A Puppy and Fifteen Pounds of Dog Food

HOLY COW!  Our precious English Labrador puppy, Tucker, got into the dog food and ate FIFTEEN pounds of it!!!  

He wouldn't even walk up the stairs to go to bed and we were up ALL night with him MOANING in pain!!!  Frankly, I have done the same thing with a yummy bowl of guacamole and chips!!!

Our sweet little Tucker puppy looks PREGNANT!  He has a huge ball on the side of his tummy!!  We called our veterinarian!  He said that it is common for puppies to gorge themselves on food like that!!  "Nature will take it's course!!"  We will have to wait and see!!!!  Pray that we get some sleep tonight as Tucker recovers from his "dog food binge"!!!

On top of all of that fun, I was the lucky winner and "got" to go to the Social Security office and wait 2 1/2 hours for my turn today!!  I was there to turn in Gram's Death Certificate!!!  So any way that you look at it, I had a marvelous day!!!!  :0)

Some of my FAVORITE THINGS!

This is one of my FAVORITE Easter bunnies!  She welcomes our guests each year!

It just would not be Easter without this guy hanging on our front door.

I love Easter bunnies with long legs!

Doesn't he have the most adorable face?

Easter is definitely one of my FAVORITE times  of the year!  I love to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior!  Easter is also a fun time with our family as we celebrate together with a huge family dinner. I usually eat way too many garlic mashed potatoes!  Easter bunnies, chocolate candy, Easter egg hunts, and Easter baskets also make this time of year special!

I LOVE freshly sharpened pencils ready for a brand new homeschooling day!

Chocolate chip cookies are most definitely one

of my FAVORITE things!

Palazzo Girl's Weekend!

We got right out of bed and went for a gondola ride with our adorable guide Pia!  She sang songs and told stories of Italy as we rode down the river!        

What Girl's Weekend would be complete without a trip to the COACH STORE?

We ate a yummy dinner Mexican dinner at Dos Caminos.  We even brought a HUGE order of spicy guacamole and chips up to our suite to eat in bed while reading some of my favorite reading material!

Being fully inspired by Martha and the Cake Doctor, I am more than totally excited to return to my wonderful family of MEN and BOYS waiting for me at home!  What a blessing!

. . .  I am certain that the stores will still be open on our way out!!!

Palazzo! Phantom! Phun!!

Wow!  Are we excited!!  My mom and I are spending a Girl's Weekend at the be-a-u-tiful Palazzo Hotel!!!  It is amazingly spectacular in every way!!!

The entrance into the Palazzo is BREATHTAKING!!  Italy envelopes you as you walk into the doorways of the hotel!

Our suite is absolutely gorgeous!  It has a bedroom, a sunken living room, and an office area!!  The room has three plasma screen televisions, room service, an lovely view of the golf course, a HUGE Roman bathtub, a lovely glass enclosed shower!

My wonderful little space all ready for blogging!

Phantom of the Opera was wonderful!  We were singing even in our dreams as we drifted off to sleep in our beautiful suite!

Friends

TWENTY-ONE years! That's how long Cathy, Diane, Betsy, and I have been friends!  Needless to say, we have been through much together. We do not get to see Betsy often enough . . . she lives in Reno.  

After a VERY busy and SUPER WINDY day, we all met at Mountain Falls Golf Course for dinner! Before we knew it, three hours had passed as we talked, laughed, and reminisced about all of the fun times that our families have had together!

Friends are amazingly awesome! Friends are there to cheer you on, pray for you and your family, and cry with you during the sad times. Great friends seem to call you at just the right moment, give you a hug when you need it, and support you during trying times.  My friends are wonderful!  Needless to say, we have watched our families change and grow!  We are all fighting for the first lucky one to obtain the position of Granny! Thank you girls for being my greatest friends!  I am so thankful for you! The next twenty-one years prove to be pretty exciting!  I love you!

Start Your Engines!

Lean, green, and mean!  Luke's "Green Machine" WON every contest! Luke and his Dad worked really hard on this Pinewood Derby car and were so PROUD when it won every single race! It was the fastest car out of every car that entered the Pinewood Derby!

Our Dad was the Master of Ceremonies!  He and the Pit Crew made certain that every car had a fair chance of winning!  All of the boys in Pack 792 had a great time racing their cars!  There were some really close races!

The Webelos watch with EXCITEMENT to see whose car is going to come in first place!  Luke was certain that he had a fast car for this Pinewood Derby!  It weighed exactly 5.0 ounces!  It was a great night!!

Busy Mom Day!

1.  Orthodontist with Sam . . . When are those 

     braces coming off?

