Wasko Life

Ireland 2011, Day 10, April 21

2011-04-28T18:43:00.000-07:00

Our bus drove through a small town where a funeral procession was walking through town. This piper led the way.

This picture was taken from our bus. This lady stood outside her store as the funeral procession walked by.

The Cliffs of Moher:

Lunch at Doolin.

Another picture from the bus. I was hoping for an image of sheep in pasture and even got a castle in the background!

Ireland 2011, Day 9, April 20: Stephanie places 11th at Worlds!

2011-04-26T10:44:00.000-07:00

Action photos from feispix.com.

Stephanie, Maura, and Brianna

Rachel, Stef, and Sarah--great feis friends!

Gaye (Rachel's mom), Stef, and Laura (Sarah's mom) =)

Southern Region, USA dancers Stephanie, Maura, and Emma recalled!

My two World Recallers! Great job, girls!

Ireland 2011, Day 8, April 19

2011-04-26T09:37:00.000-07:00

Brian and his dad played golf today at Portmarnock. Maddie and Brian's mom went out to lunch and shopped in Dublin. Stephanie and I hung out at the hotel where she practiced, and we watched some Irish dance.

Here are some more views of the hotel and conference center:

Maddie liked signing for things. She got used to charging things to our room.

Ireland 2011, Day 7, April 18

2011-04-26T08:14:00.000-07:00

We went into the city today after Stephanie practiced and met Brian's parents. We walked through town and in a beautiful park.

Brian and Maddie loved these hats and ALMOST bought them!

A walk in the park:

We ate dinner at Cafe Mao. It was delicious!

The shot above is dedicated to the Wallis women. I didn't know you had a shop in Dublin!

Stephanie, Madison, and Molly Malone.

Ireland 2011, Day 6, April 17--MADISON RECALLS AT WORLDS!

2011-04-26T06:25:00.000-07:00

Action photos from feispix.com

Michael Flatley showed up as a surprise guest at Madison's awards ceremony!

Madison's good friend, Miya, placed 7th in the World!

Maddie placed 45th IN THE WORLD! Way to go Mooch!

Maddie with Miss Heather.

Maddie with Brian's parents.

Maddie, Miya, and Virginia. Three of our Southern Region, USA World competitiors!

Ireland 2011, Day 5, April 16

2011-04-26T05:40:00.000-07:00

April 16 was the day before Maddie competed. We stayed around the hotel so she could practice, rest, and get to bed early.

Maddie practiced with some friends from the Southern Region of the US. Sharon, Erin, and Miya.

The Convention Center is ready for the thousands of Irish dancers who will begin competing on April 17!

Dinner at the hotel's restaurant with Brian's parents and the girls' teacher, Heather. All three of them arrived in Dublin today.

Ireland 2011, Day 4, April 15

2011-04-25T19:31:00.000-07:00

Here's our hotel room at CityWest. It was beautiful and quite comfy, too.

This is our new friend, Alanna, from Ohio. We met her in the Newark airport and saw her family often during our stay in Dublin. The girls practiced together in our hallway in the morning.

This is what a traffic light looks light from the top of a double-decker bus.

Here's another new friend, Seana, from PA.

Here are a few shots of Dublin Castle from the courtyard and visitor center. We had to go back for our tour in the afternoon.

Saint Patrick's Cathedral:

Stephanie and Maddie wore green in memory of Sean Ross's brother, Dennis

More Costa coffee....

Inside Dublin Castle:

After the castle tour:

Another night in Temple Bar. Dinner at Leo Burdock's Fish and Chips.

A walk through town:

Shopping at Penney's (operated by Primark.)

Waiting for the bus to take us back to the hotel.

Ireland, Day 3, April 13

2011-04-24T17:47:00.000-07:00

This is the walkway we took from the hotel to the bus stop. The bus took about 45 minutes to get from our hotel to downtown Dublin.

On the bus:

First stop: Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. Unfortunately, no photography was allowed in any of the exhibit areas.

Next stop: Costa Coffee. Costa was our favorite coffee shop in Scotland, and now it is also our favorite in Ireland.

Mini photo shoot outside of the Dublin Castle.

Christ Church Cathedral:

Christ Church has a coffee house in the crypt.

This is a Catholic church near Christ Church. What an amazing building!

The Temple Bar section of Dublin has lots of great restaurants, shops, and live entertainment. We ate at a restaurant called "The Shack." Brian really liked it because in addition to having great food, they played Bruce Springsteen cds all night.

A few shots from the bus:

Back to Citywest.

Ireland, Day 2, April 13

2011-04-24T15:42:00.000-07:00

When we arrived at the Dublin airport, we were greeted by this huge sign. We met several dancers on our plane and saw many more at the airport.

After checking into our hotel, we had lunch and then took a LONG nap.

Brian had the beef pie:

Our hotel:

Some views from our hotel:

Madison love the revolving door going into the main lobby of the hotel.

Inside the hotel:

Dessert was the perfect way to end our first day in Ireland.

