12 Days of Christmas

Maia is always posting things like this up, so I decided to beat her to it. :) Have you ever wondered what the heck they mean in the Christmas Carol, The 12 Days of Christmas? Like, what the freak does twelve lords a-leaping have anything to do with Christmas? Or maids milking?!? I know, right? So I got this in an email, and decided to post it up on my blog since I haven't written in this for a LONG TIME ha ha.1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were
not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone
during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics.
It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning
plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each
element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality
which the children could remember.

-The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.

-Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.

-Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.

-The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.

-The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.

-The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.

-Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.

-The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.

-Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness,
Gentleness, and Self Control.

-The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.

-The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.

-The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.
Merry Christmas Everybody!!!!!!

Twilight Movie

This movie was so good! Despite what some people have said, it was way good. Rob Pattinson is ridiculously hot in this movie. And Kristen Stewart did a great job as Bella. I love the two of them together.... The chemistry is SO REAL! It was very good, and made about $80 million dollars in its opening weekend. Also, today, (November 23, 2008) it was announced for sure that they are making the second book into a movie. So that means we fans are to expect New Moon coming to theatres! Pattinson and Stewart signed the contract so it'll be the same Bella and Edward playing the parts!!! I am just so excited over this, I had to write something. So, I also took some pictures of me in my Twilight attire. Ha ha! So here is the only goodish picture.



Me, just chillin' before the amazing movie viewing experience! Showing off my Twilight shirt!

A Very Happy Day

Well, the title is pretty self explanatory. I guess I could start off by saying, hiya guys! It's been a while since I've posted anything on here. Oops, hehe. Well, I have a great thing to talk about in my blog that I haven't written in for a LONG time. It was Sunday night, and I get a phone call from my friend, Dori. She invited me to go and see Tokio Hotel with them that next day (that would be Monday, people). Lemme' clear that up for people who may not know this new group; they are a fresh-outta'-Germany rock band that I really like. They're a huge hit there, and Europe so they decided to try their luck in North America. They may be new (CD was released in English for U.S. in May) but they are already becoming a huge hit. No sold out concerts quite yet-too new for that still. Anywho-I got superexcited and went. It was my friends Julia, Erica, Dori and I that went.

We all slept over at her house that night. 1:30am rolls around on the clock and the alarms go off. Time to get ready!!!

We spent a couple hours getting all primped up, then 3:30am rolls around the clock, and time to leave! Now you are probably wondering "why so early?" Right? Yeah, thought so. It took place in LA so we needed to get on the road early (believe it or not, we still hit traffic) and to reserve some really good spots.

This was an interview that Tokio Hotel was called for on KIISFM. After the interview they were going to perform. This wasn't a huge announcement, so if you were lucky enough to hear of it, then you were lucky enough to go. While there and waiting for the whole schindig to start, we made buddies with the security officer, Roger.

