Posted by Michelle on Jan 5, 2007 in Hayley, Jeff, Michelle, More Family
It starts with a Christmas Eve tradition where we make gingerbread house … and this year it was a triplex … three kits put together … And it ends with our Christmas day tradition where we pick off what we want, haul it to the cul de sac and smash it with remote control cars … as you can tell, we are a really sweet family. Also some Christmas day photos
It starts with a Christmas Eve tradition where we make gingerbread house … and this year it was a triplex … three kits put together …
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Then the Christmas day destruction with remote cars and friends!
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Christmas day opening presents!
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Tags: family, fun, gingerbread demo derby, holiday
Posted by Michelle on Jan 2, 2007 in Hayley, Jeff, Michelle, More Family
I’ll post more photos soon (I know, I have so many to post) but we had a great time tonight at the UNC-VT women’s game so I had to post a few! Hayley was a ballgirl, my Mom, Dad and Aunt Cathie all game to cheer on the Heels and Jeff came in all his VT stuff. And then my good friend Margaret ended up being at the game too!
Hayley was a great ball girl and added about 10 signatures to her shoes – Coach Hatchell signed the tips of each shoe, it was cool. I got to chat with my favorite assistant coach Tracey Williams and she was telling Coach Hatchell how much I’d helped her with info on NC kids. So that was a really nice treat. It’s pretty cool when a head coach and assistant at the #2 program in the country know you by name. Hayley got to play around in the locker room as well which she loves. A good night was had by all!
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Tags: family, friends, sports
Posted by Michelle on Dec 2, 2006 in Hayley, Jeff, Michelle
Back by popular demand – the Xmas list for the family…
Please let me know if you get something for Hayley on this list so we can mark it off.
hayley
Good Trampoline with safety net (expensive I know, I know)
Polly Pockets – she still loves those small little Polly Pockets. Even copies of what she has makes her happy but these two I know she doesn’t have and would like.
pet spa
fountain falls
Anything Horse related – contact me if you want to get specific
Discovery WhoDunit? Forensic Lab
Nicktoons Battle for Volcano Island = PS2 video game. Any PS2 or Xbox360 is fine – any games for either system that are rated appropriately are great. She loves to play them with friends.
Slushy flavors – she loves slushies. cherry, cotton candy, bubble gum and just about anything else that looks like a kid would love it. The five pack is a good deal and we’ve ordered from them before. Seriously, she adores these and with some dairy issues lately, this is her sweettooth cold dessert fix.
iTunes gift card for her iPod.
Anything sporty as well – she definitely wants some more nylon windbreaker pants, she goes after them every time we are Dicks Sporting Goods. (She is a size 7 now.).
She loves PJs, especially flannel pants or character sets with cute shirts and pants/shorts. However we do not allow anything too risque.
Heelys – roller shoes that she is dying for
Mary Jane Crocs, in black, size 12/13
Anything Cheetah Girls, except that most recent movie CD. She adores them.
michelle
Postsecret books
The Secret Lives of Men and Women: A PostSecret Book
PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives
My Secret: A PostSecret Book (Postsecret)
headphones (again, guess who stole them)
Sex in the City final season part II
As always Target gift certificates
Mary Jane Crocs, in brown, size 7
Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Idea
$99 hammock and stand
Digital photo keychain
Birdhouses – hayley and I adore them!
those things you put on the end of corn to eat it!
jeff
couple of bottles of red wine
TimeWarner gift certificates (seriously)
new 20, 24 or 27 inch TV
Complete Peanuts: 1959-1960
battle for middle earth (xbox) – half priced if you get on ebay.
Big Meat Thermometer for outside grilling
Tags: holiday
Posted by Michelle on Nov 24, 2006 in Hayley, Jeff, Michelle, More Family
Couple of photos of the family as Thanksgiving was ended. I keep hoping to take more photos but that’s tough from in the kitchen. Of course most of the photos would be of the guys watching football or everyone eating!
back row: Jeff, Gordon (my dad). next row: Sharen (Jeff’s mom), John (Jeff’s dad) and then Joanne (my mom). next row: Jay (Jeff’s brother), next row: Cathie (my aunt) and then lowest row: Hayley.
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Tags: family, holiday, photos
Posted by Michelle on Nov 2, 2006 in Hayley, Jeff, Michelle
We planted two trees on the day Hayley arrived, November 3rd. She was so small then that she got almost fit in the hole if she sat down! The magnolias, slow growers in general, may not be as lush as when they were planted but they are definitely bigger, stronger and growing well on November 3rd 2006.
Tags: adoption, family, holiday
Posted by Michelle on Oct 16, 2006 in Jeff, More Family
Great-Grandma Faye, Grandma Sharen and Uncle Jay came down for a visit this weekend. They got spend some time with us and to see Hayley’s final soccer game of the season.
Great-Grandma Faye hadn’t met Hayley yet so this was a lovely treat. She flew down from IL to VA, and then Sharen and Jay drove down to NC with her. It was a gorgeous day to be outside and watch soccer with family.
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Tags: family, photos
Posted by Michelle on Oct 8, 2006 in Hayley, Jeff, Michelle
Last weekend, we headed over to Weaver Street Market in Carrboro because they were having a Dachshund Day Celebration on their front law. Hilarity abounded as Annabelle was the star of the day and even co-winner of the limbo contest!
