|
|
|
|
This page will be updated at least 2-3 times a month with the latest events, outstanding achievements, and other important stuff that Nolen and Sara want to share with their family
28 Apr 02 Once again I'm very behind in updates...sorry! It's been a busy past few months. The girls continue to do well in school - Sara made straight A's and Nolen had all A's and just one very high B (in bible - she had one bad test that brought her grade down).. Nolen and Sara started out February by taking ice skatings lessons and had a great time! We'll pick it up again after the summer. We also had a great visit with Grandma and Grandpa in March celebrating Easter and the girls helped Jared celebrate his 2nd birthday and enoyed the traditional Easter Egg Hunt. In April the girls busily built and decorated their Awana Grand Prix race cars and had a great time racing against their other friends. And a big congratulations to Nolen for winning first place in her school Art Fair and going on to win a blue ribbon at the regional competition in Fredericksburg!!!! All of the school winners got to play hookey and spend the day in Fredericksburg touring museums, eating lunch outside at the park, and looking at all the other entries. You can see all the latest pictures here and here and here! Naturally the girls are looking forward to the end of the school year and the beginning of a very busy summer. I'm headed off to Sqadron Officer School in Montgomery, AL for 5 weeks. In the meanwhile they'll be spending a few weeks with Grandma and Grandpa in College Station where they'll be going to a fun-filled day camp. Activities there even include going to Astro World in Houston! Next it's time to go to Mammy's where they'll get to go to Camp Deer Run - this time a week-long overnight camp!! And finally, in August, the girls are on their way to Las Vegas for a week to see PaPa and MeMe. Whew!!
14 Jan 02 Happy New Year's everyone! I had to work over the holidays, so my apologies for not posting the holiday pictures sooner. Nolen and Sara want send a big thank you and even bigger hugs and kisses for all the wonderful gifts friends, family, and Santa put under their tree this year!!! The girls spent a quiet Christmas day at home and then braved the airports to fly to Dallas to see Mammy, Uncle Greggo and Aunt JuJu. They had a safe trip and a wonderful time! Now it's back to school! The girls are getting ready for a Speech meet in Feb (Nolen is reciting a bible verse and Sara, a poem) and Nolen is getting ready for her upcoming Science Fair (also in Feb). That and keeping up with school work and AWANAs is keeping us all very busy. The girls keep asking when the next holiday is so they can take a break! Please check out the new (well, kinda new) pictures through the links on the home page!
9 Dec 01 We've had a busy week! The girls had a great time today at Laser Quest for a birthday party. Sara proved herself a real laser warrior with Nolen not far behind. They beat the pants off the other 3rd graders! I updated the Christmas wish list. Thanks to all who have kept me up to date. This really helps to keep me from duplicating any "Santa" gifts. We've got another busy week ahead of us. The girls' school Christmas show is on Thursday.and Nolen's birthday is on Friday. She is really looking forward to being in the double digits! We're going to have a party at school then go out to dinner at the restaurant of her choice ...then back home for birthday cake and opening presents. It'll be an extra special weekend because Grandma and Grandpa are coming up from College Station on Saturday. Then we'll go see all the Christmas lights on the Riverwalk and of course open more presents! Nolen will have a belated spendover with the girls in her class (only 5 of the 16 in her class are girls!) next month when Christmas vacations are over. Have a great week! 3 Dec 01 Happy Holidays! We hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving. We had a great time at Grandma's and Grandpa's in College Station. We're looking forward to a very Merry Christmas. We'll be at home this year...the girls haven't spent a Christmas in their home in three years and wanted to put a Christmas Tree in their house for a change. We put it up last Sunday and it sure is pretty! See the pics here The girls had a great visit with their Mammy last week. They got to help pick out ornaments to put on their Daddy's Christmas Tree. We're all glad Mammy made it back to Dallas in the cold winter weather and snow that blew in that day. They are looking forward to hopefully seeing snow on New Years for their vist with Mammy and Uncle Grego and Aunt JuJu. I updated the Christmas Wish list. Thanks for your thoughtfulness this holiday season.
