July

Let see...what's next (trying to update in order)

My sweet sister-in-law and I did a shower for our niece in July.

(My sis-in-law, Anna & me)

I went ALL homemade. It was a lot of work, but fun. And it turned out great. Her wedding colors were red, orange and yellow...in the more "autumn" tones, so I decided to work around that.

My favorite, was this little creation. I gathered some twigs/branches and spray painted them an off-white color. I stuffed them in a vase that I took from a friend, who was getting rid of it. I also painted that - straw yellow. As for the flowers...yes, each one is handmade. I made all different kinds, in different shades of her wedding colors. Each flower is actually a clip, so they can be worn in the hair, as a brooch, or clipped to a purse or bag. This was the "thank-you-for-coming gift, and as everyone left, they got to choose their flower. It was funny, because EVERYONE put theirs in their hair and sat a chatted for a bit. I should have taken a picture!

The cute little bird cage, I got from Michaels. I gave it a light coat of "ocean blue" spray paint, and glued in a bird. I LOVE birds.



For the prize gifts, I just bought a few dollar note pads, mod-podged them in much cuter paper....added a flower/bow, a pen and some cute words. I think they turned out pretty cute. I also made a couple packages of cards. Each set had a variety of different occasion cards. Something EVERYONE could use.



Remember my 'love notes' post? Well, I made one for the bride as my shower gift. These are so fun and cute, but also so inexpensive and easy to make!!

Dressing up the "beverages" added to the "decor"

AND, I never once had to tell people what they had

to choose from!!

See those flowers?

My adorable friend help me make those!

You can get the instructions here.

I think they turned out great....and they won't ever die!

And the best part....



My sis-in-law picked up these little beauties for dessert. Heaven! These are from the cupcake shop called "Sprinkles". And they are DE-LISH-OUS! I'm going to have to try all the flavors. My throat is tickling just thinking about it!!!!

Scottsdale

More summer updates: (I'm not very good at this blog thing!)

My sister Eden and her family invited me and "mine" to join them at their timeshare. They changed it to Scottsdale, so we could just meet them there and we had so much fun.

There are only 2 things to do when you are in the Arizona heat: Stay inside, blast the A/C, and try not to be bored. OR....go swimming. And swimming we did!!! The kids have turned into some serious fish overnight. Brady, who used to be a "wall-er" is now diving and swimming in the deep end. He even goes down slides by himself, which is HUGE, because he used to cry and the mere mention of going down...even with mom or dad. Belle of course is fearless...with her floaties of course, but it will be pretty soon that they will come off and she will be joining her brothers. And Zach is a natural. I think we are going to sign him up for the swim team here. Michael Phelps here we come!

Belle and Gracie - our niece

My brother -in-law Scott celebrated his birthday while we were there and we got his cake at 'Nothing Bundt Cakes'. Oh, my gosh....I love this place. We got the carrot cake, which is divine, and his favorite but my favorite is the red velvet. Go try it...you'll be glad you did and you won't care about the calories!!!


We also drove up to Flagstaff to hang out for the day. I love this place. It's like Utah in Arizona. "sigh". While we were there, we stopped in at Salsa Brava, which was on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. And boy was it ever delicious!!! I'm not a huge fan of Mexican food, but this place was so yummy.

Yum, Yum, Yum!

Up in the mountains.

After Scottsdale, we were able to keep Gracie with us for 3 weeks. The kids had so much fun with her at our house and she was such a good girl!

Thanks Eden, Scott and Gracie for a fun time! We love you guys!!

Brady Boys' Baptism...

Brady turned EIGHT in May and was so excited for his baptism....

It turned out to be such a wonderful day, even though many loved ones couldn't make it.

Our sweet little boy was all smiles. We are so proud of him and his decision to be baptized.

Grandma Sally and Papa came down from Tucson and Aunt Edie, Uncle Scott and Gracie came from Utah.

They all made Brady's day so much more special!

I love this little boy so much!

This Girl....

She is...

busy,
funny,
happy,
bossy,
imaginative,
LOUD,
beautiful,
persistent,
PERSISTENT,
messy,
SMART,
witty,
hilarious,
opinionated,
stubborn,
loving,
carefree,
adorable,
on-the-go,
PRECIOUS.

