What a Lady

Yesterday, my Grandma Gillespie passed away with loved ones around her at my Aunt Nylene's home in Gilbert. What a bitter sweet experience this was to say my final goodbye to her. I got a call on Tuesday that she wasn't doing good and only had a day or so left. Brooklee and I jumped in the car and headed out that afternoon. Nic was able to join us on Thursday. (Boy was i glad to see him) For those of you who know my Grandma can attest to the fistyness and spunk she had. There are so many memories we all have of her and we will have our time to share them in the coming weeks ahead. I know she is having the time of her life with my Grandpa Gillespie, Uncle Mike and Braiden. Guess who the boss is now boys!!! I love you Grandma. Thanks for giving me the mother I have. And for raising nine of the wildest kids ever. What a crazy Gillespie family we have. BUT I wouldn't trade them for the world. For those of you interested in attending, her funeral services will be held on Saturday, December 13 at noon Downtown Lakeside Chapel with the viewing starting at 10:30 a.m. There will also be a viewing held at Owens Livingston Mortuary in Show Low from 6:00-8:00 on Friday, December 12th.

First Snowfall

I was sitting in the kitchen one Sunday night working on some christmas presents...when I had the feeling to look out the window to see if it was snowing. And it sure was. I love the snow. I love how peaceful it is outside when the snow is falling. We didn't get much. Just enough to cover the lawn. We shall see what Mr. Winter has in store for us.

We have a DaNCeR in the family

(second from the left)


(middle)

I never thought a child of mine would be a little dancer. Maybe because I have no rhythm and her dad well...we won't say anything about that! Just kidding Nic. You know I love your dancing. Kilie can attest to that!!! Anyways....Brooklee is taking dance classes here in town and ABSOLUTELY loves it. She loves the girls she dances with and she totally loves her teacher Mrs. Tara. Its amazing what Mrs. Tara can do with these girls at such a young age. Brook was able to perform during halftime of a St. Johns football game. G & G Keith, Uncle Danny, Aunt Marleah, Grandma Finch, Uncle Ammon and Holly (Ammon's friend) all came to watch her perform. What a hoot that was. Almost everyone betted against her. We were all thinking she would get scared and not perform. BOY WERE WE WRONG!!! She was waving at the crowd, over exaggerating every little move and smiling as big as she possible could. It was a night I would never forget. I was one proud momma that night. Nic was in the stands taking pictures so I am sorry they are really blurry. I do however have her dance on video for any of you that would like to watch it.

House Divided

This is the game Nic and I look forward to every year. Its the Mighty Yellow Jackets vs. the Round Valley Elks. Poor Brooklee. She hears me say "Shoot an elk." And her daddy say "Squish a little bug." As you can see she is wearing an elk shirt with her name on the back (compliments of Papa Finch) and she has purple and gold ribbon in her hair. The game was a close one!!! But once again, the Blue Ridge Yellow Jackets prevailed and whipped the Round Valley Elks butt. Love it. My father in law told me before the game that if Blue Ridge won, I had to pay $20.00 to stay in their home that night BUT if Round Valley won...we could stay for free. Go figure!!! While we were at the game Nic said we should get a shirt for Brooklee that says, "My mom is from Blue Ridge, my dad is from Round valley, we live in St. Johns and I am CONFUSED." We (me and Brooklee) always cheer for the good ole boys of St. Johns High. Good luck boys at state. You can do it.

Happy Halloween (better late than never right)

What a fun Halloween it was!!! Right....Brooklee hated wearing her witches hat that went along with her costume. (I think she is going to be like her dad and think this holiday is stupid) But when she did put it on I tried to snap a picture of it.

Happy Birthday Nic

Nic turned 27 on October 24th. For his birthday, we got FRONT ROW tickets for the USC vs. U of A football game down in Tucson (We were about 10-15 yds away from the team) Nic got to shake hands with the head coach for the USC Trojans, Pete Carroll. I will never forget the look on his face. This was the best birthday present I think he could ever have. We had a wonderful weekend. The game was a close one. Definetely a nail bitter but the Trojans prevailed and kicked the Wildcats butt. This trip it was just Nic and I. Brooklee stayed at Grandma and Grandpa Finch's. As always had a good time playing with Brodey, Nellie and Jaxers. She couldn't stop talking about all the fun things she did. Thanks Mom, Dad and Ammon for taking such good care of her for us. She ALWAYS has a blast when she is over there. (And she never wants to leave as you saw first hand Sunday night) I would also like to thank Aunt Annie and Uncle Brent. Everytime we go to the valley we stay with them. They go all over the valley with us to shop and we always have so much fun. We love you guys and thanks for the hospitality. Next time we will bring Brooklee. FIGHT ON TROJANS!!!!


