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Leah was in charge of all the games/entertainment for the afternoon. As always, Leah had some very creative ideas. I bet I drove her nuts at times "feeling her out" about the games, wondering just how much participation we all would have to do. Sometimes when in the right mood, I'm game to act/do stupid things regardless of who's around.. but today wasn't quite one of those days. This pic shows one of her many games... when Melissa would walk around the room while we all tried so desparetely to rememer all the household kitchen items pinned onto the apron. I belive there were 29 pieces in all, and I failed to even get half of them. I completely went on a blank!

I had been anxiously awaiting this time to meet my little cousin Anika for the first time. Whenever family would head north, I was always scheduled to work, unfortunately. She has definitely gotten big, and feel bad that it has taken so long. Such a cutie!
Aunt June, Mom, Aunt Ruth, & Aunt Gladys

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It seems to be tradition that whenever all 4 sisters can get together, a pic needs to be snapped. It makes perfect sense though, seeing everyone as a "family" doesn't seem to get together that often.

We all had such a nice time together!

Life...

Life is what we make of it! I've realized moreso these past couple years just how quickly life passes us by. Sometimes it's scary to say the least. I find myself evaluating life at different levels through different moments of time. What have I accomplished? What do I have to show for myself? Where am I reaching out to help others? ETC.

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I find life is worth far more than just going to work, eating and sleeping. We need to make time for ourselves. Time is a priceless gift, and if we waste it without smelling the flowers along the way, it's sad to say... but it's our own fault. This is why when I get the opportunity to try something new, even if it's completely out of my comfort zone, I attempt to do it. A short while ago, my best friend and I decided to do some rock climbing. I knew it would take some strength and energy, but I was bound to try. I've been trying to workout hard at the gym, hoping it would pay off a great deal. To my suprise (well not really), I struggled a bit, regardless of how much time was put in at the gym. It was a bit embarrassing to say the least, when you had people below you.. cheering you on. YOU CAN DO IT. YOU'RE DOING GREAT. Etc. My biggest fear was falling, and the more I thought about it, the quicker I felt my strength run out of me. It's actually a very weird feeling. In the end, I was glad I went. It was another thing to add to my list of things I've done, and would gladly do it again.

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I love caves.

The formations of rock over time are very fascinating to say the least. Some people would be too closterphobic for some close/ tight corners. The ones Ive visited havent been too bad, actually. Our tour guide took along some flash lights for us on our way back out of the cave. In order to conserve electricity, once we got to a certain point, the lights behind us would go off, and a new set would go on. No problem there for me, but on the way back, the tour guide gave us the option to have all lights off without having flash lights, lights out with flash lights, or scrap the flashlight plan and stick with lights on. My personal opinion was... there was no way I wanted to feel my way thoughout a cave without a light. Some of the paths were a bit narrow, water on the sides, little bridges along the way etc. Just to show us how dark everything would be, the tour guide did shut out all lights for a moment and had us see if we could see our finger in front of us. NOTHING. PITCH BLACK. I thought.. no way!

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On a hot day, it would have been incredible to be 100 feet below the ground. The temperature was 50 or 55 in there. Even though it was a bit chilly that day, even after coming up from the cave, it felt wonderful.

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Bowling has become an interest for me. Ive only ever bowled 3 times in my life, but I'm finding that I actually enjoy it. I can't say I'm all that good, but every time gets a little better.

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Sometimes, I really think we all get in such a rut about only doing things we've always done - as in while growing up, that we miss out on things life has to offer. I've found a bowling place that is low key in the sense of atmosphere, which is incredible, for I dont think I'd be as fond of it with LOUD entertainment, drinking, partying etc. So far, so good.

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Last but least.......Who fell for the first picture above with the rock climbing?!!? That is some rock climbing that I can't see myself EVER doing. I really would die doing that. So, below is actually more like what was done. Either way, it was very tiring, but FUN!

Memorial Pics

I finally was able to get my pictures off of the camera. Apparently, they have bad days too=)

Anyways, I chose only a few out of MANY pics to help visualize our day in PA with family.

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My aunt has gorgorus arrangements of a large variety of flowers around their property. I won't bore you with all them now.
Dad and Uncle Andy just getting back from their canoeing trip! What abeautiful day to be in the water. I'm looking forward to possibly going canoeing this year!
ME and some of my aunt's pretty flowers=)

4 wheeling

Dad in the field 4 wheeling!

To "break the ice," the first time I decided to ride with Ilyssa. Fun times, then went by myself afterwards.
This is the path that led down to the field where we 4 wheeled. I thought it was very pretty.
Here's a quick snap of my awesome deal of stamping purchases for $3.75!!!

more pics...

Tried to get mom to cooperate for the camera! ;)

Aunt Debbie was just so impressed with a yard sale purchase, except for the little bird in the cage that "didn't match."
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Relaxing outside before dinner !

Steaks, hamburgers, BBQ chicken and hotdogs. Delicious!
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Grandpa attempting to show his "youthful side."

......pics

Ilyssa hanging on for dear life!

This is her neighborhood friend that came along to the creek!
I love the structure of this bridge and the scenery around it! It's called the "Lackawanna RR."
My cousin (13 years old) and I !

