|
|
The summer has gone by so fast. We have had a wonderful, fun filled season. Though Steve and I have both been busy with work, we have managed to find a little time to enjoy our sweet children. Thought you might enjoy an update and see how they have grown. So even though this is a long post, I am gonna try to play catch up from the last several months, so hold on tight, here we go......  
Decklyn has been enjoying his summer with swimming, play with friends, and working on his skateboarding skills. Afton enjoys swimming, doing a little scrapbooking and playing with her friends. Fallon enjoys doing what ever the older ones are doing. Celine is into Mickey Mouse, Dragon Tails, and Dora as well as trying to keep up with whatever the older ones are doing. Celine Just turned 2 on August 18 while Fallon will be 4 coming up in October. Steve took Afton to the Richmond Nascar race recently: Daddy took her picture with the Sprint girl that is always in the background in Victory Circle at every race.  
Decklyn, Fallon, and Afton are enjoying playing with this Blue and White metal truck that I played with as a little girl at my Grandfathers home over 35 years ago. The story goes, that when my mom, who is the oldest of her siblimgs and was pregnant with me and my twin sister, that Grandfather just knew that she was going to have a boy, so he went out and bought this toy truck. Not only did she not have a boy, but she had us twin girls. We still enjoyed the truck as well as many many of our cousins through the years. I purchased this truck from my Grandmother and Grandfathers sale recently. What a treasure to hold onto and be able to pass down. 
While visiting our friends home, the Hartmans, the kids enjoyed feeding, petting, and picking up the chickens and baby chicks. Celine was eager to catch a big chicken. We had to rescue a baby chick from Celine trying to squeeze one around the neck.  
Fallon is being her cute and funny self ! She loves to play dress up and make believe.  
Afton liked to continue school by having pretend school at home, teaching Fallon and Celine. She actually did a great job. She has taught both Fallon and Celine alot of the alphabet and counting and colors. Her idea now is to be a teacher when she grows up. I wonder if she will change her mind or not? :)  
The kids enjoyed several water balloon fights over the summer. Here Fallon got Decklyn good in the back. And Celine trying her hand at throwing one at Afton.  
Steve took the kids to the Emergency Helicopter station at the Weyers Cave Regional Valley Airport to see the helicopter that we call for on occations when we have patients that are involved in serious emergencies and need to be flown to UVA. 
 
Our BEST memory of the summer was our family vacation on a Cruise to the Bahamas and Key West for 5 days and 4 nights! We had such a wonderful time! Here is Fallon inside our cabin room with binoculars looking at a Disney Cruise ship. She thinks we need to take a vacation next on the Mickeys Boat.  
We left Celine at home with Grandma, since she is at a stage that she would need to be carried or pushed in a stroller all the time and probably would not have enjoyed or remembered the vacation as much. We will definatley take a cruise again once Celine is older and will be able to enjoy it like we did. We did miss her and were so excited to see here when we got back.  Our Sweetie!
Each day our cabin aid would have our rooms spotless and a new animal made from towls on our bed. 
Once on the ocean, we could only see beautiful blue water for MILES and MILES and MILES !  
There was so much to do on the ship. The kids were able to climb a rock wall, swim in the 3 pools on the top deck of the ship, and there was a play room for kids only, that adults were not allowed to go in. We just checked the kids in and out.  
Plenty of good food. 
At Key West we went to the southern most point and stood at Mile Post 0. Maybe some day we will go all the way north on Route 1 and see what the last mile post number is. 
We also had fun looking around in gift shops. Afton and Fallon loved trying on these cool glasses. Fallon carried her Mickey Mouse with her most everywhere we went.  
Checking out the map in port to see where we wanted to go. Check out our Cruise ship behind Decklyn. We went on Royal Carribean.  
 Ate lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, Key West.
I highly suggest if you ever go to Key West that you take this 90 minute scenic tour. It was well worth the money. Our tour guide pointed out soooo many things of interest and gave us a huge history lesson about Key West. We covered most of Key West in just 90 minutes and after the tour, we knew exactly were we wanted to go and what we wanted to see while there the remainder of our time there. Half way through the tour we took a 10 minute stop to get a drink or use the facilities if needed and stretch our legs. The tour guide was funny and really knew his history.  
