Making a List and Checking it Twice

The cutest hand written list I have ever shopped from!

Love my little Brynne!

One More Down And One To Go!

A few weeks ago I got to go with Drew to the Mother Son Dance.  I always love this fun night out with my boys.  With Garrett and Drew in Jr High and High School this year it was just Drew and I.  I took him out to find something to wear to the neon/80's themed dance.  We had fun shopping together and he was thrilled with his purchase.  I was lucky Carter has a thing for bright green and I could wear a Klutch T instead of shopping for something I'd never wear again!

Drew was so cute and told me he'd rather just have alone time with me than go out to dinner with a big group of his friends. So we had a great dinner from Doghouse Grill and headed over to the dance party.  The glow in the dark necklaces and mouth pieces were all the rage with the kids.

The moms loved all the 80's music!!

They even played 80's music videos on a big screen during the dance that had us all cracking up.

I loved having a night out with my little love bug.  He is such a sweet and tender kid with a witty sense of humor.  He is constantly surprising me with his hilarious take on just about everything.  Next year Drew will be in 6th grade in it will be the last of these mother son dances for us and I have to say I will miss it!

Let the Good Times Bounce

Family night with friends started with treats at the Greenlaws and ended with a bounce at Skywalk last night!  Brynne proudly went up to the counter and let the workers know that she knew Case Lawrence the owner of the place.  Already trying to work her connections, but honestly it never hurts! A phone call from one friend to another and next thing you know this whole crew was let in for an after hours good time!

The foam pit is super forgiving when you over rotate on your flips, but climbing out is another story all together!  

 We bounced, flipped, swiveled, danced, and rolled across the mats.

 It was exhausting, and holding on to Shelley's darling grandson was a fabulous excuse to take a breather.

 The kids enjoyed it almost as much as the adults did, and Kirsten showed us all her tricks! For the record we went 1-1 on our butt wars, definitely gonna need a rematch!

Kim had some sweet moves on the trampoline.  Just ask her to show you her swivel hips!

Bryan was just finishing a 4 day road trip moving from Florida and he still stayed and played for a while!  Little Busty (McKay) was a trooper in spite of the late night.

The teenagers were crazy and so entertaining to watch!

I just adore these guys!

  

LizaJayne held her own with this crazy crew

  Our favorite BFF's got in some good bonding moments and sweaty hugs.

Some little boys never grow up, and we are totally fine with that!

In the middle of the stresses and messes and craziness that come with the holiday season, it was so nice to get out and be silly with a big group of some of my favorite people! Let the good times bounce!

Just a Little Funny

I happen to think the people employed by the marketing departments for beer companies are pretty much geniuses.  Not genius like they're gonna sell me on their products, but comedic geniuses.  Last week I was in a sleep deprived state of delirium as I was coming home from taking Wes to early morning seminary when I heard this commercial.  I had no idea what they were even selling but I found myself in my car chuckling and then laughing out loud.  I don't know if it really was as funny as I thought it was or if I was just super tired and in need of a good laugh.  Regardless, I thought I'd share...click the link below and let me know if you think I was just super tired or what?!

The Most Interesting Man in the World

Just Buy It

Fake it til you make it sometimes means throwing on that plastic smile, and wearing a cheerful countenance like it's a jacket you can take on and off.   In the movie Field of Dreams, they said "if you build it, they will come".  I like to believe that if I wear it, it will come.  The plastic smile will turn genuine and and the cheerful countenance jacket will eventually, just be a part of me, like my birthday suit maybe, but WAY better.  Sometimes you gotta wear it for a long time before you can really own it, but eventually it will come.
The tricky part comes when the people who care about you are paying close attention. Sometimes then their genuine smiles, a sincere inquiry, or quick squeeze remind you that you are loved and noticed.  Its a good feeling, one of the best to be sure, but be warned, the plastic isn't water proof and I get a little leaky from time to time.  I may not give the best response and at times my facade may seem a little sheer, but not to worry, I will be back, I'm sure it's got to be true.
So if you catch me on a day where plastic is what I'm sellin', just buy it!

Makin' Me Smile

I've been up to my eyeballs with "stuff" to do this holiday season and still finding lots of reasons to smile.  Baking yummy treats for favorite friends, excuses to call and chat even if its never for long enough, Garrett singing Christmas songs to our puppy, Brynne spending hours making invitations to every single soul in her class to come to her "dans recytl" this Saturday, 1000 hugs and kisses from my little Drew every day, Wes helping me out with all my projects without a word of complaint and the strength of a man, a sweet new helper in the mornings to get everyone off to school on time, wrapping up in my favorite fleece sheets, Christmas music BLARING from Brynnes room, enjoying the company of a new friend, cozy new chenille socks, long overdue projects finally coming to fruition, hot chocolate, a warm fire,  and the anticipation of all the fun events that still lie ahead.  Feelin' merry and bright, I can't help but smile!

Believe it!

The outside lights are done.

