For my "THIRD" daughter Sydney...

One of the

GREATEST

blessings of this last year has been my daughter finding a

TRUE FRIEND

in 

SYDNEY B!

They have BOTH at times been

"burned"

by other friends...

so it took awhile for them to TRUST that

TRUE FRIENDSHIP

still existed in this world.

Sydney has mentioned to me on several occassions that she

CHECKS

my blog often...

just in case she might be in some of the pictures I post.

So in honor of my "third" daughter Sydney,

I'm posting pictures of

our day of SHOOTING that we had with her and her family today.

We pretty much think there family is the 

"BOMB-DIGGITY"

and we are grateful that a few 

FRESHMAN FOOTBALL

games have brought our two families together!

 Sydney and her ADORABLE mom...Tara.

Our Shooting SQUAD!

 I love how Rachel "matches" her gun!

Planned PHOTOBOMB!!

 Her brother Brett who "knows" he is the Bomb-Diggity...especially among the ladies!!!

(Except when he is spreading love to Rachel!)

So here's to you our

BEAUTIFUL

Sydney...an entire post of you and your amazing family!

 Love you guys...

and here's to many more amazing times together!

 

Good Things to Come...

One of my GREATEST strengths

is my ability to 

see the good in all the things around me.

No matter what my trials or circumstances may be...

I manage to smile,

laugh,

or find a way to learn from each experience I'm given.

I remember when I was little I told my mom I was depressed and her response was,

"You're too happy to be depressed!"

While that is NOT at all what I wanted to hear as a child who thought my world was coming to an end,

with just about every circumstance I faced as a teenager,

it is exactly what I needed to hear

and have been words that have blessed my life both then and now!
They are the words...

"YOUR TOO HAPPY TO BE DEPRESSED!"

As part of this Christmas season

 I decided that each night I would spend a few minutes with each one of my children

INDIVIDUALLY

and share a message of hope, love and faith.

I KNEW exactly the message I wanted to share when I read this quote tonight from a missionary friend who posted this on

FACEBOOK

from Gordon B. Hinckley.

"Don't be gloomy.  Do not dwell on unkind things.

Stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight.

Even if you are not happy,

put a smile on your face.

'Accentuate the positive.'

Look a little deeper for the good.

Go forward in life with a twinkle in your eye and a smile on your face, with great and strong purpose in your heart.

Love life."

And lastly, I shared this video message with them.

I put my arms around ONE who was especially having a hard day and told him,

"Don't you quit!

You Keep Walking.

You keep trying.

There is help and happiness ahead.

Some blessings come soon, 

some come late, 

and some don't come until HEAVEN,

but for those who embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ,

they come.

It will be alright in the end.

Trust God and believe in good things to come."

--Jeffrey R. Holland

 And with that message my ONE who was hesitant to let me share with him tonight...

softened,

he listened,

and we embraced.

The spirit of the Lord had touched his heart...

and will touch all our hearts

IF we believe

that Good things DO and WILL come.

A Hayride for our Birthdays!

This last Saturday I turned

43!

I am proud of my AGE.

It's funny how many people think I should start counting

"backwards"

with my age or that I should tell people I am

"only 29".

 I am proud of being 43!

For me we EARN every year we live.

Each year has taught me something about myself
 and more importantly

how to treat others.

I love that at 43 I am comfortable with a 

few "more" wrinkles...

a few "more" pounds...

a few "more" scars...

 a lot more wisdom 
and confidence in who I am!

So I decided to embrace my birthday this year and invited

TWO

 of my "best" girls who are also celebrating their 43rd and 44th birthday's

with our families on an

OLD-FASHIONED HAYRIDE

to sing Christmas Carols...

drink hot chocolate...

and eat yummy treats!

The Birthday Girls - Tara, Me, and Shauna.

We have quite a CREW of kids!

 

I thought teenagers were supposed to like taking pictures!!

 At least these guys would cooperate!!

 Our Freshmen Group!

 Our Upper Classmen Group

 Our Middle School Group!

(We never got a picture of our little kid group...a few kids got a little fussy and had to leave before I could take there picture!)

                       So grateful tonight for amazing friends...

for turning 43...

for sharing my life with those that I find bring me so much joy

and LOVE!

 

Happy Birthday to all us GIRLS!

FROZEN

Did I mention that we decided to do a

VERY

uncharacteristic thing

the day after

THANKSGIVING?

We braved a LARGE crowd to see the new Disney movie...

