A Merry Thanksgiving to All, and to All a Filling Night

Hey, everyone! This is Jess, Kaitlyn, and Marissa. We are here to wish you all a happy Thanksgiving (but Kaitlyn who already did). We miss you guys in Ohio. Everyone here says, Wish You Were Here, with a picture of a turkey and all of us with rotund bellies.
Not much to say really. I am up at Grandma's with Marissa and Kaitlyn. (Yes, this is the oldest grandgirl writing). I apparently just made Marissa sad.
We might write more later, but we just wanted to say hi!

Happy Thanksgiving!

       Hi everybody! This is Kaitlyn! I am watching the Thanksgiving Parade on CBS! It is so awesome! Which is your favorite float? I love them all so far! What is you favorite thing about Thanksgiving? Watching Football, playing Flag Football, Eating the feast, Giving Thanks for everything, watching the parade, playing games, or spending time with your family? I love all of those things on Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is probably one of my FAVORITE holidays! What about you? Have a great Thanksgiving, (don't get too fat :) and I can't wait to see you all again! (I will see some of you at Grandma's tonight) LOVE YA!!!

Kukuaw ShiEn (Guess what language?)

Hello my dear family. This is your cousin Jenessa typing. I have some matters of business to address:
1)Holy stinkin' cow, look how cute Tillman and Oliver are in these pictures! Oliver is getting so big, and look at his smile! And Tillman-those blue eyes are gorgeous!
2)Happy birthday Kaitlyn! (I was going to say, "Wow, you're in double digits now!" But I realized that you ought to have reached double digits about three years ago...)
Not much to say (I said that last time and look how much I ended up typing). Right now, my school football team is up north playing for state. Desert Hills vs. Hurricane. Right now, Hurricane is up by..six? :( But I'm crossing every crossable part of my body.
Because of the state playoffs, we got out of school early. It was pretty fun, leaving so early, though it cut down in my class time....
Uh, soon, I'm going to upload a picture of me...not a good one. Well, I consider it good, but it's not a posed one or anything. It's me with bedhead, and it's pretty funny because when I woke up and looked in the mirror, one piece of hair was sticking straight up, and it was curly too. I hope I captured it in the picture. If not...you missed out.
In my photography class, we're going into our studio next week and taking professional pictures (well, our teacher, a pro who's been in lots of magazines, will be taking our pictures) of each of us, so maybe I'll post those for you to see.
Love all of you so much that it ranks somewhere between popcorn and ice cream, and Swedish fish! Viral hugs! Viral kisses!
PS I really meant my title as a greeting. It's in some foreign language. Can you guess what language? (And you can't just put it into googletranslate. That stuff is nonsense for this language.)
Happy searching. :)

Tillman and Oliver

Hey guys!  This is a cool idea.  I just wanted to post some updated pictures of Tillman and Oliver for you.  Nothing much new here.  Both boys are doing really well.  We miss everybody!

Snack time

Playing in the leaves

Going to Grandma's

Halloween

Bed head

I forgot to rotate this. Oh well. No time now.  

Hey Spencer

Hi this is Collin. Spencer, I don't really like hamburgers. Why do you ask? I was going to comment but it got messed up and I couldn't post it... :P

Wassup?!

           Hey guys! I love you and miss you! I hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving next week! Not up to much, only thing interesting is my b-day on Friday. Oh, and yesterday I went to BYU's World Fest. It was really cool. It was were we learned about other culters. Sounds kinda boring, I know. But they gave out alot of cool stuff. But I had lots of fun. Oh, and I would like to say thanks to Allie! Thank you Allie for your post about me. I love all you guys and I miss you! Hope you have a good Thanksgiving next week!
                                                       ~Kaitlyn~

                                     

Jenessa says, "Greetings, earthlings!"

