Thankful

I have photos of my kids and grandkids all around my computer.  When my eyes need a break from the screen, I look up and see those beautiful smiling faces.  I think they represent all the things that I'm most thankful for:
                                      Family
                                              Love
                                                   Happiness
Those sweet faces sum it all up so concisely for me.

What I did on My Summer Vacation

I had a marvelous summer!  Since Fall is right around the corner, I'd better do a little catching up.
I loved having the babies here for almost all summer long.  Thanks so much to Taylor for unselfishly sending them for a visit. It was fun to just sit and listen to those sweet little sounds all around the house.  This old house was alive again with noise and toys and snacks strewn everywhere.  And guess what?  I didn't even worry about the mess.  It was fun!
Jack loved the snack part.  He was well fed all summer long.  He even liked Mason and Harper.  We found him sleeping with them a few times.
This was a reading summer.  Since Mr. Mason is going to be 5, I was excited to start teaching him how to read.  He was quick to pick up some beginning sight words.   Of course, Harper wanted to read too.  She wants to keep up with that big brother of hers.  It warms my heart that she loves books so much.  She even sleeps with them!   She definitely got that from Taylor.  Although, Lauren was really into reading this summer too.  (She must have picked it up from Taylor too.  Thanks Taylor!)
We did a lot of visiting with family.  That was really fun.  We have wonderful families that we love to be with.  Lauren, Mason and Harper provided some great entertainment for us all. :)  Especially that Lauren!  I laughed so much with Lauren.  She can always make me smile.  She is the funniest person I know.
It was great having Taylor come at the end of the visit.  He got us out to see and do some fun stuff.  We love that guy!   He is the sweetest, most patient guy I know.
The only part I didn't like was not seeing Andy and Lindsay.  I wished  that they could have been with us.  Everyone we visited commented that they missed seeing them.  All the fun would have been complete if we could have had them here as well.  I really miss those guys.
The day arrived when we had to say goodbye.  It was the hardest! When we came back to the house it was silent and soooo sad.  Jack kept watching the door for them to return.  I cried for two days.  Putting away the toys 'til next time is heartbreaking.
Well, time moves on and so does summer vacation. I started focusing on going back to school and the cloud lifted.  I love my job!  Starting a new school year is exciting.  I love getting the classroom ready for a new bunch of kindergarten sweeties.  It was extra special to get ready this time as I thought of Mason starting kindergarten. While I prepare the room, I like to think about all the parents hoping for a great year for their children.   I hope this is the best yet.
I certainly had a great summer!

Things to Do This Summer

Today is the first day of my summer vacation.  What am I going to do with exactly 68 days of freedom?  Well....
1. Organize that cave I call "my closet".  It's a multipurpose room.  It serves as attic, garage, and a home for my clothes.  That means throwing away tons of junk sadly parting with years of memories in boxes that I never open.  Phil says not to throw away our lives. History.  Hmmmmm.  Maybe I've been watching too many episodes of "Hoarders".

2. Organize my craft room.  I love making "stuff' and I need to come up with a system that keeps all my "stuff" under control.  I'm looking at this room right now and it does not give off creative vibes. : /

3.  Paint and redecorate my bedroom.  I need a theme for this one.  Right now the theme seems to be "Someone ransacked this place!"  I think relaxed will be better that ransacked.  I've been reflecting on what to do with this space for quite some time. 


4. Get the nerve to put the dreaded swimwear on.  I think they call it a sun tent when it gets to my size.  Mason and Harper will enjoy sitting in the shade that I make at the beach.

5.  Visit and have fun with my family.  I love having the days off to go and do some visiting.  I've got a fun family and I enjoy spending time with them.

SOOOOO...... I've got to get busy with my projects before the fun can start.  Lauren and the kids will be here in 17 more days.  I've got to get crackin'!

Favs

I stole this picture from Mary Ellen's and Kyle's blog.  These are two of my most favorite girls in the whole wide world!  I think these girls are gorgeous.  I also think that they look like they could be related.
I wish they were. :)

Mason and Harper have a new house!

 

We did a little early birthday shopping for Mason and Harper.  They have a fun new house to play with in the backyard.  It even has a real  doorbell.   Pop and I had fun playing in it with them.  I pretended that my hiney got stuck every time I tried to get in the door.  It really almost did!  Harper and Mason loved that.  I'm going on another diet. : (

Idaho!

We went visiting!  It was the first time in 34 years that I'd been to Idaho.  Boise is a beautiful city!  We enjoyed seeing Taylor and Lauren's new home.  The grandkids were fun and adorable as usual.  Taylor left for San Diego for the week. We kept Lauren company and helped decorate and hang stuff on the walls. I love the house and area.  I think Lauren and Taylor are going to feel like it's home in no time.

Easter Eggs

I have a funny  stinky story about saving Easter eggs.  Many years ago my younger sister Angel decided to squirrel away some of her Easter eggs.  She kept some dyed eggs in her basket and stuck the basket in her closet and forgot about it.  The basket stayed in her closet for several weeks.  My youngest sister who was about 3 at the time went exploring and found the basket.  We found her with exploded STINKY egg on her face.  It was the worst smell I think I've ever experienced.  It stunk our whole basement up!  Poor little Tami was sitting there crying with this disgusting egg in her eyelashes.  NEVER SAVE YOUR DYED EGGS, KIDDOS.  Moms- check to make sure your kids didn't hide any of those dyed eggs to be found at a later date.   Oh the smell!  It's 37 years later and I still can remember it.

Busy Boy

Busy Girl

30 Years Old

Happy 30th birthday Andy! We love love love you!
Andy and Lindsay's new baby

Holidays

We had a great Christmas in Utah again for the 6th year in a row. I love having snow for Christmas! It was especially fun waking up with Mason and Harper excitedly telling us that Santa had come and brought lots of presents. They were so entertaining to watch opening presents. Mason loved the racetrack and dragon castle. He was really into his toys. Harper could have cared less about her presents once she found some candy canes.
We enjoyed spending time with the kids. Phil was great and booked our vacation for 12 days! That's very unusual as he normally spends a couple of days and is ready to go. I think he's missing his kids and grandkids and wanted to get in extra time with them.
We had really good luck on the way home. We were seated in first class from SLC to Dallas. Then we had a row to ourselves from Dallas to Charlotte. I made Phil stop and buy 5 lottery tickets to see if good luck really does come in 3's.
We are looking forward to a great new year. We were very blessed this past year and have so much to be thankful for. I decided not to make any resolutions this year. I'll just make the best of what we've got and do the best I can.