Freeman Fam

New Years Eve!!

2012-01-01T11:30:00.000-08:00

What cute girls having such a fun time on New years eve. I am so happy that they had such fun activities to go to with great friends. Amy and Jenn at the dance and then Amy at Lauren's house. Abby had a great time at the Buhler's house with all of the youth and we had a great time with Sarah at Cafe Rio!! It was a fun night!!

Other Activities over Break!!

2012-01-01T09:11:00.000-08:00

We have had such an amazing break!! We are going to be very sad to see Sarah head back to college this week but I know she is rested and ready for another semester!! A few other things we did over the break which were not documented with pictures were: We braved Tysons as a family and went to see the movie "We bought a Zoo" and loved it!! Thanks for the Shipps for the movie tickets!! Then we did some serious shopping at Tysons, that mall is huge!! We found another house in McLean with the coolest light show ever!! It has a 15 minute light show and you turn your radio station to a station they have broadcast with their light show!! Truly amazing, you have to see it to believe it!! New Years Eve was an adventure with everyone going all over the place with different plans and lots of driving around but we all had fun!! Tom, Sarah and I and the Frederickson's went out to dinner at Cafe Rio in between driving everyone all over the place!! We had a fun time with the highlight being the sighting of the "party bus" We all wanted to ride on the party bus!! It was so funny!! It was a wonderful Christmas with so many wonderful, happy warm family memories. I am so thankful for my wonderful family and how much fun we have together!!

Ice Baby!!

2012-01-01T09:00:00.000-08:00

Becky treated us to an afternoon at Ice which is a really cool exhibit of fun Ice sculptures and slides and the themes was Disney Madagasgar. It is so cold in there that you have to where special coats to keep warm. It was kindof an ordeal to get in but once in we had so much fun and the kids loved taking fun pictures with the high light being Sarah and mattew spitting on one exhibit and timing how long it took for their spit to freeze (7 seconds) we were very proud!! We had many laughs as is always the case when our family is all together. We ended up afterward with the kids wanting to go to lunch and even though we were in a darling place with cute restaurants the kids felt VERY strongly about going to Ceci's all the way in Chantilly so that is where we went. You can't beat an all you can eat pizza buffet with cinnamon rolls!! At last count Jacob had eaten 14 cinnamon rolls, all documented with photos on twitter!! It was a great afternoon and many fun memories!!

Break!!

2012-01-01T08:38:00.000-08:00

We had such a fun day going downtown over break to visit the history museum and then then the National Christmas Tree. Abby loves to go to museums and it so great about reading everything and really interested in everything we see. I admire that so much about her, I was never like that as a child and my Dad always took us to museums and I just hated it!! My other girls are my pay back for my being obnoxious as a child and have that same opinion and do not appreciate the museums just like I did not!! It did help to have Becky with us who is so funny, had so many tid bits about D.C. that were really interesting and then treated the kids to a huge cookie and diet coke!! The highlight for sure!! We met up with the Fredericksons at the Tree which I have to say was the ugliest National Christmas tree I have ever seen. Amy's observation was that it was like one of those umbrella trees on the Grinch that stole Christmas. It was not even shaped like a tree and was not big at all, kindof funny!! We loved looking at all the state trees, Sarah found all of her friends state tree and sent them pictures of them. The kids loved throwing pennies into the train, a huge hit!! A very fun day!!

Christmas Break!!

2012-01-01T08:29:00.000-08:00

So fun to have all my girls together for the Herndon High Christmas concert and to have Sarah reunite with her friends and her favorite choir director Dana!! It was a fun, amazing night and Amy had a fabulous solo to top it off!!

Fun at Christmas

2011-12-23T15:07:00.000-08:00

We have had so much fun this Christmas season so far. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I will be very sad to see this Christmas season come to an end. I feel like December has just flown by. First of all it is SO fun to have Sarah home from BYU. She has been home for a week now and it feels like she has never left. We all went the airport last Thursday night at midnight along with her friend Christine to greet her and Matthew, it is SO fun to have her home!! She is enjoying reconnecting with her friends and seriously bonding with her family!!

