You're invited....

I've invited a couple of friends over for a little party and would love for you to come too.

My friend, Candace, makes watch bands and sells them at boutiques and watch parties. I love the bands she makes. And she sells them for much less than I've seen anywhere else!!! You can check out some of the styles and prices she has by going to the Keisel Kreations link on my blog. Keep in mind this is a small sample of the bands she makes. She'll do special orders, too. She also makes very cute hair bows from ribbon and other cute crafts.

She'll be at my party along with her friend who makes earrings. The two of them buy beads together so you can buy matching watch bands and earrings.

My friend, Amanda, is involved with Homemade Gourmet and will be doing the refreshments. Yum yum! If you've ever tasted Homemade Gourmet, you know it's delicious! She'll have catalogs and product info that night as well.

If you're interested, comment here or send me an email and I'll give you all the details. I'd love for you to pop in and say hi. Who can resist yummy food and fun stuff to browse!!!

August 13th
Open house from 5:30-7:30
Deana's house

Happy Birthday, Gavin Jack!

Gavin's birthday is 4 days after Addie's (on July 18th.) I'm late getting to this post because we threw a birthday party for him and that pretty much took up my day!

My kids get a friends birthday party on their even birthdays (except when they turn 8, then we do a big family party after their baptism.) So, since Gavin was turning 6, he knew it was his year. He had been asking me how long until his party since March. And, he told every single kid he came into contact with that they were invited. So....it was a big deal to say the least. He had so much fun, and we did, too.

Looking back over the 6 years Gavin has been a part of our family brings a lot of smiles to my face. Now, mind you, much of the smiling I do now in remembrance comes from events that were NOT funny at the time! Gavin is, how do I say it, a challenge at times. He has been so full of energy from day one. In fact, he was so anxious to start his journey here on the earth he showed up a year early. Yep, he was a surprise. We planned on spacing 3 years between baby #2 and baby #3, but he totally snuck in when Calder was a month shy of 2 years old. Not only that, he was born 4 weeks early to boot! He even tried to pop on out before there was a doctor in the room to deliver him. The nurses literally crossed my legs for 10 minutes while they frantically tried to locate a doctor. Any doctor!

We lovingly began calling Gavin "Jack Jack" when he was an infant. His middle name is Jack (after my Grandpa) and most of our family calls him Jack. In fact, I may be one of the only family members he has who regularly calls him Gavin. Anyway, when Jack Jack was about 2 years old we saw The Incredibles for the first time. Have you seen it? Have you watched the extra feature called "Jack Jack Attack?" HILARIOUS!!! We laughed so hard because the Jack Jack in the movie was so like our own little Jack Jack, it was scary. Okay, so Gavin can't make things spontaneously combust into flames, but he comes pretty dang close!!! He is such a happy person (most of the time) and his energy can't be matched! He has such a joy of life and his excitement is often contagious.

Here are a few pictures to help illustrate the fun-filled, crazy life of our "awesome and cool" Gavin Jack...

Okay, so this first one isn't so fun-filled. When Gavin was just 5 weeks old, I caught pertussis (whooping cough) and passed it onto him. This was at the beginning of a small outbreak that occurred in the US which led to the discovery that our pertussis immunizations wore off putting us at risk to catch it. Since then, Utah (along with most other states) now require kids to get a booster of the immunization when they enter junior high. This is a nasty disease! I injured my ribs from coughing so violently. Gavin spent 10 days in the hospital and a couple of months on monitors at home recovering. It was a scary experience and I credit his doctor who knew exactly what was wrong (many infants die due to misdiagnosis) and, of course, our Heavenly Father's desire that he be healed and go on to do his work here on this earth.

Bring on the cake! As per tradition, we gave Gavin his very own 1st birthday cake and let him go. And he went!
Such a happy kid! (1 year old.)

At Bear Lake with Gary. These are Gary's friend Dave's dogs Kolob and Lambert. (2 years old.)
Just hangin' out! (A month shy of 3 years old.)

Preschool portrait. (4 years old.)
Looking like a water skeeter in the lazy river. (5 years old.)

Getting ready to blow out the candles on this year's doughnut cake. (6 years old.)

Gavin, we love you so much. Thanks for being you!!! Happy birthday, kid.

PS...stay tuned for some "outtakes" of Gavin in a future post. :)

Happy birthday, Adeline!

Eleven years ago today, I became a mother. Words cannot express the joy I have found in having my sweet Adeline here on the earth as my child. She is growing up so fast, eager to help me out or just spend time with me. I'm hoping that doesn't change in the next couple of years.

There have been times when we've butted heads, especially from ages 2-5, but it mostly just goes to show ya how alike the two of us can be. (Eh hum, did someone say bossy???)

