2nd Week Of Vacation

Our last week of vacation has been real nice, the weather on the other hand hasn't...I guess I shouldn't complain about 70 degrees, but it would be nice if the sun was out all the time as well:) I know, call me greedy...

Suzi, Kevin and Ryan went home just after Richards kids, Morgan, Mitchell and Madison, came in. We also had another family come over to be with us for a few days, the Mike Goodwins. Lauren's friend Sydney Satoski came and spent the night with us before leaving with her family to go to Orlando. The kids have gone jet skiing many times, they even had the boat police fly across the gulf to see what the heck they were doing so close to the shore...If you look real close to this picture you will see that the full moon has been out here quite a bit this year! The kids (and Richard) had just come back from jet skiing and were warming up in the hot tub.

My father in law, Stew came as well as our friend Mike Schultz and we have just been hanging out spending time together as usual.

We have seen all the normal faces down here that come for christmas and look forward to seeing them all again next year:)

I have taken more Senior pictures of Leah, here are just a few

I have been blessed with wonderful friends and relatives and look forward to the new year to come!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS

Bub, Dianne, Kevin, Suzi, Lori, Norman, Richard, Lindsey, Leah, Morgan, Lauren, Mitchell and Madison

Christmas Vacation Week 1

So this is the day we were leaving, Thursday the 17th, we lined Leah's boyfriend Ryan up to watch the house and take care of the cats for us....As you can see Leah is VERY sad...

Little did she know that her Aunt Suzanne and Uncle Kevin were looking for another driver to help them with the long trip down...Ryan asked Thursday morning from work to get the week off, they said yes, he packed in one day and headed down with them...

What is very nice is that this year we also have the room right next door to us, thats where Ryan, Suzi, Kevin and Richard are staying...

The next morning the SURPRISE was on her:)

I have posted a few pictures of our first week here in Madeira Beach, Florida

This is our 15th year of coming down for Christmas and New Years

Love to see how "white" the girls really were to begin with:)

Hot Tubbin It Up

Lauren*Leah*Lindsey

Then Sunday we headed to Tampa to pick up our little German Daughter Rani

We found a restaurant called the Sea Hag, the owner used to live in South Bend, IN
Love these girls and the beautiful sunset behind them:)

"White" Family Photo

The sunsets really are the best here...

While I was laying poolside, Norman went and bought himself a Christmas present!
This is what Christmas Eve looks like for us...This is our tradition, Pizza and Pasta!


Merry Christmas Everyone

Thanksgiving 2009

Norman and I got married one October and I decided right away that year, that "I" would start a new tradition and have Thanksgiving. That way it gave our Moms a break, made me really learn how to cook after 1 month of marriage, and both sides of the family would come to our home and we did not have to travel when we started having babies...(see how my mind works:)

In the early days my Mom came over in the weeee hours of the morning, and after several calls to my Grandma, making sure we had her recipe just right, our Thanksgiving was complete. And now after 20 plus years, my beloved Grandma gone, the tradition of my Mom coming in the morning still exists, we've tweaked the time and the recipe has changed a bit, but we still make her WONDERFUL stuffing that we all crave. The house smelled perfect, the parade was on in the morning, everyone came, and we had a meal that was scrumptious, as a matter of fact almost every bit of the food was GONE! Not even enough for a turkey sandwich the next day.

Over the years I have learned, we went from making a huge turkey then, to making several breasts now, we all like the white meat...so why not spend the extra money and get what we really want:)

This year was no exception, the meal was so tasteee, the company even better, and to top it all off I write a traditional poem that everyone loves? to listen to.

Early that afternoon, after all the dishes were done, I took little Lauren over to the airport to fly with her "bestie" to go to Vail, Colorado for the weekend. After everyone left that evening, Lindsey went over to a girlfriends house to spend the night, and Leah went to bed kinda early so we could go shopping the next morning.

This Black Friday we didn't go out real early, we left at 6am and went to just a few stores not really wanting much, but ending up with what we had our eyes on, then as I said on Facebook, we finished our trip with going to Starbucks (Tanner's Fav Place)

for some CARMEL APPLE CIDER, YUMMM

This weekend the Christmas lights were finished on the house and I am happy, the reason for my happiness, is because when I was a little girl my Mom always turned her Christmas lights on the first day of December (that happens to be my birthday:)

that always made me feel soooo special, now my husband continues with this.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend filled with family and loved ones.

