Christmas in the Northwest

This evening we went to the Great Bend Christmas Parade. One of the first floats was playing I'm dreaming of a white Christmas. I really like that song! It started and I was happy and then it said, "It's December the 24th and I'm longing to be up north. I seriously got choked up! I all of the sudden wanted to be home RIGHT NOW!

Since Christmas is coming, I thought I'd share my favorite Christmas Song with all my friends in the plain states that I'm sure have probably never heard it, unless you've spent time in the Northwest during the holiday season. For those of you that get to hear it during this time of year, I'm jealous. I LOVE IT! Just press play to hear it. Merry Christmas!

Making Turkeys

For FHE a couple weeks ago we had the missionaries over and well as our friends, the Durhams. For the activity we made turkeys our of our hands and feet. The feet are the body, and our hands are the feathers. I actually did this same activity with my school class 4 days before we did it at FHE. We did do it a little bit differently though. I used all scrapbook papers to add a little more personality, and we gave the boys eyebrows and the girls a bow in the 'hair'.

Ken--Notice the hand in the back with 4 squareish fingers. Ken did NOT trace his hand for that one, he cut it with 'free hand' and glued it there because he thought his feathers were parted. We put his special turkey on the bathroom door.

Dedra

Nicole

Matthew

The family...

Rules

Anyone who has been to our home, knows that we are pretty laid back. We don't have a lot of rules and I am the first to admit that we could all probably benefit from more structure.

HOWEVER, we do have a few rules AND 1 HUGE rule. DO NOT SIT ON THE ARMS OF MY COUCHES!! I can't think of anyone who has sat on an arm that I have not politely invited them to sit properly!

That being said, there have been 2 offenders in the last 48 hours. They weren't together at the time, nor did either see the other do it. I did catch them both in the act. AND I guess since I got video AND still photos of them, it very well could take away from how serious I am about sitting properly on furniture.

ALSO, another rule that I should probably follow, but do not, is fold the laundry and put it away. I HATE DOING IT!! That is why the same load is on the couch during both violations of previous said rule. Oh well, I guess it could be worse!

Popcorn Update

So Matthew has been selling popcorn for the Cub Scouts for the past month, give or take a week. Many of you have asked how he is doing, so tonight I asked him. Here is a video.

WAY TO GO MATTHEW!! $2300.00!! YOU ARE AWESOME!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today for Thanksgiving Dinner we spent the afternoon at the Carltons in Larned. We ate lots of good food, laughed even more, and before the evening was over, we were all Guitar Heros. It was a blast! Thanks Connie for inviting us into your home!

I say a Boom Chicka Boom

I LOVE CAMP SONGS!!! They are pretty much one of my favorite things to sing when on road trips, and since my kids love to sing and think alot of them are funny, we do it ALOT. Our favorite one lately is Boom Chicka Boom. At first the kids were just singing it, and then after about the 50th verse of the exact same words and singing style I showed them you could sing it other ways. I didn't get the variations on video, but I did get some of the beginning. I LOVE watching Nicole sing because she dances in her seat and I love watching Matthew sing because he is missing alot of teeth and he's pretty proud of himself. Also I think they are adorable!! So here is a video taken on our way to Stake Conference on Saturday a couple weeks ago.

ps. Do you think Nicole is getting a little accent?

Win FREE Stocking Stuffers!

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Hi everyone! I'm trying to win a free book. One of the ways I can do this is by posting a link to the contest website on my blog. Wish me luck! I'll let you know if I win.

just a cute little photo.

A couple weeks ago my friend Liz came over with her 2 kids and so did Jessica. We wrote haikus. When it was time for Liz to go home, she went into the family room and this is what we came across. 2 little boys glued to TV, iCarly to be exact. I thought it was cute.

Can you do this with your fingers?

Have you ever had a moment when your child walked up to you and said, "Look what I can do?!" Kind of like Stuart on Mad TV? Matthew is full of them. This time it actually caused me pain looking at him and I tried to copy and could not. I don't think I need to explain, just take a look at the photos and when you are bored, try to do it yourself!

