The Perfect Dress

Yesterday I had the amazing opportunity to go and help my sister select a dress for her upcoming wedding. It was funny how events conspired to make it possible for me to be there...I got called off from work Monday night. Tuesday morning, my mom had car trouble, so she was behind schedule, so Heidi was able to get hold of me and I was not tired or still sleeping, and my mom was able to pick me up. We drove to SLC to meet up with Heidi...we found her gown at the first(and only) store we visited. This dress was the second one she tried on.


We thought it was the one...until this one came along....



Which one should she choose? They are both so perfect for her. With her coloring, the cream/ivory color looks so good on her, and she wasn't concerned that she can't wear it in the temple...the bretheren are discouraging wearing the Actual wedding dress during the sealing anyway. She looks so beautiful...
The slight difference in the design details finally swayed her (and us) towards the second one....the Jacket will be specially made to her exact specifications, and in the exact fabric to match the dress (the jacket she has on is just a sample, to "get an idea") The dress was even on Sale...we completely lucked out.
The back view....

What a beautiful Bride to be she is...on her wedding day, she'll be stunning. (well, she always is stunning, but you know what I mean!)

Happy Bloggiversary to ME!!

And (another) Merry Christmas to me as well, because I spent this afternoon spending a good portion of the Christmas money given to me by my In-Laws, and my grandparents. I'm really excited about my "score". I actually got the Cricut Cartridge yesterday (yes, I know, on Sunday, but there is a reason)...I saw the Michael's ad online Saturday night while I was working, and the solutions carts were on sale for $29.95. I wanted to get there and get the 2 I wanted at that price...Indie Art and Stone Script. By the time I got there (I slept in after working), they were already out of Stone Script...but they gave me a raincheck!!! So, Indie Art is here, and I'll be getting the other soon...I'm really excited, as I plan to make a little sign for my front door..."Naptime is daily from 12pm to 3pm. Please do not disturb us by ringing the doorbell or knocking during this time". Or something to that effect. So, this afternoon...I got called off, and Cole wanted to go spend his Chrismas money...pics to come of that tomorrow. After we picked up his, we headed to the mall. I really was only looking at purses, and found what I wanted. I love purple, and have looked for an amethyst/slightly irridescent purse since the deep purples came back into style this season. I love purses, but I'm picky about them...they have to have pockets in all the right places for all the right things, and the straps have to be the right length...all with a look that I love!. I found it in this one...my only complaint was that this line was the only line of purses NOT on Sale at Macy's! Oh, well, it was the last one in that beautiful color. As I wandered the mall, Cole went off to buy mannequins from Mervyns, and I ended up at Famous Footwear...and found the shoes on Clearance. I had a coupon too, so I got them for a KILLER deal for Sketchers. I saw them before, and thought they were cute, but I didn't want to pay $60 for them. I'm thrilled with my stuff... So, what's wrong with this picture? This is our next door neighbor (their backyard borders our side yard). This house is owned by someone who lives out of state, their son lives here with roommates while going to school. They all left for winter break, and these icicles have just grown and grown. I really hope they don't take the raingutters with them when they start to break.... This icicle wraps all the way around the car...I couldn't get a very good shot of it from my angle. Apparently, their other next door neighbor called the owners, and even emailed pictures of the problem, but they live in Washington state and either don't realize what a problem it might be, or don't care.


Isn't it funny to watch a cat play fetch?

As I've thought about my year in blogging, I've become very introspective. This year has been a good journey, and now it's time to focus on the the coming year. Stay tuned....

In the Aftermath....

Ah, Christmas...it hardly seems like it should be over, December just flew by for me. I took 166 pictures from Christmas Eve to Christmas Night. So, the slideshow is 35 pics long...but it's the most I could limit it down.
Our family had an amazing Christmas. We are Truly Blessed. It started early on Christmas Eve...Cole cooked a breakfast for his side of our family at our house. Those who were able to come enjoyed it very much. I had worked the night before, so I slept in, then went to the salon for a much needed cut and color. I got home, and preparations for my side of our family's Christmas Eve party. I wanted to do something fun and special...We decided to have a Pajama party...We had a lot of fun!



