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Movin' On....

Well, PIO no more. Hugh is moving on. Today is his last shift that will require him to be concerned with how he will appear in front of the camera. A few weeks ago, he received a phone call from a well respected Deputy Chief named Jeff Case who asked Hugh to be his F.I.T (Field Incident Technician). Although I had heard this term before, I didn't really know what it meant. Basically, Hugh will be Chief Case's right hand man. Assistant to the Chief. They will work together on calls and and incidents, and this is PERFECT for Hugh since he will be testing for Chief in the next few years. It's like on the job training! So, his last appearance on the news will be tomorrow morning. He's very happy about his new position, as am I! It is really an honor to be asked to be a FIT and it just shows how much Hugh is respected on the department. I'm a proud wife!!!

Crazy Day at School

'Nuff said.

Caitlin's Christmas List

I found this list on the refrigerator.

Caitlin's Present List

1. Crayon Maker

2. Box of Crayons

3. DC Shoes

4. Sock Monkey

5. Lap Desk

6. Taylor Swift CD

7. Flute Earrings

8. Joann's gift card

9. Ace of Cakes Gourmet Cake Maker

10. Barnes and Noble Gift Card

11. Art Kit

12. Tie Dye Kit

13. Webkinz (Weimeriener and Giraffe)

14. New Scripture Case

15. Clothes

16. Target Gift Card

REALLY???? Good luck with that Caitlin.....

Our Thanksgiving

What a busy weekend!! Because we have firefighters in our family who have crazy work schedules, we had Thanksgiving with Hugh's family on Friday. And because my dad is a truck driver who works nights and doesn't have holidays off, we did Thanksgiving with my family on Saturday. So, Thursday - the actual holiday - was just the five of us! We woke up, went to breakfast at Cracker Barrell, and then to the movies! We saw "New Moon" (Team Jacob!!) and then "Old Dogs" (not so good, but oh well). Then home for grilled chicken sandwiches and Christmas decorating! We ended the night watching "Elf" and drinking homemade hot chocolate and eating Krispy Kreme doughnuts! It was a wonderful day!!

Connor, Hugh & Courtney

Me & Caitlin

Caitlin had a tight hold on the doughnuts!

On Friday, we headed over to Kim's to spend the day with Hugh's family. It was a great day. The weather was gorgeous, and we all had a great time stuffing ourselves and catching up with each other.

Hanging out with my niece Karlie.

Emmi & Karlie playing. Know why Emmi is smiling? She's looking at her favorite Aunt - me!! ha ha ha

Kammy, Hugh & Matini


All of the boys! On top is Malachi, Robert, Rocko, Cooper. On the bottom is Jordan, Demetrius, Chase, Connor and that's Elby holding Matini.

This is the recreation of a picture we took a few years ago when Karlie was a baby. Didn't quite work out to be a circle....it's more like the letter "Q". Starting at the bottom and going left - Kailey, Courtney, Emmi, Caitlin, Ashley, Taylor, Kacey & Karlie. All the girls!!

Saturday we went to my parents house. Uncle Ray & Aunt Carol were in town, and it was great to see them. I forgot to take pictures over there, but the kids took a few. I know, I'm a slacker.

Courtney's cute new shoes.

Caitlin!! This girl does NOT take a bad picture!!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and are all now gearing up for Christmas!!!

Happy Thansgiving!!

I have so much to be thankful for!! My wonderful husband and children, all of my parents, my many siblings and the rest of my very large family, my dogs, my amazing friends, my spirituality, my health, my home, food on my table. I have countless blessings that fill my life everyday. I'm so glad that there is a holiday to sit and reflect on all that we are grateful for.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

My Aunt Moe

Aunt Moe and I at her wedding. I'm wearing my very favorite sailor dress.

I had the COOLEST Aunt growing up. Aunt Maureen...affectionately known as Aunt Moe. Everyone called her Moe. She drove the sweetest brown Camaro - and she drove it FAST. She was only 16 years older than me - she was my Mom's baby sister. She moved from Illinois to Tucson when she was around 25 to take a job as a teacher at the Tucson School for the Deaf & Blind. That was the other thing that was so cool about my Aunt. She knew sign language. She spoke with her hands even when she was speaking to me with her voice. I loved it. I always had her teach me different words and I had quite a sign language vocabulary when I was young. As I got older, she would drive up to Phoenix and take me down to Tucson to hang out with her for the weekend. I have great memories of driving in her Camaro and talking and talking with her about everything. I remember her telling me to hold of on shaving my legs for as long as I could because once you started shaving, you had to do it all of the time, and it was a pain! (I held off until I was 12. She wished I would have waited longer.) Her favorite color was brown, so my favorite color was brown. She had a deaf roommate named Rosa who had long, frizzy hair. I loved it when she would put my hair in a bun. I remember once I kept begging and begging her to do my hair. I was evidently annoying her because when it came time to do the bun, she looked at me straight in the eyes and said "Honey, I love you, but you are a nag." I remember that well. Makes me laugh now. She met Mark Winter and they were married in June 1982. She had given me this beautiful Sailor dress for my birthday that year, and she told me to wear it to her wedding. I loved that dress. I treasured that dress. I still have that dress. It hangs in my closet. It is the one dress that I will not let my girls play dress-up with....it's too special.

