We're playing bas-ket-ball...

Once the Christmas and New Year's holidays die down, what are you left with?  Not much, except around here there's always basketball.

Grandma Franklin's Christmas present for Andrew, Tyler, Daryl, herself, Glenn, and me was tickets to "Jimmer at the Q"  night hosted by the BYU alumni association.  Jimmer Freddette and the Sacramento Kings were in town to play the Cavs, and we were all so excited to see our favorite BYU alum on the court.  The kids got to go down to the court to be part of the Hi-5 tunnel for the visiting team, which meant that they all got to give Jimmer himself a high five.  It was exciting to be down so low to watch warm ups and show our BYU pride.

And, of course, since this actually took place nine months ago, I can't remember who won or any other details of the game.  But really let's be honest here.  Even if the game took place last week I wouldn't have been able to remember any details of the game.  But I do remember that we had a great time watching Jimmer in action.

Andrew played some ball of his own.  He did a good job for his team.  Again, the details are sketchy, but we love watching Andrew play.

He also participated in Dribbling Demons again this year.  They performed a couple of times at halftime of the varsity basketball game, and this year they performed at halftime of a Cavs game!  Porter also came to watch, and found himself being chosen to be one of the Cavs Courtside kids so he was down on the court at the same time Andrew was there with the Dribbling Demons for the Hi-5 tunnel.  What an exciting night for our boys!  Andrew and the rest of the Dribbling Demons did a fantastic job performing and halftime and were all so well behaved and respectful as well.  They were a great representation of Westlake Schools.

How can you miss me if I don't go away?

Well, you all must miss me like crazy because I've been away for so long.

I know that, as far as communication goes, blogs have pretty much gone the way of MySpace, actually speaking to a person on the phone, and hand-written letters.  I know that for a quick, easy update and record of the minutiae of everyday life, Facebook is where it's at.

But I also know that there are stories behind the one-liners and statuses and filter-laden snapshots.  I know that my children have referred to an old post from the blog and periodically browse through and laugh at how goofy they think they looked three years ago.  We've used the old girl as a point of reference for when things have happened in our family, as all the days and years tend to run together in a blur.  And I realized that, as time-intensive as blogging may be compared to the instant gratification of the most current social media, I've got to keep up with it.  Our family has stories to tell.  They are insignificant to most, but they are a record of our life together, and they deserve more than a notification in somebody's newsfeed.


Now...how to get caught up after almost an entire school year has gone by?  Well, we will do our best to finish up 2012.

Let's start with our little Munchkins!  Westlake High School put on "The Wizard of Oz" for their fall production.  They opened up the roles of the Munchkins to the elementary through middle school-aged kids.  Brooke (of course) was going to try out, no question.  Andrew tagged along, and while we were in line waiting for Brooke's turn to audition, Andrew's old swim teacher (who just happened to be Glinda) saw him there and started bugging him to try out as well.  He acted like he was super annoyed but you could also tell he was loving the attention.  And as the line inched closer, he had decided to give it a shot.

And what do you know--both Brooke and Andrew were cast!  And to top it all off, Macey was too!  There were two casts of Munchkins, and the cousins all made it into the same cast.  The kids had a great time, and I'm so glad that the director made the decision to open it up to the littles in the community.  I'm also glad she listened to our issue with the Sunday performance.  She allowed our kids to perform with the other cast so as to still have our three performances but avoid Sunday.  I thought that was nice of her.

 

The next big thing was Thanksgiving.  We had beautiful weather, delicious food, and lots and lots of family.  Grandma Brooks had the little kids make cute table decorations.  It was one of those perfect days, as Thanksgiving usually is.

 

So, um, Facebook also tells me that we went to a Cavs game in November.  So, uh, yeah, I guess we did that.

One thing I do remember for sure is seeing Sydney dance in "The Nutcracker" with the Joffrey Ballet.  She was cast as a party girl and had a lot of great stage time.  She is such a brilliant dancer and we are so proud of her hard work.  It was a perfect way to kick off the holiday season.

We decided we needed a new family picture for the Christmas card.  So my self-timer and I got to work and got us a good one.