17 Nov 01 Happy Holidays all! We hope you enjoy these much delayed pictures. If you look close, you'll see Sara's braces in the Halloween pics!! The girls are doing great in school. Sara made straight A's and Nolen all A's and high B's on their first report card!! Good going girls! Hope everyone has a very happy Turkey Day!
18 Sep 01 We just wanted to express our sincerest condolences to everyone affected by the tragic losses of this past week's events. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone in NY, DC and all of America.
26 Aug 01 Sara had a wonderful day on her birthday...see the photos here! Sara went for her dental check-up a couple of weeks ago, and of course not wanting to be out-done by her sister, she hase 4 pairs of "kissing cavities". So she goes for her first set of fillings on Monday. Then if you can believe this, she goes in on Wednesday for an orthodontic evaluation...looks like braces are in the near future. Nolen is quite jealous! The first week of school was a success...they both love their new school and all the new friends they are making. And they are really looking forward to starting Awanas on Wednesday night. Auntie Ebash is due on the 28th...we're all standing by for the call! Have a great week!
21 Aug 01 The first day of school is finally here! Nolen and Sara are looking forward to a great new year of learning. See a pic of them getting ready here. Tomorrow is Sara's big day...Happy 8th Birthday!! We'll post pics soon of her big day. We were going to go to Sea World last Sunday, but it rained, so we'll try and go another day. Nonetheless, we have a small party planned for tomorrow night, complete with a candy filled pinata. A big Happy Birthday also goes out to Aunt JuJu!! Hope you enjoyed your special day!
4 Aug 01 The dust is finally beginning to settle on our move and home improvement projects. I finallly got some time to sit down and update the web page with recent pics. For cruise pics go here The study is just about done...Here's some home improvement pics:
It's been a busy summer for all...the girls had a great vacation with Mammy, Aunt JuJu and Uncle Grego. They packed in a whole summer of fun in just two weeks! The base Youth Center has also been keeping them busy. They have weekly field trips, swim lessons, and "clubs". Sara is in the "Hair and Nail" club where they fix their hair and nails each week. Nolen is in the Fishing , Wood Shop, and Science clubs. Sara was in her first play...she played a catepillar in "Sleeping Beauty" yesterday and was spectacular! I don't have digital photos...so will scan some as soon as they are developed. Nolen's Science club went on a Roars and Snores overnight trip to the San Antonio Zoo. Although it rained a bit, they a great time seeing all the animals at night and waking up to breakfast and shopping with the animals. Yep, they spent the night in the zoo!! See here for some pics of the girls giving Tater a bath School starts soon....the first day is August 21st. Both the girls are really looking forward to their new school. A couple of birthdays to celebrate this month....Sara of course will be 8!!! Go here for some birthday ideas. And a big Happy Birthday to Aunt JuJu! We may soon have another August Birthday soon, Auntie Ebash is due at the end of the month!
22 June 01 We all send our apologies for the lack of an update and photos. I finally dug all the disks out of the boxes this week and will update with pics this weekend. The cruise was great!!! We are pretty much settled in to our new home in San Antonio. I started work a few weeks ago and love my new job. Still some painting left to do, but the girls are loving their new rooms. Nolen is sad to report that she has her first cavity! Her new dentist is wonderful and promised "happy gas" while she gets her first crown (on one of her baby molars). She can't leave the house now without a tooth brush and floss in hand. Here's a pic of the new house before we moved in
I'll have more pics of the girls and cruise this weekend. If you need our new mailing address and phone number please email me and let me know!
23 April 01 Be sure to check out Nolen's new hair cut here!!!
We're busily getting ready for our Disney Cruise - we leave Friday for Florida and leave the port on Saturday for 7 days and 7 nights of fun on the high seas with Mickey and friends!! The girls are very, very excited (Mom and Patrick are too!)
We leave the port on the 28th and return on 5 May. Scheduled stops are St. Maarten, St. Thomas and Disney's own island, Castaway Cay. We'll post lots of pictires when we return!
