Aug 31, 2007

Jacob the Lover

Jacob told Senta and I today that he is going to marry her daughter Zoey. Way to go for the older woman Jake! He says that he would like to date her first, so we told him when he would be 16. (November 4, 2015) Of course by this time, Zoey will be 18, but that does not daunt him. He thinks he will take her out to dinner, perhaps bowling after. Also, he plans on kissing her because "She is so beautiful!"

Never mind that Zoey has no romantic interest in my goofy son! lol Senta says that the funny thing is, his obsession with dates (calendar ones) will most likely help him remember in 8 years that he is supposed to take her out. Thought that was funny!

Aug 30, 2007

Our life as it stands today

I turned in the papers to Westwick Square today. I am desperately hoping that they approve us. The only problem is, the wait time. It will take 4-6 weeks to see if we are even approved, and then there may be more time fixing up the place, getting it to code. (Franchot has lived there quite a few years) So, now the decision we have to make, is where do we go until then? Obviously, we can't stay here for much longer. We are thinking the old apartment we used to live in before the house. It was not bad, and hopefully it would be only a few months. Plus, they allow us to have a month to month lease, so there would be no fee for breaking a year long lease. Ugh, enough about all that.

Spent the majority of the day painting Mandy's basement. They picked out a light denim blue color and it looks really nice. Of course I didn't change after going to the park with Senta and the gals, so I probably ruined one of my favorite shirts today with all the paint. Sigh... Oh well. I am beginning to learn that material possessions mean very little to me. Of course, that doesn't mean that I should ruin a practically new shirt, but that is beside the point! lol Tomorrow, second coat in the basement, and calls to more people that perhaps can help our situation.

Aug 29, 2007

Jury Duty

I had my summons come in the mail the other day. I have only been summoned once before and had no luck getting on a jury. I though this might be my lucky time since I have so many other things to worry about, and that is how my fate works, but no... I WANT TO DISPENSE SOME JUSTICE!!!! I have always wanted to have jury duty! Just weird I guess. I did get a chance to sit outside a courtroom for an hour and a half before being rejected. At least I got close! Oh well. Perhaps next yeah eh?

I did have a fun time getting back home. I go into Detroit so little, that I am very unfamiliar with the streets there. I had detailed instructions on getting there, but got all turned around coming home. Why do they have to have so many one-way roads?! I can't tell you how many I tried to go down. Pretty lucky I didn't get pulled over in the ghetto! ha ha Especially since I was driving Mandy's car since it is nicer and can go on the freeway. (haven't had one of those cars in a while!)

Came home, to be thrust into wallpaper removal at Mandy and Franchot's new house. lol Some pretty resilient paper in Trey's room I tell you. But the paper on the stairway came off pretty easy, so that was a bonus. Tomorrow, paint. Yay!! :)

Aug 28, 2007

Something I thought I would share

I have a love for Real Men of Genius. I share this love with my Sister-in-law Mandy, Carl, Lauren and Trey. This love affair is due to the hilarious ads put out by Budweiser. Now, you all know that I am not a drinker, and I detest beer, but these commercials are so funny that I nearly wet myself from laughing so hard, no matter how many times I hear them!! Some of my favorites are "Mr. Giant Taco Salad Inventor", "Mr. 80 SPF Sunblock Wearer", and "Mr. Overzealous Foul Ball Catcher". Carl particularly enjoys "Mr. Rolling Cooler Cooler Roller"! Believe me, these are truly funny, and there is one for everyone. It's even better when you know one of these "Real Men of Genius"!

Enjoy!

Aug 26, 2007

Why I hate Port-a-potties!

Here's some Total Momsense

I love this song!

Is He trying to tell me something?!

It was my job to teach the lesson today in Nursery. Well, since I was on vacation, and then this whole house thing happened, I didn't really prepare my lesson. So, last night (almost midnight), as I am on the phone Senta (who happens to be the Primary President of our ward) we were looking up the lesson. She starts laughing, and betting that it is lesson #31. I flip through, find out that it is in fact the right lesson, and go into fits of giggles myself. The lesson?

