Brooksby Family

Halloween!

2011-11-01T08:58:00.013-04:00

Happy Halloween!

We had a variation on our traditional Halloween dinner. We usually have a cheese pizza with the eyes, nose, and mouth out of pepperoni. But this year Lauren choose to have mummy hotdogs instead. We also had sweet potato fries (because they're orange), black jello jigglers, and orange Crush.

Of course we had to have the sugar cookies shaped like ghosts, bats, and pumpkins too!

We also had chocolate pretzels that looked like ghosts.

I know it doesn't look like Glen is watching "Ghostbusters",
but he is. It's a tradition and such a funny movie! You can just
see Jenny's head. She and Lauren pulled out the hide-a-bed.

Jenny and Lauren carving pumpkins. They were very creative. Lauren made hers look like a pineapple, and Jenny used the seeds from inside to make hers have teeth.

This is the one Michelle made.

Lauren's glowing in the dark outside!

We hope your Halloween was as fun as ours!

The Summer is Ended, The Harvest is Past

2011-10-08T10:25:00.001-04:00

Since the growing season is pretty much over here in New York the garden is looking pretty pathetic these days. Today I went out and pulled up our carrots. As I did a scripture came to mind. No, not Jeremiah 8:20, as I'm sure all the seminary students are thinking. It was actually the parable of the sower. It's pretty clear that even though all of these carrots came from seeds planted in the same soil, within 3 feet of each other, and received the same sun and water, their increase was a lot different.

Brett and Brighton Brooksby

2011-09-15T08:41:00.009-04:00

Friday, September 2, 2011
Portland Oregon LDS Temple

Brett and Brighton were sealed on an incredibly beautiful day. They were the only wedding in the afternoon, so we pretty much had the grounds of the temple to ourselves for pictures.

We got a picture of the siblings together minus Jared, who is on a mission for the LDS church and wasn't able to attend. We all missed him!

Friday, September 9, 2011

Brighton and Brett had an Open House in Glenville, NY with friends and family. Brighton's parents Brenda and Lorin were able to come from Scappoose, OR to be with us.

Erin and Lauren together at the NY Open House.

Justin, Erin, and Bennett were able to go to both the wedding in Portland and the open house in New York. It's wonderful to have them in Baltimore, just a six+ hour drive away!

Our family is growing by leaps and bounds. We're so happy to have Brighton in our family!

Guess Who is 15!

2011-07-23T15:56:00.006-04:00

Lauren had her birthday party early this year because her birthday in on a Sunday and the next day she leaves for EFY for a week. I can't believe that my "baby" is fifteen years old! Where has that time flown to?

Lauren wanted chocolate cake with chocolate frosting,
so that's what she got.

Look at all those cute kids. They came over and had a BBQ (hotdogs, chips, relish tray, soda) played outside, and then tried (unsuccessfully) to watch a movie.

They must have had a good time because days later I was finding Skittles behind things in the front room.

Brett's Engaged!

2011-07-08T20:16:00.002-04:00

Brett is engaged to Brighton Fielding from Scappoose, Oregon. They are getting married in the Portland Oregon temple on September 2, 2011. They'll have a reception that night in Oregon and an Open House here in New York on September 9th.

Albany New York Stake YW Camp 2011

2011-07-05T14:58:00.013-04:00

YW Camp was Monday, June 27-Friday, July 1, 2011. I went as a Second Year Level Leader and Lauren is a Third Year camper this year. It was the best week weather wise that I've ever had attending YW camp. The days were sunny (except Tuesday for a little bit), on the cool side, and the temperatures were great for sleeping. It was fantastic!

Here is the only shot of Lauren and I together, and I didn't even have it taken. I'm glad someone else thought of it.

The girls were able to go kayaking on Seneca Lake. The day the Second Year and Third Year Level girls went it was windy and choppy, but all made it back safely - even though a few capsized.

There was archery and trap shooting at camp this year. The girls really enjoyed it.

We went hiking up Buttermilk Falls in Ithaca, NY. It was beautiful. There were approximately 600 stairs in the first part of the hike. Fortunately it was cool, so we didn't get too hot.

After hiking at Buttermilk Falls we drove to Robert H. Treman State Park where the girls could go swimming. It was an amazing natural swimming hole with a deep end that had a diving board and roped off swimming areas.

Here's Lauren with Michele and Jenny.
Just look at those happy faces!

Lauren's Divine Nature Value Project

2011-06-26T15:12:00.006-04:00

Last year during the basketball tournament one of the young women twisted her ankle and they didn't have any ice in the freezer at the stake center so she had to go outside in the cold and put her foot in the ice. After that incident Lauren decided that she wanted to make "snuggle socks" to keep in the freezers of the various units in our stake.

She decided she could do this for her Divine Nature Value Project. So once she was done with school we got the socks, rice, and ribbon and she made 12 snuggle socks. One for each unit in the stake.

This is what they looked like before she put the unit's name on the sock.

And here they all are with their names on them ready to be delivered to the various units. She did a great job. And hopefully the next time someone is injured and needs an ice pack these will be ready and waiting in the freezers of the various church buildings in the stake.

Strawberry Jam!

2011-06-26T14:56:00.005-04:00

Last year I didn't make strawberry freezer jam because we still had a bunch in the freezer. And with fewer people living at home we just weren't going through it as fast as we used to. But we ran out of jam about a month before the strawberries were ready here. Lauren said that we could NEVER run out of strawberry jam again.

Making strawberry jam takes almost a whole day. We left at 8:15 am to go to the berry farm and pick our 12 quarts of strawberries. Yes, it was hot and muggy, and the berries were tiny. The farm worker said that they'd had a lot of people pick the day before and they'd gotten all the big berries, so that made it take a little longer than normal. That and the fact that we were down to just Lauren and I doing the picking. Then we had to go buy the sugar and pectin. Then it was home to cut up, mash, and make the strawberry jam. We made ten batches of jam. In the middle of making it Lauren had to leave to take a Regents exam so it took me a little longer to finish since I was working alone.

When Lauren got home from her exam around 2:30 pm she started helping again and we got done around 4:00 pm. On the counter you can see some of our 30+ jars of strawberry freezer jam. Justin happened to be here interviewing for a job, so we sent a couple jars back with him. One for them and one for Brett. It's truly a labor of love - of strawberry jam love, that is. Nothing tastes better!

It's Official!

2011-06-06T17:48:00.002-04:00

Jared is officially a missionary for
The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints!
He left today for Utah and
and enters the MTC on Wednesday.

The Last Hurrah!

2011-06-04T20:06:00.003-04:00

Today we went to Lake George to have one last day of fun
before Jared is a missionary. It was a beautiful day - the
temperature was in the mid 70s and it was nice and sunny!

We went mini golfing at the Pirate's Cove. It was fun. Glen had
the lowest score with 43. Lauren and I tied at 49, and Jared
got a whopping score of 59! Everyone got a hole-in-one but
Michelle. Glen even got two of them!

On the way home we stopped at the A&W to get root beer
floats. They were delicious. It really makes it feel like summer.

Tomorrow at 8:00 pm Jared will be set apart as a missionary
for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Then he
flies to Salt Lake City on Monday morning. He enters the MTC
on Wednesday, June 8th. We are all so excited for him!

The Boston Temple

2011-05-29T16:28:00.006-04:00

Yesterday we were able to go to the
Boston Temple with Jared and Lauren.
It was a wonderful experience, and yet another step
for Jared towards leaving on his mission.
At this point I think all that is left to do is pack
up his bedroom and pack his suitcases.
He leaves here on Monday, June 6th
and enters the MTC on Wednesday, June 8th.
Erin, Justin, and Bennett will be taking Jared
to the MTC which is fitting since
Erin and Justin took Brett to the MTC too!

Tomorrow Is The Big Day!

2011-05-26T21:45:00.004-04:00

Jared's openhouse is tomorrow.
I can't believe that he has so little time left at
home before he leaves for Hawaii for two years.
My how the time has flown!

Baby Nala

2011-05-14T18:37:00.003-04:00

Lauren got to bring baby Nala home for her Child Studies class.
She is an electronic baby that needs to be fed,
burped, have her diaper changed,
and be rocked.

Lauren had her from Thursday at 3:30 PM
until Friday morning at 9:00 AM
She ended up getting a 95/100 in
meeting Nala's needs. But after getting
up twice in the night to feed a crying baby,
Lauren is glad she doesn't have a real baby.
And so are we!

Spring!

2011-05-14T18:25:00.003-04:00

Spring has FINALLY sprung in Glenville, New York.

I thought I'd take a picture with the flowers up.
They are hard to see in this picture.
But easier to see in the picture below.

2011-05-14T18:15:00.006-04:00

Lauren had her flute recital on May 1st.
She played Sonata #1 by J.J. Quantz.
She played really well.
I think she was happy with her performance.

She also played the bass flute in the flute choir.
She said that it was hard to play because it took soooo much
breath to get the notes out, and she was playing a slow song.
Notice how big it is and how the mouthpiece curves around.

This is Lien, Lauren, and Lara, (the three Ls) playing their trio.
It was awesome!

Easter

2011-05-14T18:01:00.007-04:00

Easter was at the end of Spring break for Lauren.
We'd gone to Cape Cod from Wednesday until Friday.
Then Lauren went on a youth temple trip
to Palmyra all day Saturday.
And then it was Easter Sunday!
Wow did it seem to come quickly.

I thought I'd post a couple of pictures
of Lauren in her Easter dress.

We had a wonderful Easter together.
It was Lauren, Glen, Helen, and I.
Helen came to our ward and then over
to our house for Easter dinner.
We had ham, funeral potatoes, homemade rolls,
asparagus, and key lime pie.
It's funny to only have one child at
home for these kinds of holidays.
But we had a great time!

