Picture time!

While we were in Utah for Christmas, we ventured out into the snow for family pictures... what we're we thinking!?  Actually, most of the pictures turned out pretty cute... there's just a few I wish we could have gotten or would have turned out.  Overall, I'm pretty happy with them... 

It's my entire family! 

Look familiar?  Our new family picture!

Cory's gonna kill me... but here we are!

Dad & Mom... happily married!

Sister Shelby... Mike, Lauren, Brooke and Andrew. 

Sister Amy... Marcus and Addie. 

Not bad for all those little cousins with grandpa and grandma... 

Okay... here's where it starts to fall apart... 

I woulda really loved a picture of my 3 kids... I mean a good picture... 

At some point near the end, Grant all of a sudden started to cooperate... lo and behold we got this adorable picture of him... 

and his personality, too... 

Our super cute Valentines...

I'm sorry... but I have to take a moment here to give myself a pat on the back.  Cause I did it again... I found some great ideas on the internet and copied them!  I'm so good at that!  Hey... at least I never take the credit as it being MY idea!

So, when I saw this idea... I knew instantly that it was perfect for Grant.  Knowing his obsession with mustaches... this was a ding-ding-ding, perfect valentine idea for him!  My friend Tera came up with a super cute saying: "There's no disguising it... I like you, Valentine!"  (If you can't tell, that's a foam mustaches attached to a sucker in Grant's mouth)

The girls got big, giant, red lips... 

Now for Maggie... this has probably been around for a while, but I had never seen it before and I have to admit I thought it was quite clever.  I whispered in Maggie's ear that she was going to have the best Valentines in her class.  Go ahead... tell me that's not true!  I thought they turned out adorable!

Sigh... someday I will come up with a brilliant idea... after I've exhausted everyone elses!

Good news!

Last week was one of those roller coast weeks.  I'm grateful to report that it ultimately ended full of good news!  Love it when it all turns out that way... 

First up, my father in law had heart surgery.  That's a scary thing, you know... he's had to stay a wee bit longer in the hospital than expected but definitely on the road to a full recovery.  We were happy for the day when we could bring the kids in for a little visit.  

And while we were visiting... Auntie Maryanne and Uncle Casey made a big, exciting announcement...  That's right, cousin #7 is on it's way!!  They are just BARELY pregnant... I mean, she didn't know her due date yet.  So, we pulled up a pregnancy due date calculator and determined that the little bundle of joy will arrive October 19th.  Who do you think it'll look more like... Casey or Maryanne?  I'm very curious to find out... 

To top the weekend off... my parents were able to spend Sunday afternoon with us while they were in town vacationing.  It was a super short visit... like WAAAAY too short... brief, but lovely!  We just enjoyed each other's company for a few hours and then off they went to catch their flight.  I love this picture of Zoey with my dad... she's definitely in a stranger danger phase right now, but there was no doubt about it that she knew Grandpa and Grandma are her people.  Maggie enjoyed assembling her Valentines with my dad and Grant spent some special, quality time with my mom after he was sent to his room for throwing a tantrum.  Grandmas... they just have a way about them, don't they?

Freedom

I know this blog is stale... but!

I have purged and I am FREEEEE now!  Not much goes on in January.  January is rather blah.  Not much other than going through, cleaning out and throwing out has been going on around here.  I'm finding that every year it takes longer to get thru the "The Big Purge".  Every closet, cabinet and drawer needs to be gone through.  And I was only able to get through it this time because Cory is at home waiting for his next project.  He was a tremendous help.  And now I am free!  I LOVE that feeling of being de-cluttered and simplified.  Not only do I feel a weight off my shoulders but a peace of mind knowing I am not hanging onto more than I need.  I guess purging is as emotionally important as it is physically.

At the end of our purge, I suggested that we have a garage sale.  I've never had a garage sale before.  I asked if other family members wanted to join in and we ended up having a tri-family garage sale in my in-laws driveway.  We had a constant stream of customers rummaging through our stuff.  Fascinating how one persons junk really is anothers treasure.  Got rid of most of it.  People were saying that I was practically giving stuff away.  The thought of having to bring it all back home was too frightening, so yes... I guess you could say that most stuff went away at a steal.  But we earned enough for a yummy dinner that night and a few bucks left over, so I'm happy.  I would have donated it to charity anyway, so I feel rich.

And that sums up January...