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Tags: fun, photos, pups & other pets
Posted by Michelle on Aug 8, 2006 in Hayley, Jeff, Michelle, pups & other pets
Today (08-08) is our 8th wedding anniversary. I know I know… all those eights (including the 8 year old sweetiepie Hayley), we need to go play the lottery with eights. Normally we like to buy a joint gift for the family. Imagine my surprise when there was a card from my adorable husband Jeff with a website address inside!
Inside the sweet card was a link to a powerpoint presentation that had photos of my (our) gift … a mini-dachshund puppy! She won’t be ready to come home until next week so Jeff made a cute little presentation with photos of her and funny quips (have I mentioned how much I love my silly sweet husband?). She is eight weeks old to boot – another eight!
She is so cute and tiny – she won’t get much bigger than 10 or 11 pounds full grown! She is red and smooth haired. We are going to visit her this week and then bring her home next week.
We haven’t picked out a name yet – Jeff wants to call her Petunia but that doesn’t really sit too well with me. Hayley wants Ivory after Ivory Latta or Matilda because she adores that movie. I like Betsy or Mia. Hayley and I like Annie as well also she likes Belle after one of the princesses. We’ll keep thinking until we can find something we all agree on.
UPDATE: Hayley has decide the puppy will be named Annabelle. We’ll decide when we meet her if she is an Annabelle, Annie or a Belle! She of course made me go to a pet store today and get a pink collar with rhinestones 🙂
I turned the powerpoint presentation into a pdf to put it on our server. Here it is: The cute presentation of the newest Hillison.
Tags: holiday, pups & other pets
Posted by Michelle on Jul 11, 2006 in Jeff, More Family
By Jane W. Graham
Special to The Roanoke Times
The Virginia FFA Association needed a way to honor the man who inspired its members and teachers for the past 30 years.
So the farm youth organization created the John H. Hillison Middle School Quiz Bowl Award to mark the retirement of the veteran Virginia Tech professor and administrator.
“John Hillison has been an inspiration for all agriculture teachers in the state,” said Susan Shomo, agriculture education teacher at Beverly Manor Middle School in Staunton.
A former student of Hillison’s, Shomo said, “He has allowed us to ask questions. … He helped us find the answers to help us become better teachers.”
Hillison, who has been at Tech since 1976, described himself as pleasantly surprised when the new award was announced at a recent FFA convention.
The award will provide money to help the state winner in the FFA Middle School Quiz Bowl attend the national FFA convention.
Hillison retires at the end of this month as professor and department head of agricultural and extension education at Tech. This week, he is taking part in the Virginia Association of Agricultural Educators Convention in Richmond.
Hillison said he has learned an important fact about agricultural education.
“The most important person is the classroom teacher and FFA adviser,” he said.
He is looking forward to staying involved, teaching at least one class a year at Tech and volunteering in the agricultural education department at Blacksburg High School.
Shomo credited Hillison with helping Virginia middle school agricultural teachers develop “Ag in the Classroom Curriculum,” a program keyed to the state’s Standards of Learning.
Hillison is known throughout the nation as an FFA historian. This interest is fueled by his work at Virginia Tech, birthplace of FFA. The FFA History Room is just down the hall from his office in Litton Reeves Hall at Tech.
Hillison, an Illinois native who got his doctorate at Ohio State University, was featured in the June 2006 edition of FFA New Horizons, the magazine of the national FFA organization.
Tags: family, in the news
Posted by Michelle on Jun 14, 2006 in Jeff, More Family
Congrats to Jeff’s dad on his big honor!
Blacksburg, Va., June 13, 2006 — John H. Hillison of Blacksburg, Va., professor and head of the Department of Agricultural and Extension Education in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech, was conferred with the title “professor emeritus” by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors during the board’s quarterly meeting June 12.
The title of emeritus may be conferred on retired professors and associate professors, administrative officers, librarians, and exceptional staff members who have given exemplary service to the university and who are specially recommended to the board of visitors by Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger. Nominated individuals who are approved by the board of visitors receive an emeritus certificate from the university.
A member of the Virginia Tech community since 1976, Hillison provided statewide leadership to Virginia Agricultural Education programs at both the middle and high school levels. He also provided leadership for the Virginia Future Farmers of America Association and its advisers, and was selected as a Fellow of the American Association for Agricultural Education.
Hillison received his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from the University of Illinois, and a Ph.D. from Ohio State University.
Ranked 11th in agricultural research expenditures by the National Science Foundation, Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences offers students the opportunity to learn from some of the world’s leading agricultural scientists. The college’s comprehensive curriculum gives students a balanced education that ranges from food and fiber production to economics to human health. The college is a national leader in incorporating technology, biotechnology, computer applications, and other recent scientific advances into its teaching program.
Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech has grown to become among the largest universities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Today, Virginia Tech’s eight colleges are dedicated to putting knowledge to work through teaching, research, and outreach activities and to fulfilling its vision to be among the top research universities in the nation. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg and other campus centers in Northern Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls more than 28,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 180 academic degree programs.
Tags: in the news