Spring Break

2011-04-23T19:13:00.024-04:00

This Spring Break we decided that we'd go to Cape Cod. And I have to say we picked the three best weather days of the whole week. We went Wednesday-Friday, April 20-22. We left Glenville at 9:30 AM - had a short detour to the Donut Dip in Springfield, Ma and arrived in Falmouth at about 2:00 PM. We stayed in Falmouth at the Inn On The Square. It was a beautiful old inn. We had to wait until 3:00 PM to check-in, so we ate our lunch on a little patio there and then went and walked around the town. It is a quaint little village with a village green and many cute shops on Main street. We went to the Visitor's Center and they suggested going to Spohr Gardens. They have thousands of daffodils throughout the garden that were blooming or just ready to bloom.

After the gardens we went to the Nobska lighthouse.

As you can see from the picture it was a foggy day. We got to see the lighthouse, and because it was foggy at the time the fog horn was going. How cliché! That night we went out to eat, and guess what we got? Sea food! Glen and I shared a lobster roll and shrimp and scallops. It was yummy. Lauren got cheese ravioli - she's not a sea food person. Then it was swimming in the hotel pool, and cable TV in the room.

Thursday we rode our bikes to the bus stop that took us to the ferry. The bus had a bike rack on the front for our bikes. We caught the 9:30 AM ferry to Martha's Vineyard. We were the last to load because they put our bikes on after all the other vehicles were loaded. It took about 45 minutes to get there. It was a beautiful day so we spent most of the time outside on the deck of the ferry.

I was amazed to watch them load semi-trucks, UPS trucks, and all kinds of vehicles onto the ferry. It took many more vehicles that I would ever have imagined. You can imagine our surprise when the first people we spotted as we came into the passenger area of the ferry were two Mormon missionaries. They serve on Martha's Vineyard. They said there is a branch with about 20 people there. It was fun to chat with them. They were from Mexico and Portugal.

The ferry docks in Vineyard Haven. From there we set out to bike the 2.5 miles to the East Chop lighthouse. From there we biked about 2 miles to Oak Bluffs. It is a beautiful old town with cool houses around a big green. In the town we went to a carousel called the Flying Horses. It is the oldest operating platform carousel in the United States.

We all went on it. It was the first time I've been on a carousel where you actually got to grab for the brass ring. Every time you went around there was a machine that dispensed a ring. There was only one brass ring - the person who got that got to ride again for free.

There was a dowel on the horses head where you could stack all the rings you got. Then when the ride stopped you threw all of your rings into the collection bin. It was amusing.

We then rode another 6+ miles to Edgartown. Along the way we stopped and went to the beach because it was really close to the road. Notice that we're all in long pants and jackets. While it was sunny it wasn't warm. When we got to Edgartown it was time for lunch and we found a cute little restaurant called Among the Flowers. Glen and I split a yellow tailed flounder sandwich. We also had the best clam chowder ever. Lauren still wouldn't have sea food, so she got a fantastic fruit crepé. How do I know it was fantastic - because both Glen and I had bites. After riding to the Edgartown lighthouse and around the town for awhile we caught the bus back to Vineyard Haven. It was so nice because by that time both Lauren and I were a little saddle sore. The bus had a bike rack on the front that you could put three bikes in. Fortunately there were only the three of us, so it worked beautifully.

Back in Vineyard Haven we decided to ride to the West Chop lighthouse. It was about another 4 mile ride, so we figure we probably rode at least 15 miles in all that day.

And then it was time to go back to Falmouth. It was a little colder on the way back, so we spent most of our time inside the ferry.

On Friday we drove up the cape to Provincetown. Along the way we stopped at the Cape Cod National Sea Shore Salt Pond Visitor's Center. We had a nice ride out to Coast Guard Beach. Then we continued up toward the outer cape. We went to Race Point Beach at the very tip of the cape. We could see the Race Point lighthouse from the beach. We spent a half-hour or more watching all the whales just off the shore. We had binoculars and a spotting scope so we could see them really well. It was awesome to see so many whales in one place.

The we continued into Proviencetown. This picture is of the Pilgrim Monument. In 1620, the Pilgrims spent five weeks exploring Cape Cod before they sailed to Plymouth, MA. It actually has gargoyle rain spouts on it. We thought that was kind of funny.

When we got there we were ready for lunch. When we were trying to find parking we saw a bunch of people lined up at the Red Shack getting food so we decided we'd go there. Glen and I got amazing lobster rolls, and once again Lauren didn't eat sea food. She had a huge chicken parm sandwich. We also had some fantastic onion rings. Yummy!

We walked out to the end of the pier. In the summer I'm sure it's filled with people selling things. But since it is still off-season, there weren't many little shops open yet. But in the town pretty much everything was open. After walking around town for a while we got ice cream at Lewis Brothers homemade ice cream. It was yummy! Then it was time to head home - a six+ hour car ride. But it was sooooo worth it!

We decided that we left plenty of things undone in Cape Cod so we'll just have to go back another time. Oh darn!

Jared Receives His Mission Call

2011-04-07T16:51:00.005-04:00

Michelle got a call from Jared about 2:00 pm EDT saying that his mission call had come in the mail. We decided that 6:00 pm EDT would be a good time for us to all "get together" so he could open his call. Glen picked up Helen after work and brought her to our house for dinner and so she could be there when he opened his call. Below is the only picture we took, so it is the one that gets posted.

Jared had a lot of friends from the dorm there when he opened his call along with good friends Scott Maughan and Rebecca Field. Jared's Aunt Tammy Jimenez and her kids Matt, Gabby, and Hannah were also there along with Jared's grandparents, John and Jean Worthen. We were glad that Jared had some family there with him, since none of his immediate family were there.

This is a picture of Jared calling Brett and Erin on a 3-way call so they could at least hear where he got called to. We were in NY on Skype with Jared.

And the exciting news is that Jared is going to the Honolulu, Hawaii mission, English speaking. He enters the Provo MTC on June 8th. We are all so excited for him! Congratulations Jared!

Science Research Program

2011-04-03T10:33:00.003-04:00

Lauren got accepted into the Science Research Program at her high school. She had to apply for the program by writing an essay saying why she wanted to be in the program and what her project might be. She also had to be interviewed by the head of the Science Research Program. She is one of 8 others in the Freshman class who got into the program. It is a three year program where they work with a mentor on a project that is related to science. She was very happy to have gotten in.

April Fool's Day Dinner

2011-04-03T10:12:00.008-04:00

For the last few years I've tried to make surprising April Fool's Day dinners. This year was no exception. Because it was April Fool's we started with "dessert" first.

This is our "ice cream with caramel sauce" which was really mashed potatoes with pork gravy.

Glen returned from England today and brought back a Ribena Blackcurrant drink, so we're each having a little of it. Lauren didn't like it - but it's Brett's favorite.

Our "donut" is meatloaf cut to look like a donut with "pink frosting" made of mashed potatoes colored pink.

It was crazy trying to get everything on the table when both Lauren and Glen were around. Usually I have everything ready and on the table when Glen gets home from work. But because he had been out of town I'd gone to pick him up. So I have to do things when I got back home.

We also had "chicken nuggets" that were pieces of zucchini coated in bread crumbs and fried. I put them in a cute nugget holder.

And for our main course we had "spaghetti with meatballs, sauce, and Parmesan cheese". The "spaghetti" was really vanilla ice cream piped onto a plate using a frosting bag and tip. The "meatball"s were made from chocolate cake that you crumbled and then added frosting that had been microwaved so it was runny. You mixed it all together and then rolled it into balls, that you then covered with chocolate. The "sauce" is strawberry jam. And the "Parmesan cheese" is really grated white chocolate.

It was all yummy and fun! Happy April Fool's Day!

Glen in England

2011-04-03T09:42:00.008-04:00

Glen went to England on business the end of March. He was there last year at the same time. But last year our son Brett was still there on his mission. Brett was very jealous that Glen was returning to the area that he loves, and wanted Glen to bring him home all kinds of British treats. Unfortunately Glen carried on his luggage and didn't have much spare room to bring much home. But he did bring home some candy bars and a drink that Brett really likes.

While he was there he was able to visit the Gadfield Elm Chapel (above) which is the oldest Mormon chapel in the world. It belonged to the United Brethren, the membership of which joined the Church en-masse. They then gave the chapel to the LDS church in 1840, which was before the first church building was built in the U.S.

Glen stayed in Cheltenham while he was there. Above is the Cheltenham College, which is a day and boarding school for youth 13-18 years old. He said it was really beautiful.

This is the Cheltenham LDS Chapel. It was open so Glen was able to go in and look around. He couldn't find anyone to really talk to - he decided they were all probably in a Stake Presidency meeting, or something like that.

On his way back to Birmingham Glen was able to stop at the Tewkesbury Abbey. He found it interesting because he had just finished reading a book about England in the 1300s, and there were people in the abbey who were buried in the 1300s.

Isn't the inside beautiful? Glen said they had a mirror on the floor in one part so that you could look down into it and see the ceiling reflected in the mirror without having to crane your neck to look up. He got there just as they were finishing a worship service. Had he arrived 10 minutes later it would have been locked up and he wouldn't have gotten to see it.

After visiting the Tewkesbury Abbey Glen had dinner at The Bell in Tewkesbury. He said it was a quaint little inn, and that they had wonderful food. Then he headed back to Birmingham where he was flying out of.

Lauren's Music In Our Schools Band Concert

2011-04-03T09:38:00.002-04:00

As second chair flute in the Symphonic Band Lauren had three flute solos in one of her band pieces. She played them really well. You can see her standing next to the first chair flute player who only played the piccolo in that particular song. Lauren is really loving playing the flute. On April 2nd she scored a 99/100 on her NYSSMA flute solo. She was thrilled!

Cupcake Competition

2011-04-03T09:32:00.004-04:00

On Saint Patrick's Day the Relief Society had a Visiting Teaching Conference. They picked the 17th of March because that is the day the Relief Society was organized. As part of our conference we had a cupcake competition. We were judged on taste and presentation. I made a Candied Hazelnut Cupcake with a Nutella ganache center and dark chocolate frosting. I thought they were yummy, but then I really like hazelnuts and Nutella. There were probably over 30 entries in the competition so it was fun to taste small bites of difference cupcakes and judge all of them for presentation.