I look forward to doing this again in 364 days!

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone, near and far

Lovin The Fall Colors

Hi (anyone that reads)

Just when you think all is running smoothly....my Mom gets into an accident last Friday, what she called a fender-bender was actually about $9,000.00 in damage to her Nitro. I was running errands in Valparaiso when I got the call, she was in LaPorte, that was the day we had torrential rain and blowing leaves...she tried to stop tooo late for a stop sign, slid on wet pavement and leaves then hit another car, she was fine, air bags deployed and her hands were ripped by it. Of course she was sore from the impact. Yes, its time to move on from accidents!!! We were soooo glad that my Mom was alright:)

I am happy to report that our lives have slowed a bit:) Leah is busy with Basketball Practice, Rockettes, and School....Lauren only Rockettes and School, she has filled out a few job applications, but as we all know, it'll be pretty tough for her to get a job. Lindsey is busy as ever with B-Dubs and School. Since Volleyball got over we have actually spent a few evenings all home together, until Basketball games start up next week.

Our little Lisa made it home safe, all the kids had to stay out of school over there for a week, due to the fact that there was sooo much sickness going on here right before they left. The children all had to be checked out by their own doctor to make sure they were fine, well guess what, Lisa tested positive for the H1N1 virus, her doctor told her more than likely she got it on the plane:( I told her she should have just stayed here where she was well!

.

I have started taking a few of Leah's SENIOR pictures, I love the fall colors, and before the leaves were all blown away, we took advantage of the beautiful morning this past Monday, and got a few shots:)

Leah Meredith White

Our Middle Daughter

Lookin Like A SENIOR!

A Very Fast 3 Weeks

It was time to say good-bye to all our new German friends...especially our own Lisa:(

We had such a wonderful time with Lisa, and she said she couldn't have been with a better family:) (that sure makes you feel real good)...The last week was spent by most of the kids trying to stay well. We went to Merrillville and Lisa spent every last dollar she came with, as a matter of fact, my Mom gave her the extra $5 she needed to buy an American Eagle sweatshirt. We went to the candy store on US #30, ate at Joe's Crabshack, bought pumpkins so they could carve them, they had a farewell party, and we rounded our time out with our very last sectional volleyball game against Marquette.

(If you follow volleyball and know of this school, you know they are fantastic!)

The picture that follows was taken Friday just as the kids were getting ready to leave for Ohare, Germans & Americans:)

Lauren and Lisa are in the center of this picture.

I couldn't have been happier by the way Lauren and Lisa got along:)

I believe these girls will have a friendship all their lives...

Once again, many tears:(

As with all the German exchange girls we have had live with us, Mama (my Mom) went shopping with us and she had Lisa pick out her very own build-a-bear. Lisa named hers Lauren because it reminded her of the Rockettes and her American sister being one :)


Lauren took Lisa to Papa's (my Dad's) company to show her some of our heavy equipment, if you look real close you will see Lauren and Lisa standing with their heads popped out of Lauren's sunroof.

(That's one long stick backhoe!)

Then there's Leah?
No need for a caption...


And finally as promised, Lindsey's new beetle:)

(I am so glad she loves this car, she said it feels like "home" to her!)

I would have to say we have been so lucky to have such wonderful German exchange students that will be a part of us forever...I truly love these girls and look forward to the day I see them again:)

South Central Varsity PCC Champs

So our SENIOR Varsity volleyball player Miss Leah is on a roll, they won their Senior Night...as you will see in the picture below, she was very "sappy" as she was being honored, just like her big sister Lindsey, she cried a lot too, because that is how we roll. But to make things just awesome, they are the PCC Champs! They beat Washington Township AGAIN, which makes everyone very happy!
We took a trip to Chicago to see "Cats" (don't waste your money) and to go up in the Willis Tower, that was really cool, as you will see in the pictures to follow, it was actually pretty scarrrrry! The kids even jumped in the Skydeck Ledge, not me!!!

Then Lauren and her little German friend Lisa went and had their nails done, no they didn't leave them that long!!!

