Valentine's Fun

We all had a lot of fun last week. Monday, Talon and Azurdey helped me make sugar cookie dough for my upcoming birthday and Valentine's Day treats.

Then that evening for FHE we baked the cookies and made some Valentine's cards.

Tuesday was my birthday and we went to Cody to watch Journee play basketball. We also picked up a few needed household items from Wal-Mart. During the day Gerry surprised me with a delivery of 6 very pretty roses.

Wednesday, I was surprised to receive another delivery of 6 beautiful white roses. This made me suspicious he was up to something. Wednesday evening Gerry had YM and I went with Journee to New Beginnings.

Just as I suspected, Thursday I received another special delivery, 6 purple roses. Journee had another basketball game. We all went to watch her play. When we got home I made treats for the kids to take to their school Valentine's parties. Apples chunks dipped in cherry and almond bark and assorted pink and purple sprinkles.

Friday, I got 6 pink roses. We were so so busy all week that this was the first chance we had to finally frost and decorate our cookies. We delivered some to friends. The kids all had fun at their school parties. I remember Valentine's Day as always being one of my favorite days at school. It may be just because it was close to my birthday or just getting to make things for my friends, but whatever the reasons, it was always a highly anticipated day.

Talon did such a good job decorating. He waited until he had all the candies on his cookie before he snuck a taste.
Kyle and his creation. Karlee, carefully putting on an m&m border.
Azurdey and her cookie.
Allie's cute cookie.

Journee wasn't feeling very well so she let us make one for her.

Here are some of the completed cookies.

Saturday was the grand finale of my birthday/Valentines day surprise, with the delivery of 12 red roses and a cute beaded necklace.

I also received very sweet notes with each delivery. If you kept track of the amount of roses you would see that they total 36. Guess how old I turned this year? If you guessed 36, you would be right. I was so impressed that Ger took the time to plan out this special treat for me. I am so fortunate to have him in my life. He is the best. I would be incomplete without him.

We enjoyed our Valentine's day by starting off with our traditional Valentine's Day breakfast. Depending on the day of the week it falls, sometimes this is our dinner. We were lucky this year to have our Saturday morning open to spend as a family.

We have pink pancakes with hearts cut out and eggs in the middle, covered with strawberries, whipped cream and sprinkles, along with sausage links and pink (strawberry) milk. We also put the kids' Valentine's from us by their place settings.

Later we went and watched Journee play basketball again. Then that evening Journee watched the kids so that Gerry and I could go to a church activity. We went bowling and had pizza. Good fun and good company. It was a very enjoyable Valentine's Day.

Precious Moments (2-4-09)

I just have to tell you how moments like these make up for all the not so precious moments in the struggles of day to day life.

How sweet to have a big brother who will help get you all dressed up and read to you. Kyle can be such an amazing brother. He helped get Azurdey all 'fancy' so they could read "Fancy, Nancy" together. It was all his idea. Isn't that the best. Azurdey loved every moment of it.

18 months old (1-30-09)

Talon is now 18 months old. Nursery time!! 'nuff said.

We have been really fortunate that he actually likes to go to nursery. I thought it would be a difficult transition for him but he has done remarkably well. (knock on wood)

I wish I could capture more of his expressions. He pulls the funniest faces for us but it is hard to get him to cooperate if he sees a camera anywere nearby.

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Doesn't this just look too cozy. I had to add this picture, just cuz. Wish I were there right now :)

WHEEEE!!! (1-13-09)

Talon has become quite the little monkey. He climbs up EVERYTHING. I find him on top of the counters, in the sinks, and even on top of the bunkbed (which doesn't have an inclined ladder to get up on). He has already mastered pushing chairs or stacking toys to get where he can't reach by himself. He jumps off everything as well. One of his favorite things to do is to climb up on the coffee table, count to three, and jump. So, if you are nearby you had better be ready because when he hits three, he may jump to you, whether you are expecting it or not. He also jumps to the floor or the couch.

He loves to do this trick for the kids. He grabs on to the bars of the bottom of the top bunk, lifts his legs and swings, shouting WHEEEE!. The kids laugh and laugh, so of course he has to put on a full performance for them.

We all sure love this little guy!

We also love our little princess.

Azurdey made sure we got to see her tricks, too ;)

The Battle in On! (1-12-09)

As I was trying to organize some boxes I kept hearing bursts of laughter from the office. Talon and Azurdey had discovered some foam bleacher seats and were having a quite the battle with them. They thought it was hilarious and giggled and giggled. It didn't even end in tears.

These two munchkins play so well together. Of course they have the occasional spat, usually it involves sharing my lap, but really for the most part they get along wonderfully. It melts my heart whenever I hear Azurdey tell Talon that he is her best friend. I am glad they have each other to play with while the other kids are at school. They are quite the pair.

Christmas 2008

We had a pretty crazy week leading up to Christmas. We were excited because we got to move into our new house just in time to have Christmas there. We got our kitchen put together and beds made and then up went the tree. We enjoyed taking a little breather from all the work we had been putting in to get the house finished enough to move in.

Christmas Eve

New Christmas PJ's. Talon is holding our Christmas monkey in honor of Jada.

Christmas Morning