It's a Wonderful Life

My sister and her family were able to come up for a wonderful visit and as the saying goes, “All good things must come to an end.” How quickly time flies these days! We had a great time visiting and catching up and we spent EVERY minute we could together! Spending quality time with family is so important. Through thick and thin, family will always be there. I just had to share some pictures of us over the years...

This picture of the four cousins was taken 6 years ago while camping. You can see the love they have for each other and the fun! My how the girls have grown over the years and aren't they adorable! Now there are two more in the family with little Gaven and big sister Capri. Life is good and we are truly blessed!!

This picture of the four cousins was taken while we were camping at Fort Stevens in Oregon…our favorite campground! If you've never been to Fort Stevens and you love camping...it's a MUST! You've got the ocean, lakes, miles of paved bike/walking trails, etc.

Through the years we’ve had so many good times together as a family. The picture on the beach is from when my mom graduated from Ecola Bible School in Cannon Beach, Oregon in May of 2004. We all rented a house in Gearheart, Oregon and had lots of fun playing games and cooking meals together in the kitchen. We had beautiful weather and were able to spend lots of time on the local beach parks. Just this week, we found some old video footage of my sister-in-law and I having a chicken fight in the kitchen, as well and my husband and I. It was hilarious! Growing up as a kid, my brother and I would have chicken fights in our hallway. We would kill our knees and ram into the walls accidentally. We’re getting too old for these games now so we’re teaching our kids how to do them!


As girls, we’ve tried to have slumber parties, multiple coffee runs and girl talk whenever we're together. The cousins love the slumber parties and one day very soon Capri will join in the fun! Aren’t we cute!!

We try to do the slumber party/girl bonding annually with the girls and either do a mask, paint fingernails or soak our feet in tubs and let's not forget the girly finger foods we eat and the occasional chick/kid flick. Creating memories together...it's what's it is all about!

As the girls have gotten older, they look forward to doing this with us. It’s gone from just having fun being girls, to becoming a tradition to do this whenever my sister visits. The girls love being able to stay up as late as we'll let them!

It was great to have us all together and I'll be sure to get more photo's posted of our time together this time as soon as time allows (which I'm sure will be after school's out for summer)! This is a cute picture of the 5 cousins during our get-together last summer.

Be sure to take time with those you love! Create memories and traditions with your kiddo's. Enjoy the beautiful sunshine God has given us lately! Make the most of every moment. Live life to it's fullest! Laugh & Giggle together. Laughter is great medicine! Focus on the positive and good times and you'll see...It's a Wonderful Life!!

April 2009 Photos

Okay. So it's nearly the end of May and I'm just getting my April photo's posted. What can I say? We've been busy and having lots of fun!

April started out with Spring Break and we were able to have a sleepover with the cousins, go to Great Wolf Lodge for two amazing nights and then come home and decorate Easter eggs for Easter. I was in Kansas the middle part of April so no family photo's were taken.

At the end of the month, Madison was able to attend her first "Justice" party and had a fabulous time! All the girls got to have their hair & make-up done and then wrapped up the time with charades & dancing. A bunch of girls having fun being girls...Fun times!

I Will Rise

This is a personal recording from part of our oldest daughters Spring Program. Each year the 4th grade class does something unique. Last year, the children performed to "Who Am I" with black lights. If you'd like to see one similar, I posted one on my blog last year that I found on YouTube.

This year, it was Katelynn's turn and she was so excited! She looked so pretty up there! The song that they performed to is titled "I Will Rise" by Chris Tomlin. The recording has a little noise from voices around us and the video doesn't do it justice but we thought you'd still enjoy it. Personally, I'll never listen to this song again without thinking of the performance of these awesome students. You'll want to pause my blog music and you may want to grab a kleenex before viewing.

Farm Chicks and Country Living

Mother's Day is just around the corner...so I've dropped several hints and even offered to pick up an item that's on my wish list for my hubbie. My husband's a busy guy and has a tendacy to wait until the last minute to go out and get the perfect gift. I figured, I'm at the store and I see what I've been wanting. I'll just send him a text message and see if he'd like for me to pick up that certain item that he and the girls can wrap up for me...as a surprise for me. I'm trying to be a helper! Anywho! I didn't pick it up. It's still at the store waiting to come home to me.


Curious to know what it is? "The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen: Live Well, Laugh Often, Cook Much" Book is first on my list for Mother's Day this year! Check out their website here (http://thefarmchicks.typepad.com/farmchicks/our-cookbook/). They even have some recipes you can try. The book is available at Costco for $17.49 and it even includes a free subscription to Country Living(http://www.countryliving.com/). What a deal! One of the ladies is even from our beautiful state.


There are multiple recipes included in the book as well as some other creative ideas to country-fy our homes with craft projects and decorations. I think I need an adorable new apron to go with it too! Not really but I did a quick search for vintage aprons and aren't these cute! Check out http://www.jessiesteele.com/catalog.php and http://www.couturedreams.com/ if you're in need of a cute new apron. I've got a few that I wear when I'm cooking in the kitchen but not as cute as these. I need to get some new ones for my girls too. We used to have apron's for them when they were much younger but they've outgrown them.


Lately I've been trying more recipes to bless my family at dinner, etc. It's important to make our house a home. My husband is always jabbing me when I come home with a new candle. I always ask him if he likes it and his comment is always "Smells like home". In the beginning I was usually bothered by that. I wanted to hear something like, "Wow! That's really nice." or "I really like that one". But now, I've come to appreciate that comment. I want our home to be filled with comfort, joy, laughter, love and have a sweet aroma.


When I was in Kansas, my blog music wasn't playing in the background. My oldest, Katelynn, made a comment about how something was different to Jack and then she realized that she missed hearing my blog music. I want my children to look back when they are adults and have fond memories of home. The smell of a candle, fresh baked cookies or muffins, etc. etc.

Ladies, take some time to create memories and bless your family today. They'll appreciate it (even if they don't mention it) and you'll feel good about it in the process. Those mundane job's that we do each day, they are a blessing to our families! The toilet doesn't clean itself and the laundry doesn't fold itself.

We all need to be a Proverbs 31 Woman. Proverbs 31:15 ~ "She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls." Proverbs 31:17 ~
"She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks." Personnally, I don't get up when it's dark but rather I stay up when it's dark to do some of my tasks. That just works best for me. So, turn on some music, grab your apron, dust rag or your mop and go bless your family!!

P.S. I'm curious to know what's on your list for Mother's Day? Leave me a comment 'cause I'd love to hear what you've got your eye on!