Christmas Trees 2010

Mandy has been bugging me for a little over a week , to put up her Christmas tree , I told her "After Thanksgiving" and, she DIDN'T Forget, as soon as she got up yesterday, she wanted to do it ! I was able to keep her "Occupied" with "Black Friday" shopping and even when she asked last night , I said, we have to wait ....thinking she'd forget, when I got up this morning, she was already awake ( not a usual occurrence" to beat me awake) but, she was up, dressed , had her bed made and even cleared her desk off ! So I said OK, and she got it out, put it up and even decorated it all by herself !!

And, when she was done, she came out and wanted to know when I was putting the one up in the living room !!! I tried to change the subject, but, NO such luck !! a picture of the living room one is below.

The Infamous Light Up Cup !!!!!!

While we were at Disney World last month, we bought "MANY" souviners to remember our trip. and, instead of lugging them all home, we sent them home via UPS ! The 1st box came late last week, and MANY things were missing !
I was SO disappointed , so I called the # on the reciept for missing or lost packages, THEY were so helpful !! I kept ALL my reciepts and they were able to pop up on their computers exactly what was missing , and, they told me that while they had an investigative team working on finding it, in case they did'nt...... They would be able to use my reciept and get EVERYTHING on it REPLACED! I was SO AFRAID to say ANYTHING to Mandy, so I just told her they were still looking for it.She chose a blue light up Mickey Mouse Sourcer Cup, and last week started asking where that cup was !! After I knew the box had been located I asked if the "Light up Cup" was inside, and they put me on hold while they searched thru it. The girl came back on the phone and said she had found it ! I explained the situation, and told her a little of Mandy's background, and when I was finished, she said " You tell Mandy that her light up cup is on its way and will be at her house soon! I did just that, and the Squeals of JOY brought tears to my eyes !

Here is Mandy with the INFAMOUS CUP and also, her "Mandy Mouse" Ears made and sent by some dear friend's!

"Mandy Mouse" !!!

While we were taking pictures. She went into her room and came out with her Minnie Mouse that we bought, Minnie is dressed to the "Nines" with fur, glitter and a pair of "High Heels sandals" Mandy LOVES her and said she should get her picture taken too ! :)

Minnie dressed to the "nines" !!

SO MUCH FUN !!!!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2010 !!

Last Night ( Oct. 29,2010) was the "annual" Halloween Party at school ! I LOVE going to this event, even though, some people (named Mandy) REFUSE to dress up ! she's never liked it and, age has not made it any better !!!

Aide Char and Mandy have a dance ! Mandy "giggled" SO BIG.......

and then WAIT FOR IT.......... Here it comes BIGGER than ever , the TURN and MORE Giggles, PRICELESS!!!

Our "Seniors for the class of 2010-2011 are
Jaycob and Sarah Jane

While not ALL of them attended, it was GREAT to see many of the aides in Mandy's class come out and help the kids have a FANTASTIC time !!

Left to Right, Sherron,Char,Donna & Della
in the background is Elayne ( in the hot pink)

Mr. & Ms. Dracula

Jaycob, L & Mara, R

Mom, Mary & Jaycob

Danielle shares a hug with friend, Sarah Jane,
we were ALL happy to see Danielle, she graduated with last years Seniors.

Below, Maggie R. has a visit from Donna
(Shh I think they might have their holiday's mixed up)

Sarah and Danielle smile for the camera with Teresa, a FAVORITE visitor to the class !!

( Teresa is the grand daughter of aide, Donna )

All The kids had a SUPER time , A HUGE Thank You to Carol and all her FANTASTIC aides for making "School" so enjoyable for our kids !!

Walt Disney World !! ( Oct. 10th-18th)

Our last BIG trip for 2010 was, to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida !! We were in the parks, for 5 days and, it still wasn't enough!!!!! when we go back , we will be spending at least 2 days in each park ! They are HUGE !! At 1st Mandy wasn't to excited but, as time wore on she couldn't get enough!!

We went to the Magic Kingdom park 2 days and, we ran into Mandy's friend from school, Sarah Jane and her parents, Mark and Becky . what a special treat for the girl's ! here's a snapshot I snapped of them in front of Cinderella's Castle.

Below, while we were in the Magic Kingdom, we had the chance to tour both Minnie and Micky Mouse's houses. below, Mandy takes a rest at Minnie's place :)


Just about every time we turned around there was a display of Micky or Minnie Mouse ! I snapped this picture of 2 bushes that were in the likeness of Minnie and Mickey :)

Below, Mandy's smiles in front of Mission Space

We had the chance to go to a dinner show while we were there, the food was YUMMY and even though we were in what I would call "Nose Bleed Seats" I think we had one of the best seats in the house :) !!

