Bonjour!

Bonjour!
I’m a 51 year old mother of five amazing daughters and wife to a caring, sensitive AND sexy husband. I adore my family. I’m dedicated to my faith. I enjoy a good laugh. I'm nostalgic and love to reminisce. "Remember" is my favorite word in the English language. I love life! I’m passionate about music, food and {dreams of} traveling the world. I wanna be a castle and waterfall chaser. I’m fascinated with anything European. {PARIS! Hello!} I love celebrating anything and everything! I love to read, especially a good biography, mystery, Regency Era Romance or Historical fiction novel. I love thoughtful gift giving. To me the gift wrap is almost as important as the gift itself. I have a bit of an obsession with gift boxes and gift bags. As well as old world maps & globes, apothecary bottles and jars! I love being creative…bolts of ribbon, coordinating scrapbook papers, producing a table scape, or planning décor for a themed party puts a smile on my face. I love the details! I’m a freak for anything theme oriented. I enjoy event planning, but oddly enough do not like to host or entertain. I enjoy fashion, but have to really be in the mood to clothes shop. I love purses and funky costume jewelry. Especially big rings! I’d rather wear wedges or heels any day than flats. I enjoy decorating and searching for the perfect decorative pillow or picture. However, you’ll never see me frequent high-end stores. I'm more of a Ross, TJ Maxx, Tuesday Morning kind of gal. My favorite decor style is an old world rustic Italian chateau/Spanish Villa look with a hint of bohemian! OR a vintage shabby chic French country cottage/English cobblestone farmhouse. My #1 cookie-Molasses! Autumn is my favorite season. I’d go through childbirth a million times. I enjoy biking with my man, Pilates, and power walking. You’ll never find me in a gym working out. I love movies, whether watching them in the theatre or cuddled up on the couch with my family. I enjoy a good chick flick or real life drama! I'm a sucker for movies on the Hallmark & Great American Family Channel. I have a tender heart for the elderly. I adore Disneyland. I enjoy being in the canyon on a summer or fall evening at dusk. I love my friends. While I have some extroverted characteristics. I’m a self proclaimed introvert. I’m generally quiet, calm, reserved and pretty darn private. Why in the heck do I blog? It’s a creative way to record family history. I enjoy photography. I really don’t like to write, although I write in my journal often. My journals, patriarchal blessing, scriptures, quote book, and beloved Christmas tree filled with ornaments of family memories are among my prized possessions. I love the beach. I enjoy WWII history. I love a clean, orderly house, but ours usually looks lived in. ;) PBS Masterpiece is my friend. I adore Jane Austen films. They transport me to another time and place. If I had to choose another time period in which to live, early 19th Century England would be my pick. "Sense and Sensibility" is my all time favorite movie. My 3 favorite TV series are...BBC's Larkrise to Candleford, the 1950's Spanish Drama "Velvet," and the travel/food show "Somebody Feed Phil." My biggest pet peeve is people who blow their noses in public. So gross! {Take it to the bathroom people.} I’d go on a wine tasting vacation if it wasn’t against my religion. I’ve always wanted to adopt a baby from a foreign country. I’m an avid BYU football fan. I'm a Educational Support Professional. I tutor elementary kids in phonemic awareness, phonics, reading, fluency and comprehension. I love our campfires at Scofield Lake. I have a 'thing' for fairy gardens, Gallic French roosters, fresh flowers in a vase, pretty bowls & plates, and yummy smelling candles & soap. I love summer rainstorms and warm baths. I'm a scripture podcast fanatic. I'm also a fan of several Fox News shows; Hannity and Dave Ramsey Talk Radio. I very much miss Rush Limbaugh! I hate when my kids have homework. I'd rather clean 20 toilets than give a talk or prayer in church. I have quite a collection of Madame Alexander Dolls, children's books, Disney pins, and quotes. My favorite quote is "Don't underestimate me. I know more than I say, think more than I speak & notice more than you realize." True True LOL! I always prefer sitting in a back row versus the front. {I'm sort of a seat snob..yikes} I also have high expectations for my lemonade, salsa, and french fries too. HA! I work well behind the scenes. I love a good Dateline, 20/20 or 48 Hour Mystery. I’m a night owl. I'd rather be cold than hot. I love to budget our finances! I enjoy being a chauffeur to my children. I'm not a huge fan of social media. I don't snap, pin or tweet. All I want for Christmas every year is a ticket to the Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert. It's my FAVORITE. I’m an Anglophile…a royal watcher who loves anything English! Especially tea parties! I would like to serve a church mission to England with Jaren someday. I'm queen of paper towel, used kitchen dishrags and sponges kinda make me squirm. You’ll rarely find me out of the house not ready for the day, except when driving the kids to school on the days I don't work. I feel naked without lipstick or lip gloss. Mismatched socks, chipped fingernail polish, chapped lips and brownie crumbs on the floor drive me nuts! I like to organize and BE organized..but not saying I always am. ;) I enjoy hiking to waterfalls, ATV’ing with my family and snowshoeing with the hubs. Although I enjoy collecting recipes and occasionally watch cooking shows... (Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade, Paula Deen, Jamie Oliver, and the Pioneer Woman are my favorites) I’d rather not cook. Eating out is so much more fun. I'm a foodie. I live to EAT! LOL Trying new foods and restaurants is a favorite past-time, and believe it or not so is intermittent fasting. I'm not good at a lot of things... but gosh, if you need help with a themed celebration or someone to enjoy good food with, I'm your girl. I love the joy of anticipation and the celebration of holidays. Family traditions are important to me. I'm a memory preserver. I'm a pathological picture taker ;) a visual storyteller, and a lover of happy lists!

