FINALLY! Our New Moon Extravaganza, Wahoo!

Oh My Lands! We had the FUNNEST New Moon Party back in November, and I am finally getting around to getting it all posted. We were lucky enough to have 74 of our good buddies, neighbors, and friends come and help us celebrate the new Twilight movie "New Moon". It was a blast and I loved every minute of it. (Oh I do love a good party, lol!)

We had the party at the very FABULOUS "Louie's Italian Restaurant" (in honor of the Cullens making "Italiano" for Bella) and the good people at Louies were better than amazing. Everything from the food to the service to the room itself was fantastic! So thank you to all of our new friends at "Louie's".

We had everything from the incredible Volturri Warriors who seated all the ladies as they entered the banquet room......(Thank so much to Austin, Aaron and Sulli! Aside from being extremely debonair and a little threatening, lol, you guys were such good sports and dealt well with all the screaming and giggling. We sure love you guys!)

to the fun raffle prizes.....





















to the quizes, and games.....


to all the fun decorations.....(By the way thank you to all my "Ladies" for once again helping me make this fun party happen, and to the "Hostess with the Mostess", for some fun ideas. I loved all the fun chats, shopping trips, late night phone calls, and most of all the decorating. You are truly the very best of friends and I love you all! OH I can hardly hardly wait for our next one, lol)

We also had the Twilight movie playing silently and the New Moon soundtrack playing, it was so much fun!

After our fabulous meal we all headed over to the theatre and the good people at the Regal Cinema allowed us to reserve 3 full rows of seats for our entire party.( I know, CRAZY) So thank you to the good people there AND to Chris for her amazing gift of influence with the staff there, lol!

Needless to say the night was perfect in everyway! Thank you to all you wonderful ladies who came and made the night so much fun! You all really made it so special, NOW on to the next party, lol! (Perhaps a Josh Groban themed party, lol. Now if I can only find a lifesize cutout of him:)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Slow and Steady Wins The Race

Well hello my wonderful friends and family! I am finally making good on my New Year's resolution of being better at blogging, lol! I hope that you all had such a wonderful holiday season!

This Christmas was such an amazing and special time for me this year, and I think that I have felt so humbled to have been able to spend it once again with my little family. I have really struggled with my health these past couple of months and at one point lost the ability to walk for a short time. But as miserable as I have felt physically I can't help but feel like this Christmas was one of my most favorites!





















I loved EVERYTHING from the decorations to all the yummy smells.


To the Christmas jammies.




















From the fun gifts, to the kind acts of service that so many have given to us. (This year I made a special quilt for each of my little ladies. Each square had something special about our family. From pictures, to special songs, Caleb's favorite word, to our family hands. The rest of the squares were made up of all of Caleb's blankets. My hope when I was making them is that I could wrap my little ladies up in them so tight and that they would feel like they were getting a huge hug from each of us. So that each time I went to the hospital or each time we were separated they would feel their Daddy and I near them. They turned out so sweet. Tacky, but sweet, lol. By the way, thank you so much to all of my sweet "Ladies" who took so much time out of their own busy holiday preparations to make this dream of mine a reality, I love you!)





















And the daily reminders of why we celebrate the love the Savior has for each of us.


I was telling Eric recently that I am not so sure what made this Christmas so precious to me, I really can't think of one thing that really stands out in my mind. I just felt like EVERYTHING was so perfect, and I feel so grateful in so many ways!!!!

My good Bishop came by for a visit the other night and gave me some wonderful advice that I have been thinking about a lot lately. At times, I am a little ashamed to say that I have felt a little discouraged at some of the things that I am unable to do. Or when I don't have enough energy to keep up with all the ideas I am always having, lol. (And there seem to be many, lol)



But my Bishop told me that life is not about all the "BIG" things. The BIG parties, the BIG accomplishments, the BIG "Ah Ha" moments that sometimes are few and far between. But rather the little things that we stay consistent with every day. Continuing to do those small things every day that bring us closer to our family and to our Father in Heaven. In simple terms, "Slow and steady wins the race". So my "New Years" resolution this year is just that. To keep trucking along and to enjoy everything around me. To take those little steps each day, and not be overwhelmed at the lack of the BIG things.

So....Happy New Years my wonderful friends! I wish you all every bit of love and happiness that this year holds!!!!

Pumpkin Patch '09

Well hello my friends! Happy Autumn:) For Family Home Evening last Monday we got together with a group of our buddies and went to the "Linder Farms Pumpkin Patch" for some pumpkin picking, and hayriding fun! It was a perfect day! The weather was crisp and clear and it had that perfect Autumn smell. After picking pumpkins we all had apple cider and fresh apples and caramel. It was perfect! What a perfect start to the month of October. (And to those of our buddies who could not make, you were very much missed!)Ohhhh, I love Fall!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

"Farm Fresh Fun"

After watching so much "Little House on the Prairie" this summer, my cute Hannah has been OBSESSED with milking a cow. So..my good buddy Cindy was taking all of her young women to a farm tonight so that all the ladies would get a chance to actually milk a cow, and she invited us along. My ladies were in HEAVEN and completely convinced that we now need our own farm, lol! They had a blast milking the cow, feeding the baby cows, playing with all the million and one cats and holding the chickens. It was such a fun night and one my girls will always remember. So thank you my friend for making such a fun dream come true! We loved every minute:)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Happy Birthday Sassy!

