HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

I just wanted to wish everyone a happy and healthy new year!!!!

We have recovered from Christmas and are just relaxing for the rest of the kids vacation. Paige leaves on Wednesday for Utah for a snowboarding trip. Ryan will be working everyday, but he loves it and Sydney just wants to get out on her "new" surfboard. Dylan made her Christmas!

Love to you all and happy new year!

Janelle

It's a Girl!

What a Christmas present! Andy and Kristin had their baby girl today, just a couple of hours ago. She weighed in at 6#, 13 oz. and measured 18" long with dark brown hair. Her name is Hadley Noelle Nelson (the Noelle isn't a for sure yet, but pretty sure) and arrived via c-section. She's got 10 fingers, 10 toes and both she and mom are doing fine. She's made a beautiful day, even more lovely!

Have a good weekend and a very happy new year!

Love and laughter, Joan

Let There Be Light!

Yipee! Yea Hurray! Ta Dah! Last night, at 9:00pm, just 1 1/2 hours shy of day 10, the lights came back on! After Gene shut down the generator and threw the main breaker, I stood outside listening to the generators all over the canyon turning off, and then it was quiet. Ahhhhhhh. I will never take a light switch for granted again! So today, I have quite a bit of cleanup to do, now I can actually see how dirty my house is, and stuff to put away. I think the dogs are happier too, they didn't like the noise of the generator. The snow and ice are melting quickly, and the day time temps have been in the 40's (heat wave). The forecast calls for snow on Saturday, but that doesn't scare us! Actually, snow for Christmas is a lovely thing.

Nashville Perrys and Mobleys, you guys travel safely, and I'll phone Janelle's house either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, or maybe both. Have a good weekend!

Love, Joan

Staying Alive

Well, here it is, Day 9 after the storm, and still no electricity. The storm itself was really wild, during the night the sound of tree limbs snapping off and falling, pulling more tree limbs down, sounded like gunfire. Not much sleeping Monday night. Tuesday morning the entire state was shut down, so Gene did stay home. We were lucky that no trees fell on our house, just a small one on the garage (no damage) and one barely missed the propane tank. On day 4, a neighbor came by and asked if we could use a generator, as he had a spare. DUH! So he came back and hooked it up for us, and that has improved our quality of life a ton! The house was staying plenty warm with the propane heater downstairs, but without electricity, we didn't have water, so the generator allows us to have water, and run the water heater and some lights, and of course, the TV. Not all at the same time though. I'm still cooking on the camp stove, the generator isn't powerful enough to run the stove/oven or clothes dryer. Gene and I have both lost some weight, so we're calling this the "Ice Storm Diet". And we've played cards almost every night, usually Gin and I am the undisputed champion. Gene can't decide if I'm really lucky or really good. Yesterday, the power company showed up, in the canyon and they were there again today, so that's got to be good news! I took some pictures with my new phone and apparently, I can send them to an email address, so if I figure out how to do that, I'll try to send them to Melinda and perhaps she can post them. The 2" of ice absolutely coated everything in crystal clear ice, and it was beautiful and fascinating even if it was devastating. Like nothing you've ever seen before.

Well, since I'm writing this on the church computer (today is my day to work in the office), I'd better wrap this up. Take care and I'll let you know when we get powered up.

Love, Joan (aka Nanook of the North)

The Ice Man Cometh

Brrrrrrrrrrr! It's mighty cold and frosty here in KS. We had freezing rain/sleet/snow all weekend, and we are now expecting up to 2" of freezing rain, beginning tonight about 6:00pm and continuing for 24 hourse. Oh joy. This of course, will probably mean power outages also. So, we got hay and water to the horses, lamp oil and candles, a full propane tank, bottled water and ice melt. I've asked Gene to take tomorrow off and let the docs that live in town cover for him.

In the meantime, things are going well. I can't believe it's almost Christmas! We still don't have a tree; we would have purchased one yesterday, after church, but because of the slick roads, we didn't go anywhere over the weekend. May have to just cut down a little cedar tree and call that good. That's a "cowboy Christmas tree". We hope to go to Andy and Kristin's house, this coming weekend, weather permitting. Gene and Andy want to go bird hunting Sunday morning (Andy is running out of "fun guy time" as the baby is due Dec. 27. And we need to get the doll house to Carole's girls (the moving van is arriving at their house on Monday) so it can go to Arkansas with them. Gene and I worked very hard on that little doll house and it looks so cute, I can hardly stand it! Yesterday, I made new curtains for it. Last night while he watched TV, Gene washed all the plastic furniture. Once the doll house is gone, we're going to need to find a new hobby!