(Nice view huh?!!!)

Pete on his phone

These girls seriously rock

Oh how Nic wanted to hop over this rope

David Buehler (THE KICKER)

This picture was taken right before Nic shook Pete's hand


The view from when we walked into the stadium.


Team Huddle

Danny has OFFICIALLY been PROCESSED

My little brother went through the Snowflake Temple this past Thursday to take out his endowments before he leaves to go on his mission. What a sweet experience it was. For the first time ever me, my mom, my dad and Danny were all in the temple TOGETHER. That still gives me the chills just thinking about it. The only sad thing was Nic was not able to be with us. He UNFORTUNATELY had to work. (Stupid power plant) Sorry there aren't any pics of this. It was late and dark when we got out, but maybe before he leaves we can go again and take some. We are thinking his farewell will be the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Then a week later off we go to take him to the MTC. Just a few more weeks of him being home and off he goes. (I am a little worried time will just FLY right on by.)

TWO OF A KIND

Brooklee's best friend in the whole entire world is Sariah Anderson. Her dad and Nic work together out at the plant and this is how we have gotten to know them. The Anderson's are the coolest family and we have so much fun when we get together. Any chance we get Brooklee wants Sariah to come play at her house. When these two get together, boy do they have a good time. Brooklee wanted me to put these pictures on here because she told me today, "I love Sariah. She is my friend."

Favorite Time of the Year

FALL is by far my favorite time of the year. Our house has been decorated since the first game of college football was on. To me that is the first sign of fall. Sounds a little weird huh? We were able to take a trip up on the mountain with Mom and Dad Finch and Ammon on General Conference weekend. Oh, how I love trips on the mountain. Especially listening to Dad's stories of growing up. Those are hilarious. It was so pretty up there. The leaves are starting to change. There is a chill in the air and on this particular weekend we even saw some a little bit of snow covering the ground. I only remembered to take a few pictures. Wish I would have gotten some more. Next year! Hope you all are enjoying this beautiful time of the year because CHRISTMAS is just around the corner!!!

Look Who Turned THREE

Brooklee turned THREE on Sept 28th!! What a sweet and at times fisty spirit she brings to our home. We celebrated her birthday with having some parties and yummy cake. We let her pick out what cake she wanted and Strawberry Shortcake it was. We love you sis!

Elder Danny Lee Keith...

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the New Hampshire Manchester Mission. You should report to the Missionary Training Center at Provo, Utah on Wednesday, 10 December 2008.

Yesterday, my little brother opened his mission call. We couldn't be more proud of him and his decision to serve the Lord for the next two years. He is going to see some beautiful country and he will make one heck of a missionary. I know these next three months will go by really fast so we are planning on spending as much time as we can with him. We love you Danny very much. And we are so excited for you. Congratulations!!!!! (I will post some pics when I have a little more time),,

We Interup this Family for COLLEGE FOOTBALL

It has officially happened! The 2008 College football season has begun and I have officially lost my husband for the next four months. Every tv in our house is set on ESPN. I love College football so I don't know why I complain. I think its because none of my honey do's will get done until next spring. Nic and I's favorite team is the USC Trojans. We had the opportunity to go to their Spring Huddle this past April at the Coliseum in Downtown LA. Nic was in heaven. I could have danced around completely naked and he would not have cared!!!! In October for Nic's birthday I bought tickets to the USC vs U of A game down in Tucson so we are gearing up for that. Hope all is well with each of you. We love you. GO USC!!!

It was one of those days!!

Yesterday, I received a call from Nic while I was at work telling me that Brooklee just cut her hair. My heart dropped. I ran home to see how bad the damage was. Yeah....she wacked it. And yeah I cried. The whole left side is gone. Nic said if you were to look at her from the left side it looks like she has a mullet. I immediately got on the phone to my wonderful hair dresser and she got us right in. She said she has seen worse but in order to make it look okay she would have to cut it short. Knowing how good she is at what she does I allowed her to cut it. The pictures are not the best because Brooklee didn't want me to take any but here you all go. I still can't believe this has happened. She had such beautiful long hair. Everyone keeps saying her hair will grow back. I don't know if I can wait that long.