For those of you who have not yet had the opportunity to become aquainted with Stuart from Mad TV, here is my FAVORITE skit.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my Mom's Birthday. You would think this would be an easy post to write about, but for so many reasons I find myself emotional thinking about her. She was diagnosed with breast cancer just over 2 years ago. After a long struggle, chemo, losing all her hair, not to mention having to go through 2 surgeries, words can not expres how thankful I am that she is alive today to celebrate her birthday. As I have thought about what I would share about her, I've decided to share some of the things I've learned from my Mom. I invite any of my siblings who read this blog, to add to the lists, using commentary.

Some of the things I've learned from my Mom...

*Make your bed first when you clean your room.

*It's better to be 30 minutes early than 5 minutes late.

*You don't need to beg a person to do something, if they say no, find someone else.

*She taught me how to be confident, or at least appear confident. Nobody needs to know if I'm nervous about something or not.

*Never say no when extended a calling, and do that calling the best way you can.

*My Mom taught me how to play the piano, sew a dress, and clean a bathroom.

*The only place to get married is in the temple.

*Vacuum the living room before you go to bed so you wake up to a clean space.

*She taught how us how to throw a party.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am very opinionated. Throughout the years, I have chosen (unwisely) to share my opinions with my mom when they weren't the kindest things I could have said to her. At times I have been hurtful and/or uncaring. In our family, open communication has not always been our strongest suit, so there have been times that I've felt that my relationship with my Mom was not as strong as it could or should be, to nobody's fault but my own. I live pretty far away and I have for 8+ years, but I've never lived as far away as we do now, in Kansas. I didn't call home very often because I knew I'd see her in a month or so. I find myself wishing she was closer, wanting her to show me how to do things that she's shown me 100 times, or just wishing we could go out for lunch.

Mom, on your birthday, (and on everyday) I want you know how much I love you! I'm thankful for all the things you have taught me both through instruction and by example. I wish we lived closer so we could visit more often. Thank you for all you've done for me and my family.

This and That

I have a few little things to share, 1 medium and 1 really big one. Instead of spending the next 2 hours writing individual posts, I thought I'd just spit it all out right here.

Little Things: Matthew is selling popcorn for the cub scouts and his goal is the biggest prize which requires him to sell $2300 in popcorn. After 7 days of selling he is almost halfway. His total last night $1082. He's pretty excited about that and I'm really pleased with his ambition.

I'm working at an Elementary School here in GB. I started working 2 weeks ago. After 10 days in the classroom with 4 severly handicapped kids, I'm liking it more and more each day. At first I wasn't sure, that's why I didn;t announce it 2 weeks ago. The best part about it is, I don't have to be to work until 8:20. My kids are at school by 7:30. I get off work at 3:20 and my kids aren't out until 4pm. I don't have to work the summer or inservice days. In a nut shell, I'm never going to have to leave my kid home alone so that I can go to work. LOVE THAT!

2 month ago when we moved into our house, we were under the impression that we had a gas hookup in the kitchen so we wouldn't have to sell our oven and get a new one. When we were all moved in, we found out that the hookup went straight outside and quit. It was a dead line. After having appraisal's done, it was going to cost just under $300 dollars to get the line ran. We decdied it would be just the same to buy a new oven. Last night, after 2 months of cooking in the crockpot, using my electric skillet and hotplate, and the pancake griddle to make dinner, we had homecooked food, straight from our brand new oven!! Okay, so I need to clarify that homecooked actually means Papa Murphy's pizza in this little story, but we haven't had it for a LONG time and it was really good, heated up the house and made it smell good. I LOVE MY NEW OVEN!

I am officially addicted to Guitar Hero. I LOVE IT!!! Last night Jessica came over. After dinner we went to Walmart and bought GH3 and then played for a couple hours. It's pretty much the most amazing game on the planet.

Medium Thing: Today is Ken's Birthday. He is 33. We are going to Hays tonight so he can have is PPI with one of the members of the Stake Presidency, then we are going to see a local production of Beauty and the Beast.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEN! I LOVE YOU AND YOU ARE MY BEST FRIEND.

REALLY BIG ONE: Last night, at approximately 9pm CST, I was on a conference call with my parents and my 7brothers and sisters. My Dad got 2 siblings on 3 way from his cell, Gina got 2 on her cell, I called my brother Garen and then my parents house. Why the reason for such a conference call you may ask?? My little brother Kyle has been called to serve for 24 months in the PENNSYLVANIA HARRISBURG MISSION! He leaves on 1-14-2009. We are all really excited for him!

Just wondering...

