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10.18.2008
10.14.2008
Palin Rally - St. Clairsville, OH
WOW! SO totally amazing! It was so surreal!
I like telling stories when I journal so that when I read my journaling in years to come, it will help me remember each memory like it just happened yesterday. So, here is my story on one of the greatest weekends of my life!
On Saturday morning, Oct 11th, Brad, Maddie and I got up at 6am to go down to the War Memorial in Johnstown to see Gov. Sarah Palin rally for victory. Olivia spent the night at Gramma & Pappy Thomas's house, so her and gramma went down early too. Doors were to open at 8am and she was to speak at 9am. When we got there the crowd/lines of people were outrageous! We were in line by 7:30am. At 9:15am, as we are getting closer to the front of the line... the secret service comes out and says that we need to clear the back area (where we were). He said that Gov Palin's motorcade was arriving shortly and that we could get back into line elsewhere, or go home - that not all of us were getting in. We were all very disappointed and after standing around for awhile, Brad and I chiseled back into line with a group that we were originally in line with. We got up to the glass doors when we saw the McCain bus come around the corner, and at that point I turned to look at the doors and they were closed! They had closed the doors and we were the very next to get in! Nobody told us that they were done letting people in as we watched them quickly tear down all of the metal detectors & tables... as if we were not even out there. Well, it is now 10:30am, we are both very distraught and mopey and I still needed to go to work. I finally got a hold of my mom and found out that her and Olivia were able to get in and were happy to have gotten in! I am happy that O got to experience this!
As I am at work, I get a phonecall from Brad saying that Palin was rallying in St. Clairsville, OH on Sunday, and that he wanted to go. I really wanted to go too... as I love spontaneous roadtrips, but then all of the "responsible" parent thoughts start spinning in my head - I have to work the weekend / what do we do with the girls? / what do we do with Gabby? / how do we afford it? / where will we stay? / do any Marriotts have rooms? So, after throwing those thoughts onto Brad, he tells me that he will take care of it and to get back to work. He called me several hours later and told me the specifics and that we were indeed GOING to St. Clairsville to see Sarah!!
After taking the girls to his parents for the night, he arrived at the hotel around 10:30pm to pick me up. We drove in his car to St. Clairsville, and on the way we just 'had' to stop at Wheeling Island Casino! What a trip! We laughed, talked and just enjoyed each other's company so much. When we got to the casino, we ate some dinner at the lil' cafe-type restaurant and then went to the floor to gamble some money away. Overall, we came out $25.00 ahead of what we went in with, and we had fun going around to different machines and playin'.
So, on to the hotel (Fairfield Inn & Suites, of course) in St. Clairsville and we finally arrived at around 2am. It was a very long day, but ended up to be a very good day. Our rally did not start until 5pm on Sunday night, but the gates were to open at 3pm. We wanted to ensure that we were NOT going to miss this one and ensure that we were amongst the FIRST in line!
Sunday morning came and we went for a late breakfast and then headed over to the Brush Run Park for the rally. We arrived there at 12pm and were told by the police that the secret service didn't want anyone up to the gates until 1pm, so we drove around and waited. We finally got in and were 5th in line to get into the gates.
It was a gorgeous day and it was an open airfield-type of park with a big barn that had an open stage. When we were finally released through the gates, we ran down to the area to stake out our spot. They had a trailer with haybales in for people to gather to sit on, but the dogs needed to 'sniff' them before people were allowed to grab them. (I thought that was neat). It was highly secured by state & local police and secret service personnel. I felt safe and I felt safety for Gov. Palin. We baked in the sun for 4 hours, but it was totally worth every minute. They sold bottles of water for $2/each and eventho I thought that was outrageous... it was so necessary!
Governor Sarah Palin arrived at around 5:30pm (1/2 hr late), and the crowd roared in excitement! There were over 7,000 people in attendance and the noise that we made was incredible. When she came onto stage the crowd erupted in cheers, chants and energy like nothing I have ever experienced before. She only spoke for about 1/2 hr, but it was the most powerful 1/2 hr speech I have heard in a long time!