8 April 01 Sorry this update has been so delayed!! Nolen, Sara and I have had a very busy few months. My last class for Master's degree was the toughest by far - but I managed to get through it and maintain a 4.0 GPA and am now the proud owner of a Master's Degree in Aeronautical Science!! My formal graduation is next month. The girls have also been doing great in school - their last report cards had all A's and very high B's. Keep up the great work! As many of you know, I found out in February that I will be relocating to San Antonio in May. We are all looking forward to it! We'll be close to all our family who live in TX. I'll be working at Randoph AFB working assignments for other communications and information officers. The girls were accepted to a private school near the base that teach the A Bekka curriculm they are currently in - we drove there last week end so they could took entrance tests and they did very well! But their main concern was what kind of uniform they would be wearing! The school has a web page, I'll email the URL so everyone can see their new school. Their school and the associated church has an Awana chapter...so they be able to continue with Awanas and maybe next year they'll win first prize at the Awana Grand Prix. Go here for this year's race! Patrick and I have bought a house, I'll email everyone the address and new phone number when we get settled. We'll be able to move right in after the girls get out of school next month. We'll be driving out on 26 May! The girls are currently enjoying their spring break with Papa, MeMe and Uncle Adam in Las Vegas and Arizona. They had a long flight out there last night and made it safe and sound. Good Luck PaPa and MeMe!!!! More great news -- their Auntie Ebash and Uncle Gilbert are expecting a new little one in August. Baby Jared is going to be a big brother!!! And a belated Happy Birthday wish to Jared who turned 1 on 1 April!! Other belated wishes go to Uncle Grego who had a birthday in March and to Uncle Jack and Aunt Sue on their anniversary in March!!!!
7 Jan 01 Happy New Year!!! Nolen, Sara and I hope everyone had a very happy and safe holiday season and that Santa brought everything you wished for. Sara wrote a letter asking for snow as a test to see if there really was a Santa - and she was so happy to be able to see snow at Mammy's and Uncle Grego's and Aunt JuJu's over New Year's. See Sara, there really is a Santa Claus! We all want to thank all our friends and family for your generosity and holiday wishes. We had a great time visiting everyone. Mammy and JuJu braved the snow and ice to get the girls for their trip up to Tyler, we're glad you made it back safe and sound. The girls got their report cards last week - they are both on the "All A's" High Honor roll. Congratulations Nolen and Sara for your straight A's! It's time to buckle down for the rest of the school year. Things to look forward to: Nolen and Sara get to fly to Las Vegas to see PaPa and MeMe and Uncle Adam over spring break in April, I graduate with my Master's Degree in March, and of course the Disney Cruise at the end of April!!
15 Dec 00 Nolen had a wonderful birthday yesterday -- she's a real grown up 9 yrs old now! She had a great party with her class at school enjoying "pup cakes" (Sara's name for cup cakes). Later that night she picked the "dinner house" -- The Roadhouse Grill -- her restaurant of choice because you can throw peanut shells on the floor and watch the cooks grill the steaks! Not to mention the free sundae.... Nolen thanks everyone for all the wonderful gifts and she loved each and every one. See her pictures here. Both the girls are looking forward to a joyous Christmas and Grandma and Grandpa's and then off to see Mammy for New Years! Other new pictures are: Christmas Show at school and Sara & friends A very Merry Christmas to all and our best wishes for another wonderful year!
26 Nov 00 Nolen and Sara had a great turkey day at Grandma and Grandpa's. We loved our visit with them and Patrick, Auntie Ebash, Uncle Gilbet and their cousin Jared. Sara helped Grandma make the feast and Nolen learned the fine of computer deer hunting from Grandpa and Patrick. The girls are looking forward to a very happy holidays -- they will spend Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's and then off to see Mammy, Aunt JuJu and Uncle Greggo to ring in the new year! The girls' Christmas wish list is posted here -- but anything they get, they will love. If you do get anything off their list, please let me know so I can cross it off.
