Home again, home again...

We are back from our trip and we had an absolute BLAST!!! There were a total of 37 people in our cabin but it was so HUGE that it made where we had plenty of room to spread out. Now, it was noisy but for my family, that was part of the fun. Our kids had the best time and considered this to be one of their most enjoyable trips. Having other kids and family members there made it really great for them. We took a lot of pictures but unfortunately, I did not get a picture of the driveway. It was the scariest thing. It was super high and steep. Coming down was frightful!
Jody and Kelly were with us, as was my mom and dad. Jeff and Lori were in Pigeon Forge already so we got to see them, as well. It was such a fun time!!!!



When you get my family together..it gets really crazy!!!


Do you see the crazy things my brother, father, and husband are encouraging my daughter to do.....

Great Site

I am so amazed at the world's idea of appropriate clothing for young girls. Really, women in general. Being modest is something my girls feel is very important and they still always look really cute. I am very proud of the personal decisions they make in regards to clothing. I came across a really great site called Jen Magazine for young women that encourages modesty and also has many other wonderful topics important to young women. I have enjoyed it and I am not so young. 34 next week, actually. Life only gets better as I age.
Tomorrow morning, Kenny and I have been invited to a special breakfast honoring the high school students with all A's. The letter sent to us was a real shocker. It said "Congratulations! Out of 1,372 students your child (Hayli Hanekamp) is one of 84 who have made all A's." OUT OF THE WHOLE SCHOOL, mind you!!! I am thinking...You have GOT TO BE KIDDING?? Fabulous that she is being honored and has all A"s but there are only 84?!!!! We are proud of her of course, I just find it frightening that the "future leaders" of America are not excelling at a higher level. Okay, I don't know too many "leaders of America" that come from Georgia..although, there was that Jimmy Carter dude that made something of himself....

Megan the Masseur

I am a foot-rub fanatic! I love, love, LOVE to have my feet rubbed. My husband use to rub them almost every night but not so much anymore. My little Megan has actually been rubbing them A LOT! She will just come and ask me if I want her to rub them, to which the answer is always yes...and then she will sit and rub them for like over an hour. One day last week we were watching a movie and she rubbed my feet for 2 hours! She is such a sweetie and has spoiled me with her foot rubs. Kenny tried to rub them the other day and I told him he just doesn't rub them the way Meg does....I know he was heart broken.

This past Saturday was a church dance. Allie, my niece, and Hayli's friend Leah came over and got ready for the dance. The girls were only an hour late. You can't rush beauty. They looked beautiful and I think they had a really great time.

Back to school.

Hayli is #25 (serving) and Kayla is #8 (at the net playing outside-left)


This past weekend's tournament was held at a college on top of Lookout Mountain. It was so cold but absolutely beautiful. There was snow on the ground from last weeks blizzard ("mountains" got about 3-5 inches) It was so nice to see. It was a long day of sitting but I had a great time watching the girls play together. It was the first time the team has played together. It was also the first time Hayli and Kayla have played together. They weren't as successful bracket wise but they did pretty well and are learning to mesh as a team. They did look pretty darn cute. That's important.

I start school at a local college on Monday. I am excited. I am going to get my Appraiser license. It is a long process with a lot of time and hours required as an apprentice...2000 hours to be exact. Also 120 hours of course credit. I have always enjoyed the research side of being a real estate agent and so I will be a state licensed appraiser along with selling real estate...not that I have been doing a whole lot of that anyway lately. Anyway, it should be fun. A friend of mine is getting her license as well, so it will be a little more fun attending class with a buddy.

Crazy comment thing-a-majig!