Hey, everyone! I'm sure you know who this is by the title.And yes, you are all earthlings, I'm pleased to announce. Just in case anyone was confused into thinking they came from some other liveable planet, of which, I know none. Anyways, I am really excited to be keeping up with all of my beloved family through this blog, so a big thanks to the brilliant combined minds of Hillary and Grandma. And thanks to all those who are keeping up to date, which is kind of a struggle for me. I really enjoy reading all these posts..
Well, I don't really have much to tell, just stories about homework, which are not the ideal topic of interesting posts, if you know what I mean.
(PS A shout out to all my fellow GBI members, you know who you are. Hope you are ready for tasks...when we actually are together again.)
I do have one interesting thing; no, two:
1-I am a part of a website, flickr.com, for my photography class, and you guys are all welcome to check out my photostream (the pictures I have taken and uploaded). The shortcut to my page is:
fllickr.com/jkstokey
and 2-I am in a very amazing class that I absolutely love...Auto Shop! It is so much fun, and I suppose I'm writing about it, because, honestly, how many girls take a car class? In my own class, there's only one other girl, and in all of his (my teacher's) classes, there's only six girls out of over 100 students, so it's a big deal to be his student if you are female. I guess I'm saying all this because I am surprised with how much I adore this class. I go to it every day, even though I'm on an A/B day block schedule. For those going into a school with this class, I highly reccomend it, because it is so much more fun than even I expected, and I was expecting to like it. Well, I love it. And I know so much about cars now. (I even know more about cars than all four of my brothers. Hahaha!)
Um...tonight for mutual we're watching 17 Miracles, which is an awesome movie. Marissa, Kaitlyn, it's that pioneer movie we went to with my mom and Grandma. I like this movie, even though it's kind of solemn and melancholy and sad, but I am excited to watch it tonight. (A large part of that goes to the "snacks" portion of the evening, but still.)
That's about all I can think of to post right now.
Love you all!
PS For all you lucky people with free time, check out these sometime:
Light the World on Fire by Brit Nicole (it's an enlightening song by a pop-gospel singer)
Harry Potter "Friday" Parody (youtube it)
Nick Pitera-Disney Medley (youtube it)
and of course, for Jamie,
SAM TSUI!!! Jamie introduced me to him and I think right now he is my favorite singer (or one of them, besides Enya and a few others)
Oh, and to answer your questions, Allison dearest:
1-My favorite color is blue (woowoo blue!)
2-My address is (Okay, I did have it, but I am worried for security reasons, so I will email it to you through your email address...) I was worried about this security before I changed my address, so I wrote this -> (I sure hope that this really is private so that no one outside of our family can see, or else I might have an unwelcome creature show up on my doorstep)
3-Oh, you know, planes and clouds
4-March 27, 1996 (Yay! I'll be sixteen in less than six months!)

Leo, Jamie and Baxter

Hi guys! We miss you like crazy and are so excited about this fun way of keeping track of everyone!  We are doing great and are really enjoying Mount Orab, we especially like being so close to Ethan and Hillary's family (only 2 hours!).  Leo is the ward mission leader and I am the early morning seminary teacher, I really enjoy it.  Baxter has some good friends here, Calvin(4) and Mason (2), they share toys and play with him and Mason calls him "Maxter" which is too cute!  Leo is doing really awesome with school and really enjoys his days that he spends in the clinic.  He meets with patients by himself and then goes to the doctor, tells him what he thinks and the doctor usually agrees with him after looking over the chart and then goes in with Leo and delivers the news to the patient.  The doctor that Leo has been shadowing is our family doctor which is really nice but Leo is starting a new rotation next week with a doctor we don't know.  I get to have physical therapy on my hips.  My right pelvic bones is rotated anteriorily and causes a lot of pain when I walk, sending sharp pains up and down my leg and bum...not super pleasant...  We miss and love you and can't wait to hear what you are all up to!

this is Spencer.  I want to say hi to Dylan and Collin.  Dylan when did you lose your tooth?  Well I have two loose teeth.  Collin Do you like hamburgers?  Please answer on this blog.  Love Spencer.

Happy Birthday to Kaitlyn!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Congrats Kaitlyn on turning twelve on November 18th! Hope you will love Young Womens! I love you A ton!

Love allison!:)

Young women in excellence ( continued)

Here's my Story-Allison:)

ZARIA’S GIFT

            Zaria reached Mrs. Tilak’s house, her chest heaving from the heavy stich in her side.  She stood upright, breathless from running almost ten streets to get there.  Zaria knocked some of the dirt from her cloths but was not able to disguise the filthy, sooty state of her clothes.  They were here only pair and Zaria could not afford to wash them.  Zaria let out a deep sigh, recognizing defeat and dropped her skirt.  The petite thirteen year-old leaned on her toes and rapped her knuckles twice on the thick iron door.  Zaria took three steps back as the door was answered. 

