Giving THANKS....

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

 

Katie and Jacob made these darling headdresses for everyone to wear.  They spent several days and lots of hours and I was so impressed with how well they turned out!

Everyone was good sports...and wore them...even for our picture!

I loved using my NEW message board I made at a Relief Society Craft day...

for our Thanksgiving Menu!

Nothing fancy...just the basics...yummy!

I made two games for the kids including:

Don't EAT tom!

Turkey HUNT!

Everyone grabbed a tag off the tree...

then they had to go look for that TURKEY

somewhere in the neighborhood!

The kids couldn't wait for me to say "GO!"

Cameron and Chelsea hid the TURKEY'S for me!
 

We are so grateful for family and friends who spent a special 

Thanksgiving DAY with us!

The Happiest Place on EARTH....

As we get ready to head to 

DISNEYLAND

for the week of FALL break,

and there claim is that it is the Happiest Place on Earth...

I realized that while that may be true,

that for me,

my Happiest Place on Earth,

is with my best friend and hubby

RON FLEWELLEN.

He really just makes me happy...and he is oh, so much fun to be around.

That is why for his 50th Birthday...

I wanted him to know just how special he was to me and those that are lucky enough to know him.

Pulling off a SURPRISE birthday party is not easy.

So I had to enlist the help of my kids, the Pittson's and the Letner's.

Rachel was my decorator and style consult...

she was also my eyes and ears.

I Love this picture of her...

watching for us to show up!

And then the BIG surprise..........

Ron thought we were going to a DATE night party at the Pittsons'.

We had to bring a "side" dish...which explains while we are both carrying food items when we walk in.

I am so happy to see that I've finally pulled this off...

and that he was super SURPRISED!

We were able to share a ten minute video in which we asked our friends and family to share why they love Ron.

Despite the initial tears and emotional expressions of love...

Ron was able to enjoy time with friends...

and family.

(Cameron and Chelsea...and Gary Wilkins)

Aunts and Uncles

Then it's CAKE time and my right hand girl...

my beautiful Rachie helped me every step of the way!

Such an amazing man...

a great husband, a great father, a great grandfather

and a GREAT man of God.

Happy 50th Birthday!

Sneak Peek....

We had such a great 

SUMMER

and I only posted about our trip to

MEXICO.

And yes, while that trip was a blast...

and a definite highlight for our summer,

we did so much MORE.

In fact, we did so much that quite frankly...

we all couldn't wait for school to start.

Just to have some 

REST!

So here is a sneak peek on what I'm going to work on posting next:

Ron's 50th Surprise party!

Ohhhhh...it was so much fun and I can't wait to tell you all about it!

Here is just what the cake and centerpieces looked like:

Special Thanks: Shannon and Shane Morris created the amazing fish "bowl" centerpieces and Designer Cakes made the cake!

A miracle DEFINED....

Yesterday during testimony meeting

inspiration came my way!

Ohhhh....

how I love that feeling knowing that the Lord is always there to teach me!

I hope I'm always willing to listen...

I still am a work in progress.

We have several families in our ward who are going through really, really hard times.

Like the kind of times you hope to never have to go through.

While listening to them bare

testimony...

the thought came to me,

"The REAL miracles happen not in if a family member or loved one is healed or made whole again,

because some may not receive that miracle.

If that is the case,

then why are some more deserving of a miracle than someone else?

Are we not all deserving?

So then the real miracle is having

FAITH

that we can accept God's will...

no matter what,

and that as we do accept His will that we can endure to the end."

I learned this from my amazing husband.

He is teaching me that he is the MIRACLE...

because he is having the

FAITH

that he will become who God wants him to be

and that through trials and loss...

he is having the faith to endure to the end.

Miracle clearly defined!

Lesson learned.

New YEAR...new beginning!

I have decided to make this day...

be a 

CATCH UP

day.

Meaning, I am only doing things that are non-work related!

Usually every day involves

something work related...

and well I just didn't want to think about it.

Instead...

I wanted to enjoy the fact that I was able to 

be VERY much involved this year in getting my kids ready for

the FIRST day of school!

I never knew how important my health was...

until it hindered me from being a 

MOM!

I started my MOMMY-KID dates with

Christopher...aka

CHRIS!

School:  Higley H.S. 

(Yikes...he is in High School already! Where did the time go?)

We enjoyed dinner and a movie...just the two of us!

2.  Jacob...aka

JAKIE!

School:  Cortina Elementary-2nd grade

We enjoyed the Science Center and Panda Express!

3.  Rachel...aka

RACHIE!

School:  Cortina Elementary-7th grade

Did you notice her cute hair?

