Random Life Moments..

This was our Thanksgiving.  Nancy graciously held the dinner at her house and we ate a wonderful meal together.  Saw a movie later that day "Blindside", good show.
Kasey has decided to wrestle this year for some random reason.  This is a third place medal he won on his first ever, in his life, meet.  Not bad for a newbie!
I just thought this was a cool sign.  
Just a reminder why we celebrate christmas :)

Meagan and Callin bought a twin home and they are desperate to get it in order before they move in together (after the wedding) ha  Blaine helped Callin lay the floor.  It was so easy.  Notice I'm no where to be seen however.  Well I was taking pics so I did offer a few suggestions.  They are getting quite a bit done so it should look warm and homey after the honeymoon.

Just a few moments in life that were captured.  There will be a few more to come I'm sure :)

Life's Little Lessons

Why is it that I don't seem to learn the simple lessons that life offers.  The ones your mother taught you when little.  

Like watch where your going...So I'm in the dollar store today buying snowflakes...(wedding stuff) all excited to happen upon such a stash of wintery bliss.  After loading my cart with various articles, I spy more snowflakes across the isle and while looking at the display I managed to turn just so and knock over several glasses with my behind.  Have you ever heard breaking glass on a hard floor x4?  Not good but very attention seeking.  I tried to make a few jokes to ease the tension but, not so much.  I offered to pay for them but they were very nice and blamed the manager for placing them there.  So thanks to the girls at the Provo Dollar store for kindness and pity.

The other lesson I don't seem to learn is to be careful what you say cause it may come back to haunt you.  A few of us  were commenting on a few co workers forgetting to put the cash bag away.  We were all saying how scary that is and how could that happen.  Wouldn't you remember such a thing?  Well...I get home today and find the keys to the cash bag in my pocket and realize I left the cash in a drawer rather than the safe with the keys where it belongs.  Duh..  If you can't say something nice don't say anything at all.  

I guess mother knows best...boo 

Engagement Pictures of Meagan and Callin..

Just a few of the pics that were taken that day...  pics taken by Emily Henson

Wedding Plans....plan B

Well the wedding plans move forward...and beyond and ever changing.  Meagan and Callin had their engagement pics done and invites designed.  But things don't quite turn out as planned sometimes (many times) and plan b will be implemented :)  Uncle Rod did a great job on the invitations but the printer?  not so good, not bad just not what Meagan envisioned.   We"ll fix it...Shout out to cute Emily who did the engagement pics...She did a great job!

Caterer done..What next?

And who would imagine that crystals for a floral/bare branch arrangement would cost so much $$.  Oh well  onward...

Eat, Drink and sleep wedding ideas...

Have I mentioned that Meagan is getting married?  Yes I think I may have, but have I also mentioned that she is trying to buy and decorate a house at the same time?  The "goal" is to have her house ready to hold the bridal shower which is the first weekend of December....Not sure how that will go but if all the planets align..you never know.  I could see Meagan was a little stressed trying to plan both events at once so I generously said  "meg, you concentrate on your house and I'll plan the reception".  I may regret that but at the same time it does get my creative juices flowing...into overtime.  Making decisions then getting approval then having to rethink the ideas. Well I could go on but I don't want to get into trouble.  The above pic is of an invitation I thought was cute for a winter theme.  We are using branches with crystals hanging off for some of the arrangements so the bare tree would be appropriate...but snowflakes are cute too.  Meagan gets final approval on that one.
 We've been looking online at some flower ideas ...which ones can I do myself to save money?  How much do I want to take on?   Do we want to be matchy matchy , eclectic elegant or rustic wonderland.  There are so many ways to go and so many great ideas out there....
How cute are these carnation arrangements!  Not to mention that carnations are one of the least expensive flowers.
Again...Cute!
And I think that the above arrangement is my favorite...Looks like a snowball which works with our winter wedding theme.

