We had a really good Thanksgiving

Like REALLY good. We had two Thanksgiving dinners, went to Trafalga, played front yard volleyball, nearly dominated at Minute to Win It date night, shopped at four in the morning, and partied at Costco. 

Unfortunately it's back to the grind, but I'm going to be better at this whole blogging thing. How does a 25 Days till Christmas series sound? Good? Good. 

Is it weird that I used "we" instead of "I"? I'm really grateful that I can do that. I'm really grateful for that boy.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

It's EXTREMELY hard to find a picture of my dad because he's always the one taking them.

I have The World's Number One Best Dad Ever. If you think that your dad is The World's Number One Best Dad Ever, you are wrong. Unless you are my brother or sister in which case, you also have The World's Number One Best Dad Ever. Seriously, he is so awesome. I've never met a person who is more intelligent, sincere, funny, helpful and caring. He's the best dad because I can call him anytime on any day with any problem and he will fix it. Even when I live on the other side of the country, he is still able to help me solve all of my problems.
Three phrases that my dad has never ceased to repeat to me are: "Sometimes you have to do hard things", "Remember who you are" and in his singing voice "there is beauty all around when there's love at home". I love these phrases because they perfectly emulate who my dad is. He is such a hard worker and enables others to work just as hard. He never forgets who he is. I've never once seen my dad contradict, with his actions, the things that he says. He is always completely true to himself and the standards he has for himself. And my dad is one of the most loving people I've ever met. He is mindful of others needs, he shows so much respect for everyone and he always puts other before himself. He is an insanely good example to me in all that he does.
So, like I said, my dad wins the contest. He is so wonderful and I'm so lucky to have him for my dad. If you don't know him, you should because he's awesome!
Happy Birthday, Dad. I love you!

Twinsies!

i guess since it's facebook official, i can finally announce the newcomers to our family. when my sister told me, i felt like i was being punk'd. it was so weird. but i have proof now. i'm a believer. here's some proof for you in case you need it, too.

congrats and good luck to sarah and kenneth!

BIRTHDAY BONANZA

i'm not real big on birthday blog posts, but this week is a special one. my mom and grandma are celebrating their birthday today and sarah had her birthday on the 10th! each of them are women i greatly look up to and are some of my most avid readers and therefore, deserve a birthday blog post!

we'll keep things simple and go youngest to oldest.

sarah:

i guess it's hard to say how much a sister can mean to you. if you don't have a big sister, you can't really understand the kind of love one can give. sarah has ALWAYS loved me. she loves everyone. she is patient and understanding. she lifts and supports. she knows how to give advice and more often than not, does it by being a good example. i've learned so much from watching her. she's such a good mom/wifey and i want to be like her. she knows how to make any situation light and fun and she laughs at stupid things which is a good thing because i do too. maybe i get it from her. i couldn't ask for a better big sister! (except for annie, but i think they're tied)

mommy:

how do i choose what to say about my mom? SHE IS INCREDIBLE! seriously, though. everyone who will probably read this probably knows my mom so they already know this because as soon as you meet her you know she's great. she can do everything and anything. but, not only is she a great mom, she's a best friend. i love to call her and talk with her. she is always funny and lifts my spirits. she can give great advice and has the right answer to every problem. she's not afraid to tell me how things really are and what i need to do to be better. she also knows how to make me feel good about myself when she's proud of me. she is the kind of person i want to be. everyone wants to be her friend and she is friends with all of them. she works so hard and does her work well. she taught me how to laugh with others and how to be willing to laugh at myself when necessary. she knows what is important in life and encourages others to focus on those things, too. she wants the best for others and has taught me how to obtain the things that are best for me. she has been my everything. she has taught, laughed, cried with, and most importantly, loved me. she literally is the best mom in the world.

grandma e:

if you want to meet one of the most amazing people in the world, meet my grandma eldredge. really, i don't know what our family would do without her. i would have to say one of the most important things that i've learned from my grandma is how important family is. grandma has always done things to make sure that our family stayed close. even though she lives far away, she always made an effort to come down to see us. she planned times for us to spend weekends with her and our cousins. besides all the things that she's done for our family, she's just a great person. i love the way she teaches me how to love. she is always encouraging us to look at the blessings we have and then find ways to bless others. she give us opportunities to serve each other and even those that we don't know.

i keep trying to name all of the other great things about grandma and the list gets pretty long. if i sum up grandma, i come up with Christ-like. she is such a great representative for Christ. she is so diligent in being the best that she can be. she loves completely and serves completely. i love her so much and hope that i can be as wonderful as her someday. the world is a better place because of her and i think so many people could agree with me because she has blessed so many.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Massachusetts in a Week.

welp, this last week my mom, dad and brother ben came to visit me. we did all sorts of things and it was so fun. so fun that i don't even really know how to write about everything we did! they came on sunday and stayed at the nixon's house with me until wednesday. we hung out with the nixon's on those days and then on thursday i got to go with my family to do whatever we wanted for the rest of the week! so many days off. ahh. so i guess i'll just put pictures up from the highlights because we really did way too much stuff for me to write about it all. i'll expound where necessary.