Ireland 2011, Day 1, April 12

2011-04-24T15:33:00.000-07:00

We drove to Newark today for our 9:45 PM flight to Dublin. The Murphys were on the same flight as we were.

Below: Maddie, Emily, and Stef enjoying some ice cream before boarding our plane.

Scotland: the Epilogue

2010-04-10T13:42:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Scotland was more wonderful than we could have imagined it would be, even with the cold and rainy weather. Madison danced great at Worlds, and Stephanie recalled and received an Irish dance world ranking in her age group. We visited the Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh Caslte, the Palace of the Holyroodhouse, Stirling Castle, St. Andrew's-- the Old Course, St. Andrew's Castle, William Wallace Monument, Glen Coe, Loch Ness, Loch Lomond, Glasgow Cathedral, Kelvingrove Art Museum, Willow Tea Room, Glasgow City Chambers, and hiked Arthur's Seat. We ate fish & chips, haggis (well, Brian did), shortbread, fried Mars bars, fozen dairy cream with chocolate flake, fish casserole, Cullen Skink, neeps & taties, rarebit, Costa coffee, and had authentic afternoon tea.

Once we got home however....

we had lots of unpacking and laundry. A small price to pay for such a memorable two weeks!

This is the 14th post about our Scotland trip. If you are interested in seeing all the posts, you'll need to go back a few pages.

Day 13 in Scotland, April 6

2010-04-10T13:17:00.000-07:00

Tuesday was our last day in Scotland. We started the day with a tour in the double-decker red tour bus.

We went to the Kelvingrove Art Museum.

After the art museum, we ate lunch at the Willow Tea Room. The Willow Tea Room was opened in 1904. It was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, an architect and designer whose style was a cross between Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau. His simple style was very different from the Victorian fashion of his day. The girls and Melanie had "Afternoon Tea" and Brian had rarebit.

Tea was followed by a shopping spree, which Brian opted out of--not sure why. Grandparents and friends gave the girls spending money for our trip, and they were NOT going to come home with any money left over. We found a great clothing store called Primark and an accessory store Bethany Herman recommended called Accessorize.

After a full day of appreciating art, partaking of afternoon tea, and shopping, we went out to dinner and packed for the trip home.

We are thankful for our wonderful trip and the memories we made as a family!

Day 12 in Scotland, April 5

2010-04-10T06:54:00.000-07:00

We went to St.Andrew's on Monday. We had to take two trains and a taxi to get there, but it was worth it!

The picture below is dedicated to Eric Hughes. Thanks for the great sermon illustrations! As soon as the girls saw the "Keep off the grass" sign they thought of you and your preaching. You're the best!

Below are the ruins of the St. Andrew's Castle:

We took a bus back to the train station from St. Andrews.

The Palace of the Holyroodhouse is where the Queen lives when in Edinburgh. We took the tour and got to see the rooms where Mary Queen of Scots lived.

The remains of the Abbey of the palace:

The girls found the information on the recorded tour very interesting!

We heard that we needed to try a "fried Mars Bar" and found a place that makes them in Edinbugh. Basically, they take a Mars candy bar, dip it in batter,and then deep fry it. The chocolate melts, and it is delicious!

Our last train ride:

Day 11 in Scotland, April 4.

2010-04-08T18:05:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Easter on Sunday. He is Risen!

Stephanie and Melanie went to the concert hall to see our friends Sara and Nina dance. They both did very well. Here are a few pictures of each of them. Great job girls!

After watching Sara and Nina dance, our family headed off to Stirling to see the castle there.

This is the view of the William Wallace Monument seen from the Stirling Castle.

We ate lunch at Hermann's Restaurant. We tried Cullen Skink for the first time--a creamy fish soup. It was delicious.

Below: the view from Hermann's Restaurant.

A few shots of the girls at the entrance to a graveyard across the street from Hermann's.

A few more shots of Stirling Castle:

I don't know who put them in the dungeon!

We saw a tapestry being made. There were four completed ones hanging on a wall in the great hall. They were very impressive.

After lunch and visiting the castle, we walked back through Stirling and took a taxi to the William Wallace monument. Unfortunately they stop selling tickets at 4:00, and we got there at 4:05. We hiked up the hill to see the monument but were unable to get in to see William Wallace's claymore.

Day 10 in Scotland, April 3.

2010-04-08T16:04:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we took a bus tour to the Highlands. Our first stop was a small town called Pitlochry. We had tea and cakes at the Cafe Chocolate.

Back on the bus and on to our next stop.

A view from the bus window...sheep grazing in the pastures.

We took a short hike to a waterfall.

Our next stop was Loch Ness. We had lunch at The Bothy. Here's Brian enjoying a pint.

Loch Ness:

After Loch Ness we visited Glen Coe, the site of the infamous attack on the MacDonald clan by members of the Campbell clan.

Here's Taylor getting on the bus.

The last stop on our tour was Loch Lomand.