December was filled with Beauty and the Beast but we were able to squeeze some Christmas in along the way. We loved having Jenson, Phil and Sue come and see the show and spend a few days with us. We so enjoyed getting to know Jenson better, what a treat!! We went to the Christmas tree lighting and singalong over at Reston Town Center, took a couple of trips to Juniper street, went to the Temple to see the lights and and saw the most wonderful concert while we were there by a broadway singer!! We started a new tradition of going to Alexandria to the tackiest lights on a house we have ever seen, there were over 100 blow up Christmas figures just on the roof!! It took us over a half hour just to see everything. All other Christmas lights just pale now in comparison. Then we went just across the street to a Krispy Kreme where they show the donuts being made fresh (yum!!) and ended the night with some fresh made donuts!! We had a great time!! I have converted all of the girls now (Amy was the hardest sell) to the Hallmark Christmas movies so it has been so fun to snuggle in and watch them with my girls!! I had a great time going Christmas caroling with the Activity day girls, people were so touched!! A highlight was the High School Choir Concert which is always spectacular!! Amy was featured in a Shebee's solo and Sarah was thrilled to get back on the stage and Jenn was darling in her "fixed" dress!! A huge success!! There were cookie exchanges, a pie party, we went caroling as a family with friends at a retirement center (love the dog!!) We had a great time decorating our tree and then decorating Mom's tree as well with Sarah and Matthew home. We are very excited for a very fun Christmas weekend. Here are some pictures from a few of our activities!!

B.Beast

2011-12-09T09:59:00.000-08:00

Beauty and the Beast!!

2011-12-09T09:56:00.000-08:00

Beauty and the Beast!!

2011-12-09T09:45:00.000-08:00

NewYork!!! Becky/Jenn/Amy

2011-11-22T15:52:00.000-08:00

Becky took Amy and Jenn to NewYork the second weekend in November. They have been planning this trip for a long time and they were SO excited to hit the town!! They had such a great time and were so thankful to Becky for this wonderful adventure!! They took the train to NewYork bright and early Friday morning and started exploring downtown NewYork. They went to the top of the Rock and could see the spectacular view of the city!! They went on a carriage ride around central park which they loved and ate lunch in a New York Deli. They walked all over checking out stores and Amy's favorite the NBC store which featured her beloved Office characters where she was treated to an Office T-shirt which she treasures. They went that night to see the musical Memphis on Broadway which they all LOVED!! Then went for some midnight Pizza, best ever!! In the morning they went to Grenidge village on a walking eating tour like we did last year (but without the drunk Santas!!) and they loved that as well. When they got back to the city they did some last minute shopping before it was time to catch the train back that night. They had tons of great laughs and wonderful memories!!

Snow in Provo!!

2011-11-22T15:40:00.000-08:00

Sarah and her friends were so excited to see snow at BYU that even though it was very late and some of them were in there PJ's they had to go explore and have a great time in the snow. I am so happy that Sarah has made so many great friends. She is so happy and although we miss her so much it is exactly where she should be.

Beauty and the Beast Rehearsals

2011-11-22T15:36:00.000-08:00

The girls are having alot of fun getting ready for Beauty and the Beast to open in a week and a half!! They have worked very hard. Abby especially loves getting out of school early on most days to get to rehearsal on time since the high school gets out an hour before the elementary school does, score for her!! Here are some cute pictures during rehearsal (Amy was at behind the wheel which is why there are none of her) and also Jenn and Amy's cast photo's. Abby does not like her cast photo since they took it right after a soccer game but I will still have to find it online and get it on the blog, I think it is darling!! We are so excited that Jenson and Phil and Sue are coming to see the play, very fun!!

Sarah-College Days and Friends!!

2011-11-13T18:14:00.000-08:00

It warms my heart to see Sarah SOOO happy and making such great and wonderful friends out at BYU!! Everytime I talk to her she is just so bubbly and happy and having so much fun!! She has made friends that I think she will have for the rest of her life and I am so happy for her. She is taking advantage of every opportunity out at College and it is wonderful to see her testimony growing and her confidence as well. I am SO excited for her to come home in ONE MONTH!!! Provo is a long ways away but we both know it is exactly where she is supposed to be!!

The Dance!!

2011-10-24T09:56:00.000-07:00

The girls had SO much fun at the Stake Dance this past weekend, best ever!! They could not stop talking about it all day yesterday, made me so happy!! I love it when they have such fun, with great friends!!