"I am thankful for my home"

It think that God is trying to tell me something! And, he put it into a format a 2 year old can understand! Wonderful! ha ha

Senta has requested that it be known that she offered to do the lesson for me out of love and devotion, but I did make it through. I didn't make any rude comments about lenders, or cardboard boxes. (well, I did make one comment about living in a box, but nothing the kids could hear...)

Notes:
An LDS Dictionary of sorts, for those who have no idea what I am talking about.

Nursery: The class for children 18 months to 3 years.
Primary: The name for the children's organization in the church. This includes all children from 18 months to 12 years. (That means Senta is my "boss" and that is why it is not good to let her know I hadn't done my lesson! Ha)
Ward: Our congregation. We split different districts into Wards, so ours is the Westland Ward.

A link to the Lesson, if you are interested in seeing what I endured! :)

Aug 25, 2007

Hotel swimming pool

We stayed overnight at the Comfort Inn while we were in SLC. The boys were very excited because there was a pool. Grandma also bought them snorkling gear. They had a blast! I didn't have such a bad time myself!





Our time in SLC

We decided that we would like to see the sites in Salt Lake before flying out, so we went down a day early. Here are some of the photos.

This is the "Christus" statue at the North Visitors Center in Temple Square. My parents said I cried and cried when I first saw it, but my kids didn't seem to have any problem with an enormous Jesus.
This is the inside of the newly renovated tabernacle. When we were about to leave, one of the organists sat down, unseen, and started to play. Scared us all to death!
Here are the boys descending from one of the doors to the Temple. Carl said he liked this one the best because it made it seem like they were coming out from inside.
Here is a good shot of the Salt Lake Temple. I love this temple. It took 40 years to build it!
Carl took this shot. I love how you can see Moroni peeking out at the top!

Aug 24, 2007

Home Sweet Home

"It's so good to be home"

Alexander Bellanger

I wish I felt the same!! We came home to a jungle in our lawn, a mildew infested front room, and a for sale sign on our house. Yes, we have finally ticked the mortgage company off enough that they plan to auction off our home on the 5th. We are in the process of making plans, and we will inform you all what those plans are when we decide. Well, enough of that, since it just makes me tired.

We did have a nice trip home. The flight into Chicago was horrible. Plus, I decided to get some kind of bug and it reared it's ugly head right before security at SLC International. I was able to buy a 3 dollar pack of pepto, and that seemed to do the trick. Leaving was horrible, and once I lost sight of my folks, I lost it totally. I made a real fool of myself trying to get my shoes back on after the screening, blubbering the whole time. Most people were nice enough to ignore me! Jacob was also a wreck. Cried and cried, and wouldn't even look at my parents after we said goodbye. So sad. I hope that we will be able to arrange for them to come out for Jacob's Baptism in Nov. Only time will tell. Alright, my computer seems to have downloaded some nasty bug that is making this impossible to write, so I will stop. Good to be home...

Aug 21, 2007

Heading home

Tomorrow (well, today technically) we are heading down to Salt Lake City, UT. We are flying out of their on Wednesday, but thought we would go down a day early to see all the sites. It has been a while since we have been there and we are interested in seeing the new pioneer village.

I am really sad to leave. (Carl is very excited, ha) I had to go say good bye to my bother and sister. I made it to the car before bursting into tears, and I thought that was very grown up of me! I will miss everyone, but Michigan seems to be where we are at for the time being. I will be back for posting on Thursday. Bon Voyage!

Aug 20, 2007

Jacob the Cow


Yesterday we were presented with the stunning theatrical presentation of "Jacob the Cow". I was the farmer, and Grandma did vocals. It was quite a spectacle!! I particularly enjoyed his "hooves"!

Blessings for all

From left to right: Ethan, Jill , Aaron, Chelsea, John, Geneva, James, Suzanne, JT, Ryan, Morgan, Alex, Jacob, Carl, Christina.


(Why can't we ever get him to have a straight face? lol?)

Today we, the Bellanger Family, finally had our boys blessed. Yes, they are almost 8 and 5, but better late than never! Their Grandfather John Pace gave them their blessings and their Uncles James Pace and Aaron Zimmerman joined in the circle along with Bishop Nelson. (My Father's Bishop) I am glad that we finally had it done, and that they were able to do it after church so that it was with just the family and close friends.