Hello!

I'm kind of curious who reads my blog. I'm not sure I can get a guestbook or something like unto it, and I know I read alot of blogs but never comment on the posts. So I'm wondering if I can ask you to comment on this one post, just so I'll have an idea of who actually reads what I am blabbering on and on about. BTW, if I don't konw you and you are reading this (I know I read a few strangers' blogs) please reply too.

Thank you!

Dedra

Tag, I'm it..times 7!

This is for my friend Sarah, and anyone else who cares...

Seven:

7 Things I can do

1. Blog
2. Make a fool of myself in public for a good cause (Photo shoots and good blogging stories most of the time)

3. Play piano
4. Make my nose twitch
5. Make my kids and Ken laugh
6. Sell things on e-bay
7. Make something normal or common funny!

7 Things I can't do

1. Play the flute (I’ll learn one day though!)
2. Act interested when I’m not
3. Get my kids to listen to me the 1st time I ask
4. Fall asleep without checking all the doors in my house.
5. Play dizzing fingers on the piano (I'll learn this one too, watch for video in the future!)

6. Brush my teeth without dry heaving
7. Press the snooze button, when the alarm goes off, GET UP!!

7 Things that attracted me to Ken

1. His missionary tag (Just kidding)
2. The first time I saw him; he was bearing his testimony in church. He said, “I’m Elder Cheney, I’m from Provo, Utah, don’t hold it against me! I loved him then.
3. He has a contagious laugh
4. He writes poetry
5. He is handsome
6. He looks good in a suit.
7. I asked Ken and he said he didn’t really know, but he’s lucky!

7 Things I say the most

1. I’m serious!
2. Nice
3. Yoinka (I made up this word myself, kind of like smurfy)
4. That’s lame.
5. I love you
6. Brush your teeth, comb you hair, and wash your face. Please put on deodorant! (that’s a new one)
7. Take the dog out.

7 People I admire the most

1. Ken
2. My Mom
3. My Dad
4. Wendy Narvasa
5. Becky Rasmussen
6. Barbara Creed
7. President Knapp (our stake president)

7 Favorite Foods

1. Garlic Rolls
2. BBW Chicken and Baked Potatoes
3. Eggs over easy w/toast
4. Nachos
5. Hawaiian Haystacks
6. Chinese Food
7. Enchiladas, Tacos & Fajitas

7 People to tag

I’m breaking the cycle and not tagging this time. I’m know..LAME!

Something I feel like I should share

Have you ever had an experience in your life, where you are not ashamed or embarrassed of it, but you feel like it doesn't really need to be completely disclosed to everyone you know?

This weekend was stake conference for our ward/stake. I had a lot of time to think while we were traveling each way to the stake center on Saturday & Sunday (85 miles one way).

We had our area authority Elder Randy D. Funk attend our conference this weekend. Before the adult session on Saturday night, all the Elders Quorum Presidents and their wives were invited to eat dinner with him in the Relief Society room, along with the Stake Presidency & the Stake RS President. Ken and I were privileged to be among the few in attendance. Just eating in the same room as this man brought the spirit and it was a nice prelude to a great meeting that evening.

While sitting in the evening session I felt like I needed to write down my testimony. I’ve done that several times through out my life and as I started to write it during a musical number I felt like I needed to share more than I already have.

In order for a person to know me a little better and to get a glimpse of WHY I believe something and why I LOVE the church and was it stands for, I need to share with you the story of my 3rd child, Robert. I wasn’t sure this was the proper medium to share such a special experience, but as I have thought more about it, I know this is where I am supposed to share “my story”.

From March 2001 to May 2002 we lived in Orem, Utah. We weren’t really sure why we made the decision to move there. It was for sure a shotgun move. When I became pregnant with our 3rd baby, we were grateful to be there because the neonatal care in the Salt Lake Valley is the best in the country.

On October 31, 2001 I was scheduled for my routine ultrasound to find out the sex of our growing baby and of course to make sure s/he was developing correctly. I’m ashamed to tell you right off that I knew we would never have a child with any kind of “problem” so everything except the finding out the sex was just something we had to go through. How silly of me, I know.