Andrew turned 11 and wanted to have a real basketball game for his birthday.  He invited his friends to the church, where we used the scoreboard and Tyler served as referee.  The boys had a great time.

 

For the family party, Andrew decided to have a nacho bar, as nachos are his all-time favorite food.  Many others (i.e. Jake) were also happy with this choice.

Then it was time for Christmas!  It was great to have Stephen here for the holiday.

This year we gave the kids a trip to New York City.  They got to open a City Pass and maps and travel books.

We also made gingerbread houses and visited the Kirtland nativity display.  We also went caroling at a nursing home and it was so fun to see how the residents loved our singing.

 

We took a little break from all the festivities and made some snowflakes for Sandy Hook Elementary School.  There was a horrible, tragic school shooting there right before Christmas.  The school district knew that a lot of people would want to show support somehow, so they asked that people send snowflakes for them to decorate the new school building with once it reopened after the new year.  It was a simple project, but we had fun doing something small to show we care.

 

Real snowflakes were falling as well, so when Stephen was here we took the kids sledding,  We started at a little hill in Bradley Woods, but that just didn't cut it, so we tackled the big Rec Center hill.  It was crowded and crazy, but the kids had a great time.

 

We had big New Year's Eve bash with the whole family at our house. 

The kids had a great time with our little photo booth and props that we set up in the family room.  We also had yummy appetizers (as per tradition) and the chocolate fountain.  Everyone made it to midnight to see the ball drop.

Thus concludes the year 2012.  It was busy and challenging and filled with changes for our kids.  But we saw them adjust and grow and become even stronger.  Their talents grew as they met challenges head on.  My family is together in a way I never would have thought possible.  Due to my blogging lapse, many of the details have been forgotten, but we see the results of living the Gospel, making good choices, and putting family first.

Let's try this again...

Oh, well, hello there. It's been quite a while, hasn't it. Just about a year has passed since the events I last posted about took place. But since today is the first day of a new school year, and since I never posted the kids' first-day-of-school pictures from last year, I thought that would be a good place to start.

First Day of School, 2012

 

First Day of School, 2013

So for any of you who are still anxiously checking my blog for new updates (which I highly doubt, since Google Reader doesn't even exist anymore!)...buckle up, because there's the better part of a year comin' at ya.

An angel gets her wings.

When Emma and Leah turned 8 years old, we got them a white, long-haired guinea pig.  They named her Angel.  She lived in their bedroom and was their beloved pet.  They held her while they did homework or read, they bathed her and kept her cage clean.  They fed her vegetables every night and hay every morning, and typed up long, detailed instructions for anyone who might be taking care of her while we were on vacation.  She was affectionately called "Aingey" or "the good girl" or "the rat" (the last name was from Glenn, which was typically followed by "She's not a rat!").

Angel kept Emma and Leah good company for over 6 years, and really during that time we didn't have any problems with her health.  Until one Sunday morning in September...

I was already at church and had asked Glenn to run home to get some food to put in the kitchen.  Sacrament Meeting was about to start and only Brooke had arrived.  I thought to look at my phone at the last minute, thinking that maybe there was a problem with the food.  There was a text saying that Angel had died.  I gasped and bolted out of the chapel to run home to see what had happened.

As I ran out into the parking lot, I saw Glenn, Andrew, Emma and Leah approaching.  I ran to them and gathered them in a big bear hug.  We all were crying.  I was so sad for Emma and Leah, it just broke my heart to see them so upset.  It was hard to get through the meeting.  Lots and lots of tears.  (Side note: the missionary who was speaking kept talking about angels during his talk...we tried to laugh, but it was hard.)

I asked the girls what they wanted to do after Sacrament...did they want to go home or go to class?  They decided to go to class, but I know it was hard for them.

So after church we decided to have a little memorial service.  The kids got together and decorated a shoe box for Angel.  Then they all wrote letters to her and they put them inside.  We also found some pictures of her and made a little collage.  I think it was helpful for the kids.