Homecoming

2011-10-24T09:52:00.000-07:00

It was an up and down Homecoming week for sweet Jenn. Jenn and I had many discussions on the Strength of Youth and what a "date" actually is. At the end of the week Jenn went to pictures and dinner with a "group" and then went to the Church stake dance. The next morning she said to me and I want this documented "Mom, you were right. My friends who went to the school dance hated it and I really had SO much fun at the the dance!!" After several sleepless nights and tossing and turning and hoping that I was not ruining Jenn's life it was music to my ears to hear how much fun she had!! I am so thankful for Jenn and what an obedient good sweet girl she is and how she tried to choose the right. I am a lucky Mom!!

Amy's shower performances

2011-10-23T18:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, Amy is not singing in the shower in this picture clearly. She is singing her solo at the choir concert this past week. She did a wonderful job, I had heard her solo numerous times, along with many other songs every night in her performances in the shower!! Amy is famous for her singing in the shower which can go on for a very long time. We love her singing and love that she loves her showers, but if you happen to be the person to shower after Amy, you DO NOT LOVE IT!! I heard her singing this morning on this gorgeous Sunday morning and did not put it together that she was singing in the shower until I took my own shower and there was not a drop of hot water!! I screamed from the shower "Amy better be very afraid!!" The thing was, she did not even feel bad :) At least she sounds good!!

Choir Concert!!

2011-10-21T18:35:00.000-07:00

The first Choir concert of the year was last night and the girls were amazing!! It was so fun to see Jenn finally up on the high school stage and Amy lit up the stage with her awesome solo in Shebee's and in show choir where she was front and center!! It felt very strange and sad to me to NOT have Sarah up on stage performing and she was missed by me and Dana mentioned to me as well that it did not feel right!! The girls went out afterward to Mcdonalds with their buddies and had a great time. I was very proud of them!!

Spirit Week at HHS!!

2011-10-21T18:29:00.000-07:00

This week at HHS was Spirit week to get ready for Homecoming this weekend!! The girls had fun dressing in the themes every day and it took them quite a while every night to figure out what they were going to wear the next day!! Both Amy and Jenn have some cute friends. I like the picture where they are all mocking Megan who hates the school and won't participate in any school spirit, sounds a little like Sarah and Matthew used to be!! There are a few pictures of the kids being silly at B and the Beast rehearsals. I am glad they have such fun friends!!

Sarah and friends!!

2011-09-30T13:04:00.000-07:00

I am so glad that Sarah is making such wonderful friends at BYU and having so much fun with them. Here is Sarah at a football game with some and on a Sunday walk with girls on her floor taking lots of silly, fun pictures. It makes me so happy to wake up in the morning and see pictures on facebook of Sarah or see a blog entry or a note from her. Nothing makes me happier or is better start to my day!! Love you Sarah!! I am so proud of you and all of the wonderful things you are doing!!

So You Think You Can Dance!!!!!

2011-09-30T12:55:00.000-07:00

Amy LOVES So You Think You Can Dance with every fiber of her being!! I mean, she LOVES it!! She devours every episode, she has viewing parties and LOVES these dancers!! She was beyone thrilled when the tour this year came to George Mason and they were performing on a Saturday night and she had it all planned out to stay late and try to meet the starts and get pictures with them!! She was so thrilled when we got her a ticket for her birthday and Michael got one for his birthday!! She was very worried when she came down with pneumonia the week of the tour but the medicine kicked in and she was able to go. She did not want to be known on the tour as "the girl who got all of the dancers sick!!" She saved her birthday money and purchased a big poster and a much beloved t-shirt!! There are 50 note cards put up all over the laundry room to help remind me to NOT EVER PUT HER SHIRT IN THE DRYER PLEASE!!!! Amy is a passionate girl and loves things very much!! I love you Amy!!

Choir Back to School Ice Cream Social

2011-09-24T18:29:00.000-07:00

The Choir back to school ice cream social is always such a fun event. It was really strange for me to not have Sarah there, it was the first choir event without my Sarah. I missed her. I am excited for this year for Jenn, she has some really cute friends in choir and it will be a great year for her, Amy is the pro now and looked up to, she is an upper classman now!! She will have such a great year. I love choir and love to be involved where my girls are and with their friends, so much fun!!

Rise and Shout!! The Cougars are out!!