Below is a picture of the South Central PCC Champs! They really gave us a great show! We even missed the neighbor girls wedding reception (Danielle Nichols), we sent Lauren and Lisa to represent the family:)

Instead of going to church Sunday morning, I took our little German friend to my nurse practitioner, she woke up with a fever of 103.9 and I almost died....she had the test for swine flu, thank god it was NOT the flu, she has a very serious case of sinusitis. I know she is in agony with this but I told her it could be waaaaay worse.

But the next day after the Z-pack she is so much better. She told me she gets this infection very often.

The flu is terrible at South Central and there are cases going around, I just cross our fingers and hope everyone gets well over fall break and the school will be "germ free" (yea really....what a dream)

Tomorrow is a day for shopping with Lisa to Merrillville, she leaves already this Friday, I will miss this girl!!!

Hey, Lindsey got a car yesterday...yes another VW beetle, this one is a 2006 and the color is silver, its cute, but what bug isn't! I'll have to take a pix and post after she gets some stuff on it:)

Never A Dull Moment

Here's whats been happenin at "The White House"since our newest member Lisa came to live .....
Frau Woolever took the host kids and their German friends out of school and they went to Chicago on the Architectural boat tour, I wasn't able to go so my Mom went along...we had a welcome party with a carry-in for all the German kids and their host families, the kids even went swimming at the schools pool, it was homecoming week and Lauren taught Lisa how to go out T-Ping, the annual bonfire was moved from the school and was at the Millpond, we lost the homecoming football game 2-6, the newly crowned King is Leah's friend, Chris Cummings, I had to chaperon the dance and it got over at midnight...then to end Lauren and Lisa's week, they went with Tori and her German friend Vali to West Palm Beach Florida. I took them to the airport Saturday morning and picked them up Sunday evening....it was in the high 90's and they really got burnt! The only thing to report on Lindsey is that she is stilllll looking for a vehicle, and she has a couple days off of school, fall break:)

Lisa and Lauren in Chicago

Lisa, Katie, Lauren and Sydney

Leah, a Senior Rockette

Stull, White, Mohlke, Sowder
"Senior Float"

Leah, My BFF Gretchen?, Lauren

Leah and "The King" Chris

Lauren and Her BFF Tori

Coming Home From Florida

Our Family Just Grew

That's right friends and relatives, our family got bigger, but this time it was so much easier. No real weight gain, no strange food cravings, no swollen feet, and no long painful labor. Our newest daughter arrived on a school bus! (You should try it, its the latest Craze!) She came with a name and no diapers to change...The happiest of kids in my house is Lauren because she finally got "her very own" German, her name is Lisa-Marie Bretthauer. She is just one of the exchange students that came for a 3 week stay. I don't know how we have been so fortunate, 3 times over! Lisa is soooo nice and I already feel the bond we will share for a lifetime, and I know Lauren just adores her! Our first day together was spent by going to church, walmart, light house mall, my entire family met up and ate at b-dubs, then they all came over for some dessert, and finally the girls did a little t-ping to end their long day! These weeks will just fly by:( So much planned in such a short amount of time.

I love the picture I took of them as they were getting off the bus at school. New bff's after knowing each other for just a few hours, I love the warm embrace they are sharing:)

We now have 6 daughters, 3 American and 3 German

My Little Jet Setter

Last Friday I picked up Lauren and her friend Tori from school, took them to the Valparaiso Airport and they jetted off to Washington DC with Tori's family for an overnite trip on their private jet. Tori's Dad was getting an award from a magazine out there. I no more than dropped them off, made it home, and shorty thereafter Lauren called and said they had already touched down, the trip had only taken about 1 1/2 hours! They skyped me and Norman that evening, it was lots of fun. Lauren said the next day they had a lovely lunch then had enough time to do a driveby of "The White House", then did a little shopping before heading back home. I picked the girls up from the airport and they tye died some stuff at our home then skyped their friends.

I just find all of this simply amazing. How fortunate they are and how gracious of them take Lauren along. These are memories that will last a lifetime! Lauren and Tori went to church the next morning, when Lauren got back to her car, they noticed someone had door dinged it real bad! Lauren was so mad she cried! Some people just don't care!

Even though this is all about Lauren, I have to say that Leah (along with her teammates) WON the Washington Township Volleyball Tourney and we were up against Washington Township as well! Boy were they P!$$ed!

