Christmas 2008

Well, Christmas is over for another year. We had a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner. Then Christmas Day started with Ben trying to wake everyone up. It was around seven o'clock in the morning, so we really couldn't complain too much. Molly was probably the least happy about the early hour since she stayed up after midnight (but then she's never too happy in the morning). We made it up to Godfrey's around nine for breakfast. Then home to recuperate until dinner. David and Ben played with their new radio-controlled cars outside. Dinner Christmas Day was great. I think I gained 5 lbs...

Christmas Set Up 2008

Well, it's time to set up the Christmas decorations at the Godfrey House. It's always a time of joy and wonderment, especially for the
cats.
Now it's almost a week later and the wonderment has worn off.
The cats have broken three ornaments already.
And every day I find tinsel all over the floor.
Ben just keeps rearranging the Christmas town scene. And every time
he does something gets knocked off onto the floor.
Oh Well, I love this time of year!!

Thanksgiving 2008

Here it is Thanksgiving Day again.
Actually, this is the day after Thanksgiving Day, it's called
Black Friday. I guess that most of all y'all are out shopping,
getting those good deals on whatever it is everybody buys just
after they've eaten a huge turkey dinner with all the trimmings.
I usually avoid any kind of store on this day, at all costs,(although one year,not too long ago Molly some how persuaded me to go). I don't remember if I thought it was worth it or not.
Anyway, back to Thanksgiving...
Last night we had a house-full. And this year was the first time I
can say I out did myself on the food.
Our Menu:
Turkey
Mashed Potatoes & Gravy
Green Bean Casserole
Pistachio Salad
Sweet Potato Casserole
Corn
White Birthday Cake
Pumpkin Pie
Chocolate Whipped Pie

I sent the boys and Miss Nancy home with goody bags, so this was also the first year I didn't have leftover turkey (YEAH!)
We all had such a great time together visiting and laughing. It
all went much too fast before the night was over. And it was fun
to be out in our new room. David and Ross put our free-standing fireplace that is usually in our bedroom into the new sun room so that we'd be all nice and toasty.

Fall In Connecticut

Last week I spent some time with the Carson Family in Connecticut.
The scenery was beautiful. We ate at some memorable places, listened
to cool music, sang bedtime songs, pieced together a number of puzzles and played a lot. Most of all I had a great time with everybody. It was so fun getting to know Laura, Emma, and Grant.
And of course, visiting with Steff and Russell was also a real treat.
One day Grant, Steff and I went for a walk by a closed Insane Asylum(made me feel right at home). The countryside was just gorgeous with the leaves the different colors of Autumn. Then for lunch we went to a cute little diner.
I have tons of little memories like that from my trip. I'm so glad
I was able to go. And they were so wonderful to me while I was there. Emma even let me stay in her room.

Homecoming '08

Homecoming 2008

Saturday, October 25th was Molly's last
High School Homecoming Dance.
That just leaves Prom in the spring.
It's been quite a school year already for her.
Flag competition is over with. Huntsville High
got a #2 rating, they just missed a #1 rating.
She has one more game to perform at.
And then Flags will be history too.

They had a good time with several other couples.
Dinner was at CrackerBarrel. And the dance was at
the VBC. Afterwards they gathered at a friends' home
to watch a late night movie.

"Where, Oh Where....?"

Where, Oh- Where has our camera gone.
Oh- Where, Oh- Where can it be?
Our camera has gone missing or on holiday now for the past
three months. It makes taking pictures kind of hard.
So I am at a loss about the blog here.
I figured no one would want to just read without some photos
to spice things up...
Hence, my absence from the cyber-world.
Either our rouge camera will finally show up, or we will be
forced into buying another one. A friend told me I should buy
a new camera but keep the box. As soon as I purchased the new
one, the old one would magically reappear.
With my luck it would, but only after I threw the newly purchased,
empty camera box in the trash can.