2011-09-24T17:56:00.000-07:00

I love seeing all these great pictures of Sarah's first BYU football game played against the U. Too bad it was a blow out and the scoreboard was obviously at the beginning of the game!! Sarah still had such a fun time and met with her friends before the game to make their faces up and get ready for the game together. I am so glad that she is making such wonderful friends and having such a great time!! I love you so much Sarah!!

Trip to Old Town!! We love it!!

2011-09-09T14:43:00.000-07:00

Old Town has become our family's favorite place to go to for a fun day trip, we just LOVE it!! We have our favorite shops we like to visit, the Christmas store for me, the penny candy store for the kids, and we love to walk around the water front and visit the funky Torpeda factory and then we always go to the same Pizza place for lunch. We always laugh about Tom having his "wild bachelor party" in Old town when they went for pizza and then went for ice cream after, those were wild times!! When there were only a few days before Sarah was leaving for college I asked her where she would like to go for the day and she wanted to go to Old Town, even though we had just gone over spring break. We went and had a great time as usual. These memories mean SO much to me!! These simple silly memories with the girls are everything to me, how I adore them!!

Amy is Sweet Sixteenj-FINALLY!!!!

2011-09-09T13:56:00.000-07:00

Amy has been counting down to her 16th birthday for 200 days!! She was SOO excited to turn 16!! She is such a darling girl and the boys are lucky to be able to date her now!! On her actual birthday her best buds Lauren and Sydney came over with Robeks and spent part of the day with her. It was kindof a hard day as Sarah and I were leaving for the airport the next morning at 4:00 in the morning so there was lots of mixed emotions going on in the house!! We had Amy's big party the Friday night when I got back from getting Sarah settled in Provo. She had her friends over to Grandma's house and we set up the firepit so they could make smore's and they played just dance and night time games outside and we grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and they had a great time!! Here are some of my favorite things about my sweet Amy.

1. She ALWAYS tried to do the right thing and choose the right
2. She has a strong testimony of the Gospel and loves the Church
3. She is a loyal sister and a true friend
4. She is a hard worker and so talented at whatever it is she tries to do
5. I love to hear her sing, she always moves me to tears
6. I love her performances in the shower every night, even when she uses all of the hot water
7. I love how she always liked to say "I Love You" many times a day and night, isn't that the best thing to hear from your 16 year old!!
8. I love how I don't have to worry about checking the doors anymore, my reign has been taken over and a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulder, now poor Amy has to worry about it, I feel bad for her about that!!
9. I love to hear her "rules" about clothes and hair and shoes and how certain shirts can't go with light jeans but can go with dark jeans and how flip flops have to match, her mind cracks me up!!
10. I love how I have to "FORCE" Amy to watch a movie with us (it is investing too much time!!) but she can watch Modern Family for 3 hours straight!! Another rule I don't understand :)
11. Amy always makes me laugh and she adds so much life, fun and love to my life and our home!!

Abby is 11!! Happy Birthday!!

2011-09-09T10:32:00.000-07:00

Abby is 11 on the first day of 6th grade!! Abby is a joy and adds so much fun to our family!! She was so excited to go to school today!! She is a patrol captain this year and an anchor on the news show!! She is ready to rule the school!! She had bubble bread and bacon this morning and I snuck her in chick filet for lunch and we went to tortilla factory as a family for dinner. She got many fun presents which she was thrilled about. Here are the top 11 things I adore about Abby:
1. She is a very loyal sister and friend
2. Abby is very funny and has a great sense of humor
3. Abby loves to go to museums and loves to look at everything just like her Grandma, he finally has someone like him!!
4. Abby's love of reading and books, she gets so excited when one of her favorite authors comes out with a new book!!
5. She will watch football with me, even though she will cheer for the opposite team that I want to win just to bug me!
6. She loves the Gospel and has a strong testimony and always tries to choose the right
7. Abby's love of all sports!! She is willing to play and all sports but LOVES soccer and B-Ball!
8. Her willingness to try new foods and her love of mexican food and spicy salsa just like her Mom!!
9. Loves to watch movies and will still snuggle with her parents!!
10. Abby is very caring and kind to others
11. Abby is just very fun to have around, a great helper and will always go with me no matter where I am going, my partner in crime!! Happy Birthday sweet Abby!!

First day of School!!