The kids wanted to bury her out by the back fence, since she tried to escape through it a couple times.  It ended up that the whole family gathered in the backyard to remember Angel, even Jill and her kids had just gotten out of church and came across the street.  It was one of the saddest things I've ever witnessed...and while one the one hand it felt so silly to be so upset over a little guinea pig, my heart just broke for my children who were so so sad.

None of the kids wanted to say anything, so Glenn volunteered to give the eulogy.  I love how he said that the girls took such good care of her for so long, and that Angel must have known that now that they are older they would be so much more busy, and that it was the right time for her to go.  It was so touching to see him start to cry, and in fact, I have never seen him cry so much over anything before.  The only one who was dry-eyed was Callie, who had no idea what was going on.

So we laid our dear Angel to rest, and we've finally been able to move on.  The girls would tell me that for a while afterwards they'd still cry when they'd think about Angel being gone.  They took a long time to clean out the drawers that held her food and other equipment, and her empty cage is still down in the basement.  But we are grateful for the good years we had with her, and I am grateful for the love and joy she gave to the children.

The things we learn...

So it turns out that high school cross country is a lot different from junior high cross country.  Who knew that there would be a coach who coached, that there would be real work outs, that there would be so many fun things like spaghetti dinners and cheers and secret pals and dressing up like the coach to promote team unity, that the girls would really be training for their meets, that they would see so much improvement in their times?

One thing that didn't change?  THE MUD.

Twelve.

In case anyone wasn't paying attention for several months leading up to September 1, Brooke was having a birthday.  She was turning 12, and reminded us at every opportunity.  She had everything planned for quite some time.  I know this comes as a big surprise, but Brooke was VERY excited for her birthday, and to turn 12, graduate from Primary and enter the Young Women's program.  Boy was she ever ready.

Brooke had a little sleep over with her friends.  She was ecstatic to receive a One Direction t-shirt...her latest (and probably longest lasting) obsession.

We found a whole bunch of Dr. Seuss paraphernalia in the Dollar Spot at Target, so we decided to continue the theme for the party.  I made some fun Thing 1 cupcakes that looked awesome right after they were made, but I didn't realize the cotton candy would die on top overnight.

Brooke has settled comfortably into the world of Young Women's and has now started talking about going to dances.  WHEN SHE TURNS 14.  This girls is always ready for the next step...and never looks back.  We love our dramatic, passionate Brooke!

Did that really just happen?

Have I actually understood?

You mean my parents are moving here?  To Cleveland?  You've got to be kidding me.

However, I received several texts of my mom, Teddy, and a huge yellow moving truck from various cities across the country, so it must be true.

But I still can't believe it's really happening. 

I never, EVER, thought it would, but the stars seemed to align, and here they are.

 

They sold their house, packed up their lives into a truck, and said goodbye to people they've known and loved for almost 40 years.  I know that was no small sacrifice.  They left nice weather, a lovely home, a city they know like the back of their hand, the grocery outlet, and extremely cheap produce. 

Teddy is happy to get belly rubs whenever his heart desires.

In the months that they've been here, they have jumped into the daily routine of our lives with both feet.  I don't think they realized what energy it takes to get these 9 grandkids to school or activities or church.  They may have underestimated the number of concerts, games, recitals, and performances there would be to attend.  I have to applaud how well they keep the schedules straight and the energy they have to give.

It had to be very hard to leave the ward they have been attending for so long.  They have served so diligently for so long.  And it's always a little awkward to start fresh, especially out here where things are o much more spread out.  But for me, someone who has been away from home for twenty years, it is such a blessing to witness firsthand as an adult my parents serving in the church.  Here is another area where they have jumped right in, even though I know it was hard.  They are such perfect examples of service and love, and to see it and be a part of it is just amazing to me.

All those years ago, when this California girl decided to marry a boy from Cleveland, Ohio, I would have laughed in your face if you told me that someday I'd have most of my family living within 10 minutes of me, that my kids would see both grandmas walking the neighborhood together, that they would see most of their cousins on at least a weekly basis.  It really is a miracle to me, one I don't take lightly.

So {I hope} it will be for the rest of my life...and I'll want nothing else till I die...