I got out my fine china and crystal...I haven't used it even once since we moved in to this house, so it was really fun. We had our traditional Ham, Cheese potatoes, and rolls...with a fruit salad contributed by my mom and green bean casserole contributed by Brenda. The family decorated cookies for Santa, we had all the kids perform some kind of Christmas song...Alec was soooooooo funny. He is such a drama boy, and he performed "The 12 Days of Christmas", including the actions he picked up from watching Kyle perform it with the choir twice. It was so funny. He has no fear of performing, and if we laughed, he tried to make it even more funny. While they were all singing Jingle Bells together, Santa rang the doorbell, and when they went to get it, there was a sack of presents! They all enjoyed their gifts.

My kids went to bed very well...Cole played the playstation for awhile to wind down, and I layed and watched him...when we finally went to bed, I was exhausted.
Cole woke me at 7 the next morning, and then we woke the kids(we had to, in order to be to my parent's by 10:30). We all loved our gifts...we let the boys eat breakfast while playing "Little Big Planet", a really fun video game they've been wanting since we rented it around Thanksgiving. We all got ready, put on new clothes (I'm really glad my boys like getting clothes...and of course Talia loves clothes!), and headed out to my parents. The boys could hardly wait to get home and play "Guitar Hero III and World Tour", both of which they received from my parents. Talia loved her 360 scooter thing...

After a quick break at home for lunch and Guitar Hero, we headed to my Grandparents to open presents. After that, we headed out to my in-laws for dinner...it was really good, and pretty relaxing. Kyle and my nephew Hunter huddled together on the couch playing Kyle's DS, my 12 year old niece Alyssa kept Talia happy and occupied, and we relaxed with Cole's family.

It was a long and busy day, and I was completely wiped out. So was Talia..she'd only had 15 min total nap time all day, and fell asleep in the car on the way home. We fed the kids that were hungry, and laid around for the rest of the night. We put the kids to bed as soon as we could, and then we went to bed too.

It was a great Christmas, I couldn't have asked for better. My kids behaved perfectly, and liked everything they received. They were also grateful for their gifts.

P.S. Mindy...I loved the gift, and so did Cole. Thanks.
P.S.S. Julie...Cole tasted your carmel corn...let out a moan of pleasure, and then proceeded to DEVOUR half the pan. I did get some too, though...it was delish.
P.S.S.S. Christie, both sets of bows were perfect for the clothes she got for Christmas...I'll be bringing some more over to match soon.

Wishing everyone a restful week before the new year...and since I think it's my 1 year bloggiversary tomorrow.. Happy Bloggiversary to ME!

Happy Birthday to Kyle...Part 2!!!

From December 2008

So, I'm having a little bit of an emotional breakdown as I'm typing, so forgive me. Yesterday night, we had Kyle's family birthday party. It was the first time in a really long time that EVERYONE was able to come (it's a busy time of year). Our family room/kitchen, which is perfect sized for us, and even a small gathering, was PACKED with our wonderful families.

From December 2008

It was really chaotic, but fun. Just in the nick of time, I managed to nag my husband into getting the rest of our living room "stuff" up on the walls...meaning a picture and my shelves. I'm so happy with how they look....

From December 2008

I made mom's homemade cake and frosting, and although I'm not Mindy in the cake decorating department, I think it turned out ok.

From December 2008

It was delicious though, and that's all that matters.

I also finished the Birthday Countdown on Saturday...just in the nick of time. I planned to have it done BEFORE he started putting his pieces on the days, but I didn't have any paper(in the massive amounts of paper that I own) that matched well enough...I found the rainbow paper at Michaels, and was excited about how it looked.