Now now folks, I've learned a lesson that making friends with the guard there is a brilliant idea. He guarenteed us autographs by placing us in front row, and right next to the door, so we could see them coming out of the exit and everything! It was great. About midway through the interview, they accepted phone calls from fans, and they were allowed to ask the group a question. Dori is a diehard fan of Tom (one of the twins; he has the dreadlocks). Dori wrote I Love Tom on her chest, and Roger put two and two together to figure out that Tom was her favorite. So he called Ryan Seacrest (who we also saw there) right after a call. Ryan answered, and Roger said there was a girl who wanted to talk to Tom personally. Of course, Dori never said she wanted to do that, but Roger did that for her. As he handed her the phone, Dori freaked out. It was pure comedy. I was laughing so hard, my sides hurt. So Dori made it on the radio LOL. Replaying it, I've noticed that she was the only one who said "gosh." Everyone said, well, not gosh. All of us that went are LDS, so that really shined while she was talking. Even when they came on stage, we all said gosh. Excecpt everyone else. :/ I really wish I had my camera out then, to record her reaction. The whole interview plus the phone calls is on KIISFM.com, and here is the link-Click Here= She was the 6 one to get interviewed. So anywho, shorlty after the interview, it was announced that it was almost time for their performance. OMG. We were going to listen to them live, and because we were in the front row (thanks Roger!!) we were going to be SO close. Long story-that-is-already-very-long-and-only-getting-longer-by-my-writing-this-short, they performed the song Final Day in acoustic, so lil' Gustav wasn't there to play the drums. Ah well. They play very good live, and the acoustic version was really good, I almost like it better than the original... yeah I don't know haha. So they went back inside, and only a few minutes later, all the body guards make their way out. So it was only natural for us to befriend them too! We still don't know his name, but we talked to a bodyguard. Then their "something like that" manager came out too and we talked to him also. Finally, finally finally finally, They whole group makes its way out the door each carrying permanent markers in there hands. Julia, was first in line, me second, Dori third and Erica fourth at the very tip beginning of the line. The order that the group came out in (for anybody who gives a care) Tom, Bill, Georg, and Gustav. After Julia got her things signed, I had Bill sign my phone. And Gustav, ah, cute little tiny 5'6" Gustav, sign it also. So I have two signatures by a band. It's really rather fun. Adults may make fun of me, but that's OK. I'm a teenager. I'm supposed to do that. All the people taking pictures and videos liked the four of us, especially Dori who was the most outgoing. So we have a couple of pictures on KIISFM.com. We are on page 15, 23, and 24. So if you just want to skip-a-dee-do-da there. And, btw, the girl holding up the sign that says "I ditched school for Tokio Hotel", the ONLY sign on there, that was a girl from Moreno Valley too. In fact, the same school as us even, haha! And here is the link to there- Click Here They took some shots of us as a group posing, but they didn't put it online. =( Oh well. It was still such a blast, and I'm so glad they invited me. It was great. Well, I'll end this here. Bye guys!

Welcome To The Magic Show, Kids.

Gather Round!! Gather Round!! Gather round to see the wonderful Grace-dini at work! I would first off like to introduce her, however. She is commonly known as GraceFace, which is taken from the name, BraceFace. It was a TV show for those of you that remember about a teen with braces. Well, Grace has had her braces on for a while, and Grace happened to rhyme with Brace. So, the name GraceFace kind of stuck for a while (TRIVIA!! While Grace was running for secretary at Ridgecrest Elementary when she was in the 5 grade, her brother-in-law, Brent, drew the cartoon BraceFace on posters and used the nickname GraceFace for her slogans.) Now that all of that history is out of the way, I will present to you, Grace-dini! Watch, as her braces MAGICALLY disappear from her teeth. Drum roll please!!


Before.....


Tah-Dah!!


OMG! Look at those teef!



Thanks so much one and all for stopping by! We hope you enjoy another fantabular show presented by Grace!! Have a great day/evening/night/morning!!

Article by: Grace Emmons Photos by: Grace Emmons Special Thanks: Grace Emmons, Dr. Kevin D. Rummler

Up, Up, Up, To Big Bear!!

A whole whopping 50 minutes from our driveway to the lake up in Big Bear, we decided to do something different for our Labor Day weekend. So obviously, we took a trip up to Big Bear for a day. My dad packed one of his humongous picnics, Maia looked up Family Friendly hikes that the kids and Mom (=D) could manage to go on.




The wheather is absolutely perfect up there- the highest was about 78 degrees up there. In comparison to our 95-105 degrees in deserty Moreno Valley we had died and gone to heaven. I thought that this would be a perfect time to take my camera and take some kewl pictures. So I took some pretty pictures of plants and flowers using the SUPERMACRO-LED function on my camera. I thought they turned out very nice, but you all can be the real judge of that. It was Maia, Brent, Tahnee, Hannah, Kirstine, Seth, Larissa, Mom, Dad, and I that went. Spencer had a boys' day, so he wasnt able to make it up there with us. Well, I can't think of anything else to say, so I'll just let you all enjoy the pictures.