Good night moon

2011-03-19T23:33:00.005-04:00

Tonight the moon is at perigee. The closest it will be to earth for the next 18 years - give or take. So I went out with the camera and telescope and took this picture. When it was close to the horizon it looked huge! Good night moon.

Goodbye Brittany!

2011-03-14T11:59:00.005-04:00

Since January 3rd we've had Brittany living with us. She was doing a Physical Therapy rotation at Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital near us and needed a place to live. Brittany is best friends with a girl whose boyfriend is from our neighborhood and when they heard that she is a member of the LDS church they put her in contact with us. We've had such a wonderful time having her here. She fit into our family and our schedule seamlessly. We feel like she's our adopted daughter. So we were all sad to see her leave here on the 12th of March when she finished her rotation. She's moving on to Lake Placid where she will train for 2-1/2 months and then she'll graduate as a Doctor of Physical Therapy.

While Brittany was here we all had an opportunity to go to the Boston temple together. It's one of the few pictures we have of her. I guess January and February aren't big picture taking months.

Goodbye Brittany, and good luck!

The Holidays

2011-01-23T16:04:00.035-05:00

For the first time in three years the family was all together again for Christmas. Everybody was able to come home this year. Jared arrived on the 18th. Erin, Justin & Bennett arrived on the 20th. And Brett actually arrived on the 21st, even though he was supposed to arrive on the 20th too.

We had so much fun being together and getting to know Bennett.
It took a little while for him to warm up to us,
but then he was great.
Erin and Justin were even able to go away for the night
to celebrate their anniversary and he was just fine.

Everyone, including my mother-in-law
Helen, came over for dinner on Christmas Eve.
As you can see by Bennett's face,
we had chocolate mousse for dessert.

After dinner we all got out our musical instruments and played Christmas carols. It was a blast. Many of us hadn't played in awhile, so it was an adventure. We had a great time. And this time Lauren could play any song in the book. Amazing what three years can do for your skill level.

Here's a four generation photo. Erin, Bennett, Helen, and Glen.

Here's a picture of Erin, Bennett and Justin with Helen.

And here's a picture of all of us together. Wow!

These are all pictures from Christmas morning.
Here's Michelle showing us her loot.

Here's Bennett playing with what he wished were his toy.
He LOVED Glen's air compressor.
He loved the dials and knobs and was really cute playing with it.
Never mind that if Glen had turned it on
he would have been afraid of it.

Erin with the things she got from our family here.
She, Justin and Bennett had had their own
Christmas at home before flying out here.

Justin with his stuff.

Glen with Bennett.
I think Glen's best present was getting to spend time with Bennett!

Our college Freshman with his stuff.
Notice that it's all mission related.
White shirt and tie, dark suit,
new dress socks and black dress shoes.
Hair clippers from Erin and Justin
so he can cut his own hair.
OK, not too much that's fun,
but all stuff that a missionary needs.

You'll have to look closely at the picture to see Lauren's Santa gift. She has been wanting to go to Utah for a long time. She has even been saving her money, but the price of plane tickets just kept going up. What she didn't know was that she was getting a plane ticket to Utah during Regents testing week. She's holding the glass Southwest airplane ornament and the note explaining all that that she found on the tree. But not before looking all around the living room and wondering if Santa had forgotten her. She later told me that she wondered if the fact that she hadn't really had a specific thing that she wanted from Santa meant that she'd gotten nothing. But once she realized that she was going to Utah,
I think she was the happiest of all.

Brett with his loot.
One of which was an electric blanket
that he was really excited to use up in
freezing Rexburg, ID where he's going to school.

Bennett's dressed in an outfit that he got from us. What a cutie!

Somehow a tradition has developed in our family. Each Christmas season we get a puzzle. I think it started one year when we went to a Christmas party where there was a White Elephant exchange and we got a Christmas puzzle. Anyway for the last seven or eight years (maybe more) we've worked on a puzzle. They're at least 500 pieces, and we prefer the ones that are 1,000 pieces. It sits on the kitchen table (I know, a little inconvenient) until we finish it. And here we are with it done. I'd just gotten home from the gym and there was a flurry of activity as all the last pieces were quickly being put in. And then, in a flash it was done.

I'd purchased poppers (the kind from England) for New Year's Eve,
but couldn't fine them. So on Sunday when everyone was
gathered around for dinner we popped them.
Then all had little trinkets in them along with
the "cute" tissue paper crowns we all had.
Confetti went everywhere and it was a little loud, but fun.
I think made Brett a little nostalgic for England.

Everyone at the dinner table.

Erin with Bennett.
We tried to get him to wear a crown too, but he wouldn't.

Lauren and Erin.

Glen and Michelle!

Jared!

Justin and Brett!

It was so fun to have everyone at home for Christmas.
And we know that it won't happen for at least another two years
because Jared will be on a mission (we hope)
for Christmas 2011 and 2012.
So look out Christmas 2013. Hopefully we'll do it all again!

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-26T12:25:00.004-05:00

Since our last posting was on Columbus Day, it's only fitting that this posting involve Columbus Circle. That would be where we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade this year.

For the first time in many years we went to the city for the parade this year. We were concerned that it might rain, but the weather held out for us. In fact, we didn't see any rain until we were walking from the train to our car for the ride home. ***Whew!***

We drove down on Wednesday, parking on 68th St. and enjoyed the day in the city. Half of the fun of going to NYC is driving in it, getting lost, getting cut off by other drivers and trying to figure out how to get where you're going as you drive in the madness.

We walked and we walked and we walked around the city. We had lunch in Central Park in Sheep Meadow. Then we walked to FAO Schwartz, then down 5th Avenue to the Empire State Building. There we went up to the observation level. It was fun, beautiful and cold. Seeing the city at night from that height was really fun, but did I mention it was windy and COLD?

Back at ground level we walked to Macy's, then Times Square for a Jamba Juice and dinner at the Roxy Deli. For anyone going to the Roxy, plan on huge portions. Next we took the subway back up to Central Park West and 81st St. where we waited in and enormous line with a huge crowd of people to see the balloons that would be used in the parade on Thursday. That part was ok, but to anyone else making the trip, I can't say it was worth the wait at the end of a very tiring day. Finally we walked - again - to our car and drove to our hotel in Secaucus, NJ.

On Thursday morning, we drove to the Secaucus Junction station and took a train into the city. I don't mind driving in NYC, but not on Thanksgiving day when all the roads are re-routed. We then took the subway to Columbus Circle where we watched the parade. It is very difficult to find a good place to see without arriving at 4AM. The spot from which we watched was actually across Broadway from Central Park West where the parade was marching. However, it was close enough to see and we had no one in front of us. It's possible we saw more from there than we would have up close with a dozen people in front of us.

Riding the subway on Thursday was an experience in an of itself. The trains were packed so full that there was nowhere to move. I mean nowhere. "Packed like sardines" only begins to describe it. What a riot!

After it was all done we took the subway, train and van home, stopping at the Ramapo rest stop for our sumptuous Thanksgiving feast of Quiznos and Dunkin Donuts. Now we're home and hope to rest our aching feet. It's the stuff that memories are made of.

It was fun but we missed having our other kids, and grandkid, with us. Of course our family is what we are most thankful for on Thanksgiving.

Columbus Day

2010-10-12T10:15:00.009-04:00

On Columbus Day Glen, Lauren and I went to Lake Placid. It was an absolutely beautiful day, we couldn't have asked for a nicer one. Our first stop was the "Cloudsplitter" gondola at Whiteface Mountain. It takes you to the top of Little Whiteface. The view from there was amazing. The pictures can't quite capture it like your eye can - but trust me, it was awesome. At the top there were picnic tables where we ate our picnic lunch. It was cold and windy at the top, so that's why we're in parkas. After that we went into Lake Placid to a bike trail that went down to the lake. It was a great ride, and not too long. Then we went and parked on Main Street and walked up and down, ducking into the cute little shops along the way. Glen especially liked the Adirondack Popcorn Factory stop we made for caramel corn. While we were looking out at Mirror Lake there was a man on what looked like a surf board standing up paddling with an kayak paddle. It was the funniest thing. It looked like he was walking on water. I have no idea how he kept his balance. It was funny to watch. On the way back to the Northway we saw where they do ski jumping and the bobsled runs, but they were already closed. It was the perfect day and the perfect way to spend it!

GE Global Research's 110th Anniversary Celebration

2010-09-27T15:31:00.014-04:00

Saturday there was a party at GE Global Research celebrating their 110th anniversary. Glen, Lauren and I went (since we're the only three still in NY). It was fun. When we got there they had a bunch of things to do. There were bouncy bounces, jumbo slides, bands, a rock wall, and a Velcro wall. There were cooking demos and all kinds of fair food - pizza, fried dough, popcorn, cotton candy, caramel and candy apples, and ethnic snacks.

There was also and big tents - one had their technology showcase and the other had a history showcase in it.

Lauren and I jumped on the Velcro wall. It isn't as easy as it sounds because the thing you jump on to get some altitude onto the wall is like a big air pillow. So where ever you step it sinks in and it is hard to get a good bounce. But we tried!

When we were done Lauren's hair had gotten stuck in the Velcro suit that she was wearing. She had to crawl off the thing and I had to gently try to pull her hair out of the Velcro. Poor kid!

Then we tried the rock wall.

Glen was the first to try -
he went on the medium difficulty part of the rock wall and got pretty far up it.

Lauren and I went up the easy side of the rock wall. She got up pretty far too.

Here's me at the top of the easy side of the rock wall ringing the bell. I think the guy working at the bottom of the rock wall was surprised that I made it to the top.

There were five different bands that played and then we had a BBQ dinner - hamburgers, hot dogs, and BBQ chicken with sides. It was yummy. They had apple crisp and vanilla ice cream for dessert.

