Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Gingerbread House - Mmm, Yummy, Yummy!

Okay, for a while now all I have heard from Ted is "We need to make a gingerbread house" or "Wouldn't it be great if we made a gingerbread house?" For weeks, he was obsessed with... gingerbread. Even swore you could use the ginger BREAD mix to make the cookies. Jac and I just giggled and rolled our eyes. He got a little perturbed with us stating that he would prove us wrong when we got home from grocery shopping. (Ted LOVES to "ask jeeves" everything. You know, if I were a jealous person I would have to put a hit out for that pesky little fellow since he tends to get in the middle of our spats ~lol).
Well, while in line at JoAnn's a few days ago, Ted prances up to me with a smile as wide as a kid in a candy store and proudly presents me with a gingerbread house. I had to snicker to myself because it's times like these that make me love him even more.



Yesterday, the foundation was laid by none other than our very own Theo with assistance from the real gingerbread housemaker-master - moi! (Sydney, Abbey, and I have a tradition of making one every year). Today, Sydney and TJ working very well side-by-side finished the details. Looks cute!


Steady and skillful hands hard at work!

Syd and T looking cute!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Abbey made the famous Westchase Drum Corp at her school. It is an honor to be part of this elite group of students. Last week, she had her first official public performance playing a snare drum. She is following in the footsteps of her cousin, Jackie who plays many musical instruments.














Ted, Mom and Abbey after the show.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was spent at Allan's house, who is Sheila's brother. It was a full house with Allan, Debbie, Julie, Jackie, Terry, Tammy, Darrell, and his sister plus us. We missed sharing it with Sydney and Abbey, but they were with us in our hearts.
Dinner was a really good. We had the obligatory turkey (only deep fried - it was FABULOUS) and a Honey Baked ham surrounded with lots of other yummy dishes including kahlua yams, green bean casserole, and two of Allan's famous dishes - Cranberry Surprise and some del-ish pea dish with bacon. Mmmmm, yum-ME!! For dessert we had pumpkin pie, apple pie, carrot cake (Sheila made it from scratch), and pineapple upside down cake.
After we ate, we spent a very relaxing night watching the girls play Guitar Hero and Super Mario Brothers sprinkled in with a bit of football. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving as we have much to be thankful for - friends, family, health and those we hold close to our hearts.
On our way to Allan's house while Ted is on the phone with Hannah, Hailey, and T.J.

Sheila and Allan preparing our Thanksgiving feast!

Jacee, Jackie and Julie waiting for dinner

The deep fried turkey. Looking good!

Ted carving the turkey.

Eating our Thanksgiving feast.

Christmas Tree Decorating


We decided to decorate the Christmas tree a little early this year.....the Monday before Thanksgiving. It was lots of fun doing so, and it turned out really nice!






All finished

Tyler's Visit to Florida

Tyler came to visit us here in Florida November 17-24. We had so much fun with him here! Tyler and Jacee pretty much went everywhere! They went to Clearwater Beach, where they discovered a movie being made (claiming that they saw Johnny Depp dressed as Jack Sparrow!), and had lots of fun at Busch Gardens. They also went down the Hillsborough River and saw some alligators!!! All in all it was a good visit and I'm pretty sure he had a good time too!

This is who they claimed was Johnny Depp lol!

One of the many alligators they saw

Orlando Magic game

Tyler on a Harley Davidson bike in Downtown Disney

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Abbey's Birthday Bash


Abbey Elisabeth Davis turned 11 on November 6th, but we didn't have her birthday party until this last Saturday. She had a Scavenger Hunt Birthday. Her friends arrived at 2pm -all equipped with their cell phones in hand. Once everyone arrived, the party was split into groups: Ted and Jacee, Sheila, and Joe and Angie (Abbey's father and his girlfriend). Each group had a list of items they needed to "scavenge" and return by 3:30pm with all or most of their items. The rules were simple: only 1 item per house, you could only go to each house once, and call the party house to check in when all items were collected.
Off the teams went to their assigned streets. Upon arrival, each team checked in with the party house before starting- which wasn't an issue since EVERYONE had a cell phone. (This was done so one team didn't have a time advantage over another). Once dispersed through the neighbohood, the game was on! With a three minute lead, Ted and Jacee's team won followed by Sheila's team. Joe and Angie's team came in last probably due to the fact that the girls were more interested in chatting and texting than getting their items! ~lol The winning team won a $5 gift card to Cold Stone. Sydney was thrilled since she was on the winning team.
After the hunt came singing happy birthday to Abbey and eating cake and ice-cream. Abbey decided she wanted a cookie cake this year and it turned out to be really yummy! Not that most children by the age of 11 haven't seen trick candles already, Abbey thought she would show her friends how they worked WHILE Joe was trying to light them! We got them all lit, and had fun watching her try to blow them out. After cake and ice cream came presents. Happy, happy, joy, joy! (It was chaos - imagine sitting in a room with twelve screaming ten and eleven year old GIRLS. Oh, man. Abbey got a lot of fun things, such as gift cards to Aeropastale, Target, and, of course, Tropical Smoothie! (She begs to go get a smoothie every day). She also got a game for her DS and a cute friendship jacket that zips in half. You and your friend can trade halfs- it's actually really cool. After presents were opened, we played a game. Underneath layers and layers of alternanting newspaper and painters tape was a can of silly string. The girls had to try to unwrap it while wearing men's leather gloves. A feat to be challenged with for certain, but to make it extra exciting, there was a hitch- you had limited time to rip through the layers. The guest sitting to the left was furiously trying to roll a 5 as quickly as possible. Once she did, she promptly stole the gloves, donned them, then furiously attempted to make a dent in the layers BEFORE the guest on her left rolled a 5. The dice and gloves made it around several times before the can was revealed. It was fun watching them do it!
With silly string in hand, they went outside to promptly drain the can. Shortly after, they started a game of street baseball while waiting for their parents to pick them up. It ended up being a really good party and everyone think really enjoyed themselves. But, there is a reason why birthdays only come ONCE a year! ~lol

