Thursday, January 2, 2014

Building, Birthdays and Bawling


 Ginger Bread Houses! We had our friends over to decorate these tasty treats! 
Not only was it a huge success (and by that I mean huge mess) it was also a tasty great time. 
(Note: Hank eating large amounts of the RAW egg white frosting. Still alive, so, not totally worried) 




Lucy had a darling Christmas Program. Beforehand, we were to gather up a collage of pictures, telling about the day they were born. Oh my heck!! Look at how our cute blossomed into a little girl!!

Charlie, at the Christmas program, diving mouth first into the cupcakes. Mmmnnn

CHARLIE TURNS 5!!!!! December 15th! 
This little boy, I'm convinced, will make some woman the happiest person alive. 
He has a tender, thoughtful, caring and gentle spirit. 
He is submissive and obedient to his ever bossy siblings and friends.
He LOVES to explore, climb and 'build things'. He is currently obsessed with building a 'ball factory'
He loves to think about processes, and come up with a different way to get a job done. 
For his birthday party, our theme was Ninja Turtles. 
All his darling preschool friends came over to celebrate.
We had a great, tame time, and so happy to celebrate this little man. 
I love you Charlie, and am honored to be your adoring mother!  
His cake! I LOVE the challenge of making cakes, and it turned out great.  Lucy for me, a ninja turtle theme, cake and pinata, were much easier to create then I originally anticipated. 





Charlie with the other boys in his preschool class. Stefan (who he called Stuffon) and Mason. 


 







 The GRANDE Finale!!!
It was in 2nd grade, at Carden Memorial School, that I met my equal, at the time.
 Both taller then all the other classmates, AND we both wore dorky glasses! 
We did EVERYTHING together! Jenna was adopted, and by chance, was born October 29th, the day BEFORE ME!! That could only mean one thing, we were twins, separated at birth!! 
We lived and breathed by each others sides!  She lived in Bountiful, and I lived in SLC, but you would have thought we were next door neighbors! 
Fast forward 24 years....and my dear sweet Jenna got married to David. (Funny twist, I actually know Davids family, as his sister and I sang together, and played soccer together. Small small world) 
I went to SLC- for the wedding. By. My. Self. 
It was bitter sweet. I missed my family, and was saying good bye to one side of Jenna, that was honestly hard to give up. I cried heeps that weekend, enjoyed an amazing wedding ceremony, delicious food, and made some incredible new friends!! 
Congratulations to the budding new couple! 


Two of the 'girlies' and I, doing puzzles, after sunday dinner. 

My NEW NEPHEW!!! 
Jeffs sister rolled the dice, on baby #4. She has 3 spirited little girls, and look what came her way! 
He was SO darling, and I was SO glad I could see him! 


My heart be still!! 
This amazing man has created a HUGE space in my heart! 
This is grandpa Floyd, Jeffs mothers dad. 
I knew from the first time we met, I would love this guy!! 
He is spirited, always has amazing stories to tell, is a laugher, and grateful for his life. 
On top of this all, you'd never guess some of his sorrows, not in the least, his inability to see.
His sight is very limited, and deteriorating quickly.   He's no longer able to make use of his left hand, 
and for the most part, is either sitting down, or in his wheel chair. 
You would NEVER know any of this, after talking with him, and, in fact, if you were able to be blessed by his presence, you'd know, immediately, by his radiating smile he is someone amazing!

Its not that he has had an extraordinary life, rather his outlook on life that makes him unique. 
He doesn't like to complain, simply because "others don't like to hear it". 
I was thrilled he couldn't see me in detail, as tears were streaming down my face while we talked. 
It was a magical time, as it always is, to just sit. be still. and visit with grandpa Floyd. 
Our goodbye was so tender. We both cried, said goodbye, then hugged. We repeated this about 4 times. It was so hard to leave this wonderful man! 
I'm truly so blessed to know and love such a treasure! 



Friday, December 6, 2013

Thanksgiving Feasts, Soccer Tournaments and enjoying life!!









Frisbee GOLF! We had some friends invite us to play, and although I was by far the worst on the team (someone has to be, right?!?!) We had such a fun time.
















But, Look at My FORM!! PRO! 




 Frisbee GOLF! We had some friends invite us to play, and although I was by far the worst on the team (someone has to be, right?!?!) We had such a fun time.

Santa CLAUSE CAME TO TOWN!  We welcomed Santa and his reindeer at our little mall, and I was totally impressed with the parade, goodies, and turn out.  Not terribly cold, and maybe had Charlie not worn sandals, he would have even been just a smidge warmer. :) 



Is this amazing!?!? I have done a few paint jobs in this friends home, and this is the latest, 
for her sons room. Obviously a HUGE bronco's fan. 
Over 10 hours, JUST on the Broncos head, I'm totally thrilled with the results. 


 Are you KIDDING ME!!!? Adorable, right?!!? Just looking cute, with new bow ties, 
all dappered up for Church. 

YAY for us!! Grannie and Grandps drove in, VERY last minute, to bring some Holiday cheer, and celebrate Thanksgiving with us!!
We love having them come, and had such a marvelous time with them, with amazing weather!




















Charlie goes to a local church preschool.
This program, and his teacher, Mrs Melane, have done amazing things for Charlie!!
I honestly have never spent my money better, and we already look forward to putting Hank in the program!!!
Here we are, at the Thanksgiving Feast. So Much FUN!!!

There are only 5 other kids in his class!! Its all just been so perfect!
He's standing next to 2 of his best friends, Stefan (who for the longest time he called Stuffin)
and his darling little girlfriend, Esley!!

The HIGHLIGHT of the trip for my kids were the many and massive soccer tournaments my parents played with the kiddies!! 
YAY for me, I think we finally worked the dancing bug out of Lucy!! We may have some soccer pros in our future. :) 







You just HAVE to make a Thanksgiving craft?!?!? RIght?!?! We made apple turkeys. : )




And here it is! Where all the magic happens!! (And the magicians who made it possible.) 

Beautiful!! STUNNING!! TASTY!!! Ahhhhahhhhh
(My mom and dad made these fantastic name cards!! It was such an earthy, organic setting. LOVE IT) 

Just making some memories (and bears) and Build-A-Bear.
Hank sleeps, eats, walks, dreams with his. The others....eh. Not so much. But, we still had fun.

THis was SO cute!! For some reason, my kids really wanted to go camping! So, they did!!
Packed suit cases, blankets, clothes, toys, food, and off they went.
Really, it was only about 45 degrees . Buy hey. When the sun shines, you might as well get your swim suite on.

A.N.D. moving right along. Into the next holiday! We got our tree set up, 
decorations out, stockings hung, and now, just waiting for the magic to happen!! 
This year, a favorite new tradition has been reading a christmas story, each night, by the light of the tree!! Its just such a special time of year, I want to cherish every moment. 




And, the final highlight of my week.
Lucy and the boys play puppy 99% of the time. Lucys usually the owner, and the boys are the puppies.
They just follow her around, on leashes, get doggie treats, go on 'walks', get into puppie trouble...and Lucy did the cutest thing!!
You can see below, for yourself, how well she's doing at reading, writing, and being an amazing sister and daughter! This sweet note for her puppies melted my heart! Love that girl!

Happy Holidays to you all!! :)