After dinner we rode our bicycles around the grounds of the center. We went down by the river, and then to the Lodge. We rode up and down some really big hills. We were trying to work off a little bit of the food we'd eaten all afternoon. I'd say we probably worked off at least one slice of pizza. Ha ha!

The night ended with an awesome fireworks display choreographed to music. They were the best fireworks I've seen all summer. We had a great time!

How about THEM apples!

2010-09-06T21:25:00.007-04:00

No, this is not some optical distortion from the camera lens, these are actual apples we picked at an orchard near our home today. These are the apples you don't see in stores, but you will see in a pie in our home soon!

Today started with mowing the lawn, doing the dishes, cleaning the bathroom... You know, Labor Day stuff. Then we went to the ward picnic (thank you activities committee!) where we enjoyed good food with good friends. After that we went over to the pitch and putt, which is a local par 3 golf course. We won't mention scores, but we did have a good time. It was the first time in about 10 years that Michelle and I had golfed. The first time ever for Lauren. Here we are on the 5th green.

That's Michelle putting.
Shhhhh!!! Lauren's putting!
After golfing, we went apple picking where we got the aforementioned apples. We picked some Honeycrisp and Cortland apples. The big ones above were Cortlands. The Honeycrisps supposedly had some frost damage, but our mouths couldn't find it. To top off our day we had waffles for dinner.

All in all, a very fun Labor Day!

The Rockets' Red Glare, The Bombs Bursting in Air...

2010-07-04T09:43:00.013-04:00

So let’s say you're thinking of doing something patriotic for the 4th of July weekend. You want to feel patriotic and hear patriotic music. And you want good fireworks, so you want to go somewhere where people are trained to blow things up. West Point Military Academy rolls all of this into one, so that’s where we went on July 3rd. They held their Indepedence Day Celebration at Trophy Point yesterday and as usual it was very enjoyable. They started with their jazz band, the Jazz Knights, then marched in hundreds of new cadets. Then their concert band played a long list of John Williams pieces. It ended with Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture which of course was accompanied by cannon fire, and firework salutes. Lauren and Jared each brought a friend along to share the fun. It was very hot to begin with (a lady next to us was carried off with heat stroke), but once the sun went down it was very pleasant.

Marie, Katie, Jared, Michelle and Lauren
(The shade has almost reached us!)

The new cadets filing in. Lots of new cadets.

The West Point Concert Band.

A word to the wise: If you’re planning on doing this someday with your family I advise you get there very early. For a good spot of grass you’ll probably need to be there by 4:00PM or earlier. We arrived around 5:45 PM and got a patch of rather steeply pitched grass. Too steep for our lawn chairs.

The Wilsons Come to Visit

2010-07-02T13:59:00.007-04:00

Erin, Justin and Bennett came out to visit a few days after Brett got home from his mission. None of the kids (including Brett) knew (for sure) that they were coming. Glen went to the airport to pick them up. Meanwhile Brett, Jared, Lauren, and I all went to an open house for a family friend who was leaving on his mission. Glen brought the Wilsons there - that way the kids would be surprised. And boy, were they ever!

While they were here we took some family photos. We didn't do a very good job or arranging us, but here's the best of what we took.

Justin and Erin holding Bennett.

The cutest baby boy ever!

And all of us together. (In real life Lauren is not as tall as Justin. Darn the slope of the lawn. We didn't notice they were all like this until it was too late.)

It was wonderful to have them visit and to be all together again after such a long time. We can't wait until Christmas when they come again.

Brett's Home

2010-05-06T16:40:00.001-04:00

It's so wonderful to see him. He has an accent that is undefinable. Not English, not Irish, and definately not a New Yorker either. He arrived about an hour later than expected which left us anxiously waiting and watching at Terminal 1 in JFK. One of Brett's good friends who attends college about 20 minutes away from JFK was also able to come to the airport, which was a great surprise for Brett. We hit traffic leaving NYC and ended up getting home just after 7:00 p.m. (just when his flight would have taken off from JFK for ALB). Family and friends were waiting to greet him and hear all about his experiences.

We're so happy to have him home!!!!

THIS WEDNESDAY!!!!!

2010-05-02T09:49:00.001-04:00

We are driving to JFK to pick-up Brett. He was going to fly into Albany, but they changed his itinerary and he ended up having a six-hour layover in JFK and we knew that we could be down there and back in six hours. We asked Brett what he'd rather do and he said: "Yes, please relieve me from a 6 hour lay over in JFK. I would love that! It would just give me an opportunity to see good ole home again, and 6 hours to talk! That is my final answer!"

So we're leaving at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. Lauren and Jared are coming too. We are all so excited to see him and have him home.

Three more sleeps!!!

Happy Birthday Brett!

2010-03-22T15:46:00.003-04:00

Today is Brett's 21st birthday.
It's our second year celebrating his birthday without him.

Here are pictures from a year ago. My how time flies!

We love you and can't wait to see you on May 5th!!!!

Happy 18th Birthday Jared!

2010-03-11T14:56:00.011-05:00

On Friday, March 5th
Jared had his 18th birthday party.
He had a bunch of friends over.
Unfortunately we didn't get any
really clear pictures of the kids at the party.

Sunday, March 7th was Jared's actual birthday.
Normally we would have given him breakfast in bed,
but it was Fast Sunday.

At least he got to open most of his presents.
Glen wasn't there, so Jared got his from Glen later.
The things you see in the picture are all on top
of the luggage that he got for his birthday.
What would an 18th birthday at
the Brooksby house be if you didn't get luggage?

We had Evan, Suzanne and their family over
along with Grandma Brooksby.

Jared wanted a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting,
and Cookie Dough ice cream. So that's what he got.

The cake says it all!

Amazing Throw

2010-02-26T22:34:00.002-05:00

Ok, you've read Michelle's post about our bowling outing. I will now treat you to a video Lauren shot of Jared making an amazing shot. Jared had decided he would just have fun during this game. He was doing what the gentleman in the next lane called "Freestyle bowling". He had a few different throws, but this was by far the most amazing.

Yes, it was a strike.

Bowling!

2010-02-23T16:38:00.009-05:00

During Winter Recess we told both Jared and Lauren to pick something that we'd do as a family. Lauren choose to go play racquetball at the Schenectady "Y", which we did on Friday. Jared choose to go bowling. So Saturday night we went to Burnt Hills bowling alley.

Jared was a very creative bowler.

Bowling twice in a couple of months is amazing for us.
We usually bowl once a year on New Year's Day and that's it.

On her second game Lauren did really well.

Glen beat all of us on his first game (just like he usually does).

But check out the scores on the last game we bowled.

That's right EVERYONE beat Glen.
He probably had the worst game of all time - for him at least.

Snow Finally!

2010-02-23T16:26:00.009-05:00

Tuesday of Winter Recess it snowed so Jared went outside and made a snow pyramid. He used a large round bucket to make the "bricks". He said that each one probably weighed around 50 pounds, and that getting the last one on top was hard.
Lauren went x-country skiing around the yard until she and Jared got into a snowball fight.

A week later it's snowing again and this
is what the snow pyramid looks like now.

And Lauren once again decided to do some x-country skiing!

BYU-Provo, here I come!

2010-02-16T17:56:00.006-05:00

This is one happy boy! Jared just found out on-line that he's
been accepted to BYU-Provo for Fall 2010.
He's calling Erin to let her know.

I'd checked earlier today, but when I went on-line again,
there is was,"Accepted Fall 2010"
It feels like we've been waiting forever to find out.

Way to go Jared!!!!

2010 BHBL Follies

2010-02-14T10:01:00.003-05:00

This year Jared and Lauren once again participated in the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Follies. It's the annual school talent show. They both did great. Considering that he was battling a nasty cold, Jared did fantastic. It was fun to watch them perform. Now you get to watch them too!

Plotter Kill Hike

2010-02-13T16:25:00.010-05:00

Today we decided to enjoy the outdoors. It was only in the 20's today, but around here in February that's as warm as it gets. We decided to take a short hike in the Plotter Kill nature preserve. It was a cold hike but we got to see some people climbing the ice on the waterfall. We also got to hike up the frozen river a little bit. It was interesting to hear the ice creak under foot and hear the water running under the ice where we were walking. After we left we stopped by Jumpin' Jacks to look at the ice that was stacked up on the Mohawk River there. It was pretty impressive and fun to climb around on. Here are some pictures.

And here's a map of the ground we covered.
It looks green and lush in this image, but trust me, it was all white today.

View Plotter Kill in a larger map

HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY GLEN!

2010-02-02T13:51:00.013-05:00

I can't believe that it's Glen's 50th birthday!
Where have the years flown?

I didn't want to go with an "Over the Hill" theme.
I'm hoping that is still far in the future!
So I went with something "cheery" instead.

Jared gave Glen some new white shirts and a new tie.

Lauren doing "Heavy, heavy hangover". Does anyone else do this? While holding the present you are giving over the person's head you say: "Heavy, heavy hangover thy poor head. What do you wish with a bump on the head!" Then you proceed to bump them on the head with the present you are giving them. They don't get the present until they have wished you some fantastic (usually impossible to fufil) wish.

Lauren gave Glen a new pair on pants and some shirts.

Glen also got an I-Pod Touch. Lauren had gotten one earlier,
and Glen was always teasing her about taking it for himself.
So we thought we'd get him one of his own.

Erin gave him a bunch of pictures and videos to put on his
I-Pod Touch along with an I-Tunes card.

This year Glen deviated from the traditional cheesecake that he's had each year since we've been married and asked instead for chocolate mousse for his birthday
(A great choice, if I do say so). Notice the "50" done in chocolate!
And one candle for each decade.

That's the look of a happy man! Happy 50th birthday Glen!

May 5th!!!!

2010-01-20T18:42:00.002-05:00

We just got word from the Birmingham England mission office that Brett will be returning home on Wednesday, May 5th. That's so exciting! Less than four months to go.

