Welcome Spring!

It's about time!

(one month from today Kyle will be at the MTC!)

"If Life Were Easy, It Wouldn't Be Hard"

This is a post with no pictures. Sorry. I don't really like posts with no pictures but I am doing one anyway.
I am re-reading a book (the title of the book is the post title) that mom gave me a few years ago.
I have just read the first chapter and at the very end is a comment by President Hinckley that is a good reminder for me, especially right now.
In fact I changed my blog title because I like it so much. I will say that some days "the very best" I can do doesn't feel like the "very best", and other days I feel like I gave it my best. Sigh.
This is the challenge of my life I think. To not let days when I feel like my "very best" turns out to not really be my "very best" get me down and want to give up. (does that make sense to anyone) Instead I have to get up the next day and try again, and again, and again! I have to accept the fact that some days my "very best" really wasn't my "very best". I think this is OK as long as I don't let that one day, or that one week, become my definition of best.
This all sounds very confusing I think but it's just something I was thinking about and thought I'd share...

My life is so exciting...

that I bird-watch. Not really, but we do have 2 bird feeders and they are almost always busy. We ran out of food the other day and felt bad because we felt like we were letting them down and they would be going hungry! It was the day it had snowed so they couldn't even hunt for food that has fallen to the ground.

Actually Bob did get some pretty cool pictures today so that's why I'm posting (and I don't really have anything else to post - haha)

this picture is kinda neat - if you look close you can see his little claw wrapped around the post.

Last Weekend...

We made yet another one day round trip to Seattle and back. This time it was for Bob's uncle's 80th birthday. (This is Bob's Uncle Bob - ha) Just the two of us went and after the party was over we stopped by to visit Sean and Tiffany (David was working), Costco for pepperoni (our Costco no longer sells the big bag of pepperoni pieces), and a couple exchanges at the mall and then on our way home - got there about 12:15a.m.

I'm kinda ready to get done with those one day trips...for a while anyway!Uncle Bob and his wife.

It's finally here!!!!!

Yup, that's right, Kyle's mission call came in the mail today!

Tampa, Florida Mission

English speaking

Reports: April 20, 2011

Last New Beginnings...(at least for Katie)

Our beautiful girls. Notice the banners above them. We made them (took 3 activities) and used them as our key decorating pieces last night and then after the program the girls took theirs home and can put them up in their rooms. In case you don't work in YW or have a daughter in YW, the theme this year is the 13th article of faith so that's why we choose the word "believe" to put on their banner.
You can't see it well but this is my 10 dollar skirt (actually to be exact it was 8.26!

What is she doing in the gym with the boys??? ;)

Katie and McKenna

Must Share

I'm not trying to brag or anything but I have a talent for finding deals! And yes I do consider it a talent (haha).

Anyways, back to my story.

I scored this wool pea coat at Old Navy for 14.99!

14.99!!

How could I pass it up? I couldn't.

I also found a skirt at Macy's for under 10 bucks!

It satisfied my shopping craving for the week... :)

I am so done with January...hello February!

But first things first...

We have a few good memories for January:

1. Our trip to Big White in Kelowna, Canada.

It was lots of fun and I even took 2 ski lessons (no one was allowed to watch or take pictures however!)

the kids really have all the best pictures on their facebook, which I'm sure most of you have seen.

2. We got to see Sean several times this month. No matter what he always makes you smile!

3. And last but no least Kyle got his mission papers all done and turned in. Now we are just waiting and checking the mailbox every day, ugh. Kyle and Katie also got their p. blessing last Sunday which was awesome (we actually already got those in the mail)

SOOO, I guess as I look back January really wasn't all bad but I'm ready for a new month and to be one month closer to Spring...

And to all who suffer—to all who feel discouraged, worried, or lonely—I say with love and deep concern for you, never give in.

Never surrender.

Never allow despair to overcome your spirit.

Embrace and rely upon the Hope of Israel, for the love of the Son of God pierces all darkness, softens all sorrow, and gladdens every heart.

