Daniel's Homecoming

We made signs for the big moment. We walked into the airport two minutes before he walked through the doors. We cut it very close.

Cristin spotted him first and suddenly there he was coming through the door.

Is this a classic movie moment or what? It was so good to see him and that brilliant smile.

Dallin was keeping it real. He is holding the phone with Ryan on the other end of the line not missing a moment of the excitement. Ryan took his dental boards yesterday and today. :)

The big family reunion. The bishop was there and nice enough to take this pict.

Almost all my kids were here today. I love cell phones cause Ryan got to be here through modern technology.

The kids decided to introduce Daniel to some of the things he had missed while he was gone. They are watching the youtube video, 'you are really dumb'. I can't remember the name of it. But admit it you know what I'm talking about. We also used skype to talk to Ryan and fam once we got home. President Johnson came by to release Daniel about 5:30pm it was a very sweet and tearful experience. We are going to eat him up the few days we have him.

Addison's blessing

December 19, 2010

Addison Sage Blankenship was blessed today in Hoover, AL.

G-Ju holding Miss Addison

Ginny, Jacob, Julie, Tammy, Addison, Ryan, John and Crisitin

Chyrrel's 80th Birthday

I got to go up to Utah and visit with my mother who is serving a mission at the Family History Center in Salt Lake City Utah and help her celebrate her 80th birthday. Vera and Cousin Jackie arranged to have a lovely party at Jackie's house. The Baileys; Uncle Bill, Joy, Debbie and Jana all came and Cousin Pam Hopkins. My aunts Carolynn, Mary and Pam, my dad's sisters, were there with their husbands where available and with Cousin Dean Hunsaker when not. My mom's cousin Bonnie came from the nursing home and was accompanied by two of her children. Keven Walkenhorst who is my second cousin came just to see me (ha) because he was my district leader when I served a mission those millions of years ago and he was also John's companion. A good time was had by all. To see more pictures of the party visit my mother's blog at chyrrelo.blogspot.com.

Puppeteer

We got to go up to Utah to visit Dallin and Tracy. Dallin was part of the Timpanogas Story Telling Festival and when we arrive he was hot and heavy into trying to finish the puppets. We got there on Tuesday and the Festival was on Friday. This is how the puppets looked when we got there. Wednesday night and Thursday morning Cristin and I became Dallin's elves and sewed some of the costumes for the puppets. To see the finished product go to Dallin's blog at thegoldengluegun.blogspot.com. We got to go to the festival on Friday morning with my mom. Hopefully Dallin will have video of the puppet show up on his blog soon. Keep checking.

John's toys

John's favorite things to do in his fabulous workshop is make jigs and handtools. These are some he has made in the past couple of years. He is trying to make every type of hand plane. The ones he has made will make shavings one thousandth of an inch thick.

Art Project "Altered Book"

Cristin's main project in her Art class this year is taking a book and filling it with art works. The top image was the assignment of including a door that opened, the lighthouse was just something she wanted to do. Dallin played the 'Lighthouse's Tale' for us while we were in Utah and Cristin couldn't get it out of her head one weekend so she commited the song to paper, the final image is 'Lightning' the words that were already on the page were 'his keen mind leapt like lightning.'

Hat Day

To raise money for breast cancer awareness Midlothian High School let the kids pay a dollar to get to wear a hat to school. Cristin spent the morning creating this hat.

Banjo Bob

Cristin created a finger puppet and we have video

Mother's Day

We love Mother's day for so many reason especially with the missionary out in the mission field. We gathered together for a lovely dinner and while Cristin was cooking we all got to talk to Elder Daniel on the phone. He has been in the same area for a long time and with the same companion for most of it. He called us from the home of the Settles. They were friends when we lived in Ardmore, OK.

I got to talk to my mother in the morning all my children called me and I got to talk to my sister Barb.

Cristin like Dallin gets the creative bug and has to make something. Below you will see Francios created on Friday when she was feeling so sick but also sick of being in the house after three days of illness. He is made from super sculpy. Cristin and I suddenly break out in french accents when ever we pass him. Also we start singing the song from 'Little Mermaid', 'Les Poissons'.

Elliot Wilbert Fredrickson III was drawn for her art class at school. He is the upper crust of the savannah. He enjoys slow walks and basking in the sun.

Creative Geniuses

Our family is full of creative geniuses; from chef quality cooks in Ryan and Tammy, to artistic virtuosos in Dallin and Tracy, to home decor master and professional grade photographer in Kaitlin and the guitar wizard in Daniel. I just want to share with you where you can view some of these talents. Ryan and Tammy's cooking blog is at acouplecooks.blogspot.com. Katie's blog is at jkhakes.blogspot.com. Dallin and Tracy each have a blogspot for their creative outlets at thegoldengluegun.blogspot.com and tracysorangecrayon.blogspot.com.
Daniel put a video on my computer before he left on his mission. I tried to download it but after 3 hours it still didn't load. Piffle....

Snow in Texas

We had a record breaking snow fall on Thursday. We had over 10 inches of snow in one day. Someplaces in our yard were as deep as 18 inches. The newsreporter on Thursday night said the biggest problem on Friday morning would people actually getting out of their own driveway. We have video!!! Cristin missed all her siblings as she romped around in the snow with just the dog.

I am new at this family blog thing. I hope to give you a blow by blow of our upcoming move. Tomorrow the realitor comes to take pictures of our house for the world wide web. Also the movers are coming to access how much junk we have to move. I have been boxing up stuff to declutter our home. It has actually been rather cathartic. John starts work on March 1st with a trip to Mercer Island in Washington state to meet the corporate people and then starts officially on his new job on his birthday March 4th.

Welcome

Greetings from the Blankenboat Bunch. Here you will view the comings and goings of John, Julie, Cristin and extended family. Somehow this branch of the Blankenship family got the lion's share of Gypsy blood. We are the constant wanderers. We are currently going through another move. John's plant closed down on the 22nd December and we will start our new job in Oklahoma City on March 1st. We have had an amazing experience once again.