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, July 03, 2013

What's On Our Happy List?

Ordinary Summer Randomness...to the fullest!

 Just chill'in!

Our adopted baby birds in our tree by our front door grew so fast. It was so sweet watching the mamma bird fly to the nest with a worm in her beak to feed her babies. The birds would squawk and stretch their little necks out. So cute! One day Brie found one of the birds in the backyard in the dirt. Left behind as it couldn't fly. We tried to help it, hold it, wanted to feed it, even searched for worms in the dirt, in the dark with a flashlight... with no luck. We tried putting it back in its nest but it fell out. We left it on the ground for the night hoping the mamma would come back for it. Gone the next morning. {Don't ask.}


Ya know that cold that Kyleigh got the last week of school? Well it turned to strep. She was super duper sick.  I think in the course of three days she had three father's blessings. One for the ACT test. One for starting summer drill and a healing blessing. Poor kid. She was puking, having excruciating abdominale pain on top of severe throat pain. Even after 48+ hours on antibiotic she was not improving.  Her throat was so sore she would yelp out in pain. Tylenol and Ibuprofen provided no relief. It got to the point that water was getting stuck at the back of her throat! It was bad. She was wigg'in! I think she felt like her throat was enclosing in on her. This episode was early in the morning, hours before we could get her into the doctor.... So we had no choice but go to the ER where she stayed for a couple of hours. They gave her an injection of steroid to help the inflammation in her throat {she had pharyngitis}, pain meds, and she was on her third IV of fluids before she had to pee so she was plenty dehydrated. No doubt because she could barely eat or drink for days. It still took her a few more days to really start feeling herself again. The doctor gave her a medical release from drill practice for four days. Haha like that was going to happen. She went back the day after. For five hours. The stinker!

Some fun friends left her cute messages on her car and driveway...





Kyleigh had drill camp in June...bruises to show for it. Crazy!

Hannah coming home from Oakcrest Girls Camp. She really had a great time! Pleasing to hear! There is no contact with them during the week and I sorta don't like that. In the age of cell phones it seems foreign and five days feels like forever without contact with your child. As a mom you wonder all week how they are doing.  Especially when your oldest couldn't stand this camp and refused to go the second year and Emma never wanted to go. So she didn't. {Which is so funny because she loves YW's camp and I think if she had a chance to go to Oakcrest now that she is older, she would go.} Brie had snuck a note for Hannah to find while she was gone. It went something like this. Dear Hannah, 3 things...
1. You are a butt. 2. Have fun 3. You are a butt again. I miss you. Love Brie

Wow...Love this message! Such a powerful thought to instill in the youth these days.

Hannah with her good friend Emma and some of their cabin buddies. Loved hearing all her stories when she got home. 

Back in January we tried a new chore/allowance system. I've never been big on allowance, because I think doing household chores and being responsible is just a part of being a family, and you shouldn't get paid for it. But I decided to try it, and we did for about 3 months, and then we did away with it. I've come to the conclusion that my kids are not too motivated by money. Unless there is something that they really really really want.  Brie has been wanting an ipod touch. So a few weeks ago Grandma said she would pay for  half if she could earn the other half, $75 dollars. Boy she turned into one driven kid! She's been tending her cousins and doing odd jobs for grandma around her house.  She finally earned enough this week. And learned a lesson in tithing to boot. She was one happy girl!


picking up crab apples...not fun!


Oh. gosh. people. close the front door! Not only is 1D coming to Utah in concert this month but they have a movie coming out in August.  Emma went to a late night movie recently with Dad and Uncle Ryan when he was in town. Emma spotted the boys in all their cardboard glory! Photo shoot for sure.




Swimming at the neighbors....

Hannah with two of her friends...


Some of our favorite foods this summer...

German pancakes...They've been made a few times! Brie went through a phase where she was trying to amp up her cooking repertoire. She's great at warming up tortillas and making quesadillas. She wanted to learn how to make German pancakes. Another day I showed her how to make an omelet. Another day it was a milkshake. Ya know essential things... so she doesn't starve when she heads to college...in 10 years... { I think I survived on top ramen with peas and fruit loops}

 I just love Costco. They were featuring some specialty cheeses recently and my very favorite cheese was there! It's Yancey's Fancy sweet n' spicy Jalapeno and Peppadew Cheddar Cheese. I'm telling you. You add it with a little lunch meat and a cracker. It is scrumptious....

These are my favorite chips right now. Also at Costco. They are filled with brown rice, flax, sesame and sunflower seeds and Quinoa. Doesn't make you feel as guilty eating them with all that good stuff in there.