Miss Leah (My Mini-Me)

Leah is all about volleyball at the moment. The second picture is what happens when other team mates do not go for the ball when it is clearly theirs. Yes, she did save it and that knee actually looks better than it had. (I just forgot to take the picture earlier!)

Leah is trying to decide if she would like to go into beauty school. One of her bf's is attending one this year and just loves it. I know Leah really has no idea what she wants to do in the future, and I feel she needs to do something with her life that she enjoys? She can always go to beauty school then if that doesn't suit her, she can go on to college. With this economy it really doesn't make much of a difference what you go to college for, good luck getting any job when you graduate! (I know if she wanted to be a teacher, nurse, doctor etc there are always jobs for those people, but if she is not interested in that line...) I want her to persue something she will be interested in. I do know she would love to get married someday and be a stay at home mommy raising babies!!! Decisions, decsions, decisions....

thats all i got, so for now good-bye.....

keep an eye out for a blog about my baby

Happy 20th Birthday Lindsey

Lindsey's life is starting to get back to normal, if there is such a thing. She seems to be coping pretty well since the accident, (it is the internal part that bothers me more than anything)...I took her to our nurse practitioner to have her checked out. She wanted to put her on some pills to help her focus more, then wean her off in 3-6 mons...we decided NO thank you.
Lindsey left the house Thursday to head back down to PURDUE, I was in the driveway crying, she stopped and got out to hug me and tell me it was going to be alright. Of course her accident really affected the rest of us as well, and I think at that moment she finally realized how much. She celebrated her 20th birthday and by doing so she begged, nagged, and pleaded with us to let her get a tattoo. (I was just pleased she asked for our permission, after all she is 20!) I am not one for tattoos but this one doesn't bother me. She and her best friend Katie (the girl she went down to visit at PURDUE the weekend she had her accident) got matching ones, as you can see by the picture this is what they got. If you know Lindsey, she is a huge Star lover and Katie's thing is music. What appealed to us most is where her "Tat" is located, it can be easily hid when needed.
We meet with the James' insurance lady tomorrow, and I hope that goes real well. Then the next hurdle for Lindsey will come Tuesday, as some of the kids from PNC have a memorial planned for Jodi James at the school. Please keep Lindsey in your prayers.

Stay tuned friends, Leah's Blog will follow in a few days...

If Matters Couldn't Get Any Worse

Monday Lindsey had a set back...this was due to the fact that we found out the woman that hit her head-on worked at her very own college, PNC. We spoke to a friend that works at the school and she confirmed this to be true. So not only was she to grieve (she thought in silence) throughout the day at school but now she felt as though others might judge her. Even though Lindsey knows 100% this was not her fault, you never know what is going to come out of others mouths when they are learning for the first time of such an accident. So yesterday morning she had our friend Mary take her straight to a grief counselor, and though I never asked Lindsey what their conversation was about, I believe they helped her deal with the day. Today she went to B-Dubs and worked a 6 hour shift and said she felt pretty good without her muscle relaxers or vicodin. After her shift was over, Norman and I went up to have dinner with her, then she rode with me to the funeral home. Jodi's (the deceased woman) husband knew Lindsey as soon as he saw her standing in a group of people. He came over, once again telling her he was soooo sorry that Lindsey was a part of any thing that had gone on. Many tears were shed, comforting one another and no hard feelings between anyone... I am proud of Lindsey for feeling the need to attend Mrs James' wake, and now hopefully her healing process can begin.... I love you Lindsey