Another beautiful day in Scotland!

Day 9 in Scotland, April 2. (There are 3 other new posts after this one.)

2010-04-06T13:33:00.000-07:00

Another day in Edinburgh...

We hiked to Arthur's Seat, a 251 meter summit overlooking Edinburgh.

Dairy Cream with chocolate flake. We are bringing some chocolate flake home with us. It is great in coffee, too!

After the hike, we went to the Writers' Museum which celebrates the lives of Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Robert Burns, Scotland's most famous writers.

The next two pictures are for Mimi!

More shopping and bargaining with street vendors in Edinburgh.

Brian had mussels for dinner at The Mitre, a pub recommended to us by the Frasier family. Thanks for the tip!

Hat shopping for Madison. She finally found one she liked and that fit!

Day 8 in Scotland, April 1.

2010-04-06T13:05:00.001-07:00

On Thursday, we slept in and then took the train to Edinburgh.

Waling up to the Royal Mile from the train station:

Below, Brian poses in front of a statue of the Father of Economics, Adam Smith. Brian was especially excited to see this statue because of his recent interest in economics.

We ate lunch at the Witchery by the Castle. It was definitely the nicest restaurant of the trip and probably the girls' whole lives. They have never been so quiet during a meal!

Our appetizer was "Duck Egg Florentine" YUMM!

Lamb sausage with corn fritters:

Fish pie:

Stephanie in front of Edinburgh Castle:

Edinburgh Castle:

Madison loved the red phone booths.

Taylor loved tormenting Madison! :)

Shopping along the Royal Mile.

We went to one of the Starbucks on the Royal Mile.

Here's the view from the window of Starbucks. Some view, huh?

We highly recommend the book Scotland for Dummies!

Dinner at Deacon Brodie's Tavern:

On our way back to our apartment in Glasgow from Edinburgh.

We rode home on a train first class!

Day 7 in Scotland, March 31. STEPHANIE RECALLS AT WORLDS!!!

2010-04-06T12:43:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was an exciting day for all of us, especially Stephanie! Here's her "before" picture:

Getting ready:

The "after" shot:

A photo shoot after the soft-shoe round while waiting to find out whether or not she got a recall.

Recalling at Worlds is very difficult. Only 1/3 of all of the dancers in each age group recall. Stephanie danced amazingly well! In fact, she was paired with the girl who was 2nd at Worlds last year and hung in there with her. Waiting for the recalls is always nerve-racking, and when we heard her number called, the whole family erupted with excitement! Great job, Steph! We love you and are so proud of you!

Stephanie is officially ranked 50th in the World in her age group!

Special thanks to Laura Payne for letting Stephanie borrow her new dress! We love you, Laura!

Day 6 in Scotland, March 30

2010-04-06T12:38:00.001-07:00

Tuesday was a slow day for our family. Stephanie and Melanie went to the concert hall early to watch our good friend Hannah dance. She danced great! Here are a few pictures of Hannah in her new dress! Isn't she beautiful!?

After Hannah finished dancing, Stephanie practiced. The weather was particularly cold and wet, so we had a quiet afternoon napping in our apartment and trying to adapt to the time difference. After naps, we went out to dinner to Ad Lib with the Stefaniks.

Day 5 in Scotland, March 29

2010-03-29T14:02:00.000-07:00

WARNING: There are LOTS of pictures on this post!

This is City Chambers located by George Square which is right around the corner from our apartment.

All the pictures below were taken at Glasgow Cathedral, built in the 13th century over the tomb of St. Mungo, who died in 612.

Above: the tomb of St. Mungo

The pictures below were taken from the necropolis (graveyard) above the cathedral.

Leaving the cathedral:

Day 4 in Scotland, March 28

2010-03-29T13:57:00.001-07:00

Today was Madison's day to dance at Worlds. Stephanie, not Mom, does her hair and make-up!

Though she did not recall, Madison danced her very best, and we are all very proud of her. AND we know that if there had been a cuteness award, she would have won it by a landslide! We love you, Mooch!

Day 3 in Scotland, March 27

2010-03-29T13:37:00.001-07:00

Madison and Stephanie practiced with our friend Miya in a conference room at Miya's hotel in the morning.

After practice (and much needed showers) we headed out to explore Glasgow's shopping district with Miya and her mom. We had lunch at a very healthy and delicious restaurant called "Pret a Manger."

Fire jugglers and street musicians!

Miya and Madison

Have I mentioned that we love Macs?

The Royal Concert Hall.

Our day ended with coffee at Costa. A great way to end a great day in Glasgow!

Day 2 in Scotland, March 27

2010-03-29T13:25:00.001-07:00

Home away from home!

After we all slept in, we took a walk through Glasgow's Merchant City district. This is a view of Buchanan Street from the Royal Concert Hall where the Worlds Irish dance competition is being held.

We had our first authentic fish and chips at Chippy's.

Delicious!

This is the second post, so if you haven't seen the first one, keep reading!