I have SEVERAL more pictures coming, and will post them, as soon as the CD arrives !!

Visit to San Francisco Bay Area and Yosemite

To close out the summer and, celebrate my birthday, we decided to head down to San Francisco. AND, I also found a tour that went to Yosemite !!! We covered so much , while we were there , and had a GREAT time !!

We drove down fairly early in the day,so, we decided to hit the Zoo , 1st thing ! Mandy LOVED the animals. We were so excited to find that, they had a Petting Zoo, for the kids ! Below are a few pictures.

Mandy was pretty excited at the thought of petting all the animals, BUT, when she saw the Sheep, it was ALL Over , she got the giggles, and, decided that she should have a picture just to show CT ( one of her Dad's co-worker's) !!

Here's another

On our trip to Yosemite, I was really surprised when I heard the temp. outside was 101 degrees! because of the heat, which is a "Normal" thing, all but 1 of the waterfalls had dried up. They replenish themselves during the rainy/Snow season each year !

Bridal Veil Falls

Another pretty one of the Falls

Golden Gate Bridge from afar

San Francisco skyline

Mandy SMILES for the camera !!!!

The FAMOUS Sea Lions

We had such a GREAT time, can hardly wait to go back !!!!!!

SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!

Damian and I took off Saturday morning for an overnight trip. where did we go ??????? to McCloud CA. to attend, Damian's 30 year high school reunion ! Damian's class was small in the 1st place but, not all were able to attend the reunion. due to other obligations . Those that did tho, had an AWESOME time ! here are just a few pictures . what FUN it was to play "Catch up" with classmates !!

Saturday evening there was a "Monster Reunion" of Many of the Graduating Classes ! I think there was over 700 dinners served. and, they actually sold out of dinner tickets and MANY more just attended the fun festivities of the evening !!



There was a YUMMY Luncheon of ALL kinds of goodies to make sandwiches and, several salads on the side !! Dessert was cupcakes , decorated in "Logger" colors !! They were SSOOOOO GOOD !
after lunch everyone went thru old yearbooks and MANY pictures of back when they were in school ! Loved ALL the friends who re-connected and being able to re-establish with both those who live close and those who have moved on.

Friends Forever

Silly

Catching up!!

Smile !!

Smiling for the camera !!

Where it ALL took place !!

This Cheer leader, greeted EVERYONE who came to Sunday morning breakfast! She had some "VERY SPECIAL" Cheers she shared with all of us.
She was an actual cheer leader alum from the class of 1963 !





So much Fun was had by ALL and we can't wait for the next reunion !!

GO LOGGERS !!

Visit to Aunt Jan and Uncle Tom's

On Wed. morning (August 10th) we piled in the car. and headed on the 1st leg of our journey to visit Jan & Tom, aka Aunt Jan and "Uncle Bub". We drove from our home, up to Roseburg, OR. where we stayed overnight at the Garden Villa Inn. I am SO glad we did !!! Not only was Damian tired from driving , but, Mandy was on "Burn out" ! it was perfect, we went and had a bite of dinner and then back, to the hotel for a nice swim , before going to bed for the night !! Mandy got a new "Body Glove" and tried it out !! She loved it and the "freedom" she got to feel in the pool was PRICELESS , at 1st she was a little spooked but as soon as she realized she could "Float" all she did was Giggle !! Here are a few pics .

Look Mom I can Stand all by MYSELF!

Dad helps Mandy "Swim"

Damian went and got in the jaccuzzi , Mandy stuck her foot in and said "This feels like a BATH , I like it" and she proceeded to go all the way in!

We woke up on Thursday morning, had a yummy breakfast, gassed up the car and we were off for the final leg of our trip.
Before we left Roseburg, we decided since Petco was right next door that we would stop and look at the animal's and, what luck ......It was a day people could bring in their dog's for a picture ! Mandy was in Heaven getting to see ALL the dogs.

While we waited for Aunt Jan and Uncle Tom to get home from work , we decided to stop at a Veterans Memorial Park.

It was so pretty there and peaceful too !

Uncle "Bub" aka Uncle Tom ( above) and Aunt Jan ( below)

Aunt Jan & Uncle Bub's kitty , Ruby

We went on a really fun day trip with Aunt Jan and "Uncle Bub" to the Zoo , and another day we had a bbq picnic at the park, and saw a concert !! I had a really fun vacation and I think my Mom and Dad liked it too !!