Friends.....

On Friday Feb 13th Ami Cragun came to visit us! I told the kids that Sister Cragun was coming to visit and they cheered and screamed for joy. They were so happy to get to see The Craguns (including the kids).....Then I had to clarify that just Ami was coming.....Then came the tears....All of my kids were crying and asking why oh why can't Garret, Kenley, Adi and Ava and Tim) come? They didn't quite understand that this visit was just for the mom's. They did eventually get over it and welcomed Ami with open arms.



We were so excited to start our visit or as Jason called it, our "Restaurant Tour". Ami came in on Friday night. We met up with some friends (Deni, Amy, Angie, Ami, Jennifer and Katie) at the Pomo Grille. This was one of our favorite spots for Dining Divas. They have such great food.! We had a wonderful evening.







Saturday was also a very full day. We started off at Jazzercise. (Ami was the one who introduced me to Fabulous Jazzercise. I will forever be grateful to her for that). Saturday Feb 14th was officially named "Ami Cragun" day. Everyone was very happy to see her again. Many people asked if she had moved back...sadly she had to say no.

Next we were off to the the Mall. Yes, shopping sweet shopping! Shoes, clothes you name it we looked at it! We both ended up with a few new item. We hit our favorite Restaurant Chevy's for lunch.

















We decided to see Confessions of a Shopaholic. It was cute.



Sunday we went to church and had a visit from Laura and JoEllen. What a treat! They brought lunch and we caught up on life.


Monday - We went to Jazzercise and then went to lunch at Ruby Tuesdays with friends. Then it was time to say goodbye... It all went by so fast!



I wish she would just move back and make my life the way it was, but that isn't how life works. I guess I am supposed to be learning some lesson about friends because all of you continue to move away from me (you know who you are). It was wonderful to have Ami here just like old times. I am grateful for the opportunity to have her come even if it was just for a few day. I will count my blessings and be grateful for the short time we had. I am truly blessed to have such great friends in my life!



Thanks to all of my friends and family who love us for who we are, visit and keep in touch with us. Friends and family are the best part of life! Thanks for being part of mine!

The Challenge......

I am new to Middle School Orchestra, but I am learning. In September, Shannon had to audition for her seat in one of the two Orchestras. Shannon earned her spot in the Advanced Orchestra 1st Violin Section seat 5. She is the only 6th grader in the 1st Violin section. Well, there is something called a Challenge. In January, other kids in the orchestra get to "Challenge" other kids in the Orchestra for their higher seat. You don't have to challenge someone, but if you are challenged, you have to learn the music, audition and defend your seat. Shannon was challenged by two other students, a 7th and 8th graders. Shannon was nervous and her Violin teacher also teaches one of the students who was challenging her. This added to the suspense of whether she would keep her seat. It took 2 weeks for us to find out the results. Thur hard work and performing her best, she successfully defended her 5th chair violin seat! We are very proud of her!

Family Visits

Everyone loves to have family visit. Over Thanksgiving break we were lucky to have Emily and Matt, Ken and his family, and Aaron come to visit. We went to Buddy's Crabs and Ribs and helped Matt truly experience MD by eating crabs. We also did some sight seeing at Arlington National Cemetery. It was really COLD!!

Concerts

This was the first concert of the season (fall Yes, I know I am behind).

The middle school played at a county music festival.

We had a very busy Christmas Concert Season. Shannon tried out for the All County Orchestra. She made it and this started our CRAZY concert season. First we had All County, then the Middle School "Winter" concert and then Shannon and Kaitlyn played with the Suitland Strings Children's Orchestra at the Washington DC Temple Visitors Center. They also played in Church the Sunday before Christmas. It was a lot of fun and it is good for the girls to share their talent. (Kaitlyn started playing in July).

(Kate Slade, Shannon, Kaitlyn and Deni McMurray, the Girls Violin teacher)

Fall and Halloween

Fall - What a wonderful time of year.

Kellie went on a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch and picked out pumpkins for everyone.

Halloween: : The Girls had fun trick or treating in the neighborhood. We went to Boyd's house around 9 pm. Apparently we stayed too long for Kaitlyn. She sat at the table and fell asleep!

Oh to be 13 Again!

When I was a tween I loved New Kids on the Block. I went to 3 of their concerts in a 2 year period. Yes, I know this is shocking and something you did not know about me. I had to dig a little but I found a picture of me from 1989 (I am on the left) with my NKOTB shirt and jean shorts we customized with fabric paint. Oh the days with nothing to do.

Well back in June, I found out that the New Kids were getting back together. So, my friend Veronica and I decided that we should go to the concert. Why not???

We purchased tickets to the show. We were lucky to get tickets in the 12th row!!! It was great to remember the songs and sing along.

We did find it funny how the concert from 1989 was different from 2008.