Not sure if Fallon was unsure of the Pirate or the Parrot? Afton has her own Hook ! :)  
In the Bahamas we took a small boat to a private Island and swam for the day. We enjoyed snorkeling and seeing fish swim right past our face in such beutiful clear water.    
School is back in session. Afton is a 3rd grader now and Decklyn a 5th grader. They both like their teachers. Fallon wishes she could go to school. Grandma (Steve's mom) takes care of Fallon and Celine while Steve and I are at work. I don't work every day, only 3 or 4 days a week, so I am home with them on my days off. Steve is getting ready to teach another EMT class and I am helping to teach both EMT and the Firefighter 2 class in Augusta County. Steve and I are looking forward to the Holiday season. I appologize to those of you that have invited be to be on Face Book, and I did not respond, however, as you can tell, I keep pretty busy, and know that I would not be able to keep up with it as I would like, so I will occasionally update this xanga site as I get time. | | |
| Greetings All ! What a wonderful 2008 our family was blessed with. We have kept pretty busy and we enjoyed the holiday season. We enjoyed three Christmas get-togethers. The first was at my Uncle Oren's home with alot of the Heatwole family. Next was Christmas morning with our sweet younginz waking up early to see if Santa had left a gift. This year our sweet Fallon was so full of excitement. She just couldn't hardly contain herself. Each gift she would open she would say..."Oh My Goodness, Oh my Goodness" or "I don't believe it!" Celine could care less, she was busy playing with the wrapping paper. On the evening of Christmas we had dinner at my parents home with the several of our family. We missed having Javonne there (Hi to Javonne in Germany!!!) And of course we had the emptyness of our dear brother Justin not there with us. Last but certainly not least, we had a Powell christmas at Steve's brothers home on the Saturday after Christmas. Laughs, Fun, and good memories were made by all. Here are some photo's of the kids to enjoy:   
 
| | |
| Well...whats going on in the Powell family????? Here it goes: Decklyn: Still busy with Karate, doing well at school, and active in cub scouts. (Her is pack is making bird feeder bagals with peanut butter and seeds) 
Afton: Loves School, doing well in Karate, and active in Brownie girl scouts. (They just had an aviation day at Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport where they got to get on a helicopter) 
Fallon: Loves being a big sister to Celine and spends her days leading Celine in playtime events. Celine: Just learned to walk with in the last 3 weeks. Increased her vocabulary by a few words. Steve: Busy teaching two EMT classes (A daylight and an evening class), doing a great job as the Training Officer, and training the guys in the fire and ems stations. He is such a good man. I am so blessed to be his wife. And we have been blessed with 5 beutiful sweet children. They amaze us each day with thier sweet spirits. As for me...Hold on to your seats... Some of you may know that I have been diligently working out for the past 4 months trying to loose weight (of which I have lost 22 lbs so far) and get in shape, but I bet you didn't know why...well, I was preparing myself to hopefully be able to pass the physical agility test to be able to get a paid job to become a career firefighter again.. ...well, I DID IT!!! What a great feeling to work so hard for something and then accomplish the goal that was set out. I was just recently hired by Augusta County Fire and Rescue Department as a paid Firefighter/EMT and I am currently stationed at Station # 10 that is in Staunton, but it is an Augusta County Station. Its the one in front of the Wal-Mart. We are a busy station. I have already been released to start driving the Engine and next week, will probably be released to drive the Squad truck (used for car crashes) it has the extrication equipment on it. I also am working on being released to drive the ladder truck. We average about 4 emergencies per day. I work on a 24 hour shift, so I work one day and then have 2 days off, Steve's mom lives with us and is able to watch Fallon and Celine through the days that I work until Steve gets off work (He works Mon-Fri 8 hour days) So Diane only has to watch the two young ones once or twice a week. Steve has all weekends off. I only have to work about 9 or 10 days a month. I absolutely LOVE my job. I get the best of both worlds. Being a mom and gettting to help our family out financially. The guys that I work with are really great to work with. I have a Captain, Lieutenant, and one other firefigther on my shift. The shift is through the month of November. Its up in the air as to weather I will stay there or become a floater and work from different stations, filling in where ever someone has vacation or called in sick. I hope to get to stay at Station 10. This is me at a vehichle extrication training event, using the spreaders to pop open a locked and jammed car door. 
The other day we took the kids to a friends home and they were able to take pony rides around the yard. Fallon wanted to keep riding. She had so much fun. 
