Yeah!!!! Nichelle is coming home for Memorial Day weekend!!! I kind of blew it though...I did not realize Nichelle and her Dad were trying to surprise me for Mother's Day by flying her out. Sunday I woke up and decided she could come for Shaylin's graduation that Memorail weekend since we get 3 tickets. I started planning it and looking for tickets. I sent Nichelle a note asking if she wanted to come home that weekend and she was a little confused because they were already planning Mother's Day weekend. Eddie finally had to say something because he thought I was going to buy the ticket right than and there. Well, we straightened it all out and I will think about the really nice thought on Mother's Day and enjoy her over Memorial Day. (Thanks for sharing her Mike....we wish you could come too!!!)

A sad day for all....no more Pontiac. I remember going through the plant once with Grandpa Hartmann. Mostly what I remember is it was dirty an very loud!!! Todays plants are a lot cleaner. I also remember when Grandpa retired from Pontiac that they gave him metal pieces that they made at his plant with money in each one. He was also very proud of the guns he made during the war. Pontaic saved our family from the depression.

The following is an email from my dad:

Just a bit of historical (family sized) note worth noting. It is true that things are continually changing and admittedly we are at an age where we can list more changes than we care to, but the passing of Pontiac does have more significance than most. Your mom and dad are children of Pontiac. With the exception of the war years when both Grandpa Yager and Hartmann worked in manufacturing plants building weaponry, they both worked their entire career for Pontiac. Perhaps the Pontiac tokens we have collected over the years will be worth a bit more in the future. Thought you would be interested.

For the true story click here:

http://music.aol.com/video/shuttin-detroit-down/john-rich/bc:19935378001

Maybe Mrs. Obama is honest after all!!! First Dog Bo might be cute, but according to First Lady Michelle Obama he's also "kind of crazy." An energetic breed, Bo plays well into the night, as he did on Wednesday."It was like 10 o'clock. Everybody was asleep and we hear all this barking and jumping around," Mrs. Obama said. "The president and I came out and we thought somebody was out there. And it was just Bo. He was playing with his ball. And it was like there was another person in the house."He's kind of crazy, but he's still a puppy. So he likes to play a lot," she said.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF PORTUGUESE WATER DOGS!!!

We love our Derb Derb XOXO

We went to a cubs game yesterday. Shaylin was off school so we took her and her friend, Kelly, with us. Since living here we have become big Cubs fans. The games are actually fun to watch when you are there. OK, so I admit the biggest draw is the Hot Dogs but the games are fun too. It was supposed to be 70 degrees yesterday so we didn't get dressed up real warm. We ended up sitting in the shade, the wind was blowing and of course it never even got close to the 70 they predicted. So Eddie being such a good guy told us he was going to the bathroom but really went to buy me a sweatshirt. That is why I have 2 different tops on in these pictures. It is really nice and I do LOVE sweatshirts, but we should have been a little smarter. We sat up from 3rd base. We felt bad during the whole game because until we moved here we did not know too much about baseball. So when Mike wanted to go to a game I thought I would be a great host and get tickets behind home plate up under the awning. I think he was a little disappointed when he got to the game with his mitt. I learned you can't be behind home plate if you want a chance at catching a ball. Our seats at this game were much better for that so our apologizes go out to Mike for being such dumb baseball fans. We will do better next time. Hopefully we will pick a better game next time too. The Reds beat the Cubs 7-1.

Sometimes kids just do things that make you smile. Today it was Josh who made me smile. The following is from his social work report from school. "Josh loves his family. I asked him to tell me about his mom and dad, and he said my mom is athletic and fun and she can even throw a football! He said his dad is fun and athletic as well and he runs and bikes and plays baseball with me. He said his sisters are fun to play with because they all love games like Uno Flash. He said that his sisters do get him mad sometimes though. Josh's wish for his family is that the could all go to Disney World for free." How can that not bring a smile to any ones face???

I finished reading 1 Nephi so I thought I should write down a few things that stood out to me this time around.

1 Nephi 2:3 We would be wise to remember that there is ALWAYS safety in following the Lord's commandments. When in doubt follow the Lord and it will all turn out OK in the end.

1 Nephi 11:1 If you want something made known to you , you need a desire, a believing heart and you must spend time pondering. If we want to know the mysteries of God it is not just enough to want to know and have faith that you can know, you must be still. It is hard in today's busy world to just be still but it is important, if I want to know the mysteries of God and the things he would want me to know.

1 Nephi 14 As the world gets crazier it would do well to remember that "he shall manifest himself unto them in word, and also in power, in very deed, unto the taking away of their stumbling blocks." This seems to be important in a world full of conflicting views. We need to keep our eye where it should be and we can overcome the stumbling blocks that will be put before us by the "great and abominable church." ( This church is anything that fights against God...churches or governments)

1 Nephi 15:6 Remember Nephi could not teach his brothers until "after I had received strength." I can not teach my family until I have the knowledge, the testimony and the strength within myself. I can not give to others what I do not have.

1 Nephi 15: 25 The word heed means permanent, steadfast and obedient. What should I be giving heed to daily?? The word of God is found in the scriptures, the words of the prophets and personal revelation. Perhaps these are good things to take heed in. ( The Liahona worked by small and simple things following the word of God can be one of those small and simple things.)

1 Nephi 16 When the Lord commanded Lehi's family to go into the wilderness he gave them the Liahona. Therefor, if the Lord wants to have us go somewhere or do something he will also send us with a guide. We do not need to go blind. Am I looking for the Liahona's my Father is sending to me??

1 Nephi 17:17 In my family, community, ward, etc. am I a builder or a murmurer?

1 Nephi 19:22 Reminds us of the importance of family scripture study. I can say we are not perfect but we are trying very hard to be 100%.

1 Nephi 21:16 The Lord will never forget us no matter what is happening in the world around us.

And finally remember 1 Nephi 22:31 "IF ye shall be obedient to the commandments, and endure to the end, ye shall be saved at the last day."

This is our favorite game. Ed and Judy (Mommy and Daddy) got it for us a few Christmases ago. We fell in love with it. As we drove back to our house in Michigan we had to stop early enough at the hotel to pull the game out and play it a few times. We have been playing it ever since. We have also discovered that you can play the game on line. We like to do this when Eddie is out of town, because it gives us something to do together when we can not be together. Nichelle was bored tonight so we told her we would play the Train Game with her. We had a lot of fun especially laughing at Nichelle's score of 55. We did not think you could score that low. Sorry Nichelle but "you are the biggest loser". (OK so she did beat us by a lot during the first game but that is beside the point.)