Love, S

Grandpa, tell me 'bout the good ole days.
Sometimes it feels like
This world's gone crazy.
Grandpa, take me back to yesterday,
Where the line between right and wrong
Didn't seem so hazy.

Did lovers really fall in love to stay?
Stand beside each other come what may?
Was a promise really something people kept,
Not just something they would say?
Did families really bow their heads to pray?
Did daddies really never go away?
Whoa oh Grandpa,
Tell me 'bout the good ole days.


Grandpa, everything is changing fast.
We call it progress,
But I just don't know.
And Grandpa, let's wonder back into the past,
And paint me a picture of long, long ago.

Did lovers really fall in love to stay?
Stand beside each other come what may?
Was a promise really something people kept,
Not just something they would say (and then forget)?
Did families really bow their heads to pray?
Did daddies really never go away?
Whoa oh Grandpa,
Tell me 'bout the good ole days.

Whoa oh Grandpa,
Tell me 'bout the good ole days.

What a great man...when he wasn't cracking your knuckles or kickin' your pants.
We will miss you, Grandpa Sam. Your wonderful legacy will go on in the many many many golfers, Louis L'Amore fans, and Dr. Pepper addicts you have left behind....not to mention the 22 Sams and Reys that now carry your name.

Love, your Quince'

Happy Birthday Reese!

My Reese Olivia is 3 today...I can't believe it!

Happy Birthday, Little Princess!

Spider Rats

Imagine it is 3:30 in the morning. You lie asleep in bed exhausted after a weekend away from home, and a 17 hour drive from Lordsberg, New Mexico to your home in California. Your mom, sister and two nieces are so exhausted from the drive that they decide to stay the night with you, because it is just so late and they still have another two hours of driving to do. Suddenly, the bed creaks. You open your tired eyes to see your sister STANDING ON THE BED totally freaking out.

HolleeAnn: MEG! What are you doing? Get down, you're going to fall.

Meg: Aaaauggghhhh! Aaaaauugggh!

HolleeAnn: MEG! Look at me!

Meg: AUUUUGGHHHHhhhh!

HolleeAnn: MEGAN. GET DOWN... MEG! You're standing on the freaking bed. What's the matter with you?! Get down.

Meg: What WAS that?! It's over there...by the wall!

HolleeAnn: Meg there is nothing there. JUST LIE DOWN. You're going to break your neck.

Meg: (shudders) I feel like it's on me still....it just came right out of the wall.

HolleeAnn: Just get down before you fall. Do you even realize you are standing?

Meg: They're like Spider-Rats or something...it's over there. by the wall.

HolleeAnn: MEGAN YOU'RE SLEEPING! there is nothing there. I promise. GET DOWN. GO TO SLEEP.

Then I wake up...

Yep. I'm standing on my sisters bed. teetering over her head.
Where am I? How did I get here? Where are my children?...most importantly....where is that freaky rat thing with the spider legs that I dreamed was coming through the air vents?

Meg: ok THIS is what happens when you give me regular Dr. Pepper late at night. I just need some sleep.

Since I regularly share my sleepytime conversations with Aaron, I thought it was only fair that just this once, I would give a little insight to what it's like for him to share a bed with me. Apparently, I also recently yelled at him to "take the missile out of our refrigerator before leaving for work in the morning". You know, just like every wife does. Along with "bye honey, have a good day", "lock the door when you leave", and "don't forget it's trash day".

By the way, HolleeAnn, we really need to take some new pictures together. That one is like 2 and 1/2 years old...

Quote of the Day

Aaron's dad just sent me this quote in an email. I think this is so true and deserves a post...

"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he’s been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, most jobs are often more dull than otherwise. Life is like an old-time rail journey – delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful landscapes and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."

Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley

Lynn's Holiday Slaves...Oops, I Mean "Elves"

Anyone who has ever been to my parents house at Christmastime knows how much my mom loves Christmas decorations. Every year my mom reenacts that rowing scene from Ben Hur as she plays slave driver and coaxes her husband, children and grandchildren into pulling down all 35 boxes of holiday decor from the attic, garage, the "bear cave" under their bed, her closet, and various other nooks and crannies... where they have been sitting, and growing exponentially like an Amish Friendship Bread recipe for the past 11 months.

The finished result is a beautiful winter wonderland...that Christmas threw up on.

Mom, your holiday helpers are waiting anxiously,
Let's take a look at this year's holiday "suckers"....

Check it out by clicking the link below.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9624866126

Merry Christmas, Mom! I am fully prepared to hang all 23 stockings on the staircase (using the laser level as always), assemble and decorate all 7 Christmas trees, "plant" the 52 poinsettia stems in the yard, wash 6 bags of fresh cranberries and fill all 12 floating candle towers (and change the water in them every 5 days), remove all the books from the bookcases, box them and put up the holly garland and stained glass votive luminaries , go on a pointless search for the Victorian Paper Doll ornaments, get 40 paper cuts, 22 puncture wounds from broken ornament hooks, cling to a ladder for my life as I lift enormous fake presents up onto that ledge thing, wire 9 garlands together and wrap them up the staircase (yes I'll use a tape measure this time, so the bows are distributed evenly), and put up the zillion piece village above the TV. I will do all of this for you, Mom...because there is no place like your place to spend Christmas. All I ask for in return is a dirty old baby-poop green box with my name on it to be placed under the tree Christmas morning. Meg the Holiday Slave....I mean Elf is at your service!

Nice Try

Here are our best attempt at a family picture. I'm not really sure if it's going to get any better than these. Love the fact Reese has no shoes and a runny nose and that Quincy is eating an ornament hook and we had no idea at the time. The red eyes are also a nice touch. I'm sure you'll be seeing one of these on a Christmas card coming your way soon. I also think it's note worthy to say that I got these little dresses for FOUR dollars!

I also made an attempt to get a good shot of both girls. I am no photographer...this was the best I could do:

I'm guessing this is when she picked up that ornament.

Awwww......wait, is she kissing or biting?

I guess we have our answer.

This was the pic we bribed Reese to sit still for.
She just looks like she's up to no good with that angelic little grin doesn't she?

My Quincy Brooklyn is almost 1!

My Reese Olivia is almost 3!

Our happy (most of the time) family!

Are You Ready to ROCK?!

Jimmie and Kasey brought Rock band over on Saturday night. Before we put Reese to bed we promised her she could have one round of rockin' out.

Reese makes her worldwide debut on the Play Station drums

You got mud on ya' face... Ya' big disgrace....

What are we waiting for people? Let's Rock!

Jimmie shows Reese how it's done.

"Ok, Reese, you want to hold the guitar here...and here...and don't forget to wammy...and you can move your left hand up here when you get in a zone and you want to do some showboatin'....great. Now listen, when you're famous don't go gettin' a big head because that's what'll break up your band. You gotta remember your roots if you're gonna make it big."

All right guys, it's cool, I got it.

Awesome! ....now give us some angry-face...
You gotta fight...
For your right...



To Paaaaartaay!