Happy Birthday!

Happy 17th birthday to my brother Seth!

Part of my gift to him is a car to drive :) More to come on that soon! 

Khan Academy

For all my college and high school friends out there, I thought I'd share a website that may be of use to you! I was introduced to it at the beginning of this semester by my statistics professor who encourages all of his students to use it. I wish I knew about it during high school and through my previous college education. 

Khan Academy is a website that Sal Khan has created. It is full of youtube videos on all sorts of subjects. A few examples include art, history, finance, economics, math, science, statistics, computer science, medicine, health care, humanities, etc. It includes test prep materials as well as practice problems for everything! The best part is that it's free! 

To be specific, there are 190,672,892 lessons! 

Go check it out! It has helped me tremendously this semester! Please feel free to spread the word too!

Khan Academy

Let me know what you think about it!

:)

Ellington Fireman's Fair Parade

Saturday afternoon was the Fireman's Fair Parade. All 3 of my siblings marched. Picture credit goes to my mom! I took Kayleigh and Kenzie with me since Brad & Dee were still in the hospital and I wanted to give Aunt Mo a break!

Kenzie did not like the fire trucks at all! Actually, I'm not sure she enjoyed it at all. The first half was spent crying with her hands over her ears, and the second half was laying with her face against my chest with her hands still over her ears. Poor thing, I felt bad. The picture below is before the parade started, but she was somewhat prepared for the loud whistles!

Aaron marching with the high school band: 

Rachel marched with the fire department but we only got pictures afterwards:

Seth marching with the explorer's:

9/11

If I Knew 

~ Dr. H Solomon

If I knew it would be the last time
 That I'd see you fall asleep, 
I would tuck you in more tightly 
and pray the Lord, your soul to keep.

If I knew it would be the last time
 that I see you walk out the door,
 I would give you a hug and kiss
 and call you back for one more.

If I knew it would be the last time
 I'd hear your voice lifted up in praise, 
I would video tape each action and word,
 so I could play them back day after day.

If I knew it would be the last time,
 I could spare an extra minute 
to stop and say "I love you," 
instead of assuming you would know I do.

If I knew it would be the last time 
I would be there to share your day,
 well I'm sure you'll have so many more,
 so I can let just this one slip away.

For surely there's always tomorrow 
to make up for an oversight,
 and we always get a second chance
 to make everything just right.

There will always be another day
 to say "I love you,"
 And certainly there's another chance 
to say our "Anything I can do?"

But just in case I might be wrong,
 and today is all I get,
 I'd like to say how much I love you
 and I hope we never forget.

Tomorrow is not promised to anyone,
 young or old alike,
 And today may be the last chance
 you get to hold your loved one tight.

So if you're waiting for tomorrow,
 why not do it today? 
For if tomorrow never comes, 
you'll surely regret the day,

That you didn't take that extra time
 for a smile, a hug, or a kiss
 and you were too busy to grant someone,
 what turned out to be their one last wish.

So hold your loved ones close today,
 and whisper in their ear,
 Tell them how much you love them
 and that you'll always hold them dear.

  

Take time to say "I'm sorry,"
 "Please forgive me," "Thank you," or "It's okay."
And if tomorrow never comes,
 you'll have no regrets about today.

Sean & Kayla's Wedding

This past Friday evening was my cousin Kayla's wedding. It was a lot of fun, but beware, there are lots of pictures!  :)

This was the centerpiece at the table for all of her young cousins. They had a blast with it!

Sisters :)

Everything was outside and we had perfect weather!

The centerpiece for the other tables:

The pretty cake:

Cousins :)

The music for the ceremony was excellent:

Aunt Deb being escorted in :)

Some of the wedding party:

Here comes the bride: 

Cousins:

Sisters:

These were the kids that had the fun centerpiece:

Both Sean and Kayla each had an aunt whose birthday was Friday. So they surprised everyone by calling them to the dance floor and giving them each a gift. They had everyone sing happy birthday!

There are 2 couples (pics below) in my life that I am blessed to be able to call "second parents." Both couples only have one biological daughter, so I'm also blessed that both call me their "second daughter." Both couples have been a huge support and encouragement to me and I'm so thankful for all 4 of them!

Me with 3 of my male cousins. As my aunt put it, "a flower in the midst of a bunch of clowns."  :)

My gram made this friendship quilt for Sean & Kayla. She had all the immediate family sign the white blocks and then she quilted it together. It was a surprise and Kayla loved it!

:)