Gary Dean Ewell-2006

Gary likes staying up late, making model cars, Pizza, ramen noodles, whole milk, kix cereal, pepsi and talking aboout Harry Potter with his parents, playing racing video games, Chick-fil-a sandwiches, and helping out at Blockbuster. Gary now has a fabulous smile since his braces have been removed. He shoes his smile more often now. this year Gary has had some strubbles with school but has been able to rise to the occasion and pull his grades up. we are hopeful that his grades will continue to improve. He attended the Homecoming dance with his friend Brett.

Anna Elizabeth Riley-2006

Anna loves her Hello Kitty Room, and will eat almost anything but green beans. she complains she never gets enough brussel sprouts during the week for dinner. She loves to scribble in her hournal and is learning her letter sounds quite well. Anna is working on her reading and making brogress sounding out words. She likes to do workbook pages and she likes school. Math and counting seem to come easy for her but reading takes a little more effort. She does a good job studying her flash cards of weekly words to build her vocabulary.

Thomas Zachary Riley-2006

Zach loves waffles, broccoli, butterfly shrimp, Honey BBQ Wings, pulled port, cinnamon toast and all candy, and a toy called snakey. Early in the year everything was aobut Spiderman, but now that he has seen Disney's Cars, its all about Lightening McQueen and racing. He loves to bounce on his Spiderman bounce ball, skate board and ride his mountain trike at the skate park. We found a stook make of wood that is a puzzle of Zach's name. He still loves to dig in the dirt, and has trouble cleaning his room but is getting better.

2006 Continued

July-The family traveled to PA for July 4th festivities and visiting friends. Trish & Tom took part in the Sharon Hill 2.2 Mile Fun Run. These last two words are an oxymoron. Trish nearly died. There was SOME running, but it was not fun. Trish and Tom had a finishing place of dead last and a time of 29:45 for 2.2 miles. Tom said he was proud of Trish for finishing, but she knew that it was a real blow to his ego to finish last. Those who finished first in the race commented that it spoke to his character. Trish agrees.

We once again saw the Sound of Music at the dinner theater, 3LB.
Gary was trekking the globe with the Youth in our Ward to the Hill Cumorha Pageant in NY. He commented that the bus trip was way too long, but he had the opportunity to visit some Religious Historical Sites and travel with other teenagers from Church.
Trish was promoted to Shift Leader/Manager on Duty at Blockbuster Video, Inc. with a 15% raise. They seem to like her OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) ways.
August-Gary traveled to PA via train to visit with Mom-mom and Pop-pop McBreen where he was promptly spoiled rotten for two weeks, as good grandparents always do. Gary really enjoyed his time with them and looks forward to next summer in hopes of experiencing the same freedom once again. Gary returned home by way of the McBreen Express just in time for Trish’s Birthday Gala. This was not an Extravaganza, due to the absence of her sister Liz who was vacationing at Disney. However, the Gala event was very enjoyable. It was a low key weekend with dear family and friends in attendance. Trish and Tom played a rousing round of darts with “the Fathers” (Buck & Mike). Where it was discovered that Thomas really could be a good “closer”, and Tom had the honor of carrying the team (his father) to victory.
Trish was lavished with two family gifts from Grammy (Ruthann) in the form of rocking chairs. Our bellies were full and sated from a delicious dinner prepared by Cheryl & Joe of roasted pork tenderloin and Mom-Mom (Joanne) tickled our taste buds with a lovely and tasty dessert of Strawberry Amaretto Torte.
Ruthann joined the ranks of the prestigious Hand and Foot Tournament of Players. The local eating establishments of IHOP and Cracker Barrel found that the Riley & McBreen Families don’t play when it comes to breakfast. They met our seating challenges (12 in a party) head on by placing us at various tables near each other.
Happily, we were honored with the presence Tom’s brother, Jim and wife Beth and their children Jamie & Kayla, as they stopped in to visit on their road trip home to PA from their two week vacation in Disney. This turned out to be the perfect setting to have the official Pepperidge Farm Birthday Cake ablaze with candles in honor of Trish’s birth.