            “Oh, finally!  I was thinking that you might not show up!”

            The speaker was a tall, stately Indian woman.  Her face was beautiful, with almost a carved quality to it.  The woman’s hair was the color of ebony, and was braided in an exquisite bun that wrapped around her head and gave her the appearance of a woman of high standards, which she was.

            “Well come in!” exclaimed Mrs. Tilak.  “You’ll catch your death in the cold!”

            Mrs. Tilak ushered Zaria into the large entry way of the house and helped Zaria remove her wrap.  “Thank you,” whispered Zaria.  “Thank you, ma’am.”  The twelve year old girl curtsied and kissed the kind Mrs. Tilak on the cheek.

            Mrs. Tilak kissed Zaria on the forehead and hugged her tightly.  Sweet, sweet  Zaria.  She was so young but she worked so hard.  Mrs. Tilak held her tighter and ignored the soot and dirt that was beginning to wipe onto her hands and dress.  Mrs. Tilak pulled away and grimaced at the long black streaks on her hands.

            “Zaria!”

            Mrs. Tilak grinned and laughed.  She took the petite girl’s hand and said, “That will be the cook.  She is at her stretching point.  Christus Jubilante is tomorrow and she has almost all of the pies done.

            Zaria felt a lump rise in her throat and tears swelled in her eyes.  Christ’s Jubilee!  She had nothing to give.   No, she thought, I have my heart to offer.  But that is not enough for the priests.

            Zaria hadn’t realized that Mrs. Tilak had put her hand on Zaria’s shoulder.  “Are you alright?”  Mrs. Tilak asked gently.

            “Fine.  Mrs. Tilak, can I …”

            “Zaria, I know what you’re worried about and of course you’re invited to our house for Christ’s Jubilee.”  Mrs. Tilak smiled with a kind endearing smile.  “It will be okay, I will persuade Mr. Tilak.”

            Zaria was overjoyed, but she still felt a cold anxiety in the pit of her stomach.   Mr. Tilak was a chief priest, and though Zaria didn’t really know him, seemed cold and cruel.  Mrs. Tilak had told Zaria countless times she wanted to adopt Zaria, but Mr. Tilak wouldn’t let her.  “That dirty thing is only here for work!” Mr. Tilak had said.

            Zaria twisted her skirt in her hands and said, “Mrs. Tilak, I have nothing to give.”

            Mrs. Tilak rand a hand through her hair and sighed.  She reached her hand in her pocket and pulled out three shiny coins.  Mrs. Tilak smiled and placed the coins in Zaria’s palm.  “Now go and buy yourself a gift.”

            Mrs. Tilak laughed as Zaria hurried out the door.  The girl was so willing. So hardworking and Mrs. Tilak really hoped she would come to be part of the Tilak family one day.

            Zaria raced down the streets of town weaving in and out of people as she dashed to an old, abandoned house on the edge of town.  Zaria opened the door and let herself in. 

            The inside was just a small, cramped room with a small cot and there was a single lamp shining in the corner.  Zaria raced to the bed and slumped down onto the thin material.  With fumbling fingers, Zaria pulled out a small parcel wrapped in brown paper from inside her coat.  She hastened to unwrap it and pulled out a long piece of beautiful, silvery cloth.   She felt it in between her fingers, and was careful not to smudge it with her dirty hands.  Zaria was going to make her gift from this cloth--the gift to her master, the Christ.

            Zaria knew that she could have probably spent the money on food or a bath.  Zaria’s stomach rumbled and she pulled her coat closer to her as she shivered.  Suddenly, an idea struck her.  She would sew a robe for her master.  Zaria would make it a robe fit for a king, the king of all kings.  Jesus Christ.  But she would have to hurry if she wanted it to be ready for tomorrow.  Everyone would shame her if she had no gift. 

            Zaria pulled out a basked full of colorful thread, scissors, and sewing needles from under her cot, and she began to sew.  Rows upon rows of neat, beautiful stitches appeared as Zaria sewed through the night.  Though she grew weary, and her eyes grew heavy she kept on piecing together her Master’s gift.  Zaria lovingly cut and stitched every last bit of the cloth together.  It was almost time for the sun to rise by the time Zaria finally finished and fell to sleep.