Ironically, Glen just joined a project at GE and is headed to - guess where? Gloucester, England this coming Monday. Gloucester is in Brett's mission - a little over an hour away from his mission home in one direction, and about an hour and a half away from Brett who is in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. It's also about two hours from the town of Brooksby, where the Brooksbys are originally from.

Who knows what Glen will have time to see, but he is going to take over a package for Brett for his 21st birthday on March 22nd.

I can hardly wait to see the pictures!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T11:07:00.006-05:00

We had Evan & Suzanne and their kids, and Helen over to celebrate New Year's Eve.

Don't you wish you had a party hat as awesome as Helen's?

Stacy, Robb, Suzanne, Bradley, Evan and Emma getting ready to head home after a night of fun, food, and games.

Happy 2010 from Jared, Michelle, Lauren, and Glen. We hope your new year's a wonderful one!

Look at that smile!

2009-12-23T15:32:00.002-05:00

After nearly two years Lauren got her braces off today. She was so excited to be able to bite into an apple, eat Rollos, and Milk Duds. The orthodontist office gave her a bag with goodies in it - popcorn, Starbursts, Skittles, and Rollos. All the forbidden things you're not supposed to eat while you have braces on.

She looks fantastic!

25th Anniversary: Continued

2009-12-21T17:21:00.008-05:00

With an anniversary just 5 days before Christmas our anniversary celebrations have usually amounted to going to a matinée movie, and "dinner" is the early-bird special somewhere. Since this was our 25th, we decided we'd do something a bit more special. Rewinding 25 years, when we were first engaged we came to New York in August of 1984. On a driving tour of Vermont, we stopped at The Four Chimneys for dinner. It was really nice and we've always talked about going back, so that's what we decided to do.

Once in Bennington we had planned to go to a particular restaurant that ended up being closed for the evening. Instead, we got a recommendation for Allegro Ristorante, which turned out to be fantastic. The food was great, but I have to say, they really need to ratchet up the thermostat in that place. Brrrrrr!

The Four Chimneys is a wonderful place to stay and we highly recommend it. Our room had a wood burning fireplace that had a fire already set to light. However, it still took some good old-fashioned Scouting skills to get the fire going. Once we did, it was perfect for the cold winter evening. It was remarkable how not one bit of smoke ever came in our room. I guess in the early 1900's it was important to know how to make good fireplaces and this was one of them. In the morning we had breakfast, which was delicious, at the inn sitting by a sunny bay window.

When we left we drove to Manchester along historic Rt. 7A, then back to Bennington. On our way home we stopped and took pictures of some beautiful churches and drove across a couple of covered bridges.

All in all, it set a new standard for how to celebrate anniversaries.

Thanks, Michelle, for 25 great years!

25th Anniversary

2009-12-20T14:40:00.002-05:00

Today is our 25th wedding anniversary. What a wonderful 25 years it's been. I hope the next 25 are just as good!

The Puzzle

2009-12-19T08:56:00.002-05:00

Every Christmas season we get a Christmas puzzle to work on. This year's was the hardest, by far. We finished at 10:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 17th after getting home from a concert at the High School for Lauren and Jared. With about 10 puzzle pieces left we were convinced that some were missing because things just weren't going together right. We looked under the table to make sure none had fallen, and asked the kids if they'd taken pieces. They hadn't. It turns out that the bottom border of the puzzle was put together incorrectly. That's what made this puzzle so hard - there were several places where pieces could fit, but not be right. Now with 6 days until Christmas Lauren wants us to do another puzzle. Perhaps an easier one!

Wicked

2009-12-17T16:28:00.006-05:00

Glen, Lauren, Helen and I all went to Wicked last night at Proctor's Theater.

It was so fun. None of us had seen it before. The singing was amazing and the costumes were fabulous. I'm so glad we went. We'd had the tickets since May - so it felt like a long time coming. But it was worth it!

Eighteen Months!

2009-11-14T16:27:00.000-05:00

As of today Brett has been gone for 18 months! I can't believe how fast the time seems to be going.

Crash!!!!

2009-10-28T20:45:00.004-04:00

Jared asked a friend for a ride home after select choir last Wednesday and they got rear-ended turning onto our street. They're both OK, as are the other three BH-BL kids that were in the other car, but both cars are totaled.

Welcome to the World baby Bennett

2009-09-29T18:25:00.006-04:00

Justin Bennett Wilson

Monday, September 28, 2009

8:39 p.m. MDT - 8 pounds - 20" long

The happy family!

Back to School!

2009-09-11T16:38:00.005-04:00

Wednesday, September 9th was the first day of school. The kids begged me not to take pictures as the bus came. Not that I have for the past few years anyway.

Here's Jared. This year he's a Senior in high school. I can't believe it.

Here's Lauren. She's in 8th grade this year.

My kids are growing up. Where does the time go?

Oh, What Do You Do in the Summertime...

2009-09-05T22:23:00.007-04:00

...When all the world is green? Naturally you would want to install your TV antenna in your attic and mow your lawn. But what then? Well since it was a warm Summer day, Lauren and Glen went kayaking at Collins Park . It's close, it's calm and it was fun. Then, of course, since it's the last weekend that Jumpin' Jack's is open, the trip just has to end with ice cream. And what the heck, throw in some onion rings too! Special thanks to the Maughan family for loaning us the second kayak.

SPAC

2009-08-19T09:06:00.004-04:00

We went to Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) last Friday (August 14th). It was the Philadelphia Orchestra's "Family Night". The program that night was Broadway Rocks!

They did selections from West Side Story, Ain't Misbehavin', Grease, High School Musical 1 and 2, Movin' Out, Dirty Dancing, Footloose, The Wiz, Wicked, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Fame, Jersey Boys, and Hairspray. They also had four fantastic vocalists (two men and two women) who sang a lot of the songs.

They also had free Stewarts ice cream, and a fantastic balloon artist. We'd been there the Friday before and Lauren had seen him make a motorcycle for another kid, so that is what she decided she wanted. While you waited in line they passed down a card with the different types of balloon sculptures you could ask for - and the motorcycle wasn't on there. But when Lauren got to the front of the line she decided she was going to ask for it anyway. The man looked at the line and then said that he would do one. He also said that he only does one motorcycle each night. Lauren was sooooo thrilled that she was the one that got it. We ended up taking it to the car during intermission because we knew we wouldn't be able to carry all of the other stuff we had there as well as the motorcycle.

It was a beautiful night to sit out under the stars, eat dinner, and enjoy some fantastic music!

Happy 13th Birthday Lauren!!!!!

2009-07-24T21:29:00.018-04:00

I can not believe that my "baby" is 13.

Here's a picture of Lauren as a newborn.

This is a picture of Lauren with her friend Craig.

Easter 2000

Blowing out her birthday candles.

Lauren with her 1st grade teacher.

2003 - Hawaii

2004 school picture

2005 school picture

2006 school picture

2007 - 11th birthday

First day of school 2008.

Donating her hair to locks of love in April 2009.

Happy birthday Lauren! We love you!

Personal Best

2009-05-30T14:12:00.006-04:00

Today, Michelle recorded her personal best in the Freihofer's 5K Run for Women. Ok, it was her first 5K, so by definition it was her personal best. But before you laugh, think to yourself, when was the last time YOU ran a 5K? We're very proud of her. But we're not going to bronze her shoes just yet. She may need them again next year! Below you can watch a video of her at the start and finish. Michelle finished in about 43 minutes. The video is only 5. As you will see, there was an enormous field this year.

Jared's Prom

2009-05-18T16:02:00.011-04:00

Last Friday Jared took Carolyn to the Prom. She is a senior and will be graduating soon. They are good friends that have been in plays and musical groups together. Before they left for Saratoga we went over to her house to take pictures. It was a beautiful day. Warm and sunny. They are so lucky.

Here's the group Jared went with. They all came to Carolyn's house to take pictures before going to the Hall of Springs where the dinner and dance were held. The girls dresses were lovely and the boys all looked handsome.

The Hall of Springs is nestled in along the Avenue of the Pines in Saratoga Spa State Park. This historic facility reflects an era of grand style. Tremendous marble columns, Belgian crystal chandeliers and vaulted ceilings lend a passage back to its creation in the early 1930s.

Before the kids line up for the promenade they mill around talking to each other. It's a great time to take even more pictures. This is a picture of Scott, Marie, and Jared. All friends from church. Don't they all look great!

All of the couples line up and promenade down the hallway you can see under the arches. It is so fun to see all the girl's dresses, and see how well the girls coordinate with their dates.

Here are Jared and Carolyn at the walk-in. You only have seconds to snap a picture before they're past and headed into the banquet hall.

After the Prom walk-in Lauren and I always go into Saratoga Springs and go to Ben & Jerry's for ice cream. If we get there in time we ride the carousel in Congress Park. Unfortunately we got there just as they were closing this time, so we didn't get to go on it. After our ice cream we went and walked around Saratoga Spring's main street. It's always fun! This is our fifth time doing it. Twice for Erin, twice, for Brett, and now this once for Jared. Lauren will be a pro by the time it's her turn to go to Prom.

Mother's Day

2009-05-13T11:49:00.008-04:00

Mother's Day 2009 was wonderful. It started with breakfast in bed followed by presents. Below are some flowers that Michelle received from Erin and Justin for Mother's Day.

Michelle also got some flowers from Lauren and a flat of impatiens to plant outside. So our house is smelling good!

Jared gave Michelle a Kohl's gift card, and Glen gave her some running gear. (Michelle's signed up to run the Freihofer's 5K race on May 30th).

