Goodbye To A Bright Shining Star

So yesterday was a sad day for many people. Grandma Beth left this world to move on to bigger and brighter things, and she did it on her terms. This wonderful lady meant so much to so many people and we will truly miss her. Kent referred to her as a "BRIGHT SHINING STAR" and he couldn't have been more accurate. Grandma was a very non-judgemental person. always looking for the good in everyone. We hope that we can all strive to live up to the example that she set for us all. Todd and I were visiting last night and although we will miss her terribly, we couldn't help but to smile when we talked of the marvelous reunion she must be having in heaven with her husband Lawrence, her two sons Larry and David, our wonderful little Kasey Dude, and many others that passed on before her. Until we meet again Grandma, thank you for the love and the example you showed to us! We are forever grateful that we were blessed with you taking such a special place in our hearts and our lives!

Valentine's For Todd

This year for Valentine's, Shellie had seen an awesome idea so we decided to copy it. We took the kids pictures next to a heart we drew with sidewalk chalk and then one of her friends went in and used photoshop to add the little sayings into the hearts for us. I must say they turned out very cute and were a huge hit! Gma Nellie was in heaven when we gave her the frame containing pics of all the grand kids, of course we had to include Annie too! What a fun Valentine to give out!

Amanda Goes To Junior Prom

Amanda's Junior Prom was on Valentines Day. Amanda went with Bronson Yardley (what a cute guy!) and her awesome little friend Paige went with Matthew Smith (my nephew and also a very handsome guy!) They had a lot of fun, with all the personality this little group holds, it could have been nothing less then a great time! Trying to get pictures of them turned out to be a real feat in and of itself, but we did manage to get them all together. Bronson wanted to shoot himself by the time I was done with them, too bad the camera didn't get the original frame, but the one of him and Amanda did turn out to be quite fun! What an awesome group of kids! I am glad they had a good time. They all cleaned up really nice. What a couple of beautiful girls and don't these boys look great too??? How great it is too have such wonderful friends and family!

OMG...Did he really say Bifocals?

Okay...so I finally went in to see the eye doctor after complaining to Todd for quite sometime that I was having trouble seeing things close up. I knew that I would be ending up with glasses, which is why I put it off as long as I did. I knew it would be expensive and didn't want that expense right now. However, my poor old dad has been having trouble and didn't get his eyes checked for a time and he is in really bad shape right now. He has macular degeneration and where he didn't get it treated soon enough, he is now going through all shorts of stuff (surgery next week) to try to get the progression slowed down. His vision is not good and being left untreated like it was they don't know that they can reverse it. That being said, I was told on my last eye doctor visit that I had what looked like the beginnings of this macular degeneration. I thought that it was like last year, but no it turns out that appointment was three years ago. Where does time go? Man what a quick three years. Well that part of my eyes checked out fine. There has been no progression in the areas that appear to be the trouble spots so that was good news. But as the doctor began doing all the other tests he was amazed at how much my vision had changed. I said, "Yeah, I came in today fully expecting you to give me some reading glasses." He just looked at me and said, "well more like some bifocals." Are you kidding me?? I really can't be ready for bifocals. Holy crap! Well the choosing out of frames was very interesting, I tried on several pair and all I could think about was how old they made me look. I just kept thinking, "Man I look just like my mother!" That isn't a bad thing, but come on now, she is 67 not 37. Well the new glasses should be ready for me to pick up in about 10 days so I will post a photo when I get them. Here I thought a pair of reading glasses was what I would need, but no...I will be wearing them all the time I guess. So much for aging gracefully! On the positive note, I will have them just in time to start school. YIPPEE!!!!

Back To School!!!

Back to school it is! I am happy to announce that I was officially admitted back into Dixie College today, after taking a seventeen year break! I met with the counselor and after thirty minutes of going over my transcripts, things were in motion. He recommended a Business class and a Computer class for starting out. I also filled out all the Student Aid info and will find out in about three days if I qualify for it. I will be starting classes on Feb 17th. It is only 6 credits to start with but I think I will be wise to start a little slow so as not to crash and burn! I am very excited!! Oh yeah, you might all want to know what I want to be when I grow up, ha ha! If the classes didn't give it away...I will be getting a degree in Accounting. If it serves no other purpose then to aid in the running of our business! Wish me luck!