This week we have the opportunity to celebrate my little Emee. I can hardly believe that she is turning 9! It is crazy how quickly time flies! I LOVE this little lady so much, and feel so blessed to be her mama. Everything about Emee is so infectious!!! Her quirky sense of humor, her love of adventure, her tenderness, and truly awesome dance moves makes everyone around her smile and want to join in. I am in awe of her zest for life and marvel at her ability to always find the good in others. I love her love of animals and love that she still always wants to be an animal, lol. Sassy, you have been such a joy and wonderful blessing to our family. So Happy Birthday little lady, we adore you!

Channel 7 Interview

Well good morning my friends:) Here is a copy of the Channel 7 "Sevens Hero" interview. It is always mortifying to see yourself on T.V., but aside from feeling a little bit like an idiot, I thought that Maggie did a wonderful job of highlighting Kam and all that she does. I really think that Kam will have the opportunity to touch many more lives because of this story. (Just click on the INTERVIEW WITH MAGGIE O'MARA)

Interview with Maggie O'Mara.

(Also, if you would like to check out the KTVB blog on our story just follow this link, by copying it and pasting it into your Internet browser)

1. KTVB BLOG ADDRESS http://blogs.ktvb.com/maggie/

Things That Make Living So WONDERFUL!

When I started this blog a little over a year ago, my intent was to share with my family and friends some of the things that we as a family were up to. As time has gone on, I realized that not only is it a wonderful way to keep in touch, but provides me with the opportunity to keep up on my family history. My sweet friend Annie has offered to make a book out my blog for my little ladies as a special gift to them. Since December I have been making a list of all the things that I believe make this life so WONDERFUL and at times so magical, in hopes of passing it along to my little ladies. On the days when I have felt discouraged or frustrated with my limitations, it has helped me a great deal to sit down, add to my list, and to be reminded of how wonderful this life is, despite the times when we all feel a little bit broken. For the sake of my little ladies I thought that I would share some of the things that I hold most dear. (Because of space I thought that I would share only a few things from my list, and these items are in no particular order)


1. The warm and fuzzy glow of my children’s cheeks when they very first wake up.

2. Climbing into clean, soft sheets to go to bed when I am super tired. I LOVE how good soft , clean smelling sheets feel.


3. The smell of newly fallen rain.


4. The way my sweet husband looks at me.

5. Laughing so hard it hurts.


6. The feel of a child’s hand in mine.





















7. Crying with a friend.





















8. Walking in the doors of the temple and the instant feeling of perfect peace.


9. Snuggling up with a cozy afghan and a good book on a crisp Autumn day.

10. Driving in the car and singing my favorite songs at the top of my lungs. Thank the stars for Josh Groban:)

11. Going on a road trip and coming HOME.

12. Dancing when the feeling strikes you, with perfect abandon.


13. Being with my sister, and playing Phase Ten late at night.





















14. The very first taste of a good chocolate.





















15. Looking into the eyes of my children for the very first time. (I believe that this is one of the most magical moments that this life has to offer).





















16. Watching the compassion of another lift and build someone.






















17. Late night talks with my husband.


18. The feel of a rose petal on my cheek.

19. HOPE.






















20. The assurance that comes from knowing that we are never alone.


21. A big huge and wonderful HUG.






















22. Watching my children use their imagination and make up a totally random and perfect song.


23. The wonderful and exciting anticipation of Christmas Eve.





















24. An unexpected gift from such a compassionate lady!


25. Quiet moments on the shore of a beautiful ocean.


(Oh my heavens I could go on and on, lol) So my little ladies, on the days when you are feeling down or discouraged, I would encourage you to make your own little list. There is always much good to be found:) I love you!

Interview With Maggie O'Mara for the Channel Seven News- A Tribute to Kam

Today we had the wonderful and unique opportunity to be interviewed by the ever charming Maggie O'Mara with Channel 7 News KTVB. KTVB has a program called Seven's Hero, and each week since 1997 they have highlighted people in our community who are doing extraordinary things to help others. For their next segment Maggie is highlighting my wonderful and truly talented friend Kam Taylor at Photography by Kam. I know that I have often spoke about this sweet friend of mine and what a wonderful blessing she has been to our little family. We were so honored to be asked to tell our story about how much Kam's gift has touched our lives, and what a blessing her pictures have been to us since our little peanut passed away. Maggie was so kind and so easy to talk to and both her and her wonderfully kind cameraman Paul, made us feel so comfortable and at ease. However, I have a sinking feeling that we will not look comfortable or at ease, LOL! Needless to say we were excited to once again say thank you to a truly remarkable lady, and we hope that this segment shows what an amazing HERO she really is!