The Package has Arrived

Today we received a package from Operation Christmas Child. In the box were 6 pens, 3 red shirts, 2 mugs, and a sweatshirt. We were sent them because our family won their shoetube video competition. If you want to see the video you can look at our previous post.

Shoebockes Do Not Pack Themselves

This is Christian's video that was one of the winners for creativity!
http://www.occshoetube.com/

The Cross of Ethiopia

As we posted earlier, our friends, the Schmidts, just adopted a baby boy from Ethiopia named Benaiah. While in Ethiopia, they bought us this beautiful metal cross.


But getting it here was a small task; while putting their luggage through the airport security machine, the machine detected metal. The security worker then proceeded to check the bag. Then they explained that they bought the crosses in Ethiopia, and was taking them home for gifts. So the security worker let them through.

We would like to say thank you to the Schmidts.

Braces...

When Carl went to the Orthodontist for his occasional check-up, he did not think that he would get his braces. But it happened.

Just a few hours before the appointment, we were asked to come early to talk about finances. Right away, we knew what would happen.

Once we arrived, we were called on quickly. Carl got pictures and x-rays, before getting his bands placed, and, eventually, his wires and brackets. This took a couple of hours.

Back at home, Carl took pain relievers. Fortunetely, Carl did not get very sour until the next day, but he ate a diet of mac 'n' cheese and yogurt anyways.

Now, he is three months into a two year phase.

Welcoming the Schmidts

Today, we had the honor of welcoming our good friends, the Schmidts, who were coming back from adopting Baby Benaiah (Meteku) from Ethiopia. It was a very emotional day for everyone.

Most of the Schmidt family (including aunts, cousins, grandparents, ect) were there to see them for the first time in more than a week, and to welcome a new baby brother.

Benaiah was very tired and not used to the change of time zones.

Follow this link to go to their blog post

Here are a few photos:

Fun at the State Fair

After a quick breakfast, we were on our way on Tuesday to have fun at the North Carolina State Fair.

We had a lot of fun. With all the rides, displays, and the FOOD. :P

Here is what we ate (yum!):

Giant Turkey legs (Carl, Bethany, and Dan)

Sausage Sandwiches (everyone else)

Onion Rings

Fried Candy Bars (Milky Way, Snickers)

Fried Pecan Pie

Kettle Corn

Corn Dogs

French Fries

Funnel Cake

We stayed the longest that we have ever stayed this year.

Away from the Blogging World

Sorry that we have not posted for the last three months. We have been very busy with speech, debate, awana, soccer, SEEK, ect.

But after finding out that a plant has a daily blog, we think we can do it. No joke, a plant in Japan has its own blog using biological technology.Even posting how much fun he was having in the sun.

So now we will provide a steady stream of posts, capturing our last couple of months...

October Birthday

Dan enjoyed his birthday today. Our cake supported the Mina Project, and it tasted delicious! Pumpkin spice with savory frosting and white chocolate accessories. Yum! Doesn't it look beautiful?

Anyways, we had a very fun day with Grandpa and Grandma over. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAN!

Trip to the Dead Sea Scrolls

Before all of our wonderful celebrations, we brought Papa and Grandma along on a field trip, to the Dead Sea Scrolls. You are not allowed to take pictures in the exhibit, but we have a few from the rest of the Museum.

This photo is from outside the Museum. It was made for the "Bug fest" this weekend and was still there. They made it completely from sand. Amazing!

We got a discount for our subscription to the News and Observer, which sponsors the Museum.

Arriving early, we quickly got our audio tours and were one of the first groups in. We spent a lot of time there and we learned a lot.

After eating lunch, we proceeded to explore the rest of the Museum. Some of the highlights included an action style film on the life of a dung beetle, and the walk-in butterfly area.

Finnaly, we made it back home to celabrate Dan's birthday.

Camping on Lake James

In September, the Colglazier family enjoyed an extended family camping trip, camping of the shore of Lake James with a beautiful view of the North Carolinian Smoky Mountains.

We arrived on Thursday so that the Kids could get in FREE to the Biltmore Estate. Waking up at 4:30 a.m. we arrived at camp early and set up the camp as soon as possible.

The lunch we ate at one of the Biltmore restaurants is the best buffet ever. We enjoyed a delicious appetizer, salad, entree, and dessert, all in a buffet. The dessert was the best. We

enjoyed pies, lots of chocolate, and an excellent bread pudding.

After our almost private lunch, we went to the estate. You never realize how big this famous building is until you actually see it. It is one of the greatest works of architecture of its time. We did not do the audio tour, but enjoyed seeing the

many of the 250+ rooms ourselves.