Memorial Day

Welcome to Nicolson, PA

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This Memorial's Day was celebrated with some relatives in PA, and then my Grandparents came along after speaking at the PVBI graduation. It's seemed completely unreal as to how long it's been since we have been to their home. 9 years ago we helped my Aunt and Uncle move from here in NY to PA, and since then we havent been down. It's pretty sad to say the least, so that is why we jumped on the idea of this for this year.

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We all had such an incredible time together and was well worth the trip. Dad always liked to be early to pretty much anything that we attend to, so when he told us what time he wanted to leave here for this trip, I guess it didnt completely suprise me. My Uncle and Dad had planned this canoeing trip before eating in the late afternoon, so he wanted to make sure there was plenty of time to be had. The goal was 6AM, but of course we left a few minutes late.

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We stopped for a quick breakfast on the way, and then I went back to sleeping seeing I didnt get too many hours of rest the night before. A short distance from where the relatives live, we ran into MEGA yard sales, but of course dad wouldn't stop due to the idea "we were already running late." Once the men left, us ladies( My aunt, mom, cousin and I) headed off to see what bargains we could get our hands on. Personally, I'm not a real big yard sale fan, but for the sake of it... I went along.

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Those of you that know me, know that I love scrapbooking and stamping. Well, I hit a deal in the stamping aspect of things. Walmart or Michael's stamps have a variety of ranges in price - $3-$10 depending on the size and design per piece. Well, I was able to get my hands on 9 stamps (some large and some smaller) for a total of $3.75!!!!!!! I was estatic, to say the least.

Then we headed on to some more. We located this moving sale where EVERYTHING was FREE. How much better can you get there?!!? Most things I couldnt find use for, but the thought was still nice.=)

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After returning, we proceeded to get our cookout meal together, while the guys were still out.

After they returned, my dad, cousin and I decided to try some 4 wheeling in a huge field behind their property and across the street. I was a bit petrified at first, but once I got going... it was a blast! This ended far too quickly, to say the least. Later, my 13 year old cousin and her neighbor friend had wanted to take me on a little tour through their imaginative fort with individual rooms in the woods. This brought back many memories for me, for I use to do this very thing also. Then crossing across a field where carnavels are held annually, we headed down to the creek. This place was absolutely gorgous to say the least. Being by the water on such a HOT day was so refreshing. Some proceeded to get wet.

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Anyways, it's been a bit of a tiring day out in the sun, but we had a wonderful time.

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I have a SLEW of pictures, some of which I will attempt to post when I can figure out what is going on with this camera thats being a bit stubborn today.

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Until then, hope all had a wonderful, relaxing holiday.

Heading to Dayton, OH with the Eller's.

IHC 2008

IHC 2

A group of us @ IHC - mainly Heather's family, other relatives and friends ate at......

for 2 different meals. We took advantage of their wednesday evening $5.95 spaghetti, salad, huge dinner rolls and a drink special and then stopped back for thursday lunch. What a unique place that was and they had VERY good food!

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Wednesday afternoon, Ange, Sarah, Heather and I decided to travel across the city to see what else we could find for food. We originally wanted to try something different, but in the end - we had probelms deciding.. and ended up landing as some little pizza place. =-/ I had been craving pizza all week, but once we had this pizza, my appetite for anymore was GONE! We walked into the restaurant, looking over a menu and inquried about how many slices were in each pizza. The lady, stampered and studdered around, then shrugging her shoulders a little bit..and said she didnt know.. but that they were cut in small pieces. We hadnt know what small pieces were like until we got our pizza. MINIATURE pieces.. max size 2 x 2... closer to 1 x 1's. I had never seen anything like it. Thought it was very creative at first and we all decided to see how many pieces we could eat. Our count didnt last for very long... especially after we bit into a piece. ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING !! We were so hungry though, so tried to force a couple more down. Never will we go there again.

We're all on the stairs of the Crown Plaza Motel.

Heather, Ange and Sarah

Heather, Aimee, Anger

Crew Tower

At the end of the week, I was out to Cincinnati where there had been a lot going on! VIP, for students that were interested in potentially going there to school was being held that weekend. Many poeple were there and activities were going on. For the most part, I stayed clear of these events... by choice! Ange was required to be a part of some of the events, and for some of those I was around, too! Afterwards, we'd always seem to hightale it off campus.=) We had several shopping trips to Florence and took Vita and Meridith along. Friday afternoon, we did check some stores out....

then stopped at Coldstone, which both Vita & I love....
...... and stopped at Crew Tower to see the city before heading back to the school...

WHAT A VIEW!!!!!!

Aimee, Vita & Ange

Ange, Meridith, Vita
The sisters peering out there.....

Cincinnati Music Hall - Collingsworth Concert

The Collingsworth Family was hosting a concert to produce a video shortly in Cincinnati. I had never attended one of their concerts and was so excited to be a part of it. It was a bit different from other concerts because of the fact they were taping, cutting, editing, redoing, etc.. but it was still well worth it.

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I was a bit bummed when they made an announcement that there were to be NO cameras with or without flash during the taping. These are just a few pics from 2 different cameras. The Music Hall was absolutely beautiful.

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I LOVE this chandelier.

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As you walk up the stairs, this was facing us on the wall. My pics from outdoors didnt turn out very well, so I thought I would use this.

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The Cousins

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Sarah & Ange peering over the railing outside after the concert.
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The Famous Red Bus

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THANK YOU so much Ange for such a wonderful time out there !!!!!!

Miss you....