            The next morning Zaria found herself at the alter in the cathedral of Christ, and in just moments, she would offer her gift to her Savior. 

            Zaria looked up as a priest’s shadow fell across the alter.  It was the High Priest, Sir Caldwin.  His piercing blue eyes looked at her small, dingy figure disapprovingly   “What have you to bring, Orphan?”  Sir Caldwin eyes lit up when Zaria pulled from beneath her coat the magnificent silk robe.  He greedily grabbed it from her, and ran his hands over the gleaming material.

            “So beautiful! Exquisite!” Murmured Sir Caldwin, his hands and eyes feeling and examining every inch of the robe.  “And for someone so young…incredible.”

            Sir Caldwin face turned into a mass of red anger.  He suddenly threw the robe back on Zaria and raised his hands as though to slap her.  Zaria shrunk and cringed, hands over her face, waiting for the blow.  It never came.  Zaria slowly moved her hands down from her face and heard a familiar voice ask, “Sir Caldwin, what is the meaning of this?”

            It was Mr. Tilak!  Sir Caldwin spoke slowly, with a determined air.  “Sir, this girl’s gift is unacceptable.  It is not good enough.  And she is too small and dirty.”

            Mr. Tilak’s next workds surprised Zaria.  “This?”  Mr. Tilak leaned down and picked up the robe and shook the dust off it.  “Tis a masterpiece?” 

            Mr. Tilak beckoned to Zaria, and  the startled Zaria stood up.  She followed Mr. Tilak as he walked across the room.

            “Come with me, Child.”

            Zaria found herself in a small room with several closets and a large bathing font.  She watched as Mr. Tilak rummaged through the closets for an object of some sort.  He’s looking for a whip, Zaria thought glumly.  He’s going to beat me.

            But again Mr. Tilak surprised her.  He handed her a beautiful dress.  The type rich girls in the streets wore, with bows and lace.  Zaria spoke tentatively.  “Mr. Tilak, what is this for?  I am not a rich girl.”

            Mr. Tilak looked surprised “For you my girl, of course!  Bathe and dress.  I will turn my back.” He said.

            Zaria had never felt anything like it.  The water felt warm and heavenly. The cloth of the dress was satin, and felt soft and warm against her skin. Zaria felt like she had died and gone to heaven.  When she had finished dressing she tapped Mr. Tilak on the back and he turned to face her.

            “Ah,” Mr. Tilak gripped Zaria hard on the shoulders. “I thought so.  You look beautiful, Zaria.”

            Zaria was a little shocked by the reaction of a man she thought so cruel, but she let him take her hand and lead her back to the font.

            Zaria caught a glimpse of a beautiful, stately young woman, and looked around the room for the young, wispy beauty.  Mr. Tilak turned her to face the water again.  “It is you.” Mr. Tilak whispered.  “That is you, Zaria, my child.”

            Zaria was beautiful.  Suddenly she caught the wide smile on Mr. Tilak’s face.  He was beaming brightly, but his eyes betrayed a hint of sadness.  “What is wrong, Mr. Tilak?”

            “Oh, Zaria,” Mr. Tilak’s eyes were wet.  “I owe you an apology.  I’ve really loved you forever.  I’m sorry we just didn’t adopt you.  I had to test you.  It thought I had to make sure you could be a Tilak.  I’m sorry.  So, so, so, sorry, Zaria.”

            Mr. Tilak handed Zaria the silk robe and hugged her tightly and whispered.  “You and your faith are the greatest gift of all.  Welcome to the Tilak family.”  Mr. Tilak murmured, “I love you Zaria.”

            Zaria hugged her father back and let all her pain of the years go.  She hugged the Savior’s robe to her chest and began to cry.  ZariaTilak said a silent prayer of thanks for her faith, hope and new family, and her Savior.

         

Beautiful

The day

The night

The moon

Beautiful

Midnight

Twilight

The Stars

Beautiful

The Sky

The Milky Way

The Fireplace

Beautiful

The Three Day Wait

The Resurrection

The Atonement

Not Just Beautiful

Sacred

                                    Here is my poem!!!!:)

Young Women in Excellence!:)

                          

HI YA'LL! This is Allison. I have four things to ask and one thing to tell.