Little Grandma

Most of you know my Grandma Gillespie and what a firecracker she is! Well, this past May she fell and broke her hip and then a few weeks later she broke her femur. So right now she is completely unable to walk by herself. It has been hard watching her little body just become so delicate where she has to either be in a wheelchair or walk with a walker. She is unable now to live on her own and is taking a new residency at my mom and dad's house. We try to go over as much as we can to help out and to spend quality time with her. BWhen we were over there this past weekend, my mom was helping Grandma walk with her walker down the hall and before long I hear Brooklee saying, "Come on Jean. You can do it." I couldn't help but snap this picture of the two of them sitting outside together. We love you Grandma!!!!

Happy 50th Birthday Dad!

Last Saturday my Dad celebrated his 50th birthday. Brooklee and I went over to spend the weekend with him. I could not help my self in buying those "Over the Hill" little gadgets and I was amazed to see how much gag gifts there were out there to buy. This inflatable walker and his birthday cake were a couple of my favorite things we got him. Dad, I am so glad we were able to spend your milestone birthday with you. We hope it was a good one. I love you very much and could not ask for a better dad than what I have. Thanks for being so good to us you old man!!! Ha Ha Ha!! Mom, you are next!!!!!

TRiP DowN MeMORy LaNE

We were over in Lakeside this evening and I got on my mom and dad's computer. I found some pictures that I couldn't resist in posting. Can't believe how fast Brooklee has grown. Here is Brooklee on the day we blessed her, Danny feeding her, Papa Kenny holding her and Daddy carrying her. I can't believe how fast her hair has grown.

Me and Papa

Brooklee absolutely loves coming over to Lakeside. (Why wouldn't she... it is heaven on earth!!!) As soon as she gets out of the car and gets her sight on the 4-wheeler it is off to find Papa so he can take her on a quad ride to feed the ducks down by the lake. She tells Papa "Ducks hungry. Go seed the ducks." My mom snatched this photo as they were getting back from their ride.

Just a quick update

So, life in the Finch home has been pretty hectic these last couple of weeks. We found out a couple of weeks ago that I was experiencing a tubal pregnancy. Can I say how not only emotionally exhausting that whole thing was, but good heck...IT FREAKIN HURT. Last Tuesday my doctors office called with my blood work results stating my pregnancy enzymes had actually increased instead of decreasing and I needed to get to the hospital right away for an ultrasound. It was later discovered that afternoon that I needed surgery to see what damage the pregnanacy had done to my tube. So, that night around 9:00 I went in for surgery and once the doctor got in there he discovered my tube actually ruptured and he ended up removing some of it. I am starting to get back to my normal self more and more everyday. I just wanted to thank all of you for your sweet, encouraging and most of all supportive comments you have left us. Without those, this would have been alot harder to go through. Okay, so enough about me.... Nic has been experiencing some real bad pain that steams from his shoulders to his fingers and at night, he honestly doesn't sleep because they hurt so bad and he just can't get comfortable. The pain FINALLY got so bad that he agreed to see a doctor. He recommended Nic to go and have some needle/shock treatment to see where the pain was and possibly what could be causing it. So, this past thursday he went in to have this treatment done and the specialist determined he had carpal tunnal and needed to get surgery to fix the problem. I am telling you...when it rains, it pours. Currently, we are waiting to hear back from his primary doctor to see when we can schedule surgery. Poor guy. He has not only had to deal with my drama but he is having quite a bit of his own. I will try to keep this updated with more news as it follows. Hope all is well!!!!!!

Sad News on the Home Front

Shelly, Brooklee and I have some sad news to share with you. We unfortunately lost our little baby yesterday. We know there is a reason for everything but at this time, its still really difficult. Please know we thank each of you for your well wishes and at this time we ask you to keep us in your prayers.

BROOKLEE is going to be a BIG SISTER

Well, I was trying to get caught up on my blogging tonight when my camera decided to quit working. But I have to get this big news flash out to everyone before I just burst. I found out I was pregnant last Saturday. We are so excited and can't wait to add another little one to our family. Brooklee told Nic and I on sunday that "mommy and daddy are bringing me a sister." We are thinking my due date would be the end of March or first part of April. I will definitely keep this blog updated when more details become available. I just wanted to share the news with you. Hopefully, I can get my camera up and running shortly because I have alot of things to post. Hope all is well with you all.

