The day after Christmas we headed out of town to visit our family.  We had Christmas with my side of the family on Saturday.  Here are a few pictures of the fun:

I know it’s a little out of focus, but I have to take what I can get with Brooke.  She hates having her picture taken just as much as I do.  So even though it’s out of focus I can still see her face!

All of the excitement was a bit much for Dottie.  She had to take a break from opening her presents for quick nap.

Hailey is modeling her new apron.

The aftermath of opening the gifts, just a little mess to clean up.  See me on the couch?  Don’t I look great?  It’s not my fault- remember I was sick.

Hailey and Aunt Ellie had lots of fun playing in Hailey’s new Rose Petal Cottage.

Hailey posing for a quick picture before church on Sunday.

We celebrated Christmas with Rich’s side of the family on Tuesday but I didn’t bring my camera with me.  What kind of blogger doesn’t have her camera at all times?  A bad one.  So- sorry I don’t have any pictures from there to share.  But here is one of Hailey playing with one of her gifts she got from Nana and Grandpa (Rich’s parents).

Hailey loves to clean with her vacuum- she gets it out every day and cleans up the house.

That’s it for my Christmas pictures.  I’ll be back with a few pictures from our New Years celebration.

Brooke turned 16 back on April 20th and last weekend was her birthday party.  I have no idea where the years have gone.  It all goes by so fast.  I thought for Wordless Wednesday this week I would share a few pictures from her birthday party.

For more Wordlessness visit Wordless Wednesday or 5 Minutes for Mom.

Dear Brooke,

I feel like I don’t know where to start this letter to you.  I guess I should start out by mentioning all of those years ago when I first met you.  Daddy brought me to one of your dance recitals so that I could meet you.  You know how when you watch a dance recital there is always that one kid who is out in front and obviously knows exactly what she is doing?  And all of the other kids are watching and following her moves?  The thing that stands out most in my mind about the day I met you was that you were that girl out in front- the one leading the rest of the group.  I’ve always been one of the ones who stands back and follows and I was so impressed with your confidence.

It was love at first site- you were such an amazing little girl.  And as I got to know you I loved you more and more.  You have always had such a big heart and you are so accepting and loving. 

While I know I am not your mom I have always loved you just like you were my own child.  We have shared many happy times together and I cherish the many wonderful memories I have of times spent with you.  You mean more to me than you will ever be able to understand until the day when you have your own children.

I can’t believe that little girl I saw dancing on that stage all of those years ago is turning 16 today.  Where oh where has the time gone?  You are still that same person you were back then- full of confidence, a natural leader, always ready for some fun and laughs, and of course you still have that big heart full of acceptance and love. 

I love watching you as a big sister to Hailey.  The way you are with her makes me so happy and the way she already looks up to you is such a great thing to be able to see.

You are an amazing young woman and I know that you will be able to do anything you put your mind to doing.  I am proud of the person you are and look forward to what is ahead in your future.

Happy 16th Birthday to my favorite teenager! 

I love you,
Melanie

(P.S.- Can’t wait to get a phone call tomorrow to hear the words, “I passed my permit test!”) 

My parents were here last weekend for Easter and we had a great time having them here to visit.  We dyed some Easter eggs, so of course I have to share some pictures.  Hailey wasn’t too sure about the whole thing when we first started, but she ended up having fun.

Not too sure about this whole egg dyeing thing.

Once “Pa” sat down to help Hailey with her eggs she loved it.

I promised Brooke if she’d just let me get one picture of her that I’d leave her alone with the camera.  So, here is Brooke enjoying dyeing some Easter eggs.

Adding some glitter to the eggs.

Yay!  Now this is definitely fun!

I’ll be back later with some pictures from Easter.

Regina tagged me to play along with this fun little game.  Since my Meme Monday is going to be full I decided I wanted to post this today. 

These are the rules:

It’s really easy to do, just go to MagMyPic plug in a pic of yourself and choose a magazine cover you want grace.
Then: 1)Link back to the person who tagged you. 2)Tag as little or as many friends as you like, just make sure and tag somebody! Have Fun!!

And since I like to break rules, I am posting a picture of Brooke instead of a picture of me.

You know what? That was so much fun that I’m going to do it again later.  I’ll have to do another one with Hailey’s picture.  And, if you are all very well behaved I might do one with my picture.  (Since there have been recent comments that I never post pictures of myself.) 

And now for the tagging part- if you want to play along go right ahead.  Just let me know if you do so I can check out your picture on a magazine cover.

At least that is what people always say about Hailey.  I am constantly hearing that Hailey looks exactly like me.  So, when I saw this Look-alike Meter on Tammi’s blog and then again on Andrea’s blog I had to give it a try.

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Search for family tree for free - Vintage pics

So, apparently Hailey looks equally like me and Rich. 

Then, for fun I decided to try it out using Brooke’s picture.  While Brooke is my step-daughter we have always been told that we look alike.  Usually people think we’re sisters.  So, anyways, I decided to try it out with her picture. 

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

And I got the same results- she looks equally like me and Rich.

Anyhoo- I know it’s not anything scientific- but it was fun to try it out.