I didn't realize how long it had been since I posted anything. It's been a busy couple of months. The biggest happening was Joe and Kristin's wedding. What a great day! You could feel the happiness they share. We are so happy to have Joe become a part of our family. A true asset!
I've been really busy with PTO lately. We just finished "teacher Appreciation Week". We put on a big luncheon for the staff at the school and did several other "acknowledgements" for the staff as well. I was exhausted by the end of the week.
It's now Mother's Day week-end...Can I just say I LOVE BEING A MOM! Taylor is the greatest. Yes, she can be a stinker sometimes...but also a loving, caring, sweetheart of a girl. I can't believe she is already 8. Time definitely flies!
We are looking forward to a trip to Colorado in a couple of weeks. One of my nieces is graduating from High School...It will be a fun trip to go and visit with family.
The school year is at an end. Unbelievable - but only 14 school days left. WooHoo, summer is here.

A Long Long Time Ago...I can Still Remember...

When I was almost 20 I met a man and fell in love. It came as a surprise to me, not that I could fall in love, but that I fell in love with him. He was a nice guy, very good looking. But, I always thought I'd fall in love with someone that was from my church and he was far from that! He smoked, and had two kids!!! I overcame those things with no problem - the kids for instance was not a big deal at all to me. I fell in love with them too. The smoking he was able to stop, although it took some time. We spent a lot of time together. Pretty much every day and evening that we could. He lived with his kids and his parents next door to where I lived with my parents. About a year after we started to date, he died. He was working on a car for a friend and the car fell off the blocks and crushed him. Killing him. I was devastated. I thought it was the most cruel joke anyone could ever play on a person. The reality was, it wasn't a joke at all. Life as I had come to know it changed, drastically. Not only did I not have him in my life, but his kids were not in my life any longer either. His funeral was on my 21st birthday! The family went through a huge custody battle and within a few years the grandparents took the kids and moved out of the area. I would hear about the kids from time to time. But I didn't see them or see how they had grown. A few years ago at a funeral, for a member of their family, I was able to see them again. But still there was no real contact. Facebook has been an exciting experience for me. Through a friend of a friend of a friend (or something like that) I was able to reconnect with both of the kids again. Suprisingly to me, they aren't kids any more. I don't remember growing older, when did they? He is 32 and she is 31. How did she get to be a beauty, how did he grow to be so tall....wasn't it yesterday when they were small? I am so happy to know they are doing well. I love being able to "talk" to them on facebook. We have even talked about meeting sometime. How great will that be.

Today I had to go to "Little Philmont" a Training Seminar for Scouting! A whole new world of information...I kept saying they were speaking another language! Anyway, while I was there, I kept thinking about my Dad! I don't know if it's because it was his birthday the other day or the fact that he LOVED Scouting! I just kept thinking how cool it would have been if we could have been at the training together. Maybe he was there!

PS - to any of you that read my post (all one of you) that's Danny to the right of my Dad in the picture - wasn't he such a cute little guy - that was 12 1/2 years ago!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!
Today My Dad would have turned 74 yrs old. He was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer Just over 3 years ago. He lived for 10 months with this disease. His goal was to live long enough to celebrate 50 years of marriage to my Mom. He reached that goal on August 3, 2006 and passed away just 6 days later. I miss you all the time, Dad!

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! It was a busy time for our family. We spent Christmas Eve, Christmas and the day after in Newark with my Mom and Sister (and family). My brother came up from Bakersfield on Christmas day. It was a nice Christmas lots of food, presents and visiting.


The Sunday after Christmas we left for a Cabin in Heber, Utah. We drove part of the way on Sunday and the rest of the way on Monday. A long, long drive! But worth it. The cabin was fantastic. There was a ton of snow for sledding. My Sister, Mom and Brother (from CO) and families were all there. On New Years Eve we headed over to Sundance for some of the group to ski or snowboard ( or take a trip to the ER)! It wasn't the day any of us had thought it would be. The conditions (slippery/ icy slopes) weren't the best. So the skiing/boarding wasn't as fun as everyone had hoped for. But it was fun spending the day together.
It was great getting reacquainted with my Niece and Nephews from Colorado and my Niece and her baby from Utah. I hate that I don't see them as often as I would like.

