What an amazing weekend!

Last weekend was so completely and totally what I needed.  For the first time in a long time, I was able to check out of life and every single stress I have.  Two days at the cabin in Island Park, with 6 amazing friends, obscene amounts of delicious treats, movies, magazines, games, and so much talking.  It was exactly what the doctor ordered.  Angie, Mica, Sara, Dessa, Steph, and Kara, I love you ladies so much!  Thank you for being great friends and thank you for a wonderful weekend!!!  And remember....what happens at the cabin stays at the cabin ladies!

The cabin and look at all that snow!  It was gorgeous!!





4th of July Weekend

Happy 4th of July!! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and has the opportunity to spend time with family, friends, and loved ones. I am looking forward to good food, good company, and awesome fireworks here!

I hope we remember the reason for this holiday. We celebrate the birth of our country this weekend. While our country isn't perfect and has it's problems, it is the greatest country on this Earth and I am thankful for my citizenship. I am thankful for the long history of patriotism that my family has. I am grateful for the brave men & women, including some of my ancestors, who had the courage to leave everything they knew and travel the oceans to this country. I am thankful for the incredibly brave men, including some of my ancestors, who fought for freedom and founded our country. My mom told me once that in our family, we have men who have served in the military and fought in every war since the Revolutionary War. I am proud of that heritage. I am thankful to the men and women who dedicate their lives to ensuring the continued freedom of our country. I am proud of my brother, who has dedicated over twenty years of his life to serving our country and has served in two wars. I am proud to be an American.

We kicked off our weekend with a 4th of July breakfast at the church. Other than it being so cold, it was a wonderful time to visit with friends and a delicious start to the day! Angie asked Josh and two of the other older Scouts to take responsibility for the flag raising. I was proud to watch Josh participate in this and see the respect that he has for our flag and what it represents.

MORP

I know I'm a little slow, but a couple of weeks ago, Josh had MORP. I miss being home for these dates!  Thanks mom for the pic of Josh & his date, Mandy.  Then I lifted pictures of the whole group off Facebook! Josh said that they had a really great time--a fun group to go out with & a great dance!

Happy Easter

So I'm a little slow, but Sunday was Easter. It was Conference weekend, and it was a great family weekend. James came home for Easter and brought the lovely young lady that he is dating. It was fun to have James home and to spend some time getting to know Cass better. She's a sweet young lady who has been a really good influence on James. We decided to have a big Easter dinner this year and invited Angie's family & Hannah's family over for dinner. It was so fun to have the house full of family and friends on Easter. We had an Easter egg hunt for Angie's young kids. Not surprisingly, the teenagers got in on the hunt and I'm pretty sure that they got almost as many eggs as the young kids did! Dinner was delicious, mostly thanks to Angie's culinary skills and Hannah's amazing cake! It was a truly wonderful day spent with those I love the most!!



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I couldn't believe how long the table was! And the centerpieces were so fun to play with and make...they were the product of the trip to the Candy store on Friday that was so very much fun.





After dinner was time to play! Hide 'n seek, soccer, and basically just enjoying the last few minutes of sun and warmth to wrap up a really terrific day! I hope everyone was able to have a wonderful Easter and spend time with your family and loved ones.

Stake Prom

Last night was the Stake Prom. This is something that was started about 5 years ago for the kids in our stake. James went a couple of times & always had fun. This is the first year Josh was old enough to go. He took a friend, Desiree, and they doubled with one of his oldest friends, Jaiden and his date, Ariel. The kids all looked so good last night & they had a great time!! I remember teaching Josh & Jaiden in Primary when Josh first moved here. They were 7 years old and became very fast friends. They sort of raised trouble in my Primary class & have been close friends and causing trouble together ever since! I can't believe how old they are!!!

LOST: One serving of Christmas Spirit

I am usually the biggest Christmas person in the world! I have a really easy time picking up the Christmas spirit & just love everything about this time of year. But this year has been really hard for me, for various reasons. I had a hard time getting motivated to decorate the house, make my Christmas goodies, do Christmas cards, even shop for my family & friends. I usually am the biggest gift giver! I love to plan and get the perfect gift for people & am usually so excited to see them open it & know how much they're going to love it. This year, I could really care less. I think that part of why I'm having a hard time is because we are having a very low key Christmas around here. I feel like I'm not able to give my family and the people in my life what they deserve and because of that, I'm having a hard time finding my joy of the season. A very good friend reminded me the other day that presents and material things aren't the reason for Christmas. So I've been doing some thinking since then & trying to remember the real reason for the season and my Christmas spirit. I don't know that I've really found my spirit, but I do know that I'm so grateful that we have this holiday to celebrate the birth of our Older Brother and Savior. I'm so thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who loves me unconditionally, even when I probably don't deserve it. I am thankful for the wonderful family He gave me and the wonderful friends that He has brought into my life to teach me and help me on my personal journey. I have so much to be thankful for and have been given so many blessings in my life. My goal for the rest of the holiday season is to remember those blessings and remember to show gratitude daily for all the wonderful things in my life. To all of my wonderful, wonderful friends who will read this, thank you so very much for your friendship and love and everything that you have brought into my life.