One of the most anticipated things that happened on Mother's Day was receiving our phone call from Brett. He called home at 1:00 p.m. We had Erin and Justin on Skype and the rest of us were on a cool speaker phone that Glen had brought home. It worked great. We were all able to hear him and ask questions. It is amazing how fast time goes when we are talking to him. In our conversation he mentioned that he will probably be home for next Mother's Day. He said his mission typically releases missionaries two weeks before their entrance date - and that would put him home around the first part of May. That means we'll only talk to him once more before he's home - at Christmas time. Wow, time is flying by! Brett said that he's eaten tons of ethnic food. He usually has African, Jamaican, or Indian food, with some good old English food thrown in now and then. He said that one of his favorite dishes is a vin daloo from India. He said it has curry in it and is extremely hot (spicy). Brett also said that one of the things he thinks he'll be blown away by when he comes home is how big everything is. Cars, houses, yards, streets - they're all small in England. He said that a Ford Focus would be a "family car" in England. We thought that was funny! Michelle thanked Brett for her Mother's Day present. Glen had Brett record 116 words that the GPS uses. Then he put it into the GPS unit. On Saturday night Glen and Michelle were driving to U. Albany for a concert and the GPS was giving directions. The first was turn left and Michelle asked whose voice it was because it was a male voice when before it had always been female. Then the GPS said something else and she asked Glen what was going on - Glen asked Michelle whose voice she thought it sounded like. She said she thought it sounded like Brett. And Glen told her that it was. Once the GPS said more than just a few words it was easy to hear that it was Brett. So now every time we use the GPS it will be Brett's voice giving us directions. If we put it in the back seat we might even think that he was in the car. It was so fun to hear his voice after not talking to him since Christmas. And then to get to talk to him the next day was amazing. He'd love to get letters from anyone who wanted to write. Hint, hint! Brett expressed that he is learning the value of work, and that it's taken on a whole new meaning since being in the mission field. It's fun to hear how he's maturing and learning lessons that will benefit him for the rest of his life. Erin and Justin were able to tell Brett that they're having a baby boy. We also told him that Suzanne and Evan are having a baby boy as well. It was great to talk to him. It made us realize just how much we miss his sense of humor. He said some pretty funny things and made us all laugh.

We also went over to Evan and Suzanne's house for dinner with Helen. The missionaries serving in Evan and Suzanne's ward were also over for dinner and it was fun to talk to them since they'd both preciously served in our ward. It was a wonderful evening (except when Emma fell and her top teeth went through her bottom lip) and we were glad to be able to celebrate it with Helen and everyone else.

Spring Break 2009

2009-04-23T12:01:00.016-04:00

For Spring break we decided to go to Niagara Falls. I know, you'd think we would of headed South rather than North in April - but you know the crazy Brooksbys do the unexpected.

When we first arrived in Niagara Falls we headed down to the falls themselves. Along the way the kids wanted to look in gift shops (don't they always?) and we got this sweet picture!

The weather was sunny and bright, but freezing. Glen and I wore our parkas the whole time (we're not as "cool" as the kids who wouldn't be caught dead in a parka). This picture is taken from a walkway above the falls.

We took the Journey Behind the Falls tour and before we entered the tunnel they snapped a picture of our family and superimposed it on a falls background. We didn't really want to pay $15 for a picture and as it turns out this one below looks almost exactly like the one they wanted to sell us.

On Easter Sunday we left Niagara Falls and headed to Kirtland, OH. We went to visit the LDS Church historical sites there. In the picture below Glen and Lauren are in the ashery. Lauren is holding a very heavy metal spoon that they used to stir the potash.

Unfortunately we weren't able to go inside the Kirtland temple. It wasn't open that day, but we took pictures.

After seeing the sites in Kirtland we went on to Dayton, OH. Home of the United States Air Force Museum. Glen has been wanting to go here for a long time. There are three big hangers full of every kind of airplane you can imagine. The Wright brothers are from Dayton. We toured the museum on Monday, but weren't able to go onto the base to see the Presidential planes and experimental planes until Tuesday. The picture below is in the hanger with the different presidential planes. They had Eisenhower's, Roosevelt's, Kennedy's and Truman's presidential planes there. We got to go inside four of them.

After going on the Wright-Patterson Air Base we headed back towards home. On the way we passed the Columbus Temple. Unfortunately it wasn't open until later that evening, so we had to be content with pictures.

As we were driving through PA we got off the interstate so Jared could buy some fireworks. When we were turning back onto the freeway we saw all of these Amish buggies stopped. It was raining, but I'm not sure why they were all congregated there and what they were waiting for.

On our way back to NY we went to the John Johnson Farm - also an LDS historical church site. That's where we are in the picture below.

We spent our last night in Corning, NY. We went to the Corning Glass Museum. It was fascinating! (Good thing, since I think Jared was just about done with museums - but even he thought the glass museum was good.) The picture below is of one of the favorite things they had there. You could watch someone actually working with the glass. The demo was so interesting that we watched it twice. Each time someone different made something different.

There were also exhibits of other's glass works. Jared and Lauren had a fun time looking at all of the different glass sculptures.

It was a fun Spring break. I'm glad we went!

2009-04-06T12:04:00.004-04:00

Yesterday morning before conference Glen and I went to the Albany Rural Cemetery to look for headstones of some Brooksbys that we'd heard were there. This is a picture of Glen (whose middle name is William) standing by the headstone of William Brooksby. There were four different sections that had Brooksbys in them. We took pictures and got information for family history. We're not exactly sure how the Brooksbys we found are related, but they must be somehow.

I took a picture of this headstone because I though it was so beautiful. There were three together that all looked the same.

I took this picture because the headstone was so unusual. This is the headstone of a 22 year-old young man who died in battle at Gettysburg. It is a tree trunk with a sword and shield resting against it. Around the bottom are carved stones with different places engraved into them. Some of the places I recognized as places that battles had been fought.

We got home just in time to make it for the first session of conference.

April Fools' Day

2009-04-02T21:17:00.014-04:00

The morning started off with the kids waking up to this sign on their bedroom doors.

Glen went in and told Lauren that we had a two hour delay for school. She was a little sad when she realized that it wasn't true. When they came downstairs I gave Glen, Jared, and Lauren a bag of these:

I also gave each of them a card that was impossible to open, no matter which side you tried to open it from.

Before I left to go to the gym I put this parking citation on Glen's car in the garage. He got a kick out of it, but didn't for a minute think it was real. Jared, on the other hand was another matter. Jared was working at the library and so Glen and I both drove over there in two cars so we could leave Jared the Focus to go to Jazz Band and then come home. When he got in the car he started to freak out thinking that somehow he'd really gotten a ticket. It wasn't until he got out and read the ticket that he got the joke.

Here's Lauren eating out yummy dinner.

We had apple juice (lemon jello with a drop of red food coloring in it).

We had grilled cheese sandwiches (pound cake with american cheese colored yellow frosting).

And a berry pie (shepherd's pie with red potatoes).

It was a fun filled day full of jokes of all kinds!

2009-03-31T10:16:00.004-04:00

While Erin was here visiting we took Lauren to Fantastic Sams to get her hair cut. This is the second time she's donated her hair to Locks of Love. I was glad that Erin was there encouraging her because when they showed Lauren how short her hair would be after cutting off the requisite 10" I wasn't sure Lauren would go through with it. But Erin assured her her hair would look cute shorter. Here's the before picture.
And below is the after picture. I think her haircut makes Lauren look older. It also made her hair look darker because the sunbleached part had gotten cut off.

Here's a picture of all of us together. It was so fun to have Erin come and visit. She was here March 9-16. We did all kinds of fun things. It was a busy, but fun time. We hated to see her go.

2009-02-04T10:09:00.002-05:00

On Monday, February 2nd (Groundhog Day) Glen celebrated his 49th birthday. The morning started with breakfast in bed - bacon, 2 egg veggie omlet, toast with jam, and milk. Then he was off to work. When he arrived home we had his birthday dinner - T-bone steaks, scallops wrapped in bacon, baked potatoes, and broccoli. And his birthday wouldn't be complete if he didn't have cheesecake with strawberry topping. Happy Birthday Glen!

2009 BH-BL Follies

2009-02-01T14:14:00.004-05:00

The 2009 Burnt Hills - Ballston Lake School Distric Follies were held on January 30-31. Lauren and Jared both participated. Lauren performed "Hungarian Dance #4 in G minor" on the flute. Jared sang "Sway" by Michael Buble. Jared's partner for the dance interlude was Marie Andrew. Watch the video and enjoy!

Can it really be two years since Erin & Justin got married?

2009-01-25T16:18:00.005-05:00

I remember getting a phone call in September of 2006 at Lauren's 5th grade Back to School night. Erin was calling to say that Justin had proposed. We'd met him when he'd come out to visit during that summer and both Glen and I were pretty sure that was where it was headed. We couldn't have been happier!

January 25, 2007 turned out to be a beautiful, mild day for January in Utah.

Happy Second Anniversary Erin and Justin. We love you both!

Congratulations Jared!

2008-12-27T17:01:00.004-05:00

Today was Jared's Eagle Court of Honor. He held it jointly with Spencer Jensen and Zach Yoshikawa. Here are some pictures we took. Congratulations Jared!

(Note how much shorter Jared is than Clyde Maughan.)

Make Hay While The Sun Shines...

2008-12-19T22:35:00.005-05:00

You've heard the phrase, "Make hay while the sun shines." Well, what do you do when the sun doesn't shine? Today we're having a small blizzard and so Lauren decided it was time to go cross-country skiing! You can see from the pictures how hard it was snowing. Looks like we'll have about 7" by the time it's over. With more coming on Sunday it's safe to say we'll be having a White Christmas!

Yes, That blur is Lauren...

I should also say that after more than an hour of skiing, the skis came off and she took the snowboard out! Now if only we had some hills in our yard.

We were Secret Santa-ed

2008-12-16T16:00:00.005-05:00

Monday night about 6:00 p.m. the door bell rang. We went to see who was there and found this:
There was a note attached that let us know that we were the 3rd Day of Christmas and that this was "Three English Toffees" from someone doing the Twelve Days of Christmas. It was fun.

So if you're out there reading this and it was from you - you should know that you couldn't have picked a candy we love more! Thanks - and Merry Christmas!