Day 1 in Scotland, Thursday, March 25

2010-03-29T13:13:00.000-07:00

In the Philadelphia airport getting ready to head to London.

We arrived in Scotland on time and caught a taxi to where we needed to check into our apartment. The only problem was--the credit card machine didn't work in the leasing office, and after about two hours of trying, Brian and Taylor had to go to the bank to get cash! You can see how tired the girls were after traveling for 15 plus hours!

Above is the view from the window of our apartment.

Our cute little kitchen, complete with a hob (oven/stove).

Our first meal was at a restaurant called SoHo. We had some great Italian food, and it is only about 20 steps from the front door of our apartment.

Brian chose a haggis and jalapeno pepper pizza!

And... we're off!

2010-03-24T12:07:00.000-07:00

We are headed out to the Norfolk airport in a few minutes. We are going from Norfolk, to Philly, Philly, to London, and London to GLASGOW SCOTLAND! We are hoping to be posting a lot while we are there... so check our blog often for pictures and stories of our adventures in Europe! :) Love you guys and please pray for safe travel, great weather, and for the girls to dance their best! Madison dances Sunday, and Stephanie dances Wednesday. We'll be back in VA in about two weeks (April 8th). We are so excited, and we know we are going to make tons of memories, and remember this trip for a long time!

The Waskos

EUROPE... Here we come!

2009-12-23T10:33:00.000-08:00

Stephanie and Madison recently competed in the regional Irish Dancing championships, (for the southern region). They both did awesome, Madison placed 4th out of about 50 girls, and Stephanie placed 5th out of 126 girls! They both qualified for the world championships... which happen to be in Glascow Scotland this year. And yup, its official, we just purchased six tickets to SCOTLAND! We are so excited, we will be leaving March 25 and coming back April 7. Later in April, Brian and Taylor will be leaving for Alaska for two weeks. It should be an amazing month and a trip to remember! :)

We have been super busy this year, with dance, soccer, basketball, violin, Mel's Photography business, school, and every other little thing that comes up in life. But its been a GREAT year, and we wish you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS! We hope you remember the TRUE meaning of Christmas...Jesus. "And unto us is born, this day, in the city of David, a savior, who is CHRIST THE LORD!" Oh come let us adore him!

Mac Pics...=)

2009-10-30T14:03:00.000-07:00

So as most of you know we have a MAC computer. One of the best things about a Mac (for a kid anyways) is the photobooth. So here are a few of the 700 pics from our computer. Enjoy! =)

Our cousin Christopher came over and wasn't very cooperative when it came to getting his picture taken. =)

Taylor, Kerri, and I did a little photoshoot. This is our "Kiera Knightly face."
And our super model face: Kerri did the best! haha!
This is our "shock" face! lol!
I believe this one was "lets see how close we can get to the camera." =D
seriously...
The wasko sisters!!
Our North Carolina friend Katie, Stef, and Kerri.

Thomas and Maddie
Ferf and the girls!

heh heh heh heh heh! (the evil sisters)

The Wasko Sisters!!! <3

This is for the Hunts..... :)

2009-10-04T17:51:00.000-07:00

Warning: this post has many inside jokes... and may not make sense... :)

WE MISS YOU HUNTIES!

We TOTALLY miss you guys and are so TOTALLY glad you are our friends!

"Busch Gardens was the best day of my life!"

You hat stealers, chair removers, ball dodgers, water bottle stompers, flip flop runners, and TOTALLY LUCKY DUDES! :)

"my cheeks hurt. was an orange girl here?"

"I'm the moose, I'm the moose, it's my birthday, its my birthday."

Bad babysitting day........ those oreos were gooood!

"Why? because im tall, dark, and handsome?"

"Ok, leave my house now!"

"At 40 MAALLS per hour!"

"S.S Jordan comin through!"

"It's only awkward if you make it awkward."

Taco Bell........... :)

"MINE!"

Don't mix up the words feet and socks... EVER!

Columbus day canoeing.... fun times!

We are TOTALLY your dedicated campers. Is all the TOTALLYS getting annoying? i TOTALLY hope so!

"Taylor always looks like she's in deep thought..."

Swiing dancin! :) Like TOTALLY a blast!

"Thats a lot of zits in one place."

"What's that noise?" "It's a giant bumble bee!"

"Jearsh is mowin' the lawn."

Gasoline accident....... first timers always make mistakes...haha!

If your fingers are stuck in the window, roll the window down.

"Whats wrong with your nose JJ???"

Freddy..........:)

Old Dominion Feis and Golden Corral.

Night at the museum 2, TOTALLY fun..... "That's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh, I like it, uh-huh, uh-huh!"

We love you guys so much! All these memories are so funny to think back on. We've had a lot! Thank you for being our friends for so many years. WE TOTALLY CAN'T WAIT TILL YOU GET BACK!

Love from,

The Waskies

Hello Again Friends!! :)

2009-08-20T14:31:00.000-07:00

Hello All!

