Father's Day

Father's day has been different since my divorce from my girls' father, but I though this year I should make sure he knows I appreciate him. He is a wonderful father. Since it is now after father's day, I will share what we did for him. I had to enlist the help of his girlfriend. She offered to take the pictures so I could put this together: 

So, the top pic, from left: McKayla, Adler, Natalie holding Asher, Alivia

Then the bottom pics are in age order McKayla, Natalie, Alivia, Adler and Asher 

And a flashback to when I first did the "Dad" picture for father's day: 

Wordless Wednesday

 

Mother's Day 2022

Secret Snowman Shenanigans

This season I choose to participate in my work's secret Snowman. I first chose myself which wouldn't work, so I picked the only name available which left my name for my friend Diandra. She therefore became my "not so secret" Snowman. To say she knocked it out of the ballpark would be an understatement.

The first week I forgot to take a picture but she got me popcorn and boxed candy for a family movie night. I was kind enough to share my popcorn but kept the candy to myself.

Week two she surprised me with this gem. It isn't a Christmas ornament, it is now desk decor! Hangs next to my desk and I love it. Almost matches my tattoo!

Week three was a little whimsical but I ate them. Who doesn't love Harry Potter and candy. Put the two together, AWESOME! Thankfully, the right side one came with a sticker that I can keep forever!

Then, I only got a picture of half of my final gift. The other half is a nice succulent pot. I got this amazing Idaho succulent sticker! I love, love, love it!

I thought the overall experience was so fun. Even though I knew it was her I still had fun. My "not so secret Snowman" was amazing.

Thank you again Diandra! 

Halloween 2018

This year Natalie is a Unicorn Princess. As usual she was posing up a storm when I took photos, so I got a bunch of her. 

Alivia, child after my own heart, is going as Hermione. She isn't quite far enough in the series to know how awesome Luna is. ;) Look closely and you can see her wand.

McKayla is Freddy from Five Nights at Freddy's. Not really familiar with this series, but you can check it out here.

Home isn't the only place I get to celebrate Halloween. My work has a bit of a celebration as well. I didn't dress up this year, but the girls at work did. Check it out. These are my front desk friends.

And my amazing nurse friends (some of them at least)

Such a fun day all around!

Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree!

Memorial Day 2016

Freedom isn't free. 

It was and is paid for by the sacrifice of brave men and women. 

Today we remember those who died during service for our country. 

This is the home of the free because of the brave.

A special thank you to Ron Berard, freelance photographer from Lebanon, Oregon for capturing these amazing images of the Boy Scouts Memorial day flag ceremony. You can see more of his wonderful work here. 

Photo credit to Ron Berard Freelance Photographer 

Photo credit to Ron Berard Freelance Photographer

Wordless Wednesday

Not any of my words, but theirs:

Mother's Day 2016

International Women's Day

I saw this question on my friend Shan's blog and thought it would be a great way to honor the day, however late I am (three days, sue me!)

In honor of IWD who is a woman who has influenced you?

There are a couple of them.

The first would have to be my mom. She taught me that all people deserve our respect until they prove otherwise. She taught me to always give second chances. She taught me to give to others, because you never know when you are the difference in their lives. She taught me more then I could possibly list here but I pray to be half the woman she was.

The second would be my grandma Ann. She was the most grace-filled loving woman I know. She constantly read her bible and had faith that one day she would be healed. Though that didn't happen in the way we wanted, she is whole and in Heaven now. She taught me to be satisfied and content in every situation. All my life, my grandmother was confined to a wheelchair but not one single time did I ever hear her complain.

There are countless others who have left their fingerprints on my soul. These are the two who jump to mind though. For all the women who have helped mold me into who I am, thank you.

Our Christmas Pictures

The girls' stockings hanging under Papa's Christmas cards. 

Beautifully lighted tree

and a view of how spoiled they were! 

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours, wishing you the merriest of Christmases. We are safely in Oregon with my family and being spoiled rotten.

I pray the holiday brings you great joy and you are reminded of the reason for the season. Not just the baby in a manger, but the man who gave His innocent life so that we might live forever with Him.

Happy Thanksgiving

The table is set, the turkey is cooking. 

We are all ready to eat up some stuffing. 

The rhyming just came to me today and I had to go with it.
Figured today was a great opportunity to use our family china.

From our family to yours, I hope this holiday gives you time with your family and full tummies. I pray the thankfulness of this day continues on through the rest of this year and into the next.

Happy Father's Day!

Since the day is here, I am posting pictures of what I made for both my wonderful husband (who is a father by choice!) and my daddy who is an amazing one and wonderful Papa for my girls.

For Stephen:

The writing on the right is: Anyone can be a father but it takes someone special to be a bonus dad.
You made the choice to love when you didn't have to. We are so blessed to have you in our lives. 

For Dad:

Happy father's day to two of the most important men in my life!


