Family Hike and BBQ in Provo Canyon

June was an exciting month!  We celebrated John's 37th birthday and Father's Day!  We went on a family hike, swimming at the pool, John and big sis went to ward youth conference at Camp Williams and Heber Valley Girl's Camp while Little Sis and I went to a local Strawberry Days parade with some friends!  Lastly, our dog Jagger got a cute haircut!
I was playing around with Instagram while waiting for the parade to start.

On June 9, 2012, We went on the annual local family day breakfast and hike! Our nephews (Malcolm and Justin), nieces (Keli and Lauren) and grandnephew Tristan came along with us. The breakfast included fruit, donuts, scones, and juice.  They did a Smurf theme.  Little sis  made some blue play dough and played several games on the way up to the falls.   We won gift certificates to Chubby's and a Cookie Shop as well as got many coupons from many local food and entertainment sponsors! 

While John's parents were in town, we went up to South Fork Canyon during the evening of June 9, 2012.  We invited several family members!  South Fork has always been our favorite spot that is perfect for grilling meats, lounging under shade, watching the children play in the cold stream, and playing either football or Frisbee. During this trip to the canyon, we celebrated John's 37th birthday!  We had everyone bring their own meats and a side dish to share.  I made potato salad, snickers apple salad, and marinated a couple different chickens.  Then I made an incredible Texas Ranch Cake for the birthday guy!  We had a wonderful time visiting all our family members!

 Jagger got a groovy haircut!  We took him to a local groomer and requested it short. She did a poodle/bichon frise style and tied a purple bandanna around his neck. When we picked him up, we could hardly recognize him!  He is very happy and cool with a new summer hair do!  

Mother and Daughter Girls Night!

Last month during May, little sis and I had a lovely girls night together. It is a rare occasion for just the two of us to do something fun together without big sis or daddy tagging along.  We decided to go to the local mall since she had some birthday money.  Our first stop was at Payless Shoes!  We both bought some darling sandals.  I got some black ones then picked up some fun bohemian styled from Famous Footwear.  Little sis of course had to break the new white sandals in while shopping!

 Next, I bought some clothes at DownEast Basics and Papaypa, jewelry at Icing (Clairs) which are my favorite stores.

Then we went to Build a Bear!  Little Sister had a blast picking out the perfect rainbow teddy bear, pink clothes, and pink accessories (sunglasses, bag and flowers)!  Afterwards, we stopped near Macy's to eat a snack and make wishes in the water fountain.  Little Sis threw in ten pennies! 

 Lastly, she and I checked out the game store and then she played at the indoor park in the mall.  We were very exhausted from shopping and walking around!

Happy May Memories 2012

Lately I've enjoyed the perfect spring weather! Oh, how I love smelling blossoms while jogging, and seeing the beautiful flowers and trees!  During the month of May, we went hiking, celebrated Mother's Day, big sis got braces, and little sis participated in a school dance festival.

After the kids were dropped off to school a couple weeks ago, John and I went hiking up Grovecreek trail.  We saw many wild flowers, butterflies, and a humming bird.  It was partly sunny on the way up the trail, but within an hour it got extremely dark and cloudy.  It started to rain a few minutes after we were safely in the car.

On Mother's Day, I wore a fun bohemian styled outfit and sandals. My family spoiled me by making me breakfast (waffles, eggs, and bacon) and dinner (shrimp and chicken Alfredo)!  I got some lovely flowers (yellow, white, and purple) to hang near the back porch. John spoke in church about mothers and I got a king size bar of chocolate from the ward, which I shared with everyone!

Big Sis got her top braces on!  She looks very pretty and happy in this picture!

Little Sis had a dance festival.  The third grade performed to the song Summer Belongs to You from the cartoon Phineas and Ferb.

We are looking forward to fun SUMMER adventures!  Hopefully I can knock out some things from last years summer bucket list that I didn't get to accomplish.  May was simply marvelous!

M&M Teacher Appreciation Gift

On the last day of school, I sent little sister with a cute gift to give to her third grade teacher Miss Wright.  We bought 2 packages of M&Ms and a clear plastic jar.  I was inspired by this website Domestically Speaking that had a perfect poem to accompany with the gift.

Green is for the inspiration you give me each day.

Blue is for your patience in showing me the way.

Orange is for your warmth and caring style.

Yellow is for the way you always make me smile.

Red is for my life that you have touched this year.

