{unwrapped}

{spa day with seneca}

I have always loved having my hair washed. It is by far one of the most relaxing things ever. Love it. And I remember, though the times were few, having my hair washed in the kitchen sink and how relaxing and wonderful it was. Even now, my fabulous friend Christy who does my hair here at my house, has me lay on my countertops so she can wash my hair (and do an awesome scalp massage) in the sink. It is a piece of heaven.

A few days ago, Kaden was spending time with a friend and Seneca stayed home with me. I decided that it would be fun to have a spa day. At first, she was a little apprehensive and wasn't sure she wanted the water sprayer that close to her head. However, as you can see in the pics above, she warmed up to the idea and had a lot of fun being pampered.

 

After we washed her hair, I had her sit with her legs in the sink so I could give her a pedicure.  We washed her feet and used a bunch of fun leg scrubs and creams and then lotioned them up with a yummy Vanilla Amber Musk lotion at the end while I massaged her feet and legs. Afterwards, we put her in a little white robe and she looked so shiny and clean and was having a blast. The it was time for nails and toenails...

 

Seneca is hilarious. She can only be be serious for so long and then she just HAS to be silly....she can't resist. So we got one good smiling picture with her nails...and then, well, you can see how the others turned out. LOL!

 

After her pretty pink fingers and toes were dry, I made her a bowl of watermelons balls. My mom used to always used the melon baller and I realized that that is something I have never done for my kids..and it was about time!! Seneca thought it was the coolest thing ever, to have her watermelon in little balls.

 

What a fun day we had!! I love my little Seneca so much. She definitely exhausts us so much of the time, but when we are able to really sit and spend one on one time with her, we are able to truly see her very sweet spirit. I definitely need to do it more often. What a sweetheart and what fun to have a spa day with my precious little girl! I love you Seneca!

{heal the world}

Whether you love him or dislike him as a person, there is no denying that Michael Jackson was and will always be a music legend. My entire childhood, teenagehood and adult life has been accompanied by his record breaking music hits and constant news surrounding his life. And today, with his passing, my heart goes out to him. I have to say that it makes my heart hurt when I think of his life and everything went through. I don't know for a fact that he did or didn't do everything that he was accused of doing. And ya know, to be honest, what a relief that it isn't MY place to judge him...or anyone for that matter. All I know, is that he was completely and literally smothered by the media his entire life and I can't imagine what that does to a person...how it affects who they really are, their good judgement and even their sanity. I have ALWAYS loved Michael Jackson. Always will. There is no denying that his talent was OFF THE CHARTS RIDICULOUS, not to mention TIMELESS! And yes, I too even went through a phase (when he was the absolutely handsome and confident artist in this picture! One of my favorite pictures from a time when Michael Jackson was loved so much by the world..including me! Look at that smile...love it!!) where I was head over heels in LOVE with him and even did my hair to look just like him and to match my Michael Jackson folders and Trapper Keeper. :-) And in the end, after all of the media trash that I believe very literally sucked the life out of this outrageously talented artist, and yes, perhaps even after unwise and some forbidden and unmentionable choices he may have made (heaven forbid he not be perfect!!), I believe that Michael Jackson had a good heart. So much so, that I am shedding tears today at his passing. And in his honor today (because I do believe that he deserves that), I want to share the lyrics of one of my favorite Michael Jackson songs, written and composed by Michael himself. I believe that these lyrics best illustrate the true intentions of this talented, yet troubled, man's heart. Michael...you will be missed!!

"Heal The World"

There's A Place In
Your Heart
And I Know That It Is Love
And This Place Could
Be Much
Brighter Than Tomorrow
And If You Really Try
You'll Find There's No Need
To Cry
In This Place You'll Feel
There's No Hurt Or Sorrow

There Are Ways
To Get There
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Little Space
Make A Better Place...

Heal The World
Make It A Better Place
For You And For Me
And The Entire Human Race
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me

If You Want To Know Why
There's A Love That
Cannot Lie
Love Is Strong
It Only Cares For
Joyful Giving
If We Try
We Shall See
In This Bliss
We Cannot Feel
Fear Or Dread
We Stop Existing And
Start Living

Then It Feels That Always
Love's Enough For
Us Growing
So Make A Better World
Make A Better World...