September– Thomas changed schools this year. He started teaching at Gary’s School, Lee-Davis High School. Thomas also accepted the Head Wrestling Coach position. He is looking forward to a exciting season. Gary is a Sophomore this year.
Anna started First Grade at Cold Harbor Elementary School. She also attended a new dance class at the Local Parks and Recreation Center. She took Ballet & Tap. Class runs through December 15th.
Mike and Ruthann Riley’s visit on way to Florida and decide to stay a little longer, which made the whole family happy.
October-As Lemony’s Snicket fans we happily welcomed the newest edition of his book, of A Series of Unfortunate Events, #13 The End, the final book.
Trish worked on Halloween and dressed in her usual Harry Potter Movie Themed attire as Prof. McGonagall and gave out candy at work. Zach was Spiderman again and Anna was a ballerina. As usual they got tons of candy. Gary did not dress up.
Gary attended Lee-Davis’ Home coming dance with a friend of his named Brett.
November–The family traveled to PA for Thanksgiving with the McBreen’s & Trish’s sister Liz’s 30th Birthday Party. Liz was getting a little cranky in the months prior to her birthday, because in August she commanded that Me, my Mom and our friend Cheryl had to throw her a surprise birthday party. The secret was well kept she was getting irritated because she thought we forgot or were not giving her a party. Needless to say she was very shocked and surprised when the plan finally came together.
December was filled with preparing for the Holidays with shopping and baking. Anna had a dance recital on Dec. 15th and the Lee-Davis Holiday Classic was hosted by Tom’s Wrestling Team. Tom worked very hard and tended to every detail for the 15th & 16th to be a great success. Trish is still working hard for Blockbuster and trying her hand at writing. The kids have enjoyed watching the traditional Rudolph, Frosty and Santa movies this holiday season. We introduced Zach to Home Alone and he loves it. Our family will be staying at Home for the Holidays and expecting Trish’s parents just after Christmas. This is our first quiet Christmas alone in eight years.

Family Traditions live on...

A little Talyai family folklore …
The Pepperidge Farm Birthday Cake is a family tradition from Trish’s Grandma Talyai. She would stockpile these cakes in the deep freezer in the kitchen near the back door. It was required by Grandma Talyai, that you have a cake and a candle and a song on the actual day of your birth. Even if your birthday was Thursday and your official party was Saturday. The Pepperidge Farm cake would appear, sometimes still partly frozen, to celebrate your birth. So for Grandma Talyai’s grand daughters, if you don’t take the effort to make a cake from scratch, the only acceptable replacement is the Pepperidge Farm cake, in honor of Grandma Talyai.

2006

January 2006: Wrestling Season Winding Down. Trish was looking for a part-time job and Interviewed with Blockbuster. Pampered Chef shows starting up again. Hugh and Joanne (Trish’s Parents) went away for their Anniversary to Las Vegas.
February-Trish started working at Blockbuster Video in Mechanicsville which is just down the street from the house. There is a nice crew and Trish enjoys the work and the people there.
Trish read “Natural Cures” by Kevin Trudeau, and has made changes to move the family towards a more natural and Organic diet.
Anna got her ears pierced early, as a birthday present. She had six weeks wearing the piercing studs before she could change her earrings on her birthday in March.
We had a Hand & Foot Tournament Weekend with Liz, Cheryl, Maria, Hugh & Joanne to celebrate Joanne’s Birthday on February 15th..
March– We celebrated Tom and Anna’s Birthdays with a house full of guests and a small carnival in the yard. Though it was windy there was some out door enjoyment of Horseshoes, bean bag toss, a Moon bounce and a quick game of Bocce Ball, renamed Boccer for Joanne who kicked the “jack”.
In the week following Anna’s party we made kites found in our latest issue of Family Fun Magazine and attempted to fly them in the yard with some success but finally headed to the local park for a more triumphant take off.
April-Gary got his braces off, and his teeth look great. We spent Spring Break in the mountains with our friends the Sickingers and Easter weekend with our family and friends in PA.
May-Trish baby-sat for a lady from church for a while. Trish received positive feedback from the store manager and was asked if interested in a possible promotion & raise to Shift Leader in coming month. We visited TLB Dinner Theater (Three Little Baker’s in DE) with the DePaol’s and Riley’s. Tom finished up school and looked forward to summer break.
We tried a new White Chicken Chili Recipe from a friend at Church, Rhonda Majzer, and loved it. It was an award winner at the Ward’s Chili Cook-Off.
We traveled to PA for Memorial Day and
Anna was in the parade as the Poppy Queen. We also celebrated Gary and Zach’s birthday one last time at the Riley’s before they headed for Florida.
June-Anna learned to ride a two wheeler and has stopped the jack-knife technique for turning. The family traveled to Cape May for the day to visit with the other Riley Clan. Anna and Gary enjoyed the water, but Zachary liked the sand better. Trish really enjoyed when her niece Kayla threw sand down some lady’s bathing suit. She & Tom were laughing for quite sometime. The thought of it still makes her chuckle.
Gary spent a week at Boy Scout Camp working the C.O.P.E. Program which was a leadership/teamwork building program.