Girls Finished (sort of) Room...

Here are promised pictures of the GIRLS

newly decorated room.

I consider it still a work in progress...

since I still want drapes over the small windows,

pictures on the bare wall,

and shelves above the girls' bed where they can store

books, nik-naks that seem to collect on their bed.

But Ron would say,

"It is complete!"

PLEEEEASE!

Thankful for....

My little KATIE.

Katie has always been my little sunshine.

She is happy and easy going.

She can find happiness in doing the SMALL things in life.

It really doesn't take much to make this girl happy.

Plus, I think it is really cute that

she USED to tell me...

"I'm NEVER getting married...I'm going to live with you my whole life!"

Now she's changed it to...

"I'm NEVER getting married...and I'm going to live right NEXT door to you...my whole life!"

So on Thanksgiving day...

she finds a way to be satisfied making Domino displays and knocking them over!

Literally, hours were spent and questions of,

"What should I do next MOM?"

So here is a few of her creations!

 

It's Official...

We are going to the 

UKRAINE!

Come JUNE we will be in the Ukraine...

with Cameron,

visiting all the people and places

he has grown to love over the last two years. 

Ron and I have known for TWO months

but wanted to wait to tell Cameron on Christmas. 

We have some VERY generous and kind

friends who LOVE Cameron

almost as much as we do...and offered us a GIFT

we could not refuse. 

So we now BEGIN preparations to

travel overseas (and I'm a little nervous about that!), 

 to have the experience of a

LIFETIME!

The countdown begins! 

Merry Christmas

Isn't it funny that as you get older...

Christmas no longer is about Santa, or counting the number of presents under the tree,

or opening presents that Santa brought you and me...

but about SPENDING time with your Family,

and taking time out of our busy lives to focus on the things that matter.

My GREATEST

Christmas gift of all this year...

was not a nicely wrapped Christmas present,

in fact their were no presents...

but the opportunity to SPEAK in some way or another,

to EVERY member of my family.

Ron and I could barely sleep...anticipating the LONG awaited phone call from

CAMERON!

Words can not describe the JOY I felt in talking to this young boy...quickly turning into a MAN.

The fact that we got to see him with modern day technology...

is a blessing in and of itself,

and a GIFT of the season.

Then seeing my SWEET children's faces who actually got (SORT OF) a "real"

Christmas this year!

My gift this year...that we didn't have ONE distraction,

and NO FIGHTING,

and a "THANK YOU" from each of these children!

And I got to talk to my WHOLE family through SKYPE...

yes that means siblings in Utah and Missouri...and parents too!

And with NANA visiting the whole week....it made our HOLIDAYS complete!

And no worries, MORE (yes lots more)

pictures will be forthcoming!

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all...

and to all a goodnight!

Turning 39....

makes me GRATEFUL for

all my blessings as of late.

I am blessed with GREAT friends...

GREAT family...

GREAT ward...

GREAT clients....

GREAT kids...

and a super GREAT husband...

who knows how to make me feel special. 
(By the way...I absolutely LOVE this hat my sister gave me!)
I think it is pretty GREAT! 

You can sing Happy Birthday with us!

Tis the SEASON for....

Recitals.

We started with Christopher's Dance Performance.

Yes, he is in Dance at school...

it is quite the popular class for boys' at his school...

who knew!?!

Ryanna and Christopher have been friends since BIRTH.

I have TONS of pictures with these two together...

and even though Christopher is older,

he is ALWAYS shorter!

(I didn't bring my camera...darn it...so I got this cute picture from my good friend Deanna!)

The 5th Graders at Cortina Elementary had been working

hard on a musical/dance performance to songs from the 

NUTCRACKER!

 

Rachel and her best friend Summer

signed up to do a duet!

They sounded so CUTE and I was so proud of Rachel.

She couldn't sleep the night before.

When I asked her why she had signed up to do it if she was so afraid, she told me "I just needed to do it MOM!"

I understand that!

These are the cute girls from THE ARABIAN DANCE number.

I did take VIDEO of her performance but it somehow got deleted!

BUMMER....#2.

Then we were off (on the same day)

to Katie's HIP-HOP dance class at the 

Queen Creek Community Center.

Katie took this class with her Best Buddy Baylee.

And Lucky for me...Ron was in charge of the camera and

we got VIDEO.

Check out her dance moves!

 

 

Picture Infused Post of the Polar Plunge

I love how bundled up Crystal is in this picture...

she is prepared for WINTER.

Ron on the other hand acts like it is SUMMER.

He says it feels like SUMMER in Montana! 

Just a few of our GUINEA pigs...waiting!

Ron gets the party started...

No FEAR at all...

and he begins to swim laps! 

This little boys' face says it all for the rest of the CROWD.

 

Nobody's face says it as good as EVANS'.

And the GUY in the video that is screaming like a girl...well this is that guy!

 

He gets a good LAUGH in about it too!

Especially now that his body is numb!

These 2 girls were the funniest.

The pictures tell the whole story.

The one girl has talked the other girl into doing this,

then tells her they are going to jump,

I count to THREE,

the one girl (who got talked into it),

jumps in,

leaving the other girl (who wanted to do it),

on the sideline.

So after a little teasing...she jumps in!

Classic...I just LOVE it! 

Ron's work is DONE for this season.

Our FIRST annual Cortina 3rd Ward Polar Plunge...

was a HUGE success...

and so much fun.

As part of our Ward Christmas Party we included

our first ever,

POLAR PLUNGE.

We had 23 people willing to jump,

including the brains behind the idea...

RON.

And if you want to hear "real" mean scream like girls...

watch this:

We had 23 people in total take the plunge.

3 Men...and 20 kids.

And when I was asked why there were no women.

I said,

"Women are the smart ones!"

Take me back in time...

To a 50's Night at the HOP!

Ron and I have had the wonderful opportunity...

of being our ward's

Activities Committee Chairpeople.

We have had LOTS of fun activities this year...

and I haven't BLOGGED a single one.

One of my favorites was the one we did in April (yes April!),

where we invited our ward to

go back in time...and join us for a 50's Night at the Hop.

This is our WONDERFUL committee...

which we couldn't do any of this without them.

They are so GREAT and such a forward thinking group...

it makes it easy to do these FUN activities.

Ron and I took time out for a quick photo op 

before the festivities began.

Man, I sure love this GUY.  He still makes me MELT.

We dined on Hamburgers, French Fries and 

Old-Fashion Root Beer Floats.

YUMMY!

We had a Bubble Gum Blowing Contest.

We had a Hula Hoop Contest.

We ended the night breaking up into 3 groups,

gave them ALL a piece of music...

some props and told them to make the most of it!

And they did! 

 

I'm so grateful to ALL these Ward members

that I am growing to LOVE...

for making our Activities so much FUN.

 

I'm learning to LOVE being the "Party" Girl!

Especially when I get to do it with SUCH a great group of people...

and the BEST husband on the planet.