Which ones will we choose?  Well you'll just have to come to the reception to find out...cause we'll change our minds a few more times between now and January 2nd :)

Weekend with the Laytons

This weekend we had the opportunity to stay in a beautiful cabin nestled in the mountains of Utah.  We also had the opportunity to meet Meagan's future in-law's the Laytons. Above we have Kasey and Shaffer throwing snowballs at each other.  It snowed our second day there which was both beautiful and disturbing at the same time.
Here we have Sheila (mom)  Callin and Blair (dad) in the background.  We played a rousing game of Quiddler.  I didn't even cheat because Meagan warned me I had to be on my best behavior.  As a result..I didn't win:(
The cute kid in the stripes is brother Shaffer, Meg (early morning disclaimer) and again Blair in the background.
Meg and Coco striking a pose on the staircase of this beautiful place.
Callin just trying to stay out of the women's way.
And this is an outside shot of the house.  We ate, shopped at the Park City outlets...(Sheila won the award for best deal of the day) and really enjoyed getting to know them.  What a comfort to know that Meagan will be loved by her in-laws, And Callin seems to fit into our family effortlessly.    Nice :)

Special Thanks to the Newmans for the use of their cabin!

A return to blogging? maybe...random pics? yes

We all know it's been quiet a while since I've done any blogging.  No excuses...just didn't.  Well perhaps I'm on a roll again.  Perhaps I am just bored enough to post these pics.  Who knows what the future will bring but I thought I'd do a quick update as to what's been going on the last few months.  Quite a lot actually.   Above is a great pic of beautiful Lake Powell where we stayed a week this summer.  FUN!
Here is a picture I took at Sundance ski resort.  Blaine and I listened to conference while taking a drive up the canyon...Fall colors were so beautiful!
This pic is of us having dinner at a really good Italian Restaurant, with really bad live music.  See the singer in the background?
Kasey turned 16 this September and is here with his grandma trying to get her to take a picture. She never cooperates.
Meagan and Callin got engaged the day before Kasey's birthday.  They are getting married on January 2nd and we are emerced and overwhelmed with wedding plans.  All consuming..
This is just a cute pic of Coupe who is the nicest Dog ever!  
Courtney and I went to an Incubus concert this summer.  It was Excellent!  Had a great time...
The family went to Pendleton for the Rodeo again this fall.  We love to play cowboy/girl for a couple of days each year.  You see my brother Brant here and Coco and Tyler in the background.  We are watching a parade that consists of some horses and some more horses...
Cute little niece loving cute little Coupe at the park...    So this was part of our summer and moving into fall quickly.  I'll be busy with wedding planning...Halloween, Thanksgiving, a trip to Canada for a wedding reception (yes he's a Canook:) and Christmas.  Not to mention New Years and then a WEDDING...I'll try to keep you updated...Try

Don't get excited

This isn't a real update, but at least I got a different background...just wanted to say Happy birthday to Kasey...just turned 16 today  and congratulation to Meagan and Callin who got engaged yesterday...Looks like a winter wedding.    Any ideas for decorations?

Pay it Forward...

To "Pay it Forward" is not a new idea...it's been around for a while in fact. But until someone does it to you..or for you...You don't know it's significance. A friend of mine did just that...pay'd it forward to me and my family I guess. He gave me a car...I know...a car. Now it's not the newest...or the prettiest, but for now it will get me to and from work until such a time that I can give it to a certain 16 year old who shall reamain nameless.
He could have sold this car pretty easily, but because someone had given it to him in a time of need, he felt he should do the same. Hmmm now it's time for me to pay it forward...interesting. In what form will it be or take...

My life is a shambles...

yes a shambles, for so many reasons I can't even begin to explain.  But that is not an excuse for my lack of blogging.  My excuse is because my camera is broken and my iphone is having issues and won't send my pics to my email so I can download.  Did anyone even understand that?

So enough of the pity party...just thought I'd let you know I won't be able to do much blogging until I get my shambles of a life straightened out...(in other words, no time soon)

We're headed to Lake Powell for a week on a house boat so at least I have that!   Oh and my health.  :)

Does anyone over 21 really love birthdays?

