Birthday Celebration

We took supper to mom's last night, just for the fun of it. Each of us took something to eat. Samantha said she wanted to get a DQ Ice Cream Cake..so we let her get that. This was not supposed to be a birthday celebration at all, however...it ended up being something like one. Jen, Sam, and BobbiJo come downstairs with this:

Apparently they coulnd't find any candles..and they thought they needed to have something on the cake. So they ran around mom's house and found these little figurines to put on it. They thought they were so clever..they laughed and giggled like little kids. Thanks guys..for the birthday cake..candles?!?..and laughs!

Amy's Birthday Wishlist

1) Sperrys Boat Shoes - Top-Siders Linen/Floral
2) Simply Vera Vera Wang Silver-Tone Long Lariat Necklace
3) Nike Women's Imara Kylo Cee Watch
4) Life Application Study Bible NLT
5) Frye Shirley Riding Boots - Tan
6) Trek Hybrid-Road Bike
7) Womens Lucchese Mad Dog Coat Boots - Peanut Brittle
8) Subjektiv 4-in-1 Lens Kit

Lazy Days at Home

Needless to say, I'm sick of school being cancelled. I know it's for the better, but I am so bored! Tuesday, I didn't have school but Rylan did till noon..so I was home alone for most of the day. Wednesday, we spent half the day at Mimi's eating chilli and coconut bread pudding...along with mom, Jen, Leslie, McKenna, and Sheila..OH! and the 4 dogs! Today..Rylan had school and I didn't. I worked out for an hour and a half..came home and took some pictures outside of what was left of the ice on the trees.

Both mom & Pat and Randy & Julie have been out of power since Tuesday..so Kristen has been staying with us because she still has class at OCC. So her and I laid around for while today until Rylan came home and it was time to make supper. After supper, I was still super bored..so I made cake mix cookies with lemon icing. They are the perfect little size and just yummy!

OH! I meant to make this a separate post earlier..but as you can tell..I've been too busy! (Guess I needed these days to calm down and relax. Instead, I've been bored though) One of my best friends had her baby a week ago today! She is the tiniest little thing and so precious!

Delia Ann Haberlin

Congratulations Danny & Alicia! We love you all!

(Rylan can't wait to come see her!!)

Happy 25th Erin!

My best friend Erin, over at The Michels Family, turned 25 yesterday! It's crazy that we're turning 25 this year. It doesn't seem like it was that long ago when we were......

dressing like this

(Oh the days of Mickey and wind-suits! Check out those white-wash jeans! Mom was always good at giving me perfectly poofy bangs!)

riding our bikes like this

(I love that I'm in PJs, Erin is in her swim suit, and Jen is in shorts with no shirt on. It could be any time of day and this is probably how we always looked when we were camping.)

receiving birthday presents and wearing matching outfits like this

(Jeans..white turtlenecks..matching suspenders..we are doomed to be like our mothers! They even dressed us alike when we were children! Ah!)

swimming like this

(Oh the days of swimming in your underwear..or diaper..whichever you prefer! :) I love the bright orange floaties..my Mickey Mouse ring..and your Mickey Mouse swim suit. But the ultimate best..is our mothers' bathing suits and hair! HA! Love you momma!)

lounging like this

(back: Jen, me, Derek, Erin   front: Leslie, Samantha   watching a movie on Bill and Deb's bed)

Love you Erin! I couldn't imagine my life without you..even if we are turning into our mothers! We're still the best together! Happy Birthday!

A Much Needed Update

Prepare yourself. This is going to be a long one!

I know that you all have been asking why I haven't been updating my blog..and to tell you the truth..it's the last thing on my mind lately. Between cheerleading, games, school, masters classes, working out, and every other direction that I've been pulled in since Nashville..I honestly do not have time to do anything. And even if I do get a free minute..I either want to just sleep or spend it with Rylan and our families. Sooo..below is going to be a BUNCH of randomness of what has gone on in our lives over the past month.

Christmas was busy as usual, but enjoyable! We played a trick on Randy this year, because he always plays a trick on us. His boots have a hole in the bottom..so we put a bunch of our boots in a big box and told him that he could choose which pair he'd like to have. He wasn't too sure about that..until we gave him the new boots we bought for him. He loves them and wears them frequently! We were lucky on that one..we found the perfect size and style for him.

 We had Prime Rib at mom's for Christmas. It was DELICIOUS as usual! I think we all ate more than we should have..but you can't pass up a perfectly cooked prime rib! Way to go mom and Pat!! You surpassed our expectations again this year!

 We had our usual gathering with Jon, Lisa, Jordan, and Jared again this year. I'm not sure we'll ever be able to stop this tradition! We love spending time with them!

 We got to spend some time with Kate and Jesse while they were both home. It's always nice to see them and catch up on some good laughs!