You’re a very special teacher just like this jar, that’s clear.

You place knowledge in our children’s hands

and melt into their hearts and lives forever.

You’re a "Magnificent" & "Marvelous" teacher

Thank you for being my M&M.

Spring Butterfly and Floral Wreath

It has been a while since I last crafted something.  I was in desperate need of a colorful spring wreath to hang on my front door since my oldest daughter thinks I never decorate my house for holidays or seasons.  So I went to a local Dollar Store to gather some supplies.

Spring Butterfly Floral Wreath

Supplies

One wreath 

Flowers: baby breath, yellow, orange, pink, and purple

Batches of butterflies (brown, orange, pink,and blue)

Glue gun and glue sticks

pliers (to cut the flowers)

My total spent at the Dollar Store was $10.00, which is cheap compared to a craft store! As for the time arranging and gluing it together, it took me about two hours.  Now isn't that a pretty cheerful wreath? I absolutely love my spring wreath and look forward to making other wreaths in the future!

Happy Mother's Day in Heaven!

Dear Mother, 

Last year I recall bringing you a boutique of beautiful flowers for Mother's Day.  You also requested some new dresses and even though you were diabetic, I spoiled you with a sweet treat...   You were very excited and happy to see Karen, Nate, and me! 

 I have many fond memories of you.  You were very kind towards others and an animal lover.  You loved music, singing, cooking, and crocheting.  Thank you for being a fun Mother!  We sure had marvelous adventures together such as swimming, roller skating, bowling, playing at the park, shopping at the mall, eating at several restaurants (like Sizzler when you yelled out to the waiter, "More Shrimp Please"), and having Baskin's Robins Ice Cream cones, etc.  You spoiled me rotten when you bought me that huge Barbie house on my 12th birthday, you reluctantly drove me to the store to buy me junk food late at night when you would rather be sleeping, and always gave me shopping spree money!  

You always comforted me when I felt sad or was hurt. I truly enjoyed bouncing ideas and goals with you in person or on the telephone.  I loved that you always understood me, supported me, and encouraged me during my hard times.  You were very patient with me and loved me very much. I always could count on you and appreciated all you have done for me. You were a wonderful example to me.  I always admired your faith, determination, courage, and strength.  

I think about you all the time especially while I go jogging and hope you check in with me once in awhile.  Last week while I was at Walgreen's purchasing my first red lipstick, I thought of you.  I have never tried bold colors like you wore (blue eye shadow, bright pink lipstick, and red lipstick) and I was surprised that I didn't look too bad with ruby lips!  I will always think of you when I apply that red lipstick and feel confident like you did all gussied up! 

I am sad that I didn't get a chance to say good-bye, sit by your bedside, or hold your hand before your unexpected death.  I will never forget my last precious moments with you.  It was in June 2011 when Karen and I came to see you at the nursing home after you were discharged from the hospital.  You had a terrible kidney infection and a broken leg (from a fall in the shower).  You were lying in bed swollen from all the antibiotics and had a difficult time eating your dinner due to your Parkinson's Disease. So Karen and I took turns feeding you.  Before we left, we both hugged you, kissed your cheek, and said, "I love you, Mom!"  I am very grateful for that time we shared together with you and hope you will remember my beautiful last moments with you.   I hope you know how much I love you!  I miss visiting with you in the nursing home, seeing your warm smile, wrapping my arms around you, and kissing your soft cheeks.

 I will never forget you, Mom. Happy Mother's Day in heaven!

Love your daughter forever, Jenny       

I scrapped some pages of my sweet Mother and some pictures from her funeral.

Miss You Mother, 2011

Page Two 

Credits: Shabby Princess June 2011 Templates, Blossom and Sprout kits from Shabby Princess, and I used the Mareen's Print font.

April 2012 Summary

April blew by quick due to us being extremely busy in our household.  We had a couple birthdays, Easter, spring break, my dad from Vermont came to visit us, accomplished a lot of yard work, new church callings (hubby is a scout master assistant and second counselor to the young men while I teach 5-6 year old primary children), and our puppy Jagger kept me on my toes since he acts like a toddler eating/chewing everything in sight and occasionally has potty accidents in the house.

Big sister turned 13 years old on April 5th and had a birthday party with some friends!  I cannot believe that she is officially a teenager!

Her birthday theme was her favorite colors Orange, Purple, and Blue!