Heal The World
Make It A Better Place
For You And For Me
And The Entire Human Race
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me

And The Dream We Were
Conceived In
Will Reveal A Joyful Face
And The World We
Once Believed In
Will Shine Again In Grace
Then Why Do We Keep
Strangling Life
Wound This Earth
Crucify Its Soul
Though It's Plain To See
This World Is Heavenly
Be God's Glow

We Could Fly So High
Let Our Spirits Never Die
In My Heart
I Feel You Are All
My Brothers
Create A World With
No Fear
Together We'll Cry
Happy Tears
See The Nations Turn
Their Swords
Into Plowshares

We Could Really Get There
If You Cared Enough
For The Living
Make A Little Space
To Make A Better Place...

Heal The World
Make It A Better Place
For You And For Me
And The Entire Human Race
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me

{what i give a "hoot" about}

GOODNESS...it has definitely been a long time since I posted a Circle Journal Entry, hasn't it!? And the terrible thing is, I haven't posted one, because I haven't DONE one. Things have been so busy and they have apparently been busy for all members of our group (Thank Heavens!), that we are just slightly WAY behind. LOL! BUT..never fear...after a little break due to the craziness of life, I was able to complete an entry for another one of the fun and fabulous journals in our group this week. This journal belongs to my friend Amy and the theme for her 8" x 8" journal is "What I Give a HOOT about!" Love it! Along with designing your pages to share the things that you care about (or give a HOOT about), we were asked to all use OWLS in our designs! Fun stuff!! Here are pics of Amy's Sign-In Tags Pocket & Instruction Page for her journal.

  

It was harder than I thought to find OWLS...and to try and make sure that I didn't use the same owls that everyone else did. I found a few sheets of scrapbook paper with owls and then found this huge pink owl on a school notebook at Target. HAPPLY DAY! So, without further ado, here is my 2 page spread for Amy's fun journal, illustrating what I GIVE A 'HOOT' ABOUT.....

 
 

It was so hard to limit the things that mean so much to me to just a handful of things to spotlight on these pages, but I decided to just pick the things that were at the VERY VERY top of my list and could NOT be left out. Here is a closer look at the things that I GIVE A HOOT ABOUT:

 

Love, Germany, Thunderstorms, Photography, Music, Massage, My Testimony (realized AFTER THE FACT that it was probably a little weird to put that pic of MASSAGE right over the top of The Book of Mormon. Oops...oh well. Funny.), Friends, My Family, Overall Health & Wellness  and Making People Happy.

Circle Journals are likely one of my very favorite "extra-curricular" activities. They are a fabulous creative outlet and also a wonderful means to get us as a group to reflect on topics and themes that  encourage us to dig deep inside of ourselves and learn more about who we are as women. I love that!!!! And this journal was no exception. AMY...such a great theme! LOVED IT! And adding the OWLS theme to it made it extra fun! I am so happy to be getting back to some of the things that I haven't had time for the past few months. Happy, happy day!!!

{blog challenge: ipod shuffle}

A friend of ours told me a while ago that he really likes to listen to his entire ipod library on shuffle to mix things up a bit. SUCH A FUN IDEA!! With my EXTREMELY eclectic music taste, I thought that would be fun to try. It becomes especially interesting when you have books on tape on your ipod as well. LOL! So you may listen to a song and then a chapter of a book and then another song, etc. The key is, you have to listen to whatever comes on next. Since the only books that I have on my ipod right now are inspirational self-help books, this has been a really fun and spontaneous AND inspirationally uplifting thing for me....to listen to my ipod library on shuffle instead of just the playlists I have made. And the cool thing is, you end up hearing songs you haven't heard in ages and have forgotten are even on your ipod. I find myself memorizing my playlists so that I always know what songs are coming up next. THIS WAY, I never know what I am going to get. I may go from Anne Murray to Beastie Boys to Oak Ridge Boys to Michael McLean to Pitbull to ABBA to Bing Crosby Christmas to Dire Straights to Dan Zanes Kid Songs to Neal McCoy to Erasure to Michael Buble to Bar J Wranglers to Dean Martin, etc. etc. You never know what you're going to get. LOVE IT! I love music so much...ALL KINDS..and I love hearing all of the different genres all together. It's a fun way to keep you on your toes and add a little SURPRISE tand SPONTANEITY to our otherwise slightly mundane daily routines! YAY!