We took some family portraits while we were waiting for our turn with the Bishop. I am going to take the card down to Wal-Mart tomorrow and print off 5X7's for the family. I am disapointed that my niece Ashley wasn't able to be with us during this vacation! I was so looking forward to getting a family picture of ALL of us. Well, better luck next time eh?

Aug 18, 2007

Highlights of our camping trip

We are back from our camping trip. We had a wonderful time at Warm River. While we were there we fished, 4 wheeled, tubed and ate (a lot!). There are a lot more shots, but I thought I would post the really good ones here. I will have some more shots later from Suzanne's camera, and I will post them when I get them.

Carl caught his first fish on the first day. As you can see, there aren't any real whoppers there! Jacob was the first to catch one, and I will post those photos when I have them.
This ferocious bear attack was captured in the visitors center they have set up at Upper Mesa Falls (about 10 minutes from our campsite). Alex took this picture and I think he did a great job! No fingers or anything!
Here is our Mesa Falls party. Mom stayed at camp because of all the stairs and hiking. WE had a lovely older couple take this for us, and in return we took a shot of them.
This was a sign that was posted in the visitors center. They had a back room full of displays. You could touch furs, look at skulls and dead water bugs (ewwwwwww). I thought this warning was very creative! Here is one of the best shots we were able to get of the falls. They happened to be painting the railings the day we went, so there was a lot of path blocked off, and we couldn't get very close.

On the last night we were at camp, we were visited by a group of skunks. They were at our site when my dad nearly ran one over. Then, they came over to Jim and Suzanne's site and scared us away from our marshmallows. Then, when we thought all was clear, they came up right next to our tent so we had to cower inside for fear of scaring them. My dad left the car unlocked so that if we did get sprayed we could get away from everyone else! ha Thanks Dad!

Aug 12, 2007

Day 4 of our Idaho Trip

Early in the afternoon I went over to Jill's house (my sister) with the boys while Carl and my Mom went shopping in town. She had some clothes that Ethan and Chelsea had outgrown and she figured that Jake, Alex and Lauren could use them. Got a good look at her huge garden and the hundreds of green beans that she has growing. Whew, that's a lot of produce!

Spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around and trying on clothes of my moms. She has a lot of cute stuff and I plan on stealing quite a bit of it! Also packed for out trip to Warm River on Monday. We will be camping until Thursday morning, so no posts for a while.

Tonight there was a Demolition Derby in St. Anthony. Of course I forgot the camera, so no pictures; but boy, what fun!! Lasted about 2 hours. The boys really enjoyed themselves, especially Jacob who was screaming and flapping like crazy!! He did get upset at the end when the car he was rooting for only got 3rd place. Actually brought tears to his eyes!! All in all, another enjoyable day! Tomorrow, Lyman 2nd Ward!

Aug 11, 2007

Part 2

Carl took this picture. Yellowstone suffered another devistating fire a few years ago. Just goes to show you how delicate life is, and that only you can prevent forest fires!

Shot of Old Faithful erupting. I would have had family in the picture, but then they wouldn't have been able to see the show.


After getting back into town, we joined up with my sister and two of her kids at Big Judds. This place is awesome, home of the 1 lb. hamburger! How could I not order this mouthwatering hunk of cow?! Of course I shared with Alex, Jill and Chelsea!





Part one of Day 3

Spent the Day at Yellowstne today as planned. Stopped at one of the side ways to have a spot of lunch before heading onto the sights


At the spot we stoped, we were right next to the river. The boys spent a bit of time skipping stones and cooling their feet. They also enjoyed watching the minnows swim about.

Poor Jacob biffed it on a log a bit after this was taken. landed right on his bootie. Poor guy.


We stopped at the hot springs to look around on our way to Old Faithful. Grandma stayed behind because it was too far of a walk.


Jacob decided that he wanted to take a picture of us. After he dropped the camera, and the argued with Grandpa about this finger placement, he took this great shot!



Aug 9, 2007

Idaho, Day 2


My best friend in highschool was a gal named Tracy Ringel. Her grandparents lived about a block from her off Hwy 33 in the boonies of Rexburg. Across from them and diagonally, there was only empty fields. Well, today Tracy, I got my hair cut in what was once one of those empty fields! :( Grandma Ringels house looked so sad among all of those businesses.