I was looking at our blog today and realized how long it has been since our last post! The Wasko family has been crazy busy this summer! Hence the lack of posting....... :)

We took an amazing trip to California, which we posted a little bit about. To see pictures from my uncle's wedding, click HERE.

Two days after we got back from CA, we took a two week trip to Tennessee to visit family, and for an Irish Dance competition!

Stephanie and Madison competed in the North American National Competition of Irish Dance in July....... they both did great! Madison didn't recalled but danced really well. Stephanie recalled and got 26th! Almost 40 places better than last year!

All the girls also went to the Hunts' summer camp this year. It was a blast! Always a highlight of the summer!

At the beginning of August Taylor and Kerri started soccer practice again after a two month break . They are having fun, and are excited about an upcoming tournament at Busch Gardens!

Our summer has been filled with many memories: beach days, pool days, relaxing days (though not as many of those, ha ha!) weddings, friends, trips to Mr. Basnight's house on the Sound,... To end a great summer, we will be going to the OBX with the Williams and Hughes. This will be our sixth year! We are super excited!! Then........ school starts! We are excited about that too....... :)

We will be posting a bunch of pictures of the summer in our next post, which WILL be soon! (We hope) :)

Day 2, Swimming in the River on Wednesday Afternoon

2009-06-26T07:04:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday afternoon, we drove an hour east to go swimming in a river. It was about 20 degrees warmer inland. We had a great day!

Steph, Taylor, and Kerri had fun swinging on a rope swing and plunging into the river.

Pops teaching Madison how to skim rocks:

Craig, Brian's brother, skimming rocks (look to the left of his left shoulder for the splash).

Pops and Kerri:

Stephanie and Taylor:

Swimming to the rocks:

The swim was farther than it looked:

Madison with Molly's nieces.

Some pretty views on the way home:

A perfect ending to a fun day:

Mike, Sharon, and Mel cooked an Italian dinner.

Day 2, Wednesday Morning Dance Practice

2009-06-25T11:01:00.001-07:00

Since Madison and Stephanie are less than two weeks out from competing in the North American National Irish Dance Championships, they were hoping for a large place to practice. Our HUGE back deck works out great! They have practiced every morning and love view they see while dancing.

Day 1, part 2...Agate Beach

2009-06-25T09:41:00.000-07:00

Tuesday afternoon we went to Agate Beach at Patrick's Point.

Stephanie, Taylor, and Kerri decided to climb the side of the hill. Coming down was easier than going up!

CALIFORNIA, Day 1--Tuesday

2009-06-25T08:06:00.001-07:00

We arrived in Trinidad, CA around midnight on Monday, well really Tuesday. On Tuesday, we explored the house we are staying in as well as the surrounding property. Below is the house where we are staying.

Below: the view from the back deck.

Various flowers we found while walking the paths on the house property:

Stephanie's bouquet.

Our house has a ping pong table outside. I'm not sure who the current champ is; it keeps switching.

Take a Hike!

2009-04-30T14:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday (April 29th) Dad, Mark, Keith (both vendors), and I took a hike to the Mendenhall Glacier. The huge amount of snow made the journey much more difficult. We took a path that led off the main road. We thought it would lead back to the main route, but we were wrong. It led through a crazy trail to a rocky mountain face that we climbed and then right on the other side was the glacier. It was absolutely amazing and so much fun! We all got to actually touch the glacier. Definitely the highlight of the trip! =)

Dad and I, we finally got a picture together!

Ok, these pics aren't in order, but this is a closeup of part of the glacier.

I made it!!

It's kinda hard to see, but the white fluffy things are mountain goats! There were seven of them, one more thing to add to our wild life list.

Dad and I trying to figure out how to get across a raging river, it looked easy until we got into this position!

The inside of a glacier cave. The ice was crazy blue. We aren't sure if the ice is actually blue or if its just the shadows and light that make it appear blue. Anybody know?

Some sweet river pics!

Dad hiking in the snowy forest.
The glacier from a distance.

Ok, the rest of the pics are from our drive from Fairbanks back to Anchorage.

Ok, first isn't that a cool pic? Second, see the tallest two mountains in the distance to the left? Well, we're pretty sure that is Mount McKinley (a.k.a. Denali) the tallest mountain in North America.

Another animal group to add to our wildlife list... CARIBOU! We saw eleven of them (split between two groups) while we were driving.

Some pretty mountains.... there are a lot of them in Alaska!

So we came from the nicest hotel in Alaska called the Captain Cook, to this old cabin without running water, a record player, and animal fur hanging everywhere called Trapper Johns! It was really cool!

I let Dad have the bed with the dead wolf hanging over it!

This is my bed and the door led to a little wash up station with a bowl and pitcher and a creepy "hair dryer" that looked like it would set my hair on fire!

More pretty mountains... I think I'll stop labeling these.

