Happy Birthday Holden

Thought I'd share this video of Holden eating his cake on Saturday. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Holden Alexander

It is hard to imagine that our little number eight guy is going to be a year old in the morning.  He is such a happy, sweet boy who usually just goes with the flow in his busy family.  He was our special joy over the wonderful Thanksgiving in Washington.

Happy Birthday little buddy - we love you!

not sure how i made this picture stick - i can't get the now one in?

Beautiful Montana Winter

These are a few of the Hungarian partridges from a couple of coveys that are running around our home.  This is taken through the bedroom window towards the one little tree in our yard.  Bob and I have much fun watching the livestock!  We have a wonderful scope that has extended our views and one or the other is always calling -"come look at this".  Oh dear - it sounds like the small pleasures of old married folks is settling upon us!!!

Sabbatical - is 4.5 months enough?

This is a test.  Is the Briggy Bunch ready to blog again??  I loved checking this every morning to see pictures of my extremely attractive family and hear what was going on and what we were all thinking.  I'll check for comments or posts for the next two weeks and see what happens.

Bob and I had a wild and wonderful six months from July through December enjoying many special times with all of you.  Although the Montana winter is here with vengence this year, we are enjoying a quiet time in our beautiful home remembering all the fun of the last few months.  We so enjoyed hearing from many friends and families over the holidays and are big fans of the new easy to create picture cards -- every card was great and so many cute kids in the next generation.   Thanks to all our family for sharing and a special thanks to all our children's friends who continue to let us be a part of their lives -- you continue to enrich ours.

Between Montana winter for Bob and the Montana legislative session for Susan we stay busy and interested.  Personally gearing up to do taxes for us and help the parents with theirs and hopefully to start working out more regularly at the Y (our holdiay gift this year).  Fun hearing about each of our wonderful grandchildren on the phone.  Let's post some of their many projects and successes here for all to share. 

Hope to see some posts soon!!!
 

All because two people fell in love...

Aunt Emm and the girls drove to Dillon on Monday (August 16th) to help Grandpa Hugh celebrate his birthday. We had a great day with cake and ice-cream at his home, a shopping trip to Quality, and dinner at Papa T's. Grandpa had lots of attention and candy so I think it was a good birthday. I had thrown together a little family tree for his wall the night before. It is certainly nothing fancy and will need to be replaced by something created by the craftier people in our family. If you have a picture that you would like used instead feel free to send it in and we will replace it.

Really what I was struck by while working on this project is our family. It is amazing how quickly we've grown and spread all over the country. I couldn't help but think how tickled Grandma Barb would be by her 14 (yes... 14!!!) adorable great-grandchildren. I feel lucky to be part of these huge family and am blessed to know I have such a loving support system in place.
Doug's Family & Emm's Family

Dorth's Family & John's Family

Bob's Family (We required a whole poster!)

All Together

The Birthday Boy

Points Tally... So Far

I must say that I was surprised when I got two comments...two whole comments!!! Yay!!! In my new sense of euphoria, I have decided to post the current scores.

Auntie:

1 comment about video content in general= 100 points

1 comment about John Williams= 500 points

1 comment about your favorite part in the movie= 90 points

1 comment about how awesome Lisa is for actually posting= +1,300 points

Total= 1,990 points

Nan:

1 comment about video content in general= 100 points

1 comment about John Williams= 500 points

1 comment about your favorite part in the movie= 90 points

1 comment about how awesome Lisa is for actually posting= 1, 300 points

1 comment about how awesome Grandma is for actually posting= +2,000 points

Total: 3,990 points

Nan is in the lead!!! So far...

Test to see if ANYONE is out there

This is something that the kids in my class convinced my Algebra teacher to show on the last day of school. I think that if my family is still reading the blog that we will definitely be hearing some comments about the video. Since I have heard that my family used to love Star Wars I have also decided to attach a challenge to this post. I have left the point system so you can all know how i choose the winner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk5_OSsawz4

1 comment about video content in general= 100 points

1 comment about John Williams= 500 points

1 comment about how you are out there= 10 points

1 comment about your favorite part in the movie= 90 points

1 comment about how awesome Lisa is for actually posting= 1, 300 points

1 comment about how awesome Grandma is for actually posting= 2,000

Total Points= 4,000 points

Just so that we don't have 50,000,000,000,000 comments, your comments can be combined into one really long one or a new post. If you post it will give you 50 more "secret" bonus points. I will post the winner at the end of this month. May the force be with you!

Let's Hit It

I have a need for more book reviews -- i love reading them and seeing each of our personalities shine through our review. Let's get going again -- I think we can take the summer list into the fall and then be ready at Christmas time to start on our new Christmas books!!

I read Anne's choice for me - Wrapped in Rain during July on an as can basis. I really liked this book and it helped me keep in mind what is really important. It was a rather sad story made strong by the strong influences on Tucker that kept him grounded. I will most likely try another Charles Martin book after my summer reading.

I did take a little break and read Elizabeth Berg's latest book -- not my very favorite but she continues to be a must read author for me -- hope you girls feel old enough to try them someday!!!

I am currently on the fourth HP and will work on it as soon as I finish my one other detour - I'm currently reading Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese and I think it may be my number 1 of 2010. It is a must read for all of you - men and women. So if you need a detour I highly suggest this book.

Dad plans on doing a couple book reviews this weekend. His leg appears to be healing thank goodness.

Hope to read some reviews soon.

