After a While

It has been a very very long time since I have even looked at this blog page; to which I am so sorry. So I will use this to kinda catch up on the last few years.

To Whom this may concern,

The Boys were in Karate for a little while last summer. They were very good at it and looked absolutely adorable in their uniforms.

This only lasted for a season though, and thus they moved on to ALERT CADETS. Where they also where uniforms and look super cute .

Some other random things that have been happening are Camille moving back over to Taiwan for the year, Stephanie living in Colorado and everything else...well is pretty normal.

This is Abby's 16th birthday. Of course, it was a Tea Party...a must in our family for girls. This is her, Hannah and MY man the Mr. Mad Hatter ;)

With Pablo at MOA....

This is a trip to Duluth with some good friends: Trevor, Abbie and Benny.

The awesome thing about having a sibling live in another state; especially one as beautiful as Colorado. Hiking baby! This is when it just doesn't get any better than having some really awesome friends to chill with :) Being awesome at Pier 1 Imports

And then just doing the randomest things....

Like building a Tree Fort with Dad...

Or other random stuff.

Anyway....that is just some randomness that I let y'all in on for today. Which, all-in-all, was not much. But gotta ove suspense right?

-H

All these things...Good Times

So hey everybody. I finally was able to get the pictures. I was so proud of myself for getting them:) We have a huge amount to catch up on now. First, a while back ago actually. was Leith and Jake's wedding. I cant' remember if I updated y'all on it but it was beautiful! Here is our happy couple! And here is the Hottie I voted for this year! Ladies and Gents, may I introduce our new President-elect, Elliott William Forsman (imagine the young girls screaming and crying:)! I'm not old enough to vote, though...but I still would've voted for this guy:)HEY! or is it Hay? Well, I know "hay" is what horses eat, so this must've been what we were dealing with. Of course, this was not a recent picture, but I forgot to post all of them before, so you will get them all now. Camille and Elliott were so amazing and "buff" while working with the hay:) I mean c'mon, just look at those muscles! Would you mess with those farm kids? I don't think so! Abbi was making sure everyone kept on track. It was easy to listen to her after "the look." To which you nearly fall over because she is SO stunning! Even with all the hay:) And the hardest yet...Granola bar making! AI! Now check this out: I was tired of eating granola bars and snacking on chips all day, so I bought "Fruit Loops!" I dont think ANY of my brothers had had them before either! So they enjoyed it thoroughly! So we ate granola, fruit loops, chips and coffee (though we didn't really EAT the coffee:) Speaking of Coffee...After hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and...(well, I think you get the point:) Dad brought everyone up a Starbucks. It was pretty crazy. Here is all our tired faces, hairnets and all, giving our last smiles for the day to the camera:) haha.And I mentioned leaves, right? This fall has been BEA-utiful! It all started off with Elliotto wanting to rake leaves with me...and got better from there! Here is our "Man o'the Stump" or "Grandfather Oak-Stump." Kinda like Pocahontas, ya know..."Grandmother Willow, what is my past..." Nevermind...:PElliotto and I started the pile and were quickly joined by Abbi, Noah and Benji. We really had a blast! Paco decided to put pillows in our pile to make it soft and it really turned out wonderfully! I have never really raked a huge leaf pile before, so this was SO much fun! The pile was literally HUGE! It was even bigger than the pile of dirty/clean clothes in a pile in my room! So it would've had to be huge:) Jumping in the pile was totally the best part! You got leaves everywhere; in your hair, in your shoes, down your pants...It was SO worth it though! haha. On Halloween, our family went to the Taylor's house for an alternative Halloween party. It was very fun! We had hay rides, a hunt for candy and chili:) Here are Callie and I chillin' by the fire...literally "chillin'" because it was FREEZING out! A couple days ago, we went to see Madagascar II with some friends. Well, Meo and I had watched it the previous day and then went to see it again for Luke's birthday. Yep. Luke and Josh came...If you have EVER seen the new Madagascar movie, then you will understand just how funny it is:) After the movie, we hung out in the lobby for about an hour trying to decide if we could all fit in the picture booth...then, Troy and Gabriella showed up and we got a shot with them:) Not really, actually, Luke went snooping into rooms and found the cutouts...it pretty much felt like they were "right there" though:) Except, I wouldn't kiss Troy in real life:)

Now for the music...I played a gig with Katie Grothe last...er, Saturday? Sure, well here is our "promo shot." haha. We tried a couple...but we landed on this one:)Here is one thing that happened that freaked me out! So I had tried to do a gig at Uptown Espresso, but they were out of business so I obviously couldn't. I tried to get a hold of the owner to see if I could use his sound equipment, to which he said I could but then he never got back to me. If you know me well, you know I tend to panic...even over the littlest things! I emailed the first person I could think of who might have it: Adam Norton. Stephanie, my "manager," had the same idea and called him up. He brought it there, set it up and took it down (with help, of course). The poor guy put up with a lot, though:) He was probably very annoyed with my demandings by the end of the night...sorry sport!