1000 gifts: three gifts found in light

• It is a gift to have the beautiful view around me to see in the sunlight. 
• It is a gift to have consistent reliable energy to light and heat/cool our home. Reading a former pastor's blog, who is in now stationed in Kenya, has really shown me how blessed we are. 
• It is a gift to have the light of my mom candle to remind me that she is still here for the special times. I light the one from our wedding during special occasions as that visual reminder. 

Wordless Wednesday

1000 Gifts: Found in your mother
What a bittersweet prompt. Hopefully I can get through this without crying. She is still my mom, still a blessing, just not nearly as close as I wish she was.

• her giving spirit. She almost always said yes, to a fault almost. I loved that no matter what I did, I knew I could call mom and she would help. Her home was open to anyone who needed it. 
• her hugs. She was the best hugger ever. A mommy hug could help almost any problem. 
• her involvement and interest in my girls' lives. Not only was she their primary child care provider the entire time we lived in Oregon but she was really active in their lives when we moved. She visited us and we skyped and called each other a lot. I miss her so much. 

My Mother's Day

This was the first time I have celebrated mother's day without my mom here. Needless to say, it wasn't quite the best holiday I've ever had. Not having her here to celebrate, it's hard. Even harder to see all the posts to mothers on facebook, knowing that I can't talk to mine or thank her for the amazing woman she is. Anyway, not trying to be depressing. I wanted to share what my amazing husband did for me. First he surprised me with some beautiful flowers and a cake at work. The rest of the office was pretty thankful for that too ;-) 

Inside the card was a gift certificate for a hair cut! He knew I had been putting it off and wanted me to be able to go without a worry about paying for it. I even got to go in and get it cut on Mother's day! 

1000 Gifts: three gifts about your parents

• My dad makes me laugh a lot! He called me yesterday to wish me a happy mother's day, one of the first things he asked was if he was the first. Love it
• It was a gift to have had my mom around for the years we were still in Oregon after having my girls. She was their sole day care provider for all their earliest years. It makes me happy knowing they will have those memories of her is very special to me. 
• It is a gift to have had both my parents and both sets of my grandparents still married to each other during my entire life. Gave me an excellent model for marriage. 

Happy Mother's Day

1000 Gifts: A gift outside, inside, upside down

• It was a gift to spend so much time outside with my girls yesterday. 
• It was a gift to spend some time indoors with my friends celebrating a birthday. 
• It's a gift to have had my world turned upside down last year, with out that having happened, I never would have the life I do now. 

He is Risen!

He is risen indeed! We had a wonderful Easter. Celebrated with our church family with a breakfast and then an egg hunt. During the Easter service we had a beautiful performance of a cantata. I uploaded a few videos here and here. After church we had a low key day at home, a delicious ham dinner and family time. I loved every minute of it.

1000 Gifts: 3 gifts nailed together

• it is a gift to have a sturdy bookshelf to keep my books on. 
• it is a gift to have a nice looking bedroom set to enjoy in our bedroom 
• it is a gift to have a twin bed for each of my girls. 

Happy Easter!!

Going to start this post off with one of my favorite songs. 

Greatest day in history

Death is beaten

You have rescued me

Sing it out, Jesus is alive

The empty cross 

the empty grave 

Life eternal 

you have won the day 

Sing it out, Jesus is alive, He's alive! 

Happy Easter my friends. Here is what I did to get ready to celebrate the holiday with the girls. Easter dresses (only worn once for picture day)

Easter lily blooming

Baskets are full and ready

Now we just celebrate!


1000 Gifts: 3 gifts at 11am 2pm 6pm

• It is a gift to be surrounded by fellow believers, celebrating the joy of a risen Savior!
• It is a gift to have my girls this Easter. Let them play and enjoy the day. 
• It is a gift to have a beautiful family to celebrate with, have a beautiful Easter dinner. 

Ceramica

We had a most wonderful Valentines day. We had my girls so we took them up to Ceramica in Boise and they had so much fun! We get the finished products next week. I'm pretty excited to see how they turn out. I think that Stephen and I will be going again on a date night since this one was really focused on helping the girls.

1000 Gifts: 3 gifts in shadows

• It is a gift to see the shadows of my girls playing outside in the beautiful sunshine we have been having. 
• It is a gift to be able to see my shadow on the ground. Another reminder that spring is coming. 
• It is a gift to have shade loving plants we can have in the house. My mini rose bush is doing pretty well. =) 

Valentines Day!

My love surprised me with some flowers at work. I love him!

1000 Gifts: A gift in losing, finding, making something

• It is a gift to lose someone you love. Although it is SO hard living without them, you know that you will be reunited with them again someday. 
• It is a gift to find new friends. Since moving to Idaho I have made some friends who changed my life. 
• It is a gift to be able to enjoy something with the girls they haven't done before. We painted pottery today and it was so fun!  

Wordless Wednesday

Santa has come to our house! Can't wait to see the girls' expressions when they see!!

1000 Gifts: three gifts humble

• It is a gift that our savior came as a humble man in a humble way to save the world. 
• It is a gift to be able to teach humility to my girls. It isn't easy in an "all about me" world, but I'm trying. 
• It is a gift to have talented artists and performers who give their glory to Him. He is, after all, the reason they have the talent.