Just some pictures

The most beautiful girls in the world!

Winter break rambling

Well, Alexis is back at school today and Ryan is back to work.  This winter break seemed to just fly by way too fast!  I'll try to give a short recount of what we did over Christmas break. 

On Monday before Christmas, I received a phone call from Mom saying that Val's water broke and she was in the hospital ready to have her little girl.  Of course I said "We're on our way!"  There was no way I'd miss my little sister having her first baby!  So the girls and I headed to Terre Haute despite the nasty weather forecast and sat at the hospital waiting for little Maggie to arrive.  She certainly came in a hurry!  She is a very beautiful baby!  The next morning the girls and I tried to head back to Avon to get some things done before our first Christmas celebration on Christmas eve.  Though after almost making it to the interstate, I decided the roads were way too slick and turned around to head back to Mom and Dad's house.  Not even 5 minutes later, the girls and I got rear ended.  We are all ok...no jostling or anything, but my car had some pretty nasty damage to the back end.  Eventually, we made it back to Mom and Dad's and were able to head home on Christmas eve just in time for our get together. 

We had a lot of fun watching Alexis, Kaylee and Christopher tear into their presents.  And we spent the afternoon watching Wall-E and playing fun games together.  Eventually everyone headed home and the four of us made it to the family Christmas eve service (a little late of course) at church.  It was a very nice service and I think the girls really enjoyed the story that Pastor Strobel read to all the kids.  It was in the form of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" but it was about the REAL Christmas story.  Once we got home, the girls set up a snack for Santa...I think it was hot dogs and beer this time...and they threw some Reindeer food out on the back patio.  The next morning, the girls opened their presents and enjoyed playing their new Wii.  Then we met Grandma and Grandpa Willman at the movie theater and watched Bedtime Stories.  It was a very funny movie! 

Now normally, we would head to Terre Haute for our celebrations with my side of the family, but with a new baby, we decided to put it off until the following weekend.  Which was probably good because we needed to take my car in to get fixed.  So we spent most of the week playing our new Wii and doing all kinds of other fun family things.  We barely left the house except for church and groceries.  We had Dale and Chris over for New Year's Eve when we played more games and ate yummy snacks all night.  And we all toasted the new year as soon as the ball dropped.  On New Year's day, we celebrated with Reuben's and more games. 

On the 2nd, we waited and waited for my car to be done.  Then once we got my car we loaded all our dogs and goodies up and headed to Terre Haute.  We first went to Grandpa Cook's house where I FINALLY got to hold Maggie!  She is such a cutie pie!  We celebrated with extended family and then went to Mom and Dad's for the night.  We had our Christmas celebration the next morning and goo gooed over the new baby again.  Both girls got a chance to hold her too.  Alexis was so sweet...she sang her songs and gave her kisses.  Everyone stayed to watch the Colt's lose. And we finally returned home yesterday afternoon. 

I'm extremely sad that our break is over and we're back to the grind again.  This morning, Alexis said that she couldn't wait for Spring Break.  This coming from the girl who was crying when school first was out for Christmas break.  And she didn't know what she was going to choose to write about in her journal this morning because there were so many topics to choose from!  We had a wonderful, wonderful Christmas break! 

Hello!

We had a wonderful Christmas here!  As you can tell from my absence of posts...we've been busy!  We are just playing to our hearts' content.  The girls got a Wii for Christmas and we have been playing it pretty much nonstop!  It's really fun bowling in our own family room.  There is this game called Power bowling that Kaylee always beats everyone at!  She is a little powerhouse after all!  So, I'm going to keep this short for now because we just enjoy spending this time together as a family! 

PS  Thank you to everyone who prayed for little Maggie.  The new little family got to go home last night!

My new neice

Baby Maggie Grace!

Congrats Val and Brian

Another story by Alexis

The Magic Fountain

Chapter 1: Melissa, Cody and…Michael?

One day, two best friends, Melissa and Cody were taking a walk.  Suddenly, Cody has sensed that there was water near by.  He loved water so he started running.  “Cody.  Wait up!” Melissa called.  As they got closer, Melissa started hearing jazzy music.  When they got to a beautiful fountain they saw a boy with short blonde hair.  “What’s your name?” Cody asked.  “Michael.” he said.  “Oh!  Hi Mike!” Cody said.  Mike was Cody’s friend from fourth grade.

Chapter 2:  Magic!

Melissa looked into the soft rainbow water.  She shivered as she touched it.  She touched it again and again.  All of a sudden the water got as clear as a new window.  “I have NO idea what just happened,” all of them said with wide-open mouths.

Chapter 3:  A Secret Door

Soon the friends saw a steep, dark slide.  “Should we go in?” Cody asked.  “I dunno.  Ask Michael,” Melissa said.  “Yeah, I guess,” Mike answered.  So, the three of them went down the slide.  They landed in a deep field.  They could see a far-off castle.  It was dawn and the gate was just opening.  They all raced to the castle.

Chapter 4:  Castle Guards

“This is not what I expected,” Cody said, confused.  There were castle guards scattered around everywhere!  “Guys!  I’ve got a plan!” Melissa called.  “Let’s hear it!” Michael said, looking sleepy.  “So, saa, ppl lzz,” it sounded like Melissa was saying.  She was really whispering, “We’ll sneak around all of them.”  And they did.

Chapter 5:  Nikki the Attendant

“Who goes there?  Where are your passports?” said a girl with short purplish black hair.  “My name is Nikki.  Who are thou?” she asked before they could answer.  Melissa said her name.  Cody said his name and Mike said his name.  “What is your request?” asked Nikki.  Each of them had a different one.  Melissa wanted to enjoy the peaceful courtyard.  Cody wanted to take a tour of the castle.  But Michael was different.

Chapter 6:  Michael’s Request

Mike wanted to take care of the princess.  The princess’s name is Cherry.  When Mike walked into the princess’s garden she was gone!  Nikki’s mouth fell wide open.  Mike called his friends, but all he heard was three cries for help.  He figured out that if he turned his back to anyone they were gone.  Nikki and Mike followed the cries.  Later on, they saw a knight riding a black horse.  They decided to follow it.

Chapter 7:  Jail

Soon the horse’s galloping feet scrambled to a stop.  “May we assist you and your friend?” the knight asked.  “It would be my pleasure,” Nikki said.  So they went to Cherry and Mike’s friend’s jail (by horse) and they broke through the jail gate.  Cherry already knew Mike, so she didn’t complain.

Chapter 8:  The Secret Door 2

“Could you help me push that block?” Cherry asked.  “Sure!” Mike answered.  So they pushed and pushed with all their might.  Then they revealed a secret room.  “What’s your name?” Mike asked looking at someone in a tie-dyed shirt with jeans.

Chapter 9:  Will

“Will,” he said.  “Can you guys get me outta here?”  Cherry and Mike looked at each other then said, “O.K.  First we gotta get THEM outta here,” pointing to the other block.  And so, they saved Cody and Melissa and then Will.

Chapter 10:  Relief for Cody and Melissa

“What a relief!” Cody and Melissa said.  “Let’s just get out of here!!!” Will said.  So they snuck past the guards and wished themselves back home (except for Cherry).

Chapter 11:  Back Home

After their long, long, long, LONG journey home, they said good-bye and ran to their homes.

The End