Blakely's Blessing Day

Steve, Michael, and I went to Blakely's blessing yesterday. It was held outside in Evon and Gerardo's backyard.

It was a lovely ceremony and nice luncheon. We sat with Grandma Howe and visited - reminiscing about her days as a Mormon Missionary in Hawaii.
Just at the end of the luncheon, the black clouds rolled in and the rain downpoured, freaking Michael out. He wanted to immediately go to the car and get in, so our exit yesterday was easier than normal! Poor Mike got soaked and wanted Steve to change his shirt as soon as they got home.

I took a little more time and drove around the house we'd seen for sale close by the pond - just a couple blocks away. Only time will tell what will happen with that. The house itself is very plain - just a red brick rambler, but the YARD! It is all behind the house, making the lot deep, and it is covered with mature trees, ensuring privacy. I just may have to have a realtor take me through!

Afterward, I came home and we ate and watched tv, which is the perfect end to a Sunday.

♥ Melody

Great wedding ideas I found this morning

Okay, so I was visiting be different act normal this morning and came across two great ideas that I have to share to you!

First of all, with Amber's wedding coming up, I am looking for wedding ideas & found one! It is a wedding book made from Jenga Blocks. Each guest signs a message on a Jenga block, & the happy couple can read the advice & well wishes as they play the game. Cute! (as a side note, if you see any cute wedding tips, please pass them my way, okay? :)

Another idea was related to engagement photos, but can be used anytime. At Oh! Weddings (they are the ones with the jenga block idea, that be different act normal liked), they say that it "Doesn't matter the day was not sunny... an item as simple as balloons, plays a great role adding a nice touch of color, contrasting with the gray sky of the Dutch city and focusing all our attention on the couple" go take a look at the pics on there. It's amazing what colorful balloons can do!

Today I have to call the orthopedist and get Michael's leg brace adjusted. Right now it is rubbing a spot on his ankle. Michael's physical therapist caught the "hot spot" yesterday. Thank heavens for him & his eye for those things that I miss.

And I also have to stop by the pharmacy today. Emily is still sick. :( I hope that the antibiotic will help her to feel better soon!

How about you? Any fun things planned for the day? One of these days I need to stay home and get some projects done. (sigh) At least it is warm & sunny outside & I have great excuses to get me out in it! :)

Have a wonderful day! :)

Happy Birthday, dear Tino!

Tino's birthday was last week in the midst of school getting out and graduation.



As a side note: he was born in the exact month and year that I graduated from high school. I'm not so sure that I love that, 'cause now, every one of his birthdays will be a countdown from when I graduated. This year he was 23. Oy.



He is so cute with the kids. He loves to play with them and tease them. Sounds like he's going to be a great big brother to them, right? :)



For his birthday, we gave him a Weber bar-b-que grill. Amber told me that he's been wanting one.



I hope that he loves it as much as we love him. :)



Happy Birthday, Tino!! I hope that this year will be the greatest ever! :)

Graduation - the family

Aiden was holding Josh's hand when he first saw Steve in the parking lot of the high school, so he poked up his little hand, wanting Steve to hold it too :)





Aiden kept looking at the ground and wouldn't look up, which Josh and I thought was weird, but then Steve realized that he was watching his shadow.



I figured that they were all dressed up anyway, so we might as well take a pic, right?



Such a cute little family!!

And this is why I am giving my blessing to their upcoming wedding:



I don't remember what was going on, but this is just how their are together. Look at her face! She is beaming. They really are so cute together :)

And the more that I'm around Tino, the more I see Steve in him. They say that a girl will pick someone like her dad, and a boy will pick someone like his mom and boy have we found that to be true with our kids! Not that Karen and Tino are clones of us or anything, they just have similarities, which is kind of endearing, actually. :)

Today I have nothing planned. Yet. But it is before 9:30, so that could all change, I suppose.... How about you? Anything fun planned? Or are you hoping to be a couch potato - with or w/o a tv- like me? :)

Have a great day!

Graduation

Sorry I missed you yesterday. The day just kind of got away from me.

Amber graduated on Tuesday evening. YAY AMBER!! So, of course I had to take lots of pics :)

With the Graduate:

Steve, Amber, and me


Amber and her paternal Grandma (I airbrushed out the name of the high school for privacy reasons. I hope that you understand. :)


Amber and Tino


Waiting.....


