Apple Crisp

My Grandmother Girouard makes the best apple crisp in the world. She makes it from scratch and with a little bit of love. She usually makes it on special occasions like Christmas and my birthday! The last time she made it was Christmas and it was amazing. I had to share it with my family so I wasn’t to happy. I once helped her make it and it turned out pretty well. I helped cut the apples and mix all of the ingredients which doesn’t sound like much but I though it was a great time. I love baking things with my grandma and I cant wait to bake more things in the future.

I play for the 8th Grade Leominster Blue Devils AYF football team. I have been playing for 2 years now and I think I have improved a lot. My Coach is Jimmy Xarras and he has helped the team go to a 7 and 2 record. Last season I played mostly tight end on offense and I played end on defense. This season I still play both of the same positions and I love it. I made a few catches this year and almost a touchdown! I cant wait till high school football.

This year was the first time I made it to the all-star game. I played the whole entire game but we lost pretty bad. We all had fun and that’s all that mattered to me. I will be playing next year for the high school and I will be hitting harder than ever!!!

Blue Devils

Christmas is one of the best times of the year for me and my family. We all get together and just tell stories about the past and when my grandfather was alive. My grandfather past away 3 years ago 5 days after Christmas and its still not the same without him but we still talk about how great of a person he was. Every Christmas Eve my mom gives me a pair of pajamas just for that night. She also give me a ornament to put on the tree every Christmas. It is a tradition that I love to do with my family. Then I have a second Christmas at my dads since my parents are divorced. Our tradition is we go to the same place to get our Christmas tree and cut it down. It is something I look forward to every year. Now I just have to wait another 12 months to do it again!!!

Christmas

December is one of the most exciting times of the year for me. I always get to see people that I don’t usually see on a daily basis which makes me feel amazing to see them. This years was the first year out of my entire life that I haven't seen my aunt and uncle on my moms side of the family and my great grandma. I don’t know why I didn’t see them but they still wished me a Merry Christmas and I wished them one to. This year for Christmas I got the new iPod 5 from my mom and from my dad he got me mostly clothes and an under armor sweatshirt which is very warm. My parents are divorced so it gets pretty crazy when It comes to December to see which parent gets me for the holidays and when and what time I go home to see the other parent but I get threw it and its only once a year and I just try to make the best of it.

December

My bro Evan and I have had some crazy summers together! We have done things we weren't suppose to and we might have even broken the law a few times but all that mattered was we were having a good time. I can remember it was Evan, his brother, and I would pull all-nighters every night when we were camping in Rhode Island and we would just chill and hang out and chill and enjoy life to the fullest. Evans like a brother to me and we talk every once an a while but really we party and go all out in the summer. I only see him in the summer because he lives in Rhode Island and we go to the same campground. We have been friends for almost 4 years and we been threw everything together. He has tough me right from wrong and I appreciate that. I remember just chilling at the camp fire and talking about random stuff and about crazy things. I will always consider Evan as a brother and I cant wait until next camping season and for more party's!!!!

Evan Miller

Family Family is a big part in my life. On my moms side of the family their really isn't that many people. There is my Mom, Grandma, Great-grandma, and my aunt and uncle. But on my dads side there is hundreds of people. The thing I think is special is we usually go to festivals were we live and there is always someone in my family their . On my moms side we usually just get together on holidays. Ever since my grand-father died we haven't been all that close. So its usually just my mom, step-dad, step-sister, step-grandmother, and my grand-mother. I think of my step dad as a father to me because my father really isn't their for me and he is. So I will be talking about him in another slide.

GrandfatherMy grandfather is Bill Baird and he

passed away 3 years ago and I still talk about him today like he's still here with us. I can remember going camping in Rhode Island with him and just working on things like helping him fix things around the camper. I remember when I was in boy scouts I had to make a car that we would race against each other. He helped me make mine and it turned out amazing. Even though it didn’t look the best and wasn’t the fastest I still made it with him and had a good time and that’s all that matters. When he was alive my step dad Roland and me would bring him to the gun shop all the time and just look and talk about the guns we wanted but couldn’t afford. It seems like it was just yesterday we were at their house seeing him on his chair smoking a cigarette and with that grin on his face that everyone knew .

Hockey The last time I played hockey was 2 years ago and now I play football which is what is my main sport now. When I first started playing hockey is when I was I was about 4 years old. I can remember being on the bandits and playing defense and stopping everyone in my path. It might have been that I was about a foot taller than everyone else that played. Everyone thought I was suppose to play in a higher grade because I was so big. Then I finally moved up and met one of my best friends today who is Jerry Malsky. We played together for most of our time playing hockey and now we play football together. I remember played on Static which was his dads team was and we were the best. I played goalie and he played wing. He scored the goals and I stopped them and that lead to a championship. I have also won many awards for best goalie in a season! I have had a lot of fun playing hockey but now its time to shine in football.