So anyway...I thought it would be fun, while I'm editing pics, to document the next RANDOM 40 songs that pop up on my ipod and challenge you to do this on your blog...just for fun! And NO CHEATING....you have to write down the next 20 random shuffle songs that pop up. For this challenge, I am not going to document the book on tape chapters that pop up in this next 40 (mainly because the book that is on my ipod is one that deserves an entire blog entry and not just a brief mention on this list), but will record HOW MANY chapters I listened to in the midst of these 40 songs. :-) So, turn your entire ipod library on shuffle, push play and then push forward and that will be song #1 on your list!! Good times...just for fun!!! HAPPY LISTENING!!! And here are HEATHER'S RANDOM 40 (I have done this over a longer period of time and not all in one sitting...if you want to do it quickly, you can do the next 10 instead of 40) .....

1. "Move If You Wanna" - MIMS
2. "Close Enough To Touch" - Women At The Well
3. "Tall, Tall Trees" - Alan Jackson
4. "Evening at Lafitte's" - Squirrel Nut Zippers
5. "A Little Respect" - Erasure
6. 'When You're Lookin' Like That" - Westlife
7. "I Don't Believe In IF Anymore" - Roger Whittaker
8. "Back Home Again" - John Denver
9. "Short Skirt, Long Jacket" - CAKE
10. "One Last Love Song" - The Beautiful South
11. "I Got A Girl" - Lou Bega
12. "Promise Me" - Jerry Goldsmith ("First Knight" Soundtrack)
13. "Dancing Queen" - Mamma Mia Soundtrack
14. "Voodoo Banjo" - Bonepony
15. "Roamin' Wyomin'" - Randy Travis
16. "Cruisin' Together" - Gwyneth Paltrow & Huey Lewis
17. "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" - John Denver
18. "Baby, It's Cold Outside" - Dean Martin
19. "Espiritu de los Andes" - Espiritu del los Andes
20. "Down The Trail To San Antone" - Bar J Wranglers
21. "Womanizer" - Brittany Spears
22. "Hey Santa!" -Carnie Wilson
23. "Lucky" - Jason Mraz
24. "Right Round" - Flo Rida
25. "Everyday" - The Oak Ridge Boys
26. "Goodbye" - Kristinia DeBarge
27. "Someday He Will Come" - Felicia Sorensen
28. "Waterloo" - ABBA
29. "Shake Your Groove Thing" - Peaches & Herb
30. "Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah" - Barenaked Ladies
31. "Denk an mich" - Anna Maria Kaufman ("Think of Me" - Phantom of the Opera - German)
32. "Let it Snow, Let it Snow" - Michael Buble
33. "Trials Turn To Gold" - PFR
34. "How Do You Do!" - Roxette
35. "Rag Doll" - Aerosmith
36. "Love, Me" - Collin Raye
37. "It's Going To Take Some Time This Time" - The Carpenters
38. "Malti" - Dan Zanes (NOGGIN Kids' Songs)
39. "Fire Burning" - Sean Kingston
40. "Won't Go Home Without You" - Maroon 5

And in the midst of these 40, I listened to 9 chapters of the books I have on my ipod. :-)

LOL..so funny how random the list is when your music taste is as broad as mine is. This was kinda fun..just might have to do it again sometime. :-) Good times!

{welcome, olivia sue}

 

"It is not a slight thing when those
so fresh from God love us."
-Charles Dickens-

Yesterday at 7:28 PM, the Dahlquist family grandkids count went from 10 to 11....5 boys, 6 girls....with the birth of my newest little niece, Olivia Sue Edwards, weighing 7 lbs. 11 oz. and measuring 20 inches long.

 
 

We were all waiting outside the door of my sister Julie's room when little Olivia was born. Dad kept little Charly (my little sister Kristin's little girl...SUCH a cutie!!) entertained by reading her book after book after book (love watching my dad read to the grandkids just like he read to me and my little sister until I was 16) and letting her tickle his forehead. LOL!

 
 

Before we were able to go in and see little Olivia, we were able to chat for a second with our fantastic OB, Dr. Greg Tanner, who has delivered all but MAYBE just 1 or 2 Dahlquist grandbabies and our good family friend Bobbi Jo Wetzel, who has been the NURSE for the majority of the Dahlquist grandbaby births as well. So great for all of us Dahlquist girls to have such a great doctor and nurse who are such good friends of ours, helping with all of our births!! Such a wonderful blessing!!

 

And as it should be, the grandmas were the first to be able to see their new little grandbaby girl. Love these pic of the grandmas first glimpse of Baby Olivia and the second one where Olivia is look right at Grandma Zella...SO PRECIOUS!