2011-09-06T12:39:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of school here in Virginia. Amy started 11th grade, Jenn started 9th grade and started her first day at Herndon High school and Abby had her first day of 6th grade, her last year at Armstrong. She is a Patrol Captain this year and also an anchor on the news show!! It was neccessary for me to drive her to school this morning as she had many responsibilities first thing this morning!! It was also Abby's 11th Birthday today, big day for Abby!! I am always very sad to see school start again and see those lazy days of summer leave. I love having the girls around and this summer felt too busy and went too quickly!! We did have some great time and many great memories and I am excited for all that this year has to offer the girls!! I just miss them and hate to be rushed!! But here we are off to another school year, ready or not!!

Life at BYU-Sarah!!

2011-09-05T17:28:00.000-07:00

Sarah is SOOO happy at BYU and it warms my heart!! She has made so many great friends and is always off on some fun adventure and has had what she calls the best talks ever with her new friends. She has played volleyball, played basketball and watched the football game!! She hiked the "Y" mountain this morning with her Ward, that is not easy to do!! I am so proud of her and how she has just done everything and taken advantage of every opportunity. Last night after their Ward prayer she went with a bunch of kids from her Ward to tunnel singing which they have every Sunday night for an hour in a tunnel near the Marriott center where they sing Church songs, what a great way to end the Sabbath day. I am so happy for Sarah and the adventure ahead of her!!

Life at BYU

2011-08-31T16:56:00.001-07:00

The rest of my time in Utah was spent getting Sarah set up with everything I could possibly think of that she would need, some snacks to keep in her room, a fun body pillow, a book shelf etc. I also spent so much fun quality time with my relatives out there who I know will be there for Sarah in a second when needed, what a comfort that is. I loved my time with my Mom, we had so much fun with our morning at the beloved Quilted Bear (a whole room of Salt City Candles!!!!) , fun lunches and dinners and getting to go to the movies one night!! We went down on Saturday afternoon and took Sarah out for a quick ice cream at the Creamery, I am still dreaming of that ice cream, it was SO yummy!! I was not excited about Sunday and saying goodbye to my sweet Sarah. I took her laundry back up with me to Kathy's so she could start with all fresh clothes. Saying goodbye was not easy, I adore that girl so much. Sarah is so fun. She is so adored by her sisters and of course her parents and I think of what she is doing every second of the day. BUT.....I KNOW that this is where Sarah should be, each day she is there she grows more and her eyes just sparkled like I have never seen them sparkle. She is SO HAPPY!! What more could I want for her than to see my little girl grow spiritually and make wonderful friends who she can be herself with. We are now True Blue BYU fans!! I am so thankful that I had this time with my family out in Utah and especially for this time with Sarah and to see her settled and to see her happy!! I love you Sarah!!

Freshman Orientation!!

2011-08-31T10:16:00.000-07:00

Sarah survived her first night in the dorms (or should I say I survived her first night in the dorms:) Sarah did great and was happy as ever!! We headed down to Provo for orientation and Sarah was already off with her group for the day!! We went to pick up our tickets for lunch. I admit I got teary seeing all of those kids on the Helaman field playing get to know you games, there was just such a great spirit of good, clean fun surrounding the whole day I could not help but get teary and feel grateful that I was bringing Sarah to this school, surrounded by people with her same beliefs and standards. We went to the Marriott Center for the opening devotional and that was fabulous!! I kept looking for Sarah but did not see her. From there we went to the Wilkinson Center for the parents luncheon with a speaker. The speaker was Brad Wilcox and he was just amazing, so funny with great advice. I saw several people I knew and that was really fun. I then went to a class on first time parents to BYU and really enjoyed that as well. After that Sarah texted me that she was free (I had a bunch of stuff I had purchased for her and wanted to connect with her to get it to her) We met in the Bookstore, shopped a little and then met up with Mom and Colleen before going to Sarah's dorm and setting up her new stuff. Sarah had a great day of orientation and that night they were watching Tangled on the big screen TV at the Helaman field. Sarah raced off to meet some new friends just talking a mile a minute, SO HAPPY!! Oh, how it warmed my heart!! The 3 of us stopped for some mexican food on the way home, tired but happy!! More on our trip to be continued!!

Sarah moves in to Hinckley Hall/Helaman Halls!!