My Fam!

My Fam!

The Hubs and I

The Hubs and I

My Girls!

My Girls!

Kyleigh Dawn (28)

Kyleigh Dawn (28)

Emma Abigail (26)

Emma Abigail (26)

Hannah Isabelle (23)

Hannah Isabelle (23)

Brielle Olivia (19)

Brielle Olivia (19)

Kate Evangelene Lyllie (13)

Kate Evangelene Lyllie (13)

Mr. Charles "Bingley" Wentworth III (4 yrs.)

Colonel Edward Fitzwilliam "Darcy", Duke of Westridge (3 yrs.)

My Man!

My Man!

Good Times!

Good Times!

Wedding Day 5*17*22

Lillian "Lilly" Belle

Disney Food Fun! 2019

Disneyland Tips

What I Believe!

Our Missionary

We Bleed Blue! {Except for the Poppi}

My list of favorite movies!

Learn more about Dyslexia!

Music To My Ears!

Thursday, August 04, 2011

What's On My Happy List?

Oh my...
It's August!
When did that happen?
I've decided that August is close in the running, behind January,  as my least favorite month of the year.
It means that summer is slipping away.... and its slipping fast.
Only 2 1/2 more weeks. BLAH!

Here's a few things we've been up to the last week or so...

We have a house guest!

A 31 string Gothic Folk harp! die.

Kyleigh is learning to play the harp for one of her 
YW 10 hour value projects. 
My good friend happens to own one and 
is letting us borrow it.

Kyleigh is taking lessons from a young lady 
who has been playing since she was five. Look at her harp!
Gorgeous-o!

Our backyard secret!
We have this little area out back that we refer to 
as our Secret Garden.
There is a little pathway that leads to chairs behind some trees 
where the kids can hang out...



Had to post these pics because the Secret Garden 
happened to be on the watch list this week!  
Darling show. 
                                                                                 
  
I have one child that refused to watch it 
because it's too sad and it creeps her out. 
Brie was a little uncertain too but she gave it a try 
and became quite fascinated with the storyline. 
She kept asking me questions, 
making sure she understood what was going on.. 
it was so cute...After the show I gave her a little water can, garden shovel and wildflower seeds to plant in our own secret garden.

This is a stepping stone with our last name initial 
that she helped grandma make to place in there ...
                              