Poor girl, being born first she has been my guinea pig too often. But, it just makes her stronger. :) I tell her how I can relate to her because I was the firstborn, too. In fact, another thing Addie and I share in common is that we are the first grandchild on both sides of our families.

Addie's birth gave a lot of people new titles...Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Granddad, Aunt, Uncle, Great-Grandma, Great-Grandpa. She's always been so special to so many people.

Here's a stroll down memory lane. So many photos to choose from, here are a few of my favorites...

Birth announcement photo. 3 Days old in the outfit she (and I) wore home from the hospital.

At the Murray Park fireworks just before she turned 2. In fact, when Addie was almost one, she uttered her first word..."WOW!!!" while we were watching a fireworks show.

Can you imagine this sweet little 3-year old pounding her fists on the hospital nursery window exclaiming she didn't want a brother? "I want a sister!!! Boys are stuuuupiiiiiid!!!" Where was the video camera??? That was worth $100,000 on AMV for sure! She literally scared the nurses, and for the next couple of days at the hospital we got several looks of pity and were referred to as the "parents of that one little girl." I think secretly she still holds Calder responsible for some disappointment that day.

Addie at 4 years old. It's no coincidence that many of her photos were taken in red or blue. We were so thrilled to have a July baby that she was patriotic all the time.

Addie at 5, just before starting Kindergarten where she proved to the world how smart and strong-willed she is. She also became a big sister again to yet another brother, Gavin. At this point she figured maybe there were benefits to being the only girl...

Addie at 6 years old, always Mama's buddy!

At 7 years old, Addie finally lost her first tooth. She also got glasses a couple of weeks after this photo was taken.

Addie at age 8. She was baptised a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We also moved out of the townhouse we had lived in for 7 years ON her 8th birthday, so she likes to tell people she got a new house for her birthday.

Our beautiful 9-year old.

Finally, after nearly a decade of waiting, Adeline got a baby sister just before she turned 10.

Adeline, we love you so much and wish you a very happy birthday. You're awesome. And A-some. (It's an inside joke.) ;)

Memorial Day...One to Remember!

Yup. I'm behind as always. We've got a ton of fun pictures to post, so I'll just try and catch up.

For Memorial Day this year we went down near Hanksville to some slot canyons with our friends. Their kids are 21, 18, and 16. We left Sadie home with Auntie Dani and Grandma and Granddad, so the kids we brought along were 10, 7, and 5.

The first day I stayed back at our camp with the little kids so that Gary and the other "grown-ups" and older kids could go do a canyon that was a bit too technical for us. They ended up getting soaking wet, but enjoyed it. We played around in the red rocks, breaking rocks into sand, looking for lizards, and just having fun.

The second day we went down a really long canyon that had 3 major rappels, the biggest being about 70 ft. Gary and I sweated whether or not the kids would be okay, or if they'd throw fits at the top of each rappel. We've rappelled with them before, but in a canyon like this you don't have the choice to back out. I'm happy to report that our kids are AMAZING! Besides Gavin needing to start out facing out from the wall on a couple of rappels, they all did so well. And we all had a super fun time! We also played around in a few less technical slots. Southern Utah is the best! So diverse and so one-of-a-kind!

The last day of our trip we stopped at Goblin Valley. So unique and so fun! Have you ever seen Galaxy Quest? Yeah, part of it was filmed here. (I said miners, not minors!) Keep in mind when browsing the pictures that we were definitely roughing it and in the rain nearly the whole time. So, as you can see, we look LOVELY!!!


What a fun weekend. We seriously can't wait to go again. Our friends were so awesome with our kids. They each had a buddy so a big kid was paired up with a little kid and it helped ease our minds significantly. Lonny helped at the bottom of the rappels while Gary helped at the top. Gayla and I (the moms) just tried to keep kids happy and away from ledges. All in all it worked out great and was a trip we'll remember forever!

Finding lizards.

The whole crew (minus Gayla...thanks for snapping the picture!) Yes, that is Gary at the top.

A bunch of us hanging out at the top of the big rappel.

Gary easing Deana over the biggest rappel of the day.

Addie at the top of the big rappel. That's Deana waiting down below.

Calder shows how excited he is that he just did it!

Lonny helping Addie at the bottom of a rappel.

Lonny helping Calder at the bottom of a rappel.

Lonny helping Gavin at the bottom of a rappel.

Addie, Calder, and Gavin with Raddison in a hole he used to anchor us while we rappelled.

Addie "holding" a goblin.

The Davis Family (minus poor Sadie) at Goblin Valley.

Some cute goblins in Goblin Valley.