I am very aggravated. Have you ever wrote this whole long comment on someones blog just to have it somehow disappear when you click "publish". This happens to my all the time and it drives me CCCRRRAAZZYYYYYYYY! I can't remember what I wrote two seconds ago and if it happens a second time in a row my long comment becomes about three or four words! I am like forget it!!!! That happened to me just a moment ago and I was so irritated that I skip the commenting and posted this instead. Okay maybe it is also that I have a terrible cold, my face looks like I have sanded it with sand paper from blowing my nose, and I am freezing! I better shape up pretty quickly because in about 15 minutes we are getting in the car to drive to Tennessee for the girls volley tournament and nothing is worse than traveling long distance with a grumpy, grouchy, coughy, sneezy person. Did I mention whiny? Maybe I will sleep on the way and no one will notice. Bright side is my parents will be with us and I am going to take ALOT of pictures to post. Okay, this is really random. I have definitely taken too many meds today.

Just stuff.

My name is Jen and I am a sorry blogger. There, at least I admit it. I check blogs regularly but find it much harder to sit and write a blog. I enjoy reading blogs of family and friends and get irritated when they take forever to update their blog with new and pertinent information and here I am an irregular blogger. Darn it, I hate being irregular.

So, this past weekend was the first weekend of many for volleyball tournaments. It literally is ALL DAY LONG! I love it. For some reason, I never get tired of watching volleyball. Mainly, I enjoy just watching my girls but if they are on a break, I will sit and watch another team, as well. Kayla and Hayli actually played on different teams and in totally different locations! Crazy! Thank goodness, they were only a few miles apart. It did get a little tricky. Kayla was playing on a 16 team and Hayli had been asked to play up to the 18 team. Actually, Hayli's coach asked if she could stay on that team but we opted for her to stay on the 17 team because she will get constant play time which I think in the long run makes you a better player. PLUS, Kayla was pulled up on the 17 team and so they will both being playing together! This should be VERY interesting ( not to mention convenient.) They are truly excited to be playing together. They both play outside hitter and if I may brag for a moment (what's new, I know I can be one of those annoying, braggy moms who think their kids are just so super fabulous and I am trying to be more humble when it comes to them but it is so darn hard!) anyway, what was I saying, oh yeah, they rock! Hayli, I expected that from because she has more team experience (playing with a decent team anyway) and Kayla has been playing private school for the past three years which is kinda..well, not good. So she has really surprised me at how awesome she is as a team player and just knowing where and how to hit that ball to score. Most importantly, they are so tight (her and Hayli) and playing together makes them more so. It should be a great season.

My older girls are registered for EFY. This is Hayli's 3rd year and Kayla's first. It is so expensive and registration/payment comes at a very inconvenient time of year for us, BUT it is soooo worth it. There are no words to describe their experience at EFY. They learn so much about the gospel and I think, about themselves. I know Hayli has found it to be some of the most spiritual experiences of her life.

Meg has been drawing these sketches and I just went to look for them so I could add them to my blog but I got lost and confused in the mass of mess in her room and could not find them. I will have to wait for her to get home and then I will add them. She is a great artist and I love to see her sketch something she sees and it looks JUST like it. I always wanted that talent along with the talent to sing, which sadly, I was given neither. Work with what ya got, I guess.

Funny kids.

I have such funny kids. Sometimes we will just sit around talking about things and making each other laugh. This happens especially when the girls and I are discussing boys. I feel sorry for my guys (Kenny and Chandler) because the girls fail to notice that they are not very interested in their new bra they got or other female particulars. It is very interesting because my girls do not have that "I can't talk about that infront of my dad" frame of mind. They never have. I think back now to when Hayli was very little and would ask her dad and I the most random things and Kenny never flinched. I believe this was imperative and allowed for the type of relationship that it never occurs to them NOT to tell him personal things. I think it is great and I am glad that he never acted embarrassed when they asked some of the things they would ask...even though we would laugh about it later. And poor Chandler gets an earful on a regular basis. Although, he is quite sensitive with girls. Speaking of girls!!! I am appauled at the amount of girls whose parents let them call boys in the third grade!!! Get this, the phone has been ringing off the hook for Chandler this weekend and on Friday a girl called to see if he could go to the Monster Truck Show at the Philips Arena with her and her family. Uh, no! He is in the third grade, hello. He has never called a girl and would much rather be outside riding his bike. If he's in the house he will talk to them but don't call him in for it. Funny, but kinda scary. Have girls always been this aggressive? Yeah.