From December 2008

SO, a little flashback of my own...10 years ago tonight, I was grumpy. I had just taken my last final the day before, and the night of the 21st my mom(she was the choir director for her school at that point) had a choir concert. I went to see her kids perform, and after, Mom made sure that my Dad walked me to the car. She didn't want me slipping on the ice. My dad was teasing me, telling me, "you could slip on the ice, it still wouldn't put you into labor. Your mom went way over with you, and we tried everything. Your doctor will be inducing you when he gets home from his vacation." My Due date was January 1st, my Doctor was in Hawaii for Christmas, and was coming home on January 2nd. So, back to the 22nd...I was grumpy. I was craving KFC, and nothing seemed to come together so I could get it..it was back in the days where they were trialing a delivery service, but they couldn't deliver to us that night. Finally, since nothing else sounded good, we drove down and got it. We ate, and went to bed, because Cole had to be up at 4. It was his last day of work before his plant shut down for the Holidays. We joked...it'd be great if I went into labor, and he'd get to miss work. Well, he got up and left for work..he kissed me goodbye(he always did in those days...those wonderful days when I was still able to fall back asleep after he kissed me goodbye), and I got up to go to the bathroom. I went back to bed, got comfortable, and was just starting to fall asleep again...when I felt a little wetness. I got up to go back to the bathroom, and I felt the GUSH of fluid pouring out of me...I ran for the bathroom, and managed not to get any of the amniotic fluid on our carpet...it all collected on the bath towel Cole had left on the bathroom floor. (He doesn't leave his towel on the floor very often...it was odd that it just happened to be there.). So, of course, I called him at work. I had never done that before...the company he was working for at the time was really strict about phone calls. So, when he got on the phone, I told him my water had broken. He said (I kid you not)"It's ok, I'm already at work, I'll just finish out the day." "No, I'm not kidding, it really did break, you have to come home!". It took him a few minutes to truly believe me. He came home, and took me to the hospital. We got there around 6, we called our families around 7:30...and My Parents, sister, Grandparents, and MIL came to join us. The female members of my family spent most of my labor trying to convince me that we needed to name our baby Christian, because he was a Christmas baby. But he was always my Kyle. At 12:03pm, after 1 1/2 hours of pushing, and the vacuum popping off his head because he had sooooo much hair...out face up came my First Son. 7lbs, 1 oz, 19 1/2 inches. Lots of black hair. Perfect. Each baby born is special, but there's something about becoming a mother for that first time. Having my husband lay our son in my arms. Knowing that your life has significantly changed, mostly for the better, but also knowing that there will be trials and heartaches that come along with it. Happy Birthday to my precious Firstborn.

If you're in need of encouragement of any kind, check out TiGi's Windfalls for writers, linked in the "Interesting reading" section of my blog. We all need encouragment sometimes....

Happy Birthday to Kyle....Part 1

Yesterday was Kyle's friend birthday party at Classic Fun Center in Layton. I have never been so glad that I decided to have someone else do the birthday for me...it was SUCH a good experience. I bought the unlimited package, which was a per person charge for unlimited access to most the activities(they only got one game of Laser tag, and the rock wall was extra). They had so much fun...we arrived shortly before 2, went in, and right away the "party coordinator" connected with me...they already had our "birthday tables" all set up, with tablecloth, balloons, place settings, etc all set up. We got our wristbands, and the kids went to play. As additional kids showed up, I just hooked them up with a wristband, and sent them to find their friends. I sat at the table, read a book, kept an eye out (another nice thing was that because it was a weekday, we almost had the place all to ourselves. It was great). The kids all got about 20 tokens to spend, and most of them tried to win tickets to spend. Classic provided us with 2 choices of soda with unlimited refills, and ice cream cups. I brought cupcakes (the only outside food or drink they allow is you bring your own cake). It was really relaxed for me, until the craziness of closing and watching for everyone's parents. 2 kids actually left without me seeing, and I looked everywhere to make sure they weren't still there before I left. All the kids seemed to have a great time.




Kyle spins the "Birthday Wheel"


I did drink my 16 oz Sugarfree Redbull right before the party. The energy lasted the entire party...but as I was fighting Layton traffic on my way home, I felt the energy leaking out of me...and by the time I got home, I was exhausted and starving. My wonderful husband took over the rest of the night. It was great to be able to provide such a great birthday experience for my son. I HIGHLY recommend Classic for parties. They were highly organized, and made my life extremely easy.

