SAVANA'S 4th BIRTHDAY

We celebrated the big four. She had so much fun. There were many of her favorite things all wrapped in one: frosting on the cupcakes, presents, swimming, and her friends.
We had a great turn out and are so appreciative of all the wonderful gifts she received. We originally were planning a ballet party theme. As one of the activities we were going to have them all dress up in their tutus and do "Bella Dancerella." Plans changed a little bit and we still got to have loads of fun by combining the ballet theme with swimming. We had two crafts which were making a princess wand and making a dance bag(well, writing their names with puff paint on them at least). For the "party favor" I went to town and made seven little tutu's. It was sooo much fun! We sure wore them all out!











I can't believe it, she's already four. She thinks she's a lot older though. Time sure does fly by. She's now requesting a baby sister. We'll be at the store and she'll say, "We need to buy that outfit for the baby sister Heavenly Father gives us." Wow...that's a big fulfillment to live up to. She'll just have to sweet talk daddy a little more and leave the sex of the baby up to Heavenly Father.

Goodbye Happiest Place On Earth

Wow, that was an adventure. For those of you who are thinking, "didn't they just go to disneyland?" the answer is yes. We went back in October to celebrate Scottie and Savana's b-day's instead of throwing them both birthday parties. Pretty good idea. We had so much fun that I couldn't wait to go back again. The purpose of this trip was to celebrate my mom's 50th birthday(the big 5-0!!). My younger sister had a brilliant idea to start planning some big surprise for my mom's party six months in advance and my clever husband thought of the idea to take her to Disneyland. She hasn't been for twenty years, when I was nine. Wow, that sure makes me feel old.














She had been twenty years before that with her own father. There are a total of 9 grandchildren. She has wanted to go with her grandchildren ever since her first one was born 10 years ago. This was definetely a special trip for her. It was a little chaotic. How could it not be with 6 adults and 9 children ranging in ages from 10 to 3? We made the best of it. With our luck we ended up being there on a VERY busy and HOT weekend. The temp. was supposed to be an average of 82 and it was 97 the whole weekend. We got lots of great pictures and had a lot of great experiences. Maybe it will be another twenty years before we will be able to do it like that again. It was very rewarding though to hear the joy my mom had when she found out we were going and to actually have all of us make it there. Happy Birthday Mom.....Love you!! .....

REFLECTION

Sometimes life just doesn't make sense. I think we've all thought that at least once or twice. I've had a lot of time to do some reflecting in the last week or so. We have a set of twin ten yr old boys that live next door that Scottie has become very close to. He plays with them all week long. Early in the am Wednesday morning we got a phone call to come over and sit with the boys. Their mom needed to take their dad to the ER because he was having some problems. I won't get into the whole story, but he ended up not making it. It was such a shock to all of us. He was 43, an avid sportsman, in very good shape, ate really well, lived really well and loved really well. He passed away from a blood clot and massive heart attack. As I was in the moment of all of this happening I was in utter shock. How could this be? This man had two young boys to raise and a loving wife. How would life go on? Then the reflection turned to me. What if I was in this situation? What would I do? How could life for me go on? Heavenly Father must really have a lot of faith in her. He must know how strong she is to be able to survive something like this. Knock on wood, but I think he know's how I would be able to handle a situation like this(SOOO IT BETTER NOT HAPPEN).
To make a long story short, you never know what life will bring. You never know what is around the corner for you. So, you must always live life as today were your last. That's why I loved Danielle's post so much on "When you know it's true love."
Those little things are important. You may see a pair of stinky socks layed out on your counter and the person who did it may not be there tomorrow to do it again. This has been an eye opener for a lot of us and especially for me. You determine your own happiness, you determine your attitude. Make it the best because life is so precious and short. The good news is we know this is not the end. While it may seem an eternity for ones who experience things like this, life happens in the blink of an eye. We don't have any answers, no rhyme or reason, but it is all in Heavenly Father's plan. We will soon one day understand and say "Thank you Father."
I am very grateful for everyone in my life. I love all of you and if I don't take the time to say that to you often, please know that I do.