FROZEN.

I am the type that will wait a couple of weeks to see a "new" movie so that I can enjoy it later...

without a crowd,

and with an almost empty theater!

But we decided to be MORE fun than usual...

and because our sweet grand-kids wanted us to go too,

we stood in line for over an hour,

and then waited in the theater for 45 minutes...

to watch this cute new movie!

 Rachel and Katie kept the younger kids entertained with games and activities.

I was so GRATEFUL that they were with us...

as this is the day I started my

third week and counting COLD and FLU!

 Remember the fun game we played as kids...

"BUBBLE GUM"?

So glad Rachel got this game started!

 Or Rachel who let the kids climb ALL over her!

 Or snuggle with her!

 Baby Harper had the "right" idea...

a nap would have been a REALLY good idea!

 We took up an entire row with our crew!

Since then my children have sung,

listened too,

watched on YouTube

the amazing music from this movie.

Without embarrassing my son Christopher,

he loved the story so much...

he might have even shed a tear or two!

Bottom line...

this has become my kids

FAVORITE

new movie and musical soundtrack.

They have asked to go see the movie again and again

and I keep wondering...

will this be like when they were 4 years old and watched

CARS

every day...twice a day

or when they were 6 years old and watched

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL

every single chance they got?

P.S. One of my children even enjoyed High School Musical over the weekend!!  Some movies never go out of style!

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

Decor update:

Right before Ron had surgery he finished Jacob's window in his room.  I promised pictures but wanted to wait

until it was painted!

It's not the BEST picture...

but I absolutely LOVE how it turned out!

I love how he managed to make the two off-centered windows look like one custom window!

He doesn't know it yet...

but when he feels better I've got it on his list of

"Honey-do's"

to do the other two windows in the house like this!

(Love ya honey!)

 

Color me Beautiful

One of my greatest blessings this past year

has been

serving in the Young Women's as a Laurel adviser.

Recently, during a planning meeting

for our upcoming

Young Women's in Excellence night...

I suggested that instead of another "church-like" meeting we do something a little different

to HONOR our amazing young women 

and the amazing

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

they have had this past year.

During my childhood years I had the opportunity to work with some amazing 

YOUNG WOMEN

leaders that I still admire to this day.

It was in 1986 that I had an opportunity to work with

MaryKay Bird

on a planning committee in which we planned the

Young Women in Excellence

program for that year.

MaryKay taught me how to be a leader, how to listen and take direction from others, and how to plan an activity.

That year...

We planned a FASHION SHOW.

It gave the girls an opportunity to shine and show their talents in a unique way.  It was one of the highlights of my childhood.

So in honor of MaryKay...

another FASHION SHOW for the

Cortina 3rd ward young women 

was planned.

Our theme for the night was...

COLOR ME BEAUTIFUL.

The idea behind Color Me Beautiful is that

because each Young Women's value has a color associated with it...

that has each girl lives and incorporates these values into their daily life it will enhance and beautify there life.

Let the SHOW begin.

I love how beautiful our tables turned out...

with each table representing one of the Young Women Values.

I love that I share these amazing experiences with my two daughters!

Then came the FASHION SHOW!

Each girl or leader "wore" the experience or project they had worked on throughout the year...

some thought "outside" the box...

while others could actually "wear" there project.

The Young Women Leaders went first...

to show the girls how to work the 

CATWALK!

Oh yes...

 girls...

we moms can still work it!!!

Our FINAL BOW!

I love these amazing women I have the chance to work with. 

These ladies make me be a better leader and a more loving daughter of God.

I also had the opportunity to

emcee the Laurels as they walked the Catwalk.

 I absolutely love these girls...

 they are beautiful both inside and out!

Rachel wore a "Nephi" costume as she is working on reading the

Book of Mormon

this year.  Her hero is Nephi because of his courage to do what the Lord asked...even when it wasn't easy!

Our sweet Mia-Maids take a final bow!

Katie's project this year was to plan a two-week meal plan for our family, then go grocery shopping for the supplies,

and finally prepare the meals.

I was especially GRATEFUL for this one!

She dressed as a VERY cute chef!

Our talented and FUN beehives!

Hopefully the girls felt honored for all their hard work and dedication to being the

young women God intended them to be!

Nothing gives me greater JOY than being able to

SERVE with these amazing people!

I know this calling has helped

COLOR ME MORE BEAUTIFUL...

just to be with all of you!