A weekend at our house

I don't think we could have a weekend around here without the boys. Emmett told me Saturday that he hasn't missed a weekend at our house in at least 8 months. I didn't realize it had been so long! No wonder he considers himself part of the family...
We had Josh, Emmett, Kade & Dale here this weekend. We also had a bead party on Saturday afternoon, so it was a fun, busy day.

I thought only little boys built forts--but these guys were so excited Friday night to build a "fort" in the family room--dorks!

Nice outfit Josh

Dale, Kade and Emmett

Dale, Kade, Josh & Alyssa

Nice face Emmett!

Emmett & Desiree

Kade, Josh & Alyssa--I think they were laughing at me!

Dale, Kade, Josh & Alyssa--those Twizzlers were popular! Dale quickly learned that the best way to make sure you got plenty was to shovel them all into your mouth at once.

And of course, in the other part of the house, we had the bead party! The bead party was so much fun! I love Amy & Andrea, who do the beads & it's an excuse to make some oober cute watch bands and spend time with some of my favorite ladies! Girlfriends are theraputic, jewelry is uplifting, and the combination of the two made for a very happy Saturday for this girl!

Desiree making her watch









Amy, one of the awesome bead ladies!

Andrea, the other awesome bead lady & Mica

Angie, who is one of my favorite people on earth, brought her two adorable twin girls, Emma & Ellie and let them make their very own watches. Angie's also Desiree's mom

Audrey--her watch turned out so danged cute!

Andrea and Mica--I think they were laughing at me & my obsessive camera!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone has a wonderful, wonderful Thanksgiving! I hope you enjoy your time with your family, friends, or whoever you are spending your day with. I hope your meal is delicious and your pies are scrumptious. But more importantly, I hope you take the time to remember the good things in your life and express gratitude for your blessings.

I have so much to be thankful for and I know that I don't take the time to really appreciate the many, many good things in my life very often. I am thankful for my family. I have an awesome, amazing family. I was blessed with an amazing father who I know still loves me and watches over me. My mom is so strong and is always there for me. James and Josh are amazing kids who I am so lucky and blessed to have in my life! They make me happy and they make me proud every day. I have terrific extended family, with four brothers and sisters in law & 18 nieces and nephews. I love every single one of them very much. My nieces and nephews make me proud--they are such strong people! I'm thankful for my home. I'm thankful for a job that I love that I am able to provide for my family with.

I am thankful for a wonderful guy that has come into my life. Tim has brought so much into my life. He's reminded me of who I am and that I am important. He has reminded me of how important it is to be loved and to be able to give love. He has been this huge blessing in my life. I am thankful for my amazing friends. They mean so much to me. I am fortunate enough to count as close friends today some of the girls who were my best friends in high school. They are amazing women & I'm so thankful that we've found each other again and I have my best friends again!

Cute Kids

How cute is this picture from the Buddy Dance that Josh went to with Hayley? Josh had told me about it, but I couldn't quite picture it in my head--he brought the picture home from school today & I thought it was way cute! Hayley has become quite a fixture around here since the dance--Josh has become quite a fan of hers! She's a really terrific girl & I like her a lot.

I sure love these boys!!

After a date last night, Josh brought Emmett home with him to spend the night. Emmett said he couldn't let the week go by without coming home to his other house at least one night. So, after fixing them a delicious breakfast of French Toast and bacon, Emmett went off to church with us today. When we went into church, everything was brown & fall-ish. When we came out of the church, we were greeted with this:


Hello! Not that anyone asked me or really even cares, but I am so not ready for this! I know it's November & I should be ready, but I'm not. And I have to admit that it felt like winter today. I think I knew it when I got dressed this morning & wore my thick hoodie sweater. That's a winter sweater, not fall. My mind & psyche better hurry up and catch up with Mother Nature, I think!

Josh & Emmett found these trench coats in the front hall closet. I had totally forgotten that they were in there! They thought they were just the coolest & wore them all day long! I think they look so cute in them!

Josh Rocking the trench

Emm thinks he's cool enough to pull off the Red Sox gear. Hmmm, not sure about this one! But he is cute!