The 2011 class preparing to become official Graduates


Amber opening her Willow Tree "Wisdom" figurine from Regina (to Regina: She loved it!! Thanks so much :)


Amber reading her card from her maternal Grandpa (my dad :)


Jared gave her a donut :)


And we celebrated with cake:


Just a note to my Graduate:

Congratulations my sweet Amber! You have always made your daddy & me proud and continue to every day. We love you!

If I don't stop tearing up every time I think about her growing up I'm going to get dehydrated!

I couldn't believe how emotional I got when the graduating class moved their tassles from the right to the left. It wasn't just tears that came, but sobs that I had to control. I should've realize that since I get teary at other people's children's graduations, with my own.... well, I was just so proud! (as a side note: I did get ahold of myself before all of the whooping and hollering was over, so no one except Tino and Karen noticed... I hope.)

Earlier, I had gotten off of the stands to take her picture with her Principal in front of a school emblem that they had set up; she walked by and smiled at me and the whole time I'm thinking, "I'm not gonna cry. I'm not gonna cry." and I patted her on the back and walked on. Karen jumped up and ran over and gave her a hug. I was so glad that someone else filled in my gap! Later Amber told me how weird it was when I just patted her on the back like a football player (except it really *was* a pat on the back, not the behind! :) I laughed and told her that I knew if I hugged her I'd cry in front of all of those people and would have embarrassed her & me. What a baby I am!!

After the ceremony and visiting with friends at the school, we went to a park and had cake and opened her gifts. Her paternal Grandma gave her a card earlier, so I missed a shot of that, and her maternal Grandma is saving her card for her at her nursing home. My sister has a card for her. I suspect that there are probably many more cards, too. :)

Amber didn't want to "walk" at graduation, but graduation is such a Rite of Passage that I pretty much begged her to. She told me several times that she was only doing it for me. That was okay with me! Hopefully at some point she will realize that it was for her too. :)

As another side note, I don't think High School Graduation is only a Rite of Passage for the graduate; after going through it and experiencing all of those feelings, I am sure that it is also a Rite of Passage for the parent, too. Thanks for giving that to me, Am!

Today, we are going to celebrate Tino's birthday. He was born in the same month and year that *I* graduated from high school ... he is 23 today. (Wow! It sure doesn't seem that I graduated 23 years ago!!)

And a note to Tino:

Happy, Happy Birthday to my almost-Son-in-Law! You have already found a place in all of our hearts & we love you very much! Have a super terrific wonderful day today! :)

I hope that all of you are enjoying the end of the school year hustle and bustle celebrations and fun! Have your kids' school ended yet? Are any of them graduating from preschool, elementary, jr. high, or high school? I'd love to hear about it!

Emily's dance performance

It is the end of the school year: time for all of the performances.

Emily has been in Dance I in jr. high, and on Friday, her class performed at the spring concert along with the Dance Company, the Hip Hop Team, the Ballroom Dance Team, and other dance classes.

She was excellent! She said that she goofed up a time or two, but neither Steve nor I noticed.



Emily likes this pic best:




Ever since she was a little girl, Emily has said that she wanted to "sing and dance on a stage", and she has! And she loves it! She doesn't get stage fright like some of our family (me!) does. She says that she gets an adrenalin rush from the crowd and loves to hear the applause. Sounds like a performer to me! :) (She must get it from Steve, because I'd rather be in the audience than on stage any day!)

Way to go, Em! You did a great job!

Happy Monday, all!

An Wonderfully Eventful Day

Yesterday Josh, Karen, and Aiden came down to my house to spend some time. Before coming home, though, we stopped by my mom's nursing home so that Aiden could meet his Great Grandma.

Our 4 Generation Picture



The cute little family with Great Grandma



Great Grandma fell in love with Aiden, just like we all have.



She held him the whole time we were there.



She told Josh and Karen that she'd be happy to keep him with her. :)



This was a moment that I have wanted to happen since we thought we were going to lose my mom last July. I'm so glad that her body healed and that she could meet this sweet little bundle of joy. What a blessing!

Josh, Karen, and Aiden will be staying here a day or two. I'm sure I'll have lots more baby pics for you in the next few days! ;)

(P.S. the pics were really yellow from the lighting in the nursing home, so I tried to make them look as close to normal color as possible. I hope they look okay on your moniter.)

Wordless Wednesday: January 7

Going home ( Aiden's hat is red & white striped, not pink! ;)

New Year's Eve

Winter Splendor