Triple Piercing (Ouch!!)

Last week we went to the mall and Hannah got three ear piercings done - a second hole in each ear as well as a "cartilage piercing" in the left ear... I know, sounds terrible doesn't it?  Sounds painful anyway.  I really love how it looks though. :)    Hannah is turning into such a beautiful woman. Inside AND outside.

Notice Ryan in the background cringing as he watches?  

What Matt is doing these days...

Matt is currently living in Baltimore and working at a health club as as personal trainer.  He is very good at what he does and really knows his stuff!  He always has been a super-smart guy, and he has just applied all that knowledge to the sports and health industry and is very talented and knowledgable. He is an excellent trainer!  (we know first-hand - he has been training Jacob for a couple of months to help him get in shape for all the physical rigors of the military camps and admission to an academy which includes passing the Candidate Fitness Assessment)

Here is Matt in a rare shot with grandma and grandpa!!

And, I think anyone would agree with this, Matt looks better than he has ever looked in his life!  He is such a handsome man!!  Here he is pictured as a groomsman in the wedding of one of his best friends - Chris Glass.  He will make a VERY handsome groom himself someday!!

Speaking of which...here is a very special young lady in Matt's life.  She is a gem!  Aren't they just so cute together??

Shooting Match

Jacob's last shooting match was also a celebration for his coach - he has been coaching rifle for 40 years now!!  He is a tremendous coach - nationally known for producing very competitive shooters.  Many of his shooters receive college scholarships.  He is a kind, gentle, steady and faithful coach.  Jacob really is blessed to have been hooked up with him.

The current shooters in the club

Coach Norris surrounded by shooters and their families

Match is over.  Now it's time to eat!!!

My Hannah...

This year Hannah finished up Biology with Mrs. Ellis, and as I went to pick her up, I realized that this would be the very last time I would ever pick up one of my kids from her house, and I have been doing it for more than ten years!  She is no longer teaching out of her home, and yet another "tradition" or "era" has passed.  I will never ever forget all the trips over there to pick up my kids from Science Class... such sweet memories.  I know there are a lot of moms who would rejoice at being done with  one more carpool, but not this mom.  It just makes me all sentimental.

Here she comes, for the last time...  

She also finished out her year with an art show at Starbucks on the last day of art class!  It was fun to go get a cup of coffee, sip on it and browse through everyone's art, including Hannah's.  

Notice the picture with the blue frame around it - one of my favorites - the self-portrait that she did as an assignment, one that she literally whipped out in a few hours.  She is an amazingly talented young artist.  I can't wait to see where the future leads her.

Since Hannah does so much art, and will be taking college level art next year (and getting started on it this summer) we set up an art studio for her upstairs in a spare room.  It actually makes a great art studio.  If you can ignore the stink bugs.  I am hoping we can get on top of that issue SOON...

Ryan's 13th Birthday - Totally Harry Potter!

RYAN TURNED 13!!!   I now have three teenagers and one adult child!  I absolutely cannot believe this day has come!!!  Ryan still seems like my little boy in so many ways, I just cannot fathom he is my baby.  Don't get me started...

This year we surprised him with a Harry Potter Birthday - it was SO MUCH FUN!!  Hannah worked so hard making the best cake she has ever made, and we had the place decorated so that when you walked into the dining area, you really felt like you stepped into Hogwarts.  It was truly magical.

The sorting hat that Hannah made as part of the cake - isn't it PERFECT?

Our Honeydukes section

Our Potions section of the room

Crystallized pineapple for Slughorn!! haha

We had so much fun finding bottles, making labels and filling them with nasty looking stuff to look like  ingredients you would use in a potion.

World's Best Harry Potter Cake!!  Briefcase with book and sorting hat!!

We even wrapped the gifts in Hogwarts fashion.

And what's a Harry Potter day without Butterbeer??

Or Cauldron Cakes?!?

Ryan we had so much fun celebrating your special day!  I am glad you were surprised, and I hope you were blessed.  You have no idea how much you are loved in this family.  You are such a special boy - the love you have for Indy is so precious, and your sense of humor is getting funnier and funnier as you get older.  I have truly enjoyed all our moments together - and I will always cherish our time in New York this year.  I really want to go back with you again someday, you are so much fun to be with!  I love you more than you will ever know, even if I spent every day trying to show you, I would never be able to show you truly how much I love you.  I thank God for you every day - you are his special gift to me.  

Jacob's Internship on Capitol Hill

Jacob was truly blessed this year with the most incredible internship I have ever heard of.  I mean the MOST amazing one there could ever be!  He got the RARE opportunity to shadow the Chief of Staff for Arizona's Congressman Trent Franks for one week.  Every day he got to do something different, including going through the underground tunnels connecting the Capitol Building to other government office buildings, sitting in on classified meetings, attending hearings, going into a  studio to see how filming happens, attending a Tea Party, seeing famous politicians, I am sure that I am forgetting lots of things.  It was just  an incredible experience for him, beyond anything we could have hoped for.

Inside of the Capitol Building

Attending a briefing (I believe)

Watching film crews outside the Capitol

The hearing room, where C-Span was filming everything

The filming studio

Congressman Trent Franks  (whom Jacob grew to admire tremendously)

Randy Kutz, the man who spent the whole week with Jacob, showing him his job.

Jacob getting ready in the morning - suit and tie required every day.

And last but not least, THIS picture truly represents Jacob's junior year.  Rushing out the door with a chocolate carnation instant breakfast drink in one hand and a binder in the other (well, usually it was a backpack...)  The year FLEW by, and I cannot believe I now have a senior.  Yes, I am bracing myself. Takes lots of prayer and relying on God every moment to stop myself being sentimental about every little thing.  I am not always successful...but I know that God will help sustain me through each and every step.  I just want to hang on tighter, when circumstances are calling me to loosen my grip instead, and eventually let go. 

 I love this boy so much it hurts.

New York City with Ryan

In April, Danny and I took Ryan to New York City for a special 13th birthday celebration - and it was a wonderful, precious time with Ryan.  Here are some of the highlights.

A dog walker - a very common sight in New York City.  Of course this particular one had a dog that looked just like Indy...

Danny and Ryan took this shot from the top of the Empire State Building.  By the time they walked there and back from our hotel, they literally felt like they had walked five miles.  I remember Ryan being very sore that night...

We went to visit this mansion while there - this is the place where many scenes are filmed from one of our favorite tv shows - White Collar.

One of my favorite shots of the trip - a picture of Ryan just looking out the window, taking in all the sights of New York City.  

Times Square!!

Danny enjoying a thirst quencher at the end of a long, tiring day.

We had so many different kinds of New York pizza, but we never got sick of it!  There is something so unique and awesome about getting a slice of hot, cheesy pizza that New York is so famous for.

The day we left to come home we drove over to Hoboken, NJ and went to visit Carlos Bakery, also from a tv show, Cake Boss! 

Yeah, we brought a few things home.

One other thing we did while in New York was to visit the Harry Potter Exhibit - however, we couldn't take any pictures in there, which is why I don't have any, but it was AMAZING.  We saw hundreds of screen-used props from all the movies - it was just incredible.  Can't be topped!