17 Nov 00 Is everyone getting ready for turkey day? The girls are looking forward to going to grandma and grandpa's. They've had a great past couple of weeks - both made A's on all their tests and Nolen even earned her 3rd red jewel in Awanas! Nolen and Sara have created their Dear Santa list...go here to see it. But of course they are not real picky when it comes to gifts, so anything they open on Christmas morning will be exciting for them. But they did have a great time selecting toys from the Toys R Us catalog...given the opportunity, they would probably pick one of everything from any toy store! Just a few hints...Nolen is really into make-up and "fashion clothes" (size 7) and Sara loves arts and crafts and playing dress up (remember not to buy Sara clothes, unless she tries it on first, she won't wear it!) Can you believe they both wanted to put their hair in rollers!! They are both getting real interested in reading and books are always something they both enjoy. They met their reading goal for October and both enjoyed a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut's "Book It"club. Tomorrow is Christmas portrait day - so they should be ready by the time I send out Christmas cards. Please do me a huge favor and email me, in the next week or two, any changes in your address since last year (if any) or any preferences in when/where gifts should be sent. Taz if finally getting to be part of the family (in the eyes of the other critters) but is definitely well named...he chases all the other cats and poor Tater Tot all around the house - to the point of even causing Tater to yelp a bit in Taz's grip!! I'm just about done with my graduate research project - hopefully I can get the final paper turned in by the end of the month. I am doing a study of military entrance scores as they relate to technical training performance -- it even has the interest of senior leadership in the tech training squadrons on base, so perhaps it may even prove useful!! When that is done, then I just have one more class and I will have my Master's degree awarded in March...whew! Our best wishes go out to all who shall see this for a very happy, thankful and joyous Thanksgiving
3 Nov 00 Did everyone have a happy halloween? I hope you didn't have too much halloween candy left over!! The girls had a great time trick or treating -- they came home twice to empty candy bags and start all over again. They will never eat all the candy they came with! AND, the girls loved their costumes...see here for pics Our trip to San Antonio and College Station went very well -- the girls wished their dad a very Happy Birthday, went to a halloween party (with a very scary haunted house according to the girls!), and got to see their grandma, grandpa, auntie ebash, uncle gilbert, and baby cousin Jared. They have had very sucessful weeks at school as well -- Nolen and Sara both made all A's on their progress report. Nolen is real proud of her Awana jewels this week - her first two red jewels now adorn her crown (not a real crown, a little crown pin on the vest - they get a jewel when they can recite a set of bible verses). We hope everyone has a fantastic rest of the month and a very filling Thanksgiving!! We're goimg to go to College Station again and can't wait to help Grandma fix a feast!
22 October 2000 Happy Halloween!
I posted pictures of their day today at the Great Gulf Coast Duck Race - it's an annual event where over 40,000 rubber ducks are released into the ocean - each duck has a number on it and throughout the month they have been "adopted" - if your adoptee is the first to shore, then you win a Harley! It was a lot of fun. They also picked out their halloween pumpkin today - they can't wait to carve them and make pumpkin bread. The pictures are posted Here The girls got their report cards this past week - they both are on the A/B Honor Roll!! Nolen made straight A's and Sara made all A's except for one B (but it was a very high B). Congratulations! Sara has a real stern teacher
this year (her teacher has They are also enjoying their gymnastics class - they go every Thursday afternoon after school and are getting quite proficient in their tumbling skills. They love to show off their new flips they learned in class. We're leaving Thursday night for San Antonio and College Station. Have a great week and a very Happy Birthday Daddy and Aunt Sue and Tater Tot!!