Ok  so it was my birthday in May.  I don't really like birthdays anymore and haven't for a long time.  Their not fun, their not full of the anticipation and merriment they used to be and frankly they just make me feel bad.  So a few years ago I decided to travel or at least go somewhere on my birthday so I would at least have the trip to look forward to.  This year was no exception...Blaine and I decided to go to Lava Hot Springs in Idaho and Rod and Julie decided to tag along. 
This waterfall was right by our campsite and was very pretty.  We were right by the river and the weather was good for the middle of May.
We actually did go to the hot pots which Lava is famous for but...who really wants to see us in our swim suits...That's what I thought.  All in all it was a very relaxing weekend and we had a good time.  While I do miss my birthday trips to Southern California, I guess going anywhere is better than staying at home on your birthday and pretending your happy to turn 45... right? :)

Shallow of me?   yes...but we already knew that...

Boys and their toys...

Boys love their toys and mine are no exception.  Blaine, Chase and Kasey went to an airshow this weekend and were in their element.  Blaine has a love for airplanes...as we all know, and it seems to be in the blood because Chase is now planning on going into an airplane program in the fall.
I guess they had a great time cause I was told I needed to blog about it :)
so because I always do what I'm told...here are the pics
Happy they had a good time, and I'm even happier that I didn't have to go!

All about me..

I'm feeling a little self indulgent today, not to mention desperate for something to blog about, so I am posting these pics just for fun.  

Are you having fun yet?   Me either but at least it's a new post right?
You have to admit it's kind a cool photo program....see ya

Happy Mothers day to all you mother's!

This was my favorite part of mother's day... All my kids together with me at church. Now I realize I maybe should not be taking pics during Sacrament Meeting, but....it's for a good cause...like finally updating my blog?
I have great kids and they were very sweet to me on this one day of the year :) Blaine made me breakfast...lucky for him I just felt like cereal...I got a pedicure, choc covered strawberries, some white bowls I picked out with Coco and dinner brought to me. All in all a great Day!
Thanks guys Oh and by the by...I love my mommy too!

Happy Birthday's!

You can consider this a combo blog today. My Birthday is May 16th. It's also Rod's, Tyler's, Devin's, Chase's,Elaine's Belle's and Nico's birthday's this month.
So we had a combined birthday party for all of the may birthdays. Good food, good company makes for a good time. I was a little lame in the photo area but at least I have pics of the important people :) jk
Happy Birthday to us!!

Marko Medonich...my grandfather

My brother Mark recently went to Rock Springs WY for his work, and was determined to find my grandfathers grave stone. We've never known much about our grandparents on that side of the family because my father (fatcat) grew up for the most part in a catholic orphanage. His dad died at the age of 42 from working in the coal mines and his mother left the children to fend for themselves more or less, thus the orphanage. Anyway...It took my brother quite a bit of time and research to find Marco Medonich's grave stone and here it is. My brother Mark, is named after this grandfather and I appreciate his efforts to locate him...way to go Mark, you just did some family history gathering!

Too Many Birds? NEVER

I have a son...I'll call him Kasey so as not to embarrass him, who talks a lot. I've never had a child that talks as much as this particular child. Sometimes I have to ask him, very nicely, to stop talking. Just for awhile cause he is usually just trying to find and push my buttons when he talks. I love this kid...don't get me wrong, but is it normal for a boy to talk more than most girls I know. Anyway one day as he was observing some decorating changes I had made, he started counting how many bird I have used in my house. I have to admit I'm fond of the little feathered friends but he thinks I may have too many of them. He loves to point it out over and over :) So what do you think. I've taken pics of all of my little cuties and I think there are just enough. I do have to force myself to not purchase them when I see them...but I'm so tempted...
Can you find them in each picture?







No...your wrong again Kasey...I may need to pick up a few more birds to finish things off...:)