 

We spent New Years at the Gypsy. Festivus was a blast and I can't say I've ever had that much fun on New Years. (Except maybe when Sheila peed her pants last year at mom's!! HA!) We had plenty of laughs - more than enough to make up for any that were lost during the past year! 

 

A few of us Aired our Grievances as well as participated in the Feats of Strength.

 Above: BobbiJo and I - we had to try to knock the other person off balance without letting our right foot touch the ground
Below: Bart and Brock - they wrapped a rubber band around their ear and had to pull as hard as they could till one of them yelled 'uncle'

If Festivus occurs again next year, I encourage you to join..if you are invited that is!

Nashville, TN

We had an incredible time in Nashville! We stayed about 15 minutes from downtown, all 6 of us in 1 hotel room! We needed this short little vacay more than ever too!!

Waiting...waiting..waiting..waiting on our cab to arrive.

Garth put on a great concert! We didn't know whether to pee our pants or cry when he came out! Pretty sure me, Jen, and Sam did both though! Needless to say, by the end of the concert, we had no voices and couldn't hear a whole lot either! And to those of you that we called during the concert, whether or not you heard Garth singing or just us yelling, feel privileged that we thought about you! :) 

Trisha came out and sang a few songs. We laughed when she sang 'She's In Love With The Boy' and Jen called Joey..her river boy boyfriend from many years ago..and we sang the song to him.

Then Garth and Trisha sang a song together. It was really great! Garth was pretty emotional during the entire concert because he was just so amazed at the fans that still held on to him over the years.

 After the concert, we walked down to Music Row. The only food we had eaten since lunch was chip-n-salsa and popcorn during happy hour at our hotel. So we found a hotdog stand and stood on Music Row, eating hotdogs!

This is probably my favorite picture from the ENTIRE trip!!

(besides the blurry one of Jen stuck upside down between the nightstand and the bed)

 

At Tootsies Orchid Lounge.

Before we headed back to the hotel, we thought we'd order pizza. So we sent Samantha to the bar to ask a waitress for the number to a pizza place. Jen went up behind her and heard her ask for the number to a Pepsi place..and we all nearly fell out of our stools laughing at Samantha. This is the look she gave us when we all started laughing.

 And we were back in Illinois..clearly..by the car below! We followed this car out of Albion..we thought it was true Southern Illinois graffiti!

 (Sorry I didn't post earlier about our adventure south..my computer is not working properly tonight, so I am setting it to post at 9am tomorrow! Hope it works!)

A Fun Filled Day

Below are just some highlights of the day..to go along with the candy making at mom's.

Come in!! (Love ya Jen!!)

 Yep!! It sure did!! Quite a bit too!! I was pumped..I love snow!

Jen spilled half a bag of chocolate chips all over the floor. Lainey wanted so bad to eat them! Sheila wanted so bad not to pee her pants laughing about the spilled chips! (Love ya Sheila!!) 

 Mom dipped her PB balls in chocolate then finished decorating them so we could start making hard candy.

Bart wrote thank you notes..from their September wedding. HA! He probably got 10 or 15..out of about 150..done. We were waaayyy too distracting for him! BobbiJo volunteered to help..but Jen didn't like her ideas on what to write! ;)

Rylan sat on the couch for awhile and read Newsweek.

I swear Jen was losing her mind today and thought we were making Pumpkin Rolls because she thought the dish towel was supposed to be wet..and then she covered the entire dish towel in powdered sugar instead of making a mound..both of which you do for Pumpkin Rolls! Not hard candy!

Mom gave BobbiJo war paint.

Then we tried to get the hard candy making going..except I burnt the first batch..just like last year!! Whoops!

Mom gave BobbiJo more war paint! Guess she was just trying to make her blend in with the snow outside.

Bart was our dish washer..and he only touched the super hot pans a few times before he finally...didn't learn at all that the pans were scalding hot.

Lainey begged for attention and food..stood in the way..and got really friendly with BobbiJo.

The cinnamon candy always gets everyone involved. Between holding a shirt or towel over your or someone else's nose, using towels to fan the smells away, opening and closing doors to fan the smell out, or just plain gasping for air because you've inhaled the scent. We go outside to add and stir in the flavor. The scent is so strong that it takes your breath away if you breathe it and it turns your skin red if it steams on you. It's insane and you can't understand how stressful and funny it is making the cinnamon candy until you experience it with us.

We always make cinnamon last because you are miserable after making it and it makes the house smell so good. So after we finished all of the cinnamon batches, BobbiJo and I got a little spunkified and played Chugga Chugga.

Jen and Bart did it last year..so Bobbi and I played this year. Needless to say..my nose was filled with powdered sugar..along with my lungs.

We had a blast today..all 10 of us! If you've never experienced a day with my family..you should stop by sometime when we're all at mom's! It's a once in a lifetime experience and we can promise anyone a good time! We're definitely unique!