Bobby's flying high!

Bobby wanted to go skydiving for his 40th birthday, but because of money it didn't happen. Then 2 years ago, he had another chance to go, but the weather didn't hold out.
Last year, his cousin Anabelle called him and told him she wanted to go and if he would be interested in going with her. She didn't need to ask twice!
We went to a place called Jumptown ( think it was in Greenfield... I think). The weather was beautiful. I was so nervous for them! I must say, though, that when I saw them coming down, I wanted (for that moment) to do it too! Bobby has a way of making things so much more fun! You can see by the look on his face he was having a great time.
When he was still a speck in the sky, I could hear him yelling. Those of you who know my hubby will know what I mean by his "yell". Anyway, the kids said they couldn't hear him at first, but as he got closer, they eventually did. He does have a big mouth.
I was thankful that the family could be there including his sister and chitlins. Kaleigh was very upset when she found out he was jumping out of a plane. At first she thought it was a joke, but then she put the phone down and started to cry. My sister said she was very scared and upset. She said it's not safe! Melisa was able to explain it to her and she finally calmed down.
I hope Bobby gets to do this again soon. He had the time of his life!
Here is a slideshow of some of pictures and hopefully I will figure out how to put some of the video footage on here sometime soon... ENJOY!! Oh by the way, make sure to pause the music on the player so you can enjoy the music off the slideshow!

Oh My...

I have been DYING to share the news that my sister is having a baby!!! We are so excited to have another little one running around:)
I found this baby countdown counter online and thought it would be fun to post it so we can watch the progress of the baby. It will grow to show the stage the baby is at each week. I asked my sis for a copy of the ultrasound pix so I can post it as well.
She was concerned about sharing the news too soon, but an ultrasound was done last week and it shows everything is great. So, congrats little sister!

New paint job

Hey! Guess what we did this summer? We started to paint our house... again! We started on 2007 on the back of the house because it was in worse shape, mildew, etc. Anyway, it took us from June into the end of October to paint the BACK. The BACK!!!! We had Tim Belbin, a good friend of ours and a Springfield firefighter (YEAH!), coming over on his spare time to help. Well, he's a firefighter with 3 kids and a wife going to school so you can imagine what "free time" he had. Yet we could count on him to be here several times a week, even when it meant he worked all night! He is such a great friend and a great example of what service is.

So last year, around June, we decide to start on the front porch. Oh my! I think I scraped for 5 minutes before I started wondering, "How on earth did we do this last year????" I never realize how big our house is until I'm cleaning it or painting it.

Well, Bobby and I plugged along for a couple of weeks, not getting very far with all the paint that needed to be scraped, when one day a gentleman who owns his own painting business stops by and asks if we would consider paying him to finish the job. Bobby was all over that one! Money was no object if it meant saving our arms and back from further torture!

Nick (the painter) was able to start right away and oh my, what an incredible job he did. We paid to have the house done, but figured we could handle the garage. HA! Bobby was scraping the garage with a couple of friends on a day when it's 90 degrees and 80% humidity and they were moving slow. Nick was watching them and laughing! He was actually laughing at their humble efforts. He finally walked over and said ( In a Russian accent), "I can't watch anymore, too painful. I give you discount and do garage also. We work faster." What a lifesaver!

They did in 2 weeks what would have taken us about 5 years!!! Nick actually saved our children from becoming orphans...

Adrean's B-day!

Well, well, well! Look who turned 17!!!!!!! Happy Birthday Adrean...
This is how Melisa felt all night...


Melisa's yummy Oreo cake!And this is how I felt all night...

We went to my sister's place after spending the afternoon braving the mall. The kids had gift cards they were dying to spend. We joined everyone around 6:ish. Mami extended an invite to the Cotter family who joined us for dinner and cake.
Gage will be turning 17 in just 8 more days... It seems like only yesterday that we brought him home from the hospital. I'll stop here; I'm sure Gage will appreciate that!

Hot Stuff!

Bobby was cleaning out his work area in the basement and he found a Springfield Union paper dated May 15, 1976. He was on the front page with a caption. I asked him how he made the front page when there wasn't any article with the picture. He said he didn't know. He's just lucky!
I think he looks like Bobby Brady!
The caption says
"Gangway! The straight and narrow is the way for 12-year old Robert Ackerman of 37 Somerset St. Springfield, as he rides his skateboard in a vacant parking lot on Carew Street Friday."

Happy New Year!

I'm finally ready to share my blog with the world. It's true. I've had this for( how long?), and now I think I'm ready...

We had a great New Year's Eve at my sister's place with my mom, brother, Kevin and the Metzger Fam! I don't have pictures yet because, as you know, I'm behind the times and do not have digital. And as you know, I'm very slow at developing pictures, SO! what does it mean? You may have to go on my sister's blog to check out pictures! Sorry.

I do have pictures our friend Joe took of us for Christmas. We didn't have them done in time for our christmas card, but I was able to send them out as gifts!

We are thankful for this new year to be able to reflect on the past year and make new commitments for this year. I know it is very common for people to make resolutions for the new year only to die out at week's end. But isn't it great to be able to recommit over and over? Someday it's bound to stick, right?

Gage will be turning 17 on the 26th. I am still in shock that I can be old enough to have a seventeen year old! Isn't he handsome?