the Party is in the Details!

The little wooden sign directing the guests to the backyard.

The antique dresser posing as the guest sign-in table.

The antique chest holding the gifts (it was overflowing by the end of the evening!).

One of two clothes lines with pictures of the happy couple hanging from them.

The lovely flower bouquets in mason jars made for darling centerpieces on the dinner tables.

One half of the Sweets Shop- mini cupcakes, mini cake parfaits, and mom's famous chip cookies (chocolate, peanut butter, and white chocolate) just to name a few.  There were also 2 dinner tables filled with half a dozen different kinds of soups, and sandwiches, and dips, and more.  Everything was labeled with cute chalkboard signs.

The simple and dainty wedding cake that is perhaps the best wedding cake I've ever had!  The cake was strawberry flavored and had real strawberries blended up in it with thick buttercream frosting on top- delish! 

The cute lemonade stand.

The drinks were served in mason jars as well with cute striped straws.

The Thanks table filled with little party favors for the guests...

...chocolate covered Oreos in the wedding colors in mini mason jars with personalized stickers on top.

The sky was filled with starlight, well lots of telestial light anyway.  There were candles, lanterns, 1,000 carnival style string lights, and even floating candles in the pool.  It made such a peaceful ambience.  Everything was just sweet.

Mr. & Mrs. Maughan

ERIKA heart JARED!

AKA Eri & Jerry, ha.

They had a lovely wedding and a fun reception in mom & pop's backyard.  I'm so glad we were able to be there.

Isaac & Noé- the darling ring bearer and flower girl.

Noé has always been her auntie's mini-me.

Mom & Poppa.

Officially empty-nesters as all of their kids are married now!

The Len & Jen crew (Leonard & Jennifer).

The Brentney crew (Whitney & Brent).

Colemandy (Mandy & Coleman).

Kevin (Devin & Kris).

The Bride's fam- all 19 of us!

The Groom's fam too!

Playing Dress-Up

I love playing dress-up with this girl of mine.

It was even more fun dressing-up my niece too.

Cousins are just as much fun as sisters!  Love these cute girls.  Thanks for letting me play dress-up with you!

Triple Treat

Us 3 girls have fun together.

We're all the moms of twins, so we've had 3 hearts beating inside our bodies at the same time.

We usually just get to see each other once a year, but this year we got to 3 times!  I'm so lucky!

3 Little Doggies

Going to Gramma and Grampa's means we get to visit with their doggies, George and Lily.  This time we got to play with Uncle Kris and Auntie Devin's dog, Mylee too.  But they are not the 3 little doggies I'm referring to.  Nope, I'm talking about Gavin, Teague, and Hiram having a great time playing in the doggy kennels, ha ha!

I love LOVE!

We went home for a week to see this handsome man...

...kiss his beautiful bride!  My sister, Erika married her dear Jared.  More pics of their lovely day and our trip coming soon!

9th of 12 = Plateau

In September I was really diligent with my healthy eating habits.  My weight fluctuated a little bit higher and a little bit lower, but on average I remained the same weight as August.  Ugh!  I gave myself a little retail therapy with the purchase of this Santa to encourage my continuance of eating well.  A friend told me to eat chocolate cake for a week to end my plateau.  Well I didn't eat chocolate cake, but I did eat wedding cake for almost a week.  Let's see if that will break the plateau for October, tee hee!

He Eats, Sleeps, Dreams

and he is so precious!

Braveheart

Hiram is getting ready to go fight for Scotland's liberation.

He looks fierce in his war paint.

Yep, this little man was responsible for painting himself, Hiram, the fridge, the floor, and the kitchen cupboards blue.  (While Len and I were in the NEXT room making up a menu and grocery list for the week.)

At times like this, all you can do is laugh!

School Pics

I love taking pictures of my kids and school picture day is great- their clothes are ironed and their hair is gelled/curled.  Oh, they're cute!

Choose the...

...silly,

happy,

right!

 

This year's Primary theme is Choose the Right.  "Wherefore, men are free...to choose liberty and eternal life, through the Great Mediator of all men."  2 Nephi 2:27.

 

Our annual Primary Sacrament Meeting came and our 3 big kids did great writing and delivering their speaking parts:

Gavin-  I share my trains with my brother, Teague and play games with my other brothers and sister. I am blessed because I feel happy and so does my family.

Noé-  Modesty means that we should try to be our best, but that we should not think that we are better than other people. We should not be focused on getting others to notice us, but we should focus on seeing the good in other people. We should always try to be modest in how we look, in how we talk, and in how we behave.

Kaleb-  The Word of Wisdom teaches us to take care of our bodies. It teaches us to eat healthy foods and to avoid substances which are not good for us. If we obey the Word of Wisdom, we will be healthy. Our bodies and our spirits will flourish. We will receive knowledge and wisdom and we will have the strength to do good throughout our entire life.

They also participated in special musical numbers.  Gavin's class sang "When I Am Baptized."  Kaleb sang "Easter Hosanna" in a trio with Grace and Caroline.  AND our ENTIRE family sang "I'm trying to be like Jesus."  When my friend Jenna called and asked us to do it, of course I said yes, but I was a little worried as the Von Trapp family we are not.  I called Leonard to tell him the good news and he replied, "You told her yes?!"  We practiced a lot and when the big day came I might have been more nervous than when I give a talk in Sacrament meeting.  It went off well enough, even though Hiram was pulling on Noé's hair bow and Teague screamed when it was over because he wanted to stay on the stand with his older siblings.  I am proud of my little family.  We are FAR from perfect, but we ARE TRYING to be like Jesus!

Purple, Green and Yellow

Have you read the book Purple, Green and Yellow

by Robert Munsch?

Teague has.

And yes he takes his literature literally!

He had a blast drawing on the paper and coloring on his face. 

Silly boy!