SOS

It's been a while since I've last blogged...
I've been on a mission.
SOS.
It's called Switched-On Schoolhouse.
After a few weeks of trying, we are finally up and running.
Today was our first "official" day at the computer school.
A few weeks ago we took Ben out of Huntsville City Schools
and began an adventure in homeschooling. We've been using my
own lesson plan until we got on-line with SOS.
So today he had classes in Language Arts, History, Math, and
Science, and a tutorial on how to use the system, along with
his scripture study.
I'm still trying to figure it all out. I'm learning how to do
a lesson plan. I set up and installed the curriculum. I set up the
passwords for the student and teacher. And previewed some of the
lesson material. So slowly but surely things are falling into place.

Ben has been miserable at school for a long time now. And we needed
to do something to get him going again in the education area. We'll
see how this works out for this year and maybe next. And then he'll
be ready for High School. Hopefully He will be ahead of the class
by then and have the skills necessary to succeed.
I'll keep ya'll posted.

Shoot the Birdie

This is Ben with his new birthday present...a paintball gun.
He got two for his birthday. Matthew bought him one, he calls it
Vera. The rapid-fire gun hasn't been named yet.
He's wanted a paintball gun for over a year now. He's been paint balling a few times with friends and loved it.
With him is Ollie the Owl. I got the owl several years ago to scare away birds from my garden. The birds quickly got used to Ollie, even
with me placing him in different spots in the garden periodically.
Then they took to dive bombing him and pooping on him.
One of his eyes fell out a couple of years back.
Now Ben uses him for target practice.
Since Ben's birthday he's gone through 500 paint balls and 16 canisters of co2.
I think Ollie's in trouble now.

A Deacon

We have a new Deacon in the house.
Ben just turned 12 years old yesterday. For those of us who belong
to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, it's a mile-
stone birthday. That's the birthday when a young boy leaves the kids
in primary behind and graduates to the young men program. But most
importantly, he is ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood. It is a big
step in him becoming a successful man, priesthood holder,
missionary, and father.
Like his father before him, he will learn to serve in the offices of
the priesthood, acting in the name of God. A pretty awesome thought.
He also finished his requirements for his Faith in God Award.
I'd say he's off to a great start.

End Summer Vacation

Seems odd that summer vacation will be over in two days.
The kids go back to school on Wednesday. We've had a good summer, but it's gone way to fast. And then I was looking through some photos from the summer of '05.
That year four of us made it out to San Diego, Cal. for a vacation. David and Ross were working and couldn't go. We had a good time then.
And I think of all that's happened since then. Molly and Ben have sure grown up. Molly is a senior in high school now, and Ben will be ordained to the priesthood as a deacon in the next few weeks. Matthew has, like Ross moved out on his own. That August of 2005, David had back surgery and with it serious complications in the form of massive blood clots. We are still dealing with the effects of that.
Since then we've added on to the house...a new sun room/entertainment
room and doubled the garage space. We're 3/4 the way completed on construction, with a finish date set for Christmas of '08.
I've find myself getting older...hopefully wiser. I took up a hobby of jewelry making and continuing to refine my gardening skills. Most of the time I'm
just trying to keep it all together.
My, how quickly the time goes.

Canadian Experience

Our vacation to Canada started on Wed. July 23rd. And we had a great time!

What a way to top of the summer. We've been meaning to visit our good

friends', Tracy, Sean and their girls for some time now.

We arrived to rain but it soon cleared. On the way back from the airport we stopped in at a good Mexican restaurant and an Ice Cream place.

One of the things that we did each night was to all sit around and watch

Top Gear. It became a favorite for everyone except Shannon.

Thursday Tracy made wonderful blueberry pancakes for breakfast along with bacon & mango's. The guys then went off on their own, and us girls and Ben went Bowling. That night we went to go see "The Dark Knight" at the movies.

Friday was our first day on the lake. It was sea-dos and trying to water ski.

The weather was great. And Lake Simcoe is large and lovely.

Saturday was Niagara Falls. And what a tremendous time we had! David, Ben

and I took a double-decker boat to the bottom of the Falls. We then prowled around the little shops in town and ate dinner outside on a second

story porch of a cute little eatery.