9 October 2000 We hope everyone enjoyed their Columbus Day! We had a busy weekend shopping for Halloween costumes and decorations. Nolen decided on a Genie and Sara is going to be Britney Spears! She's even got a blonde wig! New pictures posted of our visit to Jazzland. Big news of the week - Sara can now ride her bike without training wheels!! A big thanks to our neighbor Mr. Ron for helping her out. They both had a great week at school. Nolen made another 100% on her spelling test - Sara had some trouble with confusing "k" with "c" on some words and missed three - but we'll work even harder next week. Sara and Nolen are enjoying themselves at their weekly Awana meetings. They will earn their first badge next week - congratulations! Alot of birthdays to celebrate this week! Happy Birthday to their great-grandmother Tutu (9 Oct), their GrandPa (11 Oct) and their favorite Siamese, Hootie-Hoo (13 Oct). We're going to take a trip to San Antonio to visit their Daddy's grave on his birthday (28 Oct) - then up to College Station to visit with GrandMa, GrandPa, Auntie Ebash, Uncle Gilbert and baby Jared.
24 September 2000 I added a new page - Just Because Pictures It will contain pictures that were taken "just because" Nolen and Sara are both maintaining their A's in all subjects. Sara had her first spelling test this past Friday and made a 100% and Nolen made her second 100% on her second spelling test - Oustanding job! The girls had to have the latest craze in toys - a razor scooter. So as a reward for excellent behavior and grades we took a trek to Toys r Us last weekend. Nolen selected a sleek razor scooter, while Sara had her sights on an "Assault Chariot" scooter - yep it looks just what it sounds like!! As soon as I can get them to slow down long enough, I'll get a picture! They are being good about wearing their helmets while "scootering", but Nolen has a brand new set of scrapes on her knees. Take care and we send our love to all!
3 September 2000 Happy Labor Day everyone!! We hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend. Nolen and Sara are with their Mammy and all their cousins, aunts and uncles in Washington DC this weekend for cousin Danielle's wedding. Congrats Danielle!! We had a great visit with Grandma and Grandpa. We all enjoyed a train ride tour of Biloxi and a feast of crab legs at one of the casino buffets. Nolen could eat her weight in crab legs if you let her!! They have had a great first 2 weeks of school. Both are making all A's so far. Keep it up girls! Sara had a great 7th birthday and party. To see the pics, go here One of Sara's birthday presents was to get her very own room...she loves it! She got to pick out all her new furniture - a brand new futon/bunk bed (plenty of room for sleep overs) and an entertainment center for her beanie babies and very own tv (took me over 6 hours to put the darn thing together!) Mom loves it too - I don't have to referee fights over tv channels!
Sara's new bed! 5 August 2000 Hope everyone had a great July! The girls are doing great and are enjoying their last 2 weeks of summer - school starts on 21 Aug. I added a page with Sara's birthday wish list - she walked around Toys R Us and picked out the toys she would like - but of course anything she gets will make her day a special one. She has decided to have her party at Marine Life (she was sad that she wasn't tall enough to swim with the dolphins). Keep an eye out for first day of school and birthday pics!
4 July 2000 Nolen and Sara had a great week...it started with a great visit with Great Uncle and Aunt Tom and Sandy. They were treated to a buffet dinner and fun at the Boomtown arcade.
double click on photo to enlarge Then we all had a great 4th of July week-end at Grandma and Grandpa's to celebrate Grandma's birthday. I created thumbnails of all the new pictures for a faster download time. Just double click on any picture to enlarge. Baby Jared now has his own web page. To see his latest picks just go here
20 June 2000 Summer vacation has been very, very busy! We started off with a visit to Grandma and Granpa's in Texas over Memorial Day to visit with Aunt Elizabeth, Uncle Gilbert, and baby Jared. The girls are now having a fun time "horsing around" at Girl Scout Camp. The whole week is devoted to horse back riding and other fun camp activities. We hope all our friends and family are having an excellent summer as well.