Afton enjoyed it too. (Daddy in the background holding Celine)  Decklyn actually fell off the horse, the saddle was too loose and slid around and caused him to fall off. He was ok, and actually laughed about it.  We just had a tradgedy in our area recently. At the McGaheysville Volunteer Fire Department one of our young volunteers (age 17) was responding to a possible structure fire early one morning. It was a really foggy morning and he went off the road and rolled his truck and was killed. They had a really nice funeral service for him. There were hundred of fire and rescue personnel from as far a New York and Washington DC that attended. If you get a chance to look at the Daily News Record Newspaper you will see a few pictures of the graveside service and the large number of people that attended. He was a Junior at the Spotswood High School. He was an only child. My heart aches for his parents. He is reported to have been baptized and saved. When he was younger, he was burned badly and attended the yearly burn camp for kids, of which firefighters raise money each year to be able to help send kids to the camp. Each year, he said that he wanted to be a firefighter when he grows up. He joined a little over a year ago and was doing what he dreamed of doing. So sad that his precious life on earth had to be shortened, but I believe he is in our saviours arms. I'd like to think he his getting to know Justin. The fire department asked me to make two flower arrangements, One for the service and one to put on his gear locker at the fire house.  
Several weeks ago, we took a mini vacation to the Williamsburg area to the Great Wolfe Lodge. It has an indoor waterpark. We had such a wonderful time. The hotel room had a small log cabin in the room for the kids, that had bunk beds and a TV with a playstation. We also had a fireplace with Gas logs in our room. The place was so big, there were restaurants and gift shops in the hotel. We didn't need to leave for anything. It's off the same exit that you go to to get to the Williamsburg Pottery. Here are some pictures of the kids having fun.  
 
I love the front doors to the place. They are carved wood pictures over glass.  
| | |
| Greetings Again from our neck of the woods! We've been busy as usual, but a good busy. Decklyn just tested for, passed, and recieved the Gold Belt in Karate. We are very proud of his hard work. This is his Sensai that tested him on his kicks, punches, blocks, and a Kata. She (Mrs. Youngblood) is a black belt and is a really good instructor.  Monday August 18th, our SWEET little Celine turned "1". Instead of having a birthday party at our house and inviting a bunch of people over (Since we are trying to keep the house nice to show potential buyers--We put our house on the market to sell), We decided to take just our immediate family at go to a restaraunt in Harrisonburg called HAMS's. On Mondays the kids eat for only $.99 cents which includes the meal of their choice, a drink, and an ice cream sundae. AND....They have a magician that comes around to every table and do a few magic tricks and make balloon animals. Here we are singing Happy Birthday to Celine, while she tries to grab for the lit candle...(Of which Fallon decided to help her out and blow it our herself) 
The Birthday girl got two balloons, a pink teddy bear, and a rocking horse balloon hat.  Fallon chose a poodle ballon Decklyn, a lazer gun, and Steve a Lion.  
Here Celine is digging into her ice cream sundae....What a mess (it was all down her front, covered both arms, all down the high chair, table, and floor) I tried to clean it up the best I could, and the waitress was so sweet and had a great attitude...We had a really FUN time! 
The Next day August 19th, was the 1 year anniversary of my dear brothers death. Here are a few pictures that I really enjoy, of the sweet side of Justin. He liked holding his nephew and nieces. (Logan, Fallon, and Hailey)    Here are some cute child hood photos. Javonne, Jillian, and Justin....Aaaawwww! How cute are they! 
Justin fell asleep sucking his thumb,while on the toilet...How did he not fall off? 
Justin doing what Justin did best: 
Thursday August 21st, I was hired to make Symbolic Floral Tribute for a man that passed away in Grottoes, that had owned a GTO. His employees wanted me to make a floral replica of the car. It was by far the most detailed one that I have made. It took ALL day. 
Yesturday morning, Friday August 22nd, Steve took a vacation day and we went to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. We had a great day. The weather was nice and the lines were not long. Here is Afton and Fallon in the front seat, Decklyn, Celine, and Me in the back seat. Celine loved it! Fallon...Not so Much. She cried the whole time. I was a kiddie ride, but it still was too much for Fallon. She did like the merry-go-round where she rode a purple horse. 
We enjoyed the water rides, we got just wet enough to help us to stay cool throughout the day. Here is Decklyn, Afton and myself on a different water ride. 