2011-08-30T20:42:00.000-07:00

We woke up Wednesday morning and got ready to head down to BYU!! It was move in day!! We first had to stop at Bed/Bath and Beyond to pick up Sarah's bedding and accessories for her room that we had ordered in Va. It was one of many trips I had to make to get Sarah's room fixed up and ready to roll!! We got her stuff in Orem and were on our way to Provo!! We parked at Hinckley Hall where Sarah will live the next 9 months and were able between myself, Sarah, Mom and Colleen to carry everything to room 3209!! We unloaded her stuff and Sarah and Colleen took a quick trip up to the Wilkinson center to get Sarah's ID so that she would be able to eat as we heard the lines were getting terrible up there. By the time they got back Sarah's roommate Kristen was back and they got to meet. She is a darling girl and so sweet. She had left Sarah a cute card and some candy. The two of them ran off to lunch while we stayed behind and got things organized in Sarah's room. Kristen had some really cute ideas with organizing stuff so a dreaded trip to Walmart was in order. First we (the adults) went up and had lunch at the Cougareat and then looked around the bookstore ourselves and got the famous chocolate covered cinnamon bears (those are to die for yummy!!) Sarah was off making friends on her hall so we went to Walmart and got her some stuff and met up with her later. That night I got her some more stuff at Target (love the Target!!) and we ate at my favorite the Training Table!! I always loved the Training Table!! Sarah went to a big party that night with games, dancing etc. She was off to a great BYU start. The next Day: Orientation!!

BYU - Here Comes Sarah!!!

2011-08-30T13:59:00.000-07:00

Well, my little Sarah is off on her college adventure at BYU!! I am so proud of her and how she has handled all of this change with grace and with such a positive go get em attitude. Can I just point out how different she is from her Mom when I went off to BYU and turned to Mom on the plane and said I did not care if the plane crashed so I would not be saying a prayer for safety-NICE!! I am sorry Mom for that!! It was hard enough for me taking Sarah and my stomach was in knots the whole time but we did have fun in the mean time!! Here is the low down on our trip:

We got to the airport at 4:30 in the morning which is 2:30 in the morning Utah time, early!! Sarah was a great flying companion for her nervous Mom but I did fine watching Modern Family with Sarah at my side. Only once did I turn to Sarah and ask her if she also thought it looked like we were flying into the mountain. She replied that not only was that not a mountain but we were nowhere near it!! Harsh!!

We arrived in Salt Lake to my phone ringing from Mom who left hours after us and arrived before us, the joys of straight through flights. Dale picked us up and took dropped us off at Temple Square in Salt Lake where we loved to see the Temple, went in the Tabernacle, Sarah and I toured the visitor's center and also the Conference Center and we went to the huge Deseret Book. We met Colleen for lunch at the JSB bldg. at the Navouoo House which was so yummy and fun. From there we went to visit Grandma's old house and Mom was brave enough to knock on the door and ask the current owner to go in and see the house. You have to love Mom!! The memories just flooded back of Grandma and wonderful times with our family and cousins!! I loved it. We went from there to Kathy's to chill before the big family dinner that night. It was so fun to see everyone and re-connect with my cousins. They are so much fun and great to laugh with and we have so many fun memories with!! We were all so tired, especially me and Sarah who had been going since the middle of the night that bed felt really good. We had a big day the next day: Sarah moves into the dorm. To be continued!!

Tamy and Trachel!!

2011-08-08T04:58:00.000-07:00

Amy was SO excited for weeks for Rachel to come for a visit this summer!! She counted down the days for weeks!! They had such a blast together and were such darling YCL's at Girls camp!! We miss Rachel so much and it is always so fun when she is here. There is nothing like good, loyal friends and Amy is lucky to have Rachel as one of hers.

Jenn is 14!!! Happy Birthday!!

2011-08-07T19:31:00.000-07:00

Jenn is such a darling 14 year old and had such a fun birthday and was so lucky to have a Stake Dance on her birthday!! How fun is that!! We had a bunch of Jenn's friends and Amy's friends over for dinner and fun and cake before the dance and then they all went to the dance together and had so much fun!! Jenn is such a darling 14 year old and I am so proud of the young woman she is becoming.

Things I love about Jenn:

1. Her sense of Fashion: she has such an eye for clothes and what looks good and is not shy about letting us know if we are not in style!!

2. Her love of the "In" pop star, Goodbye Joe Jonas, Hello Justin Bieber!

3. She is so darling and good with the little kids at swimteam and is the team Mom with the
little kids

4. She has the wackiest sense of humor and keeps all of us laughing at home all day long with getting stuck in buckets, dancing in her sports bra and all other wackiness!!

