THANKFUL!!!

Yesterday we celebrated Skylar's 32nd birthday. There was a time when I was slightly worried about our age gap but there are many reasons now that I'm thankful for it. Most importantly no matter how old I get he always makes me feel young. (Thanks Honey!!!!) However, I must add he definitely doesn't look 32. We had a great day and Kylee was so excited to prepare and celebrate his birthday.
Some of her quotes from the day included..."Today is a special day for me because I have to get things ready for Dad's birthday." "Mom, why do we celebrate Dad's birthday today?" Which led to a great chit chat and explanation. My favorite was when I was frantically trying to come up with something for him to open and turned to Kylee asking her for some advice on what to get Dad. Her reply was, "Well, we just gave my friend the chalk drawler...I have lots of baby dolls but he probably won't want that...he does like football alot...we could get him a football kicker...how about that?" We had a great day making cake, hiding gifts, bringing and eating lunch at the hospital with sky, running errands, and even fitting in a dinner the two of us thanks to the help of our friends.

I just wanted to say Thanks again to Sky for the role he plays in our family. All of these family moments make life worth every moment. Which brings me to another point for this post. Ammendment 8, through many e-mails I've become more aware of the drastic effects this does have on my own little family. I never thought we would have to be worried about protecting marriage and securing the value of family. I'm thankful for my beliefs and just wanted to share this song with you that Janice Kapp Perry has put out in support of Ammendment 8. I think she did a fabulous job with the song and you all know how much I love little things like this. Hope you enjoy too and give a little extra hug to your family today.
Song to Support Ammendment 8!

UT Part 2

After our time in Logan we headed down to Salt Lake for 2 days and then to my sister's in Orem for the weekend. Every time I'm in Utah I forget how many great people there are to see and it is just impossible to do in our short visit. So, all of you reading this that I didn't catch up with I am very very sorry. We really do love you! We did pack the trip full with awesome memories and the girls did excellent with bouncing around. I wish we could have fit even more in.

Some friendships you know just won't ever die! Amber and I met in college and I'm sure will still know each other when we are old and grey. However, I must say we are doing good so far. This is 9 years since we met and I think we still look the same.

Just add our husbands and a few kids. Her boys and my girls.
For our third year in a row Kylee was happily reunited with Kelly May (great-grandpa's horse). Kylee looks forward to these moments and talks about her experiences all the time. This horse will never be forgotten as we even have play horses at home named after her. This year there was a new little tyke to add to the excitement. As you can guess, Alexis couldn't get enough. Once she got on the horse there was no getting her off. Every time we would try she would bust into tears. Kylee was great at giving her plenty of turns and the 2 of them just held on and laughed as they rode around.

None of this would have been possible without great-grandpa's efforts. At 88 years old he is still taking care of horses and nursing Kelly May's foot back to health just so Kylee can have a turn to ride her when she comes out to visit. Not to mention HIS health which is a little shaky none the less. These are amazing memories and from them Kylee will probably always remember her GREAT GRANDPA. He is already willing to gift Kylee the horse...one huge problem. No where for us to keep her in PA.
We spent a great weekend with Aunt Laura and Uncle Taylor as always. Taylor was full of his usual spunky energy which keeps Kylee (all of us)entertained. We had a crazy round of mini golf. Kylee has hit the age of getting into everything now and just had a blast finding the neat things each hole had to offer and Tay amazed us all with his hole in ones. We had a good time hiking, eating, chatting and being together. I love every minute I get with my sister and am left always wanting more time. I guess that's a good thing.

And at the last minute we still fit in a get together with some of my cousins. It was short but sweet and I'm glad we all pulled it off. So easy to pick up where ever you left off with family.

Jody, bottom left was a week overdue to have her baby at this point and still pulled off doing my hair. She is absolutely fabulous and does an amazing job every time.

Annual Utah Trip PART 1

After a long day of traveling we made it to Nana's house (Sky's Mom) and the girls were instantly in heaven. Lexi became comfortable quickly as she used Bovy (the dog) as her personal pillow. This kid just can't get enough of animals and has no fear at all...not even a huge pit bull will turn her away. Bovy abliged nicely and allowed Lexi to follow him around for 5 days patting, tackeling, lying on, walks, etc. Kylee meanwhile was Nana's side kick. She loves her "Nannie" to death and they were constantly checking on the cats, doing multiple crafts, collecting fruit, telling silly stories, walking to the playground and sitting side by side. Where ever one went the other followed. We all know where Skylar was....GOLFING! During our 5 days in Logan he managed to fit in 3 rounds of golf with his Dad.

