Happy Birthday Grace and Grandma!

Grace turned 8!! 8 is great! Grace is Great!

We celebrated Grace's birthday at the Pickerington Central versus Pickerington North football game at Crew stadium. She got to be with a lot of her favorite people - so we enjoyed a fun evening. 

We are all looking forward to her baptism next week. She had an interview with the Bishop and he said she is ready! I believe she has been ready for a long time. Grace really tries to make good choices and is often looking for ways to help other people. 

Last week - I was picking up our friend Susan from taking her car to be fixed. Grace usually looks for any reason to spend time with Susan. So she was happy when I invited her to come with me. She hopped in the car and then we drove to Susan's house so we could follow her. As we drove back by our house - Tanner was in the driveway looking kind of lonely. Grace asked me to stop the car. She said she would go play with Tanner so he would have someone to be with and hopped out of the car. Tanner's smile let me know that she had done something wonderful for him. Her smile showed me that she did it out of love. 

Grace is a lot like my Mom. They both are wonderful to the people around them. 

I don't think I have been with my mom on her birthday since the year Grace was born. But I want to tell her Happy Birthday and I wish I could be with her today! She is my rock. She is the one I talk politics with. I can brag to her about my kids and she will agree with my every word. She tells me to buck up when I am feeling inadequate or down. She loves my husband and reminds me to like him when I am upset with him. She teaches me about friendship. She hates shopping as much as I do. (Except I have noticed that if she is with grandchildren or shopping for grandchildren - it seems to make her happy.) She loves the gospel. She loves the temple. She talks to my kids on the phone - just to see how they are doing and what is going on in their lives. She love me. If I listed all the things she has done for me or taught me - I could write a very long book. But these are the things that mean the most to me today. I love you Mom! Happy Birthday!

Hannah I Love You, Hannah I DO

Hannah's been reading my blog and told me yesterday that there is not enough "Hannah" in it. So I am writing this to tell her that I love her just as much as all the rest. And I also want to remind her to go look at her baby book, scrapbook and the five boxes of pictures that were taken of her in her first 3 years. : ) I say that with love.

Hannah, 10 years from now, Tanner and Grace WILL come to you and complain that they don't have a baby book, a scrapbook OR any pictures from the age of 3 months to 3 years. Just tell them to go read the blog. 

all my love,

mom

Something More Exciting To Focus On

I am tired of politics. I know who I am voting for. Nothing anyone says or does at this point will surprise me or change my mind.

On to a more uplifting subject to read and hear about --- BYU Football. byucougars.com is my new favorite website. Buckeyes are so last year. : )   (I know - those of you that know me know I never have been a big fan.) But if you want to cheer for something really great you should start paying attention to this team, their coach and what they stand for. This interview linked below is awesome!

Bronco Mendenhall on the Jim Rome show

Happy Birthday Grandpa Lange!

My first memory of Dad Lange is washing dishes with him after the first Lange family Sunday dinner I attended. Steve and I had just started dating and he took me home to meet the family which I thought was a big deal. To Steve it wasn't. He would have taken anyone home who wanted to go. His home was that kind of place. Friends were always welcome. Hugs were given to all but a fuss was never made.  

My kids always loved to visit Heber because Grandpa would honk and wave to everyone he saw. People would wave back and smile. It was like being with a celebrity. Oh yeah. He is a celebrity. We loved watching him ride with the city council in the parade. We smile when he introduces us to complete strangers and tells them how wonderful we are. 

Dad, you have had an eventful year this year. We hope this coming year is full of peace and good health. Thank you for being so good to us and our children. Our children carry your name - we hope they will always carry your goodness. We love you! Happy Birthday!

Catching Up

September has gone by really fast. Grace missed the first few days of school because she was sick. I started teaching seminary at 6am every school day. Hannah is playing volleyball. Eliza is playing tennis. They have matches on opposite days. Grace is taking dance. She is supposed to be taking piano but I haven't figured out how to get there and make it to everything else and breathe. And Steve is traveling a lot this month. So this is a quick catch-up of what is going on in Ohio.

This was the last day of summer. And the last day of an empty square on my calendar. I love empty squares.
Labor Day Parade. We went to cheer on our friends who were in the parade for various reasons. NOT to get candy. Someday my children will learn that parades are not all about the candy. But it will not be in Pickerington.
Tanner and I took a trip to the zoo with Amy, Gabby and Josh. The three did really well together. I was packing some snacks before we left home. Tanner saw that I had only packed two bags of goldfish. He told me to pack another bag so they wouldn't have to all fight over the goldfish. Smart boy.
This is our new pet, Fred. He is a webworm and is now in a cocoon in a jar in my kitchen. The day we caught him, Tanner and I were at the store. Half-way through the store he asked me if I thought Fred was missing us. I assured him Fred was OK and thought to myself, "Fred is probably thankful that the earthquakes have stopped for a season." Tanner likes to shake Fred. We have a picture of Fred because Grace is the star-student this week. And the "fill-in -the- blank poster has a square for a pet. My children usually have to leave that square blank. And I am OK with that.  
This is my roof. And notice the missing shutter. While the missionaries were over for dinner, eating in the dark, we watched the shingles fly off. And people in cars slow down in front of our house and stare. At one point, most of the shingles were sticking straight up. The 70 mph winds gave us quite a show. I think I know what I am getting for Christmas.