 
 

Olivia is so beautiful...absolutely perfect. Can't wait to be able to snuggle her!!! So fun to have another new little baby in the fam. It's been a while. And in the next few weeks, we will be having ANOTHER one, when my little sister Kristin has HER baby...YAY..two new babies in ONE month! Happy daaaaay! Love this picture of Dad showing little Charly the new baby. It was a good warm up for when her new little brother or sister arrives in a few weeks (Kristin and Jordan don't know the gender of their baby...and yes, it's driving me NUTS not knowing!! LOL!).

 

So happy to have another little one in the family and such a wonderful blessing that both she and her Mama are doing so well. CONGRATULATIONS PULSE & BOO...and Welcome, welcome to beautiful little Olivia!!! WE LOVE YOU!

{little brody man photo shoot}

Was fortunate enough to have been asked to do a photo shoot of my good friend Jodi's little man a while ago..and have you EVER in your life seen anything as cute as this little guy? What a crazy awesome way to start a busy season for a photographer!

 

I could NOT get enough of little Brod...he looks like he just stepped out of a Children's Place ad! LOVE IT! He is so cute that I could just munch on his cheeks all day long. This little bud is a photographers's dream!!! LOVE HIM!

 

If you would like to see all of the proofs from this shoot, please feel free to visit the BRODY MAN PHOTO ALBUM on my photo blog, WHITE HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHY. This album will remain on my site until a week from today, Wednesday, June 24th, 2009, at which time, these photos will be sorted into their appropriate categories on my photo blog. 

 

HUGE thanks to Jod & little Brod for letting me capture his CUTENESS on film..and for being so patient waiting for these to be edited! LOVE YOU BOTH!!!

{are you for real?}

There is only one reality show that I follow and as far as I am concerned, it's the best show on TV...So You Think You Can Dance - a show where dancers experienced in ONE particular genre perform PERFECTLY FLAWLESS CRAZY AWESOME NUMBERS in dance genres they have never ever attempted before. It's..WOW..it's just awesome! Catching up on episodes tonight and when I saw this, my jaw LITERALLY HIT THE FLOOR!!! Samba is by FAR my favorite ballroom dance and this GIRL HAS NEVER EVER (NOT EVEN ONCE) DONE ANY BALLROOM DANCE IN HER LIFE!!!! Are you FOR REAL???  RI----DI----CU---LOUS!!! Sick talent.....oh my crud. Hilarious thing is, my response was EXACTLY....EXACTLY the same as the first judge, Adam (you have to watch through the end of the dance to hear his critique, because it is EXACTLY what I was feeling and LOVE how he expresses it!!), who critiques them after this CRAZY CRAZY AWESOME performance! I literally couldn't stop...and still can't stop...saying, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? OH MY GOSH...ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????" Ridiculous. Crazy awesome talent...I don't know what else to say. Forward to the 2:00 mark to go right to the dance. HAD to share....

{very old soul}

It was at the International School of Hamburg in Hamburg, Germany (where I attended school from 9th-11th grade) that I was first told by a teacher that I was "an old soul." At the young age of 16, I wasn't quite sure what that even meant. But it would not be the last time I would hear it. Throughout my life, there have been many that have told me the same thing. So tonight, when I happened upon a quiz on Facebook entitled, "How old a soul are you?" it won't surprise you that I was eager to take it...out of simple curiosity. Most of the quizzes on Facebook are just fluff and designed for entertainment. I found it interesting that the questions for this particular quiz were very well thought out and required much more reflection that the other more mindless quizzes. Still, as soon as I read each question and the given multiple choice answers, there was ALWAYS one answer that was a *FOR SURE* answer that fit me perfectly.

As with the other quiz results, I expected a "fluff" result to this test....but was surprised when I saw the long description that accompanied my quiz result of "VERY OLD SOUL."I wasn't even finished reading the first sentence, when my eyes welled up with tears. I realize that this is just an online quiz and I am sure that hundreds of people receive this same result every minute of every day. However, I was overwhelmed with how much EVERY single word of this description so accurately described who I am and what some of my very deepest feelings are. And since it was so beautifully written (another aspect that sets it apart from the other quizzes on FB) and truly touched me, I wanted to share it here on my blog.

Heather completed the quiz "How old a soul are you?"
with the result Very Old Soul.

When the winds of change blow, you sense the outcome ahead of others, having seen so much before. Surprises come in smaller forms to you, as in the unexpected experiences of the senses, deepening your appreciation of the physical. You want life to last so you can explore your mature understanding of existence. You have become patient with the younger souls, understanding their paths and of the challenges they face. You forgive much, often acting as mentor without pushing your beliefs upon others. You give without great expectations of receiving. Love has become the most valued concept in your universe - this life may be your quest to perfect your ability to express and receive perfect love. Thoughts of dying do not fill you with dread, as you understand death is a part of life, and life is a process of becoming... so death is a graduation, not an end. At rest, you feel at one with the universe and are grateful for your current home, Earth. You have a heartfelt affinity for history - the connections to various periods throughout time are undeniable. Very old souls are adept at recognizing other old souls... mutual respect forms naturally between them.