Head On Collision

We had a terrible Saturday, our oldest daughter Lindsey was headed home from Purdue when she had a head on collision. She was on US 421 and intersection of County Road 300, in Francesville. As she drove north, there was a vehicle in front of her turning, so she had slowed down. She started gaining speed, about 40-45 mph and she noticed there was a southbound car stopped to wait for her to pass so he could turn. A handicap driver accessible van failed to notice that the car in front of them was stopped, instead of rear ending the stopped car, or driving into the ditch she swerved into oncoming traffic which was into Lindsey's path and they hit head on. The woman was in her 50's and was driving from a wheelchair, she and her husband were headed to a wedding. A medi-vac helicopter came for the handicap woman's care and before they got her out of the van she stopped breathing. They worked on her awhile, and before they got her in the helicopter she had passed away. I believe they said her aorta was torn. From what I understand they cannot put airbags in these types of vehicles. This one accident proves the difference between having an airbag vs/not. Her husband had gotten out of the passenger side to check on Lindsey and kept telling her it was not her fault but kept her updated on his wife's condition and even told Lindsey he was frightened for his wife. We refused a ride in the ambulance to their hospital but went straight to ours (Porter in Valpo). They did an X-ray of Lindsey's chest and foot, and all seems pretty good. There's a bump on the top of her foot, the doctor was somewhat concerned about it, but didn't see a break? it's very swollen and they have her in a walking boot. She has seat belt burns on her hips and from the shoulder straps, but we'll take those any day. The airbag hit her face and her nose is pretty sore, nothing like it's gonna be tomorrow:( Tonite she took muscle relaxers and vicodin and here I am watching her sleep on the couch and its 2:30am! She is one lucky girl...thank you everyone for all the concern you've given on facebook!

The smile on her face is because she is alive and well (and in shock)

We pray for the woman that lost her life and to her husband as he will have to deal with his life without her:(

Just Livin' Life

VOLLEYBALL...VOLLEYBALL...VOLLEYBALL
That sums up our lives right now. Leah (SENIOR BABY!) is Varsity they are 2-4 and Lauren (Sophomore) is JV and their record is 4-2. They're back to school and everything seems to be running pretty smoothly. Leah's also taking a couple courses at PNC for the dual credits, like she did over the summer. Lindsey is DONE with Brandon, after giving him a 3rd chance and him shi!#ing on her yet again, I believe she finally figured it out. (Something she had to learn on her own) So she's back to college and working at B-Dubs and said she's enjoying every bit of it. Saturday she's headed down to Purdue for the day and nite to hang with her friends down there.

I have been on a mission to clean up the clutter...today I went through the file cabinet and got rid of lots of paid bills I really don't need to save. I had a wall in our bedroom that had a collection of crosses on it, well the other day I took them all off. Leah thought we were moving? She was mad because when we go somewhere that is what I would buy for myself. Well I'm done with that... Sometimes less is best.
I am all caught up on scrapbooking for the girls to date and am just waiting for things to happen:) So now I can have my diningroom table back, and all that clutter is gone too.

We went to the "Swamp Fest" dance/beer garden. As I thought, it was pretty uneventful, It's "Union Mills People" what do you expect. We were home by 12:30.

I think we might close our pool this weekend, we have NO time to swim, so why just keep dumping chemicals in it!

Anyone watching Big Brother...OMG Jeff, I think you made a bad move by getting rid of Russell.

My parents celebrated their 48th wedding anniversary the other day, Congrats to them.

Our home computer has been down since about May, today Leah's boyfriend took the tower home to see if they could fix it? I have my fingers crossed.

My back seems SOOOO much better, just a little stiff and somewhat sore.

Everything seems to be fine at our other little house. Our new South Central AD (Athletic Director) Chad Haschel and his family are renting it. And you know what they say, no news is good news.

Thats pretty much all I got folks...just wanted to give an update on the random things goin' on at the White House.

My Turn

I have been a little ouchy lately...I went to the chiropractor about 3 times now. I have a very sore back (L-5 to be exact) I am pretty good until I sit in the office at my desk all day! Then I get up and walk like a very old lady, and if I had a cane I would be better. But now like today, Norm, Richard and I went for a ride up to the Gary airport and saw a few of the planes for the airshow, and my back seems just fine. I think I am getting better though? I can hardly wait to sit on the bleachers for hours and watch the girls play volleyball:( School started last Friday, Lindsey doesn't start til the 24th. I think thats all I got....peace out all.

My Husband The Pool Boy

Whats to say about the husband? Hummm Here's a guy we rarely see in the summer but this year he's been around a little more (economy). Our pool looks awesome since he's been taking such good care of it with his x-tra time at home. Norm and I have stepped out a little here lately. Yup thats right, we went to the Legion in Wanatah after the fireworks and stayed out til 1am. He drank, I danced and drank water, my brother hit on every woman there (soooo funny!) Then last weekend we went down to the Hanna street dance and stayed out til 2am. Next weekend is the "Swamp Fest" should we try for 3am? I love to dance and rarely get the chance to, other than chaperoning school dances? Norm had to be a landlord fix-it man, he installed a new kitchen faucet.