Spring Break @ Papa's -- 2009

Well we didn't go any place fancy for Spring Break, but we were able to go some where. We headed "home" to MI on Wednesday of last week and ended up getting home yesterday around 6:00p.m. We had lovely snow and ice to deal with on Sunday and my sister's little guy was sick, so we decided to stay an extra day. I'm glad we did because we had beautiful, sunshine to travel in yesterday. With 32 of us home, the house tended to get a little loud : ) There were 14 under the age of 6, plus my 2 older ones, so... We were able to get in on the tail end of Dad making maple syrup, so that was fun. He was boiling the last bit down when we got there, so the kids were able to sample some of it and help him start the clean-up process. The kids ran wild through the woods having a great time, something they needed to do after riding for 5 hours. A couple of Dad's brothers were there visiting when we got there and it was nice to see Uncle Norman and Uncle Mac. On Saturday afternoon we decided to take a tractor ride to the back of Dad's "40" (A.K.A. his 40 acres). It was rather cold, but we all bundled up in the outside attire we all could find (as you will see all the mis-matched items below) and had a fun time. It was a great time for making memories! All in all, we had another nice trip "home", but we were sad to have to leave Dad. Please pray for him, he misses Mom a lot and seems to be getting tired. He is almost 80 so I guess he has every right to be tired, but it is hard to see that since he has always been so full of life! I know he has the right to be missin' Mom too, but that is REALLY hard to see too! Dad, Uncle Mac and Uncle Norman

Maverick trying some fresh maple syrup

Maddie Mae enjoy "cramp-pa Shattuck's" (as she calls him) woods


CJ having fun in the woods

Talon helping Dad move the boiling pan

Keegan helping Papa clean the pan out

Faithful "Ole Lizzie", my Dad has had her for as long as I can remember

Getting ready for the tractor ride
Shekinah, Joe and Becca

CJ, Karson, Jared and Keegan

Some of the grand kids with their kids

Happy 40th "Aunt" Bev

Last Saturday was one of our closest friend's birthday! The Poe family has been friends with my husband's family for years and years. Since our family has been so close with Bev and her family, our kids call them "Aunt Bev", "Aunt Rhonda" and "Gma Margie". We were invited to attend Bev's surprise 40th birthday bash and we all had fun! We were all told to be at the school at 6 so her sister Kim could go pick her, her other sister Rhonda and her Mom up, for a birthday dinner. Kim said her Mom and "the girls" always get together for each other's birthdays, so this was no different than any other year. The thing was, Kim told her she had to drop something off at the school and when they did...all of us were there waiting to welcome her! She was totally shocked and embarrassed that all of this to-do was for her, but she was very happy too! We hope you enjoyed your party Bev, it was great fun watching your RED face step out of the van and be welcomed by your guests ; ) We love and appreciate you and your friendship!

Some of the gang waiting to welcome Bev: Mowerys, Johnsons, Wilhelms,
Stetlers, Highlanders, Banes, etc.

My nephew Lane waiting for "Aunt Bev" to arrive

Bev totally shocked that this is all for her

Talon welcoming "Aunt Bev"

Kendrick saying Happy Birthday to Bev!

L to R: Rhonda (Bev's sister), Greg & Becky (Bev's brother and SIL), "the Birthday Girl", Gma Margie (Bev's Mom), Jerry, Elizabeth and Kallee

Greg praying for the food, making everyone laugh for some of his comments : )

Chow-Time, the food was sooo good!

Kallee and "Aunt Bev"

Bev showing off her 40 bling that she got from Elizabeth & Tony! I think she really likes it, LOL!

Bev wearing her 40th birthday bling!

Bev opening a box of denture cleaner, HA!

Bev's yummy birthday cake

Kendrick sure enjoyed the cake : )

Jerry being stupid, as usual : ) Just think, he's all mine, LOL!

Bev's 40th Birthday Trivia:
"What is Bev's full name"? "Where was she born"? "What were the top toys when she was born"? etc.