Sunday we rode bikes and roller bladed down by the beach-side of Lake Simcoe. We had the best pizza for dinner.(Shannon was working at Boston Pizza- so we had to go and bug her there).

Monday was our last day on the lake. Ben broke the record for riding on the

two-seater float. We must of pulled him for 15 miles (almost all the way to

the beach-side town we had biked at on Sunday). We docked the boat and walked down the strand for his reward, which was a big ice

cream cone.

That night we had a late dinner at the Keg, a wonderful steak place.

Tuesday was our day to come back home. It all ended too quickly.

Our friends Sean, Tracy, Nicole and Shannon were so wonderful to us. And

we had such a great time. I think I'd like to do this every year.

SCORE!

Every once in a while looking through your neighbors trash is a good thing.

Here in the South, we call it "dumpster diving". And with dumpster diving you occasionally get a score.

Once when the boys were dumpster diving they came home with a battery

powered car. It was a large enough size to fit two small children. Of course

our boys put a car battery inside what used to have a hood and powered

several kids around the yard until the battery caught on fire. Later they took out the braking mechanism which aloud it to free glide down the

slope of the driveway and later the hill down the street. They didn't do it in until someone hooked it up behind a motorcycle and pulled it at speeds which it was never intended to go. We had that "score" for several years.

Today I went outside to find that Ben and a buddy had scored a go cart from

down the street. They fixed the linkage on it and spray painted it. And now

they are in the process of test driving it.

There's nothing like a score to make you feel lucky!

Magazine Cover

Well, Here it is... the long awaited for magazine cover. Now we can say for

the record that we have someone in the family that has international

notoriety, sort of.

This is a publication out of England. And we are starting to hear e-mails

from our friends from all over the country and more.

You'll have to stay tuned for the feature article that goes with it.

The Many Faces Of Ben

You know how a kid can seem different every time you look at them.

With each day they seem to be a little changed.

You turn around and their all grown up.

That's how I feel with Ben.

Check out my Slide Show!

Molly's Utah Trip 2008

I told Molly that I'm living my life vicariously through her now, when she
asked why I put so many pictures of her on my blog. It seems she has more
fun now a days than I do. After returning from her Pioneer Trek, she had a
short rest and then headed out to Utah to visit friends for a week.

Pioneer Trek 2008

Last week Molly went on an adventure in Tennessee.

She was the "big sister" in a "family" group who pushed a handcart for

three days for a total of 12 miles. The youth in our stake did this activity

for youth conference. Halfway through the trek our stake met the Tennessee Stake and they had a dinner and dance.

All of the youth were required to dress in period clothing. No electronics

of any kind were allowed. They ate food that would be similar to what the

pioneers would have had. And had some wilderness workshops along the

way. One was on how to kill and pluck a chicken. Another was churning

butter.

It was quite the adventure...

Molly is the one on the far left with the white shirt, tan apron.

Carlisle Car Show 2008

Well, we're back from the Carlisle Car Show of 2008, held in Carlisle, Penn.
David, Ben and I trailered the red car up to the show this year. It was my
first experience. Ben and David are old timers at all this...
We took two days driving up. Our first stop was in Virginia. The countryside
was beautiful.
The weather was hot and over cast. But we still managed to take a dip in the
hotel pool, which was quite chilly.
Everyone started showing up on Friday. And soon the parking lot was full of Merkurs. Our Canadian friends showed up and we caravaned over to the
fair grounds. We spent the day there looking at all the different cars and
products and sat under our own show tent. David and Sean were the only ones to get really sunburned. Ben and I found the best ice cream stand. It
turned out to be the tastiest food I ate the entire trip.
On Saturday Ben and I drove to Hershey, Penn. to the Hershey Chocolate
Factory and Amusement/Water Park. David and the rest of the guys went to the show again. And David had his big magazine photo shoot. It was
exceptionally hot, especially for the guys at the fair grounds. Ben and I had
a great time at the park. His favorite rides were the bumper cars and the
"Super Duper Looper" roller coaster. My favorite was the surfers "Wave" ride.
Sunday we headed for home, and drove straight through.
I took two cameras...and made it home with zero pictures. Figures.

