Thursday, May 27, 2010

Graduation 2010

We have lots & lots of friends & family graduating this year...
here are a few senior pictures:
Josh, Jade, Amanda, Cody...
Our weekend is full of Graduation Open Houses! 
Lots of hugs & happy tears as these kids turn into adults. 
Congratulations to the Class of 2010!! 

New addition to the kitchen!

When we first bought our house the developer offered us an appliance package.
Of course it was un-Godly overpriced, especially the fridge.
We elected to buy our own fridge. But when it was time to move into the new house, we didn't have the money for the fridge that matched the rest of the appliances.  Ugh.
So we shopped on Craigslist for a cheap, but suitable fridge.
And it worked... until Tuesday.
So... back to Craigslist we went.
Low & Behold! 
We found the fridge that matches the rest of our appliances that is only 4 months old at a HUGE DISCOUNT.
The man who sold it to us just bought it in January & now he's being relocated for his job.
Thank You God!! 
Isn't it pretty?  It goes perfectly.  And fits the budget. :)

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Happy Birthday to ME

Is this funny or what?!
Leave it to Dillon to give me this card for my birthday.  hahaaaa

SPHS Choir Year-End Show!!

Studio 54 was a HUGE success!! 
The theme this year was 'The Classics' so all of the songs were either Classic Broadway, Classic Rock or Classic Motown.  Therefore the kids dressed in 70's and 80's costumes. 
Madison & Dillon had ALOT of parts in the production... I didn't get all of them on video since I was helping with the production too, but here are a few fun pics & clips...
Look for Dillon in the back row in bright green & Madison on the right in a black t-shirt.




Bet you didn't know Madison could do Classic Broadway Annie!?!!  Turn up the volume b/c she does a GREAT job!! 



This will be one of the rare chances I get pictures of Dillon & Madison next to each other in a production, so I had to take advantage of it & try to get as many pics as I could!



The grand finale was a duet of Dillon & our good friend, Amanda, singing Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'".

Yes this does look like Dillon is a Ninja Turtle... but he's supposed to be one of the zombies from Thriller. 
A little Dillon humor, right.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Now presenting... "Firefighter COLE"

Jared graduated on Friday night from the Fire Academy!! 

The Processional was very traditional with the bagpipe & drum. 
Gave me the goosebumps listening to them!! 

Jared & Brittany... awwww....
Proud Dad & Mom! 
Jared gives Margaux a squeeze!
Jared had his own fan section at the ceremony! 


This is the Official Designation for Jared...  he is no longer called "Cadet Cole"
now he is "Firefighter Cole":

There were 34 Cadets in his Academy.
He was a member of the 40th graduating class of the Academy.
Chuy's hosted the after-graduation-party.  :)

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Here is Jared's fire gear... freshly home from school and ready to be used to fight a fire!!
Jared is taking his state exams today & tomorrow.
Wish him luck!
We went back to the Rattlesnake Inn this past Sunday.
We used to go on Tuesdays but we haven't been there for months!
I guess on Sundays it's 'truck night'.  Look at the parking lot full of trucks.
Madison found a new duet partner!  He's a friend of Jared's and I think we're now guilty of his newest addiction to singing karaoke.  He wanted to stay & sing all night. :)

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Night Burn Excercise at Jared's Academy

Last Wednesday the Fire Academy invited friends & family to come watch the cadets put out propane
fires which would take place at night. We packed up our lawn chairs & set out for a night of "burning stuff up". 
Below is the fire tower where Jared has practiced simulated rescues by running up & down the stairs with
'victims' of burning buildings. 
We've seen pictures of the cadets using ladder trucks & ropes with this building,
I must admit the 'tower' was much more intimidating in person!
Here we are waiting for the burning to begin! 
Here is Chelsie & Dillon in the back & Brittany, Madison & Scott in front.
 
We ended up waiting for over an hour for dusk.
We got a little bored. :)
Jared hung out with us for a while, but soon had to 'suit up' for the night.
See him in the background getting his gear on? (with the white shirt)
Below is a labratory table.  The propane tank next to it will blow fire. 
Because Austin has so many highly technical industries, the scenario of a lab table catching on fire is highly probable. This is a common occurance for the Austin Fire Department.
See how quickly the table is ON FIRE!! 
The pictures below show how the firemen approach the fire & extinguish it.
It's very scary because you can hear the roar of the propane fire! 

The video here shows Jared (controlling the nozzle) as he gets VERY close to the fire with his team of firemen. They extinguish the fire & close the propane valve to stop the fire. Yikes!!
STAY TUNED UNTIL 55sec. to see Jared come forward.


The grand- finale of the night was when the cadets extinguished a simulated propane tank that was on fire.
The roar of the fire was enough to scare me!
Watch the progression of pictures below to see how big the fire was!
Last week was called 'burn week' for the cadets where they put into action many of the skills they've learned in simulated environments.  It was a good week to finish with. 
All next week Jared will be taking his state exam with graduation on Friday night. 
We're very proud of Jared!!

Monday, May 3, 2010

motivation

I woke up very motivated today!
I think it must be because the sun is shining & the weatherman says it's going to be a beautiful week.
Scott is healing (slowly, but surely) and the end of the school-year is in sight. *sigh*
The weddings are steadily coming in & I'm ready to 'step-it-up-a-notch' to fill our schedule full.
Hope you are motivated today too! :)
Jared's hard work is going to pay off!
Jared has been applying for firefighter positions with several surrounding cities;
Round Rock, Georgetown, Temple & Harker Heights.
We're very proud of him!!  :)

Sunday, May 2, 2010

How much did this beautiful landscape cost?

Our driveway is almost too narrow for 2 vehicles... we were killing the grass by walking in the grass alongside the driveway.
So we decided to start a landscaping project!
We finally finished!  I think it turned out great! 
We can already see how much we WERE walking on the grass.
Now this project WAS NOT FREE.  As a matter of fact it cost more than dollars. 
It cost Scott the most.... He paid for the project with his health. 
Unbeknowst (is that really a word?) to Scott he had developed an umbilical HERNIA this week!
The doctor decided to perform surgery right away since an infection seemed to have set in too.
Scott didn't want me to take a bunch of pictures of his belly, so I was going to capture an image from the internet but those pictures were disgusting & didn't look anything like Scott's hernia.  Yuck.
Scott simply had a hard, sensitive spot behind his bellybutton & and the skin was hot.
(It was a little weird when he'd ask "Does my bellybutton feel hot to you?")
The above picture shows where the hernia was (see the red arrow?).
Scott did let me take one very close picture of his belly-button incision. 
He'll still be able to wear his bikini this summer. 
hahahahahhaaaaa
Anyways, he's recovering well & will probably be out-of-commission for a week.
Thanks for all the prayers & well-wishes!