I got to go to the Temple twice this week and it was wonderful! Saturday we went to a friend's home for wedding reception. My friend, Julie, made the food and it was her son's reception. It was fabulously done and I am going to post a pic of this veggie basket she makes. It looks like a bouquet of flowers but it is the veggies that you eat. It fascinates me. It is way cool! My skills are very inadequate and I'm afraid when the time comes (yearrssssss from now) we will have to have my girls receptions catered. I don't even want to think about that.

On the road again.

The next few months are going to be a little crazy. Club Volleyball will be in full swing starting next week and we will be in a different location (and state) every weekend. Virtually every weekend with the exception of two, all the way up until the beginning of April. Luckily, these are all on Friday and Saturdays so we will be able to make it back home by Sunday for church. I don't think it would do very well for the Bishop to miss three months of church! Nor would we do so. I am anxious to watch Hayli and Kayla play at this level but we will definitely need a break by April and before the school season starts in June.
On a more exciting note, we are taking a more leisurely trip next month during the kids winter break. Once again, I have found a really cool place off of VRBO. This place is amazing. It is a 9,000 square ft. cabin. It has 14 bedrooms and 12.5 baths. We like a little room to spread out.... No, actually there is a group of us going up. Six families in all, which will still leave three bedrooms open. We are hoping my parents will come along too. It is in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and has fabulous views. The dining room seats 46!!! It is called the Plimpton Lodge. We love Pigeon Forge and it would be great to see some snow....I am not holding my breath on that one.



Another exciting thing is Corteo. This is the latest show of Cirque du Soliel showing in Atlanta. Kenny and I saw Varekai several years back for my birthday and it was amazing! We both thought the kids would love it and gave them, I mean Santa gave them, all tickets for Christmas. We also bought tickets for my parents and Kenny's parents as well. We go this week on the 10th and we are all very excited!!!! It will be a late night for a school night but it will be well worth it.

P.S. The girls and I are going to see Nickleback in March, another gift for them from Santa....I love that Santa was good to them and I get the benefits,too.

P.S.S. Sarah, I finished the book late last night! It was so different and really wonderful to read. You really get lost in the book....thanks for the recommendation. It totally makes me want to read more on the subject!!!!! Both fiction and non. I am hooked.

Happy New Year!

I can't believe we are already in the year 2007! I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Christmas holiday. We have had a super holiday and the kids are not ready to go back to school in a few days. Kayla's birthday was the day after Christmas and we had a blast shopping all day and then going to dinner with my parents to celebrate. She is officially 14! That is a tiara on her head that I bought her so she could be princess for the day....cheesy, I know, but she actually thought it was fun!

May everyone have a blessed new year!

The game for champions.

I am no fan of golf. I LOVE sports. Almost everyone of them, with the exception of golf. I don't enjoy watching it or playing it. I think I would, if I wasn't so horrible at it. While in Bermuda, our hotel had a beautiful course overlooking the ocean. One day, mom wasn't feeling so well and the guys decided to play a round of golf. I know that both Kenny and Dad enjoy the game and I was anxious to maybe get some tips on how I can improve my game. They aren't exactly professionals but I could tell right off that I was going to learn a thing or two. The video below is at the very first tee. It was a really beautiful setting...high on a hill, ocean not far away and the green for the first hole, directly down below. Straight ahead, mind you. Here's how it went...







This pretty much set the tone for the entire game. At one point, my dad had hit the ball in the sand pit and after several tries, couldn't get it out of there. Next thing you know, he picks up the ball and chunks it on the green. He swears it's perfectly legal and something about a "pitching wedge". So, I learned that golf is not only super fun but down-right hilarious when you play with champions like these two.
P.S. Someone has asked me if Kenny says a curse word in his video...come on people this is Kenny...first of all, he would not do that and secondly, if he did, I certainly wouldn't post it!!!!

Good book anyone?