That's really all for now, I'll let you know how we weather the storm. If the power goes out for any length of time, our new phone system won't work, so if you need to reach us, try our cell phones, we'll try to leave one turned on 785-770-7121 or 785-770-7128.

Hugs and kisses to all, and an extra one to Aunt Lois, I hope you're feeling okay.

Love, Joan

John's new partner in prayer

Thanksgiving Eve

Hey to you on this happy Thanksgiving Eve. Our hearts are grateful for you all: our hearts are grateful! Here's a backyard view of the leaves, and as you can see we're about to see the last of them (the colors were amazing this year-- but every year I think that THIS year is better than the last). The weather has been so pleasant-- in the 60-70's, but they say a cold front from New York is coming.

Tomorrow we are going to our friends Vince and Sheryl Roman's home. They moved here from Newport this last summer-- they are friends from St. Andrew's and school. This last Sunday they had a party in their home and invited all the California transplants they'd met recently. We were the longest in Nashville and had the sage advice on doctors, dentists and hairdressers-- (although John has yet to replace those $18 haircuts from Doug in Huntington Beach.) There were probably twelve couples there and all except one (Nissan transfer) of them moved to Nashville to raise their families and enjoy a slower pace of life (housing prices too! ; ). Not one of them missed the 405-- but we all miss our families and a few great restaurants.

We've been on the hunt for a high school for Rachel for next fall. All the applications are due this month, so we've had many interviews, tours, etc. There are six or more great schools and we've narrowed it to probably three-- public, catholic and independent private. It may be Hi-Ho-Hi-Ho-it's off to work I go... which will be great if I can find something that pays a lot of money for a little time!

We'll be coming to California for Christmas. We looked into renting a place on the beach, so we wouldn't have to live out of a suitcase and move around so much. Our friends have a house on 32nd Street and they've rented it to us for a minimum charge. The house was easier to arrange than the flights. Free frequent flyer tickets aren't easy to find during the holidays, but we were able to find three-- in/out of SanDiego-- on Christmas Eve evening! Bummer. I'm not sure we can make it to Janelle's. Dang. We're happy to have ya'll come to us-- or make arrangements for other times to get together. It would be great to see the Mobleys as well. Let us know what works for ya'll.

Gotta go-- it's hot chocolate time! Love to you all.

What a fun trip!!!!

I would go back in a minute!!! Chicago is such a great city!!

It was so nice to get to spend some time with John, Melinda, Rachel, Joan, Mom and Dad. We had beautiful weather on game day, sunny and warm. The boat tour was great. I agree with Joan, I will never look at a skyscraper the same way again.

The pep rally was fun. A sea of cardinal and gold. Ron especially liked the ONE guy in a UCLA hat. Brave man!!!

The Notre Dame campus is just beautiful. Here are some pictures of touchdown Jesus and the golden dome also of Joan and Dirty Dan.

Ron and I stayed through Monday, so we spent Sunday checking out Michigan Avenue.

Well that is all for now. Love to all of you and good thoughts as always for you, Aunt Lois.

Love,

Janelle

Where's The Loyalty??????

Why are none of the Perry Clan sporting any Trojan colors in any of the blog photos?????Uncle Paul

Friday in Chicago with Dan and Ron Orr

Akin ken

more chicago photos

Top photo-- Keith Van Horne, Allen Pugh, Anthony Munoz, John (mr. wonderful) Perry, Brad Green, Scott, Frazier, Paul McDonald, Barney Page
Bottom photo-- Paul, John and Allen

Last week

Here's a little old news-- RR (standing, second from left) with her teammates after their Western Division Tournament. City Tournament begins today... more to come.

Girls just wanna have fun

Thursday night-- Just look at those smiles! We might have lost a little of our hearing this night, but no one left hungry-- or thirsty. Those Italians can cook.

welcome home trojans! i

I GET TIRED OF GOING TO THE BLOG AND THERE IS NO NEW MESSAGE! I DON't know why all those caps showed up, but who cares? Lois get's stronger each day and things are fine here. I left the kitchen windows open just a crack yesterday and now have a layer of smokey ash all over the kitchen sink! Now where did these italics come from??????? I've had it! Someone please send help!!!!!! Uncle Paul

AWE WHAT THE HECK???