Our final animal count is: 14 moose, 11 caribou, 7 mountain goats, and around 30 eagles. (We only count the wild ones, not the ones we saw at the refuge and we also don't count the dead halibut we ate, the stuffed animals we saw, the animal skins we saw, and the everyday ravens and seagulls. Just wanting to be clear.)

Well, we leave for Seattle tonight, and will be home tomorrow (late).

2009-04-25T12:19:00.000-07:00

Finally, we found some time to upload some cool photos of our trip:

This is Mt. Redoubt, which started erupting in March, but is still spewing clouds of gas. They expect another lava eruption anytime. We are looking at it from the Kenai Peninsula, across Cook Inlet (on our way to Homer). We're about 20 miles away! There's still volcanic ash all over the streets and plants.

This is a sunset from our Anchorage hotel room. We're staying at the Hotel Captain Cook--one of the nicest places in all of Alaska.

At the Soldotna show (the first one), we got the coveted "bear booth." Steph thought of putting one of our catalogs in the bear's claw.

We saw some eagles on our drive to Homer, but the best shots we got were at a trash dump. I guess eagles are pretty much scavengers. They sure look beautiful, though.

Speaking of beautiful, here's a shot we're going to send to Irish Dancing & Culture magazine. In the background is Homer Spit. It's pretty much "the end of the world."

This shot is from Homer. It's the halibut fishing capital of the world. We've been eating lots of halibut on this trip--yumm.

This is from Homer Spit too.

This shot is from a scenic overlook as you enter Homer, Alaska. I've been told Homer is the prettiest place in Alaska. It's hard to argue. And we had an unusually beautiful day for our visit.

One of several wild moose we've seen on our trip. This was one of three who crossed the road just ahead of us. Alaskans find this pretty ho-hum, but it's still cool to us. Note: 162 moose have been killed by motor vehicles on the Kenai Peninsula since last July!

This cool shot was taken on our way back from Homer. In the foreground is a Russian Orthodox cemetary. Cook inlet and a mountain range we don't know the name of is in the background.

This is the Turnagain Arm--on the way from Anchorage to Soldotna/Homer.

This is a mountain (duh). We stopped at a wildlife conservation area where they have various Alaskan animals behind fences. These are elk.

A genuine grizzly bear (called brown bear here). It was inside a fence.

A moose.

More later!

Alakan Mountains....and Moose!

2009-04-22T15:37:00.000-07:00

Hey everbody, Steph here! Sorry we haven't posted yet. We've been extrememly busy. It feels like we've been gone for weeks instead of days! Don't believe we've been that busy? Well, here's proof.

Since Sunday morning we have...

Ridden in 3 airplanes, a taxi, a bus, a monorail, a huge van, a rental car, and walked for many miles around Seattle and airports.
Been to the top of the Seattle Space Needle. (Its' amazing how easy it is to lose sight of a building that tall. We got totally lost trying to find it.)
Seen the famous fish-throwing fish market and the rest of the interesting (and sometimes odd) stands in the Seattle Public Market.
Seen 7 moose!
Seen a ton of bald eagles and several, well, non-bald eagles.
Visited an animal refuge and saw a bunch of animals including some brown bears (i.e. grizzlies)!
Driven from Anchrage to Soldotna.
Seen two active volcanoes with smoke bellowing out (pretty sweet).
Seen the Portage Glacier (from a distance).
Drove from Soldotna to Homer and drove along the Homer Spit (BEAUTIFUL!).
Eaten hamburgers, pizza, a pile of amazing seafood (clams, oysters, crab, shrimp), the nation's best calm chowder, halibut tacos, fried halibut, fried halibut (we like halibut), Alaskan Amber (for Dad of course), and i had my first cream soda!
watched "Bourne Identitiy" in our hotel room.
I practiced dance and dad worked out (we're not complete bums!).
been at the convention all day today. (it's acutually still going on, just taking a break to blog!)
I made a little 2 1/2 year old friend named Clara. (She was SO CUTE!)
Taken a ton of videos and photos that we will try to put up soon! (we're having some technical difficulty with the videos. ) =)

After the convention we're driving back to Anchorage.

Well, we miss you all and will see you when we get back! More posts to come!

10th Annual Bunny Pictures

2009-04-18T10:49:00.000-07:00

When Madison was 4 months old we did our first spring bunny picture in front of our pink azaleas. Here are this year's pictures. Same ears--same azaleas.

Pictures from Taylor's Surprise Party

2009-04-15T06:32:00.001-07:00

FINALLY, here are pictures from Taylor's surprise party which was held at the Wallis Home. Below, the girls wait for Taylor in Helena's room.

Taylor was VERY surprised when she opened the door!!!!

Many thanks to Helena for planning and hosting the party. She did a fantastic job!

Lunch was pulled-beef barbeque sandwiches, and we had ice cream sundaes for dessert.

To get her group gift, Taylor was sent on a scavenger hunt.

Her treasure was buried, so she had to dig for it.

The group gift was cash to go on a shopping spree.