I don't have time this week but once the kids get out of school in a few days, I will have a little free time. I will not have to teach seminary until January 3rd because of Christmas break and I am craving a good book. I read "Dear John" by Nicholas Sparks and "Three weeks with my brother, a memoir" by Nicholas Sparks several weeks ago and they were great. He is a great fictional writer because he is very engaging and writes with a lot of emotion but writes a clean book. Hard to find, nowadays. I am a VERY picky reader and have to be grabbed right away. I have heard that the Women of Genesis series of books are good but I couldn't find the first two. I did find the third, Rachel and Leah, but I have been reading it for about three weeks and I am probably 40 pages in..a sure sign that it is NOT a page turner. The nonfictional book "Three weeks with my brother" is a WONDERFUL memoir about love and family relationships, especially siblings. Also, for an inspirational book, anything by Sherry Dew. I have all her books and I could reread them over and over! So, I am in need of some suggestions on a good read or two. Any ideas?

Where does the time go?

Could it possibly be that 2007 is just weeks away? What happened to 2006? Is it just me, or does it seem the older we get the more time flies? Is Christmas in just two weeks? It is always a bad idea to go out of town the week after Thanksgiving because it seems every time we do, we are in a serious time crunch when we get back. It is so bad this year, we will not be putting our lights on the outside of the house this year...there's just no sense in it when I would want them down in three weeks. The worst thing of all is that I still haven't got our tree yet. We are hoping to get it tonight for family home evening! I do have a good majority of my other things up and I think, what is up is all that is going to make it up!
Chandler is enjoying this week because at school this week is pretty much a wash....all they do is crafts and stories. No homework or test. My girls, on the other hand, STRESS CITY!!! My oldest two especially. They have mid-terms and projects and big percentages of their grades depend on it. They are straight A students so I am sure all will be well....at least after Friday!

Next year, will be even more crazy because we are going to Hawaii the first week in December!!! I will HAVE to get my decorations up before I go...that is what I say every year. Just to give you a little background on our winter trips, here is how it works. Kenny owns a swimming pool company. He uses products made by a company called Polaris. They make pool cleaners and things. When he sells these items he in turn gets "points". Polaris has these trips every year to the most AMAZING locations. They have been doing this for over 20 years. Kenny's first trip with them was to Club Med in Eluethra in 1984...(yeah, I was eleven..shows how much older Kenny is than me) Anyway, we have been to Hawaii numerous times, along with many other great locations. This how we went to Bermuda, as well. We are actually going back to The Grand Wailea on Maui in 2007. I really enjoyed it but the hotel is just soooooo huge! It takes forever to get from place to place. Anyhow, the Club P (Polaris) trips, as they are called, are always very extravagant! They take care of everything and then some. The resorts are always 5 star and the dinners and parties they have are world class. One of the trips we missed, which I really wanted to go to was Banff Springs Resort in Canada >. We wanted to take the kids on that one too but we were too busy here at home to go and I think we lacked enough points. They have gone to Austrailia, Barbados, Hong Kong, Costa Rica, etc. In the future, Club P is considering destinations in London and Italy, among others! Yay!!! So we can't hardly pass up these trips, bad timimg or not. I won't say they are free because obviously, when you vacation, you always spend extra money doing other things. But considering the hotel, buffets, some activities and entertainment, numerous dinner parties, gratuiuties and ground transportation, are all paid for by Polaris...(even your airfare if you have enough points)..it's much cheaper than it could be. Especially considering where they take us.
Here are some pics of the Grand Wailea..
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Beautiful Bermuda.

We are now back from a wonderful week in one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. Bermuda. It is a small island only 21 square miles. It is very clean and the homes there are all amazing. The roofs are all made of limestone and are used for catching rain water in which they in turn use for drinking. The limestone roofs purify the water and then it is sent to a holding tank underneath the home. They also drive on the opposite side of the road than we do here in the U.S. Men are seen in coat and ties with bermuda shorts, knee socks, and loafers. The people are very friendly and layed back. Bermuda, however, is VERY expense. Gasoline is sold by the liter at $ 1.62 or more. Food is outrageous...delicious but pricey. They only allow one car per family and that explains why there are so many scooters. There are no rental cars on the island so you must either taxi, ferry, or bus it every where. You can, however, rent scooters, which we did one day and had a blast!