 The kids played the following games: darts with balloons on sheet rock, Goldfish catch, cartoon couples match game, truth and dare, bubble gum relay, etc. They ate pizza, bread sticks, cake, and ice cream.  The teenangers  appeared very happy and entertained.  Big sis even made a groovy play list on her iPod, which they jammed to during the party.

Our beautiful little sister turned nine years old on April 15th! She requested a very rich chocolate Reese's peanut butter cup cake.  We bought moose tracks ice cream, devil's food cake mix, chocolate frosting.  I did two round cakes and put ice cream in between the cakes. Then frosted it and crumbled Reese's cups all over... We stored it in the freezer.  YUM!  She loved her girly presents a pink fuzzy blanket, a purple kick ball, sock monkey slippers, fairy dolls, Strawberry Shortcake play set, and a purple Lego set.

Little Sis read to Grandpa Coleman while he was in town.  He visited for a couple days during the third week of April.  We had a lovely BBQ with my sister's family on a Sunday evening and hung out.  On another day, he and I went to my mother's grave and had lunch together.  Then we ate enchiladas at my place for dinner one evening and my sister stopped by after work.  It was a great experience for my girls to be reconnected with him since it has been over six years since he last came out.

Big Sis reading to Grandpa!

 Yard work and gardening is a lot of work!  I have already spent many hours weeding, ack! We trimmed rose bushes, thinned fruit trees, fertilized the lawn, chopped limps off our out of control English walnut tree, planted seedlings and flowers!  I absolutely love having a greenhouse!  It has been cool this spring and my plants survived thankfully.  I hope we have a successful harvest in the next couple months! 

I adore my little "puff ball" or "toasted marshmallow" bichon frise/poodle puppy! Jagger makes me laugh and smile everyday!  I enjoy taking him on walks, car rides, kissing him, and cuddling him. He is entertaining when he chases his tail, plays with his favorite squeaky lady bug toy by pushing it on our legs while we walk, and prances when he moves around the house.  He definitively has "The Moves Like Jagger!" John and I are determined to learn how to groom him (nails, haircut, etc) since taking him to the groomers costs a lot of bling bling! Isn't he the cutest puppy ever??? XOXOX

Festival of Colors

Photo Credit: Erin Kondratieff Pritchett

You know it is spring time when an explosion of rainbow colors can be seen in the air! Big Sis left the house in a white t-shirt and jean shorts with some friends to the Festival of Colors on Saturday March 24, 2012 at the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork, Utah.  She was given some colored cornstarch to toss in the air (not recommended thrown in your eyes which happened twice to big Sis).  She had a lot of fun with her friends and came home with pastel hair, face, shoes, and clothes! 

Fave Winter Scrap Pages for 2012

Since it is officially the last day of winter, I would like to post some of my favorite winter scraps.  I am looking forward to Spring especially after mother nature dropped two inches of snow this morning, ugh!  Luckily, we have warmer temperatures later in the week!

Snow Day, 2010

Credits:  The template is from Sweet Shoppe Designs "Dattlan" 2011 Cookie template, Snow Day doodles are by Kate Hadfield, papers Karah Fredricks,  green and pink alpha are by Kaye Winiecki, word strips, stitching, orange frame, and orange paper by Eve Kipler all from the The Lily Pad.
Be Mine, 2011

Credits:  Love You template by Morignals,  Project Scrap January 2012 template (free) from Shabby Princess blog, Wild Love kit and Seasonal Sampler Amore (free kit) by Shabby Princess and Three Dates and One Night font.

St. Patrick's Day Fun and Happy Birthday/ RIP Gramps

What a busy weekend!  We had serious green thumb syndrome yesterday!!!  John has been getting our 30' by 25' garden ready.  We borrowed a tiller from our friend to loosen up the ground.  I started filling the pots, planter boxes, etc with fresh soil.  In the next couple weeks, I am starting some plants which will be in the greenhouse.  Yes, we have a greenhouse and I am very excited to take advantage of it!  To our surprise, there are several tulips starting to come up all over the yard!  I cannot wait to see them bloom!  I have SPRING FEVER!!! Next, we gave Jagger his first haircut!  Obviously, it looks unprofessional and hopefully in time we will be able to do a respectable job.  He was a good boy while trimming it with clippers and snipping with scissors.  I had to bribe him with chopped carrots and puppy treats.  A "leprechaun" left some gold coins and Rolos for the girl's St. Patrick's Day treat.  I printed the I'm so Lucky to have you that was placed on the top of a ziplock bag!  My printer ran out of green, ack!  It was poor quality printing; however, it is the thought that counts! For dinner, the girls requested corned beef again just like last year!  Then John and I decided to make Colcannon (mashed potatoes, cabbage, bacon, cream, and butter) as a side dish, Irish Soda Bread, and apple beer.  As for dessert, we made rainbow sherbet floats (Sprite and Rainbow Sherbet) and  Lucky Charms Cupcakes.  

