ZOOOO!

Last weekend we went to the Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester! It was so much fun!

Andrew was like a little kid! This was his FIRST TIME at the Zoo!

Ella called these Rhinos "Poop" :)

Sophie & Ella! Matching!

Ella really enjoyed it!

Oh Sophie! You are getting so BIG!

My cute husband! Such a kid at heart!

Sophie & Ella watching the Polar Bear!

I just HAD to add this.... this one is for you MOM!!! I LOVE you!

Sophie and Ella are getting SO BIG! Here is the link to last years trip to the ZOO! Look how much they have grown!

http://asdupuisfamily.blogspot.com/2009/07/zoooooooo.html

COLDSTONE

HURRAY!!! We have a COLDSTONE!!!

I am SO EXCITED!

We went to Coldstone on it's opening day!

Not quite sure what kind of face this is!

Mom & Dad enjoying Coldstone!

Andrew, Me, & Sarah! LOVIN Coldstone!

Oh yea!

Experiments

I have tried 2 new recipes this weekend!

The first are these: CHERRY LIMEADE BARS

(from http://www.cheekykitchen.com/2010/07/cherry-limeade-bars.html)

They were a complete DISASTER!

This is what they were SUPPOSED to look like:

And this is how MINE turned out:

SO... I tried to double the recipe.. BAD IDEA!

These are also EXTREMELY sugary!

If anyone tries this recipe PLEASE let me know if it turns out. I think I am going to try them again because I liked the IDEA of them, but the recipe will have to be doctored quite a bit to fit my liking! (a LOT less sugar!)

A couple of people tried them... I think they were all being nice when they told me that they were good. Ummm... NO!

The second recipe I tried was COWBOY COOKIES!

(from:http://lickthebowlgood.blogspot.com/2010/07/clean-oven-cookies.html)

I made these with Sophie and they were REALLY GOOD!

SOOO Good... that this is the only picture I got!!

We had a lot of fun! Thanks for helping me Sophie!

I did not add the nuts to the recipe above. I also cooked them on my Pampered Chef Stone. They were amazing! If you need a stone.. contact my sister who is a Pampered Chef consultant!

Try them!

The Lady in Granite

Last night Sarah, Chris, Ella, & I went to see the "Lady in Granite" ... a local legend that I had never heard of. Pretty cool though...

The legend is as follows:

"The Lady in Granite is located in Lakeview Cemetary in Penn Yan, New York. This is the gravestone for the Gillette family and the ghost is believed to be that of Matilda Gillette. The image of her reclining head appeared on the dark grave and nothing has been able to remove it, even repeated polishing of the stone. Legend has it that over time her whole image will be formed and she will be free to haunt the local community."

"The story I heard as a child was that the Gillettes were a happily married couple who made a promise to each other that when one of them died the other would remain unmarried. When Matilda Gillette passed away, Francis Gillette did remarry and as a result of breaking his promise, he found that his wife's face appeared on the tombstone. His was horrified by this image and being unsuccessful in trying to remove the image by polishing the stone, he ordered a new tombstone to replace the original one. Matilda's face appeared again on the new tombstone."

"I did asked some local historians about this legend and they felt that there are no facts to support the validity of the stories that have been told about the Gillettes. There is no documentation that the stone was ever replaced. When we visited the grave to take pictures, my children and I also noticed that the side graves indicate that Francis Gillette died seven years earlier than Matilda Gillette. That does put a bit of a damper on this story. Even so, the image is real and myths that form in a young child's mind can be compelling."

This is taken from: http://incenseandspices.com/gillette.htm

Here are some pictures that I took at the cemetary! The first is the front of the Gillette family stone...

Next is a picture taken from a distance. You can see the face... the light spot towards the top of the stone.

Lastly is a close up of the "Lady in Granite" ... please excuse the flash...

What do you think??

I LOVE MAC'S

Ok... So this cute little restaurant is right up the street from where I have lived for the past 20 years. Have I ever been there... NO. This is one of my brother's favorite places. So, yesterday on our way home we decided to stop!!!

We sat in our car and they took our order and shortly there after they came and hooked THIS to our car! UMMMM... AMAZING. Yes. Those are frosty glasses with homemade root beer floats! We were not too hungry so we split a burger and fries. Next time we will try the white hot!

