Grandma Susan's Big 60th Birthday Bash

On September 26, 2008 we hosted Jeremy's mom's (Susan's) 60th birthday party. Susan's sisters Andrea and Jeannie, flew in from Arizona for the weekend. (We were sorry that Great Grandma and Grandpa Sorensen and Uncle Doug had to stay behind at the last minute, but we're glad to hear Grandpa is feeling better.)

Here is slideshow of the Birthday Queen getting the royal treatment from her family and friends. http://picasaweb.google.com/kellbryson/SusanS60thBday#5254242547953052466

Paul and Amy Burt attended, along with appearances from ALL of Susan's kids and granddaughters. Speaking of grandkids, Lane and LaDonna gave a great birthday surprise - LaDonna is expecting!! She's due in April and we're all wondering if this baby will be the long-awaited grandson!

The evening was perfect for eating and relaxing in our backyard. We enjoyed a delicious dinner of brisket, sausage, salad, potatoes, dips, and a yummy bouquet of chocolate covered strawberries. The chocolate cake was huge and mmm, mmm, DELICIOUS!!!

Susan birthday haul included her new diamond ring (nicknamed "My Precious"), pottery from Honduras via Becky, a blanket from Great Grandma & Grandpa, an um, interesting garden statue from the Aunts, flowers, jewelry and a family photo album.

We enjoyed hosting the party in our home and visiting with family and friends. We hope Susan especially enjoyed the party and the weekend with her sisters. Happy 60th Grandma - hope the year is full of happiness!!!

Couple of new Dani-isms

A Rockin' Dog!
So the other day we're at the Checketts and Dani is playing with their dog, Dixie. While she's lying on the floor with Dixie she turns to me and asks, "Mom, can I be Dixie?" I respond to her, "Now if you're Dixie, who is Dixie going to be?"
She quickly replies: "A Rock Star!"


Standin' by Your Beliefs
According to Dani the phrase: "Oh, Man!" is a bad word and she chastized Jeremy the other day for using it. I tried to explain to her that it wasn't a bad word. She wasn't going to believe me so I tried to trick her.
I asked her what it was that Swiper the Fox says on Dora the Explorer after Dora says "Swiper, no swiping!" Most of the time, when Swiper is told this, he says "Oh, Man!" and runs off. I expected that Dani would automatically reply with "Oh, Man!" just like Swiper. (You watch enough Dora and the response just rolls off your tounge.)
But not Miss Dani... she replies without missing a beat: "A Bad Word!"

hotman

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Hurricane Ike/ Charlie Bit My Finger!

Just a quick note to let you know we're battening down the hatches for Hurricane Ike this weekend. My hunch is that we'll end up with only a sprinkling of rain from Ike - that's how it's been in the past: Katrina, Rita, Dolly. But I could be wrong - hope not.

Here's a link to the Ike tracker: http://www.weather.com/newscenter/hurricanecentral/2008/ike.html

If there's any personal news I'll make sure the word gets out, but I'm sure we'll just get a little wet. At last check the storm is predicted to skim past us to the east.

Anyway, on the upside the school district is releasing the kids 2 hours early tomorrow to use the schools as evacuation shelters for those people closer to the coast ie Houston, Galveston etc. There's the silver lining (umm, for the kids)!

And on a completely different note, here's my laugh out loud YouTube video of the week. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM
I've posted a link to it on the right side of the page. Enjoy!!

Can a trip to the waterpark get "rained out"?

Ours sure did. A couple weeks ago we finally got around to going to Schlitterbahn Waterpark in New Braunfels, which is about an hour and a half from our home. All summer long we've been planning to go and all summer long it hasn't rained hardly at all... except for the day that we schedule to go!!! We crossed our fingers anyway and headed south hoping to dodge the thunderstorms.

We hit a few on the drive, but kept an optimistic attitude that the storms wouldn't be bad enough to close the park. Unfortuately by the time we parked and got in line to get our tickets it had started sprinkling. As we finally walked up to the window for our tickets the downpour started and, yep, they stopped selling tickets in preparation to close the park until the storm had passed. Ugh, now what?! Do we sit and wait out the storm which is predicted to last all day, or do we um, find something else to do? We were already soaked and we hadn't even stepped into the water. But sitting in a rain storm getting wet isn't nearly as thrilling as a waterslide. So we decided to find something else. The Checketts were with us and so we piled in the cars and decided to keep heading south and find some lunch and someplace dry to entertain the kids.

The rain just got worse and worse and when we saw a Costco we decided that was best place to stop for lunch. Hey, the deli is cheap and filling and dry!

After lunch we headed to the Witte Museum in San Antonio. Natalie and Emma had gone there a couple months ago with their grandma to see the Leonardo Da Vinci's Machines exhibit. They loved it and insisted on taking Brooke and Berkeley to see it. The exhibit is creations of the machines Da Vinci had drawn in his records. It was really amazing. The things he was imagining were hundreds of years ahead of his time. He had drawing for flying machines like helicopters and hang gliders and there was even a drawing for a tank! It was neat to see someone actually create working models of these machines. If the exhibit ever comes to your city I would definitely recommend going to see it.

The museum also had a wing "the treehouse" for kids that was full of science-based hands-on demonstrations for the kids. We spent quite a bit of time there until the museum closed. Overall what turned out to be a soggy day at the waterpark was a great time a the museum. Enjoy the pics.