Early morning artsy stuff

Okay, okay...

Our attempts at a photo op were pathetic. That's all I have to say.

At least we are all smiling...

Merry Christmas!

There's Tim, fat-doggin' with the Thanksgiving guests...It really is the turkey!

Okay, why y'all gotta be like that?

Okay, okay, so a couple of picture updates a year isn't enough-- is that any reason to post a poll on MY blog to make your point??


Seriously, it has been too long, so in time for Christmas (and in the mad rush before leaving to all be together - yayhaleluiawhoopeehoorayhotdiggitydogyowza!), here is a little bit of more current fluff on us.

Could blackmailing get any easier?!

!$LOTS OF STUFF$!

NOT candid. I was suprised! anyone else?

Remember folks: Martha's hair has more body than mine. AND mom says I have grown since then....

LOOK AT ALL THOSE CANDLES! It was a pretty hot cake! OUcHY M0MmAS!

Mel's Meme

Sorry to do 2 posts in one blog, but Alisa tagged me and I like reading them.
We all know the rules: get picked, list 7 weird things about me,tag 7 people-can't say whoever want to...ladedah.

1. My biggest pet pieve is gum. If it is not in your mouth it is a disgusting thing that needs to be disposed of. Ironically I am always the one who ends up stepping on it and have to clean it off my own shoes. If you are a person that throws your gum on the ground or out the window I ask you to please not next time. Put it in some piece of garbage near you and throw it away at the nearest garbage can.

2. The more I study music the more I notice the faults of music I listen to. I think having an intune ear is a blessing and a curse.

3. I get up at 5:45 every morning and go to church, then go to a show choir with my school. To those who went to early morning seminary, this is not that odd, but to most people my age it is insanity.

4. I talk way too much. My family knows this better than anyone. However, my math teaches says I have BIONIC EARS-I hear everything people say, and of course being little miss catterbox (I almost bought a shirt like that the other day) comment on what they say.

5. I hate money. In my eutopia there would be no money and everyone would just give things to people when they needed them. Man would overcome his faults of greed and jealousy and people would live life peacefully. I guess thats what the millenium is for.

6. I over analize things to death. I will go back in my mind and rethink situations and what I could have said instead. I don't laugh at some jokes right away becuase I think there is supposed to be more underlying joke, making me look like a ditz. In school work I get over worked and end up taking too long and looking stupid over something that I really do understand.

7. I love sleep. Maybe it is because I am so lazy and I like that I don't have to do anything, or maybe I like how it relaxes me, but I think it is because there is no pain, and everything is good while you are asleep. Often I don't even remember dreams that I have, but I have dayshavoos(I have no idea how to spell that word) often. Alisa said that maybe this means I am in the right place at the right time. I like that explination.

Wow that was alot harder than I thought.


I don't have very many options left for who to meme, but if these people have time...
Stella
Charlie
Xander
Natalie
Chris
Andrew
David

I know lots of these kids can't do this on their own, so maybe if some of the parents would do it for them, or help them with it, that would be great!

Love you all!

My installment in the ever-expanding QUIRKS game...

Okay, I've been tagged to play this [meme?] game: Seven quirky things about myself, then seven people to do the same. Here goes...

1) I have worked at all kinds of jobs, from journalism to gymnastics, from deli cleanup to diaper cleanup (daycare), from selling fruit to selling burgers. Never long-term. The only career I've truly stuck with is the one I truly love: domestic engineering! (Otherwise known as wifehood, motherhood, homemaking, and now grandmotherhood.) And it's probably the only one I'll ever really show true tenacity toward, though you never know what else might be out there for a hobby...

2) Sometimes I wake up at night in my own bed in my own house, and can't figure out where I am for a few seconds. Sometimes I even get a little scared momentarily, wondering who's in bed with me... Then the inner lights turn on and I'm fine. Weird, that's all there is to that one.

3) One of my joys in life is that my children are all graduating from college. Beyond my thrill for their personal accomplishments is this: neither of my parents even tried, and though I had big plans to go four years, maybe eight, I never finished. And now I don't know if I want to - or if I even could! It's turned into a fear, I think...

4) I find it nearly impossible to have favorites - in anything. I like so many colors, foods, types of music, books, people, etc. - but I can't seem to develop favorites.