More later. :) | | |
| Squeezing in a little time to post. We have been super busy with all sorts of things. Steve just finished up teaching another EMT class. Congrats to Ryan Helmuth for passing! Steve is Leutinent at the Grottoes stations on 12 hour shifts. He has also been taking several classes over the past months. (Fire and EMS related) He tilled the garden for me. The other evening he taught our Brownie troop thier Patriotizm Patch by talking to the girls about what the colors, stripes, and stars of the flag mean, talked about the different branches of the military, showed his uniform from when he was in the Army, and 
taught them how to fold a flag and how other related Patriotic topics. He did a great job. It tied in nicely with it being Memorial Day weekend. 
We just had the end of year ceremony's for both Afton in the Girl Scouts and Decklyn in the Cub Scouts where they recieved the pins and patches that they had earned up to this point. Decklyn bridged from a Bear Cub Scout to a Webelos Scout. Here Decklyn is learning about Fire Safety and how to start a fire with his cub scout troop. 
A few weeks back, Fallon, Celine and myself was able to visit Aunt Vera Rose and thier Great Great Grandmother Vera (who is 102 years old now) Aunt Vera Rose feeding Celine her bottle. Fallon enjoying a home-made donut. 
Aunt Vera Rose shared her ideas and had a show and tell of her velvet quilts!!!!! I was in heaven. She does such a wonderful job. She is working on two quilts to match the two baby quilts that I had my Grandmother Margaret make for my girls. Aunt Vera Rose liked the color combinations and velvets that I picked out, and decided to make 2 large quilts with the same color combination, and asked to borrow my baby velvets to study. While I stopped by to take her the baby velvet, she had us a wonderful little tea party. This is one of the first velvets that Aunt Vera Rose made. It's actually made of velveteens, but looks like velvet. Its not as heavy as velvet. 
Decklyn and Afton are excited that school will be ending Thursday of next week. They are looking forward to spending a lot of time at the pool this summer. As well as vacation that we are going on to Nags Head with all of Steve's family (His mother, brother, sister, their spouses and children, and his Uncle Scotts Family) We are renting a huge 3 story house walking distance from the beach for a week. Decklyn and Afton are also doing great in Karate. Afton is in the little Dragon program and she just earned her Yellow belt. Decklyn is in the regular program and is close to earning his yellow belt. Fallon is doing great and her vocabulary is just simply amazing. She is talking on the level of a 5 year old. She just amazes us everyday with her cuteness and interaction with adults. She has such a sweet spirit and bubbly personality. She loves picking flowers(and Weeds) and watering them with watering can thats as big as she is. 
Celine is growing fast and doing great. She is 9 months old now and just had both of her bottom teeth pop through and seems like the upper two are well on their way. Celine is crawling and close to saying Da-da and Ma-ma. The older ones love to get her wound up and laughing. This is Celine with her first MESSSS. She scooted over to Fallons plate of tator tots and ketchup and decided to help herself when no one was looking. 
As for me, well....where to begin....Let's see: Diapers, Bottles, Diapers, Cleaning the house, Diapers, Give kids a bath, Diapers, Cook Meals, Diapers, Dusting, Laundry, Diapers, Hand wash the Dishes(Still don't own a dishwasher), Sweeping, Mopping, Vaccumming, Ohh, and did I mention Diapers. :) Well, its not really that bad. I am truely enjoying being a mother of 5 and it unbelievable how fast they are all growing up right before my very eyes. They bring Steve and I so much joy and happiness. My heart goes out to those unable to have children, or to children who's parent don't appreciate what they have been blessed with. I have been hired to sew on all the new patches on the uniforms of the career Fire and Rescue personnel, I also have been selling quite a few items on my Ebay store (Silk Flower cemetery and funeral Arrangements). Holding 2 Brownie meetings a month, and helping the older two with homework, ...all that leaves just enough time to catch my breath and enjoy about an hour before bedtime with my wonderful husband to relax and talk about the days events and the next days plans. For Memorial Day, we had Steve's mom over for supper after we took the kids to the park at Massanutten entrance. It was a beutiful day, but got pretty hot. Steve grilled steaks on the grill and I made fried green beans, and Steve's mom brought over a yummy cantelope. Here are all four of our precious younginz on the swings...Celine needed a little push. :) 
| | |
|
