Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes... David Bowie

Life has a way of changing all the time.

If we want it to or not, it just does.

My little family is going through some right now.

HUGE is an understatement.

Divorce is an ugly thing.

I will change the blog to another site,

with a new name.

And privatize it.

I will keep you posted.

Mother's Day

I have been thinking about Mother's Day so much this week

Usually I don't enjoy going to church on this holiday.

Too many grown children going off about how perfect their mom always is

Here's the deal.

I am not "that" perfect mom

My girls are not going to say:

*sappy sweet voice*

I never heard my mom raise her voice

My mom was always studying her scriptures and kneeling in prayer

We always had breakfast, lunch and dinner together

She was always ready with a positive twist on everything

and the list goes on...

What my daughters will most likely say is more along these lines:

My mom is loud, quite often

My mom reads her scriptures, not usually in the official "morning and bed Mormon standard"

My mom says lots of prayers alone in the car, and always puts peoples names on the Temple Prayer Roll

We always eat, sometimes it's on time, sometimes not. But we have fun

I can talk to my mom about literally everything. everything

Here's what I think, we are not the "typical Mormon"

family but I don't care

I love that my girls come to me with everything

Seriously, everything from church, school, boys and husbands

We get

mad

annoyed

ticked off

tired off

and everything between

But we also

laugh

giggle

squeal

and love each other

I love being a Mother

It's the most rewarding thing in life that I could ever do

I am so grateful to have them in my life

I am constantly learning from them

They are amazing in every way

Thank you

Girls.

Seattle

Family, 13 hours in the car, Lakes, Friends, Laughing until you want to pee your pants, Great Food, Pike Place,Trolls, Beautiful Sights, Forks, Beach, Floating Bridges, vampires, Halloween, Trees, Ocean.

Cat

As a mom it is the hardest thing to sit back and watch your child in pain.

Physical pain is a little easier, it will end, get a band aid or something.

Emotional pain is whole other story,

there is no set end date.

However pain is growth.

You can't grow with out it.

That is why we are here, to learn and grow.

Never the less, it is difficult to watch.

I am sure that is how Heavenly Father seeing Jesus be crucified.

People come into our lives for a reason,

some are destined to stay,

some have a purpose and then move on.

Catherine filed her divorce papers yesterday.

But on the bright side.

She got her very own Cell phone plan.

A yellow car now sits in our driveway,

that she found and purchased on her own.

She starts school next week.

And most of all, she cherishes her testimony.

I love you Cat.

You are a

Strong

Spiritual

Self Confidant

Sassy

young woman.

Your Dad and I are proud of you for doing the right thing,

even though it was the hardest.

Party!

Brad and I have Birthday's by eachother.

We had a little party Saturday night.

I invited John for Brad.

Brad and John go out on "man dates", so you I thought it would be fun.

I also invited Amy, shhh, I really wanted P and Jack, it's a package deal.

Brad got tools and Tiramisu.

What more could a guy want?

Open House

The Open House for my girls and two new boys was great!

Lighting and sound - check

Food - check

People - check

Fabulous flowers - check, thanks to AMY!!

No really, it was really beautiful, the pictures do not do it justice.

I want to thank our friends and family who made this night important enough to be there to celebrate with us, it meant so much to the girls.

It is times like these when you realize how important family and friends are, times to celebrate together and make memories that last a lifetime.

It was a great success, three families there to celebrate love, marriage and family.

Two down... Two to go... they had better give me at least a 5 year break before I get to do this again!!!!

Liz's B-Day Party

Last night was the big party!

I hope that she had a great time, I think she did!!

The beginning of the party they had a huge water fight with sqirt guns and balloons, too wet.

No pics.

Later they had lots of food, laughing and dancing.

Here are some pics...

Cute Girls!



more cute Girls!


The cake ~ White with lots of coconut!!



This is after a massive tickle attack from Nick, James and Andrew!


I Love you Liz, You are my SUNSHINE!!

This is my Daddy.