1. What is your favorite color? (Mine is green!)

2. What is your address? (This one is extremely important if you want to get one of my awesome, homemade, Christmas gifts!)

3. Whatz up?

4. What is your birthday? (I am not a stalker so don't worry!)

Here is my thing to tell- I recently had young women in excellence on Wednesday! I drew an AMAZING picture in oil pastels and wrote an awesome story called Zaria's gift- if you want to read it LOOK BELOW!!!!! I also wrote a poem called Beautiful- again SEE BELOW!!!!!!!! This was a totally awesome experience considering that this is my first young women in excellence! I am also pretty proud of myself because I finished my faith value project! Ten hard hours of harsh labor work! Not really, it was actually really fun! Love you all with a BIG FAT HEART!

Like this one!!!!!!!

Aubrey/Me

Hi everybody! this is me Aubrey (well on the internet) I miss you all so much! I can not wait to see you in Utah this summer! I go to <GRAHAM MIDDLE SCHOOL> very interesting huh....? I have 4 teachers who are uhh NICE WELL THEY HAVE TO BE NICE alot. I love you alot I can not wait to see you all in Utah next summer XOXOXOXOXOXxox. Little and big!I have alot of ummm interesting ideas for next summer! I will have a picture of me once I figure out how too!!:)

welcome to the blog

I am having a great time in Ohio.  It is fun to visit with Ethan, Hillary, Allison, Aubrey, Spencer, Chandler, Reese, and baby Jack!  I've also seen Leo, Jamie and Baxter.  We stopped in Kentucky to visit my neice, Heather and her family.  I'm excited for the blog and hope it is fun for everyone to keep in touch and up to date on what is

The Gale's!

Today Ethan took Spencer and Chandler to Lowe's to do the wood building project. They made these science experiment kits. Chandler would not take his apron off because he was so excited! When they got home they tested out their kits and did some cool science experiments.

And here is a picture of your new cousin Jack Christian Gale. He was born on October 3rd, 2011 at 10:08 pm. He weighed 8 pounds 6 ounces and was 21 inches long. We named him Jack because we just like that name, and Christian because a Christian is a follower of Christ. He is a really happy baby and only cries when he is hungry or has a poopy diaper. (He hates poopies!) His hair looks kind of red so we will see when he gets older if it stays that way. He can't wait to meet all of his cousins when we come to Utah this summer!!

Here's a picture of Reese playing with a pink wig. Reese is our sweet boy. He is really sensitive and will cry easily if he is scared or if he gets hurt but he also loves to give hugs and kisses and is very quiet.

Here is a picture of our whole family at the hospital. I don't know how all 8 of us fit int he picture, but we did!

We love you guys and miss you!

Bruce & Aldana

Hi everyone!! We feel like we have not seen anyone in a while, and although there is not much to update everyone on, this blog is a great idea! I am excited to read about what everyone is up to.

Bruce is super busy with school, work, church, etc. He is taking a Spanish class that is pretty hard, trying to figure out what he wants to graduate in, is not very fun. Please keep him in your prayers so that he will make the right career choice for himself and the family.

Aldana is having fun going to work everyday (still works at an elementary school as the "computer teacher". She likes being with kids all day, which is good, since she'll have one soon that will not go away :) She is the ward's Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, fun huh...?

The baby's name was been decided: Ashton Ignazio Gale
Hope you are all as excited to meet him as we are! Hopefully he will be cute and happy. He recently had learn to kick pretty hard and do somersaults.

We love you all and hope to see you soon! Make good choices and be happy!!

Love, Bruce, Aldana, & Ashton

Hi Guys!

Hi guys! I love and miss you all and can't wait to see you again. I am not up to much, but I just wanted to check this out! This is cool. Thanks Grandma! What are you all up to?! Keep me updated!
                                                 Love// Kaitlyn

Rules of the Cousins Blog

This is a blog for the cousins and grandkids of Grandma and Grandpa Gale to post what they are doing. If you want to post to the cousins blog, please use the following rules:

1. Post uplifting ideas, stories, and photos.

2. Please do not make sarcastic, rude, or critical comments about what other cousins post.

3. Please use proper language. No swearing or potty talk.

4. Please do not change the passwords, layouts, colors, etc of the blog.

4. Parents ARE allowed! :)