As the Ultrasound Tech was looking at the baby, I felt it was taking longer than normal. I didn’t say anything, I just waited patiently for her to reveal the important part—are we having a girl or a boy?! After a while she told Ken and I that she was having a problem seeing the baby’s heart clearly but it looked like there could be a hole in her heart. She also told us that she had a bilateral cleft lip and it appeared that her foot was clubbed. The best news we got from this meeting was, it baby is a girl! Before we left, she let us know that except for the cleft lip, everything else was just speculation. She made an appointment for us to go to UVRMC in Provo, and meet with a perinatologist and to get another ultrasound—THE NEXT DAY. (The official definition of a perinatologist is an obstetrical sub-specialist concerned with the care of the mother and fetus at higher-than-normal risk for complications.) After that appointment, I went home SICK and convinced myself that the only problem with our sweet little girl was a cleft lip with possible palette and that was easily fixable.

The next morning I arrived early to my appt. in Provo and waited patiently. When the Dr. called me in I got on the table and he went right to work performing my ultrasound. He looked for a while and then started talking about terms I never thought I’d hear a Dr. talk to me about…Down Syndrome, Trisomy 13, Trisomy 18, amniocentesis, I think I quit listening before he quit talking. He wanted to do an amniocentesis TODAY, and I had 5 minutes to decide if I wanted one or not.

At the time we only had a cell phone and I was selfish that morning and took it with me, so when I had to make this decision I couldn’t call the one person who needed to know what was going on the most—KEN. I had to call someone else to help me make the decision. Of course my 2nd choice was to call my Mom. I am so thankful she was there, but I also feel bad that she found out before Ken what was going on. Anyway, when she answered the phone, I told her through constant sobbing that the baby was really sick and they needed to do an amniocentesis, but I couldn’t tell them to do it on my own. I had to have somebody tell me it was okay to go through it and my Mom was there for me. She also told me to get a blessing before they did it.

Reason # 73 why we were supposed to be in Utah during this time of our life, all I had to do was tell my Dr. I needed a blessing and 2 minutes later 2 guys with oil showed up and gave me one. In that blessing I was promised that I would not lose the baby because of the procedure I had elected to have AND that from this baby I would be able to see how much Heavenly Father loves me. I had my amniocentesis, and 10 days later I learned that the baby did not have Trisomy 13, 18 OR 21. Instead she had her own special brand of genetic problem, partial Trisomy X—Monosomy 14. I’ll explain what these terms mean in a moment. The other thing we found out was that we were indeed having a BOY. He for sure had the Y Chromosome.

Everyone has 2 of each chromosome except for the sex chromosome in males. 1-22 have 2 of each and they are “married” or stuck to each other. Females have 2 X chromosomes and Males have 1 X and 1 Y. When a baby is made, if the sperm has an X chromosome, the baby is a girl, of it has a Y chromosome, it’s a boy. The mother can only contribute an X sex chromosome. A trisomy is when you have an extra chormosome. Down Syndrome is 3 #21 Chormosomes. I, Dedra Charlet Anderson Cheney, have translocated chromosomes. That means my X and my 14 chromosomes are NOT married correctly. (They are social.) I have 1 ½ X and ½ a 14, and then I have 1 ½ 14 and ½ an X. Confused? So sorry! Robert, had an extra ½ an X and was missing ½ of a 14. My specialist Dr’s had never seen this specific case before, so we made medical history.

This also meant that there was little information for Ken and I to read up on. Throughout the next few weeks, we met with every kind of baby specialist I never knew existed. 2 echo cardio grams, more than 50 ultrasounds, surgical specialists and so on. Time moved very slowly as we inched our way closer to the day our baby would be born and we would be living at the hospital while he had surgeries and recovered. In the back of my mind I knew he would probably never come home, but I could not say that out loud. So while Ken and I grew closer as a couple and loved our kids more than ever before, I also found all my baby boy clothes that I would need, washed the infant seat cover and planned a funeral.

Fast forward to January 2002. Each day after my routine ultrasound, I called my Mom, my Dad & my sister Heather and updated them. On the 8th my Dad told me he was sending my Mom the next day so she would be here when the baby was born and I was ANGRY!! The baby was not due for another 10 days or so and I was not showing any sign of having him sooner. Ken dropped me off at the hospital on the 9th and went to the airport. While he was gone, my Dr told me that my blood pressure had spiked to 376/234 and that every hour I stayed pregnant, increased the chance of a stillbirth and that I needed to have the baby today. I told her that was impossible, my Dad wasn’t in town yet. For the first time, I was also spoken to about my expectations concerning the health and vitality of my baby. When she asked me how I felt about having the baby I told her I was scared because I didn’t think he was going to live very long, and she replied, “Neither do I.”