A.C.E. Convention 2009

Well we are back from a week long event -- A.C.E. Convention 2009. It was a GREAT event, that our high school kids competed in, and did very well! Jerry & I were asked to be chaperons this year, and of course we were very honored to be asked! This was a very exciting event, but it was not an easy one. We were up around 5:30 every morning and we didn't go to bed until around midnight, every night. We ran our legs about half off, but the good news is, we all lost about 10 lbs, HA! HA! I had a group of girls that I was responsible for and they were; Courtney Murray (my niece), Yajaira Baltierra and Britney Soloman. These girls were great and they didn't cause me much trouble at all : ) Of course I had to do a lot of "mothering" throughout the week like: "time for bed", "take a shower", "pick up your clothes", "take your medicine", "iron your clothes", etc. etc. I enjoyed "taking care of" these girls, and I hope they enjoyed having me take care of them. --Since this was a first-time event for our kids, we weren't for sure how they would do, but they did wonderful considering it was a first-time for most of them. I think we had 3 girls that have done this before, but the other 16 haven't. We had a few take 1st place; Maria Coleman for her Poetry/Recitation, Ray Garcia for the boy's Soccer Kick and our Radio Broadcast Team; Charles Norfleet, Maria Coleman, Jordan Waggoner and Alex Fry. Our Bible Bowl Teams took 4th, 5th and 6th places, our girl's Volleyball Team took 4th (after not winning any of their games at all this season), the boy's 3-on-3 Basketball Team (Ray Garcia, Joel Cooper, Jordan Waggoner & Alex Fry) took 3rd, our girl's Track Team (Margret Coleman, Brittnay Beagan, Britnee Derscheid and Maria Coleman) took 3rd in the 400 Meter Relay and our girl's Quartet (Maria Coleman, Jewel Cooper, Megan Brubeck and Britnee Derscheid) took 4th (I think). We had two students place for their Photography; Britnee Derscheid 3rd and Austin Albaugh 6th. In the area of Clay work, Janae Waggoner took 4th and in Metalwork, Courtney Murray took home a 4th place metal. Charles Norfleet took home 4th place in the Male Solo category and Britnee Derscheid received 4th place for her Piano Solo. Dalton and Andromida Pippenger took 5th and 6th place for Table Tennis, Alex Fry took 6th place for Physical Fitness and 3rd place for the 200 Meter Dash. All 19 of our kids went home with at least one medal, so we are VERY proud of them! I know I have forgotten some, but as you can see...our kids did a WONDERFUL job!!! We are SO excited to start preparing for next year, it will be some great fun!

Our crew -- Back Row (LtoR): Dalton Pippenger, Andromida Pippenger, Britnee Derscheid, Austin Albaugh, Megan Brubeck, Ashley Fulton, Jordan & Janae Waggoner, Maria Coleman, Alex Fry, Mr. Coleman and Ray Garcia
Front Row (LtoR): Brittney Soloman, Charles Norfleet, Brittnay Beagan, Jewel Cooper, Courtney Murray, Yajaira Baltierra, Joel Cooper and Margret Coleman

Mrs. Dennis Joslin A.K.A the Candy Bar Lady : ) She would throw out full-size candy bars to the sections that were the loudest. She gave out over 200 this week.

Me and my "little" niece Courtney! I can't believe she is 13, where has the time went?!

Me and "my girls"; Yajaira, Courtney and Brittney.

Andromida, Yajaira and Courtney

Dalton after receiving his 5th place medal for Table Tennis!

I can't believe "the twins" are all grown up too : (
This is such a nice picture of you guys, Janae & Jordan! She asked me to take this, she said "we probably won't ever have a nice picture like this of us again", LOL!

Janae gave me A LOT of good material to work with this week, HA!
Here she shows her love for Mr. Mt. Dew : )

Here Janae and Maria show their love, as they battle it out for this tough guy : )

Alex receiving his 3rd place medal for the 200 Meter Dash

Austin receiving his 6th place medal for Photography-Still Life

Janae waiting to receive her 4th place medal for her Clay work

Ray Garcia receiving his 1st place medal for Soccer Kick

Courtney receiving her 4th place medal for her Metal work

Our Radio Broadcasting Team walking up to receive their 1st place medals

Our awesome leaders, Mr. & Mrs. Coleman

Mr. Coleman playing "Ronnie" from the A.C.E characters. Each morning they would have a skit and the sponsors were the actors and actresses.

Our girl's Volleyball Team: Brittnay Began, Britnee Derscheid, Brittney Soloman, Courtney Murray, Megan Brubeck, Margret & Maria Coleman, Jewel Cooper, Ashley Fulton, Yajaira Baltierra & Andromida Pippenger (I think I got them all : )

Our Pace Bowl Team; Maria Coleman, Ashley Fulton, Joel Cooper & Charles Norfleet

Our boy's 3-on-3 Basketball Team