Wait a Minute!?!

When did this angel...

Grow into this handsome guy?
Last weekend was the Homecoming Dance.
Jake asked his good friend, Sam.

Aren't they cute!?!


It's still so hard to believe that the little baby I once held
is now
6'3"
and
dating!

*sigh*

Total Momsense!

This is for all you wonderful moms out there.

It's a good laugh for a Friday!

Enjoy!

Can I Be 3 Again?

Emma was a "Cinderella Mommy" all day today.

She was in her own little world with her teddy bears and babies.

I guess wearing her tu-tu makes her a "Cinderella Mommy".

Look at that beautiful hair! She told me she has
"princess hair".
I must agree.

She also told me that she wanted Max to come home so they could play Cinderella. She would be Cinderella, Max could be the prince and I'd be the
"mean sister".

Thanks Emma.

It's Official...

My kids are sneaky.
(But in a very good way!)

Saturday, Lee and I were surprised with a 20th anniversary party put on by our children!

Yes, you read that right...My wonderfully talented and amazing children threw us an Anniversary Party!

For the past 3 months, our children have been plotting and scheming, preparing an anniversary bash right under our noses!

They made and sent out invitations, planned a location, arranged for the food, planned a program, made decorations, made a memory book for the guests to sign, made an awesome video, arranged for us to get there, and kept it a total secret the entire time!
(Even Max and Emma kept it a secret!)

Elisabeth was even there! She drove home Saturday and I was shocked beyond belief to see her there!


Here's how it went down:

Cristina and Jonathan invited us to go out to dinner and a play Saturday night.
After dinner, Jonathan told us that they were just called to be on the Activities committee in their ward and they were in charge of taking down tables and chairs from an activity they had early Saturday and wondered if we could go help them because we had some time between dinner and the play. We walked into their clubhouse and were surprised by family and friends! It was awesome!

It was so fun to see almost my whole family there (even my sister from Idaho and her family) and Lee's whole family there. I was so happy to see dear friends and neighbors of ours. I feel so blessed to have such good people in my life!

It was a fun, exciting, and surprising evening!

We enjoyed the awesome video Scott made for us. It was amazing to see how we've all changed over the years. I can't believe how big my kids are now and how old we are!

Then Jake announced that they have prepared a special dance for us, but what he really meant is that they played the re-make of our song, "I'll Melt with You" by Modern English, and Lee and I would dance (Lee's worst nightmare to dance with everyone watching!) I danced with Lee a quick minute then each one of my boys came up to cut in one by one. It was cool! Then we reinacted the "cutting of the cake" from our wedding reception. This time I smeared it all over his face (I always wished I'd done that at our reception!).
That was better than I ever imagined! (I'm not sure why.)

Then we just enjoyed visiting with our friends and family.
It was so great!!!

I can't tell you how thankful I am to my kids for doing this for us! They really did everything! So much planning and work went into this and I can't say thank you enough for all they did! Elisabeth worked her little tail off and was so organized in the planning of this. It was truly amazing how she managed to do this with her being in Cedar City and the rest of them being here! I found out that Scott worked on the video before seminary (at like 5:30 a.m.) while we were still sleeping to get it done. How many 14-year-olds do you know would do that!?! He even had it saved on my computer and I had no idea!

It was just so wonderful!

Everything from the surprise to the decorations, to the food to the video, to the shock of Elisabeth being there to the company of family and friends...

It was absolutely perfect!

Thank you to my totally amazing children for giving us an anniversary to remember!
I will NEVER forget this!
You are the best!
Always remember that I love you!!!!!!

THANK YOU!!!

**************************************

P.S.
I'll post pictures when I get them. I don't know exactly who was taking the pictures!

It's Not a Ring But...

Well, Lee and I celebrated our 20th anniversary Wednesday. For the most part, it was just like any other day because, you know, it was a Wednesday. Cole had football and Jake and Scott were in their first golf tournament for Provo High (*Proud mama moment* Jake had the best score for the PHS team!
Yay Jake!).
But, we did go out for dinner afterwards. That was nice. And we're going out to eat and to a play on Saturday so that will be fun too!