At the Ranger Station place thing, Seth was greeted by a bear LOL.



Aw, how cute are the three of us?



OMG, Gracie is in the mountains!! Still yet to see snow... ever...


The Happiest Trees on Earth are in Big Bear Mountain.


This is a close up of a plant called Rubber Rabbit Brush. It's branches were used as a rubber substitute during World War 2. Rabbits hate this stuff, and like I said, it has rubber in the branches, so, hence the name for a cool history of the plant.


Just a cool looking tree.


Wanted a picture of a bee for no reason.


Same bee.


Pretty little flower right next to a little stream.


Just another cute flower.


I guess I had a thing for kewl plants while up there LOL.


Yep, more flowers.


This was the only flower in bloom on its bush.


AAAH! Kids!!


A rather pokey plant.


A dead tree had fallen, and basically some of the branches just shattered. So, new life was forming out of all these broken pieces. I thought this was a beautiful picture- It can kinda' represent life. Something like, out of hard and difficult troubles, new life can form with the nourishment of knowledge of the past or something like that. I find it a very poetic plant I suppose...



This tree grows so slow, it takes 100 years just to grow 6 inches in diameter. Even Larissa grows faster than that!!



PineCone close up.


Big tree, little girl.


When you scratch the bark of this tree, it smells like vanilla. So that makes it a Scratch N' Sniff Tree! Yes, it does look like Seth is kissing it. Haha!


Rissa got tired of walking for a little bit.

New Hair!! =D

That's right folks. I chopped about a foot off my hair and had it layered in the front and highlighted, all in one visit. What more can a girl ask for?? Oh, that's right- shampooing your hair in a salon. And I got that... TWICE(!) in one visit. This post sounds very conceited, but it isn't. I'm just very tickled to get my hair styled. It feels really good and fun.
Despite the akward angle, you can see some of the front highlights and the small layers.

In this pic you see the length I've gotten and the colors of my highlights and some more of my front layers. I only got it one length in the back, I really wanted something low- maintainence. This is for all my family who whine that I don't talk to them enough, send them my blog enough, or just want to see me grow up... hahaha.
**UPDATED August 16, 2008** Cahnged my background again

Lake Trip (with my new camera)

I had a Lake trip with my brand new camera. It was alot of fun. My new camera is a waterproof one and you can put it up to 10 feet underwater. It was really wierd, you just don't put electronics underwater! And here I am, getting a camera as a gift that is made to go underwater. So, I took some pretty sweet pictures underwater. And Brent too. This trip was alot of fun. It was windy the whole trip, and cloudy because a thunderstorm was blowing in. It rained on us a little bit one day. That trip was still really fun- great for Great Big Mable!! Haha, not very much left to say, just a joeschmoe trip with my waterproof camera. =D

**UPDATED August 9** Corrected some errors ;D

Breaking Dawn(!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Tonight, Friday August 1, 2008, I will be going to Barnes and Noble to recieve my preordered copy of BREAKING DAWN!!! And I cannot wait. That's whats with the new background. It's for the book if you haven't already figured that out. We will be gooing to the Lake, and Maia, Tahnee and I (all of us preordered) will be reading this our whole trip. If you haven't read the first three in the saga, check out my Shelfari (------>) and click on the books. Read about them on the webbie and maybe consider borrowing them, or buying them. Highly recomended!! This book will be read in no time. ;-D