Last Weekend

Well last weekend Kent and Sam asked us to watch the girls. We had a blast! Sunday was Brianna's Birthday so on Saturday we went to the movies and seen Hotel For Dogs. Not really my favorite, but the kids loved it. Later that evening Todd took all us ladies out to dinner at the Texas Roadhouse. The staff there sang Happy Birthday to both Gracie and Brianna and put them on the saddle. They thought it was great fun!
But our fun didn't end there...we had went to Partyland on Saturday before the show, Amanda took this cute picture of the girls trying on glasses, I thought it was super cute. We were there purchasing the supplies to have a Hawaiian Birthday for Sunday when Kent and Sam got back. We then went to Lin's to get the cake and ice-cream and the Kids Club was doing a scavenger hunt. They invited the girls to join in, so Amanda took them around the store collecting all sorts of goodies. When they finished the lady running the event asked if Amanda would please bring in a photo of the girls to be posted on the spring Kids Club Magazine. I hope they put them on. We did manage to get some really cute photos. (I have included more in the slideshow!) Brianna was super excited to have her party and it was very fun! Sammy helped Brianna set the table with all the Hawaiian gear and we had Chocolate Cake and Ice-Cream. It was so fun to get to spend such quality time with these little ones. I love spoiling them rotten and we had a very eventful couple of days! Saturday morning Gracie was visiting with me in the kitchen as everyone else was still in bed. She had been telling me stories, then all of a sudden she says, "My goodness Aunt Cindy, I have so much to tell you, we have alot to catch up on!" She then continued to talk my ear off. It was so fun just hanging out with her like that, what a cutie! We then made some chocolate cupcakes which she called "MUFFINS". Before they went home on Sunday I asked her what her favorite part of the weekend was, and she said making muffins...Imagine that! I love you little ones! Thank you for a terrific weekend! It was one I will always remember!

New Years Resolutions....

So every year we make up all these wonderful resolutions that we believe we will keep for the year to come and then usually that is all it is, speaking them but never following through. In the past my resolution was to not make resolutions. That way I wouldn't break them. This year my resolution was going to be to set aside time each Monday to maintain my blog. What can I say, here we are to the middle of the month and I am just starting. Man it is hard to find time to do everything. However, I am really going to try to be more diligent at updating this thing regularly. If for no other reason then to have some kind of a journal for my girls to look back on and hopefully remember the beautiful life that we have.

A White Christmas!

Yes, it is true we really did have snow for Christmas. I gathered up Todd and the girls and told them we definitley needed to get out and get our picture in it. Who knows, it could be quite a while, if ever, before we see snow on Christmas Day in Ivins! What a special treat!

Events from 2008

So too get everyone up to speed here are some of the events that have taken place in our life the past few months.

November 15, 2008
Amanda invited Nate Drew to the Sadies Hawkins Dance. The week that led up to it was very eventful. Her teacher nominated her and her friend Chad to run for the dance royalty. It was a week packed full of fun things, if they got through one day and won a competition, they moved on to the next. Day 1 they decorated cans and collected money to help Annette Lake in her fight against Breast Cancer. Day 2 they had to make each other look eighties. Day 3 they had to find people dressed in different costume and get their picture taken with them. Day 4 (my personal favorite) they ahd to chase and catch chickens. Of course she didn't let me know when it was because she didn't want me taking pictures, dang her! Well she made it to Day 5 where they had to walk a runway and model a bottle of Rootbeer. She didn't win in the end but what a fun week full of memories!


December 1, 2008 our beautiful little Samantha went in and had her braces taken off. The four years of treatment paid off and she has a most beautiful smile!She counted down the days from the time of her previous appointment which was six weeks earlier. The day before she was giving me updates regularly saying, "Mom, I have twelve hours and fifteen minutes til I get my braces off!" Yeah what can we say, she was very excited!
BEFORE: July 2004
AFTER: Dec 1, 2008