Our New Family Member

No folks, this isn't an announcement that I'm pregnant, those days are loooonnngg gone. We have ourselves a new kitten and his name is Charlie. We found him at the Oregon Humane Society. He's quite a little lovebug. We've been taking it slow, after all he has 3000 sq. feet to figure out not to mention two very strange looking creatures snuffling and staring at him with quizzical looks. He loves to purr, but right now he is afflicted with a kitty cold, which we were warned would happen. He sneezes a lot, poor kitty. We love him.

Easter

We had a lovely Easter Sunday yesterday. We had a wonderful program in church which was mostly musical numbers with a couple of short talks. Our little family sang "I Stand All Amazed" and I felt it went really well. Even Dallin was able to stand up there with us with minimal distraction and sing the parts he knew. My parents and Hannah were able to come and see us, then the whole family came over for dinner and egg hunt activities. It was a nice time visiting and catching up. All the kids are so busy and it's nice to hear what they are up to.

I am so grateful for the plan of salvation and that my family can be together forever. There really is nothing more important than our families and on Easter as we celebrate the miracle of our resurrected Lord these are the people I love being with.

Maddie's Prom

My baby girl had her senior prom this weekend. It was fun to prepare for it with all the dress drama, hair appointment, manicure, all the things that go into making memories. She and her date Graeme were a beautiful couple. I hope she will remember that night fondly, as I do my proms. Prom is just one of those memories that linger, hopefully in a good way.

Tomorrow is her Senior/Mother tea. Just the first of several "end of year/end of high school" events coming up. Sigh.

Little Purple Pansies Touched With Yellow Gold

My goodness, I have let my blog go to seed! I guess I just haven't felt very inspired to write lately. Today I am home with Dallin, who is sick, again, with a fever. I also happen to have pink eye so...look away! I am hideous!!! Anyway, I'm just feeling so happy about spring. This is the first year I can remember getting tired of the gray and wet days. I love fall and winter. I don't spend a lot of time outdoors anyway, don't like bugs, sweating, sunburns, you know. But this year I'm feeling the need for spring. Easter is in a few days and I've put pansies in my flower boxes and they are so pretty. I've enjoyed getting outside these last few sunny days and just breathing in the fresh air. It's been so nice, so spring...keep it coming...I'm more than ready.

A pic for the last post...

Little did I know that I couldn't save my post and add the picture later before publishing. At least I couldn't figure it out. So, here's the picture of Thom's exciting birthday gift.

In His Prime

Today is Thom's 47th birthday. He doesn't outwardly ask for much pomp and circumstance, but I know him very well. Inside he's just like a little kid who can't wait to see how many presents he has to open and wants to open them NOW! Well, little does he know that I've tried to be a little original, a little surprising this year and he should have fun opening these treasures after work. Even though he likes his "things" this man of mine has an innate desire for things that are practical. Well, he will get his wish, I'm heading out to get his BIG present right now...a wheelbarrow. Yippee!!! Happy Birthday Thom!

Friends for Life

I'm an extremely lucky girl and I know it. The ladies you see in the above picture with me are the best of the best. They are my best girlfriends. We have been friends for a LONG time. Mary (in the blue) and I have been best friends since kindergarten...no lie. Anyway, we have this wonderful tradition that started in high school of having our own Christmas party every year. Over the years it has changed slightly, but essentially we hold our ritual sacred and don't change it. In recent years as our families and our lives have become crazy busy we've moved our party to after Christmas. There are several benefits to this, some of which are more time, sales, something to look forward to after the holidays, etc. The party consists of us getting together sans husbands, children, household duties (except for that year's hostess) and having an evening of fun. We take turns hosting, going from oldest to youngest. The hostess has it at her house and provides a scrumptious buffet or sit down dinner. Then we talk, and talk, and talk some more. One year we even took off to go to the mall...we haven't done that since. We 're usually just happy to catch up and gab and gossip as we snack. As the evening wanes we look over at our presents and think, "gee, guess we should start opening gifts." This process takes us AT LEAST 2 hours as we have our own system for this too and and as gifts are opened we can fawn over them and talk and discuss and compare and on and on and on. Things you can't do on Christmas morning with children breathing down your neck to open the next one. This year I made it home a little after 3 a.m. Oooops!!




We have had this party, without fail, every year, even before we were all married, and certainly through many many pregnancies and adoptions and moves. Our beloved Holly moved to California 6 years ago but I think we've been able to adjust all but one year. We've flown to her house, she's flown up here. The year she wasn't there was heartbreaking.

I realize that this friendship is rare and I consider it a huge blessing and another way my Heavenly Father shows me He loves me. These girls are my lifelines. I always know they have my back. As our lives change, we stay the same. We get together and we are 25 again, or younger! Now instead of having babies, we are seeing our babies go off to college and on missions and even getting married and making us grandmothers. (Well, ONE of us, so far!) What a wonderful gift.