**UPDATED August 7 Music Added**

Six Flags Magic Mountain

Hello hello everybody!! I'm back home from Tahnee's house and I miss her and Spencer very much. I LOVE YOU GUYS!!! but I am glad to be back to my other dork sister and mis padres (my parents). I missed them all very much but it was definetly a wonderful vacation. And it only got better. yesterday, Wednesday, July 30, Maia, Brent, Hannah, Tahnee, and Spencer and I went to Six Flags Magic Mountain. It was so much fun. I really had a jawsome time. My top three (in order) Tatsu, X(2), and Batman. I loved it there so much and I cannot wait to go back. one thing for sure is that Seth would love it there. Hahaha, It was not a cool day out in the hill-y desert. A warm 95 roughly and the whole park is on the hills. So it was a constant up-down-up-down walk and it got to be very tiring, but still fun. We bought a picture of the 6 of us on Goliath, Tahnee thought we were literally gonna pose *What a dork* Later in the evening, there was a Batman stunt show so we went and saw that. Brent, being the moron he is, waved both his arms in the air trying to get picked when the anouncer was picking someone for something. And of course, he was picked. He must have a vibe around him or something that makes people pick him. Well, I guess I should leave some for Maia to write so I'll go. Plus, I don't know what else to write haha. Except that my mom, the bestest in the world bought me a digital camera, so now I can keep up with the pictures on this thing. Later Guys!!

Vacation at long last

Well, here I am. Little ol' me, on my vacation with the bestest older sister ever (Maia, no worries you are the bestest OLDEST sister ever) Tahnee!! I'm hangin out down here in beautiful San Clemente with their cat, Imo at my feet. I've loved my stay down here and I hope Tahnee and Spencer know bout that. I may still be here, but so far I've been to the pool in their community and we went down to the beach, but the best part has been that I've been having TAHNEE'S HOME COOKING. That's right. Tahnee's cooking. now, there is no need for sympathy from anyone, because it is very good and delicious. They have their little place decorated so cute, it is very homey. Well, on Wednesday I will be returning home after our trip to Six Flags Magic Moutain! YEAH! So, when I come back home I'll talk more bout my trip with Tahnee then our trip to S.F. Later!!

Baptism (but not for me, silly!)

Today, Wednesday, July 16, I had the wonderful oppurtunity to go to the Redlands temple and do baptisms for the dead. It was an amazingly spiritual expirience. The spirit was so strong there, that I could not speak more than a whisper. Truly wonderful. And it was very fun. Not a 'YA-HOO! W00TNESS BABEH!!' kind of fun, but more of a 'wow... really? wow...' sort of way. Make sense? Hope so. Don't know how else to put it. =p For those of you that have not had the blessed oppurtunity to do Baptisms for the dead then I am truly sorry. It was wonderful. Every person has a different feel and perspective on 'Spiritual'. My feeling of it was... well... VERY difficult to explain. I absolutely loved it and hope to go back and do some names for my own family. I could sit here and type allthedaylong about my trip, but I don't feel I should. Because it's a time that people should go through personally, and not feel it through the words of someone else. So I will leave this topic at that I loved this whole experience, I hope to do it in the near future again, and that I hope all who have done it before have had as wonderful a time as mine.

**UPDATED JULY 16** Music added. Turn up your speakers! But give it a min

Promo!