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Finally Finding Time to Share Our Love







It's been an amazing three and a half, almost four months! We have yet to choose our wedding album, but I am dying to share a few shots from our special day. Hope you enjoy them as much as we do! She~

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Happy Birthday, Sheila!

41 years ago on November 8th, Sheila Marie Myers entered this world. She had such a fun birthday, despite the fact that Ted was in Afghanistan. But he still managed to make her birthday wonderful! He coordinated with Jacee, and when Sheila walked down the stairs this morning, this is what she saw:

Yes, Ted was not home for my birthday, but he and Jacee made certain it was a moment to remember. Half-way around the world he finagled probably the best birthday I have ever had! I was awaken to a knock on my bedroom door saying breakfast was ready. I rolled out of bed and wondered what Ted was doing at this particular moment. With his smile clouding my thoughts, I opened the bedroom door to find a red rose petals scattered about creating a path downstairs. As I descended, my vision was blurred by tears and my heart swelled as I heared Michael Buble's Everything playing. By time I reached the last landing, my crying was unstoppable- tears of happiness mixed with languish for Ted to be home. As I brought my eyes up, my heart stopped and for a moment I thought Theo found a way to surprise me (~I foiled his last attempt of an early-arrival surprise). Quickly came the donning that it was just an fantastic, cardboard, lifesize-Theo holding a rose standing before an amazing table sprinkled with rose petals, breakfast, and three dozen long-stemmed roses. Once I was able to compose myself, Jacee and I sat down to a wonderful breakfast. The rest of the day was spent with all three girls- Jac, Sydney, and Abbey. We ventured down to International Mall for a yummy late lunch at Bamboo Club. I had been craving deep-fried spinich for weeks now and it was fantastic. We shopped a little (~I hate shopping) then, in the early evening, went to see Madagascar. The only thing that would have made this day spectacular... Ted standing next to me. Though he was across the world, he still managed to make me feel special. But then, he always finds a way to make me feel special.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Trick or Treat!


Tonight, the girls went trick-or-treating. Jacee was a Pink Lady, Sydney was a 50's Be-bopper (we called them Rizzo and Sandra Dee ~lol), and Abbey was a Goth Princess. All three were very cute. We first started out in our neighborhood, but it didn't have the exciting Halloween feel of years past. So, we decided to venture back into the old "'hood"- Sydney and Abbey's dad's street. Once there, we had lots of fun! The girls went up and down the streets, and we saw many, many cute little trick-or-treaters!!! All in all, it was a ghoulishly-great night!

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Pumpkin Carving

Last night for Family Home Evening we carved our pumpkins! The girls had lot's of fun doing them. Abbey had a little pumpkin that she put light brights in and then they light up from the candle inside. Sydney (with the help of Sheila) had a little pumpkin and carved a spider in it. Syd actually did pretty well concidering how hard the pattern was. Jacee and Ted had the big pumpkin and they did a haunted house. It turned out really cool. We put a strobe light in it so it looks "spooky!" Our house finally has some Halloween flare! lol
Ted and Jacee carving their pumpkin.
Sydney and Abbey carving their pumpkins.
Sheila concentrating hard on her pumpkin-carving skills.
Sydney's pumpkin
Abbey's pumpkin
Jacee's pumpkin

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Hey... Better Late Than Never!


Thank you to Geri for creating our blog and thank you to Jacee for remembering it’s here! Since Ted and I are so consumed with life- work, girls, and each other... there is little time for the extras. We will do better... I promise!

Saturday, July 26, 2008





The New Gropp Gang! One big happy family!