34 Years Ago....

I wrote in the card for Dina..."I can't believe 34 years ago you made us a family"...where did the years go?  And the crazy thing to think about is...in another 34 years I will be 94 and Dina will be 68!  HOLY MOLY!!  That is crazy stuff!!

We had almost everyone at our birthday breakfast celebration...Tristan fell asleep, so Aaron stayed home with him...Ellie is heading to a basketball game after breakfast...so she is in her sports uniform (of course, that girl is always wearing tank tops in the middle of winter!).  After the basketball game, Dina's family is heading up to Seattle to spend a couple of days with her friend Emily and family.  Dina will have some girlfriend time while the husbands watch the kids, but tonight they will all share some Papa Murphy's pizza and catch up on renewing old friendships!

If my memory serves me right (and...that is sometimes questionable!! lol!) this bright, crisp day is just like it was 34 years ago...I definitely remember the 18th being a nice day as Scott and I went to the hospital as I was having some contractions, but they sent me out to walk around as I wasn't "quite ready" to have her!  We walked around a park and it was a lovely day..then stopped home to pack our bag and back to the hospital we went.  I ended up having her at 1:12 AM on this day, the 19th, 34 years ago!

 And this is the birthday card I made for her...inside it says:  Wishing you a day filled with love and joy.












Happy Happy Birthday to my beautiful and delightful daughter Dina!

7 Stitches for Addie...carrying on a tradition!

Feb. 5 night time emergency room visit

About 9:00 PM Lacey called me on her way to the ER...Addie had fallen and hit her forehead on a cabinet...split it open and she ended up needing 7 stitches.  So I met Lacey at the hospital to give her support...we were there until nearly 11 pm.  Addie was a real trooper...NO tears or screaming for her...I must admit by the last two stitches, she was beginning to squirm a little bit and kind of 'whine'..of course she was very happy to get a popsicle when it was all done and the plastic glove blown up was a big hit, especially when the nurse drew a face on it!!  (we played 'catch' with it while waiting for the doctor to come stitch her up...he had another 3 year old boy who had to have head stitches also!!)

Now you are probably wondering about the "tradition"...well, Dina started it when she was a little over two and fell at my parents home and hit her forehead on the coffee table...yup, needed stitches! Then Lacey too needed stitches on her head and her son Caleb had stitches on his forehead when we was three years old...Ellie and Jalen have each had stitches on the head, but not the forehead, they both had them around their lips...so far Lily and Tristan are free from stitches, but they are still young, and a lot can happen in the next few years!

Volleyball back in the family

Yes, our 9 year old grandaughter, Ellie, is playing on a 12 and under team...and Scott is helping to coach it!  He is having a fun time with Ellie and it is a special time for the two of them to spend time together...they go to practices and always stop for dinner on the way home...trade off between Wendy's and Taco Bell...and they talk...you can just imagine the conversations with a 9 year old girl!!

Of course, it also means all day tournaments...and it is a family affair!  Actually, Lily and I go a little later in the day so we can go to Sunday school and church, then we join the family in the gym.  These pictures were taken in a gym in Albany...about a 75 minute drive from home.  Little Jalen finally crashed and slept on the floor, we stood guard so a ball would not hit him...and with all the noise and whistles blowing....he slept through it all.  Fun times with the family and it certainly brings back good memories from our own girls playing volleyball.

Christmas in the New House

Aaron, Lacey, Addie, Tristan, Caleb

Jamie,Lily, Ellie, Dina, Jalen

Papa Ben and all the great-granchildren

Bill and Elsa

The three granddaughters with their dolls!  Homemade pajamas to match the dolls jammies!

Christmas in the New House

One week before Christmas and I was finally able to get to my Christmas decorations and the tree (I know, I gave it away, yes I have an artificial tree....with lights already in it!!)  I have not pulled out everything I own Christmas...probably not even a fourth of what I have stored...but it is beginning to look very festive here, so I wanted to share some little vignettes with you....

I really wanted this Bakers Rack in the kitchen eating area and we actually planned a wall for it, but then when we were unable to get our original table we ordered and had to take this other table, it was 9 feet long and with the chairs this bakers rack just didn't fit into the space...the table had to be off center of the windows and all the lighting didn't line up with the center of the table.  So we decided to put it into the entry and it works just fine!

The Nativity scene is on the mantle...away from little fingers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

LOVE this 30 inch Jim shore Snowman

on the stove top island  Jim Shore angels, a Santa and a couple of snowmen

my sweet little Riley dog just prior to his passing

my sweet Jim Shore Snowmen with a picture of Lacey's family from last year

Father Christmas surrounded by angels and baby Jesus in a manger

view from the kitchen looking into the living room

view from the living room...the eating island and then the stove top island with the copper hood

view from the living room looking towards the kitchen table

Santa tucking in a little boy

 

 

 That is all I have for now, I am sure in just a few days from now, more pictures will be on the blog sharing our Christmas joy with the whole family.  We will host the Christmas Eve dinner with Scott's parents and his brother and wife.  Christmas day will by just dinner with my dad and my daughter's families. 

Christmas blessings to you all!

I am a WINNER!!

Okay, for those of you who know me, know that I like to browse through all sorts of blogs getting inspired by other crafty people.  I love scrapbooks, cards...really anything paper related and crafty!  I love making little boxes and having a gift inside!  So on some of these 'blogs' that I browse through, the owner of the blog will at times be giving away gifts, maybe she will ask for a comment or something and then a winner is selected usually by a random integer...which means they have a program and a number is selected and whoever is that number is the winner.  I must admit to having entered a couple of these and of course, never won a darn thing.  So then for a long time, I just gave up, I mean really what are the chances that I would actually win something?  Well, guess what?  I not only won ONCE, but TWICE!!!  I was so darn excited I could hardly stand it!  So do you want to see what I won?

All Martha Stewart Craft supplies!!

The package contained two die punch sets...snowflakes!  A package of glitter and tiny beads, and then three different packages of gift boxes.

Now the second items I won are 13 stamp sets.  I LOVE Paprtrey stamps and one of the designers was giving away 13 of her own stamp sets...so I just left a comment and I won!!  How exciting is that?  I danced into the room where Scott was and told him about my good fortune as I did my little jig...he was most skeptical and said something like:  "You didn't win anything...it is all just a scam"  And when I told him NO WAY, he said, "well, before you do anything let me look at what you are getting yourself into"  and I said to him, "sorry, too late, I already did it and I already won!"  I even brought him into my room and brought up my winning site and there was my name:  Colleen...where are you, you have won and I need you to respond to me"  He is now a believer...especially after the first package arrived!  I am waiting for the 13 stamp sets, but it is Christmas and the company just had their monthly release which is a lot of work for all the designers.  I have no doubt that I will be receiving a package in the mail with 13 new stamp sets and I am just thrilled about winning!!  You can bet that I will now continue to make little comments...not really expecting to win, but hey, you never know!!

Homemade Marshmallows!! YUM!!

Have you ever made home made marshmallows?  Well, they are pretty darn good...kind of melt in your mouth and also in your hot chocolate good!!  They are very simple and easy to do...I made some and dunked them into melted semi-sweet chocolate...yummmm, so good, don't even need the hot chocolate!  LOL!!  I decided I would wrap some up and give a mug and a pack of hot chocolate along with a bag of these wonderful marshmallows as a gift!  If you want the recipe, just google homemade marshmallows and I am sure you will come up with several.  They don't take very long at all, and they are a bit messy, but worth it I think, especially for this time of the year when you want to let friends know that you think enough of them to make something extraordinary!!