We spent a fun filled evening at the Logan Fun Park! (old stomping ground for a few of our dates) We even got grandparents into the play structure to add to the fun. It was non-stop action for Kylee from slides, to arcade games and even roller skating. She was spoiled with non-stop entertainment the entire trip.

A trip with Skylar's family is never complete without a little bowling. Following in the footsteps of Uncle Ry Ry and Grandpa Ted, Kylee is becoming quite the little bowler. Check out this form! Are you proud Ry Ry or what? We spent a late night at Logan Lanes but Kylee showed no signs of being tired and asked for another game. "Are these the right fingers mom?" We had a great time with Aunt Jenny, Uncle Tommy and the entire group.

We of course made it out to Grandpa Ted's for an evening which was filled with more constant entertainment. This crew is frequently found around the table playing Texas Hold'em and the girls found entertainment on the trampoline, riding the four wheeler, climbing trees or Lexi hugging baby Cache.

All these moments remind us how hard it is to be away!

YES, I do Love Celine Dion!

I know I know, yup I'm a fan. Many of you may agree and others may take this perfect opportunity to laugh or make fun of me. : )That's just fine...bring it on. I think she has such an incredible voice and I loved her performance in Vegas. Last weekend Sky and I celebrated our 7th year anniversary (a month late) with my
parents in NJ and went to see Celine's concert. We had such an amazing time and yes my husband who is obsessed with sports also can enjoy some of the finer things as well. He thoroughly enjoys listening to her amazing voice in person.



It was a great evening of laughs, attempts at singing, no children, my Dad's first concert in at least 20 years and an interesting drive through Newark NJ!

Well Sky, after 7 years we can still stand each other. I sure love you and am thankful for the journey so far. Thanks for putting up with me. I'm glad I've got you by my side.

Horrible Mom Moment

We spent the majority of Labor Day at Lake Tobias Wildlife Park about a half hour away from us. I can’t believe we have lived here for 3 years and I am just discovering this place, especially since I apparently have 2 daughters obsessed with animals. The park takes you on an hour long safari in a bus with the top cut off so you are up close and personal with the animals. They are not shy as they come right up to the sides to be fed. Lexi had a hay day with this! She couldn’t get enough of them as she was stuffing her arm down buffalo’s throats with her crackers. She caught on very quickly and would just hang her hand out over the side waiting for an animal to come and eat it. If they took too long she of course would nibble on the nasty wafer herself.

Luckily the day wasn’t too tainted from my HORRIBLE MOM MOMENT one minute into the safari! Somehow I managed to be the only one on the bus not to hear the guide say “You can feed most the animals, but do not hand-feed the birds. They don’t know the difference between the food and your fingers!” Needless to say when the first ostrich walked up to Kylee I started telling her to put her hand out and feed it. “Don’t worry Kylee, he won’t bite!” My trusting daughter proceeded to feed the ostrich and two seconds later I had a crying child in my arms, holding her finger with blood on it and saying “That was a BAD CHOICE MOM! he did bite me and I’m NEVER doing that again” I cannot even express how bad I felt! My daughter totally trusted me and I blew it. I felt so stupid and was just wishing I could erase the moment. We did recover and manage to enjoy the rest of the safari and as you can see Kylee did just fine feeding all the animals.

We later went on to a reptile show where Kylee got to pet a snake and a baby alligator. Lastly, we finished our adventure at the Petting Zoo where Alexis was absolutely hysterical. She all of a sudden could care less about feeding the animals because she was now able to hug them like stuffed animals and use them as her own personal pillow…(until they would get up and move). At first I was concerned about the disgusting goat germs but I quickly gave up as she was determined to enjoy this moment to the fullest. We had everybody passing by making comments and smiling at this 17 month old who was just one with the goats. So much for being timid around live animals. She has no fear and never once even hesitated. Kylee was off making sure each animal got their fare share of her crackers while Lexi was lounging out with the goats.

Lake Tobias Click on the little picture or the name in purple for a short video and as you can see we wore them out. Within 2 min. of our drive home this is what our back seat looked like!

