Jake has decided to attend Washington State University. It's in Pullman, Washington. He'll major in music. Go, cougars!

The Bookman Cometh!

We all went to Pullman this past Wednesday so that Jake could look around at Washington State University--Wazzu for short. The Bookman statue is in front of the library there. (That may not be the actual title of the statue.) I liked the Bookman. Marissa--not so much. Jake's favorite thing about Wazzu is probably the Student Recreation Center; it has a big, fabulous weight room. Everyone please cross your fingers that WSU decides to give Jake a talent scholarship. The other possibility is the University of Montana (UM) in Missoula, Montana. Am I really old enough to have a child going to college? That does not seem quite right.

We found Oscar's trash can....Olivia did not like it at all. Needless to say after being at the Children's Museum I was feeling more like Oscar the Grouch. The place was extremely overcrowded. I was really dissappointed at how many people they let in there. We hardly got to do anything at all.

Salem making a sandwich at the Sesame Street Deli.

Olivia chowing down on her sandwich, from Mr. Hoopers Market.

Livi is a shopper....that girl knows what she wants. In fact she asked if we needed potatoes so Mason could make fries.

After lunch we did a little retail therapy. We went to Urban Outfitters which is a store that does two things for me....one it's make me feel old as hell...and two it makes me feel fatter than I am. This pictures says it all...Salem and Livi look darling but they are 3 and 5 and neither of them weigh over 40 pounds...

We will probably never grow up....

Livi posing for the camera....the hats were cute but not $50 cute. I was pretty sure they were going to kick us out because all we did was take pictures and laugh. This is what girl days are make of, lunch, new make up and clothes shopping. Megan you can thank me later for buying Olivia lipgloss.

We are breaking them in early. The girls tried on every hat at Urban Outfitters. We have ourselves some girls who were born to shop.

Amie's Dip

Steve's sister Amie made this dip for us on vacation. It's similar to Cowboy Caviar but this is to die for yummy! Hope you try and it and love it as much as I did.

1 can navy beans rinsed I struggle to find navy without bacon flavoring so I sub with white beans
1 can black beans rinsed
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 small white onion chopped fine
4 large tomatoes seeded and chopped fine
1 bunch cilantro chopped fine
1/2 cup Italian or Greek Dressing
1 cup ranch dressing -- I only use thepackets you mix yourself with milk and mayo
as much black pepper as you like
few shakes of hot sauce-Tabasco orwhatever you use
couple dashes of red pepper flakes
chill a few hours or overnight and serve with chips.

The Blue Men freaked me out, they don't speak and they don't have ears! I'm not so sure if I liked it or not. Salem on the other hand loved it! Tons of music and colors.

Salem and Grandpa Steve in Las Vegas!

My little sleeping heads...heading home!~

Are you sick of me yet...

After Palm Springs we headed back to Vegas. Salem was wiped out and slept most of the way. We took the scenic route which wasn't scenic at all. The road was so dippy that most of us got car sick.

The beautiful scenic route, it was five hours of nothing!!!

Once we were back in Vegas we went to In and Out Burger. This is a tradition, we eat there every time we go to Vegas. They have three things on the menu, but it's the best hamburger and fries you will ever eat.

Nothing beats cheap good food....

We went and saw the Blue Man Group on Vegas. We were on the second row or the "poncho" section. Salem took this very serious and worn her poncho through the whole show. I was worried she was going to suffocate.

More vacation

I just can't get enough of Ella, she is possibly the cutest kid ever. She calls me Miss Chantel, and every morning she would say...Hello Cousins.

We had dinner at a wonderful Italian place, Salem was in heaven because they served butter noodles. She was a good eater that night, she wolfed down 5 pieces of garlic bread which were to die for. She ate tomoates and even tried beets and goat cheese.

We went to a place called the Living Desert, it's a zoo of all desert animals. It was pretty cool! Madison was such a good sport, she really is a good sister to Salem.

Salem loved the Meerkats, and even did her Show and Teach today on them.

Palm Springs

Our first stop was Lake Las Vegas, it's just outside of Henderson. You would never believe this place, it's in the middle of no where. It's amazing, it's so green and lush there. It's like this little Tuscan Village. We only spent one night there so we didn't get a chance to really enjoy it.

This is Ella, she has more energy than you could imagine. We had dinner at a place called Lucille's in Henderson. It was wonderful BBQ, it smelled just like Grandma Bernice's house. There was a live band there playing blues and Ella wanted to dance. It was so hilarious, she danced and danced!!

While in Palm Springs we went on the Palm Springs Aerial Tram. It was pretty scary, the floor of the gondola rotated. Cheryl was panicked and hated every minute of the ride.

We stayed in the most amazing place, the condo in La Quinta were beautiful. It was so nice to have warm temperatures. We even picked grapefruits off the trees down there. It was a gated community with 24 hour security so the kids got to go out and play on green grass. A welcome change from all the snow we have had here.

