Congrats, Congrats, Congrats....

I'm a little late on these, but I wanted to offer the following congratulations:

[Congrats] to my brother Ben on his engagement to [the beautiful, talented, kind, fun-loving]Karen Dupree. I am so excited to have you join our family...who would have thought an engagement would be the result of that blind date months ago? Wedding date will be July 25 in Draper, UT.

[Congrats] to the Eccles family on the arrival of their handsome baby boy on April 28. Both mom and baby Q are doing well!!

[Congrats] to my friend Heidi on her engagement to Devon. Wedding is planned for September 4th in the Salt Lake Valley...I feel so honored that I've been asked to be a bridesmaid. I can't wait!!

I am so happy for all of you (ecstatic, actually)...and I'm greatly looking forward to our many trips up to Utah this summer!!

Pics and Ramblings...

Here are some pics from a [scorching hot] afternoon at the Mesa Temple with the girls (this was about 3 weeks ago). AK and Roo absolutely love walking around the temple grounds, looking at all the beautiful flowers and such. We happened to see a young couple taking some wedding photos; the girls loved seeing the "princess in her beautiful dress" with her "prince"...and they couldn't stop talking about finding their prince someday. Oh my goodness...I am soooo not ready for them to be talking about boys.

And, after a surprisingly short search for the memory-card-converter-stick-thingee, I was able to download the remaining pics from our recent trip to California. I didn't take that many pictures this time, on account of having a LOT of homework to complete, and I'm sad that I missed out on some of the things from the trip. For instance, Roo [LOVED] riding the quad - AK won't go near it. But AK had no problems getting on Miles and riding on him with Whopper - Roo just wasn't interested in riding him this trip. And I would have loved to get some family pics while we were down there...but I suppose that will have to wait for another trip (of which, there will be many more this summer).

Regrets aside, here are a few of the remaining pics I took of an afternoon at the beach. We stepped outside our comfort zone of Oceanside and went to a new beach this time....Crystal Cove down in Pacific Beach. It was very different from what we are used to (lots of seaweed, stairs, and the bathrooms weren't very close to our spot), but it had the key ingredients to a wonderful afternoon (sun, sand, surf...and great company) and we ended up having a blast. AK could not wait to get into the water...even though it was pretty cold, she was not deterred in the least. Roo, on the other hand, was quite content just playing in the sand. Both girls loved that we got to have a "pic-mic" on the beach....they thought that was the greatest things since sippy cups!!

Lastly, here are some random pics from the past few weeks...little snapshots into our goofy, silly, and mischievous side of life.

Roo strutting her stuff...................and.................. AK getting a close up

Giggling girls in mama's bed..............and.....................Squirrel hunting

Back in the Hotlands...

Okay, okay...so we have been back since late Monday night and I have yet to post photos from our little weekend getaway to California. I'm a slacker, I know. Blame it on the massive loads of algebra homework I've been tackling for the past 3 1/2 weeks (only another 1 1/2 weeks of algebra to go). For what it's worth, I feel really bad that I haven't posted anything yet. Please accept my most sincere apologies...seriously.

Anyway, here are some pics that my sister-in-law Bethany took on her camera. The girls absolutely [LOVE] this geranium bed...they were out picking flowers any chance they got. As you can see from the photos, they didn't pick just a few stems at time...we are talking handfuls upon handfuls of the pretty pink flowers. To be quite honest, I am surprised there are any flowers left once AK and Roo were finished. Luckily, the flowers will grow back...and even if they didn't, I think it was totally worth it to see how absolutely happy they were in their little flower patch. (FYI - Roo is in the top-left photo, and AK is in the bottom-right photo)

Bethany took a lot of great photos (thank you Millie!!), but this next one is my absolute favorite.
Seriously...how can you not love looking at these two adorable faces?! For all the tantrums and trouble and mischief these two gals get into, seeing such happiness and joy on their precious mugs makes everything else totally worth while. I've said it before, and I'll say it a million times more...I absolutely [LOVE] these two girls. I love them. I love them. I love them. And I am so thankful they chose me to be their mama.

**Additional pictures will be posted later....I seem to have misplaced our memory-card-converter-stick-thingee and haven't been able to transfer them from the camera to the computer. I'll work on it later today**

Hasta Luego!!