My mom and I went out early this morning and both got our hair cut at one of the 2 local beauty colleges. I think that the gal did a wonderful job, and she was even the owners daughter! So thanks Kirsten Evans, I really like what you did today!! What do you all think?

Later this afternoon, we went with Jill, Chelsea, Ethan and his friend, to see Underdog. The kids really enjoyed it and so did we. They did a pretty good job with it.

We finished off the evening by having spagetti with my folks, followed by a rousing game of Memory and Uno. (Jacob and Alex both acquired mni Uno games in their kids meal at the Phoenix airport.) Then we all went outside to play baseball. There was a lot of cheating done by all! At bedtime, Alex got to use grandma's whirlpool bathtub. He thought that was awesome!

Tomorrow, Yellowstone National Park.

Our First Real Day in Idaho!

We are here!! Yesterday was a LONG day! WE left at 10:35 our time, and got here at 10:40 our time. Two flights and one 4 hour car drive later we made it to Rexburg. I got to see my bother and sister and all their families today and it was pretty emotional for me! I haven't seen them in so long, over 5 years. Poor Carl hasn't seen them in almost 10!!

Today was a fun one once it got started. We sat around most of the morning just catching up with my folks. About 11 we got bored and took a trip into town to take in the new sites. The new temple is beautiful! I wish that it was done so we could see inside.

We ran into the Deseret bookstore, and found out to my utter dismay that Eclipse, the newest book by Stephenie Meyer is sold out and won't be in for another weeks and a half!! So, to all my bookclubbers, I am waiting as well!

My brother Jim, his wife Suzanne and their kids Morgan, Jonathon and Ryan came over after lunch and spent some time. My sister Jill, her husband Aaron and 2 of their kids, Chelsea and Ethan came over to dinner with all of us later in the day. Chelsea didn't stay due to her pressing social schedule. Obviously, I am less important than Hairspray! ha ha ha

So, here we are day one behind us. Tomorrow we plan on going to the movies. My Mom and I also plan on going to the local beauty college to get done up! :)
All of us on the back porch. I had to omit my beautiful Sister-in-Law Suzanne. She is camera shy, although you can see her great gams in both of these.

Ryan and Jacob getting to know each other.
These are Elk that live across the street from my parents property. What a rack!



We went to my parent's neighbor's house to look at all of his cool tractors and engines. Alex really liked going, and he even has a firetruck or two!




Yes, this is an actual Porsche tractor! ha ha Who knew!

Aug 6, 2007

I love Senta!


So I am having the worst time this evening trying to pack, clean and not lose my mind. Then, Senta calls, makes me laugh the entire time, swoops me up, takes me to get another ENORMOUS Speedway Dr. Pepper, takes me shopping to Target, then out to dinner ( Chili fries and pink lemonade!!). I tell you, nothing like a great friend to make life better! Thanks Senta!

Aug 5, 2007

Busy week!

We are leaving for vacation on Tuesday, so this week has been a bit crazy. The heat didn't make it any easier as we have no air conditioning, except for tiny window unit in our room. So, to escape the heat we were everywhere but home! Here is a breakdown of our week...

Monday: Splash park, "Dancing Mama" incident.
Tuesday: Library, Caesarland, another "Dancing Mama" incident!
Wednesday: Wow... I can't even remember!! So sad...
Thursday: Park, Jungle Java.
Friday: Surf's Up movie at the State Wayne.
Saturday: Jack's Baptism and BBQ at Tamara and Ken's
Sunday: Church, packing, washing, panic, mayhem and probably some crying will ensue...at least the boys are with their grandma!!

Whew!! For those of you who don't know, Jungle Java is this fabulous Coffee House/Indoor Play park. You can sit on their leather sofas, drink a smoothie and watch your kids wear themselves out! FABULOUS!! And the best park is it's clean! There's one in Canton, and I highly recommend it! Here is the link and some photos of the place. Click






So, as I said, we are leaving in 2 days for Idaho to visit my folks. We are super excited to go, although not ready in the least! I have yet to pack all of our things, and am always afraid I will leave something important behind. So, I thought I would take a minute to breathe and write a bit before I get back to cleaning and packing. I will be updating throughout the time we are in Idaho, so that we can keep in touch.