I love having as many people come up and play as I am aloud time:) Lizzie and Katie got up there and played a couple songs together. I can't remember what songs they sang, but I know that some were those they had written.

I was able to sing some solo songs also...some written works (okay, one), too. Katie and I DID play together, I guess I was always moving though, because none of them came out clear, so yeah...I have no idea what I was singing here, but I look really sad. It must have been "Whiskey Lullaby" or such.

And my dear friends, three of the COOLEST guys in the world! Luke, Ben and Elliotto. Elliotto is totally the cutest out of all (sorry boys!). So that is pretty much my life now...Here is another great picture of Katie and I, except the fingers(benjamin wilson!). I am NOT moving around, so it's all good! hahaha:)

So I guess that's...NO wait! on more! This one I made such a HUGE fuss about. We had just finished playing and I wanted a picture with these guys. They wanted me to kneel in front but I really didn't want to. So finally we were able to figure things out and got the picture taken...except, well...yeah...they all look really cute:)
Well, guess that's all for now:) ttyl and love ya! Hope

From a Bagel shop In Forest Lake...

Hey everyone! How are you all doing? I have no pictures to post, so I am just writing today. I have finally had the chance to visit Stephanie at her new job in Forest Lake:) She is doing an awesome job. I like to harass her while working, though, so she could probably do better without me:) lol. I am sitting here with a wonderful cup of Turtle Mocha (with extra whip) and typing away...okay, not really "away" but I am typing. I am preparing myself for our first Quiz Meet tomorrow and for granola bar making (8000) next week. oh boy. We have a quiz practice tonight for prep. I had a great time this weekend. I am pretty sure our whole family did:) We went up to our Grandma and Grandpa's house and relaxed. I was able to help her with her "decorating" of the living room...and then we did something really awesome! We made NOODLES! Yeah! really good noodles! Then we made lasagna and apple pies:) It all was sooooo wonderful! well, we are off to quizzing practice now. ttyl everyone and I will hopefully be able to update with pictures later:) BYE! Hopie:) <3<3<3

I Could Have Danced all Night...and Not Have asked for More!

Hey everybody:) How are you all? A couple weeks ago (i know, i know...WEEKS:) we, well it was actually Camille's plan, had a huge get together/party for Stephanie's 20th birthday:) It was so fun! We had a lot of really great friends who came. We all dressed up nice and fancy and went to the Olive Garden for dinner. I don't really know why the guys did the weird "hand thing" but it works, and at least they looked nice:) I was the one [of us three girls who were going] who was "chosen" to hold the spot for the dinner at Olive Garden. Mom was going to leave just me there to set it all up and I was a little nervous because I didn't want to get yelled at for setting someone next to someone when they wanted to sit next to another someone or such...ya'know:) Luckily, Shane and Kyle (who both looked SO handsome:) had arrived five minutes before us so they helped me set it up...along with KT and Lizzie, who arrived a couple min. after them. I never had really been to Olive Garden before, so I didn't really know what to expect. It was kind of pricey. So I got so hungry I began eating the flowers! I was caught in the act though, so I had to stop:) I did take some of these pictures, but I couldn't really figure out the camera, so I gave it to Luke instead. Obviously, I wasn't the only one who was really hungry:) lol. Here is Libby, KT, and Camille chomping on there flowers. They really seem to be enjoying them too...And here is our birthday girlie and her girlfriends, Lizzie (KT's older sister) and Jessina (I probably spelt that wrong, but if I know you, you get what I'm saying:). She has known Lizzie for years and years and Jessina for...about as long only less years:) Here are three of the handsome guys:) I must say, I have NEVER seen anyone of them so dressed up before! It was so funny...er, NICE! oh yeah, and there names are Josh, Luke and Adam. I didn't really know Adam or Josh very well, but I was able to remeet them that night and there really fun guys!Anyone for a spot of Tea? Well, I guess Camille doesn't really want to share it. If you cant notice yet, everyone has been moving from place to place through out the ordering process. I guess we were trying to get TOM (not Scott, he's waiter #4:) confused with the orders, but he did pretty well:)

And me, being sheik. Notice the *BLING* on my hand. All the girls got blingies and the guys got "incognito" shades. It was totally awesome:)

Sister time! Didn't we all look BEA-Utiful?! Not to make me sound arrogant or anything. lol:)

As usual, our "OMGOSH its Patrick Dempsey" moment...well, I think I am the only one who thinks Patrick is cute, so it's more of a "OMGOSH it's...Brad Pitt( idk, it was the first name I could think of:)!" Except, Cami looks like she's smoking or something...lol.