Sorry Arizona...but if you think your one day of [slightly] enjoyable weather is going to keep us from going to California this weekend, you are sadly mistaken. Bring on the beach, baby!!



We hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!!

Mean Princess...

Earlier today I asked AK to pick up some of her toys and take them back to her bedroom where they belong (the front room was a disaster and I've really been trying to get the girls to help out rather than doing all the cleaning myself). Here's the gist of the conversation:


ME: AK, please take these two toys back to your bedroom and put them away.
AK: No mama.
Me: Excuse me? You are not playing with them right now and this is not where they belong. Please put them away.
AK: Hmmph. [also rolls her eyes while grabbing the toys of out my hand. She then proceeds to saunter off down the hallway, swinging hips and all, hitting the toys against the wall while she goes. I hear the clunk as the toys are thrown into the room against the wall, AK then comes running back out].
ME: AK, Did you put your toys away nicely?
AK: No...I throw them.
ME: Is that how we treat our toys?
AK: Mama...I a mean princess today. I don't put away toys because I don't caa-aare [she proceeds to roll her eyes and folds her arms across her chest for emphasis].


Seriously - how did I end up with such a sassy little girl? One who looks so sweet and innocent, but who can have such a spunky, diva-ish side to her. I'm just glad she doesn't act like this all the time....I much prefer my sweet little girl to the "mean princess."

Here's my mean princess...simply adorable, even with so much attitude.

If AK is a mean princess today, then I supposed Roo could be called the nice princess - she has (luckily for me) been quite cheerful and pleasant today...especially with her chocolate chip cookie in hand.

Mother's Day

In honor of Mother's Day, I just wanted to say thank you to all of the wonderful women (sisters, mothers, friends, cousins, aunts, co-workers, peers, etc.) who have influenced my life. I am very much an imperfect mother, but all of the good that I do I can attribute to the amazing examples of strength, honesty, virtue, patience, kindness, creativeness, and love set by the fabulous women I am blessed to know.

Thank you....for all that you have taught me and for all that you are. I hope you each have a wonderful mother's day.

Recent Scrap Pages...

Even though the past few weeks were busy with traveling and visiting family and such, I have still managed to get some scrapbooking done. I started a math class yesterday, which will take up a LOT of my time for the next 5 weeks, so I wanted to get some pages done before I became entirely consumed with school.

These were created for my Pixie Perfect Designs CT...

Using [Love You More]

Using [Toddler Time: Boy]

P.S. Shauna - I hope it's okay I used pictures with "K" in them...it was hard using a boy kit when I don't have any boys to scrap. I tried to use ones that didn't show his full face, but if you would prefer I don't post this one, just let me know and I will pull it. Sorry - I meant to email you about this.

Using [Jungle Baby] and [Lil' Bit Layered Templates]

The following were created for my Julie Marie Designs CT...

Using [Spring is in the Air]

Using [Easter Bunnies and Carrots]

Using [Tranquility]

Using [Girls Night Out] and [Photo Masks]

Using [Cottage Rose] and [Love Hearts]

Using [Love Hearts]

Using [Spring is Coming]

Using [A Mother's Love]

P.S. This kit was created by Julie for the "So You Think You Can Design" contest at DigiscrapAddicts.com. It's a beautiful kit, and even better, the kit is free since it's a contest submission. Just click on the kit title (above) to download this amazing kit....you will have to register and be logged in, but it's totally worth it!! While you're there, leave her some love!!

And these were created for various challenges, contests, or just because...

Using [Just Bee]

Using [Photogenic]

Using [March Grab Grab] from ScrapMatters (although this particular grab bag is no longer available, there are some new ones that are just as amazing...just click on the title link and you'll be directed to the SM shoppe)

Using [Familiar Times] , [A Little Tattered], and [Cloud 9]

Using [A Little Tattered] and wordart from [Unscripted]

Using [Special Love] and [Shapes:Brackets]

Using [With a Cherry on Top]

Using [In Retrospect] and [Unscripted]

Using [Far East Elegance]

Thanks for looking at my pages!! All of the kit titles above are linked to the specific designer shoppe from which they are available. Some of them are freebies [Yippeee!!], you'll just have to register on that website before you can download the item.