Big Week For Emma

This past week was a huge week for Emma. She had a big National Dance Competition near Chicago. Before we went though, she got braces. What a cute girl with her braces.

Chicago Trip

We had a great trip to Chicago. Lisa didn't come with us, she chose to go to Girl's Camp instead. Reports are that she had a great time. I don't think she could have had nearly as much fun as we had in Chicago. We arrived a day early (for the dance competition) so that we could spend a day downtown.

The Field Museum has the largest and most complete T-Rex skeleton ever found, so naturally that was Rob's vote. We went down and spent the whole afternoon in the Museum and only saw a protion of the exhibts. Our first order of business was to see everything haveing to do with the main attration- TRex Sue. Rob thought that was fantastic. Besides the skull (pictured below) he really liked the dino poop (pictured left). Needless to say, Cody liked the dino poop too.

After our time at the museum, we went and had dinner at the original American Girl. This is the biggest "store" I have ever seen. It is every doll lovers dream. I was thrilled, and Emma was giddy. The boys were not nearly as impressed as we were. As you can see (to the left) Rob felt the flower cut melon that came with is dinner was a little over the top. Emma thought everything was perfect.

Cody really liked the hotel pool and the trains. His votes were the most cost effective. The whole trip was great- expect that we missed our Lisa.

National Dance Competiton

This past week Emma competed in her final competition for the 2009-2010 dance competition season. She has been working on the two dances she is in since last August, and this time she

danced for all the marbles. It was a National Competition in St. Charles (just outside of Chicago) Ill.

Her production number, "Greatest Generation." Got third place in Jr. Production Numbers. It is a fantastic dance- and we naturally felt we got robbed with our third place finish.

The big news from the competition was her Small Group Petite Ballet, "Sunday Clothes." The top 5 in each category (Petite Sm Groups) re-compete for the top spot. Emma's group qualified to re-compete- which no one expected.

The group didn't place in the top three- but they were the only ballet to qualify (which is huge) and the only National League team to compete. The leagues are based on number of hours each group spends in technique classes. The other four numbers have 20 to 30 hours of technique class (without rehearsal of performance numbers) every week. Emma's group has 3 hours of technique class every week. That fact that our group was even picked to re-compete was a huge win.

Of course, when our kids found out they were re-competing they were over the moon. I have to say the two times they danced in St. Charles were the best two performances of "Sunday Clothes" I've seen. When they came off the stage without having placed in the top three there was a lot of disappointment and many tears. We explained the league thing and suddenly our kiddos realized that it was a really big deal that they got to re-compete at all.

They also still got a plaque saying that they were National "World Series" runner up. Naturally, we feel they got robbed again. The two dances that were really technically harder didn't get in the top three. Also, the two dances that didn't win were the most appropriate for the age group. The others were what we refer to as "booty shaker" dances. Yuck.

No matter what the judges say, Emma and her friends did an amazing job at the national competition and we are all very proud of the way these kiddos danced their hearts out. They made an excellent effort and they did have a great experience.

The pictures I have included here are competition pictures. Emma on her way to dance "Sunday Clothes" the first time is on the top of the blog. These other two are the group with their teacher and choreographer, Betsey, and Emma with Betsey. By the time we took the picture the tears had dried and the kiddos were pleased with their performance as well.

Dance Like No One Is Watching

Just a little reminder from Emma and me. We truly believe in dancing like no one is watching. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpB0yfdx4cw&feature=player_embedded

Potte (r) Break

I decided to take a Potte (r) break because the striped blue and pink toe socks on the cover of Emma's choice were calling to me. Last night, as I sent positive thoughts to all night uhaul drivers, I read - A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban.

I was hooked at the first chapter - it was like I had put my very eleven year old thoughts down.
You will all have to read the first chapter in Dillon, it was perfect, - but a hint --

I was supposed to play the piano.

The piano is a beautiful instrument.

Elegant.

Dignified.

And the rest of the short chapter is even better!!!

I really like this book - Zoe is great - so funny, hopeful, brave and loving of her a little bit crazy family - whose isn't. I also really like the structure of the book with the short to very short chapters - made it fun and easy to read. This is a beautifully written story that hit all the right chords!! I hope everyone can read it this summer.

Is anyone reading with me -- hopping for more summer reading list posts soon.

HP3

Hope I'm not infinging on Hewlett Packard with the HP stuff!!

The main thing I discovered in yet another good HP read is that I had read the third book and stopped in the middle of the 4th book when it really does get scary. I did like knowing more about Harry's family and the past - think that helped Harry (as it does us all) be more grounded and understand the present . It is also nice to see everyone grow and the intricate planning that goes into tying a series together so skillfully.

Thanks for the suggestion my bright little Molly -- I know you will enjoy reading this series someday.

Excited that the move plans are being executed. The next month will fly by and be a forever memory quicker than we can imagine. Very wonderful time yesterday visiting with Jenna and holding our precious Finely Jay. He is a beautiful strong boy with excellent parents. He makes the funniest little faces. Is there anything better than snuggling a baby!

HP2

Holden - Grandma just finished rereading Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets. It was a great story. It was fun to see the characters grow from book one. Thanks for the good suggesstion although it was a little scary.

My favorite line in the book is on page 255 - "When in doubt, go to the library." A good line to live by.

Off to the Prisoner of Azkaban -- my book mark for the first time is still on page 174 when I stopped because it was too scary -- after that it will all be new. Looking forward to seeing what happens next.

When you get to Dillon - Grandma will read you some of your stories! Can't wait to see you.