We stayed at the Fairmont Southhampton. Our room was awesome and we had the most amazing view. We could see the ocean, golf course, lighthouse, and bay all from our wraparound balcony. The temperature was perfect! Not too hot and not too cold. We enjoyed ourselves so much and the fact that my parents were with us made it even better. The trip would not have been the same without them. We enjoy vacationing with them and hope maybe they will go to Hawaii with us next year!

I am the kind of mom that has a hard time leaving my kids. If I am gone more than a day or so, I am dying to get back to them. This time I was actually okay with leaving them which is ironic because Hayli and Kayla were staying home by themselves and pretty much taking care of everything. Hayli really wanted to take on the challenge and we were more than pleased with how responsible she was. I really felt things were okay here and that made me not stress as much. When we were coming home, she said she now had a greater appreciation of what I do and how hard it can be to juggle everything.

Now, it is back to reality and a rush to prepare for Christmas, my favorite time of the year.

p.s. I took over 240 pics while in Bermuda but I will only post a few. I am disappointed that the pictures truly do NOT do it justice.

The homes on Bermuda are extraordinary!


This is one house.

This house has a carport for their boat.

Random Updates

I have been slack on the blogging lately. Not because I haven't had things to blog about but because I have been too busy to sit and blog. There has been a lot going on for all of us. Megan has started piano lessons and so far she loves it. She is really a natural, says her mom, but she can hear a song and then within a short amount of time, she can play it, by ear. She is having a little bit of a struggle adjusting to middle school but it helps that she attends private school and it is a lot less overwhelming because it is much smaller. She finished up her first year of volleyball and we were very proud of how well she did for her first time.
Chandler has been racing (BMX bikes) for the past several months and so far has placed first each time. It is really layed back but it is great exercise. He really enjoys it.
Kayla has finished her school volleyball season and her last in private school. She will go into public school, where Hayli attends, and that will be a much better opportunity for her. She received MVP, for the third year in a row, at her banquet last week. She and Hayli also had try-outs for club volleyball last week. Let me say, club ball is quite a sacrifice financially but it is going to be a lot of fun for them and very beneficial for them as players. They will travel and play pretty much until about May. School volleyball starts in June. It will keep her busy for sure, especially since she will also play softball come February. Kayla is playing on the 16 age team for club. She is the only girl under 15 that made the team. We are proud. She is a great athlete. She also has a very busy social life.
Hayli had her interview for the cable tv sports channel as Player of the Year. It was fun. I am really hoping to be able to get a copy of it or something. She had a great job (for the month) teaching gymnastics but that conflicted with her club volleyball practice schedule, so that has ended. She picked up her first and last pay check from there yesterday. However, she already has another job and it will be very flexible with her practice schedule. It is hard, you want them to learn responsibility, but at the same time you want them to have these other opportunities to further their talent. Responsibility can be gained in a lot of ways and I think that the fact that she is a straight A honor student and juggles sports and a small job shows she is responsible...or becoming so. She is loving the freedom of having her own car and dating!!! However, if one more dude over the age of 19 calls our house for her, return missionary or not, we are changing our number!! Ha, ha..although, I am kinda serious. She also has a very busy social life and on the go all the time.
Kenny and I are going to be heading off to Bermuda for a week. My parents are coming with us and I am so excited. We have never been to Bermuda and I hear it is gorgeous. We are going to have to learn to drive on the opposite side of the road...YIKES! They do not have rental cars on the island, so we will be renting scooters..FUN!!

P.S. I LOVE to read but haven't had time to read in a very long time. I bought Nicholas Sparks' new book "Dear John" this week and read it in one day!!!! It was FABULOUS! He is a wonderful author! I am sad that I read it so quick but I couldn't put it down. If anyone knows of a MUST READ, please let me know. I need a book or two for my trip.

