It's Bryce's Birthday!!

It's Bryce's Birthday today!  I love these pictures of my kids when they were little because they bring back such sweet memories. This is a very special birthday today because Bryce is turning 12!  Wow, my last child to recieve the priesthood.  This is a big deal.  We bought him a suit last week and he looks so hadsome in it. ( I will post pictures later). He will be ordained a deacon in the priesthood this coming Sunday.  We have family coming to join us for this special occassion. Wish everyone could come but I know it's not good timing for some, so we will take who we can get.  We have a tradition when our boys recieve the priesthood.  After we have a nice meal with all who have come to join us we sit around and all of the priesthood members in the family(and any friends who have joined us) share stories and advise with the one recieving the priesthood and then everyone has an opportunity to share their thoughts and feelings about this special event in his life.  So, Bryce is excited about this as he has seen his brothers before him have this experience.  Bryce is a very special and sensitive young man.  We are so proud of who he is becoming.  Happy Happy Birthday Brycie!  Enjoy your day! We love you tons! 

Reflections of the week.

It was a good week.

Finished!

Well, we're finally done!  Yes, Mike hung the valances for me.  I originally had 2 valances and had to alter them and make a 3rd one (over the kitchen table).

This is the 3rd one I made...dont look too close!

Ahhhh, nothing better than a completed project...now on to making Bryce's costume....fun times;)

Celebrating Sisters

Is there such a thing as "Sisters Day"?  Well, there should be...therefore I deem today "National Sister's Day"!  Just because I want a special day to recognize my sisters.  Today is Linda's birthday and since I already shared stuff about her and how special she is...I want a chance to talk about all my sisters.  See this plate?  When Linda was in the hospital for the last time and I went down to visit her the first thing she said to me is "Lisa, go into my spare bedroom and go into the closet and there are 4 plates I made for you girls for Christmas, please make sure each of the girls get one." So, this really was a good-bye gift from her to each of her sisters....that's us!

So, today I'd like to celebrate these 4 special women in my life, "The Angel", "The Giver", "The Actress" and "The Artist".....My Sister's!

The Angel ....of course is Linda and I know that she is watching over us now that she has passed on and she keeps me in line...I feel her presence and influence in my life....she reminds me to be gentle, loving and forgiving. (she's sitting on my left in this pic, oh, I'm the one in the middle)

The Giver....That's Dorothy, she is the most giving person I know...always always doing for others...when she walks into a room I think the first thing she does is scan the place to see what needs to be done and then she does it.  She is always the first one to play with the kids and do the dishes and just do what needs to be done...she is also the most understanding person I know...and I've never told her this but she reminds me of Jennifer Aniston with her funny quirky kind of sense of humor...that beautiful comedy sort of way... i love her dearly! (she's the next in line and is the one with the longest hair in this pic)

The Actress.....That's Regina, she truly is an actress...always has been since we were young.  I remember going to her in plays in high school.  She is extremely talented in many ways.  She brought great fun into our lives as kids....always acting, dancing and singing....a real "Drama Queen"(remember "Johnny Angel"?go to my playlist and click on song#2) . She was always my protector too when I was young. Whenever she's around you can count on being entertained.  She is a lot of fun and is also a very loving person...love you Regina! (she's sitting on my right in this pic)

The Artisit....That's Theresa, we are 2 years apart and fought like cats and dogs growing up.  Now we are the best of friends! Talk to her at least twice a day.  She got all the creative talent in the family...not fair!  She really is an artist..can make just about anything and turns it all into gold!  She is my baby sister so she is just special because of that....plus I like to pick her brain for ideas as often as I can. She also has the sweetest most sensitive heart! Love you madly! 

(she's the one in the back wearing black)

 

And here we are again...We like to have a good time together, can you tell?   Linda always made sure of that!  We havent had a complete sister's weekend together since she passed on, but we need to make sure we do it again....soon.  So, here's to my wonderful, beautiful, funny, loving, and sweet sisters!  I love you guys!  Happy National Sister's Day!  You guys Rock!!

Just a couple more

Just because I knew you were dieing to see it and I felt so guilty keeping it from you....this one's for you Theresa.  The boy's bathroom where Bryce painted.

And let's not forget that I also painted the hallway, yes, the entire hallway and yes, by my lonesome and yes, I AM quite talented!  LOl!

Couldn't wait

Okay, I couldn't wait any longer to show off my fine painting skills!  Here's a view from the family room area into the kichen dining area. I love the way it makes the crown mold and baseboards pop!

Here's a veiw of the kichen area (dont forget to look up above the cabinets, yep...I did that too!)

Here's the family room area ( you can see my valances just waiting for me to alter and hang them....ugh!)

Here's a close up of what my valances and pillows look like.

And here's the fireplace area.

Okay, so nothing spectacular but, I like the way it all turned out.  I'll like it even more when I finally get my valances hung.

Thank you for visiting..Have a great day!

Happy Birthday Michael William!

Well, guess who's turning 20 today?  Actually, in Australia the 19th was yesterday.  But, in the USA  20 years ago today I went into labor with this cutie-pie!  Funny story.......We were living in Fremont with Mike's folks saving money so Mike could go back to school. It's Monday and it's President's day so Mike just happened to be off of work that day.  I wake up early in the morning with labor pains and after a conversation over the phone with my mother we decide it's time to go to the hospital, well, by the time we leave I am in hard labor.  So, my mother in law decides that she needs to drive us because Mike needs to be there for me and not driving as I am FREAKIN OUT by this time.  So, we all pile into the grey oldsmobile and off we go to the hospital to have Michael.  So, a little while later there is a knock on the door at home and it's the police...my brother in law Jeff answers the door and "say's can I help you"? ...the officer says, "does the owner of a grey oldsmobile live here"?  Jeff says, "yes, that's my mother but she's not here"...the officer says," there has been a reported kid-napping in that car....someone saw a woman driving the car and a man holding another woman down in the back seat and the woman in the back seat was struggling and crying"....Jeff just laughs and says, "oh, that's just my sister in law in labor, they're driving her to the hospital to have a baby"!  LOL! Fun Times!
Michael was born at 11:24 am on February 19, 1990 and has been a blessing in our lives ever since....and today he is just where we hoped and dreamed he would be, doing just what we hoped and dreamed he would be doing when he turned 20...so far so good!