5) Before Gifted and Talented programs existed, I was considered a star in that realm. My scores in the various tests were off the charts, in third grade I tutored second graders and went to reading with 4th, 5th and 6th graders, where I was hilariously beyond the rest. In fourth grade they moved me to fifth grade, and kids in that grade didn't like me much because - I don't know, maybe I was a threat? I got through 6th grade with my nose in a plethora of books; in seventh grade, I got the nickname "The computer who wore a mini skirt" ( a play on a Disney movie of the time, with "Tennis shoes" in place of mini skirt). But it was all a fluke, since I became a math dropout in high school, was nowhere near 4.0 status, didn't finish college (because marriage and children came along- and I think I was too lazy anyway), and my youngest daughter thinks I'm - well, unimpressive... The precocious child became an average Moe. Who knew?

6) I'm a little bit obsessive- compulsive: messed up or crooked rugs bother me, I hate it when people bend the edges of rugs up with their feet, if there is a bug on the wall or floor it drives me crazy until I get it or it disappears from sight, I adjust crooked chairs, and believe it or not (you wouldn't know by my house), I'm a little freaked out when I walk into a messy room. But I don't think I need treatment: I live with and make messes with the best of them.

7) I'm an editing freak. I notice mistakes in most written documents (excepting many of my own), and I mentally edit people's speeches and conversations. Sheesh. But I LOVE dialects, accents, languages, and words. Hence the 7 years of college that I never did... My aim was linguistics. If I overcame my fear, that just might hold my attention well enough to get me out of the house, but only when Mel and Suze are gone, and only if I could work it around time with family. Priorities are priorities.

Okay, now for who I would like to see do this (and who possibly hasn't been tagged already): Shan, Alycia Nelson, Chrysallis, Cami Dewitt, Emmi, Emily and Emilie (though it will be a while for Emily, since their computer is fritzed out).

Sorry I'm inclined to make a paragraph out of a sentence! (That may be too subtle; like mountain out of a molehill, y'know? Is the word verbosity, perhaps? If I were speaking, it would be long-winded; someone with a better vocabulary is welcome to supply me with the right word!)

My love to all who bother to read this - Yomama/Karla

Okay, so my entry is upside down information-wise, and some of the pictures are from summer; at least they're worth seeing! Here's the scoop on my choices: Everyone needs some Big open ND sky; Aren't the Benches a good-looking bunch? Ben and AJ's four-generations, taken while G'pa Charlie was here with Nathan and Alisa (who I don't seem to have any pictures of during their visit- that makes me sad); and me with two of my early-rising friends who took me to breakfast for my birthday (Madeline was also there and instigated the whole thing, but she was in the other picture).

Grandma Silly Breaks the Silence at Last...

Okay, Suzie's entry about the river incident put me a little on the defensive; I need to explain that I didn't choose to save the jetski over the people I love! I simply couldn't help them immediately: I couldn't pull up to the dock without hitting one of them because the current was so strong; I could see they were hanging on and not washing away; the jet ski would have floated rapidly down the river, never to be seen again unless I beached it; and I had to wait til some of the big boat waves calmed down (part of the main problem). Even when I did move in to help them, Shan felt like I was drowning them with the waves I created. What we needed was someone on land, and once Tim climbed up the side of the dock, he was that someone.

Tim was able to take Xander, then I could help Shan up. Needless to say, she was not interested in going in the water again that night. It was a scary experience for everyone. There was only one other time at the river that was so frightening, when I watched a dangerous situation and felt completely helpless: the time with Benches with a bad storm coming on, when Mel went in holding jugs full of water... Both experiences were fuel for nightmares, I assure you.

Now, enough of that! Summer included a visit from everyone (except Glenn), and that equals a nearly perfect summer for this lady! I have pictures from all of the visits, but I'm not going to post that many. Instead, how about something more recent, since any of us have been together?

Xander and shan came to visit us here in ND. Here is a list of things we(meaning mostly Xander) did: Jumped on the tramp with Auntie Suzie, Got spoiled by grandpa with popsicles, almost drowned with his momma and grandpa in the river, and last but not least, played with the puppy. He is absessed! He would wake up in the morning and we'd hear PUPPY! PUPPY! And we would go to bed at night with Xander wanting to see the PUPPY!

Now, more explaining the drowning situation. It was a warm school-off Monday evening, so we decided to go to the river. Well, It was too full at the Lewis and Clark dock so we decided to go to Misty Waters, Also part of the river. The current was really strong. Grandpa and grandma took Suzie and Mel to a half-covered with water island, then went to get Shan and Xander. Now here comes the scary part, Shan gave Xander to Grandpa and the jet ski started to float away, but shan put her foot on the jet ski and it tipped and they ALL fell in the water! They were holding on to the dock's handles for dear life and trying to stay above the water, which didn't happen often. They went underthe water lots of time and Xander just laid on Shan's arm and was still and not even crying. While they were there Grandma was trying to decide whether to save the jet ski or save the others. She decided to go get the jet ski and bumped it so it wouldn't float off. Then Grandpa finally was able to get up and help Shan and Xander up. So..we left the river about 15 minutes after that . Scary huh?