The float was BY FAR the best part. Here is Andrew trying to get his under control!

Mine was half gone before he could get a picture!

And we had Ella... so we turned her around so she could enjoy the air conditioning! (DON'T WORRY... we didn't drive like this!!) Ella's first trip to MAC'S and she slept!!!

AMAZING!!! WE LOVE MAC'S DRIVE IN!!!

My Husband(s)...

So, yesterday I got to meet Andrew's TWIN BROTHER! Betcha didn't know he was a twin. As a matter of fact neither did I ... until yesterday!

SO... here they are.

Meet Michael!

Ok... so they are not REALLY twins. Michael is almost 2 years older than Andrew... but HOLY COW... look at these two!! They could be twins!

This last picture is my favorite! I just cannot believe how much they look alike! I wish Andrew had been making his "normal face" then you could have seen exactly how much they look alike!

It was great meeting Michael... hopefully we will get to see him again soon!

Spray Park

Today we took the kids to the Spray Park at Seneca Lake! We had SO MUCH FUN!

Here are just a few of the many pictures we took!

Sophie was really excited! It is SO HOT out!

Mu & Ella getting ready!

We have arrived! Sophie was running as soon as we got in the gate.

Ella walked around the whole Spray Park... several times!

Cute!

Not sure what was going on here... I think she was trying to play the drums on the water!

Before we left we played on the playground little! Mu & Ella.

Sarah & Sophie.

They have this cool car that Sarah had to crank! The girls really liked it! Especially Ella Bean!

We had so much fun! Are they cute or what!!! Can't wait to go again!

Next time Mom... don' wear a white shirt!!!

ICE CREAM!

These babies LOVE ICE CREAM!

The other night I had the kids and we decided to stop and get an ice cream cone from Mr. Twisties!

For some insane reason, i decided Ella could just share.

HUM... This is her definition of sharing...

This is one HAPPY girl!

Of course Sophie loved hers too!

Doesn't she have the most beautiful eyes you have ever seen?!?

Yummmm....

Happy Father's Day!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

to the BEST father a girl could ask for!

This is my amazing Father! I love him SO MUCH! I also love this picture of him! I just wish that you could see his eyes a little better. They are so sweet, so gentle!

SO, Today I celebrate my Father and want to thank him for EVERYTHING he has done for me.

My Dad is a very wise man. He is the one that I can go to for anything. Sometime I don't necessarily want to hear the answer, but I do know that it is best to follow his counsel. He is so helpful in all areas in my life.

My Dad is also very dedicated. He is dedicated to his family as well as the Church. He faithfully works at the Palmyra Temple 3 days a week. And when he is not there he is being a missionary! He is the best missionary I know, and such a great example to me. He will talk to anyone, anytime, anywhere. It amazes me how he can tie any conversation back to the Gospel!

He is also a great example to me! And I love him for that!

I could go on and on and on about my Father! He is wonderful, and I love him SO MUCH!

Happy Father's Dad Daddy-O!

You are my Hero!

OURS

Today Andrew & I became HOMEOWNERS!

What an amazing feeling to come home to something that is ours. Well, not completely ours. We OWN the house, and KEY BANK OWNS us! ... Therefore KEY BANK OWNS us ALL!

We met with our lawyer today John Palimini and went over all of the paperwork. We spent what seemed like FOREVER signing our names and initialing everything.

When we were finished it was like a HUGE load was lifted off my shoulders. I am not even kidding. I have been on the verge of throwing up for the last few days in anticipation of this Closing.

We started this process back in February and quickly became very serious about this house! The feeling I felt walking into it for the first time is something I will never forget. I knew from that moment that the house would be ours. There were many ups and downs. On several occasions I tried to convince myself that it was not right. Yet in the back of my mind I always KNEW that this was OUR house!

I have learned SO MUCH from this experience on many levels. From terminology to finding my threshold. I think KelliSue said it best. She said, "congratulations on discovering just how much fortitude and endurance you can muster" and it is so true. There were so many times that I wanted to quit, but I just kept going.

I just wanted to THANK EVERYONE that made this possible. You know who you are! There is no way that Andrew and I would be in the position we are now without you!

THANK YOU! WE LOVE YOU!