Marianne's Family

May 2010 - Everything Old is New Again!

An unknown water leak behind my shower wall and under the toilet, caused the sub-floor under the bathroom and into the hall. The "lovely" pink tiles from the 50's finally had to go!!!

Aubrianne and I went to Home Depot to pick the new tile for the floor and walls - as everything had to come out! Sweet Rusty and Aubrianne helped me to get a new tub and pedestal sink (since those weren't covered by insurance) to help give the room a completely new look.

I think that my favorite thing is the crushed rock decorative border on the shower wall.

Part 2: my sad looking carpet was next to go---I asked if we could refinish the oak floor underneath the carpet instead of putting down new carpet...they said yes!

My sofa wouldn't fit in any other room, so I used it to decorate the driveway.

Here is the sanded oak-what a beautiful site...

After sanding came a dark stain and the first coat of poly.

A second coat of poly and some time to dry and the floors look amazing.

My old furniture is too pitiful to put on this great floor....anyone care to donate a new living room set...my floors would be so much less embarrassed! I was just so pleased with the fantastic service I received from my State Farm team and Watermasters Reconstruction for the transformation.

May 2010

May brought warmer temps and some major storms. We were able to see dear friends from Indiana…(now Colorado). They were sweet enough to come and spend Mother’s Day afternoon with us at Jeremy and Andreya’s house. They came to Dallas to pick up an angel that the stork left them…a beautiful baby boy. They named him Mitchell.

Brannon went with the MDT graduates to NYC.

He ate New York Pizza....(and got some cool offers for auditions and a talent manager!)

Beautiful sweet Charley went to Long Beach to visit Court.

They went to Vegas to play and have fun.

Kaitlyn rocks the Bowling Alley Karaoke almost every weekend.

Elle loves to watch The Wiggles....she loves to dance and sing already!

She insisted on wearing her daddy's socks...not matching...a brave fashion choice.

My sister Gena had a house fire due to a lightening strike.

Everyone was safe and they will be living in a trailer on their farm while repairs are made for the next few months.

My awesome nephew Lewis asked his sweet Kara to marry him. They are planning to get married in the Mt. Timpanogos LDS Temple in Utah before the fall semester at BYU.

April 2010

April was a fun and busy month. General Conference, Easter, Brannon's trip to LA and his graduation from BYU.

Elle has learned to "tuller"aka color--look at her intense concentration...genius at work!

We went to Stonebridge Ranch Easter Celebration for the kids. Elle saw the Easter Bunny - she thought he was interesting and was not afraid at all. She rode the train with mom and dad. She saw goats, pigs, chicks and ducks. I don't think she will be a veternarian...she didn't want to touch the animals.

Brannon and his cousins, Alex and Lewis were able to go to SLC for General Conference....so jealous!

We celebrated Easter at Aubrianne and Rusty's house. The missionaries from church were able to join us for a yummy dinner. Of course hunting Easter eggs was included...Elle caught on quickly and was so excited to find the eggs, fill her basket and show us her bounty. (we let cousins and her buddy William have the candy out of the eggs...that took some great sneaky moves by Aunt Kate!

Kate and her FHE buddies make sure to keep WalMart interesting on Monday night. Tyla came home to celebrate her 20th birthday with her G-town friends.

The Actor's Headshot

Brannon and Court hanging out in LA

April Book Club was a choice of any novel by Jodi Picoult. I chose her newest book called House Rules. I love her work because it makes me think about the difficultly of situations and living in someone else’s shoes. House Rules was a great read about the challenge of having an autistic child and being a single mom. Her son becomes entangled in the legal system and can’t communicate well enough to help himself. It keeps you guessing until the end!

March 2010

My awesome friend Regina was able to drop in and visit from Wilmington, DE. I miss my work buddy so much! I'm still mad at CDC for transferring her to Philly...but, if they will send her back, I will forgive them.

Brannon celebrated St. Patrick's Day the way a good BYU Scotch/Irishman should...hanging with friends in kilts.

Apparently Brannon likes to ride with his head out of the window. Is this a Utah thing....should I be worried?

Ellianne went for her first ride on a carosal. She was very serious about the entire matter!

She also had her very first Chocolate shake from the famous Keller's Hamburgers. She loved it. She took possession and you can see by her expression, she wasn't interested in giving it back!

Aubrianne also let her take charge of feeding herself. She loves chocolate pudding...especially with strawberries.

Her newest entertaining trick of the month was hiding in her closet during evening prayers. She thought that if mommy and daddy had their eyes closed, she could hide and wouldn't have to go to bed. She did it every night for weeks!!

One of my 'adopted' daughters, Tyla came home from college for Spring Break. She and Kaitlyn got to hang out and catch up on fun and general craziness.

This is my Albuquerque class. I was there from March 15-25th. To my right is a great co-trainer from Mid-America PTC, Regina Charter. We had so much fun teaching together and we really enjoyed our time in New Mexico. Our class was fun to teach because we had great students. And even though I had to spend my birthday in the airport and on a plane...it was good at the end when Regina and I went out for a good steak dinner. (my favorite!)

For our Book Club this month, we were to choose any Newberry Award Winner. I consulted my good friend Libby (an excellent elementary school librarian) and she recommended Walk Two Moons. I loved it...a funny yet emotional journey of a young girl seeking to know what became of her mother. Her eccentric grandparents add to the humor and comfort of this story.

Mild temperatures and lots of wind made for a great weather month...but the BIG water leak beneath my house made it expensive and a blessing.....more to come!!!

February 2010

February was a record cold month here in Texas. We even had some snow---this one was over 12 inches. I was in Texas for most of the month, just going to Oklahoma City for a couple of days to teach a customized course. I got to have dinner with my of great former students, Dana.

Aubrianne and Rusty's House

My House

Elle's first snowfall. She wanted to taste it, but didn't want to make

a snowman with Daddy...it was to cold to touch and she refused to .

keep her gloves on.

My cat Bailey (inheirited from Kate when she moved out)

hates the cold. He spent each evening sitting as close to

me as he could get.

Our book club selection for February

was Crossing to Safety. It was a great

read. Very thought provoking and descriptive.

January 2010

January was a good start to 2010 for me. Brannon started back to school at BYU for his last semester there. I worked - just meetings-no travel. Fun activities included a get back to walking committment at night with Dorothy, Libby and me; book club and Relief Society Friendship seminar. We experienced a very wet and rainy month and my yard looked like a lake. Aubrianne ran the Half-Marathon this year in Fort Worth in under 2 hours. We cheered her across the breezy cold finish line. Court was hoping to launch the Freedom Charger this month. Although the infomercial is completely edited and ready for air---they are out of $$ for media time. (anyone looking for a great investment opportunity?) Kaitlyn is working for Macaroni Grill and is a fantastic server. Ellianne is growing like crazy - picking up new signs each day from her Baby Signing Time videos. (she loves watching them and Aubrianne was able to purchace the entire set) I am going to have to watch with her to catch up.