All Night Party!!

I'm going to keep it short & simple...no spoilers:) It wasn't the exact book (even though we all unrealistically hoped it would be), but it was incredible! I loved it!! I'm definitely seeing it again & can't wait till it's released on DVD:) It was such a fun night. I actually haven't been too tired today, maybe the energy drink has something to do with that. But I am having a hard time concentrating on much right now, my body may be functioning but my mind definitely is not. So just enjoy a few pics of my much anticipated "Twilight Night"!

Out to a pre-movie dinner with the girls! (Minus a few)


One of the hubby's works at an office at Gateway & we were able to get in there to party & play games & have even more food while we waited for the movie:)



Shanell was nice enough to make cool buttons for us all. She stood there working that machine for half the party...so sweet:)



This is specifically for James:) After the "competing with Edward for brownie points" joke, I thought he deserved a reason to be making the joke!!! Love you way more, Honey!

AAAHHHH!!!

It's here, it's here, it's here!!!!!! I am leaving in just a few minutes to go meet my twilight crazy friends for an awesome night of food, games, talking about the book, talking more about the book, & of course, THE MOVIE!! Today could not have gone by fast enough. Yeah, it's going to be GREAT! That's all...I'm too excited to even think straight. Have fun & enjoy the movie, everyone! Whoo Hoo:)

Happy Birthday Grandma!

My wonderful, amazing, incredible grandma turned 89 yesterday! I don't know that I could say enough good things to do her justice. She has seen some very hard times in her life & through them all, she always just did what she had to do. No matter how hard something was, if it needed to be done, she simply did it. She & my grandpa owned a farm in Idaho. Whenever we would go to visit, I remember being amazed at how much she did all the time. She was on top of everything. It's only been the last few years that she has started to slow down & that's only because her knees won't let her do what she wants to. If she could, she'd be following my mom around the house telling her to sit down & let her do that:) When my grandpa passed away last year, she moved in with my mom & dad. It has been so great to see her more regularly now. During the summer, we'd sit out on my parents porch while the kids rode their bikes & played in the yard. She would watch my kids do everything & then cheer them on when they did something cool:) My kids are getting very attached to their great-grandma!! She has a genuine love & concern for everyone. You can't help but feel her love for you. She has a great sense of humor...you get her going & you'll end up rolling on the floor. She loves chocolate, especially dark chocolate. She has a chocolate soda on a daily basis & when her knee hurts, she eats a piece of chocolate to make it feel better:) When we go to the house, you can almost always bet that at some point you'll see 4 generations of girls (Grandma, Mom, myself & Maddie) sitting at the table eating some kind of chocolate! I thoroughly enjoy having her around!!

We love you, Grandma!!! Happy Birthday:)

p.s. I deleted my pictures that I had of her, I'll post them when I get them back.

Welcome Baby Hailey!

A big CONGRATULATIONS to Laura & Jason (James' little sis & hubby)!! They just had their first baby on the 3rd. Laura did great, her labor was as easy as labor could be:) Her water broke at about 1:00am & little Hailey was born at 7:18am...pretty quick for a first timer:) (We laughed about the fact that her labor & delivery was more like mine - almost too fast, they had to slow my labor down with Maddie - than her own mom, who sadly had to have c-sections with all six of hers.) Little Hailey was 6lbs 15 oz & 19 1/2 inches long. She looks very much like her dad & has long, skinny toes that spread out just like her mom:) She is absolutely beautiful!!! Laura is a complete natural, she handled that tiny girl like she'd been at it for years:) She & Jason are going to be wonderful parents. I never had a little sister & when I joined their family, Laura immediately filled that role. We have always been close (much more like sisters than in-laws) & I have enjoyed watching her grow into the incredible woman that she is. Now, she has an incredible man at her side & I can't completely express my feelings for them both! I did have to laugh when Laura sent James a text the day after they got home from the hospital that said..."Hailey was up till 5am last night, welcome to parenthood, eh?" Yes...welcome, welcome, sweetie:) And congrats to you both from us! We love you tons & are so proud of you guys!!

Madelyn could have held her all day!


The boys were fascinated with her, but didn't dare to touch her:)



I could have held her all day, too:)


She eats like a pro!


Burps like one, too!


The adorable new family:)

Happy Birthday Dad!!

So this is a few days late...sorry Dad! His birthday is the 3rd, which is when I started this, but couldn't finish until I located a picture. Anyway, no excuses.