Well the boys at school did...! :)

We got our hair done and a yummy lunch!

4.  Katie...aka

KATE!

School:  Cortina Elementary-5th grade

We enjoyed Pedicures, shopping and lunch!

On our way to school the first day...

Can you tell Jacob is trying to contain his excitement?

I'm so grateful for each one of my children and for the good choices they make each day...

I will miss you,

but not TOO much!

LOL!

My WALL reveal

I'm so excited about my new wall!

Thanks to my loving husband who is always willing to

help me with

my crazy new ideas and decorating creations...

he helped me install

this wall...

well he installed and I painted!

LOVE,

LOVE,

Love my new wall and I can't believe how different it makes the space feel.

I also am changing out the floor lamp behind the chair...

I have a really cool idea for that as well...

so stay tuned.

In the meantime,

here is my BIG wall reveal.

A new PASTIME...and what I've been up to!

It's time for me to get caught back up on my blog.

I can't believe 

SUMMER

has already passed by

and we are all back in school.

Makes me long for the DOG days of SUMMER...

except that

with the HOTTEST 

AUGUST on record...

I have no choice but to look forward to FALL

and some much needed cooler

temperatures!

I will post soon the pictures of the kids' first day of school,

oh golly life goes by FAST.

I've also taken on a new 

PASTIME!

Somehow I found a really FUN new blog...

all about repainting furniture and finding really fun

VINTAGE

type pieces and re purposing them.

I now have two projects under my belt and I'm so happy with the results!

I just finished a old-fashion barn bench today...

and it only took me a few hours...

the first project took me 4 days!

Yippeee...that means I'm getting the hang of it!

Here is my BEFORE and AFTERS:

The original was cute enough...

BUT
pink and it definitely wouldn't fit into my space being that color.
So I stripped off the paint and sanded it like crazy,
stained the top and painted the rest.

Here is my version:

antique white with a light blue drawer.

(Just wish I knew how to get better lighting from my camera!)
My Second Project was much easier, because I didn't have to strip off any paint!

I found this bench on Craigslist...my before shot!

AFTER

I wish I could get a better photo shot with all the 

distressed work, staining and waxing.

But here is how the room is turning out...

I have a few more projects for this room.

But I have to enlist the help of my best friend...

RON!

He isn't off this weekend like the rest of America,

so we will be doing it another day this week!

This project is really cool and I can't wait to post the

before and after on that one!

We have FRIENDS....

okay...well we ALWAYS had friends,

but not always friends that INVITED us to do stuff...

and I have to admit...it's mostly our fault.

Ron's work schedule,

me working,

kids' schedule,

church schedule,

being party poopers, etc and the list could go on.

But the Letner's are

AWESOME

and didn't let any of those excuses stop them from being our friends!

So when an invite to Rocky Point (Mexico)

with them came about...we originally said NO.

Again...for all the reasons I listed above.

But Dennis is pretty persuasive and he DIDN'T take no for an answer.  

We are so GLAD he didn't...because we had a blast.

I can't believe how much fun we had in just 2 short days!

Here is our itinerary of fun in pictures:
 
GIRLS must SHOP!!
 

While the girls shop...the boys will wait!

After an afternoon of HOT shopping...ice cream is promised!
 
Thrifty Ice Cream...one of our favorites is everywhere!

Boy...my kids are CUTE!

The girls got cute cover ups and Christopher looks Top Gun stylish  in sunglasses.

Jacob got a slingshot...watch out!

Christopher

Rachel and Amorette

My BAYWATCH cuties!

 
 I love this baby...he is so HAPPY and the funniest kid ever.

I love how tender these pictures are and shows the LOVE and TRUST he has for his parents.

Seriously...does he just make your heart melt!

Jared, I sure do love you!

But this man is the MAN of my dreams.

(Ronald...you truly are the VERY best part of me.)

Awww...still got the love after 16 years!

Dennis and Kinley we sure love ya guys.

The kids couldn't wait to join us on the beach that first night after dinner.  The tide was low and we were on a mission to search for all kinds of sea life!

What an amazing sunset.

We spent hours and hours at the BEACH or POOL...

we have the sunburns to prove it!

Jacob had a LOVE hate relationship with the ocean...
he spent hours running from the waves...
then decided to jump on in,
before coming to the shore to spit out SALT water.
An unexpected taste he didn't like!

The girls spent lots of time with RON...
on his shoulders...what a great stepdad!

And we found out you can't leave Rocky Point without one of their 

FAMOUS

chili and lime covered Mangoes!

YUMMY!

YUM!

Kinley and I talked about what makes a great vacation for a mom is to know that her FAMILY is enjoying it...
and that we DID!