The CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN

Last Fall our family went to a party. At the dessert table there was a chocolate fountain and of course all of the delicious fixin's to be dipped. As we were driving away from the party {we hadn't even left the parking lot}, the first words out of our daughter's mouths were,"WE REALLY WANT A CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN!" Gee, surprise, surprise to hear that phrase come from five girls! It didn't help that Ron and I went on a cruise this past November and there was a chocolate buffet late one evening. At the chocolate buffet there were four HUGE chocolate fountains, two white chocolate and two milk chocolate. Yum. Needless to say, secretly, Ron and I were hooked and on the hunt for a chocolate fountain.

Last week, I was looking for Valentine gifts for my girlie's. I happen to stumble upon a chocolate fountain at Bed, Bath and Beyond. {I found it in the Beyond section. heehee.} Yup, that was the gift. I knew it when I saw it. I begin thinking to myself, "Holy moly, I could use this at my girls Sweet 16 parties, baby showers, bridal showers and weddings." {gasp} Then I froze. Holy moly, I have just made my first purchase for a "wedding reception". {ACK!} I won't lie, it shook me to the core. Then, I got all excited! I recently read an article online about a family that had FIVE weddings in one year. Yes, you read that correctly, FIVE weddings. Let's just hope my girls don't pull that on me. I could see two or maybe three of them, but hopefully not five weddings in one year. I am hoping that by the time Tiffany gets married, we will have the wedding reception routine all figured out.



So, here it is...(not sure how long this little gem will last) but I present...the Chocolate Fountain. YUMM-O.



If you are in the market for a CF, this one works very well. It was easy set up and clean up! Clean up took about 10 minutes, top.

Carol: Are you and Gary packing the car yet? (hee-hee)

Victoria's First High School Track Meet

Victoria is throwing Shotput and Discus again this year. She is pretty good at it too!

She threw the Shot 27.11 feet and took 3rd place at this last meet. Discus she didn't place, but she did throw 69 feet which was pretty good for her. Discus is not her thing. She enjoys Shotput more, just because she is better at it. We are all like that right? We enjoy doing things we like to do.


This is not the greatest photo. She is just releasing the Discus.

Brianne Begins Volleyball

Another Turner girl takes the plunge into the sport of volleyball. Brianne is quite strong and I think once she gets more practice and court time, she is going to figure out how to pull back a bit on her strength. I can imagine Brianne playing volleyball, like Victoria, at high school level. She's got the ability and that deep inner {grrrr}, ready to pounce on the ball and anyone in her way.

Here is a pic to mark this momentous occasion and a brief video.

This clip only shows two of her serves. However, this video was taken at the first game of the season, game one and she was the first server. Boy, she was a little nervous. She has never played volleyball before and she is the youngest on the team...she stood at the line and put SIX serves over in a row! Her team went on to win all three games that day.

Tiffany Turns 5 Years Old

Tiffany turned five years old this past week! She has been talking about her birthday for the past six months. We have had somewhat of a count down going each night at bedtime. She kept asking,"How many days until my birthday?" It was so sweet. To be a little child again and to have no worries except, when your birthday would be. Every night for the past two months she has sang the primary song,"This month is such a special one". To say the least...she has been so excited for her special day!

We asked Tiffany what she wanted for her birthday. Her response was,"A laundry basket just like my big sisters, that I can keep in my bedroom." No kidding! She asked for a laundry basket. Who's child is this anyway...oh yeah, she is mainly made up of Ron's fine qualities! She is very practical and intelligent, just like her daddy.

Some of Tiffany's favorite things are...

Spaghetti
Honey Asian chicken
Meatless tacos (just cheese and lettuce for her!)
Cinnamon sugar toast
Milk
Pot Roast with lots of ketchup
Coloring, writing and drawing (she is really pretty good at drawing.)
She counts to 100 in the van when we run errands.
She likes to play with the cats (Grandpa Carpenter's kitties)
She enjoys playing with her friends, riding her bike and scooter.
She enjoys singing...making up songs that just go on and on! :)
She has quite the imagination and plays all by herself quite nicely.
She is very obedient and does well listening the first time.
She is helpful
She is caring of others feelings
Her preschool teachers told me she is a leader and is kind to all. They would like to have several Tiffany's.

We love you Tiffany and are so happy you are a part of our family!

xoxo ~ Mom

Here she is opening a gift from Grandma and Grandpa Turner

Opening a gift from Grandma and Grandpa Avery. I love looking at the next few pictures...she is so excited and you can see it in each photo...

Again, the excitement of a five year old girl, opening a present from her big sister Brianne! It is so fun to look at each photo and seeing her get more and more excited to see what is in the wrapping paper!

The laundry basket. I still giggle when I think that was what she wanted for her birthday!