2.  Fabulous haircut.

3.  Cub Scouts.

4.  Boy Scouts.

5.  Grocery store.

6.  Take Grampa to the doctor.

7.  Wash, wash, wash.

8.  Cook a fabulous dinner!

9.  Dishes, dishes, dishes.

10.  Work on projects with kids.

11.  Pray, pray, pray!

12. Sleep, sleep, sleep!

I Am Excited About . . .

1.  My new Anthropologie dress!

2.  This weekend with my Mom at the Venetian 

     Hotel and Spa!

3.  Sam's Eagle Scout project!

4.  Zach finding amazing new friends at college!

5.  Tim's Senior Recital!

6.  Luke completing all 20 Webelo requirements!

7.  Mike's new cell phone!

LUKE has the CUTEST feet!  Ever since Luke was born I have loved his feet with the big toe that is longer than the second toe and curls backward.  

LUKE loves to have his feet rubbed!  He refers to this as "my work" when he is watching TV or laying

down relaxing!

LUKE has the fastest feet of all four of our boys!  

LUKE uses his feet to help his Dad, Grampa, and me.

I think about all LUKE and his feet will

accomplish as he continues to grow into

the man that Christ wants him to be!

Luke loves to walk to the mailbox and bring 

in the mail with a smile!

Luke loves to work hard around our home!

Luke and his feet have many adventures ahead

of them!

Things . . .

There are things that I love:

1.  My family!  They are such blessings!  Each one of them!

2.  Blueberry pancakes after church on Sunday.

3.  Lucy.

4.  Old movies . . . especially black and white ones.

5.  Boy Scout Merit Badges!

There are things that I hate:

1.  Putting my husband's phone in the washer.

2.  Kidney stones.

3.  Whining, when I have so many blessings.

4.  Having my kids so far away at school.

5.  Weekends that go so fast!

Birthday Fun Continues . . .

Birthdays are great, except when you 

have to take kids back to the airport

to head back to school!  I do not know 

why, but it gets harder and harder!

Tim and Zach both attend the University

of Nevada Reno.  Tim is majoring in jazz 

performance and Zach is majoring in 

Biochemistry.  Both boys are amazing

students and wonderful sons!

Perhaps the biggest memory this trip was

the doughy pancakes!!  :0)

One thing for sure . . . our family loves to eat!

We continued our birthday celebration and I

had my first bowl of Pho!  It is so yummy and

good for you!  We had a great experience trying

Pho!  Some, however, chose other items on the

menu!!  

After eating Pho, we went to the Las Vegas Wranglers Hockey game.  Luke caught a t-shirt!  

That made his evening, along with the popcorn,

nachos, cinnamon pretzels, and a hot dog!

Sam was such a great sport!  He rode his bike to 

Death Valley this morning at 6 a.m. with the Scouts!

He rode 50 miles, up hill for 33 and coasted for 17!

He was totally exhausted, but made the sacrifice

for Mom's birthday.  We didn't get home until 12:30 a.m.

What a great birthday with an awesome family!

Thank you guys for EVERYTHING that you do

for me!  You are amazingly special to me and I am

so grateful to have a family like you!

In Memory of Gram

My sweet Gram passed away on March 11, 2009.

She was 93 years old!  We were very privileged to

be able to care for her during the last several years

as she began to suffer from Alzheimer's and 

Dementia.

Gram was a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, 

and great-grandmother.  She too great  pride in 

keeping a tidy home and was an expert in the 

kitchen.  All of the grandkids and great-grandkids

are missing her wonderful zucchini bread and 

chocolate chip cookies!

Birthdays, Christmases, Thanksgivings and other

milestone celebrations will not be the same 

without Gram.  She was a very special person

who devoted herself to her family and friends.

She will be sorely missed by everyone in her

life that she touched.

Gram was an amazing Christian as she 

demonstrated each day as she chose to live 

for the Lord!  We are excited that Gram is

now in Heaven living with her Heavenly 

Father and Jesus Christ.  We cannot wait 

to join her one day!

I miss you Gram!

My 46th Birthday

Yippee!  Today is my 46th birthday!  I had so much fun celebrating with my awesome family at the Cheesecake Factory!  We ate way too much food and had way too much fun!  Getting older is great when you have such great people to get older with!  

My four amazing sons Zach (19), Tim (22), Sam (13), and Luke (9).

Does cheesecake have any calories?

My awesome husband Mike hasn't missed a birthday 

celebration since I was 15 years old!  What an amazing 

man to put up with me for that many years!  

My Mom and Dad are ready to eat some yummy food and celebrate my birthday with us!

My totally amazing Grampa is 91!  He came with bells

on ready to celebrate another birthday with me!  He 

is my hero and I am so thankful to have my Grampa!