As for my Grandfather, he died early this morning (March 17, 1925-March 18, 2012).  He was in a coma with a high fever these last couple weeks resulting from leukemia.  I am very impressed that he held on until his 86th birthday, which was on St. Patrick's Day.  He lived a wonderful life.  I admired the fact that he worked very hard most of his life and did his best to provide for his family.  He was always positive looking on the bright side of things even when challenges came his way. He found true love twice, loved music, worked as a TV and radio engineer for many years, enjoyed building model airplanes, liked walks near the beach, and was a great example to all his family members by living a healthy and joyful lifestyle.  I will miss my visits with my Gramps!  I will always cherish my happy memories we shared together on Cape Cod. You can read his obituary from the Cape Cod Times . I love you, Gramps! Rest in peace and say hello to Grandma and my Mother for me!!! XOXOX

2012 Reading List

Best Books for Little Sis:

David Shannon Books

Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Conner

Fancy Nancy Books by the way there are some fun Free Fancy Nancy Activities for little girls!

Jamie Lee Curtis Books such as Today I Feel Silly and I Am Going to Like Me.

Meg Cobot's Allie Finkle Series

Big Sister's Fave Books:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

My Thoughts: I bought this hardback series in March 2011 from Costco.  They sat on my shelf for months collecting dust.  Big sister finally got around to reading them during the summer and begged me to read them too. She absolutely loved the series! In fact, she liked The Hunger Games series more than Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga.  She was dying to share her thoughts with me, but could not without spoiling the story for me.  When I finally got around to reading them this fall, I was hooked!  I read all three of them in a couple days!  What an incredible thriller book series filled with action, friendship, love, fashion, and survival. I loved the characters especially Katniss and Peeta!  Even my husband read the Hunger Games in one day but did not get the chance to read the two following books.  The last book Mocking Jay lost my interest a little bit in the beginning of the book but it got better in the middle and I was satisfied with the ending. I am looking forward to seeing The Hunger Games  film in a couple weeks with my oldest daughter!

My Future Reading Picks:
I cannot wait to read the following books!  I bought them a couple months ago and they are on my list to read this year!  I will write a book review later!

The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks 

Matched by Ally Condle

Valentine's Day Surprises

I love Valentine's Day surprises!  We sure had a marvlous day!  The girls were dressed in pink...  We made a simple heart and foil Valentine's Day box for little sis and big sister received many Valentine's from her friends at school.  No worries nothing shown here were from boys!  She does not have a boyfriend or secret admirer...  Obviously, big sis has a lot of friends!

I made special Valentine's Day school lunches for my girls the night before.  They included the following: heart shaped ham and cheese sandwich, a clementine, Capri Sun, strawberry fruit roll up, a pink Loft House cookie, and Chicken in a Biskit crackers.  Then I enclosed a Happy Valentine from Mom too.

Later in the evening John surprised the girls with a puppy!  One of the biggest pros of living in our new place is the owners allow small pets with an extra deposit.  So we looked for the perfect puppy for our needs:
 non shedding
 hypoallergenic
 small breed
 intelligent
 easy to train
and happy
I did some research on several breeds and the winner is a bishon frise/poodle mix.  We named him Jagger! Isn't he the cutest puppy ever?  He already knows how to play fetch, sleeps in his kennel at night, and sometimes walks on his two front legs.  He loves to entertain us.  I can already see that he will have fun learning new tricks!  As for potty training that is another story.  In due time, he will get the hang of that.  We absolutely adore him!

The Help Book and Movie Review

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

My thoughts: The Help is an incredible book definitively one of my favorite books in my top ten book list! There were a couple times when I laughed out loud while reading this story! It broke my heart how cruel some white people in the South treated the African American people in the early 1960s!  If you are a fan of the classic novel To Kill of a Mockingbird then you would enjoy The Help!  It is a witty, humorous, and well written book.  I loved all the characters in the book especially Skeeter's courage to write a book about African American experiences working as maids for white families in the South, Aibileen's precious relationship with a white child Mae Mobley, and Minny's fearless spunky personality! You would never regret reading this book!