He is the best ever!

I love his laugh.

I love his smile.

I love how much he loves me!

He taught me to be an independent woman.

He taught me how to fish.

He gives the best bear hugs in the universe!!!

I love how he knows everything.

I love that he is a wonderful Grandpa!

I'm glad he found Sally, she's fantastic!

He is a brave and honorable man.

He went to war to make the world a better place for me.

He is so handsome!

I just love my Daddy!!

Happy Fathers Day!!!

"And in the morning, I'm makin' waffles!" (Shrek)

Main Entry:
1waf·fle
Pronunciation:
\ˈwä-fəl, ˈwȯ-\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
Dutch wafel, from Middle Dutch wafele; akin to Old High German waba honeycomb, Old English wefan to weave
Date:
1744
: a crisp cake of batter baked in a waffle iron

I know you are thinking, huh? Borrrrring...

NO!!

These are a little bite of heaven!!





Main Entry:
Belgian waffle
Function:
noun
Date:
1969
: a waffle having large depressions that is usually topped with fruit and whipped cream


It's actually better than that!!!



The other kind of waffle is the Liège waffle, named after that city (This waffle is also known as the Luikse wafel in Vlaamse and as Lütticher waffeln in German.) It's oblong, more or less oval-shaped, a thinner and smaller waffle than the Brussels waffle. But it's also more substantial, and has a significant crunch due to the small nuggets of parelsuiker or "pearl sugar" that are added to the batter just before baking. These bits of sugar melt when being baked on the waffle iron and caramelize, producing a sugary crust like what's found on top of a creme brulée.





And this is a happy boy!! This is one of Brads favs of summer in Utah.

You can get these hot, sugary bites of heaven at the Farmers Market in SLC.

My MOM

Sally ~

Sally is a tender, loving, patient, kind, silly, fabulous, strong, wonderful MOM.

Sally raised two boys who are both great men, who have become strong and resposible individuals.

Sally has been so wonderful for my father, she has taught him about love.

Sally took on a 21 year old only child brat, and developed a bond of Motherhood with her based on mutual love and repect.

Sally has been there with joy and support for the birth of my four daughters, the most important days of my life.

Sally has opened her home to me, served me, hugged me, listened to me, forgiven me, but most of all loved me.

Sally is my MOM.

I love you MOM!!

LEAP DAY

By definition Leap Year is:

In the Gregorian calendar, the calendar used by most modern countries, the following three criteria determine which years will be leap years:

Every year that is divisible by four is a leap year;
of those years, if it can be divided by 100, it is NOT a leap year, unless
the year is divisible by 400. Then it is a leap year.

For me it is entirely something else...

It all started 20 years ago in Phoenix Arizona where a tall skinny young man named Brad was going to church and hanging out in the same group as I was. I have always been a fan of piano music, even when I was 20 and clubbing every night. I had tickets to see George Winston

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Winston on LEAP DAY

and I was going with a girlfriend and her boyfriend, so I needed a date! I knew that the guys that I went dancing with would not appreciate this kind of music, and someone suggested Brad. Well at the time I thought he was dating "some Blond chick", but I asked anyway. Whew, I had a date!!

The concert was great, and we went to a church dance after, all in all it was a fun date. Brad was secretly wondering if I had a crush on him or if I just needed a date, all I really needed was a date. The next week Brad called and asked me out, so he could see if I liked him. We had a fun time and I thought, hmm this could be fun again. He always made me laugh!! Of course after the 3rd or 4th date we both agreed that neither one of us wanted a "serious" relationship, however we dated only each other from that day on... We were married August 5th 1988!!

Now, no laughing at the skinny Brad and BIG hair on me!! It was the 80's, I was hip and cool and Brad needed me to cook and love him to get him to be the big boy he is today!!

Pilks

I am so happy today to see that one of our families favorite family is back in the BLOG world!!