FIRST NAME BASIS

More and more are becoming aware now that YES, my daughter Kylee calls me CHERYL. At least 50% of the time I am referred to as CHERYL not Mom. This has been going on for over a year now and I guess I've just become used to. When I stop and think about it, it is pretty crazy and I have no idea how it began or why it started but that's Kylee for you. Oh and don't worry Dad is Skylar or even Sky half the time as well. However, I"ve begun to notice it more lately as I've had others point it out more frequently. A Random laugh from someone passing in the hall at church when they hear from my little 4 year old..."Cheryl, you've gotta see this.'' or my siblings that brought it to my attention again as we were all together at the reunion and they heard it constantly. They just couldn't get enough of it and thought it was the funniest thing. I often hear from friends, "Did she really just call you Cheryl" with a chuckle in their voice and I assure them...yup we are on a first name basis apparently. When we are around people for the first time I do hesitate for a moment and wonder what they are thinking but it has become a great conversational piece at times. (ie: preschool parents) What's crazy is I don't think she has any clue that it's odd or unusual. With no hesitation at all it just comes out. I tried explaining once to her that she was the lucky one that got to call me Mom which sounded cool at the moment but it obviously didn't stick. It really doesn't bother me and I still get called Mom plenty during the day. I guess it mixes it up a little bit since I'm addressed more times than I can count in one day. She loves to chat and has me involved in every move she makes as many of you know. I promise I didn't teach her or ask her to do it. One of Kylee's little quirks that for now we will continue to let go and get some great laughs out of. Who knows maybe it's a phase that she will one day grow out of or maybe she will be that kid whose 8 years old and calling her mother by her first name. By then I think I will definitely have to kill the habit.

1st Official Hockenjos Reunion

My parents pulled it off! We just returned from a family reunion from the Outer Banks in NC and had an absolute blast. It had been almost 2 years since we had all been together under one roof. My parents rented a gorgeous beach house for the week and all my siblings with their families from different states traveled in. Together we may have set a new record for the amount of pictures taken on one trip. Cameras were constantly clicking and now we are all awaiting each others results. What will we do with them all? Good question, but hopefully we will remember every great memory and all the laughs. Nothing much sweeter than being together as family at the BEACH! You all know how much we love it there. This area was full of childhood memories as we vacationed there a lot growing up and haven't been back for years. So here are a few highlights. I narrowed my 100 pictures down for now.How High can they go? We had perfect swimming conditions most of the week and Kylee couldn't get enough of the ocean. The cousins went back and forth among grandparents and aunts and uncles arms swimming as much as they could.Uncle Taylor was a definite highlight as he was always full of energy and ready to tease us all. The older ones had a blast burrying him while some of the younger ones were a little concerned. We finally made it through without too much sand in his eyes. They all had a blast building sand castles, catching jelly fish and we can't forget bachi ball. Skylar and I will still claim being the paddleball champs! Sky and Lexi hanging out in our own personal hot tub! Lexi finally warmed up to the crew by the end of the week!
We successfully pulled off crabbing. Grandpa took the grandkids crabbing and after waiting "patiently" for a short while they began pintching and enjoying those chicken necks. We caught quite a few and of course Kylee wasn't shy to hold one at all. She even helped put them to sleep by rubbing them between the eyes. We didn't lose any kids in the water but there was plenty of jumping in to fetch lost nets, scissors, and rope!!!The sand dunes were a ton of fun. I was worried Kylee may get worn out but I was definitely wrong. She absolutely loved running up and down them and even Lexi did great! This sure put me down memory lane as I remember running up and down the same ones when I was a kid. It was crazy being back in the same area with now my own family creating new memories with our kids.My parents willingly kept the grandkids one evening for all of us to head out for dinner. It was awesome to sit around a table with my siblings and their spouses eating and chatting. We racked up one fun bill that night as you all know how much this crew loves food!We splurged towards the end of the week and took Kylee out for her first waverunner ride. We had a great time out on the Bay and Kylee sure warmed up to the event as she quickly moved to the driver seat.

Grandma and Grandpa with their grandkids! Pretty sweet! Even if they aren't all looking which is close to impossible. We did attempt the dreaded family pictures on the beach including every pose you can think of. My brothers camera probably has close to 1000 attempts among all of us so we will see what results we have later. The kids were absolutely done but we pulled out all kinds of tricks to get as many looks as we could at the camera.

All in all it was an amazing trip and I definitely want to say thanks Mom and Dad for making it possible. Despite the elephants pounding above my head at night we loved every minute of it. Kylee was off in her world the entire week playing with her cousins and is still talking about them daily.