The stockings have been hung with care

The halls are decked

The cards are ready to be mailed

 The best part for this last minute procrastination Queen...I had all this done by December 1st!!

I'm kinda bringing my A game to Christmas this year...Believe it!

Run Away

Some mornings I just want to sleep, and others I just want to run away!

When I decided to forgo the sleep two weeks ago and came out to Millerton Lake with Kristie, Rebecca and a few of Kristies friends, I was in for a treat!

We ran 6 miles along a trail that followed the waters edge as the sun was just coming up. It was gorgeous!

I kept wishing I had my camera to take pictures of what I was taking in.  Rebecca pulled out her phone for a few shots so this is what I've got.

Six of us rode up together in Robin's car, but we met up with about 25 other people from a running group.  It was so awesome to see such a big group of people out just enjoying a morning run, but what I really wished was that they were all "my" people.

Kristie had wished the same thing, only this last Saturday, she made it happen.  She invited 20 or so of her friends to come and run the trail again.  Tara and Jason volunteered to drive us all out in the bus.

It was much colder and darker than last week, but it was seriously so much fun!! Everyone ran at their own pace and everyone ran different distances, anywhere from 6-10.5 miles, but it was just so cool having such a big crew out there!  

    Marlon brought a huge box of the sweetest tangerines to share with us when the run was over. We all just munched and visited before heading back in to town.

 These ladies ran 8 miles with me on Saturday and next week I'm going back for more.  Yes we started at o'dark thirty, and yes it really was as cold as it looks, but it was more than worth it.  Doesn't matter how far you wanna go or how fast you do it.  Come with us next week and we'll show you just how fun it is to run away!

You'd Better Not Pout I'm Tellin' You Why....

My friend Shelley took our family pics the week before Thanksgiving.  As she was getting us all set up little Brynne was furious that she wasn't going positioned just the way she wanted, and stomped off pouting.  This was the very first picture from the day and it is hands down my very favorite!  I'll share the rest of the pics after the Christmas cards go out... Let the season begin!

Ancient Ruins

Okay before we start, I'm just gonna warn you of the picture overdose you're about to experience.  While in Cancun we went to the sites of several ancient ruins.  With the information the tour guide gave us the sites were fascinating and in gorgeous locations.  Our cameras were snapping nonstop.  

Without all the incredible information of our wonderful tour guide Helaman,  they probably won't look like much to you.  Get ready to see a bunch of rocks, crumbling old buildings, and the same four people in all of the pictures...at least I'm warning you first right? 

Chichen Itza was really cool.  It was huge with several large ruins.  The main one you used to be able to climb, but not anymore.  I would have loved to climb all those stairs!

This was one day I didn't mind the overcast skies and the wind to keep us a little cooler as we walked outside all day from site to site.

There was nothing about the construction of any of these buildings that was done on a whim of just because someone fancied it.  There was symbolism and meaning behind all of it.

On the top floor of the building behind us in the very center you see a small almost u shaped altar.  This is where they placed human hearts as an offering of sacrifice to their Gods.  They did not take the saying of a broken heart and a contrite spirit lightly back then.

Every detail from the number of stairs, the exact placement of of the windows, and how many of each, represented their calendar and the significance of dates, times and seasons and how all of it related back to a higher being.

I was in awe as we saw this temple that was being renovated.  The archaeologists were putting this back together piece by piece, stone by massive stone, like the most complicated puzzle I have ever seen.  I was truly awe struck

As new leadership came or one group of people conquered another the Mayans would build above and over the existing temples. I couldn't believe that the Mexican government hadn't even dug down to see just how much more building was still in tact below.  It was fascinating.

It was amazing to me to see how so much of what the ancient Mayans believed in resembled what I know to be true, but yet they had twisted it just enough that it changed the meaning of it all.

The grounds were beautiful as we walked along, but most of the paths weren't empty like this one but full of vendors selling every cheap souvenir you could imagine.  Well, except for the one Jeremy took home to remind him of his one true love...or was that just because he couldn't say no to the guy following us around?  The street vendors everywhere could see Jeremy's big heart from a mile away!

I am always one to appreciate the little details. Probably because I lack the patience to do them myself I am always especially interested in the work that comes from someone else taking that time.  The stone carvings were everywhere in these giant structures and I couldn't believe the details in them.

Helaman gave us a little time to wander on our own a take a few pictures and hit the vendors before we moved on to lunch!

After an interesting buffet and an hour and a half drive we arrived at Tulum.  The location on the beach was gorgeous!!

The ruins here were much smaller but seemed to me, more personal.

And while the shapes and sizes were different from the ruins at Chichen Itza, the components of the structures were the same.  

This seemed more like a little village though with the residences for the various priests and the walls of the city being more visible.

The beach on the back side of Tulum was somewhere I wished I had some sun and some time for!

It looked like something from a post card!

Here we are in the last group shot of the day with Helaman joining us.  He was a wealth of information and did a fabulous job of making the history and stories come alive for us!  It was a long day with over  6 hours of driving and almost as many spent walking, but it was one we were all grateful we had taken the time for.