I REALLY DON'T HAVE ANYTHING OF GREAT MOMENT TO SHARE WITH YOU ALL, BUT FEEL LIKE I'M A CAREER OBSERVER OF ALL OF YOUR EXCITING GOODIES. OUR MAIN ACTIVITY RIGHT NOW IS THAT WE WILL DEPART WED. AT 7;00 AM WED. MORNING FOR CHICAGO AND THEN ON TO SOUTH BEND TO ARM WRESTLE THE FIGHTING IRISH. RON,JANELLE,AND JOAN WILL MEET US IN CHICAGO AND NO ONE KNOWS WHAT KIND OF MISCHIEF WE MIGHT CONJURE UP.AND AS AN ADDED ATTRACTION JOHN AND A PASSLEOF HIS OLD PLAYING BUDDIES ARE ALL TURNING 50 TOGETHER AND ARE ARRANGING A HUGE GATHERING OF THE CLAN IN CHICAGO. WE WILL JOIN MELINDA AND RACHAEL FOR DINNER AT DITKA'S STEAK HOUSE FRIDAY NIGHT TO BE AVAILABE IN CASE ANY OF THEN NEED TO GET BAILED OT OF JAIL. WELL THAT'S AS GOOD AS IT GETS, BUT LET ME GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO..MUGGS WILL BE SENDING YOU ALL A BLOCK BUSTER BLOG IN THE VERY NEAR FUTURE.
WITH WITH ALL THAT SAID, I WILL LEAVE YOU THE ADMONITION TO "FIGHT ON" WITH THE TROJANS THIS SATURDAY.
HUGS AND HUGS AND HUGS TO YOU ALL.

DICK

Forgive my typing!

well here I go! I am really having trouble! I can't seem to get down to the next line. Well who cares anyway! Scott is here, he came down to go with Dylan to watch a water polo tournament. Afterward,LAUREN WILL COME DOWN FROM LA. To heck with those caps... I'm not going to try to figure out how to correct it! We saw three different doctors last week, trying to get all of Lois' meds straightend out. She was over-medicated when they sent her home! Now she is feeling better and eating well....thank you Lord!This is wearing me out so I'm going to sign off and see if I know how to send this! Uncle Paul

Aloha!

Well, Ron and I are back from Hawaii. We spent five days on Kauai and had a great time. We played golf one day, did some sight seeing on another and then just laid on the beach and read. Joann held down the fort with the kids while we were gone. Everyone seemed to behave themselves, so I guess I won't have to beat anyone! Just kidding!

Not much else to report on around here, just thought I would check in. Oh, and Uncle Paul and Karen, welcome to the blog!!!

Love to you all,

Janelle

Mobley/Perry updates

I am down here visiting mom and dad and John and Melinda stopped by for a visit last night and showed dad and I how to post on the blog so we can finally add our two cents!
Mom seems a little better today, but still pretty much couchbound. The challenge is getting her to eat. She still can't get over the irony of trying NOT to eat most of her adult life and now having for force herself to eat a few bites.
I flew down on Wednesday and Dylan picked me up and stayed for a while to visit with mom and dad. He's doing fine, back in classes after returning from the surfing trip to Fiji. The girls went too, even though they don't surf. It was perfect timing for Lauren to go on a "do nothing" trip since she had just passed her final test to get her financial planning certification. She starts work next week at Ameriprise and is all settled into her new condo along with her new kitty, Cleo.
Andrea is working at a gourmet pizza restaurant where she is enjoying the tip money she is earning. She is planning to visit some friends on the eastcoast at the end of the month. One friend is at Princeton and three are in Boston so she should have a great time seeing them.
Scott is holding down the fort while I'm here, taking care of the three dogs and the cat. Plus the house is being painted (outside) . I actually thinks he enjoys doing some of the chores that I do, because it gives him a reason to leave work early or go in late. He's rather bored with work at the moment, can't quite think of retiring quite yet.
I have a couple of design jobs that I'm working on, just enough to keep me busy. I had a great time looking at Asian antiques with one of my clients, I almost felt like I'd taken another trip to China.
I would imagine that we will be down here for Thanksgiving so hopefully we will see everyone then.

Love, Karen

hi everyone

I'm not sure this will get through, because I may not have verified my google account. Aunt Lolo had a very good night and we are looking forward to a very nice day! Karen is here with us and the food program is really gourmet! I'll quit and see if I know how to send this!

John and Melinda Visit

Here we are with the Nashvillians enjoying each other. They're in town for an overnight board meeting. We've getting to visit with Laurena and Karen as well. We all think Lolo looks as beautiful as ever!

"Seasons of Love"

So i thought it necessary it share just a fraction of my New York adventure with you all! I wish I could show you guys all of my pictures, but that would take months...no joke. These are just some of my favs. The top picture is of me and my best friend Courtney, who was supposed to go to the Alvin Ailey program with me, but got injured. She came to NYC to visit me since she couldn't come for the program. We spend literally 4 WHOLE dasy together, no lie. I spent the night with her and her family at there hotel and everything; we never left eachother, except when I had class. But this picture is of us in line to get tickets for Legally Blonde the Musical at 7 AM! We are hideous. The next picture is of me and my other best friend Kelly, who also came to visit me. This is her and I on Broadway and 50th the day we saw the Tony Award Winning Best Musical "Spring Awakening", which was A-MA-ZING! And the last picture pretty much sums up how I felt about my trip. Courtney took this picture in Times Square after we saw Hairspray for the 2nd time. :) My trip was amazing! I learned so much that it would take me a lifetime to explain all of it!

But it's super nice to be home. I got home August 11th, and went back to work August 12th. I was seriously have withdrawls from not performing. So it was SO GOOD to be back on the parade route. School is keeping me busy; all AP classes, plus my 3 performing dance ensembles. I'm also co-directing/choreographing/starring in a musical revue entitled "Together On Broadway- A Musical Revue". The show was written by my two friends and I. I chose all the music and they wrote the script. It's a fundraiser show this girl scout theatre company the director is involved in. So we're hoping to raise LOTS of money. There are 20 numbers in the show, and I'm singing in 13 of them - 2 solos, 2 duets, a trio, and the rest are small/group and ensemble numbers. I'm lovin it...its so much fun creating, performing, and being apart of the production team. I hope everyone can come! The dates are November 1,2,3,4 (Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun). Tickets are $8...i think, don't quote me. So yeah, its gonna be an amazing show. I would reccommend coming either Thurs, Sat, or Sun. We have one of our leads missing on Fri, so people will be filling in for her, including me. So it won't be the show with the normal cast, so I recommend coming either Thurs, Sat, or Sun.

I miss everyone! Hope you all are doing well!

Loooove you all!

Ryan.

Checking In

It's so windy here today, you need rocks in your pockets to keep from blowing away!

Some of you may have heard, our black lab Maggie has been a sick puppy. She has pneumonia in both lungs and I thought we were going to lose her. It came on suddenly and scared the daylights out of me. Now that she's on antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory, she's starting to feel a little better. Dang dog.

We had Gene's mom, sister and brother-in-law here for lunch yesterday. They just wanted to come visit us country-bumpkins. They hadn't met Boaz, the horse yet, so we did that, and they were very interested in the new horse trailer. Doesn't take much to entertain them! Anyhow, we had a pleasant afternoon with them.

Just spoke with Jenna, in Holland (it still amazes me, that you can talk to someone halfway around the world and it sounds like they're next door). We try to phone her every Sunday, but with the 7 hour time difference, we screw it up more often than not. She continues to do well and thinks that in a previous life, she must have been Dutch. That's how much she likes the country and the people. And it doesn't hurt that the Dutch people are tall and very handsome. Jenna's words, not mine...We're looking forward to our trip over there, in March.

Other than that, there's not much to report. We're beginning to get some fall colors, so that's enjoyable and it's cooling down at night. The days are sure getting shorter.

I wish y'all a good week and get well thoughts to Aunt Lolo.

XOXXX, Joan

Greetings from huntington beach!

Well, I guess I had better jump on the blog as well. Things are good here in H.B. Everyone is back to school and is happy with their teachers (as much as can be expected).

Ryan is as busy as always. He is producing, directing and staring in a variety show. He is also going to be in the Halloween parade next month at Disneyland. Dance shows at school of course and trying to fit time in to study for the SAT and Act as well as start on the college application process. YIKES, I have an almost college age child! When did that happen?!

Paige is good. She is in off season training for the school soccer team as well as working out in the gym two days a week getting the knee in shape. She is constantly reminding us that she can get her driver's permit in November. I am feeling older by the minute! She is happy at school and loves hanging out with her friends, of which there are too many to keep track of.

Sydney is loving middle school! The homework is a bit more, but she is adjusting to it. Her soccer season started two weeks ago. She is playing on a plus team. She scored her first goal of the season last Saturday, it was an amazing shot! Much to my dismay, I see the signs of a teenager rearing it's head within her. NOT YET!!!!

Ron is hanging in there with all the ups and downs of the mortgage industry, so he just tries to play more golf. I think retirement would suit him just fine right about now.

I have been keeping busy with the kids (surprise huh?) and working on my golf game. I'm getting better everyday. I have a girlfriend who I try to play with on Tuesday's.

Well, I guess that is pretty much what is new around here. We are happy and healthy!

Love to all of you!

Janelle

Nelson News

Greetings from Kansas! Up until now, I haven't had much to report, but we've had a week filled with adventure and news.

I'll start with Lucia, Gene's sister...she had a cardiac catheter last week and we're hoping she doesn't need heart valve replacement surgery. She has yet to meet with the cardiac surgeon, so we're keeping our fingers crossed.

Gene took last week off, for vocal rest. He lost his voice on the last day of his fishing trip, in July and it's not come back. He has been to the doctor, but nothing definitive. He is trying some things the doctor advised (but not all) and thought a week of no talking would help. Not. It was like living with a ghost; I knew he was around, but I was never sure where. I'd holler outside for him, but with no voice, even if he tried to answer me, he can't make enough sound. So I feel like I spent an awful lot of time just trying to locate/keep track of him. The good news is, he got a lot of stuff done around here!

We went horse camping this past weekend, or at least tried to. We woke up very early Saturday morning, inside our new trailer, to the sound of rain. But we didn't care, we were dry and snug! Our camping buddies could not say the same...they neglected the rain fly on their tent and woke up to standing water inside. Not good. Meanwhile, I had an electric heater running along with the coffeemaker. I really like this new trailer! Anyhow, it stayed cold, windy, rainy along with lightning and thunder all morning, so about noon we all decided to call it quits. Sunday, we took the horses to an indoor arena (it was still raining) and Gene took turns riding them both, for about 4 hours. I'm still not riding. Boaz is such a good boy, but green as grass and still has the occasional hissy fit, so he needed work.

Sunday evening we got the news from Carole, that they are moving to Fayetteville, Arkansas. Dave is being promoted within Proctor and Gamble and they're sending him to AR to focus on their WalMart account. He'll start Nov. 1 and Carole and the girls will go at the end of the year. Carole has been teaching a college course at the local JC and wants to fulfill her contract. It's a good move for them, but we hate to see the little grandgirls move 5 hours and 38 minutes away. I've already checked it out on MapQuest. So, I guess there are more road trips in our future. Life's about changes...

More rain today, so far we've got 3/4" in the rain gauge and rain forecast for the rest of the day. I can't believe the first day of fall is this Sunday. I'm sure I didn't finish everything on my summer list!

I think a rainy day calls for baking, so there are probably chocolate chip cookies in my future...Take care and I love y'all!

Joan

John's new job

Okay so we're not letting him quit his day job, but he sure is having fun. Our neighbor and "high-end" designer for the country music stars has begun a business of finding junk and turning it into treasures. She's asked John to build her bases for her treasures. So here they are... guess what the cost is for these goods? Truly-- $895 and $1295. So what do you think John should charge?? What's going with you all????

Southern--boy Workshop

Okay, enough is enough. Even her own Mamma is tired of seeing that face as the headline for the blog. Here's one you might enjoy. It's fall and we've lost our husband and daddy to the workshop. John is offically a professional now. He's even making money at it (solely for the purpose of buying more tools!) Id-n't he cute!!!??!!! Other than the basement he's enjoying the Trojans, the Titans and his girls. Not in that order. : )

Here's a recent photo from the very camera shy girl...

So far so good with our first week of public school. Volleyball has given her entry to some nice girls (about 6) who are all in her International Baccalaureate program. We're figuring out our bus route from the driver who has a new stop each day. The real news here is the weather-- we've set record highs. Rachel's bus driver was quoted in the paper for saying the temperature in the bus was 115. It's been around 104 each day this week. In fact, school will close on Monday at noon because of the heat. After living a lifetime in So Cal, I now get why weather news matters. Love to you all... gotta go move the hose! :)

First day of school... monday

What a differrence a few years make... 2007--8th grade- camera shy...(left) and here's 2002 with William and Lizzie ... (right)

so sorry!

Dear John, Melinda and Rachel,

We are so very sorry to hear your news. I know what an important part of your lives Ray was. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Much love,

Janelle

Thought you'd want to know...

It's with much grief that I write to let you all know that our dearest friend, mentor, boss, father (everyone needs a third one), and Rachel Ray's name sake, has gone to be with Jesus last night. He died after much struggles the last 6 months with breathing. He and Anne decided if he were to go in the hospital again they would not put him on life support. We said our good-byes, he was given morphene, and then he breathed his last breath at 7:15 last night. Ray, Jr and Jani (his son and our dearest friends here in Nashville) are in Ireland speaking at a large conference. They'll be flying home tomorrow and we'll all be flying out Wednesday. There will be a graveside when we arrive and then two services, one at St.Andrews in Newport and one at Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena. We're not sure of any plans-- everything is up in the air-- but I'm sure John will keep you posted. We're terribly happy for Ray to be released from his struggles and gasps for air, but our hearts are deeply grieved. No one will ever be able to replace him. We're just happy that we had the privilege of knowing him. He would tell me from time to time, "Live so people will cry at your funeral." I'm sure that will be the case at his. Much love to you all.

New School

I don't know how many of you know this, but i'm switching schools next year. I'll be going to a public middle school called John Trotwood Moore. I've allready met several of the rising eight graders, so i'll at least know a few people. I've also met the volleyball coach, she was really nice and she even said she remembered me from past tournaments. Our first day is August 13th, I'm a little nervous, but mostly excited.

What am I missing here?????

Are you folks all ready for this??? Ryan says; "Things have been uneventful recently" ; "not much to report on"; On weekends I go out to my friend Jamiee's house in Long Island--She belongs to a private beach club: oh and by the way he has a steady stream of visiting female beauties.
Now, I don't know about all of you, but all of this sounds a whole lot more than just uneventful. I'm no sure what the rest of you are going to do, but I'm going to be on the next flight to New York and become Ryan's personal valet. Of course, that's with your permission Big Fella..Ryan I'm sure that all of your fellow bloggers are tickled to death that you are having such a wonderfully unique and rewarding experience. Our problem is two-fold; we are envious beyond description of your adventure,but most of all we miss you in a huge way and can hardly wait for your coming home to share with us all of your Broadway Debut.
Bunches and bunches of love to you from you gray haired old grandpa///
Dick

"Go Into Your Dance"

Greetings from NY once again. Things here have been uneventful recently; not too much to report on. I have just been hanging out and going to class; its become somewhat of a routine. I wake up, shower, eat breakfast, and get to class by 8:45 to stretch and warm up for class at 9. Then I come home at 12, eat lunch and watch The Tyra Banks Show, then go back for class at 1:15. I come home at 3 and do whatever I feel like. It varies from many things. Some days, I'll go shopping with my roomies, or hang out with some of my friends from class. Other days, I'll just chill in my dorm, eat, watch tv, and sleep.
Then on the weekends, I go out to my friend Jamiee's house in Long Island and stay Sat-Sun. She belongs to a private beach club, so we go swimming and lay out all day, all weekend. Its fantastic! Everytime I go out, which has been every weekend so far, there is some form of activity for the night. First weekend, I saw a Billy Joel cover-band concert on the beach, then the next weekend, we went to a Dennis Deyoung (lead singer of the Styx...I think is what Jamiee told me) concert in the park. It got boring real fast, so I ended up going to my friend Vikki's house, and we went jacuzzi-ing. Then this past weekend, on wednesday night, I went and saw the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It was the first showing of the movie in the country, so that was pretty awesome! The movie was FANTASTIC, and I just saw it for the second time the other day.
I'm really excited for the 7th and last Harry Potter book to be released tomorrow (friday) night at midnight. So being the giant dork that I am, I will go wait in line to get my book with all of the other die-hard Harry Potter fans like myself. My plan is to read all day Saturday to find out how the series ends because if I don't, someone will accidentally blurt it out on the street, then I'll find out, and I'll be beyond upset.
Anywho, on an issue most of you have probably heard about on the news. Yes, the "Earth has opened" as many print ads have been says. Yesterday (wednesday), on 41st and Lexington Ave., an 83 year old pipe exploded sending a bus, a piece of concrete the size of 2 kitchen tables, pieces of pipe, and a billowing wall of asbestos-filled steam into the air. 1 person was killed, 50-something people injured, and 2 people received third-degree burns on 90% of their body. It was a tragic experience to be so close to. Luckily, I'm about 20 blocks away from where it happened, but it was still scary because it could have happened anywhere.
So, yea...life is going really well out here in NY. My best friend Courtney, who was supposed to come to the Ailey program with me, but didn't because she injured her back a couple hours before we were flying out, is coming to visit me with her parents for the weekend. She is arriving today, and I'm going to meet them for dinner tonight. My other really good friends Kelly and Cassie will be coming out on Sunday and staying till Thursday. So it'll be nice to see some familiar faces and people from home.
I miss everyone terribly, and can't wait to come home, see my family, and get back to work. I have a long year ahead of me. It will be my senior year, plus a reality show will be shot at my school next year, starring me and 5 of my friend in our persuit to balance work, school, dance, and putting on a production. So each of us will be receiving our own camera crew for the ENTIRE year, and it will be airing later this year on either ABC Family, MTV, or A&E. More details to come at a later date.
Hope everything is well with everyone! Miss you all!
Love love love!!! :)

Oh My Gosh!

Maybe it's time to find a new hobby? You could always ride a bike alongside Gene and his horse. Just kidding!

I hope you get to feeling better soon.

We had a good time in Palm Springs. The girls are just hanging out with their friends and I am going back out to P.S. this weekend for my bunco girls trip. We are having our house tented next weekend (YUK!) and will spend a few days at the Hyatt here at the beach. At least that will be fun.

We are missing Ryan and looking forward to getting him home. It is just not the same without him here!

Miss all of you!

Janelle

"Come to the Freakshow"

Fourth of July in NYC is FANTASTIC! There are no words to describe the day I had. I woke up at 12:30...which was great by the way...ate breakfast/lunch, then watched some tv, thinking I was just going to stay in for the day. But that all changed when my roomie, Matt, asked if I wanted to go out. And of course I said yes, and we ended up inviting a whole group of our friends from Ailey to go with us. We all decided to go to Coney Island, which I have never been to. Oh, by the way, it's raining outside when all of this is taking place. We get on the subway for the HOUR LONG ride; we had NO idea Coney Island was on the opposite side of the state. But right as we got off the subway, it stopped raining. We ended up walking on the boardwalk of Coney Island, eating hot dogs, onion rings, and cotton candy; it was just like a scene out of a movie. As a side note, Coney Island looks exactly like it does in the movies: old rides, side/freak shows, cotton candy vendors, it was awesome. If any of you have seen the musical Side Show, there was a freak show being advertized by a man in a red/black/yellow suit, wearing sunglasses and a hat. So, being the musical theatre kid that I am, I walk by this guy and start singing the opening number from Side Show, "Come to the Freakshow", then the man started singing with me. It was sooooo funny!
Anyway, so we did Coney Island, which was awesome. We got on the subway to go home and started talking to this man, who was very helpful. Matt, who is from Canada, wanted to see fireworks, so we ended up going to the East River at the South Side Bay and watched the Macy's Fireworks Display. All I gotta say is that it was GORGEOUS! The music was inspirational, the rain stopped, the people were all silent; it was fantastic! Then we went home because we were all exhausted, and we had rain, product, sweat, and ash in our hair, so we felt kinda gross.
But the day was amazing! One of my favorite Fourth of Julys ever. The only thing that could have made it better is if my family was with me.

:)

Hi there everyone! Just wanted to wish all of you a very happy 4th of July!

Things are good here at the Marks' house. Paige is recovering nicely from her knee surgery and is out and about. We are missing Ryan terribly, but glad he is having such a great experience. We talk to him a few times a day, so that helps me alot!! Sydney is spending her time in the pool and playing with friends. We are off to Palm Desert on Saturday for the week. You probably think we are crazy!

Our love to everyone and have a good holiday,

Janelle

"New York, New York"

so New York is AMAZING! there is no other city like it. I have been here twice before, but it's a different experience everytime. I love it! I'm staying at Fordham University, and if you feel so inclined, I greatly appreciate mail and care packages; it makes me miss home a little less. :) My address is:
Ryan Marks
155 West 60th Street, Apt. 6M3
New York, New York
10023
My classes are going EXTREMELY well. I'm taking Ballet, Horton (it's a certain technique of Modern dance), Jazz, and West African. My favorite class is the West African because my teacher talks and dances like he just got off the boat from Africa. He just oozes passion for the art form; it's really addicting. My roomies are all awesome; we get along really well. I'm staying in a 3-bedroom suite with 2 bathrooms. So it's really nice. My roommate and I lucked out because for some reason, our room is alot bigger than the other two. So it's cool!
But I definitely miss home and all of you! It's weird waking up every morning to faces that arn't familiar. But it's only 7 weeks. So i'll be home soon! I love it here, and I love to dance. So it makes it all worth it in the end!
:)

old dog learns new tricks

Can you believe this.... Melinda the magician has just managed to hook up this electronically impaired person to the "Perry Pickett Post". We are still on the phone figuring this thing out, so I'll close for now and look forward to visiting with you all later.
Dick

"We'll Be Havin A Wild, Wild Party!"

now the party has started! I FINALLY figured out how to join the blog! I'm glad I joined now because I leave tomorrow morning for NY to dance with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre Company. I'm WAAAY excited! I'll be there for 7 weeks...so it's a long time. But i'll have my laptop so i'll be able to post blogs, pictures, etc. I hope everyone is doing well! I miss you all!
:)

i'm in

i finally did it

Happy summer!