The pools were heated and salt water, which made for wonderful swimming. The kids could not get enough of it. They loved it, and it wore them out which was a bonus for us.

To be young again...

This song thing is so damn funny! Steve threatened to divorce me last night because I knew that Nell Carter was on Gimme a Break! Remember that show. I can't believe how big Tami's kids are, where has the time gone.

Escape in a song

I needed an escape from reality today and this did it for me. Alittle trip down memory lane so I thought I would share it with you. Hopefully it will make you smile as well or atleast sing along.

Facts of Life- I don’t care what anyone says--Mrs. Garrett is alive and well living under the Alias Grandma Faye tucked safely away in Clarkston. It used to make me so mad when we played Facts of Life and I had to be Tuddy. Tuddy come on what about me resembles Tuddy, I am so Blaire. I hear there is a dance that goes along with this that the Ashcrofts have yet to let us in on. (so try singing it, I thought I knew the words. Theres a time you gotta go, you know da dah dah da watermelon, the facts of Life.)

Smurfs- Member getting up as early as we could Saturday morning. Dragging the pillows to the living room to watch Saturday morning cartoons. Speaking spots the night before even.. Ahh the simple life.

Redneck Girl- The Yota and the good old Bellamy Brothers. This was stuck in the truck for years while Brayden was on his mission until Weez taught us the art of using the dikes to get it out. But not before we learned every word to the whole tape.

I believe in you - Who can forget Moms Don Williams phase.

Silver Spoons-Playing house and speaking to have you husband be Rickie Shroader..

Spoonful of Sugar- Just because who doesn’t love Mary Poppins. My favorite part is still the realistic bird when she sings "A robin feathering her nest, has very little time to rest"

Reading Rainbow- Does this remind anyone else of Mr. Hollingsworth.

Love one Another— Only because while we were all singing along to Facts of Life I know Rena was listening to this in the only room, Only by a different artist.

Cherish- Don’t get mad Hanna but this is funny. When we used to set up a recording studio with earphones and the whole works. Somewhere out there is Channy singing along to Cherish.

Yellow rose of Texas- For some reason this was just plain funny to me. I remember the song but did the show really exist. Did we watch it?

Inspector Gadget- This has been making me crazy, Penny and what is the dogs name?

Different Strokes- What you talking bout Willis? With the old man that looks like Hal Thompson.

Dukes of Hazzard-Ahhhh Hazzard County. If we couldn’t be married to Rickie Shroader we fought over Bo and Luke. And still one of the best gifts even is when Grandma and Grandpa got us signed pictures. Priceless

Could I have this Dance. This reminds me of Joell. She loved Anne Murray (Just another women in love, a kid out of school, a fire out of control, just another fool. Is that right?)

The only things that was really disappointing was that I couldn't find Zoobalezoo?

We're baaaaaaaaaaaaack

We had a wonderful time in Palm Springs, I will post some pictures later. Salem didn't want to come home and who could blame her. The weather was almost 70 degrees and sunny the entire time. She wondered why we couldn't just move there, ummm first off the condo we stayed in was listed for over $600,000 not really in my price range.

That is so scary about Jake and Missy's school. It really is sad what this world has come to you! love and miss you all and i will send pictures later.

Was on the blog tonight and Aunt Vickie posted this but didn't hit publish on the bottom so I did for her. Harper, Will and Ellie.

The World's a Crazy Place

Last Friday, there was a lockdown at Jake & Marissa's high school. Actually, they locked down the entire school district. Apparently, an upset former student left his family a note saying that he was going to kill his girlfriend and then go to the school and kill himself. The family did the responsible thing and told the authorities. Since the authorities didn't know which school, they locked them all down.

Jake was in the school. He got locked in. Marissa was in early-morning seminary. She got locked out. She went to a friend's house not far from the high school and called me to tell me where she was. Eventually, school officials cancelled school for the day. Jake missed one of his college classes because of the lockdown.

As I was driving to get Marissa at the friend's house, we passed the school. There was an ambulance and a fire truck between the high school and the nearby middle school. Later, the news reported that the upset former student's body was found in the fields between the two schools. Luckily, no one else was hurt.

Isn't the world a crazy place? --Joell

New Blogger

Okay I will say...I am new to the whole bloggin thing and I have no idea how it works. So Megan give us the low down. Anyway the Bender's are heading to California tomorrow for a week so blog without me. I will post pictures when we get back.

Love...
Hannah

Hey Hey

Tilly and Liv at Grannies

Okay I'll start so noone will have to be shy. Hello My name is Megan and I'm a recovering blogger.. HI...
Kidding won't this be a fun place to all keep in touch and see what everyone is doing. FUN...

As you know Aly and Brad are in Jamica and traveling the world. (Hopefully she will post a bikini shot later) Braxton is with Mom so I included a picture of him. Cute isn't he..

Hey I have a blog too if you wanna see. megkenney.blogspot.com.