John, Amy and Penny are some of the cutest, creative, most fun people we know!We met them in Bountiful when we lived next door and went to church together. They were the "cute little newly wed" couple. Lizzy was crazy about them and did everything she could to get them over to have dinner with us. Not knowing that Amy is a vegetarian, we had them over, with about 20 minute notice. Amy had to take a phone call or leave for something, we ate with out her. It was a pathetic excuse for dinner, roast beef, potatoes, and not much else if I remember correctly. When she returned, I remember thinking "All she will get to eat is potatoes? I am such a loser hostess!" We had them over many times after that to prove we could do it properly. Lizzy even has a cool baking dish with "from Elizabeth's kitchen" on to remember her hostess days. The funniest party Lizzy had was a tea party, complete with dress up's required AND the British accent! John really did a great job with that one! What a trooper! Amy served in the Young Women's program at church with myself and girls, we learned so much from her, and have so many good memories!Anyway, through the last few years with them, they have become such good friends, we appreciate them in our lives.

~Valentine's Day~

February 14, Valentine's Day, the day for Love...

Some people love it.
Some people hate it.

Is it a day for the diamond, floral, Hallmark and chocolate industry?

Valentine's Day of the past were all about cutting out red and pink hearts for your sweetheart.

I love this day now as an adult. As a child, it was great to get candy and valentines from classroom friends. I loved going to the store and choosing the box of Valentines that I would give out at school. The next best part was deciding which ones in the box would I give to my "crush". After the Valentines were made up, we would usually have an art project in class to make a "mailbox" of sorts. Pink, Red, White and Black are the classic colors. After they are given out, the girls would no doubt wonder what boy would send them a "special" Valentine. We would read into every single card whatever we could just to be sure that we had a secret admirer.

As an adult I love it because I love to love my family! Pink oatmeal for b-fast, yes I have done it! Heart shaped pasta for dinner, done that too. Some years I have even made a special candle light dinner complete with the crystal and china, just for my girls and hubby.

As a teenager, I had a different opinion every year. If i had a boyfriend, it was great. If I didn't, well then it was a "stupid waste of time". I have daughters who are expressing the full range...

Jessica has written a poem about the Salt Lake City temple, and framed a picture of the temple to give to her boyfriend. She loves this holiday! Cat on the other hand, is the hater of the day. She "heart attatcked" her boyfriends car and felt very sappy about it. Although she was the only one who was given flowers! Lizzy hasn't said much, which is not like her. Sarah sent a secret admirer school sponsored "soda gram". She greeted me first thing this morning with a beautifully wrapped box of chocolate.

Jessica and I went to Brad's office and gave him a "heart attack" on his desk. He leaves early on Wednesday, so we got there right after he left to leave the evidence... We also heart attacked my dad's door!

Have a great Valentine's Day!! Love your family!!

Lack of Motivation...

So I quit my fantastic job to be at home again with my girls. Wow anyone who tells you that being a working mom is harder than a stay home full time mom is WRONG! I can't believe how much harder this is now that I have been away for a year. The first little while I slept in a little, the girls were still out of school and had no real timetable. Then I started getting up, getting ready, going for walks and getting into it. I don't know what happened, probably the week that Brad lost his job, but I can't get motivated. Not for anything. I need to work on that!! So I guess the question is, Does life motivate or do we motivate life?

Brad did get another job, it's a great job!! He is "Creative Director" at a sign company and really loving it! Jessica is temping in a long term position at the same place grandma is working, and she is really happy. She has made friends and goes to lots of church activities with them.

So I guess I need to make a move. Do something for myself. Here we go...

FATHER'S DAY

I got busy and didn't post about Father's Day. The girls kidnapped Brad and we went for a all day ride. Thegirlspacked a picnic lunch and some games. We went to Sundance and walked around looking in the shops, watching the artists & listening to the musicians. It was thte perfect temp outside. Catherine caught a butterfly! she even said "Mom, I am going to catch that butterfly". I of course said "yeah right". But she did it!! When we got home Brad makesome steaks on the grill and we had a great dinner! All in all it was a great day!!