5. She is a very loyal sister and adores them and is their best friend!!

6. She has great friends, they are goofy and silly just like Jenn!!

7. I love Jenn's relationship with her Aunt Becky. They are two peas in a pod and just "get" each other!!

8. Jenn always tried to choose the right and that is not easy and I am proud of her for that

9. Jenn keeps our home organized and neat and clean, she is my go to when things get messy!!

10. I love my Jenn and I am lucky and blessed to be her Mom!!

2011-08-07T10:35:00.000-07:00

Trek!!

2011-07-31T16:12:00.001-07:00

Trek Pics!!

2011-07-30T17:41:00.001-07:00

TREK!!!

2011-07-25T18:52:00.000-07:00

Youth Conference Trek!!

2011-07-25T15:20:00.000-07:00

Trek was such an amazing experience for the girls and myself actually!! What a great opportunity to dress like the pioneers and experience just a fraction of what they did. We were lucky and got to see the movie the night before Trek called "17 Miracles" and it was such a great start to Trek. I loved seeing my girls there and sharing it with them. I helped with food the whole time but loved seeing the families pull up with their hand carts, what a beautiful and humbling sight. It is good for us to realize we CAN do hard thing, work hard and accomplish our goals. I am so thankful for these opportunities for the youth!!

OBX 2011

2011-07-25T14:52:00.001-07:00

We had such a wonderful week at the Outer Banks. It was so much fun to reconnect all together at our favorite place and in such a glorious beach house, truly the best ever!! It was decorated so fun, very much like a jungle and plenty of room for everyone and the kids loved having domain over the downstairs, the media center, game room, food etc. They were in heaven!! We did spent most of our time down at the beach or at the pool but at night or when it stormed or late at night, the kids were set!! They took long walks on the beach, loved to stargaze and we loved just visiting together. Gail had told me about Duck Donuts and how amazing they were and Dad took daily trips to the donut store and they truly were to die for. It was so nice to be at the beach, I wish we were still there or planning to go, it is the highlight of the summer for our family!!

Graduation Party!!

2011-06-22T17:41:00.001-07:00

We are family!! My girls love Alexis!

Best picture ever

Madrigal love!! Such a fun year in Mads

Best Picture goes to the Buhlers!!

Sarah and Matthew's grad party was SO much fun and a big success!! They were both so pleased with all the people who came out to celebrate them and their successes and all the people who truly love these fabulous kids!! Julie and I had worked for weeks planning and preparing for this big day!! We had so much yummy food, decorations and picture collages and slide shows to celebrate them. Becky purchased all the chickfilet and personalized M & M's which were huge hits!! Mom let us have it at her house and made all the meat and cheese platters and the rolls and croissants. We had big jars filled with cookies that me and Julie had been baking for weeks. We had yummy appetizers, chips and salsa, fruit, veggie tray and coolers of soda and water. We had set up the basement thinking the kids would go down there but they all stayed upstairs or out on the deck which was so fun!! They both got such lovely and generous gifts from loved ones and felt so loved!! They are both such great kids and will be so successful at college, but will surely be missed!!

Sarah's High School Graduation!!

2011-06-20T11:37:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that Sarah's Graduation on June 17th 2011 has come!! Sarah is such an amazing young woman and I am so lucky and blessed to be her Mom!! Her Graduation day was just wonderful and we were so proud of Sarah. She got recognized for having over a 4.0 GPA and got to wear a medal for that, along with her choir medal and an honor society sash. She has worked so hard!! She also sang the National Athem with the choir and it was amazing!! I really enjoyed the graduation speakers and all of the pomp and circumstance!! As we sat down I turned to Tom and said we never made a meeting place for after with Sarah and they were not allowed to bring cell phones with them, oh no!! We were lucky and did not have much trouble finding her in the crowd, we did lose Dad for quite awhile, never really got a straight answer to where he was!! We all went back to Mom and Dad's house and ordered some yummy chinese food which was quite the hit!! Then Sarah was off to all night grad while we started to get ready for the party the next day. More on the party later... Sarah had a blast at the all night grad party and was just getting home when I got up for the swim meet!! It was a really fun day!!