{a new scent & pigs must fly}

Many of you know that this past year has been one of self re-discovery for me. The next few weeks, along with just catching up on the many things that have gone on in my life, I will also be covering different aspects of my "Extreme Makeover," if you will...starting today. Scents may seem like a small thing to many...especially when it comes to perfume and cologne that people choose to wear. He wore Contradiction for years, but was really not attached to any certain cologne. And for many years he didn't wear any at all. I am not that way. Sights, sounds and smells all are more than just something you spray on to make you smell nice.....they spark a million memories for me. Scents in general bring back so many wonderful memories for me. For example...whenever I smell Oil Of Olay facial cream, I instantly think of my Mom; Green Mennon's Aftershave - my Dad, Drakkar reminds me of the first time I ever said, "I love you," the smell of white Wrigley's chewing gum reminds me of my Grandma Dahlquist and forever and ever, Quelque Fleur perfume will always remind me of my sister Julie. For over 14 years, I have worn the same perfume...Allure by Chanel. And I recently decided that with the many changes that were happening in my life the past year, that it was time for a new scent....to begin a new era of my life. I felt like I was saying goodbye to a dear old friend. I  sat on my bed, closed my eyes, removed the lid to my last bottle of Allure and inhaled deeply.......and was suddenly flooded with memories of my first dates and school dances, my senior year of highschool, graduation, my first years of college, night after night after night after night at dance clubs, countless dates, my wedding day, the days I blessed my babies, etc. etc. etc. 14 years of memories flashed through my mind with a single brief sniff of what has been my favorite scent for so many years. And now it was time to move on.

 

I decided that while we were in Vegas just before Christmas, I would choose a new scent for both me and Chas (and Kaden....since he wears his Daddy's and has worn his Daddy's cologne since he was a toddler). There were quite a few that I liked for Chas and he was pretty much happy with anything, so after smelling a good variety, I settled on Polo Black....it's heavenly. Love it.  The decision for MY new scent was a more lengthy process. I think Chas didn't quite understand. There were a lot of nice smelling ones.....but this was more than just a perfume to me. 14 years, I had had the same scent....and choosing a new scent, one that would reflect the changes in me and accompany me through the next chapters of my life, was a big deal. It was time to say goodbye to the scent that had accompanied me through my teen years, single adult years and young married years and find a new one that was fitting for a new woman and a new era. I am not kidding when I tell you that I must have smelled over 40 perfumes, each one sprayed on a little piece of paper. But pretty soon, I noticed that about half way through, I kept smelling new scents and always returning to one that I was somehow drawn to. By the end, I had narrowed it down to a few scents, but still kept returning to one particular scent. I figured my decision was made up....I had finally found the perfect scent that best represented the new me. The scent that I was drawn to was Versace Signature. A new scent to represent new beginnings. And I love it....it's so "ME."

Part of the changes on the inside that I will go into more depth about very soon, have also been accompanied by many changes on the outside. And although I am still a low maintenance, rough and tumble Tom Boy on the inside that gets along better with "the guys" and loves to go camping and get dirty, there is no denying that the new me has LOVED becoming more feminine on the outside the past year. If you had told me a year and a half ago that I would have my ears pierced (and be wearing HUGE fabulous earrings), be wearing PINK (which I did for the FIRST TIME EVER last year), be wearing eye shadow and eye liner (wearing both of those for the FIRST TIME EVER as of this year), wearing tons of jewelry and bling, I would have laughed so hard I probably would have wet my pants. That was SO not me. And now...to be honest, I love it. I love taking care of myself, I love looking nice, I love accessories that enhance inner and outer beauty. I am seriously, honestly DIGGING being a CHICK! I am still easy going, down to earth, low maintenance and a fun tough chick on the inside, but now find no harm in a good pedicure, shopping with the girls (went shopping with a girlfriend for the FIRST TIME EVER just last year...isn't that crazy??) and just having fun being a woman. It's awesome!!

