Utah Trip

We always love visiting family in Utah...so many fun cousins. And well I love my family.

Here we are at Aunt Kerrie's making goo (super duper cool stuff and the kids loved it). She always has so many crafty fun ideas for the kids. Madison seriously loves her Aunt Kerrie (and her craft room).

Buddies!!!

Never ending fun....

Beautiful Bear Lake.

This little boy is seriously the sweetest thing EVER!!!!

Always eating the frozen treats from mother nature. Hopefully never yellow!

Love this boy.

Gavin Dean...one seriously funny dude!

Our photo shoot...my beautiful sis Kerrie with her classic surprise face.

My little snow bunny...sculpted her own snow bed.

My perplexed face....hummmmm.

Sister fun.

Aunt Courtney's house...also very crafty and probably the most creative person I have ever met. Her talents and energy are endless. We had a St. Patrick's Day party with green Alfredo Pasta and bread with green butter. It took some persuading but they finally ate it...and anyone who has eaten Courtney's food know it is good no matter what color it is. We made some awesome rainbow jello, gold coins which were ritz crackers sandwiched with peanut butter in the middle dipped in butterscotch chocolate (yummy), and did a scavenger hunt to get to the pot of gold where the kids had goody bags waiting from the Leprechaun.

Love hanging with the Fam!!!

Spring Camping Trip

It is no secret that we love to camp and do at every opportunity. We went up by Camp Geronimo the boy scout camp up by Payson Arizona. I have to say we have hit a great camping age in our family. My kids are finally old enough to wander and play without wandering to far, all go on bike rides as there are no more training wheels, bedtime is much easier, no more tent breastfeeding (sucks...big time), and they all basically know about the danger of the fire, oh yes and no more diapers!!! I was loving the relaxing part of this trip. Beautiful place to camp, we are so lucky to have this amazing place we call earth to enjoy...everyday I am amazed at the beauty we are surrounded by.

Beautiful!!!

Jacob just recently got his training wheels off and had not fear of zooming down hills while his little bike was trying to keep up with his enthusiasm.

The kids building a worm city...I bet the worms were a little less thrilled than the builders but the were good sports. (no worms were harmed in the making of this village...I don't think)

Starting from the Top...January 2011

The Cruise

Good times, Good friends, Good food.

(Seriously I ate my weight just in ice cream cones!!)

We have made some of the most amazing friends in Arizona and have made lasting memories that you just cannot begin to do justice in a blog. Here is my top 10 list from the cruise.

1. Getting to spend quality time with my husband.

2. Well the fact that it was our first cruise. And I have decided it is the only way to vacation.

3. Mine and Sherree's many trips to the ice cream cone machine...the positive is I now have a future at Dairy Queen!!!

4. "What If"....enough said.

5. The hairy chest contest where one of our own did things that will be ingrained in my mind forever and won the contest hand down no competition.

6. That all of us...I think there were 40 in all...and we are no spring chickens can still break it down on the dance floor. Who says clubbing is for kids??

7. We seemed to attract a lot of drunks...but the cruise line made $0.00 off our alcohol free crew much to their dismay I am sure. They may limit the number of Mormons on cruises from here on out.

8. Some much needed R&R.

9. The Food...partly because I did not have to think about, cook, or clean up one meal.

10. Making memories that will last a lifetime with some very amazing friends.

The Room

Chillin' on the "beach" at Catalina Island

Beautiful Sunset...or rise....hummmmm!

Our creative crew made some very cute bedmates....I think my husband kicked everyone of them across the room....he got a "kick" out of it!!

What's that...yes my husband was in Mexico....look long and hard because it will be the last time you ever see it. Never use a public restroom in Mexico. This was such a monumental occasion our friends actually video him stepping off the cruise ship.

I had a little photo shoot with myself while my husband was on the chair next to me dealing with business....never ending business.

A rare but genuine smile for the camera.

Beautiful.

This was such and amazing trip...and a big thanks to my Father-in-law who kept all three of our kids while we were gone. And even taught Jacob to ride his bike without training wheels.

Holly Hannah a Post At Last

The New Life

Well I wont bore you with a long drawn out catch up session because lets be honest you don't want to read it and I doubt I can remember. It has been an eventful past year with ups and downs and way ups and way downs and lots of life changes. We are now residing in ARKANSAS...yep I said it you can read it again if you would like but it will still say we moved to ARKANSAS. An opportunity led us here and I have to say I am loving it. I love the small town atmosphere, slower pace, and green as far as the eye can see. It is absolutely beautiful!!

Here is the beginning of our new adventure... more to come and hopefully more consistency on my blogging!!

I will never tire of seeing grass...oh how I missed this color while living in the desert.

The kids riding Grandpa's Mule's

This girl loves horses, mules and all the like. She says she is mostly country and a little bit city and has begged for years to take horse riding lessons.

