Halloween

You know Halloween is not my favorite holiday, but I did a good job of faking it this year. My house was so decorated (thanks to Aaron). The kids had a great time and it was very fun having Halloween on a weekend. We had a small gathering and all my sisters and my brother came over . All decorations are now put away for another year!!Aaron is my seasonal decorator, he made all the bats!

Papa and the kids did good work!

Ryan, Ashley and Marlee!

Some of the big kids dressed up! (Keli and Andy)

Taylor was Little Bo Peep!

This little Dinosaur (Solill) was tired by the time she got to Grandmas!

Gabe scared all the little kids!

Rane was a beautiful witch and the Ninja is Wil!

IT'S ALL OVER!! Summer that is.

Today it was official that summer is over. How sad. A milestone for the family as Rane and Taylor both began kindergarten. Rane is at Dorothy Fox and Taylor is at Hellen Baller. Gabe is in the third grade at Crestline in Vancouver. It was a perfect day, except for the pallet of 40 pound boxes that I had to lift at work.
I hope that I can walk tomorrow.

More Summer Tales!

Which one is Marlee?

Best part of camping.

We were camped next to this cool tree!!

Every morning it was pile on Grandma!

Poor Wil my clippers always seem to draw blood.

Look what Wil got for his 4th!!

Wil had a choice to go to the movies for his birthday or climb Beacon Rock, unfortunately for his mom he chose climbing the rock. He ran to the top.

Rane had her recital in June.

The summer started out great with Taylor's 5th birthday!

OUR GETAWAY ALONE (HA-HA)

The morning after Marlee pulled an all nighter.
Marlee passed out on Papa.
Marlee exhausted after playing in the sand.
Marlee and Mom.
Marlee's first campfire!
Well Bob and I ran away alone, but after a few days our location was discovered. Ashley and Marlee showed up on our 3rd day. It was great to be at the coast during the hottest part of our heat wave. We had some really good bike rides. We did not want to come home this time.

ROAD TRIP

I really was there. I have a picture of myself, but will not post because of obvious reasons.

I was worried about this little guy as he hung out on the edge of the cliff, overlooking the Grand Canyon.
Here is Aunt Janice, Malia and Karen Lewis as we had dinner at the Trading Post in Cameron, AZ.
We stayed at the Gee college house in Provo. Here is Katherine in her kitchen with her apron that she made.

Family Reunion Report Card

LOCATION=A+
Uncle Eric and Aunt Linda's was a perfect location. The Ewok village has not lost it's golden touch as it kept the kids busy. What's a few bee stings, they didn't seem to mind. The rope swing was awesome. I loved the Gee tent camp on the terrace above the waterfall. I was a little worried we were too close to Matt and Lisa's tent, but all was well.
WEATHER=B-
I can't take the heat. It was lovely not to have the rain, but the heat index went too high to make an A grade. Thanks to the slip and slide we were able to survive.
FOOD=B-
Okay, it just wasn't original enough. We did good on quantity but I was disappointed in my choices. A big thank you to all who helped.
ATTENDANCE=A-
Thanks to the Stevens we were unable to receive an A+ for attendance. They broke all the rules by having Logan during the festivities. I will never let them forget it. We are happy though that he arrived safely and is adorable.
ENTERTAINMENT=A+
Michael Jackson, Beyonce and Stevie Wonder have nothing on us. Our family came through with the most amazing talents. Who knew that juggling and the pogo stick would take top bill.
Thanks to Matt and Lisa for singing the song they wrote for Ryan and Havilah's wedding, for Ryan playing Grandma and Grandpa's favorite, for Alex playing and singing, for Katherine singing the song that she wrote and the whole Gee fam. Also thanks to Jessica for putting together the thriller dance with her little cousies, for little Eric singing (he has a really good voice), for Kennedy's lovely ballet number, for the Kanekoa girls performing, for Keller scaring us with his awesome flips off the stage, for Taylor's debut on the piano and for Solill (AKA Beyonce) getting her moves on. Thanks to Gabrielle for being the MC. Please forgive me if I have forgotten anyone, my age is showing.
THE DANCE=A+
Any dance that brings Aunt Shirley from the terrace, down into the tennis court with her blanket in tow, deserves an A+ grade. This was an amazingly fun dance. My favorite of course was the chicken dance followed by the ever popular YMCA. We also love to watch Aunt Bev and Uncle Tony dance so well.
SPIRIT=A+
When you get so many people together that happen to be related it is awesome that you can do so without any drama. Everyone worked together with a spirit of love and kindness, without any cross words, our parents would be so proud. Thanks to Teena and Jolee for doing the t-shirt painting with the kids, Lynda and Tony for helping the kids build their marshmallow shooters, Matt Gee for the music and sound system, Aunt Janice for organizing the talent show, Karen Lewis for tables and decorations, the Kanekoas for the fireworks, and a special thanks to Linda and Eric for hosting the reunion.
Our hearts were brought closer together as we played and prayed together these two days. We were so sorry that Linda, Eric and Angie were not able to be present and continue to pray for Angie's recovery and look forward to everyone being at our next reunion.

Marlee Ann Fisher

What a lame Grandma I am. It has taken me so long to post a picture of Marlee. Here she is, and to make me even lamer, I have hardly taken any pictures of her because my brain is totally messed up this summer. I do know this, she is beautiful and loved by all.

School's Out For the Summer!!

This will be my last week of work for the summer! My sister, Janice will be arriving this weekend from Texas and we begin preparing for our family reunion which will be on July 3rd and 4th. We will be having our reunion at the Balholms and it will be fun! We are still waiting for the new grand-daughter to be born, which should be any day now. We will leave for Nahelam Bay as soon as the reunion is over (just for 5 days). We have a few more camping trips planned and surgery for my mother-in-law, so, summer will be over before you know it!

The New Nichols Park

After many hours of hard labor (I'm so tired) we have a fun backyard now. Thanks to Papa and Uncle Wayne we are looking forward to many hours being spent in the yard this summer!!

Easter

We had a really fun Easter. On Saturday we colored 9 dozen eggs and everyone took is seriously. We didn't move from the table for over an hour. Afterwards the Easter bunny left eggs for us to find in the back yard. We had a lovely Easter feast on Sunday after church at our house.

Last night we went to Wicked. As you can see we had Rane and Taylor with us. They loved it! Uncle Aaron bought the tickets and Aunt Ali bought pink T-shirts for the girls that had the title of their favorite song on it, POPULAR!

A couple of weekends ago Bob and I flew to Arizona to visit grandma and uncle Wayne. This is what Grandma's house looks like there. We had a great visit and it felt good to be warm.

Yea! Pretty flower on cactus. Notice the blue sky, awesome!

This is our good friend Jonathan Yeager. Andy went to school with him in PA. He also is an artist and we had the opportunity to attend his art show a few weekends ago in Portland. He moved to Portland a few years ago.

The highlight of January for me was my trip to Texas with Aunt Linda. We went to see Emily as Maria in the Sound of Music and she was fabulous! We had a great time.

This is what Aunt Janice looks like now!

Happy Birthday to Rane!

Solill turned 3!

Gabe had a Birthday!