We sadly said goodbye on Saturday the 5th and made the loooong drive back home.



Now it's back to the same old same old!!!


Looking ahead to the new year We look forward to Kristin and Joe getting married in April. This should a fun occasion. They are getting married in Pismo Beach. Tayor is a flower girl so we need to get her a new dress. Walt needs to get fitted for his Tuxedo.

In May we plan to take a trip to Colorado for Morgan's graduation from High School. My Mom and I were supposed to go last year for my Brother's 40th, but the plane had a cracked windshield and they cancelled the flight. We couldn't get another flight to get us there in time for the party (which was all a surprise)! So we plan to get there the day before graduation so we don't have to worry about delays!

In June, my Nephew Danny will graduate from High School - I can't believe these two are old enough to be graduating. It seems like they were just babies and youngens!!! The were so young when Walt and I got married. They passed out the bubbles to the guests, along with "BJ" aka Will! They have all grown into such nice young people. I love them all very much!

Well enough boring dialog - onto some pictures from the wonderful Holiday season we enjoyed!!!

I wish you all "enough"!

Santa and Taylor

We took Taylor to visit Santa the other night, she really loves him! It would probably be easier and shorter to make a list of the things she isn't asking for.

Matchmaker

1. Put your music listening device on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write that song name down no matter how silly it makes you look.
4. Title this post what the answer to your last question is.
5. Good luck and have fun!

IF SOMEONE SAYS 'IS THIS OKAY' YOU SAY?
"Whistle Stop by Louis Prima

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF
Channel Z by the B-52's

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Happy Holidays by Barry Manilow

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Foggy Morning Breakdown by the Statler Brothers

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Live to Tell It All by Vince Gill

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Give My Love to Rose by Johnny Cash

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Betcha By Golly, Wow by The Stylistics

WHAT DO YOU OFTEN THINK ABOUT?
The Day I Jumped From Uncle Harvey’s Plane by Roger Miller

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Green Onion’s by Booker T and the M.G.’s

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Live Like You Were Dying by Tim McGraw okay how bizarre is this - this answer and the answer to lifes purpose....

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Sparkle by Vince Gill

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
The Gospel of No Name City by “Parson” Paint Your Wagon Soundtrack
WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow by Martina McBride

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
No Two Ways About It by Pam Tillis

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
What Happened by Gretchen Wilson

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Lemon Tree by The Kingston Trio

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Silent Night by Josh Groban (Thanks for the download, Kayla)

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO NAME THIS EMAIL?
Matchmaker by Fiddler on the Roof Soundtrack

ONE WORD TAG


1. Where is your cell phone? purse
2. Where is your significant other? couch
3. Your hair color? blondish
4. Your mother? California
5. Your father? Heaven :o(
6. Your favorite thing? floating
7. Your dream last night? didn't
8. Your dream/goal? well-situated (does a hyphenated word count as one word)?
9. The room you’re in? computer
10. Your hobby? scrapbooking (one word for why I haven't in a while "time")
11. Your fear? old
12. Where do you want to be in six years? well- situated
13. Where were you last night? home
14. What you’re not? intimidating
15. One of your wish list items? Health
16. Where you grew up? NORCAL
17. The last thing you did? ate
18. What are you wearing? jammies
19. Your TV? old
20. Your pet? Buck
21. Your computer? sufficient
22. Your mood? bothered
23. Missing someone? Dad
24. Your car? TrailBlazer
25. Something you’re not wearing? bra
26. Favorite Store? Target
27. Your summer? busy
28. Love someone? definitely
29. Your favorite color? Blues
30. When is the last time you laughed? Saturday
31. Last time you cried? Thursday


I tag anyone that reads this blog - which is not many - but it was fun to figure out my answers anyway!

8 is Great!

Wow, Taylor is 8!
That is so hard for me to believe. It really doesn't seem like that much time has gone by since she was born. I know people say this all the time, but "it seems like just yesterday" that she was born, and learning to walk, talk,

going to pre-school all those things your babies and toddlers do.