They put me on Magnesium Sulfate (something to bring my BP down and I don’t know what else) and waited for Ken and my Mom and Sister to arrive. When they got there, Dr came into the room and told them the same thing she told me about needing to have the baby and then said I’d need to be transported to SLC and the University of Utah. Ken said he’d get the car ready and Dr said I wouldn’t be going by car, I was at a high risk of seizures because of my BP. She then said I’d be life flighted to U of U by helicopter. Heather then said, “Can I ride with her?” Dr looked at her funny and said No.

Within the hour I was moved to SLC and my Dad had been called to get to Utah NOW. We also made arrangements with the Drs to have the baby the next day so my Dad could be at the hospital.


The night was long with a lot of Dr. visits. One that still comes to mind was when a med student came into my room to look at my chart. I told him he’d want to study my case closely because they don’t along like very often. His only reply was, “You aren’t a case, you are a family.” I just started crying, thanked him and agreed. He’ll be a good Dr.

My Dad got into town early Thursday morning. Once he was in Salt Lake Valley, they started pitocin and I progressed to a 4. Then they gave am an epidural and I went from 4 to baby in 43 minutes. Robert Kenneth Cheney was born on January 10, 2002 at 1:47 pm and died 1 hour and 47 minutes later. During that time, Ken and my Dad gave him a name and blessing. In that same blessing he was released from this life. During that time, I watched him take his only breaths, I saw him smile, and he was held and loved by his 4 grandparents, Kent & Charlet Anderson and Keith and Cheryll Cheney. He was also held by his aunt Heather. Ken and I held him the whole time he was alive and he died in my arms.

I was moved to an area of the hospital that was for mothers who didn’t get to keep their babies in this life. I had serious complications through the night but I was stable by mid morning and they released me so I could get to the mortuary.

At the mortuary we let the Funeral Director know that my Dad and brother Adam had built Robert’s casket, our friend Judy Richards had lined it and made his outfit and the Ken and I would dress him, then we’d drive him back to Bremerton, WA in our car for his funeral and burial. We did just that.

Robert was buried on a freezing cold Thursday in January—the 17th, in Bremerton WA. Our dear friends, Pam and Bob Sommer, (Robert is named after "Brother Bob") transported him in their van from the church to the cemetery after a funeral that had more than 100 people in attendance. How thankful I was and I still am for all the support we received from friends and family.

Ken flew home to Utah 3 days later because of bad snow in the passes. My Mom drove the kids and me home 4 days after that. She stayed for about a week.

While Ken was home by himself he had a lot of time to think. On the way home I was talking to Ken on the phone and he asked me what I thought about him becoming a Funeral Director/Embalmer. I hated the idea for 2 seconds, then I was all for it.

When I got home we started researching Funeral Service, and we found out you had to do your apprenticeship before your school. I sent resumes all over Utah and Washington. Within 2 months he was offered an apprenticeship in Sunnyside, WA, only 4 hours from Robert’s grave and my family. His pay was $5 more an hour than the standard apprentice. We were truly being blessed. Just as getting his apprenticeship was fairly easy; he also had an easy time getting into school. We truly have been blessed.

Now is the time that I could easily tell you of all the heartache our family has suffered through because of the death of a child, but I’d rather tell you that I LOVE my family, Jesus Christ, and his church—The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Its focus is on families.

Ken and I were married in the temple. Because of this choice I KNOW we will be married for eternity and that our kids are our kids throughout eternity as well. I feel blessed to know that I will get to raise Robert after I die as long as I live my life according to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I LOVE the Book of Mormon and the Bible. The scriptures are amazing!! I’ve never gone to them and not found an answer to my questions or concerns.

I am thankful for Joseph Smith who translated the Book of Mormon and organized the church in this dispensation.

I will always have a special spot in my heart Gordon B Hinckley—the prophet during my teenage years and 10 years of being married woman, the time that my testimony started to grow and now is firmly planted.

I love Thomas S Monson, our current prophet as well. I know the church is in good hands.