Aunt Moe was killed in a plane crash on November 20, 1983. She was 29. She and Mark and two other friends had flown to Vegas for the weekend. Mark and his friend were both pilots, and they flew themselves there. The other man was flying home that Sunday in a snow storm when they flew straight into the side of a mountain in Wikieup, Arizona. They were all burned beyond recognition and dental records had to be used to identify the bodies. I remember when my mom got the phone call and her reaction is something I will never forget. It took several days for them to recover the bodies because of the location of the crash. I remember seeing it on the news and reading about it in the newspaper.

Four days after the crash was Thanksgiving. It was the worst Thanksgiving I've ever had. We didn't find much to be thankful for that year. It was, however, the first time I remember being with my divorced grandparents who hated each other, and my Uncle Don from Illinois. My whole family was together. Unfortunately, we weren't together for a holiday. We were together to bury Aunt Moe and Uncle Mark.

I think about Aunt Moe all of the time. But, I think about her most when it's Thanksgiving. I have often thought of what our relationship would be like now with me being an adult. I'm 39, so she would have been 54. I bet we would have still been very, very close. I think the hardest birthday I've ever had was when I turned 29 and I realized how YOUNG she was when she died. 29. That's a baby. So much life ahead of her.

My grandma never got over the death of her baby girl. How could she? I think my grandma's heart was broken the day she lost Moe and it never recovered. When my grandma passed away last summer, all I could think about was the reunion she was having with my Aunt. I cried tears of joy just thinking about it. I thought the same thing when my Uncle Don died just before grandma, and the hug he must have shared with his sister that he missed so much.

I remember when I was holding my dying sons in my arms, I begged them to find their Great Aunt Moe, and tell her I loved and missed her. I'm sure they did. And I know someday, I will be with her again, and I will be able to tell her those things in person. Maybe she'll even put my hair in a bun.

By the way, Caitlin's middle name is Maureen- Caitlin Maureen Chase. And a few years ago, I was given a video tape of Aunt Moe's wedding. We have the exact same voice. I love it.

I'm Thankful....

....that this is MY blog, and if I get behind on my Thankful List, I can't get fired. But, to continue my list, here are a few more things I'm thankful for...

...Emmi....she's 4 months old now, and is so dang adorable. I want to nibble on her cheeks all day.

...The Bulldogs....Connor is a part of such a great team. The coaches plan activities other than football games so the boys can get to know each other outside of the game. Last Friday, the coaches set up Movie Night, and they all went and saw "The Blind Side". Hugh and I took the girls as well, and we all enjoyed the movie so much.

(That's Connor leading the pack.)

...Caitlin's knack for acting. She was in a play at school last week. She played an Odd Fairy Godmother, hence the goofy costume. She delivered he lines with great comedic timing. She was adorable.

...And 17 of her friends from her Activity Day group from church came to watch and cheer her on!

...I can buy some XS size women's clothes for Courtney. I got this sweater on clearance at Ann Taylor Loft. It fits her just fine, as well as some other XS items from other stores. And then, she's able to play Twinsies with her Pseudo Aunt Bonnie! Look! The same sweater! Just different colors......

....Courtney had her first Young Women in Excellence Night. The value that she highlighted was Knowledge, and she displayed that in the form on her latest recital song..."The Dance of the Reed Flutes" from The Nutcracker. She has spent many hours rehearsing, and just about has it down. Her piano recital is December 18.

....my camera to be able to preserve the daily doings of The Chase Gang. Man, I love this camera.

Day 17....I'm Thankful for.....

....this pasta recipe. It's so quick and easy (a few dishes to wash, but no big deal) and it is so yummy!! One of my favorite things about it is that it makes SO MUCH that we have it for dinner the next day. And that works out great for days like today when the hours of 3-8pm are jam packed with kids' activities and I have zero time to cook.

Day 16.....I'm Thankful for.....

.....my church calling! I love love love teaching the Laurels. (The Laurels are the young women who are 16 and 17 years old). These girls are so fun to be around and they make me feel young! They are such great examples to everyone around them, especially the younger girls. It is an honor to be with them each week. They make me laugh, and they make me cry. But most of all, they make me want to be a better person.