Then she started Kindergarten, I couldn't believe she was old enough to start school.
Now she's 8, in 3rd grade and Baptized!!!! She is a sweetheart of a girl. She can be so loving, she just wraps her arms around me and says "I Love You so much". I will admit, she's got me wrapped around her little finger. I try to be strict, but she knows how to get me to break! Halloween was Friday, and she dressed as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Doesn't she look cute?


She had some friends and cousins over for her birthday/baptism celebration. Everyone had a great time.

Taylor is just like any other 8 year old girl - it's all about High School Musical and Camp Rock and stuff like that. We had a High School Musical cake - it was delicious!

Her cousin Danny was able to baptize her. This may not mean anything to anyone but me, but, Danny was wearing my Dad's white pants. I always thought my Dad would be the one to baptize Taylor. I miss him a lot, but times like this, I miss him even more. He was missed and thought about and I think it was cool that Danny could wear "Pop's" (Grandpa) white pants!

Always Always Busy

I feel like I'm so busy lately that I don't even have time to breathe! Being Co-President of the PTO and 2nd counsellor in Primary as well as volunteer in my daughter's classroom and the after school choir and doing yard duty... sometimes I think I forget to breathe. But I don't think I'd have it any other way. This has been an exceptionally busy time. We have our Harvest Carnival coming up this Saturday and I feel like there is still so much to do to get ready. I really hope it turns out to be a fun event for the families from our school. Not only have I been totally immersed in that, but we had a ribbon cutting/dedication ceremony for some new playground equipment on Tuesday, I was in charge of planning the ceremony and seeing it through. We dedicated our new Rock Wall to the memory of a young girl that passed away last year at the age of 8. She was such an inspiration to everyone in our community. As soon as the Harvest Carnival is over it will be time to focus on Taylor's baptism. Then I'm hoping to come up for some air.
This coming week is Taylor's 8th birthday. It is so hard to believe she will be 8. She was born on my niece Kayla's 17th birthday. I was so excited. I have always felt as if Kayla were like my own daughter. I know she's not, Denise, don't worry...I won't steal her from you. But I do love her a lot. And now Kayla's baby is turning one! WOW! Where does the time go? I wish I could be in Utah this week end to celebrate Shelby Lynn's (my middle name ;o), Lynn) 1st birthday. Have fun you guys.

Blog Snoop...

I'm a snoop - no doubt about it. When it comes to blogs I am intrigued by what others have to say. People I don't even know. I love to see who these people are in the lives of my family and friends. One blog I came across (through my niece's sister in laws sister, see how bad I am) is C Jane Run. I am addicted to reading what is being written. I am touched by the love and devotion this family has for their sister and her husband through the horrible trial they are being faced with. Maybe this is wrong of me to peek into the lives of people I don't know! But I feel uplifted, in some ways after I've read this particular blog. I know if anything ever happened to my sister, I would step in and do exactly what Courtney is doing. What an inspiring family.
Also, I love to read blogs of my nieces cousins... I remember her talking about them after spending summers in Utah, each year, when she was growing up. I don't really know any of them. But I feel like I do. One of her cousins recently was going to make her blog private. It is a blog I love to read, also! She is so funny and I love how she writes. So, boldly, I asked if she would invite me to her blog. She did!!! Yay for me! Does all of this say I need to get a life? I thought I was pretty busy and had one, but as I write this, I'm beginning to wonder!
Tomorrow is my 12th anniversary. It is unbelievable to me - 12 years!!!I will admit, there were times I thought we wouldn't make it. But we did! I'm grateful. I love my husband. He is a good provider and he gives me SOOOO much space to do ALL of the things I get my hands in. I appreciate him and fail to tell him often enough. He gave me the greatest gift ever - almost 8 years ago, our daughter Taylor was born. More on her later in the month - she's turning 8 and getting baptized. That will be a big event. With lots and lots of pictures.
Today we spent the day at the Renaissance Faire, we went last year also and had a great day together. Here are some pictures from our day!