2 Reviews

A book and a movie...

Book - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows.
Movie - Bedtime Stories

The book is one of my new favorites. I haven't read a book I enjoyed so well in a long time. I loved the characters, loved the story, it was totally PG rated (love that) and I laughed right out loud so many times.

I always love finding a movie that both me and the kids enjoy and we had a fun family night with this one. There also was alot of laughing and I thought it was clean enough for the fam.

Go experience them for yourselves if you haven't already.

So Happy!!!

This is from a tag a long time ago, 8 things about me that make me happy (beyond the obvious).

1. Cinnamon rolls - always a weakness of mine, I just can't get enough.
2. Yummy smelly things - car jars, room sprays, Bath and Body Works, and my new favorite is anything Scentsy. I love their warmers!!! I love coming home to a delicious smelling house.
3. Goose down comforter and feather bed. We have both of these on our bed year round, even in the heat of the Dallas summers, to comfortable to take off. I love my squishy soft bed, it makes me so so happy. I could lay in it all day.
4. Game shows and reality T.V. Growing up I never watched T.V. That was until after I was married and reality T.V. started up. I love watching people in real life (or totally fake:)) Current favorites, American Idol - (Kris Allen) and Biggest Loser, I just can't make it through an episode with crying. The Price is Right, I cry everytime someone comes running down all excited.
5. I enjoy a good cry. Give me a good book or movie and let me just cry. Once Chris called home while I was reading a heart wrenching book and sobbing away, he told me I should probably stop reading it and put it down. Call me crazy but I love a good cry. My most recent was "Marley and Me" and anyone who knows me knows how much I hate dogs and even that book made me cry.
6. BYU - I'm one proud cougar alum.
7. Free food, i.e. company dinners paid for by NSAI, receptions, parties, samples. Is this embarassing to admit to??
8. Returning things - I have a messed up mentality that makes me feel like I make money when I return things. The truth is that I don't buy things with plans to return them but I have bad buyers guilt and often my purchases go back. I also never try clothes on at the stores so clothes are returned all the time. Instead of realizing that I've spent the money and and are just getting refunded for it, I see it as money already spent and that I get some free money.
People I tag - do it it's fun! StreetWalker, Angey, Megan

We've gone country

We've had quite the cowgirl and cowboy fun filled events the past few months. One night Chris came home and decided it was time for him to buy some cowboy boots. I asked him when and where he planned to wear them and he was undecided, just certain he wanted some. Also a few times recently when I've gotten in his car the radio has been left on a country station. My husband's a new man, for sure this never would have happened 11 years ago when I first met him. If only he already had his boots to ring in the fun of two open houses and one wild wild west birthday party.
First Mason's open house - for months he's been reciting the words to Deep in the Heart of Texas. Unfortunately his big night was the exact same night as Rozlyn's open house. It was such drama for me. How could I ever miss either one of these nights. I went with Rozlyn and Chris went with Mason, we only have one digital camera so I took it with me and he took the video. Bad choice because we ended up with no pictures. I was holding Mallory the whole time and just couldn't do it. So here is a cute one of Roz after the event.
Charlotte really really wanted a pool party for her big eighth birthday and I really really didn't want to be responsible for all of her friends in a pool so I had to think of something even better to convince her. My idea: horseback riding, petting zoo, barn, bounce house - a sure sale!

Mason wasn't missing out on any of the fun


Here's most of the group. Charlotte insisted on wearing cowboy boots, even though they really don't fit. After about an hour of running around they came off. I was very disgusted at the idea of no shoes, I would pick blisters anyday over stepping in horse crap. Somehow they stayed off, and it's just now looking at this picture that I'm wondering how I ever let her get away with that. CPS might as well take me away now. I mean really what mom let's one of her own run around barefoot through a barn. I'm so grossed out, I can't talk about it anymore.

Family Pictures

Here are some family pictures we had taken right before Charlotte's baptism. I really wanted to get pictures of her in her dress and some pictures of Mallory for her 6 month birthday too!! Since half the kids would be dressed and pretty I made a poor judgement call to do all the kids. I'm really getting to be more and more of an anti-studio kind of gal but a friend had recommended this place and it was super cheap so we gave it a try. The experience wasn't all that great. It was my first time so I tried not to say to much because I didn't know the system. After taking a million ugly background family group shots, she informs me we're running low on time. I explained my main goal was to get pictures of Charlotte in her dress (which she didn't start out in - their advice) and some of Mallory alone. So then we're rushing, rushing trying to get what we actually needed. I was left with about two pictures to choose of the ones I wanted. Grrrr. If only it worked like a payphone and I could deposit money as needed to extend our session time, but that wasn't the case. We were herded over to the computer station where I got to sift through all the pictures while my four kids ran around unattended. Photo sessions with four kids are best handled at a 2:1 kid to parent ratio.

Two more things to say, does this make any of my photographer friends feel sorry enough for me that they could move here and also I'm supposed to publicly say that Chris didn't endorse the pioneer look on Mallory.

Baptism

We had the unique opportunity to travel to Vegas, a place not usually known for conversion stories, to baptize Charlotte. On Chris's side of the family there were three little girls born all within a month, who now live in three different states which was going to make getting to all these baptisms a logistical nightmare. The solution: baptize them all together in one central location. The other huge advantage was that my parents who are currently serving a mission in California were able to drive up for the day. The whole week went by so fast but was so much fun. We decided to do the drive. Overall it was a success, there were a few disturbing rest stop stories but they're still a little to close to the surface for sharing. We stayed in a rental home so all the kids could get in cousin time and all of the adults could have adult time. The bapitsm was on Saturday followed by a huge luau with a whole roasted pig.
I'm grateful for the circumstances that made it such a memorable day for Charlotte. It was so fun to see her getting ready, running around with excitment, giggling with her cousins as they were getting their jumpers on and standing on the side of the font dripping wet as they watched and waited until all three were done. I'm so proud of Charlotte, I love her so much for so many different reasons.
Her are some pictures from the big week and even bigger day: