Nipper passed away today in my arms March 18, 2008 at 1:30pm after suffering arthritis for some time and then a stroke. She was the best dog I have ever known. She was very loyal and sweet to everyone she would meet. Everyone will remember her tail wagging and hitting everything like a drum, or the bark at the door to say hello, and never being able to wear black or you'd leave with white hair along! We will miss her soft fur that shed all over our house, but now we miss it. She will be missed by so many hearts she touched. Nipper could leap like a deer when she was a younger dog, as if she had spring in her legs. Now she will be in heaven with springs back in her legs greeting all of her doggie friends who have gone before her. She will have angel wings and will be our guardian angel forever XO -Your Loving Family
Zac has officially turned 13 - OMG!
3/3/08 Zac turned 13
He is officially a teenager!
He chose to have a shopping spree
& buy clothes at Castleton Square.
Aeropostale, Hollister, American Eagle
Is the style now!
He is growing up so fast…
He is taller than his mom now @ 5-7
We then had Grandma Betty over
& she brought a Dairy Queen
Ice cream cake!
Rachel placed 13 candles on top!
He made a wish & blew them all out!
Rock-on Buddy!
But I am sure these kids are glad they go to school in 2008!
On anther day the kids got to do activities such as making candles and ornaments out of tin, square dancing and I helped the fourth graders make funnel cakes. They loved those with all the sugar!!! Here is a photo of Rachel & I on that day:
You can view more photos on my Walgreen's Site.
I had the opportunity to photograph my friend Jen & Nick's wedding ceremony in the chapel at our church. It was a nice ceremony with just family and friends attending. Congrats Jen & Nick!!!
Wow! What a great place Cornerstone Memories Retreat House is! I met up with my friend Celia to scrapbook all weekend here and met some wonderful ladies, they had great food, snacks and nice accomodations! I actually got 12 layouts completed in 2 days, and I got caught up on scrapping our trip to Key West!
Christmas was very special this year. The kids came up with a great idea for me to put wrapping paper up in the doorway to the Living Room where our Christmas Tree is and they could run through it on Christmas Morning! It was fun! We had a nice dinner celebration with my Dad, a blast at Mark's family Christmas Celebration in Cincinnati, then at Grandma Betty's New Condo, and here at our home on Christmas Day! You can Click Here to view all of our Christmas Photos! and you have to log into Walgreens Photo Gallery. 
He thinks he is the Wolf attacking Little Dead Riding Hood! Zac was the Alien "WAYMO" and Rachel was "Little DEAD Riding Hood" for Halloween this year. We got the idea for her costume from FrightCatalog.com and we found stuff around the house and only bought a few things to make up her costume. Zac just recycled his costumes! He is good at that. They enjoyed trick or treating with the neighborhood group of kids and ended up with TONS of candy.
Friday (10/12/07) - We got there around 6:30 to the Greenway Giddy-Up and tried to set up camp before it got too dark. It was freezing so we made a fire and sat and enjoyed some marshmallows and pizzas cooked over the fire with Linda’s Griller for the fire…that thing is awesome! We are camped right behind the main tent and it should be interesting being able to see all the action like a front row seat! They had a movie tonight for the kids “BLACK BEAUTY”. The girls watched some of it but got board, so we sat around the fire and had good conversation looking at all the stars in the sky, until it was time for bed. We sacked out around 11pm and it was so cold (below 40 degrees), But the morning came and brought us warmth!
Saturday (10/13/07) - We got up and the fire was still smoldering so it was easy to start. Linda and I had a leisurely awakening and went to get coffee in the tent, so we didn’t have to make coffee. The day warmed up quite nicely and was approaching 70 degrees. The sun came out and the clouds were few. The girls played in the straw pile with a couple of other kids and played the bean toss game. They also found some hula-hoops and played the game where you hold hands and try to bring the hula-hoop through without letting go.
We went to the Iddy-Bitty Giddy Up where they have small pony rides and carriage rides so Emily got to experience a horse for the first time! Rachel actually got to drive the carriage for a short while and it was fun! Linda and I made Grilled Cheese over the fire for lunch before we were off for our ride on the trail for our reservations at 1pm. It was a great experience to just ride a trail with a guide and see the reservoir with the surroundings and take it all in! Tracey was in front, but behind our guide, so couldn’t see the people behind, then a man, Linda, then the man’s wife, then Rachel & Emily, trailing behind them was the other guide. It was about an hour ride as Tracey rode a horse called ARTI, Rachel rode PATIENCE, Emily rode SNIP and Linda rode a horse named Mr. Chubby. They were all nice horses and very pretty!
We headed back to camp and relaxed a bit, when a man approached with a beautiful horse named CHAMPION. So Tracey had to pet him and the man offered her a ride in our area. She got up on the horse, like she knew what she was doing…HAA! Well, the horse wanted to go flirt with the other horses by the campsite so he didn’t go far…which was fine with her! Later that day a girl got hurt as she rode a horse who went out of control and she fell off and hit her head on a truck tire! Tracey saw part of it until she couldn’t see the rider anymore because of a trailer blocking her view. So, Rachel and Tracey ran over to see what happened to the girl. The Paramedics came and later we found out she was going to be ok, THANK GOODNESS!!!
We met a couple that had their grandson with them. Her name was LuAnn and they had three beautiful horses. We visited with them and watched them saddle their horses. The boy’s horse was pretty and black with a white sock. Her name was LILLY. The night was a fun one…with a local Girl Scout troop coming to organize kid games. Rachel helped do the face painting and Emily assisted with the ring toss. They had cute games set up like a fair! For the ring toss they used the hula-hoops and had a blow up dolphin to try to get the rings over! They got some prizes for helping the Girl Scouts out. We enjoyed a BBQ dinner and then a singer and a band that was really great! The girls met the daughter of the people that we rented the horses from and her name was Shana. They had tons of fun with her! They jumped in the staw pile and danced around with her while the music played! We stayed up til about 11pm and the night wasn’t as cold as the night before, it was still about 50 degrees and chilly.
Sunday (10/14/07) - The girls decided they wanted to do the Scavenger Hunt with Shana (that actually went on yesterday) but just for fun! So they went around trying to find different things in nature. We met a lady named Sue as her husband rode her BLONDE horse! (She had blonde hair too!) We packed up camp and decided to venture back home around 1:00. We made it back to Linda’s home a little after 2pm and home finally around 2:30. All In All, we would definitely go back again. Great People and Great FUN! Zac had a Baseball game and they played Arcadia’s team- The Huskies and led most of the first part of the game until they lost by 2 points in the end. Booooooo!
Jason's Baptism was today...we had a long drive and had to get up early but so worth it to see his smiles! Mark was the godfather and we got to have a quick visit with his family. I wish we could have stayed longer but Zac had an early baseball game (which looking back now, we probably could have missed!)...but when you are part of a team you can't let them down!
Well it's that time again... I love it and hate it at the same time! All those school supplies and having to go back and get more on the first day of school if you don't get everything you need! I know the kids are ready to get back on schedule but don't want to have to be alert and quiet all day long to learn...but it is necessary. 
Rachel’s team played in the Championship game last night and were Runner’s Up. They led the whole game and then we were 10-13 (the tigers were up) we had last bat and we made a couple runs making it 12-13 and then we had two outs and one of our batters was up and made a good hit-bases were loaded and they CAUGHT IT! Rachel was still happy to get a trophy, and happy that Grandma Betty came to see her play! So now we are done with baseball and softball and can take a breather!