Taylor and her sisters:

Taylor and Coleman:

Taylor and Auntie Beck:

Taylor with Mrs. Wallis and Helena. Thanks again for hosting such a fun afternoon!

Taylor with Marie Hughes, Rachel, and Sarah. We are so glad you could be in town for Taylor's party.

The gang!

You just THINK we're normal!

2009-04-12T18:52:00.001-07:00

but we're not!

WORLDS!

2009-04-09T10:37:00.000-07:00

This week I (Stephanie) got to compete in the World Championships for Irish dance (a.k.a. Oireachtas Rince Na Cruinne) in Philadelphia. I had 151 dancers in my competition and out of those only 50 recalled (got to dance a 3rd dance and place). I did not recall, but had a GREAT time!! There were 8 countries represented in my competition! It was so neat hearing all of the different accents. Not only did I get to dance in Worlds for the 1st time, but I also got to eat my very first Philly Cheese Steak! (Pat's of course!!) Yummmmmmm.

THANK YOU to Nanny, Grandma, Karen, Auntie Beck, Aunt Sharon, Aunt Nancy, Miss Laura, Alexis, Courtney, Rachel, Miss Becky, Jonathan, Andrew, Nicole, Miss Mimi, Isaac, Hannah, Mrs. Sennecal, Laurissa, Emma, Mrs. Murphy, Erin, Mrs. Taylor, Caitlyn, Siobhan, Mrs. Perks, and of course my wonderful family for coming to watch. I definitely had the LOUDEST applause!!! =) It was great having you all there! Boys......you're the best for sticking through it all!

Special thanks to Miss Heather and Miss Lisa for all your support, encouragement, and great teaching!

And for everybody else who prayed for me and wished me good luck, it was much appreciated!! I have the best friends in the whole wide world!

Nationals is next!! ha ha!

Birthday Surprise!

2009-03-14T12:36:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, this is Tay! Sorry we haven't posted in a while!

Tuesday is my 13th birthday. I was planning on having a bunch of girls over at the end of the month, haha, yeah not really what happened!:) Steph had a surprise party for her 13th birthday, so I was kinda expecting it, until I asked my Mom if she was planning a surprise party for me. Her response was " Taylor, when do I have time to plan you a surprise party?!" The funny thing is that she didn't lie to me. My wonderful friend, Helena, planned the whole party for me. Thank you so much girl! It was a blast and I was so surprised! I screamed really loud. All the girls were huddled in Helena's bedroom, real shocker!:) hahaha! Fun times... PICTURES COMING SOON!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-15T15:31:00.000-08:00

A day late, but here are this year's Valentine's pictures in the form of a slideshow. Hope you enjoy watching! Happy Valentine's Day!

Here are a few of my favorite shots:

A Valentine's Tradition

2009-02-09T04:35:00.003-08:00

In 2003, my friend Bethany took the original

L-O-V-E picture of our girls. She

probably never guessed how compulsive I (Mel) would become

about it. Every year since that first Valentine picture, Valentine's cards have become a staple in our home. Here are all the cards from the most recent to the original. This year's card will be posted on Valentine's Day! Thanks, Bethany, for inspiring these pictures!

The year of the picture is listed above it.

2008, front

2008, back

2007

2006

2005

2004

Here is Bethany's original L-O-V-E picture. 2003

Stuff to say...

2009-01-09T17:45:00.000-08:00

Sorry it has taken us so long to post. Here are a lot of pictures of Christmas in New Jersey, after Christmas in PA, and New Years in Maryland. Enjoy!

Every year for a while, the Williams, Hughes and our family get together for New Year's Eve. We all went up to Maryland this year. It was so much fun being able to hang out with all of the kids in their neighborhood. Thanks "Hugheses friends" for hanging out with us! We can't wait to see you guys again next time we come up!

The girls stayed up till 3:30AM playing Apples to Apples!:)
Ryan rockin out on the guitar!:)
Yeah... to explain these last two pics we all made a music video and were pretty crazy!
After Christmas we went to PA, to visit my mom's side of the family.
Madison and Granddad
Stephanie and Grandma.
Nana and Kerri.

Every year my Dad's side of the family has a HUGE Christmas party where all of our aunts, uncles, great aunts, great uncles, second cousins etc... get together and exchange gifts and hang out. Here are pictures that Madison took with her new digital camera; great job capturing all of our fun memories Maddie!
Me and my Great grandmother.
Our wonderful grandparents!
The guys...
Diredra and Bobby (recently engaged)
Our adorable little cousin!
Yay! They had snow!
My other great grandmother...
Uncle Garry and Nanny.
What it looked like after we opened presents.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-22T19:34:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas from our family to yours! We hope you all have a wonderful holiday remembering our Saviors birth! We leave for New Jersey early in the morning. We will try to post while we are there!

With lots of love,

Melanie, Brian, Stephanie, Taylor, Kerri and Maddie

HaPPy bIrTHdAy MAdIsoN!

