrying" going on w/Marrs & Mann! Its nice to meet you and to see ya'll's little boy..what a cutie how old is he?
Yes defintely..esp. in Phoenix/Tucson - isnt everyone inter married somehow?? My kiddos are 20 mts and 2 mts...I'm 26 and yah I went to FC was out in '01..did you go?
Hey girl, wasn't the wedding beautiful? Tim and Sarah were back at church yesterday and I'm so excited for them. We're doing great. Getting geared up for the holidays! How are you?
Well-3 times a day is nothing! I check my stuff at least 3 times a day-in fact that's the lease I ever check my stuff. I do everything-email, bills, tasks, calendar, shopping,etc on line so I'm just always on here! I'll have to say I don't like this as well as facebook b/c you can't send someone a private message and you always have to check your old weblog posts to see if anyone has posted new comments but I just know there are some people on here that aren't on facebook. Good to find ya. What have you all been up to?
Sorry! It had been a while since I read your blog. I remember meeting sweet Nolan when he was a baby. I guess the pic with 2 little boys stuck in my memory. No hard feelings?
Yes-major progress with Raven. I think at Tim's wedding we had only been seriously training for a week. It took me 5 weeks to get her to tell me she had to go. I had told her she could go to Chucky Cheese once she started telling when she needed to go. Sometime mid-late November she did and ever since then we've had few accidents. It's only been in the last 1-1 1/2 months that I let her go out without those rubber pants over her panties. Cross your fingers-she hasn't had any accidents out. We're down to just putting a pullup on her at night-she stays dry most of the time but not all of the time. She's fine during nap time. Tori was even showing signs of potty training but I was just so happy to get raven trained I didn't want to push her. I've vowed to not even mess with it until Tori is ready. I'm not stressing myself out this time!!!! She talks about the potty and used to sit on it but when she tells me she needs her diaper changed I ask her if she wants to go sit on potty and she says no. So I'm not pushing her. Normally Raven has NO accidents but last week just was a bad week I guess.
Well...now that labor day has come and gone we are really looking forward to fall. The summer has been good. We were very busy, and had some really good times w/ good friends. we were able to spend a great weekend w/ the orgains, Harringtons, and Fishers. my good friend Starlet was able to come over for a visit, and i have had the greater part of the summer to catch up w/ Sarah McMurray, while she has been helping out w/ her grandma. we have been to some great cookouts, on a camp and canoe trip, and Loren finished his first year of school, and we finally have him back at home w/ us on Saturdays.
We are now looking forward to all things fall (my favorite season!) Apples, cider,pumpkins, halloween, sweatshirts, changing leaves, and cooler temps. We are also going to Gatlinburg w/ my parents at the end of this month. Camping! nolan has been asking all summer to camp, and now we are finally going!
florissant's just outside of st. louis. we've been here two years--moved here from kc, actually. and i'm not sure which chris you're thinking of, but yes, mine did go to school with us, the year behind us. and as for summer ending...i'm with you on that one! i LOVE the fall and all that comes with it!
