Happy St. Patricks Day!!!

Okay, so we have actually been rather quiet around these parts. I have been doing the dreaded bill-pay, payroll days. They are just long, and take time to get everything done. And I don't know why but this time seemed to have all of that nicky-nack stuff you have to do. I had a couple of forms I had to fill out for people, and just those odds & ends. Know what I mean?

Life has been kind of relaxed. We had some friends over for Sun. dinner. We had that nice roast, mashed potatoes, carrots in the roast, jello, green salad,etc. it was the bomb! Yum, yum!!! Our friends brought cake and ice cream, and she made these killer homemade rolls. It was awesome. We had fun visiting with them.

The girls are good. Christian is getting so cute! She does the cutest things. She is talking more, and we are finally putting her on the big bed for naps, and she is doing well! I just can't believe how grown up she is getting. It makes me sick. But, every time she does something new I just watch in amazement. She has been cuddly lately too. This is something a little different. She has never been the kind of girl who needed to be held and cuddled. It is rather fun. Little miss independent. This pic is in Cozumel, she found a hat that matched her outfit!. This is also her with the cousins, just hanging out at the cemetery.
She is all that, huh?











Amelia is just growing like a weed. What a little angel! She laughs and giggles. Her neck is so ticklish, and it is so cute. She is such a polar opposite of Christian. She is smiley, and so excited to see you. Mellow too - most of the time. She is definitely more comfortable too, because she has found her voice. She can scream, and she does, if she wants something, and you aren't paying just the right attention. She also gets quite indignant when Christian gets something she thinks she needs too. Especially something to eat that she can't quite have yet. What a doll though! - And I'm sorry, I don't have a really recent picture. I promise to get some!

Well, that's about all - My prayers are with you - especially Jim & Wendy who left today for the Ukraine to hopefully bring home their boy they are adopting. Also, my niece Heather got engaged! She has this cute boyfriend, and dang it, I just knew this was going to happen. I just can't handle change. It is a terminal disease. I hate seeing all of my nieces and nephews grow up. If they would just stay little, or let me run their lives and make all of their important decisions, I would be much happier. They might not be, but I would, and they wouldn't make half of the mistakes I did. I love them so much. Lets keep praying for each other. There are definitely those who need it. - love ya!

This week...

Well, life around here has been rather nice. Last week we had a nice visit with Amelia's grandma and aunt Michelle. It was really nice. They brought cute v-day presents for both girls. Soo sweet! I need to take a pic of them in their cute new twinner outfits. - This pic is one of Amelia playing on the floor with her turtle. She is such a cutie!!!




We had a busy weekend (as usual), I had a nice breakfast meeting on Saturday with the work girls from Ephraim, and then had to get home to get some stuff ready for Sun. We went to SLC early for an aaronic priesthood ordination for nephew Lukas. Had a great dinner at D & D's. - Yummy ribs, and mashed taters, and salad etc. It was super! - We took some family photos last fall, and I just love this pic of Matt's fam. We did them so that I could get Christian's 18 mo. done, but the family pics really turned out nice.








We had to leave a little early so we could get home to have my family over for March FHE. It was great too. Mom wanted to celebrate St. Patricks along with Dr. Seuss' b-day so we had green eggs and ham (deviled eggs) along wigth lasagna, green relish tray, green salad, mom's awesome spice cookies iced in green, green drink... you get the picture. It was so much fun. I just love having family around, and this was just kind of a perfect day for me as we got to see both sides, and Grandma's and Gramps and cousins, and love all around. Way good!!!!! Even though for some reason a couple of people asked if I was mad.? What's up with that? I kind of had a headache, but I guess if I'm not my wild, crazy self, I must seem a little miffed. Oh, well... you can't win them all of the time. It was a great weekend though.


This pic was from last weekend. The party for Matt's parents was a lot of fun, and it was great to see cousins. Everyone was taking pics of everyone else, it was crazy. Fun, though.






Monday was awesome. I had to do some bills, but then I left for Cedar to go to a foster parent meeting, on Tues. and it was a lot of fun to go hang with some girls, and just laugh and have fun. Tues. was the meeting. It was awesome!!! This guy Eric was teaching some methods for parenting with reactive foster children, but he had some just plain great parenting ideas. Some quite different and not quite comfortable for me. But, as I listened, I learned, and thought these would be some good techniques to try. Any child can benefit from this stuff. I need to find the papers and put down the website. I'll try to do that soon. Anyway, take care, and I'll see you soon. - This last pic was the last night on the ship and I just love the cute smile on Christian's face.

Life Goes On!!!

Hello there - Well life is crazy. We had a good time on the cruise, but just for your information, don't take a 2 year old. It was HARD! Everything is geared to older children, and we really had to keep a close eye on Christian all the time. (we lost her for a few terrifying minutes in New Orleans - just to start the trip out right)

This is Christian on a little chair she felt just right on. Notice the comfy, laid back pose.

It was fun to spend time with Matt's siblings, and have fun with Gram and Gramp. We did get to spend a little time snorkeling, and on the beach. -










Here is Christian sunning in sunny Cozumel. One of the only 2 days of sun we saw.







Here are Matt, Christian, and I in Costa Maya. Christian had a BLAST playing in the little community water sprayers.











We did some humanitarian work in Belize, and in Guatamala, and that was awesome!!! - Here are some paintings we did in the lunchroom in Belize, for the students to brighten up the atmosphere. We also painted a classroom, and worked on their computers(Dave got 2 running-they only had 1, so now they have 3).





This other pic is the children in the school in Guatemala. They sang us a song in English. The building in the back right is their one room schoolhouse. We painted the inside, and also brought shoes for almost everyone. We also brought school bags for all, and some soccer balls. They were such cute kids.


































We got home and had a busy week. The kids had planned a "surprise" 50th anniversary party for them.


We ended up having it at our house - It was "crazy" in this valley, and every place I called was booked for weeks ahead. It was fun, and we had a great night visiting with old friends and all of the family that was there. It was really a great weekend.

-





This pic is Mom & Dad kissing on the ship to celebrate our dress up dinner. They came and sang, "Let Me Call You Sweetheart". It was so cute




It has been awesome to just have a week to recover and rest and only have to worry if the house is picked up enough to have a friend stop by or not. We went and watched New In Town. It was a cute show.

Amelia is just a cutie, and she was an angel while we were gone apparently. She is just growing, and growing. She is gaining weight, and is so content. What a fun little angel.

Christian was very glad to be home, and just seemed to relax. She is getting to be so "two". She is so independant, and she doesn't need any help with anything. She is one of the most determined little girls, and that is both good and bad. She is so cute, and just so much fun to watch. She does cute things every day, and she is really starting to repeat all of the words she can. She even repeated Daddy the other night when the s--- word came out when he dropped her stuff in the dark in the theater the other night. We laughed and said we are really going to have to watch our mouths even closer. I hope all is well for every one, and I'll try harder to be better at blogging more often.