Extreme Makeover Home Edition. Finally photos!

Bring in the furniture on Sunday. It was lots of fun to watch. They take several shots and it is not as spontaneous as I thought. I also realized that the volunteers really do a lot of work to make the house come together. However, Homemaker Over has it down to a science and everything is organized.

Designers are preparing for the "Bring in the furniture" shot.

Ty took lots of time to sign autographs.

Here you see Ty in a White shirt. If you scroll down, those are the photos when we first noticed him. John is taking pictures like crazy but some how misses Ty changing his shirt. The girls and I were not happy with him.

Now we can see his face.

This is when we notice Ty in the green shirt.

One of the Designers from the show. Sorry, I can not remember his name.

The home in Geneva with lots of blue workers.

Finally some 2008 Camping Photos

Brittany has to pose even when camping.

This is a pretty good photo of our campsite with lawn.

This is our campsite in the evening and John is relaxing with the dogs.

Carissa and Megan (family friend) posing for the pictures.

John, Buster, and Jasmine relaxing at camp.

Buster and Jasmine enjoying camping.

We had a good time this summer and we are making payments for our next season. We had a great time swimming, fishing, hiking, go to the drive-in movies, and playing games. We also enjoyed our camp fires with plenty of marshmellows. If anyone wants to go camping give us a call. We can put a tent on our site or they have campers to rent.

Grand Jury Duty

I have finished serving on Grand Jury and I enjoyed the experience. We had a variety of cases and some were tough. I learned a lot about the legal system and that there are check systems in place. It is amazing to see how small mistakes can change the course of a person's life. When you are first called to serve, all I could think about is how inconvientant it would be. However, I think that we should think of it as our right and responsiblity. For me it was worth the time.

Christmas Shopping

This last weekend, we went as a family to do some Christmas shopping. The girls are at the age that they love to go to the mall and we have limited time with John down in New York City. So, we met Haley and Terry at the food court for diner and the girls were going to go shopping by themselves. Well we did not know at the time that the girls went ahead but then turned around to follow us. They hid behind pillars and went into other stores when they thought that we saw them. They had a good laugh over this and I will have to say that I did not know that they were following us the whole time.

Anyway, we did make a big purchase. They kind of knew at that point what we were going to get them because of the cost, we are not going to have a whole bunch of other presents. It is a topic that has been discuss for the last few months, and with them getting older it is hard to hide things. So, they did see us in the Apple store.

The funny thing is that Brittany was very upset with John. She thought for sure he was trying to trick her. So, she accused him of asking the sales people for empty boxes. She thought for sure that he had changed his mind. She was really upset that night but since has let it go. So, I think that she has now found the gift and confirmed that we did make a purchase. I thought we had it in a good hiding spot but they are home for a few hours by themselves.

On a side note, John was hysterical this weekend. We went to deliver some oranges to Karen. When he pulled into her driveway, he tried to pull up the hill a little to back in. When he pulled up the hill it made a huge scrapping noise. So I said what are you doing? He replied "I did not know it was a hill." I started laughing because it is obvious and is steep. What I think he meant is that he thought he could drive up it, like he used to do with the truck.

Christmas!!!

I love Christmas time!

I do not like the crazy shopping malls and stress of buying gifts. However, now that my girls are older and we have been sticking to a tight budget things are loads easier. The girls want one expensive gift, and then we will get a few more things for stocking stuffer and so on. We usually do not hit the mall until after the Christmas season. Oh and I am a teacher I can already see a rise in behavior between Halloween and Christmas. The children usually come back from the holiday break calmer and ready to work. I look forward to that too.

What I love is the spirit and friendly mood. I love getting together with friends and family. I also love going to my children's concerts. We are also going to try to go to my niece's chorus concert. At work, we are doing a secret Santa and we have to keep it under $20. We give small gifts the week before and then have a pot luck to reveal who we had. It is always fun to try to figure out who has you.

I love to have a white Christmas. This year we have already seen a lot of snow and cold weather. I think we are in for a long winter. I may end up regretting the white Christmas.

Long Overdue New Post

I have not posted in ages. I have not particular reason, other than my laptop is broken and has still not been fixed. Our family has been busy. In October, we enjoyed visiting with Grandma and Grandpa Vastbinder as well as the rest of the East Coast Vastbinder Clan. We do not visit with each other nearly enough unless their is a holiday or another reason. Everyone is so busy with their families and commitments, it is hard to get together. Then in November, John went to a conference in Vegas and also had the opportunity to visit his family in Utah. He had a great time and it had been a few years since he had the chance to see his family. We are still hoping to get out west this summer.

Now, John is off to NYC for a job that is suppose to run anywhere from 2 to 8 weeks. He is very nervous about it because he will be in a hotel in New Jersey then commute into NYC for the job at Chase.

Brittany and Carissa are doing well in school. Carissa really likes her teacher this year and that helps a lot. Brittany is doing a great job in 9th grade and the fact that she is in High School still scares me. I guess it has made me realize that I will only have her for a few more years. She is a beautiful, young lady who will do great things but she grew up so quickly. Carissa's cheer leading is done for the year. I tried to talk her into to playing basketball but she did not want to. Brittany is on the Varsity Basketball Cheerleader. They have a new coach and she is not really happy with some of it but she is sticking with it. She has her first game this Tuesday.

No More Braces

Brittany is so excited because she no longer has her braces. She has had them on for a little over 3 years. Her teeth look really good and she says that her teeth feel funny.

The day that she was scheduled to get the braces off the Dr. was funny. She walks out to the waiting area and tells Brittany that her arm hurts from playing tennis the night before. Brittany did not know what to say. Then the Dr. laughed and told she would try to take them off. After they were off the Dr. then had to borrow Brittany's sun-glasses to check her teeth. She was great with Brittany and we are glad to be over that milestone.

FYI: Everything else is going great. We are busy with school, work, and football. Brittany went to her Homecoming dance this weekend, which was tough on her Dad. He let her stay until 10 pm until she gets a little older. Carissa is loving the 5th grade. She really likes her teacher and is doing fantastic. She also has been enjoying the weather and enjoys jumping on the trampoline.