Gifford Pinchot State Park

We are continuing to have a blast with our friends here in Hershey. I'm so thankful for the fun activities we are able to be apart of especially during these summer months. This past week me and 6 ohter crazy and exciting Mom's decided to take off with our 13 kids (all 5 and under)and leave our husbands behind for an afternoon at a nearby lake and an evening by "our own" campfire. For awhile there we wondered if we would ever eat our tin foil dinners or have a fire that would last us through the evening...yes we successfully finally did! We definitely know how to pose! Thanks to the self timer we got a GREAT group shot. (Apparently, I'm ready for Prom)
We also got some killer looks from those passing by. You'd think no one had ever seen 7 ladies with 13 tiny children all at one campsite having a blast together before.
What a group! Despite the millions of mosquito bites and getting lost on the way there we had a blast. I was able to leave Alexis home and hang out just with Kylee. We all know Lexi would have been on the go non-stop and wanting everything to do with the fire. Kylee had a great time romping around the campsite, cooking on the fire, catching lightning bugs, going on adventures with the flashlights, staying up late, and riding in our friends minivan.
Somehow, I became the official tinfoil dinner cooker and am glad for all those past camping experiences. I enjoyed the smores and Kylee enjoyed just her plain uncooked marshmellows and chocolate. Apparently, the fire was too hot and it was more fun exploring the campsite. She only lasted a minute trying to cook her hotdog before she handed the scewer over to me saying, "my face is getting way too hot!" We had a good time together. Most of my friends have already blogged about this fun adventure and awesome crazy day. I just always seem to be the slow one. We enjoyed our mini camping experience but next time I'll go for the husbands cooking the meals so we can lounge around even more. I love living here in Hershey and can't believe we have already started our last year. I'm not ready to leave and guess it's time to pack in as much as possible in the next year. I don't want to have to say good-bye to my awesome friends.

Going Digital...HELP

I'm looking for some advice and help! What do you all do with your millions of digital pictures? Before, it was boxes of negatives but I at least limited the amount of pictures I took. Now, it is just so easy to click click click and hard to erase. I'll print some or use them for various projects but I just don't want to lose them. I assume I should clear them off my hard drive but then I'm affraid I'll want some of the old ones for a montage or some other quick project and don't want to hunt through the CD's to find them. However, at times it takes a few minutes to find the one I may be looking for on my computer since there are so many to go through. As soon as you start looking for the picture I begin heading down memory and well we all know where that takes you. In addition, I'm just not sure how to organize them. I'll begin to name some but they seem to get shoved into some alphabetical order by doing so and are intermixed with the numbered ones and I begin to feel like I have too many folders. I just feel overwhelmed and I know I sound pathetic. Why do we all have such cute kids that are so fun to take pictures of? This digital world almost makes it more difficult for me. I feel more and more behind and neither one of my girls have a scrapbook. So all of you out there who are up to date on logging your kids lives I give you a HUGE pat on the back and I'm ready to hire you! I keep thinking I will start when they are older and I can find some free time but who am I kidding. I guess at this point I should just hand them a stack of CD's with their pictures on them. So if you have any tips on where to begin or how you organize your digital pictures send them my way. I hope all of this rambling made some sense. This is the current project on my mind right now as I'm trying to clear my memory card off for an upcoming family reunion and just wonder if I should keep downloading all these pictures onto my computer.

My Eating Walking Machine!

One of Lexi's happiest moments of the day...EATING!!! I don't think I've ever met a 1 year old who could eat more than Alexis. She never acts full and truly enjoys her food. She definitely has some Hockenjos genes there. If anyone in the room has food (even if she just finished eating) she comes waddling over as fast as she can with a grin on her face or with her mouth wide open. You gotta love her! If I even open the pantry door she starts kicking her legs and making her funny grunting noise as she anticipates what I may bring out. I can't believe how fast she is growing up! My little baby took her first steps on Kylee's birthday and now pretty much has the hang of it. It has taken me forever to get this post up. I know family has been asking to see some video of her walking. This clip has her first steps from a few weeks ago, a little in the middle and her current walking from this evening. I know it is on the long side but we've had fun watching her progress. Don't mind my high pitched squeels at the beginning. What can I say I am a proud excited Mom and Kylee is right along with me. We love watching her accomplish every milestone. She is still doing great and pretty much on track.

She is very proud of her walking skills and her big belly! She is into everything right now and is developing quite the little personality.