First day of summer. Yahoo! I've been having a blast not working (for money) but now I'm working in our garden, being available to be a taxi cab and spending time at the swim club across the street. We are on vacation-- and are very grateful. I hope we can hear from more of you-- and glad to know Joan is feeling better. Love to all!

Shoot!

Joan, we are so sorry! Youch! We thank God for Nurse Betty! I hope "she" also morphs into the gardener, cook and bottle washer.
Our girl is 14 today-- she tells me this day is more special than the others, because she's 14 on the 14th. She's also coined the phrase, "It's My Birth-akuh"-- for the whole week she thinks she should get one present a day. So we gave her a pass on doing the dishes (not exactly what she has in mind). Actually she got new bedding for her room-- a transformation from a room for a 10-year-old to a teenager hang-- the "Shabby Chic" theme.
We are all well, enjoying summertime and each other.
Love to you all!

I just finished my second to last day of seventh grade! We have our first exam on Friday but we only have to go to school until 9:30. Our offical last day is the 25th and then SUMMER!

Computer Buying Advice

Melinda has been a long time Apple user and that's what we have at home. She worked on a Windows based machine when she was working at the church and was never swayed from her love affair with the Mac. I noticed just today that the latest Consumer Reports magazine has an article and ratings on both Windows and Apple computers. Hope this helps.

well here we are in Spain

Hello from the other side of the world - we had a good trip over but even business class sleeping leaves a lot to be desired. The hotel is nice but the bedroom is a little cozy. I guess if you plan to complain you should stay home. I tried to get a message off yesterday but needed more help - a nice young lady from the front desk helped me today. This is a huge city of over 1.3 million and the streets are very narrow and busses and cars really sail - no place for the timid driver! Motorcycles are popular and they park on the sidewalks without any kind of lockup. Each day we tour part of the city - a worlds fair was held here in 1929 and a small city was built with each building represented a region of Spain - many cultures and people from ancient places have left their mark. We saw the venues used for the 1992 Olympics and they are in use today. We visited the Gaudi (a very famous builder all over Europe) church that was started in the 1800´s and he died in 1926 and there are at least 200 workers a day still working trying to finish it - maybe (or not) by 2050. It is truly an impresive structure - I bought a book with pictures and history because a personal camera couldn´t begin to capture the size etc. Using a computer here is a challange because it is all in Spanish (imagine that). The weather is windy and we had a short but intense rain storm yesterday morning while we visited the government buildings /outside only). Every thing is old - in the US it would have been taken down and rebuilt 10 times. Everyone lives in apartments and the buildings date back hundreds of years. They have balconies and little flowers to make them think they have yards ect. I guess. That sorta covers it for now - Dad and I are hanging tight - sometimes we stop and rest but manage to keep up pretty good. Miss you all and hope everyone is doing great - sorry we missed the dance. Ryan. Love, Mom

Happy Mother's Day to all!!! Especially Donna!!

Hola from el Perrys. Aqui esta a Senior Juan and Senorita Rachel que le desea un Dia Fleiz de Madre! Ms. Muggs es muy buen!! XXOO

off to Spain soon

we are going to have fun

hello from California

I'm still trying to learn about the blog

I'm a genius!

I've not let this computer get the best of me. I've wrestled it to the ground, I figured it out, and now I'm a Grandma Blogger. Hey, y'all, join in on the fun! Love!

hello to all and happy easter from jim & linda . . .

Treemont

Yesterday I got back from Treemont in the Smokey Mountains (it's about four hours away from nashville). I had so much fun. We went on night hikes, Geology hikes to the falls, and even helped an endangerd fish called the Smokey Madtom. I have posted some of the pictures from the Geology hike.

Greetings from Nashville

Although I've been familiar with them for sometime, I must admit that this is my first experience with a Blog. I hope that it will prove to be a tool that is regularly used by all of us to keep in-touch and be better connected. We have Melinda to thank for coming up with the idea and for making it happen.

The attached picture of Rachel shows her getting in a little volleyball setting practice.

I look forward to hearing from the rest of you.

John

How we spend our weekends.

Happy memories...

USC v Notre Dame, November, 2006