*Dieter F. Uchtdorf - "The Infinite Power of Hope"


I have some very sad news to share. David and Tiffany lost their little girl yesterday. Tiffany was seven months pregnant and had to deliver their baby girl who had already passed way inside her. I don't have any details right now but just please keep them in your prayers as they will need some extra comfort and strength to keep going.

already a couch potato...

Actually Sean is enjoying his Christmas present from us (grandma and grandpa)! We found a cute little mini recliner chair just his size. Tiffany reports he loves it because he can get in and out all by himself, Bob says it looks like he is almost outgrown it.

facebook...

This is just a writing post, no pictures.
So I finally have a facebook page, thanks to Katie.
I have not decided if I like it yet or not.
I am confused about exactly what to do with it.
I have getting tons and tons of email's now of people wanting to be "friends".
I don't know if I have time to keep up a blog, read emails and keep up a facebook page.
So, you all out there tell me WHY it is a good thing to have a facebook and what the heck do I do now that I have one???

Thanks :)

New Year's: Look Not behind Thee - our FHE message tonight!

We watched this video for FHE tonight. lds.org has tons of great "mormon message" videos. It was a perfect one to start a new year. Probably one of the things I am most thankful for as a member of the church:
we can always have hope
we can change
we can be forgiven
we can move forward and not back

Happy New Year!

I decided before I can move on to a new year I need to catch up last year!

So...

Here's it goes,

this picture is Christmas Eve after everyone had gone to bed and Santa Claus had come and gone.

Once again my kids must of been very, very good this year.the chair in the picture above was Brian's loot...
Christmas morning before the unwrapping had begun. We had Christmas music on the TV (in case you were wondering why the TV had to be on while we were unwrapping presents) :) On Sunday we got up and drove to Bellevue (New Castle) to spend the day with Bob's family. Everyone (except his sister and her family from Texas) was there and it was great to see them, it had been a while. We had 5 small kids and 5 young adult kids plus the adults in one house! We ate and ate and ate and the kids had a few presents to open. We spent the night at a hotel near-by and Monday my car got it's 5,000 mile service and we went to lunch with Elena and Ashleigh and mostly looked/browsed around Bellevue Square.


Christmas Eve

Here we all are by the tree before dinner. We stuck pretty close to tradition, nice dinner, short spiritual thought, games, dessert. We had fun with the Toolson's and am so thankful we had some family close by to celebrate with us.

the cousins eating dinner together (Joe was sitting at the other end of the table and didn't get in the picture here)

and last but not least I had promised a few more pictures from Katie's birthday,

here she is with some of the students she helps TA on the day before her birthday. Of course you have to have something new to wear, it doesn't show it but she had a cute new sweater on. She had a few friends over after the basketball games Friday night...

and I think (THINK) that was my last official birthday party I have to plan for a child!! I am not sad to see that come to an end...

Happy New Year everyone,

I sure hope it's a good one!

How did this happen??

seriously, how can my daughter be 18? i am getting stinkin old!

i will admit there were days I didn't know if either of us would live to see this day, but she is turning out to be a great young woman.

for her birthday she could hardly wait to go snowboarding on opening day at the "Loup"

she got her wish..she went with a friend (actually her friend's boyfriend - now that is a good friend to let her boyfriend go snowboarding with her)

more pictures to come!
Happy Birthday Katie

It looks so cool!

Last Saturday Bob spent most of the day in the snow building a stable for our nativity set we bought earlier this season.
I just have to say it looks amazing in the bank that slopes in front of our house. We have got a ton of comments from people on how much they like it! Last year we put up this "chubby" Santa we had bought at WalMart. You know the kind, they are full of air and blow around in the breeze. We had it on top of our roof and it looked pretty cool up there but we decided it wouldn't look right up there this year, looking down on the stable! :) So chubby Santa stayed in the box this year.
I like (love) the nativity much better.