He is So cute!

Posted by: Suzie..hehe

Mom is taking a long time to post new pictures, so I will...

So these are not maybe the pictures that these Coxes would choose for themselves, but of the pictures I had of them saved on my computer, there wasn't much selection. I guess I need to take more of them. They are all a little out dated, but they are still cute. At least it is something new.....

Melanie lied :(

I am truely sorry to everyone who(once) so avidly read our blog.
The reason there haven't been pictures on our blog for over 2 months is due to the fact that our computer is being fixed and is taking an insanely long time to do so.

I promise as soon as occasion permits there will be new pictures on the computer.
Until then, however, you will all just have to suffer the loss of not seeing anything of us.

Again, sorry.

Melanie lied :(

SOON!

Hello
This is Mel everyone!
I just wanted you all to stop despairing for the lack of newness on our blog,
for we will be posting soon.
Or so I believe.
We have a large collection of fun photos on mom's digital camera device, which will be loaded on the computer soon.
So cheer up! Put on a happy face!
You will see newness from us very very soon!

Soccer freaks

Melanie loved her soccer season and is really sad its over.They didn't lose any games, and tied only 1 game all season. She learned so much and feels like she became a better player this year. She mostly plays defense. In the championship game it started to lightning and the game was cut about 20 minutes short. Her team still won, 2-1, but since the game wasn't completed so she didn't quite feel like they won, if that makes sense.

Suzie also loved her soccer season. Their team was nearly undefeated with a couple ties and only 1 loss. She played mostly midfield and forward.

EARS PEIRCED!

Suzie convinced mom that since she stopped biting her nails, she should get her ears pierced. However, she says its NOT going to end up how it did with Alisa. She really is gonna stop. :D It was also the end of her amazing soccer season.

HAIRCUT

BEFORE


AFTER

♪The talent show♪

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

What's up with Mel?

Don't worry - if you look closely, it's just Howard. And... She may be trying to start a new fashion trend

or maybe she's just having fun with hand-me-downs (or in this case -ups, since they're from a younger but taller friend), but at least her - um- ensemble is modest! Memories are made on Sundays... At least in this house ;-)

Suzie's last Black Gems show night

Oops, I meant above. See what's below. (I feel so confusing...)

Those crazy young'uns

The first really nice day, and we find Suzie and Abi soaking up sun. Yeah, Abi loves to snuggle up - or is Suzie snuggling Abi?

Below, you'll see Suzie at her most charming, along with the other Black Gems, at the last show of the year. (Sorry, no performance shots -- no way to get close enough; you'll have to come home for a visit to see her in action!)

Notice the nuts...

Dad's "shining happy people"

Scenes at the Gibbys after David joined the family- and while Granny was there

Here's a sweet moment with our new mommy, her new baby, and his biggest fan: "Are you tute? You are tute!"

Who knows if he'll be a thumbsucker, but on his first day of real wakefulness, li'l Davey tried out his thumb. And Grandma caught it! And Natalie is showing off her new gap--losing teeth is fun for a few years...

What sisters do late at night...

A new box of Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch was cause for a late night silly session for Mel, AJ and Alisa... They may grow up and go away, but getting together (in this case at Gibby's)almost guarantees girls will be giggling. ;->

Three of the Four Musketeers...

Surprise visits brought these three cousins together at the Gibbys the weekend after David was born. Though size is not the giveaway of the difference in ages, their demeanor is! Charlie is 2 and 1/2 mos., Stella is 6 and 1/2 mos., and David is 1 week! Xander, not in the picture but the fourth member of the Cousinteers, is 7 months and lively as Stella! (See the new blog, adamzwithaz.blogspot.com for updates on him and his ever-lovin' parents...)

Mel needs to be represented today too; doesn't she look sweet and beautiful? (No? Well, don't worry, she's not emo.) The lock in her face just -- happened. This little room is where she lives since we got high speed... (In truth, we are updating together, and we've argued about what to put on each picture. So consider these additions a joint venture! ;-} )

Shan and Xander's visit.

Look how juicy he is! That's Suzie in the bathtub with him in MOM's swim suit.

Grandpa also enjoyed the visit from Shan and "Mr. Xander." Duh! He's a pretty fun grandpa.

Xander and Shannie came to visit and we took too many pictures, but now we can share a few so you can see him now.

Harpo Marx? Or Suzie?

Actually, it's Suzie doing her best Harpo - on a Sunday night (of course; as every family member knows, that's when the crazies come out in our house).