We didn't get her autograph, didn't get to shake her hand, but to be there and get pictures of her, was just as incredible. Not only did I get to see Governor Sarah Palin, but I had one of the best times with my hubby!
Go McCain-Palin '08!
I like telling stories when I journal so that when I read my journaling in years to come, it will help me remember each memory like it just happened yesterday. So, here is my story on one of the greatest weekends of my life!
On Saturday morning, Oct 11th, Brad, Maddie and I got up at 6am to go down to the War Memorial in Johnstown to see Gov. Sarah Palin rally for victory. Olivia spent the night at Gramma & Pappy Thomas's house, so her and gramma went down early too. Doors were to open at 8am and she was to speak at 9am. When we got there the crowd/lines of people were outrageous! We were in line by 7:30am. At 9:15am, as we are getting closer to the front of the line... the secret service comes out and says that we need to clear the back area (where we were). He said that Gov Palin's motorcade was arriving shortly and that we could get back into line elsewhere, or go home - that not all of us were getting in. We were all very disappointed and after standing around for awhile, Brad and I chiseled back into line with a group that we were originally in line with. We got up to the glass doors when we saw the McCain bus come around the corner, and at that point I turned to look at the doors and they were closed! They had closed the doors and we were the very next to get in! Nobody told us that they were done letting people in as we watched them quickly tear down all of the metal detectors & tables... as if we were not even out there. Well, it is now 10:30am, we are both very distraught and mopey and I still needed to go to work. I finally got a hold of my mom and found out that her and Olivia were able to get in and were happy to have gotten in! I am happy that O got to experience this!
As I am at work, I get a phonecall from Brad saying that Palin was rallying in St. Clairsville, OH on Sunday, and that he wanted to go. I really wanted to go too... as I love spontaneous roadtrips, but then all of the "responsible" parent thoughts start spinning in my head - I have to work the weekend / what do we do with the girls? / what do we do with Gabby? / how do we afford it? / where will we stay? / do any Marriotts have rooms? So, after throwing those thoughts onto Brad, he tells me that he will take care of it and to get back to work. He called me several hours later and told me the specifics and that we were indeed GOING to St. Clairsville to see Sarah!!
After taking the girls to his parents for the night, he arrived at the hotel around 10:30pm to pick me up. We drove in his car to St. Clairsville, and on the way we just 'had' to stop at Wheeling Island Casino! What a trip! We laughed, talked and just enjoyed each other's company so much. When we got to the casino, we ate some dinner at the lil' cafe-type restaurant and then went to the floor to gamble some money away. Overall, we came out $25.00 ahead of what we went in with, and we had fun going around to different machines and playin'.
So, on to the hotel (Fairfield Inn & Suites, of course) in St. Clairsville and we finally arrived at around 2am. It was a very long day, but ended up to be a very good day. Our rally did not start until 5pm on Sunday night, but the gates were to open at 3pm. We wanted to ensure that we were NOT going to miss this one and ensure that we were amongst the FIRST in line!
Sunday morning came and we went for a late breakfast and then headed over to the Brush Run Park for the rally. We arrived there at 12pm and were told by the police that the secret service didn't want anyone up to the gates until 1pm, so we drove around and waited. We finally got in and were 5th in line to get into the gates.
It was a gorgeous day and it was an open airfield-type of park with a big barn that had an open stage. When we were finally released through the gates, we ran down to the area to stake out our spot. They had a trailer with haybales in for people to gather to sit on, but the dogs needed to 'sniff' them before people were allowed to grab them. (I thought that was neat). It was highly secured by state & local police and secret service personnel. I felt safe and I felt safety for Gov. Palin. We baked in the sun for 4 hours, but it was totally worth every minute. They sold bottles of water for $2/each and eventho I thought that was outrageous... it was so necessary!
Governor Sarah Palin arrived at around 5:30pm (1/2 hr late), and the crowd roared in excitement! There were over 7,000 people in attendance and the noise that we made was incredible. When she came onto stage the crowd erupted in cheers, chants and energy like nothing I have ever experienced before. She only spoke for about 1/2 hr, but it was the most powerful 1/2 hr speech I have heard in a long time!
