Robby-Wobby-Bob-Rob-Robert

I am close with all of my siblings and share a different type of bond with each. Robby and I are close because we grew up together - literally and figuratively. We went through the same phases of life at nearly the same time: our parents divorce and remarriage, our love for talk radio, college, first apartments, and careers. Robby is one of my best friends. I call him for spiritual advice, ideas,opportunities, reminiscing, singing, quoting movies, ranting, crying, laughing and pranks.
Bob got married this past Saturday and I couldn't be more excited for him. Although our relationship will change, I know it won't be a bad change and I am thankful that he has an amazing wife to share his life with!
Bob, I love you and I am extremely thankful for you! Mandy, welcome to our family! You are perfect for Bob:)
Here are some of my favorite memories growing up with Bob:
1. "Abby, get off the wall!"
2. "Patricia, DOWNSTAIRS!"
3. jello
4. that time we were at grandma and pap Shaffer's and played cards for like 8 hours per day.
5. Getting the lovesac
6. The case of the missing peanut butter
7. Scotland
8. Prank calls where we would just read the labels off of random items
9. Vacations
10. Running out of toilet paper in the apartment
11. When you told your friends that we shared the same bed in the apartment...and they believed you. hahahahahahaha.
12. Karaoke:)
13. The first month of school where I called you like every day.
14. Prob and stats when we used every single skip and late...then got stuck in the driveway!
15. "giggle giggle giggle, laugh laugh laugh laugh, chuckle chuckle chuckle"

Love you!

Almost Heaven, West Virginia...

This week I have been trekking to Wisconsin. I have had the privilege of stopping to see Elisabeth and Pete, and much of my family.

I love my family so much. Until Monday, I hadn't seen my dad's dad in over a year.
Pap and Chuck live in the middle of nowhere West Virginia. I love it there because that is where my family is and that is where I remember spending at least part of my summers as a child. As I watched Pap chat with my Uncle Chuck and fix his tractor, I realized that all these years he hasn't changed one bit. He is the same grandpa that sat out on the front porch with me after dinner when I was five and the same grandpa who let me hunt with the men as long as I was quiet.
My cousin, Tommy, was there too. He is eight now and reminds me of Robby when he was little. (In that his wrists start half-way up his arm and he is really smart.) While the men were working on the tractor, tommy was singing, "Country Roads, Take me Home" at the top of his lungs. (That part of him reminded me of Bob too.)
Someone left Chuck and Pap a bunch of pre-cooked refrigerated crabs. (gross). They were wondering what do to with them. I had the brilliant idea of making crab-meat pasta salad. The crabs were awfully hard so I googled "how to soften pre-cooked, cold crabs". That didn't help. I took it upon myself to boil them then smash them and throw away the gills and anything else icky. Well, I don't think it ended up being that yummy of a salad. Oh well. We had a casserole that someone had brought the guys and then Chuck, Tommy, and I went to Dairy King. (Don't be jealous, guys. I got a raspberry swirled ice cream - yum!) Oh yeah, and when I went to pay for the ice cream I gave the lady my Visa. She laughed and said, "Honey. We are still hillbillies. We don't take credit cards." I thought she was joking.
Pap was so cute. He got up early with me when I left the next morning and took me to breakfast. He said he wanted to make sure I had a good breakfast before my long trip.
Chuck hasn't changed a bit either. He still insists on wearing a hat almost always...but I did get him to join facebook. I definitely need to go to WV more often. Everyone there is real and I like that. real. unedited.

Junior/Senior Banquet

Tonight Amanda and Crystal went to the Junior/Senior Banquet. They have been planning their outfits for over a year. No joke. All the planning paid off, however, because tonight they looked absolutely beautiful! Howie got home from work just in time to give the girls each a corsage. He was a little self-conscious about how he looked, but I told him it made the girls look even more like princesses.

Random Memory

Here is my memory of the day. Please post anything you remember about the blue "barrel". here's mine.

Jimmy: "MOM! have you seen my orange and black jams?"
Mom: "Uh, I washed them last week, check the barrel."

The great thing about the barrel is that is had a little bit of everything. Clean clothes, dirty ones, belts, shoes, etc.

Weird

This picture is of Camden at three years old...


This picture is of his uncle bob when he was 6 or 7...

Sunday

First of all, HAPPY 7th ANNIVERSARY JOEL AND DAWN! i totally lost track of the date! now on to the boys:) We made strawberry-banana smoothies to have after dinner. Of course, they devoured them! Camden also informed me that my macaroni and cheese is cheesier than his mommy's, but that mommy makes is better than me. josiah thinks he is so funny running around the house and making me catch him. i think this will be my new weight loss plan! here are some pics from tonight! enjoy!











It's close to 8 p.m. The boys and I are going to watch "Fix the House". Adios!

My Best Friend's Wedding

Lisa got married yesterday. She was the most beautiful bride i have ever seen. (no offense dawn). I had the privelige of being one of her bridesmaids and the experience was priceless. I must admit that I feel extremely old at the moment. Girls talk about getting married almost instantly after discovering boys. Since I have been friends with Lisa since second grade and now and all that we had talked about during adolescence has finally come to fruition (well - for her anyway!) She was georgous, Nathan was handsome, and the wedding went perfectly!
After the wedding, Amanda, Crystal, and I trekked overnight to Michigan. They are going to Northland for camp with Dawn and Joel's youth group and I am taking care of two of the most adorable boys in the entire world. (The third is with his mommy and daddy!) seventeen hours, eight shots of espresso, and one speeding ticket later I am finally here. The boys are napping and I am about to join them. Pictures from Lisa's wedding and my week full of adventures will be posted soon!

So Funny!

My nephew expresses his Mom's side of the family in the following video. I know that he is my nephew so i think this is the funniest thing in the world - but he is also just a three year old that is telling his story to his brand new baby brother by using his hands. A made-up language i guess. He is so cute! I dont know how to put the utube pic on here, so here is the link:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ13PYj8Z7Y