Some new clothes to go into the laundry basket.

What a fun family memory!

Making her wish...

A great big thank you going out to our in-house photographer...Courtney! Nice job on the photos Courtney.

Victoria Gets her Driver's Permit!

Recently, we enrolled Victoria in a Driver's Training Class. She is doing quite well and is so excited to be able to practice driving.

On the third day of class they gave the students the state driver's permit test and she passed both test with 100%. She came running out of class and was a bit teary eyed, she was so happy that she had passed and was the only student to get 100%.

The first time we put her behind the wheel, I seriously thought I was going to barf. Nothing like being the parent and thinking, "Well, I just put my life in my daughter's hands and several other drivers around me." It is really the moment of total faith that the teen has been trained and knows what she is (somewhat) doing. She is actually a VERY good driver. We are so excited and happy for her as she enters into this new phase of life! Way to be Tori!

Victoria's Rodeo Art

Victoria's art work was selected for the Rodeo Art show. She received a 2nd place ribbon. Nice job Tori-o!

New Year's Eve

I have been planning a New Year's Eve party for several months for about 350 teenagers in our church congregation. We served the youth dinner and then had a dance and celebration at midnight. My favorite part of the evening was midnight, watching the youth wearing their NYE tiaras, blow their party horns, and gathering the large amount of candy and the shiny foil confetti streamers that were shot from the cannons.

However, I did miss being home with my four other daughters and not doing our family's typical NYE celebration of fondue and fireworks. The girls did get to celebrate with grandpa by going out to dinner, playing games, watching a movie and lighting off fireworks!

I thought I would post a few pics from the Youth party. Victoria enjoyed bringing her friend from school with her to the party. A great time was had by all!

Set up complete! It only took about 4 hours to set up the 37 tables, 370 chairs, set out the place settings and blow up the 400 balloons.

(Note the handsome server in this pic!)

Victoria and friends

The dance... Looks like the youth were having fun. :)

On New Year's Day our family held the annual Wii Bowling Tournament. This year the big winner was Ron! Later we stuffed ourselves with fondue and lit off fireworks!

Christmas Vacation

Nothing like staying up late and sleeping in everyday for two weeks! I know to some of you it sounds like a waste of time. However, in our family we enjoy staying up late watching movies, playing games and just goofing off. We are not morning people, so you could say that when we get two weeks of vacation where no one has to be at work, school or seminary...we thoroughly enjoy the time off.

It wouldn't be Christmas around our home without our traditions...

This year I taught Victoria how to make the the four huge loaves of cardamom swedish bread. She did such a nice job! It is fun to pass on a tradition that goes back clear to my great- grandmother Buck. We also made Great-Grandma Carpenter's sugar cookies, about 4 dozen. And last but not least, we made the three flavors of fudge. White chocolate peppermint, mint milk chocolate and milk chocolate toffee.





We took the girls putt-putt golfing. (or to all you northerners, miniature golfing.) and we also went ice skating. It was a first time doing both activities for Tiffany. Her sisters held her hands and took her around and around the ice skating rink. It was so sweet.

Christmas 2010

This year, we did not have any visitors for Christmas. However, we did go to Grandma and Grandpa Carpenters for a light dinner and a gift exchange on Christmas Eve.

When we returned home we had a sing along with Brianne on the piano and Caitlin & Courtney playing their violins. It was neat to see how far each girl had progressed in their musical talents since the year before. Nice job ladies! We then read the story about the Birth of the Savior from the Bible and read Twas the Night Before Christmas.



The Santa trap rang loud and clear at 5:50am (for several seconds..which seemed like minutes!...I guess Santa's boot buckle got tangled in the string on the pots and pans!) It woke everyone up and the girls dashed downstairs to see what Santa had left them.

Victoria was the most excited because she received the coveted camera she has been wanting for a year! Tiffany was also excited to get the Barbie doll she was hoping Santa would being her. All were very happy indeed.

Ron received an interesting gift from his parents. Take a look at the picture below. I feel sorry for Victoria's first date this coming Autumn. (Gasp, poor guy. You know Ron will be wearing this shirt when the lucky fellow comes to pick her up. I am sure it will make the guy feel really welcome.)


Of course we took time after opening presents to take the annual Polar Bear swim! OH MY, it was so cold this year! We did have the spa up and running this year, so it did make the polar bear swim much nicer. Ron and the kids kept jumping from the spa into the cold pool over and over again...they are pretty daring.

Courtney & Caitlin Orchestra Christmas Concert

The twins had their orchestra concert up at the high school. Their group played three songs. They have been playing together since 6th grade and I have to say they have all come a long way! I am most impressed with this orchestra conductor. For being such a young guy, he sure knows his stuff.