I have quite a few men in my life that mean a lot to me (those of you who know my family understand why). But there are two men that fill the biggest parts of my heart...my husband & my daddy:) (I love them both in very different ways & also very similar ways.) When James & I were expecting our daughter, he told me that one of the things he hoped for the most is for him & his little girl to have the kind of relationship that I did with my dad. So far, so good:)

I have such wonderful memories of my dad. Dancing on his feet as a little girl, being tickled until I couldn't breath during our monthly "Father's Interviews", sneaking up behind him at his drawing board while he was working & listening to his headphones, our daddy-daughter-dates that we went on clear through high school, The smell of his deodorant & aftershave in the morning when I would wake up, words he uses..jammie-jams, we's home, skin the bunny rabbit...there are so many more little phrases he uses, I wish I could think of them all right now. But my favorite phrase of all...Emily-Ann-Shorty-HighPockets-TootsBuggy-ButterBucket-Maughan. It's his nickname for me:) He still uses it to this day, he's just added Dallin to the very end! Through my high school years, when hormones rage & tempers fly & all that other fun stuff, he was my calming influence. And after I had Madelyn & everyone had followed her to the nursery, my dad sat in my room with me & told me how proud he was that his baby girl had just had her own baby girl!! I could go on & on but I'm sure it would take up way too much room:) So I'll wrap things up by saying that my dad is one of the two most important men in my life, he is the reason I knew what qualities to look for in a husband, he will do anything for his family, he never thinks twice about giving up things he wants so his kids can have what they want, he was my safety & security, he is caring & gentle. I never once doubted how much he loved me. I have always & will always look up to him & respect him for the man that he is. I love him with my whole heart. No matter how old I get, he will always be "MY DADDY"!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY!!!

My dad & me at a primary 1950's party...


His favorite thing to do...relax in the shade & read:)

Happy Birthday Trey!!

Trey came into my life a full 3 weeks early, weighing in at 5 lbs 8 oz & 19 inches long. He was a very calm baby, hardly ever cried, & slept through the night from day 1. He was the perfect way to be broken into being officially outnumbered. He was completely content to lay on the floor or sit in this swing & watch his older brother & sister play.


Well, now my little baby boy is 3 years old. I can't believe how grown up he is. He has been very excited for his birthday. He has asked us when his birthday is every day since Austin's birthday. He would get really excited & say "my day-day, 2 weeks". He didn't understand until the day before that it wasn't always 2 weeks away:) We kept it simple (I'm probably not going to get away with that from here on out)...opened presents, sang, had cake & icecream, then played with his new toys until he could barely keep his eyes open. He just loved that he was the center of attention. It was nice to be able to just relax & have fun with him.

Opening the "big one, Mom":)


Some pictures of his day...

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TREY!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

How was every one's Halloween?!? Ours was eventful...school parades, parties & then the kids favorite...trick or treating:) It was the first year that all 3 of them got into it! Madelyn has been into it for a while now (she could stay out all night), but Austin & Trey didn't care enough about it in previous years to brave the cold weather for too long. This year, they were so excited they could hardly wait to get from one house to the next. Of course the nice weather helped a ton:) I thought that after a block or two my boys would tire out & want to go back...nope! The only thing they got tired of was carrying their heavy baskets, so they would go to the door & get the candy & then bring it to me to put in their baskets. They got some pretty cool stuff...juice boxes, chips, cookies, donuts, play doe!! I don't remember getting stuff like that when I was their age:( They had a great night (and looked absolutely adorable in their costumes, if I may say so myself) & I thoroughly enjoyed watching them have so much fun:)

The other night we carved our pumpkins. Madelyn has always loved this. She loves getting her hand in there & pulling out all the crud inside. I'm not sure why? Trey even loved it. He would pull some out & flip it across the room to get it off his hand, saying "eeewww". Austin however, wouldn't even touch his pumpkin until it was all cleaned out & then washed off:) He thought it was completely "disgusting". What I think is the funniest part of all was the fact that after their pumpkins were all cleaned out, they were too tired to do the carving:) Madelyn gave hers a try, but her hand soon gave out. And since it was opening night for the official Jazz season, you know where my husbands attention was focused. Which left ME to carve all 3 (well, 2 1/2) pumpkins...oh joy!! I have to say that I did do a pretty good job. Trey keeps telling everyone..."my pumpin, didilya". His pumpkin is a spider & his word for bug is didilya. (He can say "halloween" & "mom open please" & "my birthday" & "didilya" but can't say "bug"...he cracks me up) Needless to say, they had a blast & came home with loads of candy:)

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