I am thankful for my friends and family. Each one of you who is reading this had helped me in some way to get out of bed on a bad day, to smile when I just wanted to cry. You have let me hold your babies and not been offended when I didn’t want to. You have hugged me on the anniversary date, brought our family dinner, and not been offended when you easily could have been because of my lack of return in a friendship. I’m sorry to those of you who got that end of the bargain.

This January will be 7 years since the death of our 3rd child. As much as we want to have more kids and have gone through several fertility treatments to become pregnant, that is not in Heavenly Father’s plan for us at this time.
Now I try to make each day a memory for my kids. I am preparing for the future phases my kids will go through but I’m not trying to grow them up. I just thank Heavenly Father each day for Nicole & Matthew and the opportunity I have to be a mother on earth and to raise these 2 fantastic children. They help and teach me so much everyday. All I can say is that I am thankful.

A Little Change

Unless you are super observant, you will not notice that we changed one of our pictures at the beginning out blog. The problem with the first one is that our friend, Ben's head was in the picture. You see, he thinks we are so cool that he wants to be in our family. So I've gone ahead and changed the picture at the top of the blog, but for the less observant readers out there, I've included both pics so you can see the difference...

Original Photo with Ben.

Newly edited photo--I should add that Ben did the editing. Thanks Ben!

My Brother Garen

Today is my brother's birthday. He is 28, #5 out of 8 kids. I am #4, so he is my closest sibling, age wise.


As kids, Garen and I along with another brother, Adam, used to ride tonka trucks down a really steap rode, through an intersection, and into the field across the street. Yes, it was just as dangerous as it sounds. I ruined 3 pairs of shoes in 3rd grade, and I still have scars on my knees from our adventures.


We used to stay up late in my room and tell stories about dead rats and mice, and places we could put them to scare our mom. We never did though.


In high school, we had a paper route together from midnight to 4 in the morning. We would go to bed right after dinner--around 5:30, get up at 11:30 and drive 15 miles to get our papers, deliver them all over Silverdale, WA, taking a break at the hotel where our brother, Ryan was the night auditor, then we'd get home by 4-4:30, make breakfast, he'd watch TV, I'd get ready for seminary/school and our days would repeat.


When I was a teenager and he was smaller than me, I often very mean to him. In my heart I feel I was meaner than many siblings are to each other. In the last 12 or so years, I have told him I was sorry 100s of times, and on his birthday I just want him, and anybody who reads this to know, I love him very much!! I also want you to know, that I will regret how I treated him in my teenage years until I die. I am truly sorry for it.

When I lived closer to home, Garen was never around for photo shoots because he lives in Alaska. However, about a year before we moved to Kansas, he was in town at my Mom and Dad's so I made a special trip to see him. Gina had he camara, and here are some pics from that trip. All you need to have fun, is a Dad willing to keep the camara shooting, and anyone who wants to be in the shot. Garen, Gina & I were up to for the challenge.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GAREN! I LOVE YOU!!

GET OUT AND VOTE!!!

DO IT!!

Sunday Morning Pictures

Every once in a while, I like to take my kids' pictures before we leave for church. We don't get family pics taken as often as I'd like to, so I like to do Sunday morning shots after they are ready for church.

Take speacial note to Matthew's tie. He did it himself & it's Ken's tie. Normally they go to his knees when he does it himself. In cases like this, I don't always judge the quality of the knot, just the length of the tie. Knot quality will come in time.

I just can't believe how big they are getting.

Happy Halloween! one day late

Last night, as you know, it was Halloween. We started off the festivities at the church with a Chili & Cornbread dinner, then there was a Trunk or Treat. After that was over around 7:30, our friends, the Bates came over to the hosue and Ken and Ben took the kids trick or treating in our neighborhood while Angie and I stayed home and handed out candy to the kids that came around.

Nicole was a Cat.


Matthew was a star wars guy, I've been told about 10 times which one, but I've never seen ANY star wars movies so I don't have the vocab. Sorry!! If you have seen star wars, you know who he is. I'm pretty sure it's a good guy though.

Colie & Matthew together, anxiously awaiting this last phot so they can get busy!

Our kids and the Bates' kiddos too.

Nicole with her loot.

Matthew with his loot.

All in all it was a successful night. Of course I am concerned the way Nicole looks in makeup, what a stinker!! I grounded her. She told me being pretty isn't a reason to be grounded. So goes life! ttfn