A side note on mammograms...I had my first one yesterday morning. I've heard many things..ranging from "just a bit of discomfort" to "extremely, extremely painful."
From my perspective, if you can get over the "gentle manhandling" technique that is necessary to posistion you on the machine, it's really just mildly annoying, and a bit pinching at times. It really only lasts for a second, and then it's done. Don't put off getting one if you need one...it can save your life.

P.S. Thanks for delivering my prize Mindy...sorry I didn't have a chance to call last night and thank you...they're so Cute!!!!

Chaos...

That's what my life is. Starting yesterday, my life is one big chaotic event after another. If I can just last til Christmas without going crazy or collapsing from exhaustion, I will be so incredibly grateful.

Yesterday (Monday), started early. I got up and made cinnamon twists for Kyle and Talia, and PB toast for Alec's breakfast. I got the boys off to school, and Talia and I hurried and got ready. We were out the door by 9:30, to finish our Christmas shopping. It took us 3 hours, she ate lunch and snacks in the car, and whined at me the entire last hour, but IT'S DONE!!!!! I've been worried about finishing, so it's a relief. We went home, I put Tali down for her nap, and I......

FINALLY!!!!! got to play with my new cricut. I cut out a bunch of vinyl, played with a few of the creative features, and it was very, very fun. Most of what I cut out is for gifts for some very important people in my life, so I'm not going to post the pics until after I've delivered them. However, I did make this cute gift bag just to see how it would work. I can't wait to find some 12x24 paper and try some longer cuts....and of course Cole wants to know how he can manipulate my new machine into making Halloween cr**...I mean stuff....(I did tell him I would be nice and share).

From December 2008

Last night was Kyle's first choir concert. It was so fun, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I even got the...opportunity...to go up on stage and dance the hula. Kyle did a great job, I'm really proud of him.

From December 2008

(front row, just to the right of the microphone)
Tuesday started early...like 4 am. I didn't sleep well last night, was restless after Cole got up, and was out of bed at 7. I drove the boys to school, and Talia and I headed to Albertsons to get cupcakes and a fruit plate. I had a lunch party today with a group of friends, picked up the boys from school, left the kids and headed to work. It's been slow, but I'm tired and it's only 10:30. I usually take a nap before work, but I couldn't miss a chance to connect with the girls.

Tomorrow, I have my mammogram/ultrasound in the morning(and thanks again, Grandma and Grandpa for watching Talia), and then Kyle's birthday party at Classic Fun Center right after school. I'm really excited about the party...but since I'll be on 3 hours of sleep, I'll be running on adrenaline (and caffeine, I've already got my 16 oz Sugarfree Red Bull all ready). Classic is great, they take care of everything for you, so I'll be able to take pictures and watch the boys have a good time. (and thanks to Aunt Brenda for watching Talia and Alec during this event).

Thursday and Friday are work....Saturday starts the prep for Kyle's Family party. He's also supposed to have an indoor soccer game, but we haven't heard back from his coach.....
Sunday is church and the family party. Monday I have to get everthing ready for Christmas Eve that I possibly can get done ahead of time.

Tuesday my oldest baby turns 10 for real. It's their last day of school before the break, and I have to work. I'm hoping to be called off though...the Chapel of Flowers is doing luminaries on the graves, and Cole wants to take the kids.

This Year, Cole is hosting a Christmas Eve breakfast for his family at our house, then I'm getting my hair done, and then we're hosting my family's Christmas Eve party. I'm excited to host, we're all wearing jammies and probably eating on my fine china that I don't get to break out often...I can't wait.

I don't know how much blog posting I'll get done in the next week (Dad..sorry :))
Since you won't get to read a daily update, at least let me brag about your amazing abilities with Christmas lights...MY Dad's Christmas Light Display ROCKS!!!!!

From December 2008

If I go insane, and they take me away, I promise to think of you all while bouncing around my padded cell....