                               Mommy morning out!
Brunch and pedicures are always in order 
when my friend from out of state comes in. 
I've been friends with these girls since childhood...
It seems we can go months without seeing or talking 
with each other but we have no problems picking right up 
where we left off. We can laugh and cry together and just hang. 
Love these gals. Check out my friend's new car. Lucky!

Swimming!
Kate loved being in my neighbors pool for the first time. 
We thought for sure she would hate it, but she surprised us.





Some good mail!
A package from Uncle Ryan, in Mali, 
came with some African animal carvings for the girls... 

Popsicles...Oreo style!
Ya gotta love Oreos. I try and stay away 
but sometimes you just have to give in. 
I tried a recipe here for pudding pops 
that has crushed up Oreos in them.  YUM!   

And awhile back I made these Oreo bars  
courtesy of Sweet Pea Kitchen. They are just like rice crispy bars 
but with crushed oreos instead. 
Fun to try. 
And they were tasty, but I think we all agreed we'd rather 
have just the plain Oreo cookie if we had to choose. 

                                           Journals!
I love journals. and I have a few.  They are priceless to me. 
I've kept a journal on and off since I was eight years old. 
I happened to pull them out of my hope chest the other night and I spent hours pouring over them! 
The girls got a kick out of me reading certain passages to them 
about high school, hanging with friends, 
{awe the memories...we had so much fun!} 
all the dating and boy drama, and when I started going out 
with their dad...etc. What a hoot. We stayed up so late!

I've been keeping a daily journal of all our happenings this summer 
and Brie has been asking and asking for a journal too. 
Well I remembered I had one tucked away that I got free somewhere. She was tickled to death when I told her I had one for her!



*Shopping with Emma at the new Home Goods store 
that opened near us. *squeal* 
Me and Emmsie could go crazy over home decor...

*Hannah and Brie jumping in rain puddles with their friends 
after the afternoon rainstorm we had. I love love me a summer rainstorm!  
And we've had a few this past week. 
There was one last night that freaked even Kyleigh and Emma out. 
{I'm sure watching Hitchcock's Vertigo before bed didn't help.} 
Emma was doing Family History Indexing on the computer for a YW project 
and didn't even watch it but we told her about it and that was enough. 
Guess what was on mine and dad's bedroom floor this morning?

I have such brave girls. 
Kyleigh says we have the comfiest floor 
and that she'd sleep there tomorrow night too. haha. 
She got up at 8 am to watch grandma make ribs 
and then she went back to bed the floor.

*Hannah's Stake Activity Day/Going to the Wizard of Oz play at the Murray Amphitheatre and Sleepover with friends. This pic is actually from their SECOND time seeing the play. They were so in love with the scarecrow that they HAD to go back and watch him again on closing night. They were over here making a sign and posters beforehand to take with so they could express their undying love to him during the show. They were lucky enough to snag a picture with him after. Talk about giddy girls! I've never seen Hannah so gah gah over a boy before. 
Hilarious to me.  

*Kyleigh's boating trip/overnighter to Bear Lake

*Brunch with my RS Presidency

*Taking Kyleigh, Hannah and my niece, Emily, to see 17 Miracles 
on Pioneer Day. 
Shed some tears at that one. SUCH A GOOD SHOW!

*Emma's daddy-daughter ice cream run

*baby girl shower for my darling niece. 
All I had to do this time was show up and enjoy. 
The mother to be's sister, another darling niece {I've got a lot of those!}, 
was here from out of town and she loves to plan parties too... 
so she got the pleasure of throwing this one. 
She did an "Oh So Sweet" theme and it WAS totally sweet!  

                                                                                  
                                               more on these cake bites later...


*AND OUR PARTY, just this evening, with the little neighborhood girls. Will be posting on that soon!

Happy last few weeks of Summer-ing!

1 comment:

  1. 1- Do you know the "harp conspiracy" I hatched before Boo was born? My favorite instrument ever. I've been mentally manipulating her into it for years. Don't tell her.

    2- That version of the Secret Garden, Colin reminded me of Todd when I watched it in High School. I feel like our son would have had to have been named Colin.

    2- The treats. Again!

    ReplyDelete