From The Mouth Of A Toddler

The other night I went out the back door to start watering the garden. As I was pulling the hose around from the front yard to the back, Nic and Brooklee came out the door to join me. All of the sudden I hear Nic yell "SNAKE." Okay...I freaked! I started running to the far end of our yard. Nic had to yell at me to come and get Brooklee so he could kill it. It wasn't a big snake by any sense of the word but to me even if it was like a centimeter long, I think its a 12 footer. I HATE SNAKES. Poor Brooklee was like totally tramatized seeing her mom scream and cry. I know I should be tough in front of the midget but I seriously couldn't help it. I HATE SNAKES. I seems that I can't say that enough. The next day rolls around and I won't even go outside except to run to the car so we could go to church. That evening Nic went out to the front yard to start watering. Not long after he went out the door he was right back in and the look on his face said it all. I told him that was a record time of switching the water. He said, "There's another stinkin snake in the front yard!" At this point, I have completely had it. I told Nic put a for sale sign up. I don't like it anymore. These two snakes are the first ones we have seen since we moved here almost two years ago. I got on the internet to see if there was anything we could do to prevent them from coming. Yeah right! Not one dang thing to keep the slimmy, nasty, little creatures of Satan away. So, now that I have shared the story I think this is the cutest thing ever and just had to share it. The other night Nic and I were asking Brooklee what color the snake was that daddy killed. She said, "MMM... it was pink!" We about fell off the chair. She has such a sense of humor and a personality that would knock your socks off and the things she says keeps us in stiches all day long. I can't believe how fast they grow. Sorry for the long story...I just had to share.

BOYS and their TOYS

I had to post this picture of my little brothers truck. He calls her "Bertha." Danny this is for you. Sorry for all those who could careless of this photo but I knew someone in this world would be happy with me. If you even knew the love affair he has with this truck you would understand why I am posting this. At times I think he loves his truck more than he loves his girlfriend, Marleah. They have been dating for almost a year (thanks to us)!!! I Love You Danny!!

Sleeping Beauty

So, when she is not causing havoc in our home and throughout the neighborhood....this is what she is does. When Nic is home with her and I am at work, she will sleep for 2-3 hours. However, when its just her and I, I am lucky to get 20 minutes to myself. I don't understand it. Nic could resist taking this picture of our sweet little girl. She is growing up so fast and boy does she catch on quick. What a beautiful sleeping angel I must say!!!

Its Time 4 a BIGGER Vehicle

Nic and I have decided it is time for the Finch family to look for a bigger vehicle. Everytime we go to the valley, we always bring home WAY more than what we took down. This last trip to the valley was the straw that broke the camels back. We had to do some major re-arranging to get all of our luggage and goodies in the car. Poor Brooklee as you can see she was a little crowded.

You Wanna Wrestle?

This past Saturday, Nic, Brooklee and I went over to Round Valley to help Mom and Dad F. with their sprinkler system and Aaron and Jane with painting the kids rooms. Brooklee doesn't get to see her cousins very often, but when they all get together...they don't skip a beat. Poor Grandma...they put her through the ringer while we all worked on getting the rooms painted. Once, we were all done with that, Mom and Dad F. and Nic and I went to South Fork for a wedding reception. It was absolutely beautiful. So green...and the creek was running so fast from all of the runoff still. Thanks Ammon again for watching the midget while we ran to the reception. Poor Ammon had Brodey age five, Brooklee age 2 and Jax who is almost one while we were away. Also, Miss Nellie had a dance recital while we were over there and I encourage who ever reads this post to look at azfinchfamily.blogspot.com to see her oh so pretty pictures of her in her costume. She did such an amazing job. I was so proud of her. All day long she kept asking Nic and I if we were going to her recital and we kept telling her we would have to see how the day went. I could see it in her little eyes she wanted us to come. So we did!!! We were glad we were able to make it. We are so proud of you Nells. You are one heck of a little dancer! Keep up the good work. I thought I would post these pictures of Brooklee and Brodey wrestling with each other!

cOnGraTs ClAsS oF 2008

I can't believe that my little brother is now a high school graduate. He is growing up to be such a handsome guy and pretty soon he will be putting in his mission papers and then off serving the Lord. Danny's graduation was so awesome except for the WEATHER. It was snowing and cold! Its May for heck sakes. Someone said that the last time the Blue Ridge High School Graduation Ceremony had to be held in doors due to inclement weather was in 1992. Way to go Danny Lee!!! YOu are aWeSomE!!