InspirationMy inspiration is every player to make it into the NFL. One day I want to make it in the NFL and play for the San Francisco 49ers. I want to keep playing for Leominster football but when I get into collage I really don’t care where I get accepted I just want to play for a semi pro team and hope to get drafted to the NFL. My step dad and I talk about how to be better and how to do more things so the coaches will notice you. It also helps make my team better. I cant wait for high school football and I hope to play collage and then go pro.

Joey GirouardWell my name is Joey Girouard and

I'm going to tell you a little about me! I was born on October 11, 1998 at Leominster hospital at . My parents are Chris Girouard and Kathy Baird. I can remember being 4 years old just playing around at my birthday party and having so much fun until I went on my slide. I was at the top of the slide and one of my friends pushed me off the slide and I broke my arm. This happened two years earlier when I was 2 years old and I was running around and fell and broke my wrist. I had a blue cast on which is my favorite color. But now I'm 14 years old and I have learned about the being in the big world and I wish I was 4 again even though my arm was broken.

Kathy is my mom and I love her. She was always their for me as a child because my mom and my dad got divorced when I was very little. She and I would go to the deck hockey rink and have my practice. After we would stay about 3 hours after and just hang out their because we knew everyone. She would have to deal with the smell of hockey in her truck but she got used to it after a while. Every summer we go down to Rhode Island and pretty much live down there at this campground we go to called Ginny B’s. We have so much fun. We party all night and into the next day. One time my mom let me and my friend ben drive around a gulf cart at 2 o'clock in the morning. We have some fun times and it never gets old.

Kathy Baird

LoveLove is a very strong word to who you are

saying it to. When you say you love someone you should mean it and it should come from the heart. I can say I love my family. Every night I got to bed and every time I wake up in the morning I make sure I say I love you to my mom and my step dad. You I could go home one day and have them not be their but I know the last time I saw them they knew I loved them. The first girl I ever said I love you to was Savannah Kennedy. Threw all the fights we have and all the things we go threw together I will always love her. We have been threw crazy times like being in the Leominster Hospital at 10 o'clock at night with my hand cut open and going to football games together. Another person I love is my girlfriend Jacee Bennett. We have been going our for over a month now and I haven’t been happier in my life than I am now. She always deals with the crap I do and she has helped me be a better person.

MotivationRoland Rivard is the one person

who motivated me threw the tough times I had. When I was playing football before every game he would tell me to hit low and to do my best and never give up. He works a lot so he couldn’t make all my games but he still made more games than my father has. He would teach me the basic things about football and the things he has learned. I can remember one time when I made it to the all-star team and it almost brought tears to his eyes when I said It was all cause of him that I have made it this far. Another person that motivated me was all of the players on the team the would cheer you on and even give you crap and get you mad to get better at what your doing. I thank everyone of them for that.

I never gave up during football. When we had to do extra pushups because we went off sides I would do them and not complain. I can remember starting football way earlier than all the other teams we would go to the gym and work out for 2 hours a day. I always tried my hardest and never gave up. All the hard work paid off. Our team went 7 and 2. I also made it into the all-star team . I made it to the all-star team because couch thought I played hard and hit hard!!! My step-dad helped me a lot during football and he pushed me to the limit and that also showed off in my success. I'm very grateful to the people that told me never to give up.

Never Give Up

OuchOne night their was a varsity

football game at Doyle Field. Kenson, Dio, and I were trying to jump a fence and we made it over the fence but going back over it didn’t work out so well. My hand got caught on the fence and cut it open. Blood was runny out of it so my instinct was to wrap it up with my shirt so I did. I was very lucky that night to see Sam Kennedy. I asked her what I should do and she said we need to go to the hospital. So at 9 o'clock at night it was Sam, Savanna h, and me in the Leominster Hospital. Savannah is one of my best friends and I love her so much and she was their with me when I needed her the most. I will never forget that night and I wont forget the 11 stitches I had to get and 4 weeks out of football.

ProgressThis year my football team went

7 and 2. It is a lot better than 1 and 8 record from last year. I have played more positions this year and I have improved a lot. I made it to the all star team this year and I thought I wouldn’t play that much but I really played the entire game! We did lose the game by 3 touchdowns but I had fun and that’s all that mattered. A few of my family members went to the game like my mom, grandmother, her friend Walter, and my dads ex fiancé mick. They all supported me during that game which made me do a lot better. The last play of the game on defense I made the last tackle. That was the last tackle I would ever make in my youth football career. Now its on to the high school football.

Quack One day in homeroom Mackenzie

Bailey pointed out that our friend Ashley's hands look like duck hands. She thought they did to. Now all we talk about is that when we are around her and she thinks its funny but she hopes it dosnt stick with her for a while. I don’t think I laughed so hard in my life. All the time Omar and I walk around the halls yelling Quack and she knows we are trying to get her attention. I wrote this because I didn’t have a word for Q so the first thing that popped into my head was quack.