This year, we decided to get each other gifts since we haven't ever done that.
I thought to myself, "This might be the chance I have to get my ring back!"
I even told him that I don't care if the diamond is real. Cubic Zirconia is okay with me because I know how expensive diamonds are. I told him that I would love to have him replace the ring I had to sell years ago and ask me to marry him again (since when he did it 20 years ago, he just said,"Here." and handed me a little gold box with my ring in it. I didn't care at the time because the ring was gorgeous!).

But...instead he got me this...



It's not a ring, but, it is pretty cool!

And the reason he got it for me is really sweet. My other bike wasn't the best for me. I had a hard time riding it because of my bad shoulder of all things. The handlebars were too low and it hurt my shoulder to ride it. So, he knew this and got me this cool bike!

It's not what I was expecting, but it's certainly something I wanted.
Isn't it cute!!!

Thanks honey!

What a Girl Wants...

Last Saturday, my sister-in-laws, Mary and Cristina, went here...




It was a total blast!

I think they are planning on making this an annual thing and I highly recommend it for next year.
There was everything there. It was awesome!

I spun a wheel and won a laser hair removal package for my underarms (worth $530! WooooWhooo!) and there were all kinds of freebies and contests. Lots of fun!

There were booths with jewlery, shoes, makeup, clothes (even vintage clothing), kids things, spa treatments, hair stylists, scrapbooking, personal management, home decor...you name it...it was there! There was even a bra company from out of state that fit us with a new bra and I have to say...I feel like a new woman! (I can't wait till mine comes!)
I got a headband that actually stays in place. They are made by a company called Pink Bench and they are awesome! I have to say.

There were all kinds of great bargains. Really cute shoes for under $20. Awesome jewlery for 50-60% off! So cool!

They even had keynote speakers and fashion shows. But we were too busy doing other things to enjoy those. I'm sure they were great though.

It was fun to see all the groups of girlfriends, mothers and daughters, and sisters enjoying each other. Everyone I saw had a smile on their face. If you get a chance, go next year!

20 Years!

Has it really been 20 years!?!

It doesn't seem possible.
Time flies when your having fun!

I love you Lee!!!
Happy Anniversary!

A Note to Cole...

Dear Cole,

We're so happy you are a part of our lives!
Thanks for brightening our days with your funny ways and that smile that goes forever!
I hope you had a great birthday. It's hard to believe that you are twelve and now you are a priesthood holder. I hope you will remember the beautiful ordination you had today and how you felt. Pretty awesome you received the Priesthood on your birthday!
Always remember how much I love you!!!!

Happy Birthday!

Love,
Mom









(The only thing worse than me looking so fat in these pictures is that Elisabeth's not here!
We miss you!)

The Battle I Lost...

My boys are tough.
My boys are strong.
But,
my boys are skinny.
And that's okay.
They eat and eat like there's no tomorrow, but are blessed with a good metabolism.
If I had my choice, I'd take after them!
So, needless-to-say, they aren't built like football players.

But Cole LOVES football and wanted to play tackle football this year. I didn't want him to only because I was worried that he would get hurt and I thought it would take up too much of his time.

"Don't worry. He'll be put in with kids his size and he'll be fine,"
Lee tells me.

"But he's still going to get tackled and there's no fat on him to cushion the falls!" I really am worried.

"He'll be fine," Lee says.

"C'mon mom! I can handle it," Cole says.

"It's not a good idea with practices every day and the amount of homework he'll have. He won't have enough time to study and he'll fall behind," I say.

"I can handle it, Mom, I promise," Cole assures me.

"But...but..." I can tell I'm losing this one!

"DON'T WORRY!" They both tell me.

I had one more hope of winning the battle. I thought that when he was weighed at registration, and he wouldn't make it into middle weight like his good friend, that would discourage him and he'd change his mind.

Well, he weighed in at a whopping 88 lbs. and made the light weight team. But did that discourage him...

HECK NO!

Just look at him...




*sigh*

Another battle lost.