With exhausted legs, and after a long while, we went to the large garden, then to the farm and learned a lot there.





The next day, we had small hike at our campground, and watched from a height that enhanced our view. We had a distant view of the mountains.


On Sunday, we took the hours drive to Linville Falls, and there did a large amount of hiking. Small trails, large trails; easy trails hard trails; we did them all. We saw the falls from the top, side, far away, and we even to the difficult trail to see it from the bottom.

Though so little people do this, it is well worth it.

We ate lunch and returned tired.

The next day, we shopped in Biltmore Village.

We returned to our home on Monday, after leaving camp.

We learned a lot on this exciting trip.

Gettysburg

We traveled to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania last week to visit with Bethany's China travel group. Wow, Gettysburg is fantastic! They have a new visitor center and it is sweet! We arrived on Thursday and chose to do an audio tour so we could focus on visiting with the travel group on Friday. We also had reservations at a restaurant in an old Gettysburg home. They had the best pumpkin fritters we have ever tasted. Yummy!

An EXPLOSIVE Birthday!!

We celebrated my birthday by having Bojangles fried chicken and sweet tea. I asked Dan and the kids to make me a volcano cake. The lava is made with dry ice. I thought I'd be helpful and save Dan some time by buying the dry ice a couple of days in advance. Note to self: dry ice melts and disappears within a couple of days if it is not in a freezer that is at least negative 109 degrees Fahrenheit. Christian pulled the dry ice bag out of the freezer and all that was left was some air. We all had a good laugh over it. Dan and Christian had to go out and buy some more dry ice. It delayed the cake eating for a bit, but allowed us all to digest some of our Bojangles.

We were all pleasantly surprised when the Schmidt family dropped by with William's home made Chocolate Gelato and a home made angel food cake. Let me tell you that William's Gelato is by far the best, to die for, creamy, chocolate piece of cold heaven dessert I have ever had. Lady Godiva has nothing on this rich treat. I wish I could share some with all of you. What a great birthday treat!! Thanks Schmidt family.

The Ballet Bun

Well, it ain't easy to get luxurious, thick, Asian hair up into a pretty ballet-style bun. Our neighbors, Paula and Gigi, were kind enough to take pity on us and show us how to do it. First, you need to find this nifty hair device called the Hairagami. You flatten the device out and place the hair between it. You then roll the hair around it and allow the hairagami to roll up. Finally, you cover the entire bun with a nifty, sparkle-covered hair net. Voila--the perfect ballet bun is born. Thank you Paula and Gigi for teaching us how to get our dance hair on and for giving us those pretty hair covers.

Busted Swim Meet

Well, the last swim meet of our season ended in a bust. It was an away meet at Abbington. Some of our friends swim for them so we were really looking forward to seeing them.

It started to cloud up about an hour before we needed to get to the meet. There was a flash of light just as the first relay was about to start. I asked Dan if it was a camera flash. Wishful thinking on my part. The weather did not clear up in time to have the meet. It was decided not to try again the next day.

Miriam did get a chance to warm up in the water with the team. She was going to swim freestyle, backstroke, and breaststroke. We had told her if she swam in a meet she could have a hula hoop. Her warm up looked good so she earned her hula hoop. Christian was disappointed not to get a chance to swim the meet.

We were all thankful it was not a late night.

Today we are going to a free movie. Regal movies offers free family movies on Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout the summer.

http://www.regmovies.com/nowshowing/familyfilmfestivalschedule.aspx

Our movie theatre even has dollar drinks and popcorn for this event.

Beware the Pool Playground

It may seem like an innocent playground, but beware, beware, beware!

On Thursday, June 5th Miriam was thrown off this seesaw. The result: the infamous broken arm .

On Tuesday, July 15th Bethany Colglazier was innocently playing on the swings. When out of nowhere the other swing attacked her; hitting her numerous times. It left a swollen, bruised mark on the right hand side of her face.

While it may appear that this very playground is a dangerous threat to the Colglazier family, there is one other factor involved in both events. This factor is a person: Carl Colglazier. He was on the seesaw when Miriam fell off. He was also on the swing next to Bethany just moments prior to when it attacked her.

So is this a case of a play ground with a vendetta for the Colglazier girls? Or is this the plot of a brother whose secret desire is to be an only child? He may look innocent with that sweet smile and intellectual visage, but could this face be one of a schemer working on assuring his place as an only child in the family? Christian better be on the look out. He may be the next victim of the River Rock Playground attacker.

Only kidding. Carl helped me write this.

We have one more swim meet left for the season. Miriam is doing so well after recovering from the broken arm that she is agreeing to swim three strokes for the meet.