Rhode IslandEvery summer I go to Rhode Island with my family at this camp called

Ginny B’s. their was this one time when we were crossing the river to get to one of my friends campers and I fell right in it. I was so embarrassed. I still went to my friends camper all wet cause he didn’t care. The most amazing part of camping Is just being with the people you care about. I remember when the first time my friend Ben and his family came to the camp. We didn’t know each other and I thought I would never be friends with him. We became friends from just seeing each other so many times and we have been friends for over 4 years now. Down at the camp we would just hang out and each chees e hot dogs at 1 in the morning cause they are so good. I miss every one of them but I will see them next camping season.

Step DadMy step dads name is Roland

Rivard. I think of him as my father because he has been their more than my own father has in my life. Rolly has been in my life for over 10 years. The first night Roland was at my house I was about 4 years old. I asked my mom if he could spend the night cause I liked him so much. Of course he did and from that point on he and my mom are engaged. I don’t know why they don’t want to get married. But all that matters is he's in my life and I love him as a father. The one quote I like and I think it describes him is a father isn't the person who is blood to you it’s the person that is in your life and that takes care of you.

TeacherI wanted to write about a teacher

that I have had for 2 years in a row for math and that’s the one class I look forward to going to. His name is John Bennett or as everybody calls him Mr. Bennett. He is my 8th grade math teacher and last year he was my math teacher for 7th grade. I'm in his honors class this year and I love it. We kind of move faster than the other classes but that’s the fun of it. I have always loved math but the way Mr. Bennett teaches it is the best. When he teaches he's always moving around and talking to all of the students when the need help. I asked him for my freshman year to move up to the high school but I don’t think he will do that.

Joe Girouard

UFOOne night down at the camp my

friends an I were just hanging out at the lake. My other friend Ben was walking around the camp with of our other friends. We meet up and he said he say a UFO. I though he was on something but when he showed me a picture of it I was amazed. It didn’t look like a air plane or any other human machine. It looked like it was from outer space. To this day he still has the photo and we will never forget that moment I had with my friends down at the camp.

VangVang Pha is one of my best friends

in 8th grade. We would have every class with each other but for social studies he goes to ESL which helps him with English. The main class we have fun in is science. We don’t talk that much when we are their cause Mrs. Koch will yell at us. We also played football this year together. The nickname people call him and I still call him is Jow. I call him this because in the high school he looks like a kid called Jow so we call him by that. The name he calls me is Big Joe because I'm a big kid and my name is Joe. I have only known Vang since the beginning of football but I feel like I have known him forever.

WinWhen I played hockey for many years

I didn’t know how far we were going to go in wins. I played for the bandits which was when I just started being a goalie. I would get very mad every time I let in a goal and when we lost because I would think its my fault. But then I realized it was a team sport and if we lost the whole team lost. So when I played for the bandits I kicked butt. We went all the way to the championship and won. We would never have a team like the bandits and later our team split up into other teams. It just wasn’t the same.

Xbox 360I love playing Xbox with my friends

when I have free time. The main games I like to play is any Call of Duty games and Madden 13. When Madden 13 came out me and my step dad played it hours at a time. Their was one time I got home from school and he was already playing Madden 13. There is this thing on Madden 13 that lets you create your own team with any player that has been in the NFL . Its pretty cool and you can buy these card packs that give you legendary cards and high value card. But the only thing is its 20 dollars. My step dad and I are so into this game we spent over 100 dollars in buying these card packs. Now I have one of the best teams on their now because of all the good cards I got from the packs.

YoungWe all grow up to fast. I can remember

running around my big back yard and feeling just one day would last a life time but now they go in a blink of an eye. I remember this on year it was super bowl Sunday and my mom was throwing a huge party at my house everyone was their except my dad because my mom divorced him. I was playing on the computer a game with Jimmy Neutron in it. That was the only game I would play for hours at a time. My mom and all the adults were watching the game and betting on what team would win. My mom won all the money and she didn’t even know she did until someone told her. I also remember hanging out with my friend John. He is a lot older now in his early twenties. When I was a kid about 7 he was my age that I am now. I really don’t see him because he has a family now but I remember all the fun we had together and all the crazy things my mom didn’t want me to do he let me do them any ways. Time flies by and you don’t even know it so enjoy the time you spend with friends and family.

Bob Marley is one of the many people I listen to in music. Bobs music helps me threw tough times and it just gets you threw life a lot easier. When my mom was my age she used to listen to Bob Marley and all the other reggae music. She says that we are almost the same in what we have tastes in and I think she's true. For Christmas she got me a Bob Marley poster that I hang on my wall now and I love it. Another thing is Bob was a Rastafarian and the colors are red, yellow, and green. I have a lot of things that are Rastafarian like my two bracelets and my ear gauges. I really wish I was able to go to one of his concerts but he sadly died way before I was born. He still lives on everywhere especially in my house.

Zion Train