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!

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

What's On My Happy List?

M.A.G. Dance
I should have posted this ages ago. But I swear I can't keep up with this dance business. We get one over with and its time to go to another one. This poster making below happened the day after Prom..as in 2 1/2 months ago! Kyleigh asked Boy #3 and her good friend Mercedes asked his twin brother. {These are the boys that wanted to take them to Prom but Kyleigh had already been asked by Boy #2 and Mercedes was dating Boy #1 at the time.}

Here's a creative candy bar card for ya....

To the M&M {their last name starts with M} brothers!  Who Nu we'd have to ask you this early to MAG? Even though you probably wish you could TAKE FIVE  from all the dance craziness, we want ZERO chance of getting beat to the PUNCH. We are calling DIBS on the two of you now before someone else does!! We can't wait to go with two of the hottest TAMALES in town!! Get ready for DOUBLE the fun! Search the jars {Since Valentines was a few days away they were filled with Valentine conversation hearts with letters on the back to spell Kyleigh and Mercedes names.} to see who would LOVE to go to the dance with you!

Boy #5 had gone to church with us and stayed for family dinner and ended up helping with all of this. He was such a good sport! {Almost for the entire time leading up to the dance.}

 A few days later. This was at our door. Smart Cookies! YUM!

There was a crossword puzzle inside the cookie box. She had to find 10 words that would give her her answer. We searched for words that we thought might be in there like ..."Yes, Kyleigh, I would love to go to the dance.." {ya know pretty typical answer.} We did find some of those words, but for the life of us we could NOT find ten words to make a proper sentence in the English language! We were stumped. Kyleigh finally texted Boy #3 to give him a hard time and told him we were finding words like...eat. this. you. pig!" Oh gosh it was hilarious! Finally we came to the conclusion, with a little help, that it was just ten random words. They were... YES. KYLEIGH. DANCE. BEAUTIFUL. LADY. FUN. CRUSH. MAG. COOKIE. LUCAS.


The theme of the dance was "Better Together". So for some time... there was racking of the brains trying to think of famous duos/couples to dress up as. One idea was Bond and Bond girl. Emma's response to that was..."What is Kyleigh supposed to wear, a bikini?" "You can't be Mormon and be a Bond girl!" {That was the quote of the day. haha.} Finally they figured it out one weekend when they were all hanging out up at City Creek. They happened to go into the Disney store and Kyleigh was hit with inspiration. Peter Pan and Wendy! Funny thing is, Boy#3 was just as excited about it as she was.

 Out of all the dances, this dance by far was the least drama filled leading up to it.... until it was time to plan it. Goodness me. I think by the day of the dance all the girls were on each others last nerve. You can imagine the planning stage with 6 opinionated girls {some more so than others} and keeping every one's feelings in check... is no easy task. One girl joined the group the last minute. {She was the lucky one.} It sounds ridiculous but the details of getting these things planned is exasperating and before the date I'm certain that all of it is more trouble than it is worth.  And I'm not even the one going!! haha. Although I thought for awhile I might have to escort Kyleigh and her date and another couple {one practically an adult} up the canyon. How awkward is that? The whole driving scenario was a story in and of itself to the point where I'm not even going to attempt to explain it, cuz it was a doozy.} So basically lots of compromising going on, over where to eat, what to do for the day activity, who's driving, who's driving with whom. To make matters worse they ended up having to switch their plans in the 11th hour due to bad weather... and they got stuck bowling {bluck}.

So.....Jaren and I always give our two cents worth when its a girls choice dance. Maybe we shouldn't, but heck we are paying for it, so you better believe we are going to give advice on how to get the biggest bang for your buck, no matter who the date is, whether its Boy #3 or Joe Blo. These dances are not supposed to be your standard Friday night date. We encourage Kyleigh to try different restaurants, {this is your chance to do it!} do an activity you've never done before, like go snorkel in a 10,000 yr old crater up in Midway. Ya know, be creative, go beyond the norm.. {within reasonable expense} make it special and memorable. She feels the same way. But some don't think like we do. And thats fine, until the difference of opinions and hogwash make it so my daughter, who was one of the instigators of this whole thing,  isn't even excited for the date any more because of all the "issues". One being she isn't even doing anything that she originally planned to do. haha.  Luckily she was able to have a good attitude and just go with the flow. As a result they had a completely awesome time! For reals!

Some of these girls really went outside their comfort zone and asked boys that are not in the normal friend group. So brave and so proud of them. Their motto was YOLO. You only live once! The cute couples in the group.. Selena Gomez and Justin Beiber, Nancy Drew and Ned Nickerson, Darla and Alfalfa, Gwen Stacy and Spiderman, Fred and Daphne, Troy and Gabriella from High School Musical.

 With the twin brothers!





 This one cracked me up!



The infamous Murray dive {but one of our favorites} restaurant they decided to eat at doesn't take reservations so Jaren and I had to go early to hold a spot for them and then waited til they arrived.  It was so crowded! They had to wait almost an hour to eat. And they were not the only dance group there. {That's what I'm talking about.. be more original!} The Mr. and I got take out and blitzed. We also chaperoned the dance later that night. Way way fun! Caught a bit of jamm'in to the 1D boys! 

They helped clean up after the dance and then went and hung out some more. Doing what they do best. ;) When Kyleigh dropped Lucas off she gave him this little "Tinkerbell" inspired thank you note with pixie sticks....


Then a couple of nights later this was on our doorstep. How cute is he? Seriously. He and his brother and another one of these guys have become regular hang er outers even before the dance and since. They have a great time together. Just fun, nice boys. So all in all the M.A.G. dance was a success!


I'm quickly adding the Layton Prom to this post in an effort to get these dances chronicled. As we have another one coming up in 2 1/2 weeks. Makes me laugh. How many dang dances can there be? This one is the last. for the school year. Phew!

Layton Prom
 Cousin Andrew was here for a few minutes visiting after Priesthood a few weeks back. Kyleigh and her girlfriends were joking around with him about crashing Layton's Prom. He told them he actually had two guy friends that still needed dates.  So there was some casual talk about him lining them up etc. We didn't know that he was actually serious about it until 3 nights before the dance. Typical guy timing. haha. Andrew set Kyleigh up with his best friend and cousin Emily went with another good friend of his. I'm telling ya this is the way to go. NO planning, NO day activity, NO dress shopping. NO cost. NO expectations. We didn't even have to get a boutinierre. It was lovely. Kyleigh just wore her Homecoming dress. Yes, a little under-dressed for a prom, but her date wasn't in a tux so it was no big deal. The whole thing was just funny. funny. funny. They were both so nervous yet way excited. It was a true blind date! Kyleigh didn't even know what her date looked like until minutes before he arrived. Andrew is trying to show her a pic of him off his phone before he ran off to pick up his date.  



This is Tim!
and Ben!


And Andrew! haha.


The group just so happened to come to Andrew's for pictures...I got a kick afterwards finding out the dynamics of this group. Why Tim and Ben didn't have dates, who likes who, but who asked who first, who in the group were currently dating and had previously dated...{sounds familiar...haha}



Kyleigh and Emily are so happy they went. They had the best time!  How could they not? If these guys are friends of Andrews you know they are great guys. My nephew Andrew is the cutest kid ever. Kyleigh said as far as the dancing goes it was the funnest dance she's been to. These guys dance. Like break a sweat dance. Kyleigh loves that! They had their after party at Andrews. It was a late night as  Kyleigh and Emily slept over. Good times for them I'm telling you. I would say the blind date was a success. Both of them would for sure hang out with these guys again if given the opportunity. 

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