Southern Comfort

I'm still going through photos of Chris and Bill's visit...

I found these we took at the Jack Daniels' Distillery.

The car isn't as hot as David's but, oh well.

We had a really good time with Jack and his friends, even though we

don't drink any of the sauce.

The BBQ was really good there though...

Miss Molly Pop

It's been quite a while since anyone has called her that, Miss Molly Pop... This is her last week of being a junior. Just a few final exams, and she's officially a SENIOR.

We're really proud of her for being so smart and for working so hard this year in school. She was inducted into the High School National Honor Society and the Who's Who for High School Students. She's maintained a

4.3 G.P.A while attending early morning seminary and working a part-time

job. She's also on the Color Guard of the Huntsville High Band. And participates in many of the young women activities in our ward at church.

Occationally we see her at home when she's not with Eric. Her cheery smile always adds to the atmoshpere of the house (he-he). As you can guess, my beautiful daughter is very strong willed and opinionated. But she has a sweet heart and we all love her very much. Chris said it to me the last

time I talked to her, "Molly's just found a special place in my heart." I've

felt that way from the moment I layed eyes on her.

too.

The Grass Is Always Greener...

Weeks ago we planted new grass in the back yard. With all the construction

out there we had a lot of red clay showing. Then there were a few spots that

just never seemed to do very well. You know we all have them in our yards.

That one spot you can't seem to get anything but weeds to grow on. Why is

that?

So after weeks of watering and babying-i.e. making sure no one steps on the

new little seedlings...here we have it. New lawn.

It doesn't really fit next to the "old" lawn. Maybe because the old lawn has

loads of weeds in it.

I cut it for the first time yesterday. Now the weeds are free to take over that

area of the back yard too.

Some times I think as long as it's green, I'll mow it and pretend it's grass.

Check out my Slide Show!

The Wicks Visit

It's been a while since I've been here! Mainly because we've had the Wick's
come to visit. They arrived April 26th and just left this morning around 6:30 a.m. We've had such a darn good time fishing and eating and prowling
around, that everything else has gone to the wayside. We have had fun from the moment they got here and we had a wild rain storm to the last night that we spent shooting off fireworks and getting chewed out by a guy
down the street...
Bill went home with some tall fish tales and a rebel flag. Chris went home
with some southern memorabilia and t-shirts. I think they both went home
with a better understanding about why we love it out here so much.
And now we are here, left with all the great memories of the time we shared
together. And we are very grateful that they spent the time and money to come and visit with us. This morning after they left I found little notes that
Chris had left in different places around the house to different family members. Family is truly what we hold most dear.
We will remember their visit for a long, long time.
Thanks guys!
Ya'll come back now, ya hear!

Rootbeer At the Sink...

We have a strange cat at our house. His name is Rootbeer.

He likes to drink rootbeer and water from the faucet in our

bathroom. The other two cats have seen him do this, and now

have been doing the same thing for the past several months.

With one exception, they don't like to drink while the water

faucet is on. Someone has to fill up the sink first.

It's quite funny, every time David or I go in to brush

our teeth one of the cats will jump up on the sink and wait for

his or her "turn".

A long time ago I'd gotten used to having Joie

come in each morning and evening to watch me use to the bathroom,

or watch me take a shower. But this is just getting strange...

Prom 2008

It's that time of year again.
It comes in the spring time.
It's expensive. It's the highlight of the school year for
a young girl. It's the one night of the year that nobody
seems to have a curfew.
What is it?
Prom.
Molly's Prom was just last night.
So she had a bunch of her girlfriends for a sleep over
the night before the "big night". They ate pizza and slept
on air mattresses out in our new half done sun room, on
the concrete floor. One of my couches even got dragged
out. I put my foot down however when it came to hauling
out the big-screen tv.
In the morning I made a mountain of waffles.
And then they spent the rest of the day getting ready.
Molly's date and another couple took pictures at our house
before leaving for another girl's home for a formal sit-down
dinner.
Then it was on to the prom.