Hiya! Sorry, I know that I haven't written in a very long time... I feel bad. LOL. So anywho, I promised pics and the 411 on my 8 grade promotion. Weeeeeell, I will post those pictures up here in a lil' bit, but for the time being, you'll have to deal with just the information. =D First off, I was so very glad to get the whole thing over with. The practices we were brutally forced to participate in (while the 6 graders put up chairs ;p) outside in alot degree weather and NO CLOUD COVER. Not fun. Not to mention for a total of 3 days tthen the actual promotion. But anyways, I'll get to the good stuff. The actual promotion itself was very fun. Both my sisters showed up (Maia and Tahnee) with their husbands (Brent and Spencer), my nieces and nephew and of course my parental figures. The field was packed with families. It was very nice. There were 3 teachers that were calling the names of the students to walk up to the stage and shake hands with the prinipal and some other important people (I assume they were important....?...). The teachers were Mr. Stowe who was my Algebra teacher, Mr. Tollhouse who I didn't have, and a female teacher that also I didn't have... But I cannot remeber her name. Sorry. Anyways, they had the students seperated into three groups by order of their last names. My last name is Emmons so I was in the first gruop. We faced towards the third group. So now that I think about it, the three groups together formed an I shape. Once they called us up we walked to the staage, shook hands with the Principal while looking at the camera and throwing them the fakest, cheesiest smile we have. Then we continued our way down the rickity creaky ol' cheap stage and shook hands the other somehow important people, then walked down the straight down, wide-stepped, freakishly far steps to continue our journey on SOLID GROUND! WOOHOO! then we made our way across the other two groups who were patiently awaiting their names to return to our seeats. And we practiced 3 days for THAT. I know huh, silly. After every group, a student gave a speech. All of them did a fantabular job. After the promotion was just as fun. After giving hugs to all my friends, I headed home with my sisters and my parents, and changed out of my dress. Then I got my promo gifts. Hannah, Kirstine, and Seth all made me sweet little cards. Maia and Brent bought me a box of mouthwatering, delectible, chocolate truffles by Choxie, and a card that specifically stated that Brent picked it out. Hahaha. Only you, Brent. Then Tahnee and Spencer gave me a pair of pink Rainbow Sandals!! W00t! Then my mommy and daddy took my family and me to whatever retaraunt I wanted to. So I picked El Torito. Yummeh. I don't remember what I ordered, but it was very delicious. Then we headed back home, I threw everyone out and went to bed. 'Cuz I was going to Knott's Berry Farm for the 8 grade end-of-the-year field trip. And that was a blast also. It was a lot of fun, and the whole trip is somewhat of a blur- maybe because it went by so quick because I was having fun... IDK. But when I got home, I was welcomed by the best mom in the whole wide world. I told her about my trip, then we walked into my bedroom. And there was a brand new, still-in-the-packaging- Wii staring me at the face. I was very excited. My mom bought me an extra Wiimote, Mario Kart Wii, an extra steering wheel for that, WiiPlay, and obviously the WiiSports which comes with the Wii. Now, I know that Maia will be reading this, then she will call Brent over to read it, laughing all the while, then they will give me a call and start teasing me about it... So don't worry you two, I'm prepared for what you guys will say. LOL. But I love that present, I love it very much. I really enjoy my new Wii, and it's a lot of fun to play. There are so many little features on there (SHUT UP BRENT) and they are all very fun to go and figure out, and play. Well, before I kill my hands, I'm gonna run. But I do promise those pictures! Latah!

**UPDATED July 9, 2008... Pics added**

The End of The Year! (school year anyways)

I am so excited! This week is the last week of school, I cannot believe it. This week is pretty busy and I look forward to it. Our last day of school is this Friday (the 13 *gasp*) Tomarrow (Tuesday) will be our promotion from middle school. We have been doing these 'practices' in the mornings to show us where to go when we walk. And let me tell you, it's not the most fun thing. Really. I am so ready for high school, just don't tell my mom that. LOL, J/K! Then this Wednesday will be the 8 grade trip to Knotts Berry Farm. I really look forward to that too. Getting closer to the end of the week is Thursday when we will have our Academic Day or whatever (I know, I hope its not as lame as it sounds too). I know very little about this, because they did not give much information on it. So I guess we will just have to be clueless till the day of. And finally, the most awaited day of the school year. The Last Day. That will be when they hand us 8th graders our papery-things, the 'diplomas' if you will. Then we get outta' that school for the rest of our lives. YES. I will write the the events that happened this week, after they occured and post them for any one that cares. I will more than likely post some pictures up here too, and I will finally have some pics on here! Well, Later Taters!!!
~Gracie

First Timer...

Hello hello! Welcome to my blog! The title is pretty self explanatory- I'm a first timer at this blogging thing. Thanks to my sister, she got me started on this. =p I guess I will have to say that I am pretty excited. I always enjoy reading her blog, and I really love to write. So put them together, and I guess you have a pretty good combination. LOL. I'm into journalism and simply creating stories and I look forward to spending evenings during my Summer vacation writing to keep myself from falling into a trance of complete and utter boredom. So, I'll finish up this first post, and get going. TTFN!
~Gracie