25 YEARS

25 years ago....I married my best friend!

I love him more today than I ever have!

I am so blessed to have him as my MAN!

(Love the silver tux!)

Best 25 years ever! Lets do it again!

Crafters Annon...

(Sorry these are not the best pictures...)
SOOO, what have I been up to?

Then it was time for....

And before I could put everything out, I realized...St. Patricks day is just around the corner. Out with the red and in with the green!

Really, nothing much...just a bunch of

(Oh, and my friend became a Grandma again! So I made this...)

Have you tried these?

Can I just say...YUM!!!!!!
(Yes, these are in the FREEZER section at Sam's club...)



I make some angel hair pasta to go along with this chicken.

End Of Two Wonderful Years

Two years ago I was called to be the ward Nursery Leader. (I was told at the time that I was called that it is only a one year calling by our Bishop...)At the time I had just been released from 3 years of serving in our ward Relief Society. Wow, going from serving my sisters in one capacity to serving my sisters in another. It was hard to think of being so involved in RS to be sent to what has been labeled "The Black Hole". (Meaning you really don't know what is going on in the rest of the ward.) At first I was not very excited. (What am I going to do with little ones...all my kids are almost out of their teens!)

OK, a little attitude....

Then I guess there was a bit of hiding...

Then I think there was a few days of screaming....

And other days, more screaming...

Then as the weeks went by, we had singing and maybe some dancing...

Then we found lots of kisses and hugs

Two years really goes by faster than one would think. Now I have been released and I am not sure if I want to cry or do a happy dance. I can say that I will miss the weekly snuggles. My boyfriend had already moved on at the beginning of the year...He was three and ready for Sunbeams.

I do feel that I was greatly blessed. I had the most AMAZING partner in crime (Deanne..You are the best!) and some great stories that I can share. I love the kids and love the waves and peeks that I get during Sacrament Meeting. The great thing is I have not moved out of the ward, so I will be able to continue to see the kids in Sacrament Meeting and other ward functions.

I loved my two WONDERFUL years!

Christmas

Ahhhh, the most wonderful time of the year.

This year....where to start.

Well, it has been a hard year with work, or lack of it. I think it was a blessing that Jeff had the time off from work so that he could have the time to get his pilot's licence which he has wanted to get for as long as I have known him. So money has been really tight. Right after Gobble Day, our friends/family (The Holcombe's) treated us to Disney Land. What a fun day. It was like Christmas early to be able to spend time with their family. LOVE THEM!!!!

The past few weeks since then have been busy with my open house with DaNae and then we opened her garage at night to sell our stuff to people walking the lights in her neighborhood. I was also busy getting things wrapped up at work for the kids to do a small gift for their mom's, and finish up papers for classes. Then....well, lets just say that life has been busy with EVERYTHING. I tried SEVERAL times to write a Christmas Letter to send out to everyone. For some reason, it just never came together. Not to mention, the thought of spending all the money on the postage was a bit intimidating.

Coqui-this year has been about choices and consequences. I am hoping that this next year brings happiness to her with new adventures. She is moving to Washington to live with some friends and hopefully go back to school.

Keana-is trying to find the perfect place for her. She is in Washington now looking for the perfect job.

Colton-is still going to school, working and playing hard. I know he is alive because the piles on his floor in his room move.

Klaira-learning to drive, busy with school and church.

Jeff-Pilot. (so fun to add that to his accomplishments!)He will be starting a new job next week, we will see what adventures he has this next year!

Christmas eve was our traditional homemade egg roll/eat tons of Chinese food night. We started a tradition several years ago where we don't have gifts for the kids, we just give them $10 for every year of age that they are until they are 18. Then they get a gift card. We fill the stockings, for those that are home, with a few goodies. We just have not had the money for the past few years to do more than that. Sometimes I really wish I could buy the stacks of gifts for my children of things that I know they need and wish to have. Other times, I am thankful that it is not about the presents, but the time as family. I so enjoy spending the day with my family and the day after. (We go to the movies and out to lunch.) I will miss these days when all of the kids are making their own traditions with their own families. I think I would like to start making new traditions with my family, but sometimes it is hard when we all have in our minds what we want Christmas to be.

Now I look forward to this next year. What will it have in store for us all?

My goals: Listen more, tell my kids I love them more, learn more, enjoy more! I still have not found my theme for this next year. Maybe in the next few days I will find it.

New Beginnings!

A few weeks ago a dear friend of mine (DaNae)called me and said that she needed to meet me for lunch. She had something very important that she needed to talk over with me. Well you know that got the mind going...

My friend had a business proposition for me...Ok, I'm listening!
Well, long story short, her sister was coming down to have a craft show here and thought DaNae should have something in it also, especially since it was going to be at her house...(that is a sneaky way of getting a sister to open her house to have many people track mud in and have it all discombobulated for several days..)
DaNae somehow thinks that I am crafty and it would be fun to make crafts with me. Oh, and we only have about 2 weeks to put it all together. And we have no start up money.
OK, I'm in! Anything with DaNae is going to be an adventure!

Sooooo....
Working at the school
Driving Klaira around with all of her activities..(still working on the driving permit)
Calling at church
Keeping a house running (well, it is better on some days)
Sure...I have time!


6x6 Glass Block Bank: $15



6x6 Wood Santa: $8
Well, the open house/craft Boutique was a success! DaNae's sister brought enough stuff that she could of had the whole show herself. We had 4 other girls bring their stuff to sell also (candles, jewelery, etc...)
Now DaNae lives in a neighborhood that people come from all over to look at the Christmas lights. At night time we open up her garage and we have everything set up that people are still coming to buy our stuff! Its great! We have even had several orders for more things. Who knows where this will go! I have set up another blog (I haven't had time to really do much with it yet...) that will have some of our fun creations. theaccentedlife.blogspot.com
YIPPY!

Thanksgiving

Ok, quick update of what we did for Gobble Day...
Coqui went to Washington to spend a few days with friends,
Keana is living in Washington and her car would not make it down, so she stayed up there..
Colton found a girl and her family that would feed him up at Shaver Lake where he could play in the snow...
Klaira stayed home with Jeff and myself...poor kid. Wednesday night Klaira was sliding on the kitchen tile and fell on her arm, just below the elbow. SOOO Thursday morning her and I made a trip to Urgent Care. X-rays are crazy and don't really show everything. They wrapped it and sent her on her way.
We (Jeff, Klaria and I) went to see the new Disney show "Tangled" which was a cute movie, to come home to a Turkey dinner. We got up 4 in the morning to drive down to DL to meet up with our dear friends, The Holcombes! A very full day of standing in lines and giggles and cold, Jeff and I traded Klaira for Keith and came home to get in about 2:30 in the morning. Klaira stayed and had another day at DL and Jeff and Keith were golfing fools. I am getting ready for a open house this next weekend so I am up to my eyeballs in craft stuff... Klaira got back this afternoon in time for her and myself to give it round 2 at Urgent Care. She is in a half cast for now and we will look at x-rays next week if not better. Now we head back to work and school for 3 more weeks until we are off for Christmas Break! Yippy!