we started off on monday with a tour of a cemetary. sounds weird but it was actually really amazing. we could've spent hours there.

this is us at havahd yahd. that's john harvard in the background. i touched his shoe.

mark took us on a guided tour of concord, lexington and cambridge. this is at the minute men monument. can you tell that ben was really interested? haha

we went to walden pond at the end of the day and put our feet in. (this is one of only three photos that dad is actually in. i promise he was there.)

on wednesday we started at 6:30! in the morning and did some of the freedom trail. i loved it, but i can't wait to go back and see more.

this is us at the top of the green monster during batting practice. it was way cool except i was afraid for my life the entire time! i'm pretty sure they were aiming for me! haha not really.. none of them actually got that close to me, but i was still scared. ben, on the other hand, was just laughing at my mom and i screaming and clinging to one another.

before a game, there is this street with all these fun things to do. ben had the youth record for a while! but i'm pretty sure he threw faster than a lot of the adults we saw, too. oh, and he got that cool hat that he left in my room. oops.

this is ben at his first red sox game! (that's not really where are seats were-he's a cheater)

he's good at baseball, but no good at pre-18th century games. this is the plymouth plantation where all the people dress up in period clothing and speak in funny accents and pretend they don't know what t.v.'s are.

this guy was way cool. it was amazing how they could keep their character and answer so many different questions about the time.

welcome to p-town. yikes. we thought it would be cool to drive all the way to the end of the cape... nope. turns out, provincetown is a gay community. SURPRISE! it was kind of the most frightening experience i've had in a while. i don't know who this gem of a woman is, but we took a picture of her.

here's another scary sighting of the day. don't worry, there was a furry pink tail on the back to top it off.

it was actually a really pretty place. a very scary, pretty place.

it probably wouldn't have been so bad had we known what we were getting ourselves into. but we didn't. the closer we got to town, the more suspicious we became and then suddenly it hit us! we walked up and down the street for a while because the architecture was really nice. but, after walking into a few "antique/collectibles" shops and having to cover ben's eyes, we decided it was time to go. oh, also, just to make things awkward, my mom and i were wearing matching sweatshirts! isn't that cute? i didn't walk next to her haha.

this, however, is newport, RI. and it is pretty. we went on a cliff walk next to the ocean and all along were these huge "summer cottages" what? they were mansions. and they were everywhere. it was really incredible.

this was day one at the beach! we actually went here after our little mishap on p-town. we needed a refresher haha. we even saw two sea lions, otis and spunkmeyer.

day two at the beach! we body surfed for a while, but i've watched a little too much discovery channel lately because i was REALLY afraid of sharks.

on the way home, we stopped at some places from my grandma eldredge's childhood. she grew up in the town next to where i live right now so that's way cool.

this is where she went to sixth grade.

and this is where she lived! it was white then and not as big. and cuter, if you ask me. it was neat to see where she grew up and read the stories she sent for us. i really look up to her and admire her for keeping so many records of her experiences. it helps me get to know her better and makes me want to record my experiences for my grandchildren. she's an amazing person.

to top of the week, we went to church. that was fun, but i was sad because after church i was going to have to leave them and i really REALLY wanted to stay with them. my dad gave me a blessing, though, and i'm so grateful for a wonderful daddy who is always worthy to help me through anything. i love my family so much and i'm certain they are the best family in the world. they always support me and make me feel loved. i'm sad i don't get to be with them right now, but i'm happy because eventually i'll come home and then we get to be together for eternity! all in all, it was a great week!

378 FE7

when i get married, my husband will be doing all of the registry work. today, i vowed to never enter another RMV, not ever. over the last couple weeks i've come near unto suicidal while trying to get my car registered. however, today was successful! there were tears and bloodshed but it was worth it. why? because my license plate has two 7's on it!

...sorry that this is the most entertaining thing i have to post about this week. also, thanks to ken who pretty much did all the work. love you.

Some things are meant to BE

Dear Amy,

I don't have one single memory that doesn't have you in it. I used to find that highly annoying but now I realize I wouldn't have it any other way. You are the joy of my life. I know it hasn't always seemed that way and we've definitely had our moments but I love you more than I've ever been able to tell you. You find good in everything and everyone. You have a light about you. No, it's more like a sparkle. Something about you just sparkles. You so easily draw others near you and make them feel good about themselves. You know how to make fun out of any situation. You make everything colorful and beautiful. When I think of you I can only think of smiles and laughter.

I'm sad that I'm going to miss all the wonderful new things you'll be doing soon. I wish that I could be there to have sleepovers and go to lunch and go running with you. I know you're going to be doing amazing things and you'll have so much fun with all the new people you'll meet. I can't wait to see the wonderful young woman that you'll turn in to.

I'm grateful that you are my sister and even more grateful that you're my very best friend. I love talking to you on the phone and hearing how you're doing. I love everything about you and I look up to you in so many ways. Thank you for everything. I love you.

Don't lose your sparkle ;)

Love always,

Jo