She is MINE....

Utah

Just got back from a visit to Utah. I drove the 11 hours there, all by myself with 3 kids and a trailer. Didn't think I could do it...I'm "stonger" than I thought. We got there safe and sound. (Actually, the van sufferend a small hole in the bumper from me trying to back the trailer up, but she's going to be o.k.....:)

So I wasn't very good at taking pictures....but here's what I got.



I had such a great time visiting with my friends. These girls mean so much to me. (Holly, you were missed at dinner!!) It was like I had never moved. We just picked up where we left off. These girls are definately "lifers".


And of course the kids had so much fun visiting their friends. This is our cute neighbor Bella. They were friends with her the day she moved in..... She is such a sweet girl and took to the boys like glue....I'm hoping that we will stay in touch with them, cause I wouldn't mind if she hooked up with one of the boys. Of course, when they are much older. :)


And of course, we saw our sweet, and fiesty neice Gracie. We are excited because Gracie is going to visit us here in Arizona and stay a few weeks. Hopefully she can endure the heat!



We also celebrated Brady's birthday. He is 8 and I can't believe it. He will be getting baptized at the end of June, and he is so excited. I am so grateful for this kid. He makes my life easier. He's my "easy" child....:)....quiet and thoughtful. Listens well and is such the peacemaker. He'll still snuggle with his mom and LOVES to have his back tickled. He is so handsome and friends with ALL the girls...I know he's going to break some hearts. Happy Birthday Brady. I love you!

The Fair

Over Spring break the Yuma Fair was going on.

The kids had a great time of course.

Me, I would have rather gone to Disneyland. :)

For what we paid, we almost could have!

What a rip-off!

I have to laugh, because before we went, Josh stopped

off at the ATM. I asked him when he got in the car

how much he got. $40. I DID laugh. He got back out and got

another $20. I rolled my eyes, but didn't say anything.

(laughed inside instead)

And a $125 later......yep folks. That's what it costs to go

to the fair.

$16 admittance for the 5 of us...not bad.

$43 for 60 ($.75each ticket) tickets to ride the rides. (5 tickets to ride each ride...thats $3.75 for each ride per person. It cost our family $18.75 to ride the freakin ferris wheel and go around 4 times!!!)

$22 for dinner

$8 for drinks

$9 for cotton candy for 3 kids

$15 to win 2 cheap light sabers (one is already broke) and a red stuffed mouse.

I can't exactly say where the other $10ish went...it doesn't even matter. It makes me sick to think about.

Like I said, I would have rather gone to Disneyland.

Next year maye, because we WON'T be going to the world's most expensive, (and ghetto, might I add) fair!!!

The kids enjoying themselves. I guess
that is what matters.

New blog...

I know....everyone seems to be "acquiring" one of these. A craft blog. Well, what can I say. I have one now too. But before you roll your eyes....go take a look.

Pretty please?

www.mbellishedyou.blogspot.com

Cheese....

An updated picture of us.
The kids are doing so great and
are already getting so tan. Josh too.
Me? I guess you lose your ablity to tan as you age.
Still white. And don't ask what my hair is doing in this picture.

Mmmm

It was surpising to me as I've drove around
this new city, just how many citrus groves there are.
Alot.
And everyone seems
to have a one or more citrus
trees in their backyard.
For the past 2 weeks, I've
been the lucky recipient
of someone who couldn't eat
their grapefruit
fast enough.
And I couldn't either...so I
made juice instead.
Delicious.
I drink it as slowly as I can
so I can taste its
summery goodness.
It's like sunshine in a cup.

Wish I could send some to
my Utah friends!

Belle

She turned 4. She is growing up so dang fast, I physically feel my heart ache for the power to make time slow down.
I love this little girl. Our days are spent together, keeping each other company. She's my little side-kick.
She makes me smile and laugh. She is amazing.


A few funnies:

-"thats awright mom...it was a assident" (after she's spilled or made a mess of something)
-"that is so imprested" (impressive). She even uses it in the right context.
-"your bum is jiggly mom! (well, maybe not so funny)
-"you are my best mom!" (how many does she have???)