Back From Camp

The boys are safely back from camp. They both has a fantastic time. Someone asked them what the cabins were like at camp. To set the record straight there are no cabins at camp. They camp in tents all week. Christian really enjoyed earning the cycling merit badge. He also earned environmental and geology merit badges.

Carl enjoyed earning his wilderness survival merit badge. He had to spend one night out in the elements in his own home made shelter to earn it. Thankfully it did not rain that night. He also earned the first aid merit badge managed to do so without passing out.

We asked Carl what he missed most while at camp: indoor plumbing.

Museum of Life and Science

Last week both Colglazier boys headed off to boyscout summer camp. The remainder of the Colglazier Clan spent a day at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham. Thanks to Papa and Grandma Colglazier we were able to get in for free. The butterfly exhibit was our favorite. We saw several exotic butterflies from Central and South America. Our favorite was this blue beauty called a Blue Morpho.

Cast Away

On Thursday, Miriam got her cast off!

We left for our appointment with hopes that this would be the last day that Mim had her cast. Mim was quite nervous when we pulled into the parking lot.

We had a quick appointment. We went into the cast room to get Mim's cast off.

The machine used had a metal blade with a plastic cover.

The machine tickled Miriam. A tool pried open the plaster. Miriam said that it sounded like a coconut cracking. She was quite the trooper. L.J., Carl , and Bethany felt weak during the procedure.

Bethany asked L.J. later, "This is for posterity's sake, so, honestly, how do you feel?" (This is a line from the movie "The Princess Bride")

L.J. answered "It was O.K. I'm glad I had my seat!"

Mim is glad she no longer has her cast!

Honey

We received a wonderful package from Florida. Grandma Fissell sent a big package of orange blossom and key lime honey. Miriam is enjoying the sweet treat on her english muffin.

A Day at the Capitol

On Wednesday, June 18, 2008, we went to the North Carolina Legislative Building for a "Teen pact" alumni event.

As we were about to enter the Legislative Building, we saw a press conference about bills against illegal immigrants.

Once we left that, we entered the Legislative Building to watch the Transportation Committee.


The bill that came up was a bill to increase the speed limit for mopeds. The bill passed committee.

We then ate. It was a place under the street where we ate. They sure didn't underfeed us!

We then went to the court yard of the Legislative Office Building. There were lobbyists, there, lobbying for a bill to get rid of pig waste ponds. We got cupcakes. 'It' was good.


We also visited Rep. Paul Stan, whom we saw at the press conference, and who was also one of our other member's Rep.

We the sat in on some of the proceedings in the House of Representatives.

It was a very awesome experience!

Meals on Wheels

Our family volunteers for Meals on Wheels. We love it!

Meals on Wheels is an organization that provides nutritious meals and other nutrition services to men and women who are elderly, homebound, disabled, frail, or at risk.

For now, we are called to substitute whenever one of the regular meal delivery volunteers can't do their route. We have only been able to substitute twice so far, but we have thoroughly enjoyed those times.

Here is a picture of Bethany and Miriam with our container of meals and cooler with milk. We are ready to deliver our meals.

A Happy Father's Day!!

Today is Father's Day. So we had the Grandparents come over and at about 9:30, we ate a very excellent brunch.

It consisted of some of Leslie-Jean's "breakfast casseroles." One of them was a sweet maple syrup and egg soaked bread, cooked and broiled. A.K.A. French Toast Casserole. The other was an egg and sausage casserole.

There were a lot of Father's Day cards for both dads.

We watched the Scripp's National Spelling Bee and The Princess Bride. Inconceivable!!

Our second meal of the day was a chickeny, biscuity, dirty ricey, southern sweet teay, pink lemonadey, baked beany, potato salady, chocolate bread puddingy dinner (reference to Carl's longy meal prayers). Papa also treated us to some Wendy's Frosties. A portion of the profits goes to help adoption.

We hope everyone had a great Father's Day!!

A rat made of a towel

Miriam Broken Arm Animation

Click picture to see the animation. The first is how it happened. The second is Miriam Breaking her arm in Matrix. Christian did the animation. Sorry it is a little cheesy. It is affective though. (Rated PG) WARNING: not for the squeamish

I'm Diving In...

Today we did time trials for the 10 and unders. It was run just like a meet. The older kids catch the six and unders. Christian took the photos and got apicture of Bethany diving in. Bethany was the only swimmer from our family that swam because Miriam was in a cast. Christian and Carl already had their time trial.

Bethany would not sit on the chairs because they were wet. There was a rule if you were swimming soon you had to sit. So she sat down using her arms so she did not have sit on the chair. Picture below.