2008-12-13T13:18:00.000-08:00

Madison turned nine on the eleventh of December. It's so amazing that she is already that old, the baby of the family isn't that babyish ( or whatever) anymore. Madison, thank you for being the best youngest sister EVER! You are such a joy to be around. And we love to laugh and be silly with you. Even if someone does end up hurt! Ha ha! You are an amazing dancer, and we can't wait till we get to see you dance in NATIONALS! Soon you will be a official "double digit midget" just like the rest of us! one more year baby! We are so thankful that God put you in our lives to be our sister. WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Headed for WORLDS 2009! by Taylor

2008-12-09T14:12:00.000-08:00

Yup... the headline says it all, We have a couple excited world qualifiers! We drove to Orlando, Florida on Thursday morning. Our grandmother and good friend Alexis came as well to cheer the girls on. It was a long tiring drive, but we finally reached our destination. Jonathan Hunt stayed with us the first night in the condo, we told some stories and ate some pizza, then the "hangin out" was over. The next day was filled with the clacking of shoes, screams of happiness, girls dressed in makeup, wigs, crazy dresses, running around, and the boredom of sitting around for HOURS! Steph danced on Saturday, she danced beautifully. And she got.......... (drum roll) 4TH PLACE! Out of 124 girls. Ya, I know AMAZING! And yes, she did start to cry. =D So do ya'll like her new dress?

Now for the little Moochie. Ok, before I say anything else, doesn't she look adorable in that dress? Not only was she in the top five, but she was definitely the cutest one out there. Yes, people that's right, she got 4TH PLACE TOO! She was so happy and surprised. The girls' whole school did great as well. Jonathan and JJ Hunt made Worlds too, and both got third place! Great job to ALL the An Cor Rud dancers!

A Crabby Weekend!!

2008-11-15T12:48:00.001-08:00

Last weekend, our parents went to Charlottesville for a little get away/ anniversary trip. Meanwhile Jessica and Brian Crabb were our "parents" for the weekend. We had a blast with them! Some crazy things happened, and mainly because of Brian!!! ha ha!:) Here are some highlights....

Jessica painted all of our nails. Brian made a deal with Kerri (who didn't want her nails painted at first), and told her if she got her nails done, he'd let somebody paint his toenails....so Madison volunteered and his toenails were painted sparkles and then hot pink!!! =D Thanks Brian putting up with it! hee hee

Maddie and Maddie....... yes, the Crabb's dog's name was Madison (caused a little confusion sometimes=D). They were BFFs in no time!! ha ha!
Our honorary Mom and Dad for the weekend!! We really got into the "family spirit." Brian kept calling us "his little girls" or "his kids"!
Look at all those pink nails!!!
Another one of Brian's tortures! just kidding, it was actually a really good movie (except for a few dumb parts!). After watching this and a few Disney shows Brian announced "we're going to watch something MANLY!" So we flipped back and forth between Disney and Survivor Man!
Brian's Ramen Noodles.... yes he made them himself. They weren't TOO bad! Ha ha!
Sorry, a little disturbing, Brian came to the rescue and crushed a spider that was on the wall with Jessica's Bible. He then left it there!!! Ew!
PIZZA!!!!!!! We also had enchiladas and chinese food while they were with us. We made sure to pray for the Italians, the Mexicans, and the Chinese on each night!
Some of the girls made a soda drink consisting of coke, sprite, cranberry juice, and hot sauce. Brian actually drank all of it (we didn't want to "waste" it!)!!!
watching some more TV!
Brian came up with the brilliant idea of moving around the downstairs! So we moved the kitchen table into the room with the piano, and moved the couch into the kitchen, and the armchairs into the living room!! Whew! It took us a while, and we had a few problems, but it all turned out OK!!

So, all in all, it was a CRAZY fun weekend. Brian was constantly teasing us and making us laugh! We had so much fun watching girly movies and painting our nails with Jessica! You're the best honorary parents ever!! (ha ha) We love you Brian and Jessica!! THANKS!!!

Sweet Memories...

2008-11-07T12:58:00.000-08:00

Last night we all decided to do some scrapbooking.... a once in a decade activity! =) We were going through are millions of boxes of old pictures and were constantly yelling out, "Oh my goodness look at this one!" "Mom look at your hair!" "Awwwwwwe!" "Did I really do that?" "I'm throwing that one away!" " I can't believe how LITTLE everybody was!" and an occasional "That one's going on the blog!" So here are some really random pics that we liked. (there were a ton more, but we just picked a few- again, random- ones.)

The two book ends!
Trip to California! We miss you guys!
History coop.... a one-of-a-kind class! =D
Science coop!.....and the weather dude?
Winners of the Best Family in Virginia Beach award! ha ha!
Beach house 2004!!!! WOW!
My little Austie!!! (this is steph by the way)
Busch Gardens with the Hunts....what were our parents thinking!?!?
Nursing home concert. Look at those TINY violins!!
Apparently we went to Krispy Kreme for Kerri's 7th Bday! =)

Hope you enjoy!