1. We drove ourselves there

2. There were married and pregnant fans.

3. People were still buying the T-shirts for $40!! (I did not)

4. Alcohol was being sold.

All in all, it was a good time. I think it is important to just go out and do something fun.

Utah/Arizona Vacation

Ok. I know that many of you are already pros at this Blog thing... I am working on it. I am just proud of myself that I figured out how to invite others to view our blog.

August: The month when you want your kids to go back to school but they don't go until the end of the month. Do you remember the Staples commercial where the dad is frolicking down the isle with the song "The most wonderful time of the year" playing in the background? This is how I feel.

Anyway...to pass the month of August, I decided to take the kids on a 2 week vacation. Jason was in the middle of refinishing our hardwood floors and it was a perfect time to leave. I have always wanted to take my kids out west and see all of our family in the Utah Arizona area. Family is so important. As a kid I moved around a lot and the only thing that was the same was my family. I wanted my kids to see the people and places that were important to me as a kid. Thank you to everyone we were able to see on this trip! It truly was a great experience getting to know you better. We hope that you will come and see us!




















Our trip was a lot of fun. We started with the flight...We had a 3.5 hour lay over in Houston, TX. This was a little long. I had to beg the cart lady to give us a ride around the gate. We make it to Salt Lake after 9 hours of travel. We were able to see all of our family! I took the kids to Temple Square. It was great to see the Salt Lake temple. We also visited the Conference Center. That place is soooo HUGE! You see it on TV and you know it is big, but it is really big. All Kaitlyn cared about was where does the water fall come from and can we go to the roof and see the top. So, that is what we did.
















Ryan and I went walking early one morning. We hiked up behind his house just before sunrise. Beautiful view! I think it was 6 am!














We then headed south. We stayed with Uncle Jeff and Aunt Laurel. We arrived at the perfect time for PEACHES!!! Their trees were ripe for the picking. We made Peach freezer jam and enjoyed Peaches and home make whipped cream! YUM!






















This part of the trip was really special because we were able to see Granny. She turned 80 in Sept. and my kids have not seen her in 6 years. It was great to spend time with her and enjoy her company.
Our next stop was Phoenix. No, we are not completely crazy to go to Phoenix in August. It really wasn't that bad as long as you have a pool. We split our time with Ken and Amanda and Curtis and Marilyn. We had a great time lounging at the pool. We also saw Darryl and Stephanie and Steve and Rachel. It was really great to see everyone!

Our last leg of the trip we drove up to Flagstaff to see my Great Uncle Ken, Aunt Shirlyn and Uncle Dennis. My girls were able to see the horses and enjoy the cooler weather.

Overall we had a great time and the kids were GREAT!

Packing Broken Stones

The title of this entry is not what we're doing, but it refers to 3 separate events. As you all know things are a little crazy around here. We have a ton of things going on. We have swim team, swim lessons, moving, Scout camp, etc... I wanted to tell you all about 3 events we have had this past week.



Packing - OK, the packing part is so I can gripe a little. I HATE moving. To be more specific, I HATE packing. George Carlin had said the only reason we move is because we always seem to be collecting more crap. Furniture, clothes, knick knacks, toys, electronics....kids. We've been packing for almost a week and we still aren't done, but we've had a couple of interuptions. Which brings me to my 2nd event.

Stones - So I came home Monday (6/16/08) from work eager to get our house packed up since I will be out of town next week when we actually move. I notice I'm having trouble going to the bathroom. So getting frustrated I drink about a pint of water. Well that's when things got real exciting. About 5 minutes later I was laid out on my bed in, what I thought, was severe pain. Amy gets on WebMD and my symptoms indicate I may have a kidney stone. We run off to Kaiser's urgent care center where they give me some pain relievers. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the worst), I was at about at pain level of 8. If you ever get kidney stones I want you to remember this word..."DELAUDID". This is a wonderful drug. Taken through an IV, this will knock out any pain you have and everyone in the room will be your best friend. They sent me home with some percocet. The next evening the pain returned and after 3 percocets in 2 hours, we were back to the emergency room. Please remember the word "DELAUDID". I got more of this and passed the stone just after midnight Wednesday morning.



Finally, broken. We are trying to get back to "normal" from our events from earlier in the week, when Kellie comes upstairs crying (this is not an uncommon event). She says she hurt her arm and of course this is all Kaitlyn's fault. We sent her to bed only to have her crying again about an hour later. Her arm, now swelling, does not look real good. So, it's off to the emergency room again for, you guessed it, Kellie's broken arm.

I know, I know, we can't believe it either.

So until next time,

AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

We're on the move!

We are on the move. Amy and I recently purchased a new home and we are moving June 26th.

New Family Blog

Hello all!

Amy and I have decided to start a blog for the Wareham family. Since our families are becoming more extended and spread across the country, we decided we could keep in touch by blogging. Leave comments, download pictures, ask questions, we can even add you as an administrator so you can post pictures, videos, etc. More content to come, so check back frequently.