P.S.S. Kayla had her first church dance last weekend. She had a BLAST!!!

Is green hair better than no hair? Hmmm...

See what I have to live with! Actually, I wouldn't have it any other way. Kenny is always doing things to make us laugh. He is such a great dad....and he spoils his kids rotten. Those girls have their daddy wrapped around their finger. He is so protective of them though, and I think that is his only way of dealing with them growing up and being interested in boys. He jokes about giving boys the third degree (while cleaning his guns) in regards to his girls but he is partially serious. Sometimes, letting go is the hardest thing.

We get together at my mom and dad's for dinner on Sundays as often as we can. The cousins' absolutely adore each other. They are best buddies and I am so glad they have so much love for each other.

Hayli on TV!!!

We received some really exciting news yesterday. Hayli's coach informed us that he has nominated Hayli as Player of the Year. She will be taping an interview for the local TV station here in our area. How exciting is that?

Do I really like Halloween? I always think I do and then by about 8 pm on October 31st, I am pretty sure I don't. Now, let me just say, I love my husband. I really do but he is the reason I don't like Halloween. It always starts out great..the kids are dressed up and ready to head out to do some trick or treating, I am excited and love to see the kids in their costumes, and the air is crisp and cool, just perfect for a Halloween night. Fast forward an hour or so and here is where the problem starts. We could have visited every house within a 10 mile radius and that isn't enough for Kenny. He is like this marathon trick or treater. My kids can be worn out and begging to stop (okay, that never happens..but still) and he has to keep going. He is trick or treat psychopath...sorry honey but you know you need help. So, inevitably, every year I get dropped off early at our house so they can continue on their quest of acquiring every piece of candy in the county without my nagging. Maybe next year will be different....
P.S. We sure did miss Hayli this year. She had other plans but trick or treating is just not them same without her.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!
Check out this energy drink commercial.
energy drink

Pumpkin portrait.

This weekend we finally got around to carving our pumpkin. Actually, Megan drew faces on the pumpkin and Kenny cut them out. She is a great little artist but we never realized her potential for doing portraits until Kenny decided to match our pumpkin's face with look-a-like celebrities after seeing everyone's blog. HILARIOUS!!!!

http://www.myheritage.com

An exciting week.

This week has been full of exciting things for some members of my family. Kayla and Megan are finishing up with their volleyball season today by having a parent/player challenge. It has been a great season and they both did really well. I have enjoyed watching the two of them play together. Oh, and the parents whooped them in the challenge.

Chandler FINALLLLYYY got his Halloween costume delivered that I ordered. He has been asking EVERYDAY when it was coming. It is a really well-made costume and he will be identical to the real Zorro. I will have to post some pics so Ammon can see his cousin Chandler is really Zorro. It is like a size too big but that's okay because I paid way too much money for it and therefore Zorro will definitely ride again next year.

Hayli took her driving test today and PASSED! She was literally a nervous wreck...I thought she might vomit. She did well and is now officially and legally on the roads. This really scares me too death. She drove to school and back home. Then to work and straight to church afterwards. Things are different here. You guys out west live like five minutes from everything. She has to drive at least 15 minutes to school, about 30 minutes from school to work (only 1 or 2 days a week), and to church, it is a good 30 minute drive from our house. We spend a lot of time on the roads here just getting from one place to the other. I drive over 100 miles a day, just taking and picking up kids from school! That is why on my 2000 Suburban we bought brand new, has 142,000 miles on it. My Vue that we bought in 2005 brand new has 48,000 miles on it. We are rough on cars around here.

Hayli also got a job teaching her own gymnastics classes at the same gym she competed at. She competed for 7 years and is going to really enjoy her job....and they pay is outstanding.


One last exciting thing..the Ola Mustang Volleyball team (Hayli's varsity) is heading to state this weekend. We are so proud those girls. They have done awesome. Go Mustangs!
http://www.henry.k12.ga.us/oh/OHSVolleyball.htm