But I have to say, with all of those little changes happening here and there the past year, I finally did something yesterday that is so out there and so NOT the "old me" that it actually made me laugh out loud. Again, if you had told me a few years ago that I would do something like this, I would have laughed and said, "Yeah..when pigs fly!!" Well folks....pigs must be flyin' somewhere, because not only have I started wearing pink...CRAZY....but yesterday at my nail appointment, instead of my normal conservative white French manicure, I actually asked for a PINK French Manicure.......WITH GLITTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PINK.......AND Glitter......CRAZINESS! And you know what? THEY ARE FABULOUS!!!!!

To some, these little things might seem trivial, excessive and unimportant. But for someone who was lost for over 7 years, hiding behind excessive weight, suffering from mild depression and lack of self-worth (that the majority of the world never even knew about because I have always been one to put on a smile and find the blessing in every difficult situation..which I still do and pride myself on. There are just too many good things in life to be down for very long.)....these little things are not little at all. I love who I am...I love who I am becoming and I love that for the first time ever, I love being and looking feminine. I am a beautiful and confident woman. Just the fact that I am able to say that after so many years of not believing that I deserved true happiness and believing that I had let myself go too far and would be overweight and unattractive for the rest of my life....THAT is not a little thing. Believing in myself and wanting make a little  more effort than I ever have, to add a little sparkle to my outer appearance to match the absolute GLOW I feel on the inside for the first time in a long time....THAT is not a little thing. And so for now, my fingernails shall be PINK and SPARKLY and FABULOUS!!!

EDITED TO ADD: Just read a comment left on this entry by one of my sweet and wonderful blog readers that absolutely made my day today. She shared some AWESOME quotes that are directly related to this entry and are so wonderful, that I wanted to add them here for my own reference and to share them with all of my other blog readers. Lynn...I just love you. I hope that you and I get to meet someday.  Your love and support, given so freely without even knowing me personally, is such a blessing!!! Here is Lynn's comment:

"You GO girl!  Love it!
I was just discussing this very same thing on my blog the other day.  Here's a quote for you from Brigham Young that I quote often:

'Let the sisters take care of themselves, and make themselves beautiful, and if any of you are so superstitious and ignorant as to say that this is pride, I can say that you are not informed as to the pride which is sinful before the Lord, you are also ignorant as to the excellency of the heavens, and of the beauty which dwells in the society of the Gods. Were you to see an angel, you would see a beautiful and lovely creature. Make yourselves like angels in goodness and beauty.' (DBY, 215) (Teachings of Presidents of the Church, BRIGHAM YOUNG, pg. 143 Paragraph 5)

And how about this one from Elder Douglas L. Callister, in the article Our Refined Heavenly Home, in THIS month's Ensign:

"Women ought to be praised for all the gifts they possess—including their attentiveness to their personal appearance—that so unselfishly add to the richness of the lives of others. We must not let ourselves go and become so casual—even sloppy—in our appearance that we distance ourselves from the beauty heaven has given us."

So once again, I repeat....

You Go girl!  : D  Love it."

{"ketch up" and family time}

Can anyone guess what the theme for the next month will be here on my blog? This first photo is a good hint. So what is it? KETCHUP.....or KETCH-UP. Get it?? CATCH UP!!! LOL..I know... kinda lame, but thought it would be a funny way to lead into what will now be 4 weeks of some serious CATCH UP BLOGGING. The past 4 months have been a blur as I have been in the midst of preparations for the Youth Temple Celebration. With the Celebration now over as of Saturday (don't worry...SO MANY wonderful details about that to come...), I am now better able to pick up on those things that were put on the back burners for a few months. So, be patient with me as I do my best to play "KETCH UP" the next few weeks. I have so many crazy awesome things to share and NONE that can be left out.So, within the next few weeks, I am going to attempt to share it all....because I think YOU will love to hear about it, but more importantly, I never want to forget it and want my posterity to be able to read about these last few incredible months of my life.

SO..to start out "KETCH-UP" month, I thought I would start with some fun pics from some fun family time TODAY!!! After picking up Kaden from school today, ALL FOUR OF US (this is a FIRST for our fam....for all of us to be there at once) went to the movie theater to see the 3D version of "UP." SUCH a seriously awesome movie....great moral, hilarious, entertaining, creative....spectacular.  By far, now one of my all time favorite animated films. LOVED IT!!

 

Kaden was completely entertained the whole time and as long as Seneca could walk around a bit, she did really well too. SUCH a fun day with Chas and our little ones. A GREAT day today!!! Here's to family time, a little more free time and the start of "KETCH-UP MONTH" for me!! HIP-HIP-HURRAY!!