Sarah's last choir day :(

2011-06-10T12:15:00.000-07:00

Today was Sarah's last day for choir at the high school, very sad actually!! It has been such a focal point of her last 4 years and such a place for support, love and comfort. Choir at our high school is really amazing and I am so pleased that Sarah had such a fabulous experience. I love the picture where Sarah and Syd are having Dana give them the "judgement face" They love the judgement face!!

A few more Choir Banquet pics!!

2011-06-09T18:36:00.000-07:00

These are some more great photos of the banquet. There is Sarah singing her solo in Dana's new song, Sarah giving her "Senior Wills" to her sister Amy and best friend Sydney and pictures of Sarah receiving the Director's award from Dana. It was such an amazing night!!

Choir awards night!!

2011-06-09T03:56:00.000-07:00

What a great night the choir awards banquet was!! The evening started with the premier of Dana's new song that she had written for the choir to perform as part of her Wolftrap award. She gave Sarah the solo in the piece and Sarah did a fabulous job!! The song was gorgeous and we were so pleased for Dana and this big honor. The first award given out was the scholarship from the choir boosters. It was really a grueling application process and Sarah changed her essay half a dozen times. We were so pleased for Sarah when she won a 800 dollar scholarship, the most that they have ever rewarded!! What made it really nice as well is that Matthew also won a big scholarship!! I was so proud of both of them. The booster parents and senior parents gave Dana an I-Pad plus a road trip basket for their road trip with included a double DVD player, DVD's, maps, snacks and car activities. She was beyond thrilled!! Then we got to the awards that Dana gives out to a few seniors every year. Sarah was the last award she gave and she received the Director's award from Dana. She had such lovely things to say about Sarah and even got choked up when talking about her. The few things I remember her saying is what a great leader Sarah is, how it was not about the successes Sarah had, how many solos she had etc. even though Sarah achieved great success, but what always mattered to Sarah was the music and how much she loved to sing!! It was truly lovely and we were so proud of Sarah and all that she has accomplished!! She is an amazing young woman!!

Dana's song!!

2011-06-03T19:13:00.000-07:00

The composer Darmon Meader came to the high school choir last week to work with them on the commissioned piece written for Dana that the choir is going to perform at the awards ceremony on Monday. This is a really big deal for Dana, a HUGE honor!! She won a scholarship from the Wolf Trap foundation and has worked all year on this piece. She gave Sarah the one solo in the song which Sarah is SO excited to perform!! I am so thrilled for Dana and excited to hear the song!!

Kings Dominion!!

2011-06-03T18:56:00.000-07:00

We had a great time on Memorial Day at Kings Dominion for Mormon day!! Amy's friend Jessica came with us and Sarah's best buddies Hannah, Sydney and Christine spent the night and then came with us. It was a HOT day with temps over 100 degrees and humidity too, yuck!! We were all really thirsty and hot and glad to get in our air conditioned car at the end of the day!! We did have so much fun though, the girls went on every rollercoaster, even Abby who went on the Rebel Yell with the girls 8 times in a row!! It was a great day and a fun tradition!!

Mormon Prom!!!

2011-05-22T15:31:00.001-07:00

Sarah had such a fabulous time at her Senior year Mormon Prom!! She was so excited when Aaron asked her to go with her after the Pops concert, what a fun day for Sarah!! They had a big group of kids that went together and first met at a park to take pictures and then on to Pres. Wheatley's house for appetizers and pictures with all of the youth in the Stake. We met them there to take pictures with the other parents. From there they headed towards the Mt. Vernon Stake center and ate at a Japanese steak house close to there before heading to the dance. They have worked on the decorations and other stuff all year long and from all reports it was spectacular!! It was a really fun day for Sarah and she looked gorgeous!!

Jenn in the Jungle Book!!!!

2011-05-22T14:22:00.001-07:00

Jenn had such a fun time in the production of the Jungle Book at the middle school!! She has made so many cute, fun friends. They did a fabulous job and I was SO proud of Jenn!! She really lit up the stage. I adore my Jenn!!

We Love Pops!!

2011-05-22T13:47:00.000-07:00

The memories that Sarah has made during her 4 years in Herndon Choir and the growth she has made are unforgettable!! Choir will always be high school to Sarah and where her heart is. It has brought her so much joy and happiness, she has made her best high school friends there and a wonderful mentor in Dana!! What a blessing she has been to Sarah. Pops was a great way to go out with a bang!!