School Days, School Days!

Ashley has been busy, busy in her classroom getting ready for the upcoming year. She hates to wait until the last minute to get things done, so her room is ready to go and it is still July!! Certainly not like her mother. She's going with a Safari theme since the building theme is "Wild About Learning". Her Grandma Taggart bought her some zebra print for her bulletin boards and she found some great deals on blow up animals. Those Beanie Babies we've collected and have no idea what to do with are really coming in handy! It is exciting to watch her get excited about an upcoming year. She's such a good little teacher!!

Quiet times with friends

What a wonderful, quiet time eating Mexican food, swinging on the swing, sitting in front of the chiminea, and visiting about anything. That's what we did last night with the Bartley's. You know you're good friends when you don't have to clean the house before they come!!

Mick and I headed to Silver Dollar City today. We just wandered around the park for a couple of hours, then headed back to Springfield for lunch. I think a nap is in order for this afternoon. A weekend without specific plans was just what we needed.

Oh, the plans we have made for the coming months, though!

Short Visit!

Ashley and I ran up to Jeff City Thursday for a quick visit with Mom, Dad, Jeff, Sara, and Chris. It doesn't matter how short the time, it's still good to see everyone! Sara decided it was time to learn how to fry chicken, so she spent her time in the kitchen watching Mom. We've both learned a recipe means nothing when it comes to family meals. You have to WATCH them cook. There is always some little secret that makes it taste to special! The fried chicken was fabulous and we even got in a little shopping. We spent a little time planning a bit for Mom and Dad's 50th wedding anniversary. That is coming up in April, 2008. What a special time that will be!! Mom, trust us. It will be special! We all headed home this morning, but were able to get in a few last minute pictures.

Arnold's turn!

Last weekend was the weekend Katie and Brian promised to Grandma and Grandpa Arnold for Christmas. They arrived Thursday night and we all spent the weekend shopping, eating, and taking pictures! We decided to have a family picture made for George and Dorris since we can't seem to get them to agree to a 50th Wedding Anniversary party. I can't wait to see the pictures--think they'll be fantastic! I didn't get many of my own, but you can see Katie was quite attached to Tim's dog, Husker. The guys spent Saturday afternoon playing virtual golf--or something like that. I think 18 holes of electronic golf takes as long as a regular golf game!! We had a relaxing time and Grandma and Grandpa got to keep Ashley for the whole week following. She stayed in Kansas City to take a counseling class towards her masters degree. Kaitlin and Nicholas are all grown up. Kaitlin will be a junior this year, is driving, and has a boyfriend--all the regular teenage stuff. Nicholas, and his dad, are DEEP into ball--baseball, football, etc. They keep Grandma and Grandpa hopping several times a week to ball games. Great family fun last weekend!

The Firefall Adventure!

WHAT A DAY! Bartley's and Comstock's met at Arnold's at 1:30 Saturday to load up the vehicles and head for Firefall Fun. We unloaded the cars and headed to the usual "spot" while storm sirens were blaring in our ears. Did we stop--no! It was obvious the storm was going around us. We set everything down and organized all the poles for the tarp when the Firefall people decided it would probably be best if everyone waited in their cars. Evidentally, there was another storm headed our way with strong winds and rain. We dragged everything back to the cars (in case you don't understand the tradition, we take lawn chairs, coolers--1 per family, a tarp, cameras, binoculars, bags of food, you get the picture) and decided to wait out the storm. IT DIDN'T COME!! We went BACK into Firefall--our spot was still available--and began the process of setting up. It became evident the storm was coming after all. Well, we were in and that was that. It now became a race to get the tarp up before the storm hit--WE DID IT! Once we all got into our chairs, the rain began. Then the wind. It was a site to behold watching us hold up the tarp poles as well as our umbrellas--yes, we took those, too. We moved all the food, etc. to the middle under the tarp so it wouldn't get wet--HA! I think Toy and I knew it was over when we looked down and saw that everything in the middle was soaked. THE TARP IS NOT WATERPROOF! Who'd have thought!! Anyway, Dana, Craig, and John Paul managed to get all the "stuff" under a Firefall tent (another story) and the rest of us (see pictures since Dana was kind enough to take them) tore down that tarp. We were wet anyway--why not!! We trudged back to the cars--again--(I stomped through every puddle I could find--why not!!), and decided to head to respective homes to get dry. We met back at our house and devoured the food! YUM! Friendship with the Bartley's and Comstock's is just one adventure after another. We wouldn't have it any other way!! Love you guys!!