20 May 2000 It's been a busy week -- but a very special one -- Sara had her graduation ceremony on Tuesday nite. What a great time! And they both had a wonderful field trip to the New Orleans Aquarium of the Americas on Thursday...another great day! We're all looking forward to a great Memorial Day week with Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie Ebash, Uncle Gilbert, baby Jared, Patrick, Sean and Amanda in Texas!! A very big Hello to my new friend in New Jersey....Karen Sanders!!! 12 May 2000 It's been a real busy Spring!! Hope everyone enjoys the pics of the girls' field day events today! Nolen won a total of 5 first place ribbons and first in girls overall!!! Sara won 3 third place ribbons...Great Job!! Also congrats to Sara for winning first place in their school's candy sale fundraiser...she won a new bike!! Only two more weeks of school and summer vacation!!! The girls are looking forward to seeing their Grandma and Grandpa in College Station over Memorial Day and can't wait to see Mammy when she visits Biloxi! They also are counting the days til they get to go to their first Girl Scout camp in June...a whole week of camping!! They get to go horseback riding, canoeing, swimming, and all the other events that go along with overnight camping. And next fall, they are joining the local Girl Scout Brownie Troop. Get ready to buy girl scout cookies! Happy Mother's Day to everyone!!!!!!
11 March 2000 Once again, my sincerest apologies for the long delay in updates. We've had a busy past few weeks -- as you can see, we have a new addition to the family, TaterTot. He is 4 month bundle of energy! He only weighs about 2 lbs, but terrorizes the cats! As you can see Sara lost both her front teeth this week-end...she is now the envy of her kindergarten class! Nolen has two more loose front teeth now...not long til we get another visit from the tooth fairy! Nolen and Sara both got their report cards this past week -- Sara has a bunch of Exellents and Satisfactories and Nolen had all A's, except for one B+. In the past four weeks, Nolen has made all 100's on her spelling tests and made in the 90's in all other subjects. Congratulations Nolen and Sara!!! Nolen has discovered reading is fun, especially after her school's book fair when she really enjoyed a Mary Kate and Ashley book. We're going this weekend to get more "chapter books" that she decided she now likes! I also received my latest report card...an A in my last class. So far I have 21 credit hours completed toward my Masters Degree in Aeronautical Science, so far with a 4.0 average. Only 5 more classes and a thesis to go! Congrats to GrandMa and Grandpa Greg for the sale of the house in West Virginia. Good luck in house hunting in Texas! And a very special Good Luck to Auntie Ebash (Elizabeth) and Uncle Gilbert on their baby due any day now!!! And more Congrats to Uncle Jack and Aunt Sue for their anniversary and Uncle Grego -- Happy Birthday!
Enjoy your week and make sure you wear green on Friday!
11 Feb 2000
Happy Valentine's Day!! It's been a great week -- Nolen made another 100 on her spelling test and Sara has been doing great on her first month with homework..ewwwwww!!! Thanks Mammy and Uncle Grego and Aunt JuJu and Papa, MeMe, and Uncle Adam for all the great goodies for Valentine's Day!! We love all the treats and goodies! See our special Valentine Day page for everyone here We're looking forward to showing off our new rollerblades tomorrow night at the Youth Center skating night and we are both looking forward to our Sweet Day Parties on Monday...mmmmm Have a great week-end
8 Feb 2000
My apologies for the delay in updates...it has been a crazy month. The girls are back to school and doing GREAT!! Nolen is making all A's and a couple of B's and Sara is settling back into the routine -- so her attitude problems have been much less severe than over the holidays. Since Nolen won 2nd place in the school fair she is going to be competing in the Mississippi Regional Science Fair on 22 Feb -- Good Luck Nolen!!! Sara wrote a great book for her author's day -- look at the pics here. We have a new bird "Snow" -- she is real silly and loves attention...I'll post a picture soon. The girls both got rollerblades last week-end. Now when they go skating on Saturday nights at the base Youth Center (they go every Sat nite) they can win all the races. They have pads for everything so no chance of getting hurt! I'm over half way done with my Master's Degree in Aeronautical Science -- thanks to Nolen and Sara for helping me with my homework!! I'll try to be better at updating the site....again, my apologies for the long delay! Hope all are having a great 2K!!!
2 Jan 2000
We all had a great holiday vacation -- thanks to everyone!! Just a bit of bad news - Skye (the bird) apparantly wasn't Y2K compliant -- he passed away New Year's Eve. We're driving back on Monday and then it's back to work and school on Tues :( Christmas photos will be posted later this week
|
!!
