2009 School Pictures

Hannah in 7th Grade: 13 years old

Parker in 6th Grade; 11 1/2 years old

Eli in 4th grade; 10 years old

NEW MOON

YES, Hannah and I stood in line for tickets to the midnight show last night!! Here is our story:

Last weekend Hannah asked if we could buy tickets to the first showing of the new Twilight series movie New Moon. So Monday I went to the theater after work, closed. Tuesday, closed. Now I'm getting worried since the movie is Thursday night. I called my friend Jennifer and she told me the theater is usually open after 6pm. So after YW (youth group for those non-LDS readers) that night, Hannah and I went up to the theater only to find the sign had been changed from tickets available to SOLD OUT. An employee saw us standing there talking and came out to see what we were up to. He told us to come early (an hour or two) before the scheduled movie start time and we might be able to get some "stand by" tickets.

So we hatched a plan to be at the theater by 10pm on Thursday. My friend had also invited us to a 7pm pre-New Moon party where they were going to watch the original Twilight before going to the New Moon premiere.

Thus Thursday arrived. It had the makings of a good day. I got to work on time and Hannah's team won their basketball game by 1 point (Hannah scored 6 points of the teams 12 points). After Hannah's game I sold snacks while the 8th grade team played. We ended up not leaving the school until 6:30pm. We decided to drive by the theater to see if any people where in line yet. Unbelievably there were. So we rushed home to change clothes, grab some dinner and blankets, bagged the party and made a bee-line for the theater. We got there at about 7:05pm. Luckily a gal from church works there and she was on duty. She told us that the people who were hoping to buy tickets should wait in a different line. Yeah! for us, we were FIRST in that line. Literally minutes after we put our blanket down in our spot another woman came who wanted to buy 4 tickets!! Perfect timing for us!!

Now we settled in for the wait. One of Hannah's friends (who happens to be named Bella) was in the line of people who already had tickets. They went back and forth between lines, drinking hot cocoa, listening to music and talking. Bella was wired and Hannah was tired. It was cute to watch.

Anyway about 10pm one of the theater people came out and told us that we could only buy tickets for those people "physically" standing in line by 10:30pm. No purchasing for people waiting at home, in the car, etc. At 10:30pm they came out and said we wouldn't be allowed to take in blankets, backpacks or other bags with us and that they would start letting people in at 11pm. So just before 11pm Hannah took our blankets back to the van; luckily we had been able to park about 1/2 a block away.

Once they started letting people in, they were very orderly and the line moved pretty fast. And then . . . a random act of kindness!! A husband and wife herding a bunch of teenagers had an extra ticket. The man leaned across the barrier and told Hannah it was for her. She and I both just stared at him. So he said it again. Hannah looked at me to see what to do. I asked the man if he was serious. "Yes," he said. "It is for her." I pushed Hannah forward and told her to take the ticket. She took it, but hesitated about going in. I looked up and saw my friend Jennifer back in the line. So I told Hannah to go stand with her and go in with her. She went into the theater about 11:15pm. How cool was that?

I on the other hand I had to wait, outside in the cold until 12:05am. There ended up being 16 people in line behind me and we all got in!! It was an interesting experience. One I don't know that I will repeat. However I am now assured, by several people I had never met until last night, that I am the "coolest mom". What they don't know is that will only last until the next "I must have . . ." comes along and I say no. Then I will return to being my normal mean mom self. But until then I will soak up the love. :o)

We are the parents of a TEENAGER!!

It's hard to believe that it has been 13 years since we became parents. I can remember with vivid detail the day Hannah was born. Now she is officially a teenager! It was a busy week for our family, so she opened her gifts from the family in the morning before school.

What's in the big box?

Newspaper?? What another box??

What? Another box? Well at least this one is wrapped!

It's a cell phone! Are her parents CRAZY!!!!!!

Yes! Hannah got a prepaid cell phone for Christmas 2008 with the first prepaid card. The deal was she would learn how to manage her minutes and earn her own money to purchase them in the future. With her running all over the county for soccer & basketball we decided it was time. She did ok with it for about 6 months. Then she would "text" herself out of 200 minutes (400 texts) in a weeks time. It became a constant battle over the phone and we began to reqret getting the thing.

In early October SCN began switching people's phones over to AT&T iphones. And SCN employees could get a discount if they signed up with AT&T. So Brian started doing some research, talked to the SCN IT manager and the manager of the AT&T store here in town. And thus we signed up for a family plan and Hannah got an unlimited texting, full keyboard & touch screen phone for her birthday. She is on cloud nine! (Of course that will only last until she messes up and gets it taken away.)

What's Brian doing in all the pictures? The plan was for him to call the phone while she was unwrapping it. Some plans work, this one didn't. But her face was still great when she realized what she had opened.

HAPPY 13th BIRTHDAY, HANNAH! Love Mom & Dad

Halloween 2009

For Halloween this year we went to the party at the church. It was well attended with dinner, costume parade, games and cake walk.

We decided that Hannah was too old to go trick-or-treating this year and that from now on she would have to come up with her own costumes if she was going to dress up. So she decided to be a Zombie Soccer Player. She asked me to put her hair in pony tails, tease them and spray them black. You can't really see the black, but her hair turned out really cool.

Parker decided to be a Mummy. I had to sacrifice a sheet , OK it was old, and my mom wrapped and pinned him up. Parker wanted to go trick-or-treating so bad, but ended up going to just one house on his way home from the party. (We live 2 blocks from the church.)

Eli decided he was not into halloween this year. At the last minute he said he wanted to be a "beat boxer" ????? So I spiked his hair and sprayed it black. Then he changed his mind again and put on his costume from last year which was a knight. I didn't get a picture of that one. :o( Eli was having no part of trick-or-treating. Which was totally fine with me!

Eli's Cabbage

This is the cabbage Eli grew. It came home from school as a seed in a styrofoam cup some time in early June. It lived on the kitchen window sill until about mid July. Then Brian helped him plant it in the flower garden outside under the kitchen window. Eli was obsessed with water it and checking on it's progress. We found out later he was supposed to give a report on his "gardening" experience at the beginning of the next school year. So this is what it looked like right before Brian helped him cut it. Of course Eli wouldn't eat any of it, but Brian managed to sneak it into a few dinners and salads. :o)