Fruit leather..in an assortment of flavors!

Just because!


Kyleigh off to work! She's getting use to it. She doesn't love it, but doesn't hate it anymore like she did those first few days. She's making some friends and getting more comfortable with her responsibilities. Can you tell she loves her work attire?



Emma off to Ward Youth Conference at a ranch in Wyoming..

Caught this early morning, over the fence pic of Hannah helping Emma get her camping stuff to the church. Hannie not 14 yet so she couldn't go. {Bummer}  Kyleigh had drill team pictures and practice so she couldn't even go for the whole time. She was able to go for about six hours. Some kindly neighbor {who is a YW advisor} and her husband drove her up and back the same day.

Emmsie with some YW buddies.

Walking to the church to greet Emmsie home with our welcome home sign!

Emmsie had made a happy list of her time away. It was fun hearing all of her stories.

Caught Emmsie chill'in under the trees one afternoon...reading...She's read four books in five days...She loves Regency Era novels, like me. Sarah M. Eden, an LDS author has been our choice of late.



The drill team had their first fundraiser. A golf tournament. Kyleigh is here serving the lunch to the golfers.  Dad and I were on the committee. I'm telling you Dad should be a "drill mom" he's so supportive and has such great ideas to make this team successful. Kyleigh worked hard trying to get sponsors and donations for this fundraiser. It's stressful and not fun and out of her comfort zone, but she was able to get a nice flat screen TV donated for one of the raffle prizes, a built in microwave to the tune of $1100 to be silently auctioned off at other drill event later in the year, AND she was able to get her own letterman's jacket that they are getting this year..completely donated! Her hard work paid off. It was a super long day and hot {blasting hot} but the team raised some serious money. It was awesome...


Dad captured this one morning this week. Sweetness! Kate has had a few sleepovers with her sisters this summer.

Once in awhile the artsy crafting bug will hit around here. One day it was Emma and Hannah dying the ends of their hair with koolaide. {It really works by the way}. Another it was making these magic wands. Emma pulled out her bead collection, painted and glued some sticks and wha-laa. 

Okay some funny stuff here folks. Kyleigh's cousin Andrew has some serious admirers. {that would be two of Kyleigh's girlfriends...Mercedes and Maddison} One has liked him since the 8th grade when he went to school here for a year after his mom died. Another had it on her bucket list to go out with him. So Kyleigh planned a triple date with Andrew and two of his buddies. {Merc was the lucky girl to go with Andrew, but they have to plan another date so that Maddie can go with him the next time}The two guys that Andrew brought were boys from the Layton Prom date back in April.



To say that Kyleigh's two girlfriends were giddy and and excited and nervous is an understatement. It was hilarious listening to them. Those purses were jammed packed with deodorant, body spray, multiple packs of gum, you name it. They were prepared!


I even caught them on video as Andrew and the boys were arriving. I missed the initial "Oh my gosh they are here" {complete freak out} but the rest is pretty entertaining.


They went for pizza and then hiked Ensign Peak behind the capitol. As Kyleigh was hiking down, she realized she had accidentally locked her keys in her car... OOPS! So we got a desperate call for help about 9:30. The whole family jumped in the car as we all wanted to be a part of the rescue mission to bring her the extra set of keys. hilarious. Emma said "I thought I was going to bed 10 min ago but look where the night took me." What a kick! Because of the keys locked in the car situation they weren't able to go to Layton for fireworks, as originally planned, but they did sparklers, ran through the sprinklers, played at the park and danced in the street. They had a great time!


It was a beautiful drive and an amazing site to look over the valley from where we were at.




Okay, so one last thing and I'll be done...I took Kyleigh to get her Senior Pictures taken yesterday for the yearbook. Yes, they do them this early.  You know the unattractive black, velvet, drapie top thing that the girl's wear for their Senior pic, and the guys were the tuxedo? Well no more. Kyleigh's graduating class gets to wear the even uglier plain, old, black gown, without the cap, for their yearbook pictures. {Nice} Apparently there were too many complaints to our school last year from girls, who choose to live a different lifestyle. They wanted to wear the tuxedo for their pictures, but couldn't. So...now everyone gets to wear the same thing! I have a problem with this. {big time.} If these girls choose to live this way.. fine. I could give a hoot. But when your morally messed up ways start to effect us personally. That does not fly with me. {Just say'in} I say go ahead and let 'those girls' wear the tuxes. Let them look utterly ridiculous.  Anyhoo...enough of that.

Have yourself a happy holiday!!

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