"I could have Danced all night, I could have Danced all night and should have asked for more..." After eating our meal that I doubt anyone actually ate fully. We headed back to Pioneer Pass to eat more food and drink more (it was punch, okay?) and dance the night away...Here you can see KT and Lizzie swinging out and Camille teaching Kyle how to swing dance. It was a great night:)

"Danc-ing...soon becomes Ro-man-cing..." Sorry Jess, I'm just getting back at Jer:)

After a MONSTER and a glass of wi...punch (who knows, it could have been wine..;) Josh was finally ready to learn how to swing dance.

He was taught by my mom. She only knows the guy part I think, because he didn't really know that it was the guy who was supposed to lead. He did pretty good though as a girl:) lol.

Then for the freakiest part in the dancing! flipping. first, Jeff demonstrated on me..I did pretty good...well, on the not dieing part! It is so creepy to be flipped over yourself! I didn't really trust him but he had done it before I guess, so it was all ok. It was hilarious watching Stephanie and Luke try it:)lol. I cant remember if she made it over, I know she fell more times than me though.

And this is what happens when you have to many MONSTER drinks in one night:) I still have no idea what Josh was doing...weirdo:) There is another picture where I am doing the same thing but he ruined my "moment of paparazzi" and jumped in behind me:( lol.Another bunch of sweet peoples...no, Abbi and Ben didn't really come to the dinner, they just came to pick us all up at Pioneer Pass. I thought this was such a cute picture of them all:)

Lets see...Oh here are "the boys." I have no clue what they were doing but it was enough to get them wound up. They're looking a little tired:)

Our "drunk" cleaning committee...Jessina, Heather, Camille, Mom, Stephanie and I. It was probably 2am, because we had gone downstairs to watch "Enchanted." lol. It was great fun cleaning, though:) Those are the cool "incognito" shades that we gave the boys, but they didn't like them!!! How horrible!
Well, that was our fun for Stephanie's birthday:) I will update again with pictures from my birthday when I get the picture from my G-ma Penny:) She got some really great ones:) I cant wait to show y'all what fun we all had:) ttyl:) Love, Hope

Granola and Sanity

iTired. So, we have succeeded in making over 8000 granola bars. It was INSANE! We would make bars till 5am every morning and then would wake up at 10am to start all over again :P crazycrazycrazy! It was fun at times and horrible at times, but we got it DONE! The only bummer is thinking that we will have to do this every month! AI! I don't mind doing it, I just want to get my school work done:) I have caught up from that week, though (yes-yes, i know I'm good:). Our life here has pretty much been a granola bar...or granola...or oatmeal...oi vey. We have had time for a couple great parties, though:) Really, really awesome. Got to swing dance and dress up. I PROMISE I will have pictures! You see, my camera (Toto) died (*sniffsniff*) so we use Stephanie's camera...but, Stephanie "forgets" to give me the pictures till 5months later... and that's the truth!
One of the occasions for partying was for Stephanies 20th Birthday! That was sooooooooo much fun! A bunch of our friends all got together to celebrate it at Olive Garden. We even had an extra friend (Tom:). It was a fun and interesting time:) I say interesting because there was just so much happening that you couldn't really concentrate!) Then we all went home dancing...well, at least I did. I rode home with KT and Lizzie Grothe...THAT was interesting:) We cranked up 97.1 and sang the whole way home. We stopped to...dance in a waterfall that was in a small town and sang "The Way I Am" as loud as we could. Then KT chased us around with a shovel....creepy(for those of you who have seen the Secret Window:) We got to Pioneer Pass and "danced the night away." Quiet literally, actually:) It was soooo much fun! I never really had danced to swing dancing music, so it was new and fun!
Also, last night, we went to the (okay, I am totally going to spell this wrong...) McKeens (?) house to celebrate the homecoming of Ryan and (err...I am horrible with names...) Corrie Ann (i think?). That was fun, too. I am not much into sports, though so I was bored until Libby came and saved me! We went walking on one of there paths, which came to a dead end...so, we used our imaginations (just Libby and I, mind you) and made our own path...then we couldn't find the real path...so we walked around the weeds for about an hour or so and finally found it (thanks to my expert sense of direction:).
Now it is daddy's Birthday:) next Sat. is my 16th b-day and...well, will cross that bridge when we come to it:) Love y'all and have a great life:) *Mwah* (that was a kiss goodbye) Hopie:) <3<3<3