WORD OF ADVICE....

Looking through the webs for recluse spiders, another charming
part of living in our part of the world.

Florida is beautiful...from November to April. Other than that STAY AWAY! You will just spend your time running from one air conditioned spot to another.

And don't get me started about hair--there is actually a facebook group called "My hair looked great until I walked outside and Florida attacked it.

PLUS- you can always count on a horrific late afternoon thunderstorm. (Florida is the lightening strike capital of the US)

Ahhhhhh......home sweet home. Remember come in December.

School Clothes Fashion Show

Well, my family is finally all home. I am so happy, missed them sooo much! All of my girls had a great time and were completely spoiled by their Parnham Family.

Last night they put on a fashion show for us with all of the new clothes they got on their trip
.

Oops!

All in one piece!

Our Bronco Gator
God Bless Timmy #15

Anna is an awesome driver, she had her first minor fender bender yesterday--what are you going to do? No one was hurt. She was back on the road with all her confidence intact today!

My BABIES!!!!!!!!

Anna and Katie are coming home to me! I am so happy. I don't know what I will do when they go to college...probably have to move into the dorms......

the Previous Post

Anna, my computer genius put this on my blog from UTube. I apologize for him using the G-damn words which make me cringe, but listen to the rest of his message.

Taylor Mali - "What Teachers Make"

This video has some profanity in it.

GUILT IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE...AND A FLORIDA SNOWBALL FIGHT

Jia's first snowball

Jia was afraid of the "snow" and wouldn't touch it till Mom did
Notice Drew is far, far away

When Jia found out Mom was wearing a scarf, she needed one too
Also note, this is her own hair do

WELL, less than 24 hours after my "you never write, you never call" type blog entry I received one from my older children. Wow, it's a lot of work being a long distance Mom!

Today we did chores, since I wore a scarf Jia needed one too, doesn't she look fabulous?

We had to go to the bank to get my letter signed giving Drew permission to take Jia out of the US (I still think it's funny that she is American and he is not.)

Our bank is right next to the ice arena, so we asked Jia if she wanted to see snow (the piles from the zamboni) she seemed reluctant but said okay. When she saw it she wouldn't touch it until I did, and then the three of us ended up having a little snowball fight. By that time she thought it was pretty cool (no pun intended) and wanted to stay. We had to promise to bring her back another day. So I guess we can say that Jia had her first snowball fight right here in Florida!

Us Florida Girls Are Climbing Mountains!!

Katie and I posing in front of the Upper Falls.

We found an area where we could actually feel the water. It was soooo cold!

Me and Katie with our cousin Jake.

Again with Jake at the Lower Falls

In front of the falls with our cousins Mitchell, Jake, Shane and our auntie Shannon.

On Banff Ave there was a store and a Mounty Moose that Katie and I took a picture with.

I was dared to kiss it, so I did. Katie, on the other hand, chose not to.

It was decided on Saturday, July 10th, that we would take a trip up to Banff to hike up Johnston Canyon and knowing that there are absolutely no mountains in Florida, we were a bit nervous. We soon realized how hard it was going to be. Steep hills and lots of cliffs made it very difficult to climb because it hurt our feet and calves. The coolest part was seeing the waterfalls. They were so beautiful, the way they flowed down the rocks. I couldn't imagine anything greater. It was cool to feel the temperture drop as soon as you walked by the falls. There were two levels, the Lower Falls and the Upper falls. The Lower falls were so pretty and there was a little ledge made out from the rocks and we were so close to the falls and the water sprayed us a little which was refreshing. There was another level called the Inkpots but it was going to be another 2-3 hour climb from the Upper falls so we decided not to do it.
After we made it back down the Canyon we had lunch and then drove down to the gondolas and that was such an amazing thing to go on. My mom said that we have been on it before with her when we were younger but I do not remember that and I'm glad that she has remembered it and will be able to tell us the story for many years. Katie thought the gondola was a bit scary and didn't think it would be that stable but she lived through it.
We went back down the gondola and then went to Banff Ave where there are a bunch of shops and one shop we went into was a Cow store with a bunch of shirts that have slogans from different forms of entertainment like "Cow-Scene Investigation", Edward Cowlen (the shirt Katie got), Dairy Potter and the Udder of the Phoenix (Shane got this shirt), and the shirt I got, MooTube (instead of YouTube).
All in all this day was very fun and one Katie and I will both remember :)

Lots of Love,

Anna <3

Making Lemonade Out of Sour Grapes...

Find Tink in this picture-Drew couldn't find him

I am feeling sad and disappointed. When Katie and Anna went to Canada they promised to share the blog entries with me, so part of them would be mine to them and then them to me. Even after constant reminding I have seen nothing. In the words of Max in Where the Wild Things Are: "oh please don't go, I'll eat you up I love you so...." I miss my big girls so much. Here is a picture of the exciting adventures of Parnham South. My camera battery ran out before we made it to Barnes and Noble where I bought a beautiful copy of "To Kill a Mockingbird" (only the best fiction book of all time) it's 50th anniversary was yesterday...oh well....

WE ARE HOLDING YOUR DOGS CAPTIVE!!

WE LOVA YOU SOOOO MUCH
XOXOXOXOXO

WHAT A HANDSOME GUY (AND I DON'T MEAN DAD)

THIS ONE'S FOR ANNA
NO EXPLANATION NEEDED

LOOK! NO GIOVANNI, STILL NOT ENOUGH ANGLE THOUGH

REX, RIGHT BEFORE HIS TRIP TO THE EVERGLADES!

DEAR ANNA AND KATIE: IF YOU EVER WANT TO SEE BENNYFOO OR REX AGAIN YOU BETTER GET HOME SOON!! LOVE, THE DOG NAPPER PS. JIA SAYS BENNYFOO IS HER DOG NOW

LET FREEDOM RING!

Our Sweet Chinese-American Girl

Jia took this picture!

The most photogenic person in the world!

Sparklers with Daddy

Josie-before the attack

Jia loves to strike poses

Did you know that fireworks originated in China.
In Guangzhou we saw the most spetctacular ones of our lives on New Years Eve
Even better than Disney World

Jia loves her big sisters soooo much

Two of my baby girls

Happy 4th a day late. We had doggie trauma for the last two days....I made a bad mistake and bought the little dogs some bones, well there was a bone war and Josie got hurt, I was worried sick until today, she seems to be making a recovery. Our plans yesterday were for a pool picnic (rained out) and then go over to Ellen's house to see the fireworks. She lives on a lake with a clear view of the fireworks that they set off on a barge in the ocean. I couldn't go because I was worried about Josie and she wouldn't let us pick her up and put her in a confined area. (For once I really wanted to go somewhere and I couldn't) Katie stayed home with me. She had a bad experience as a toddler and has never really liked to go there. It is kind of dangerous, because not only are you watching the official fireworks, but there are a whole lot of drunk people all around you shooting off things indiscriminately. Anyway, the pictures above were taken by both Anna and Jia. " God Bless our troops serving overseas! (Especially my former students in the Armed Forces-stay safe) I thank God for giving me the privilege of living in this country where brave men and women throughout history have fought for the rights of the individual. GOD BLESS AMERICA!