As for The Help movie, I finally bought the DVD in December. Surprisingly, the movie measured up to the book in every way!  I thoroughly enjoyed watching the film and even my hubby liked it. If I watched it in a movie theater, I would have stood up and applauded once it started rolling the credits!  It was one of the best movies I have seen in a very long time!  I love the message from it, which we all can appreciate.

Chicken Wonton Salad

Chicken Wonton Salad 

Salad

1 head of Romaine lettuce, chopped

1/2 package of Wontons

1 head of iceberg, chopped

Grilled boneless chicken breasts, cubed

Green onion, chopped

celery, chopped

2 cans of mandarin oranges
Dressing

1/4 c. Rice Vinegar
1/4 c. Sesame Oil
1/2 Canola Oil
1/2 c. sugar
2 T. soy sauce
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. ginger
Mason Jar with lid
Directions
Make the dressing first. Add the dressing ingredients in a mason jar and shake well.  Put the dressing in the refrigerator to chill while preparing the rest of the salad.  Cut the wontons into thin strips.  In a large pot, add some cooking oil and heat it on medium. Make sure the oil is hot and ready to go.  You could test it by dropping in one wonton to see how it cooks.  I recommend the wontons a light golden brown color not fried crispy dark brown or black!  Allow the wontons to drain and cool off on a paper towel.  Next, grill the chicken on medium heat with some olive oil and cube it into bit size pieces (you may season the chicken how you like it I did salt and pepper).  Chop the lettuce then add chopped green onion and celery, set aside. In two separate small frying pans, toast the silvered almonds and sesame seeds with a little butter.  When they are brown remove from heat and add them the salad.   Next, add the dressing and mix well. Lastly, fold the  mandarin oranges gently in the salad!  Enjoy the GOODNESS!!!

December 2011 Highlights

December was a super busy month for us, which is typical during this time of the year with Christmas shopping, holiday traffic, choir concerts, several parties, visiting Santa Claus, etc.  Among all the holiday craziness, we found out on December 14 that John has type two diabetes and the following day we had to move out of our rental home because our landlord sold his home (a 15 day notice).  So we were extremely busy packing and looking for a new place during the holiday break.  To be honest, I lost the holiday spirit due to the stress. Since I boxed up all my Christmas stuff, we spent Christmas in southern Utah with my husband's parents.  We enjoyed the peace and quiet bliss at Granny's house (a simple and small country town)!  Granny spoiled us with incredible tasty food!  On Christmas Eve, we drove a couple hours to see Aunt Rhea.  We had a lovely time visiting with her, Vickie, and Carmen.  Granny read a wonderful Christmas story to my girls that night and we enjoyed the glow of candle light dinners.  We went to church for one hour the next day and opened presents after church. We were so happy we spent some time with Granny and Grandpa Free!  A week later, we moved on New Years Eve with help from our awesome family, neighbors, and ward members!  Luckily, the weather was great (no snow) on moving day.  Later that day, one of our old ward members dropped off some pizza, bread sticks, and soda while we unpacked at our new place then we went to a friend's house for a New Years Eve party (we were invited to three parties that night).  We will miss our Grovecreek ward!  We found a wonderful place on the west side of town. It is a lot bigger than our last home with tons of storage space, yard, storage shed, tool shed, greenhouse, potato cellar, etc. Pictures will come later once we are all set up... I have a lot of empty spaces.  Hopefully we can purchase our own home in the future.  In the meantime, we are blessed we found a great place during this cold and chaotic time of the year.  We hope to get to know our neighbors and make new friends in our new ward in the next couple weeks. 

DECEMBER HIGHLIGHTS

Junior High Choir Concert

Big Sister with her friend at their choir concert

A Fabulous Birthday Haircut (thanks Jenny)! 

A Gorgeous Hair Style from David Douglas Salon

  Checking out the Christmas lights at the River Bottoms Mall 

Never Too Old for Santa Claus 

A Peaceful Christmas in Southern Utah and My girls with Aunt Rhea!

Wearing Red on Christmas Day!

 Making Memories with Granny and Grandpa Free

 Playing Barbies in the Snow! Priceless!