Madison...poser.

Cute little boy!

GONE FISHIN'

Fishing in Mulberry... they each caught a fish but Madi's got away and flopped into the water before we snapped a picture.

4th of July celebration in Springdale AR. COWBOY UP!!

We rode in the wagon for the parade and then hit up the Rodeo that night all decked out in our cowboy gear.

Grandpa and Grandma McCabe and the kids. They are so great to go to the work of loading all their gear up and traveling... the kids are lucky to have them. Thank You!

Two tired, hot, worn out little cowboys.

Porter and Jacob checking out a mysterious treasure Porter found in the ground.

Madison in her HAPPY PLACE!

And the treasure is finally dug out....yep a hub cap (I think) just like the one on Grandpa's wagon. Proud little treasure hunter.

My husband won a bet and his prize was having me decked out in cowboy gear head to toe. Yep a true blue cowgirl now!! :)

Intent on watching the Rodeo. They sat through the entire thing. First time ever. It was a pretty entertaining show and a great weekend.

Happy Birthday Mom

So many things in my heart and yet it seems impossible to put into words. And although I miss you and know that you couldn't be celebrating in a better place. So for your 58th Birthday here are 58 things I love about you...and 58 reasons to smile today.

1. Your laugh

2. Your smile

3. Your dedication to our family

4. That you always had my back

5. Your ability to make anything out of anything

6. That you smiled at the finger prints our kids would leave on the French doors when we left.

7. Your sewing abilities.

8. All of the quilts you made that comfort us now.

9. Your unconditional love even when I probably didn't deserve it.

10. Our picnic breakfast and lunch on the beach last August which turned out to be our last time spent together here on earth.

11. Your homemade bread

12. The thought of you wrapped up in cozy blankets, jackets and robes

13. That your favorite color was dirt.

14. That you never just said "Ross" but rather "Ross Dress for Less"

15. Your ability to stretch a dollar.

16. That every gift you gave was personal, well thought out, and sentimental

17. Your deeply personal love for our Savior.

18. That you could laugh at yourself.

19. That every recipe always needed a hint (or a lot) of brown sugar.

20. When you came to visit and we made cinnamon rolls in the middle of the night and even though we couldn't keep our eyes open while they were baking. When they were ready we still managed to eat them.

21. Our late night talks.

22. Playing games together.

23. That you wrote messages, which are now treasured, inside all the books you gave us.

24. That you are one of my best friends.

25. The smile that you tried to hide on your face when we would say something inappropriate and although you also thought it was funny you tried awfully hard to not smile.

26. That you always crushed up your frosted mini wheat cereal to eat it.

27. Your homemade hot fudge. Which you typically ate by itself in the little white cups with a few chocolate chips and a smidgen of butter instead of on ice cream.

28. That you loved the crumbs at the end of the cereal bags.

29. That you never could have enough tables.

30. That you loved to take the kids on nature walks.

31. Your love of photographing Bear Lake in all the seasons and lighting.

32. Your ability to garden.

33. Your work ethic.

34. That you took pleasure in watching us learn the exhausting routines of motherhood.

35. Sunday night treats.

36. When you told the story of how you and dad met.

37. That you loved your siblings and taught us to do the same.

38. That you could take an old door and fix it up and sell it as a decoration or better yet make it into a bed.

39. That there was no where you would rather be or nothing you would rather be doing than spending time with your kids and grandkids.

40. Your love of the simple things in life.

41. That you always sacrificed for us without complaining.

42. The blue blanket.

43. Having you go to parent teacher conference and stand up for me when my teacher said I "sometimes" talked to much in class and your response was "well socializing is an important part of school"

44. Your testimony.

45. Quilting blankets together (well you quilted I just tried)

46. That it didn't matter how dumb a movie was if you started watching it you finished it. (like the movie I found you watching in another language... without subtitles)

47. That you could never sit and watch a movie without asking what was going to happen next or without a little (or a lot) of chit chat.

48. That you love my kids as much as I do.

49. That our phone conversations always ended with about 20 different attempts at saying goodbye because we always seemed to find something else to say.

50. That my kids love you as much as I do.

51. That you were a firm believer in dessert before dinner because it seemed silly not to have room for the good stuff.

52. Your love of shopping.

53. Your love of purses and bags.

54. How much you loved sitting in your sun room watching the beauty of nature.

55. Eating cheese sticks together at the telephone office during the summer.

56. How much fun we had together no matter where we were or what we were doing.

57. I always thought it was so funny when you would have to cross your legs when you laughed...then I had kids and now I get it.

58. Did I mention your laugh....well it is worth mentioning again. I can still hear it and it always makes me smile.

I am so blessed to call you MOM!!! Thank you for your love and example. We love you and miss you so so much. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!