We Survived the Ice Storm of 2008

2008-12-16T15:41:00.008-05:00

As many of you already know the Northeast was hit with an ice storm which brought down tons of tree limbs onto power lines. Many were without power until Monday, and I hear some places still don't have power back. We were one of the few "lucky" ones. We were like an island of power surrounded by the great sea of black. We did have three or four really large branches fall down off our pine tree. One of them just missed our neighbor's truck. We also had a large oak branch fall onto the driveway which prevented us from getting out of the garage until it got cut up. But after a small mishap with a chain saw (no worries - no one got hurt, it just got pinned in a branch and we couldn't free it for awhile) and a Saturday morning of back breaking work (thanks Glen and Dave) we were OK. More than half of our ward was without power. And it was hard checking on people because many people now have internet phones that don't work without power. Cell phones did help a lot. On Saturday we had a Stake Choir rehearsal and driving there was like being in Narnia with the Ice Queen. It was incredibly beautiful. Fortunately most people had their power back on by Sunday night, but it was a cold time to be without power. It made me realize that we need to do more to be prepared for this type of thing, should it happen again.

You can see how the ice caused the trees to bend, if not break.

Glen took this shot Saturday night. The ice really was as beautiful as it was destructive.

Halloween!

2008-11-12T17:49:00.004-05:00

For whatever reason this Fall seems to be flying past. As it was we got to Halloween day and we hadn't carved pumpkins yet. So Glen and I went and purchased pumpkins and Jared and Lauren carved them before heading off to Halloween parties leaving Glen and I home to watch Ghost Busters and answer the door. We consoled ourselves by eating the sugar cookies and raiding the candy.

As you can see from the picture Jared decided to be creative and had his pumpkin spewing its guts all over the place. Oh, don't you all wish you had a teenage boy?

Lauren's pumpkin was somewhat more traditional.

Lauren's playing Field Hockey

2008-10-09T16:37:00.002-04:00

Lauren has been playing field hockey this year. She is on the Modified team. There is also a JV and a Varsity team. So far they have yet to win a game, but their last game was a tie 0-0, so they're improving. The most important thing is that she's having a blast running around every day after school. They practice M-F until around 5:00 p.m. Their season will end on October 24th. Hopefully by then they'll have at least one win under their belt!

The First Day of School

2008-09-16T16:45:00.006-04:00

The first day of school was on September 4th. There was no seminary so the kids went to school together on the bus (much to Jared's disappointment!).

Here is a picture of Jared and Lauren together.

Jared heading off to the first day as a Junior in High School at BH-BL.

Lauren heading off to her first day of 7th grade at O'Rourke Middle Schoo.

2008-09-09T16:09:00.005-04:00

Praying Mantis anyone?

I thought these pictures were great. We were at the Miller Raceway waiting to ride go karts when the kids found a praying mantis. Just look at Jared's and Hannah's expressions!

Home again, home again...

2008-08-26T09:47:00.015-04:00

I had some time while I was staying with Erin and Justin early in my trip
so I went to see the Bensons. It was great to see them.

Erin, Andrea, and LouJean in Erin & Justin's new apartment.

We had to opportunity to go to the SLC temple with Lauren
who went to do baptisms for the first time.

Erin graduated with a BM degree in Secondary Instrumental Music Education and Justin graduated with a BS in Landscape Management.

We were able to have a Brooksby get together at Aunt Marian and Uncle Mikes' house.

Lauren was able to get a ride on Grandpa Worthen's Gold Wing motorcycle.

Lauren and Uncle David at Lagoon.

Jared (11), Matt (3), and Lauren (2) driving gokarts at the Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele.

Brooksbys in Utah

2008-08-12T11:00:00.002-04:00

Jared, Lauren, and I have been in Utah for nine days now. Glen will join us this evening. And then the real "fun" will begin. We pack and move Erin to Logan on Wednesday (Justin will be getting his Masters at USU), Commencement on Thursday, and College Convocations are Friday. Saturday all Brooksbys who are in town (Ray and Robin; Evan and his daughter Stacy; our family; and Eric's and Dave's families, who live here already) are getting together at Glen's Aunt Marian and Uncle Mike's house in Pleasant Grove. Lauren and Jared spent a couple of days with the Benedicts while I helped Erin pack. Jared also went to EFY at BYU. He said that it was the best EFY ever. We got a letter from Brett and it sounds like things are going well for him. We enjoy seeing family and letting the kids get re-acquainted with their cousins on both sides.

Lauren's Twelve!

2008-07-28T21:31:00.005-04:00

Lauren turned twelve on July 24th. She got kidnappped and taken to breakfast in her PJs by some friends, she played with her presents, got her ears pierced, got her hair cut, and went to SPAC to see the NYC Ballet. What a birthday. The next day she had a friends birthday party. They played twister on a giant twister board, decorated little cakes, ate ice cream pie, opened presents, and played Apples to Apples.

Then on Sunday Grandma B., and her Aunt, Uncle, and cousins came over to celebrate with Lauren's favorite dinner - scrambled eggs, sausage, blueberry muffins, hash browns, and OJ. Her Aunt brought a cake that was decorated with half for Lauren and half for Rob, as it was his birthday that day. They each blew out half of the candles.

New Bedroom Furniture!

2008-07-08T16:58:00.005-04:00

Today we got new bedroom furniture. I can't tell you how thrilled I am. There were times when I didn't think it would ever happen. It totally changes the look of our room - in a good way.

Fireworks at the Empire State Plaza

2008-07-05T14:20:00.002-04:00

The ward had a 4th of July pancake breakfast outside today. It was fun. There was also a hot air balloon there taking people up about 30 feet. That was fun. Lauren and Glen rode their bikes over. I had food to take and Jared can't ride his bike right now so I drove us over. After that we went and saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull at the Scotia Cinema. It was just what you expected, which made it fun. After that we went home and grilled ribs and potatoes on the BBQ. It was yummy. Then we went to the Empire State Plaza to see the fireworks. We've never actually been to the plaza for fireworks before. Once long ago we watched them from across the river, but that's not the same. Brian Adams was the act before the fireworks. I really only recognized one song and it was really LOUD! The fireworks were the best we've seen in NY. Usually we go to Clifton Park or Scotia for fireworks. They do about half of what the Empire State Plaza does. It was a lot of fun, and we managed to be at the front of the crowd leaving so getting to the car and getting home weren't too bad. It was a fun, relaxing 4th of July.

Jared has surgery

2008-07-03T11:15:00.005-04:00

Yesterday at 5:45 a.m. Jared and I left for Ellis Hospital-McClellan Campus to have arthroscopic surgery done on his wrist. He had some torn cartilage that had been causing problems for about 9 months now. First it's wait to see if it fixes itself. No - then call primary care physician. Wait weeks for appointment. Told to try 3 Advil 3 times a day for a month (stomach eaten away). Doesn't fix problem. Sent for imaging. Inconclusive. Sent to orthopedist, suggests physical therapy. Two months of that, no better. Back to orthopedist, sent for imagine where they inject dye into site. Yes, something is wrong. Will surgery fix it? Do we want to try to wait it out? Decide to do surgery because it's not getting better on its own. At this point it's almost tennis season. Ask orthopedist if it matters at this point if he has surgery after tennis. He says "No". After tennis it's the end of school and he needs right hand to write for finals. Decide to schedule surgery right after school ends. Get an appointment on July 3rd, changes to July 1st, and finally settles on July 2nd (unfortunately we were supposed to meet a good family friend getting home from a mission on the 2nd - Oh well, what can we do). Who would ever have thought that something that happened last August would finally get fixed the next July. He'd supposed to be in the bandage until July 9th, then probably in a splint. And then we hope it's truly fixed!

Strawberry Ice Cream

2008-07-01T15:13:00.003-04:00

Last night for FHE we had Helen and Suzanne & kids over for a BBQ. Afterwards we got ready to to freeze homemade strawberry ice cream. But...just when the freezer started turning our power went out. What a delima - do we wait and see if it comes back on soon, or do we go to Suzanne's house to freeze it? After a call to the power company and an estimate of four hours before we'd have power we headed to Suzanne's. It was done about 8:45p.m. So we had our FHE lesson while we ate the ice cream. We haven't made homemade ice cream in years. It was delicious!

Ice Cream
from Helen Brooksby

5 c. blended strawberries or peaches
juice of 1 lemon
3 c. sugar
4 separated eggs
pinch of salt
1 qt. 2% milk or whole milk
1/2 pt. heavy cream
2 tsp. vanilla
2 drops red food coloring (if needed)

Blend 5 c. berries, 2 c. sugar, and lemon juice and set aside. Beat egg shites and salt until stiff. Add 1/2 c. sugar. Beat until it looks like meringue. Beat egg yolks with 1/2 c. sugar until llight yellow. Put fruit in. Fold in yolks. Fold in meringue. Add milk, cream, and coloring. Freeze.

Note: strawberry-banana tastes great!

Graduation Weekend

2008-06-29T10:20:00.004-04:00

We've spent most of the weekend going to graduation parties. Jared's been to some; Lauren and I have been to some; Glen and I; and Glen, Lauren, and I have been to some. I don't think Jared came to any of the ones the rest of the family went to. I guess he's getting old enough to know kids that are graduating this year and wanted to go to their parties. We also attended a piano/flute recital which was great. Erin called and told us that she and Justin have signed a contract on an apartment in Logan. They're excited, it's a fourplex and theirs is a basement apartment, but it's only half way underground - so there are still windows, etc. Cousin Jennifer went with them to Logan to visit one of her friends. They're driving her back to SLC today. Some really exciting news is that Glen and I are getting bedroom funiture. After 23 years of marriage to finally have furniture is really exciting!