We didn't get her autograph, didn't get to shake her hand, but to be there and get pictures of her, was just as incredible. Not only did I get to see Governor Sarah Palin, but I had one of the best times with my hubby!
Go McCain-Palin '08!
8.28.2008
Summer Vacation!
On August 14th, 2008 - Olivia, Maddie and I started out on our trip to Raleigh, NC. We were on our way to meet up with Gramma & Pap Stiffler, Aunt Lisa, cousins Stephen, Kirstie and Logan and Cousins Theresa, Kelly and her boyfriend Jeff. We were staying at the Courtyard there as a resting spot/half way to our destination: Oak Island, NC. The beach house that we rented for the week would be ready on Saturday at noon. The girls were so excited to leave, well... Olivia was... Maddie just went with the flow of things. Both were very cooperative at 6am in the morning and Olivia was anxious to get in the car and GOOOO. Brad was going to join us on vacation on Tuesday, the 19th. He was having staffing issues at his one store, so he needed to be at work. But, when he saw us all packed and ready to leave for the beach, he got really sad and wanted to go with us. Instead he kept his priorities straight and went to work, and we left to go to the beach.
Half way to Raleigh, I received a phone call from Brad stating that he moved his flight up to today and would be in Raleigh at 8:08pm! He was able to get his stores and staff straightened out so that he could join his family on vacation... I was thrilled. I would just need to keep this lil' secret, so that he could surprise the rest of the family that evening in Raleigh!
The girls and I arrived in Raleigh a little after 4pm, and met up with everyone, as they just arrived about 1/2 hr prior. We all sat around the gazebo, catching up, watching the kids swim and ordered pizza for dinner till I had to leave to pick up Brad at the airport.
When we arrived back to the hotel, we surprised Olivia, his mom and sister first and then Theresa and Kelly.... they were all pleasantly surprised and happy to see Brad join up with us!
The following day, we got up early again and headed east to the BEACH... We had a beautiful sunny day to welcome us and we couldn't wait to get there.
Our beach house was nice and we made it our "home away from home" for the week.
When Maddie saw the ocean, she was just thrilled! When Maddie was IN the ocean, she was even more thrilled! She kept trying to push-off of me as if she wanted to go swim by herself... she just loved the waves and being in the water. She was very good with the sand, and played nicely in it... didn't try to eat it or throw it! Now, let's talk about Olivia... Miss O did EXCELLENT this year in the ocean... she was not scared at all and went right in and jumped the waves like a pro! It was hard getting her out of the water too at times!
We went deep-sea fishing, sea-shell hunting and shopping... overall, it was a great vacation and we cannot wait till our next one!
7.07.2008
Croyle Family Reunion
On July 5th, 2008 we attended the annual Croyle Family Reunion in Kantner. This year Brad was able to attend, and it was nice to have him there. It was a small gathering this year, but we still had fun. Josh & Lacy even came and it was good seeing them. Everyone brought a covered dish and the food was all so yummy.
Just for the kids, they had a crayon hunt for the small children and older-type games for the bigger kids. Maddie had a blast finding the different crayons... she got 25! Olivia enjoyed the ball game, bug-hunt and pinata! They both got bagfuls of candy from the pinata and a goodie bag for just being a KID!
It was a very nice day and the weather cooperated too!
2.20.2008
Snow Fun!
On Sunday, February 17th, we took Maddie and Olivia out for some snowtubing... in our backyard. We have just enough of a hill, that is perfect for their ages. We had about 5" of snow left on the ground from the previous snowfall, but it had started to warm up, and there was a glaze of crusty slush on top of the snow, but it was still fine for the girls to sledride on.
This was Maddie's first time truly sledriding by herself. She did wonderfully and really enjoyed it. She held the handles on the snow tube and giggled the whole way down the hill. Olivia liked to come down on her belly, but jumped on the tube too hard and sometimes ended head first into the snow... notice the scraped chin on the one photo!
Unfortunately, it began to drizzle freezing-rain, so we had to end our fun early... but at least we got to have some "snow fun". We can't wait for the next good snow!
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