Jakob and his cousin Sierra

Here is Sierra, the first cousin of Bri and Jake. They love doing things together. She comes over to visit a lot and we even ride together on my big dinosaur. I just can't wait for her to get bigger so we can run and play together outside this summer.

Little Guy

The many faces of Jake. He is growing up so much and here he is giving his mean face. When you look at him it is so hard to believe that he is going to be two years old soon. He loves reading, playing cars, watching movies about trucks, and his dog Shane. His most favoite thing is his big sister Bri. It is so amazing how God blesses us in so many ways that we don't even ask for. This little one is a wonderful blessing and such a joy, oh and smart, oh and handsome, oh and cute, oh and funny, oh and great, and nice, and strong, and oh, you get the picture. He is the best.

American Girl Book Club and the Library

On Thursday nights we go to the library and this week it was American Girl Book Club. There was a wonderful speaker there that talked to the girls about Mexico. She had many things from her country and showed them to the girls. Bri is modeling the native dress from Mexico. The girls also learned the Mexican hat dance.

My Costume

I was very proud of Bri's costume, because I haven't used a sewing machine for years. She loved it and we both thought it looked great. The ladies at the fabric store really helped me and talked me through the things necessary to get the trim in the correct place. Maybe she can use it again a Halloween.

Charming Snakes

Papa Troy let Bri use his snake charming pipe. She looks like a real snake charmer.

The culture of India

My dad, Papa Troy, had been to India and had so many things we used to make the culture board. He gave me money which is called Rupee, and the horn came off one of the things used to pull people through the streets, he even had a snake charmer pipe. We didn't bring it but Bri did get her picture with it. I learned so much about the country of India.

World Thinking Day-Girl Scouts 2009

Today was a great day. It was world thinking day for the Black Diamond Girl Scout Troup. My troup did the country of India. As you can see in the pictures we all had on our costumes and were wearing our jewerly. The best part of the day was meeting new girls and eating different foods from the countries that were represented today. My costume was hand crafted and the jewerly was from my Nana's jewerly box. I'm sure all the girls were just as excited about their costume as I was about mine. Our troup chose India, the Daisy girls did the United States of America, and the Junior troup did Ireland. There was food from each country, and every trop made SWAPS to trade with all the girls that came today. Part of our troup danced and the other part talked about the country of India.

Camping In at the Lock In

Here are the girls when we first got to our Camp Site. We were getting our sleeping bags out, our blankets, snacks, pj's and all the stuff we were not going to need. Not one of the girls or parents got any shut eye during the lock in. What fun would it be to just

go to the lock in and sleep. We did play some games, eat, talk and even judged the guards at the
mall. We met some new friends and during this time we all became better friends. Some of the girls go to one school and some girls go to a different school and being in girl scouts brings us altogether.

Oh No,,, this pictue was not at the mall it is from the school. It is the AR award party for the kids who read at least 20 books this nine weeks. Well as you can see the girl scout girls are in this picture too.

Just being Bri

Here are a few candid shots of the evening. As you can tell it was all smiles and fun. What a great time we all had. It was so much fun I'm sure we will be going back next year, the Lord willing. It was great to be with other girl scouts from all over the state and even from other states. One neat thing that happened was that I ran into a former student of mine that moved away the year she was in my classroom. It was so neat to see her again and talk to her mother. She is still doing very well and is still a very cute girl. The girl with Bri, was a former student of mine too. She is a very special
gal with such a big heart. These girls have an impact on my life just I hope and pray I have on their life. We just hope that all of these friendships will last a life time. During the shopping time of the night we found some masage chairs. We stopped and took a rest. Then during the dance party we were making funning faces for the DJ's.

Activities for the girls: face painting,scrap booking, book marks, finger nail painting, walking, jumping rope, puppet making, twister, and many more

The first stop , face painting. I think I will get a lighting bolt. Then we went to the bead station and made a bracelet. There were so many choices to make so we tried them all. All the helpers were older girl scouts. It was a well planned out event and one that was so much fun.

Shake Your Groove Thing

We were at the best party in town. The DJ led the kids in many dances. As you can see the kids weren't the only ones enjoying the dance party. Many of our moms danced with their kids, and many kids danced with each other. This was a big, big, hit of the lock in party. They even played some oldie but goodies, like YMCA and THRILLER. It didn't matter if you knew the dance as long as you got out there and "Shook your Groove Thing".

Dance , Dance, Dance

Here in the crowd you can see the girls
watching the DJ who led them
in dance after dance. They are now
on the floor waving their hands in the air.

The Troup Picture

Okay, get the picture. These are the girls who came to the Lock -In. They are all still awake and it is around 4:30 am.

LOCK IN /WHERE/ The Mall

Here she is.... Our Fearless Leader....Glowing Teeth....and wearing a smile.
This is Krista, she led up our toup and over her shoulder you can see her daughter and Brianna along with other girls from the troup.

The night started at 9:00 pm when they asked us to go outside in the cold for 30 minutes before letting us back in to start the party.

The schedule looked like this:
10:00 to 12:00 shopping
11:30 snack from the food court
12:00 to 2:00 Dance Party with some of the best DJ's ever
2:00 to 5:00 Activities and games
5:00 to 6:00 pack up , breakfast and time to check out

Oh, all of this took place from 9:00 pm to 6:00 am