First Letter from Brett in Birmingham

2008-06-24T08:11:00.001-04:00

Well today is P-day and well I'm both excited and still exhausted, as you might expect. I think I may still be 4 hours behind instead of the 7 I was behind by. Today we are mailing from the library because that is the closest place where we can use computers. It's about a half mile away. The library its self is very, very old, as you might have guessed. The city I'm in is Birmingham and it is one of the largest cities I have ever lived in. It is not the size of New York City at all, but it is still a sight to see. The homes are all really old and you have both the posh and the really poor. There are all sorts of people here. We have the largest population of Pakistanis in the world outside of Pakistan. Then there are the Polish people, there are loads of Polish here and most of them still don't speak English very well so it is hard when you go tracting to tract into them and share a message with them. Then we have Hungarians, Romanians and all sorts of Muslim people and there are even a few African Jamaicans and then you have the other original English people. As you might be able to tell there is a lot of diversity! It's a big melting pot because there is a little bit of everything. Oh, and the people here in England love Americans! They think it is so cool to meet Americans and they think you know all the famous people like 50 cent and other people like that, so basically they idolize you. Then the icing on th cake is I said I'm from New York and their eyes just widen and they think oh, New York City. They have no concept of an upper state even being there, all they can think of is the city. It's kinda cool. I try and explain it to them but they just cannot get it. Well the food here is good. I already have a dinner appointment (D.A.) where we had chicken tika marsala, or however you say that. It was my First D.A. since being here. I still have yet to have fish and chips, but the members here are very quick to offer you squash, sweets and biscuits. Ok, ok - I know your wondering what's with the Squash. It's a sort of juice they have here that is better than any other juice I have ever had in my life. It's very concentrated so you pour in 1/10 of this concentrated juice and then 9/10 water, or aqua as they say here. A lot of things over here contain aqua not water....go figure. Anyway the language is different. The Brummies have a very thick accent and sometimes it is hard to understand them. Often I just have to look at my companion and ask him what they just said. My companion has been out for 18 months and has spent half of his mission in Wales. He is very good. We still have to look at the map seeing as how he was only in the area 2 weeks previous to me being here. But we manage to find our way around this big city. He is from Indiana and is a really hard worker! By the way, I don't think that I will be spending any money on a bike right now because one of the members said he will give me a bike for free, which is very nice of him!
Well I have to go soon because we have to get back. I have a Safari Park adventure to go to with some of the members right now!!! I'm excited! It's in Dudley. By the way, on Sunday we confirmed a recent baptism. We also have a baptism set for the 4th of July. We just committed her to a baptismal date yesterday after we finished teaching her!!! We hope to have 2 more next week!
Things are going very well here. I love England even though I'm very tired all the time. I think I'll make it!!!
Glad to hear your all doing well there. I love you and miss you.
Love,
Elder Brett Brooksby

Jared's Finished his Eagle Project!

2008-06-22T17:37:00.003-04:00

Jared and Troop 101 built bat houses on May 30th. Yesterday the bat houses were taken to Indian Meadows and put up. We're happy to have his Ealge Project finished! You can see pictures if you go to http://www.brooksby.com/glen/jared/eagle_project.html.

Brett Arrives in England Today

2008-06-20T07:30:00.002-04:00

Last night we got to talk to Brett. He called from the airport. He could only talk for a half-hour, but it was nice to be able to ask some of our questions and FINALLY get some answers. He's not really good at answering questions. We found out that he had received his greenie package, and he's received a couple of snail mail letters. He has received all of the Dear Elder letters and all of our e-mails. He was going to sit by Sister Moffatt on the flight from SLC to Paris. Hopefully that will be a good thing. I can hardly wait to hear how things are going and how he likes England.

Brett Leaves Tomorrow Night

2008-06-18T12:21:00.002-04:00

I just spoke to the person in charge of Brett's travel. He said that Brett will be leaving at 5:00 p.m. tomorrow on a non-stop flight from SLC to Paris, France. From there he will fly to Birmingham. He also said that Brett will be traveling with the mission president's wife. She had been in Utah attending either a marriage or funeral, he couldn't remember which one. So Brett will be picked up in Birmingham by the mission president when he comes to pick-up his wife. Hopefully we'll get to talk to him from the airport before he leaves.

Brett Got His Visa!!

2008-06-17T19:56:00.003-04:00

We got an e-mail from Brett today saying that he got his visa. He's going to Provo to sign it, and said that he'd be leaving before the end of the week. We're so happy that it's finally come and that he will actually be able to go to England after all.

Jared's in the middle of taking Regents exams. He didn't have any today, but does Wednesday, Thursday, and next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Then he's done. Lauren's exams begin this Thursday, which means that is when the half-days of school also begin.

Glen is stuck in Washington D.C. at the moment and really hoping that his 9:40 p.m. flight will get him home tonight. With all the bad weather in the Northeast flights have been a mess. I'll cross my fingers!

New Baby in the Worthen Family

2008-06-16T13:04:00.008-04:00

Congratulations to Jami and Josh Braun on the birth of their daughter Kallan Jean. She was born at 3:19 a.m. on July 14. She weighed 6 pounds 9 ounces and is 19 inches long. She and Oliver Sadler (Andrew and Wendy's baby) share the same birthdate a year apart. So - Happy Birthday to Oliver too!

Salt Lake City South Mission for ???

2008-06-09T15:10:00.002-04:00

Today Brett went to the Salt Lake City South mission to serve while he's waiting for his visa. We only have the mission home address because we haven't heard from Brett yet. That address is: 8060 South 615 East,Sandy, Utah 84070.

Jared's Eagle Project is just about done. All he needs to do is hang the built and painted bat houses at Indian Meadows, write it up, and then he should be an Eagle Scout! Saturday was Seminary graduation, so we enjoied ourselves this morning when we got to sleep in one whole extra hour. Exams begin at the end of this week for Jared. I'm just about out of days when the kids are at school for the whole day. Jared also has his tennis banquet tomorrow night.

Lauren begins her exams mid-week next week. At that point she only has half-days of school left. She had her final band and choral concert last week. School is really winding down. On to review packets. Oh the joy!

Glen is in Suffolk, VA today through Thursday night. Reviews and stuff.

I'm keeping it all together - although not so well. I coughed (I've had a cold) and threw my back out again. Ouch!

News

2008-05-29T11:30:00.000-04:00

We got an e-mail from Brett saying that he wasn't able to do his biometric imaging on Tuesday because his passport hadn't been returned. After talked to the Church Travel people I believe that they tried to do it yesterday. All the rest of Brett's district leave on Tuesday. At that point I'm not sure what will happen to Brett. Keep him in your prayers.

Also, Jared is doing his Eagle Scout Project this Saturday. He is building bat houses to put in a park by us. We hope it goes well and that that they're able to get them put up. It will be nice to have that out of the way. Although that means that Jared will start asking to get his drivers license. That will be fun! He also had a vocal solo in a concert last week and did a fantastic job on it.

Lauren had has final concert of the year. She was part of a small group descant that sounded great.

Mailed letter arrived yesterday

2008-05-24T15:48:00.000-04:00

We got a letter that Brett had written on May 18th. He said that he is busier than he's ever been, and that he barely gets enough sleep to have the energy to do all he needs to. His companion is Elder Touli. He is originally from Samoa, but he grew up in LA. He really likes him. His district has three sets of Elders and two sets of sisters. All of the Elders are going to Seattle, WA. One Sister is going to Catania, Italy and two of the other Sisters are going to Melbourne, Australia. He really likes his teachers Sister Billings and Brother Petersen. Brett told Jared to really study the Book of Mormon and Preach My Gospel so that he'll be ready when it's his turn to go on a mission.

Brett's First E-mail

2008-05-21T14:56:00.000-04:00

We finally got an e-mail from Brett. Aparently his P-day is Wednesday and since that is when he entered last week today is the first time he's had to let us know how things are going. It sounds like it is keeping him busy, and that he loves it. He is getting to sing in the MTC choir, which is something he'd looked forward to. He likes his District. He didn't mention anything about his companion. I'll have to ask again who he is and where he's from. It's just good to hear from him.

Today's the Day

2008-05-13T09:13:00.000-04:00

Brett has been set apart as a missionary today. The Stake President did it after seminary this morning. We brought Lauren and Jared just hung around after seminary was over. Then we took Jared and Lauren to school. Right now we're just killing time until he has to leave for the airport at 11:30 a.m. I can't believe that I have a missionary son!

Provo MTC!

2008-05-08T17:22:00.000-04:00

It looks like Brett will now be going to the Provo MTC for his 3 weeks of missionary training. He'll then fly either to the UK (if they've gotten his visa) or to the Dublin Ireland mission to await his visa. If they can't ever get his visa he'll serve in the Dublin mission for the whole time. Talk about my head spinning. The good news is he still leaves (although he now leaves on Tuesday instead of Thursday) on time and isn't delayed.

Disaster Strikes!

2008-05-08T11:05:00.000-04:00

Brett just got an e-mail saying that his visa appeal has been denied. We are now wondering what will happen. Will he be delayed? Will he go to the Provo MTC? Will his mission change? As you can imagine, it's very discouraging. We are hoping to hear from Brett Morrison at the Church Office Building. He is over the UK visas and we're hoping that he can help us out. Brett is supposed to leave a week from today. He is really upset, and who wouldn't be. Friday night he's speaking at the Aaronic Priesthood campout about going on a mission and he is speaking in Sacrament meeting on Sunday, which will be a challenge if he doesn't know when or where he's really going.

Getting Ready for Brett to Leave

2008-04-25T08:24:00.000-04:00

I can't believe how many little details there still are to do. I thought we'd done most everything, but as I read through the mission papers I keep finding little things that we haven't done. Today it's things like getting a new watch band. We still have to transfer money into Brett's account, pick-up his trench coat from the dry cleaners, get more pairs of garments, check in medical insurance coverage. And those are just the things we're remembering right now. I just realized that yesterday was transfers in the Birmingham Mission. The next transfer will be Brett's. Wow!

I'm a blogger!

2008-04-22T11:13:00.001-04:00

I am actually joining the world of bloggers. Amazing isn't it!