Color Throwdown.....oh no

Oh my goodness!!!! I have discovered yet another card making color challenge.....woo hoo. I love challenges like these. By blog hopping.....(which I do often)....so much fun, I discovered this fun website

Color Throwdown. They have challenged us to use the stampin up colors of Almost Amethyst, Certainly Celery, and Black. Never would have put those colors together, but I loved it.

This is what I came up with. I don't know if you can see it, but I added a little shiny and a little bit of bling. Hope you like it. Thanks for taking a peek.

Hayden's finally home.....

Yippee Hayden's home. I think he grew about 6 inches and gained 20 pounds.....he's not fat, I just don't remember him being so hard to pick up and hug is all....ha ha ha

The girls were lucky enough to score some seats. There is NO seating at LAX....none....We were told that Hayden's plane was going to be late. Heather's comment, "I welcome the delay." Why??? because she had her book and wanted the time to read....Yes, that's a silly "Twilight" series book in her hand. What will I do with my "Twilight" girls???
Waiting patiently for Hayden and Rick to walk down the long corridor that the passengers come down when they have unboarded the plane.
I thought this was a cute picture. Haylee kept looking at the arrival lists while waiting for Hayden. Like she knew what she was looking at. It was cute.
The excitement was too much. This is a picture where we saw Hayden and Rick coming and the anticipation of them getting to us was intense. We were all so happy to see him again.

Haylee was too short to see down the corridor, so Trevor held her up to see Hayden coming.

Awww the sweet reunion. Everyone around us was laughing and smiling at the commotion that the kids were making when they finally got to hug Hayden. It was really cute to watch.

This is my absolutely favorite picture of all. Does the look on Haylee and Erick's face just say it all or what???? How is it to be so loved by so many people Hayden????

Mommy's turn.

Heather is telling Hayden here how heavy he has gotten. : )

Gary and Trevor jump in for their turns for hugs. I had a picture of Amy hugging Hayden and it disappeared. I will have to add it to another post later. Sorry Amy.

I love this picture of Hayden and Haylee holding hands. Just like always....Haylee just wouldn' t let go of him. She was so happy to have her playmate back she said.




A happy family reunited once again. I'm glad Hayden got to spend time with his other family, but I'm sure darn glad that he is home again.

There is no picture of me hugging him, but you can darn well bet that I gave him a huge hug. I just didn't get a picture of it because I was too busy hugging.

Heather has more pics on her camera, but she has it with her at work. When she gets home I might post a slide show of more photos of our fun adventure waiting for Hayden.

Oh, I have to share this story. While we were at the airport waiting, there was this guy with this HUGE camera. We decided that he was paparazzi, because he kept trying to hide and peek around the wall looking. It was actually funny to watch. We were hoping that we would get to watch him in action, but I guess whomever he was looking for never showed up....dang it. It showed me a little glimpse of what it must be like for celebrities to be stalked.....not something I would want to deal with. It did entertain us though.

Some random ramblings.....

Do you ever have those times where so many thoughts and emotions go through you at the same time???? Well that's what has been going on with me lately. So I'm going to refer to this post as my random ramblings because I'm going to share with you all of those crazy emotions.....just in case you were interested.... : )

This sweet little boy comes home from his dad's house today. So the emotion is EXCITED!!!!!!!!! I MISS him. As you can see from the picture he is just a fun little boy. The house hasn' t been the same with him gone....a little quieter (he he he), but not the same. Can't wait to see this little guy. Okay, Fun is not an emotion.....or is it??? But I'm adding it to my random ramblings because yesterday I got to "play with paper" and it was FUN. I made this card with some of my new toys I bought with birthday money.

Then, to make the day even better.....it was stampin up club night. So, I got to have "therapy" with my stampin up girls....and we made this adorable card. I just had to share. So, FUN is also an emotion going through me right now....probably more like CONTENTMENT!!!
When I came home from stampin up club last night it was late and I was tired. There was still a lot of commotion going on at the house.....10 people live here what do you expect right???? BUT, I was tired and wasn't in the mood to hear singing from a sweet little girl at the top of her lungs....it was close to 10p.m....even though she sings beautifully....I was too TIRED. As I went to bed, I lay there thinking about that sweet little girl, and was swept away with the emotion of GRATITUDE!!!! I mean how many grandmas get the opportunity to have their grandkids live with them, and see them on a daily basis with so many hugs and kisses??? I thought of the many lonely people out there that have no little girls singing at the top of their lungs to entertain them, to come into their rooms and say, "I just love you and want to give you a hug and a kiss"....okay that one ranks pretty darn high on the list of BLESSINGS!!!!! So the flower is to represent my GRATITUDE for all that I have been blessed with.....and the list is long.
Then, of course the SADNESS emotion. I don't know why, but my dad and my father in law have been on my mind a lot lately, and I miss them so much. My dad passed away a year ago in June. Talk about a spiritual giant. This is a picture of me with my dad 6 days before he died. He knew his time was coming to an end and wanted to spend time with the family. This was the last day he was at my house. I was so blessed to have him as my father, and know he watches over me and my family and I will see him again some day. Thank goodness for Eternal Families. I miss you dad!!!!!!!!!!!!
That handsome man ....{heck all of those men are handsome who am I kidding}.....but the one in the blue is my wonderful father in law. He passed away from Alhzeimer's in December '07. {The other handsome men are my son Rick, holding his son Erick, then Lyle, and then my husband Gary. This is a 4 generation picture.} Even with Alhzeimer's Lyle was a fun guy. I never knew Lyle to ever get mad or angry with anyone. I can truly say he was the kindest, most loving man I ever knew!!!! I miss him so much too. I would sit with him 3 days a week for a couple of hours so my mother in law could run errands. He was so far into his disease at this point he really didn't know what was going on, or what he was doing, but he still made me laugh. Such a great man. I find comfort and peace knowing that he has his mind back now, and no longer suffers from such a horrible disease. The world was definelty a better place because these two men, my dad, and my father in law, were in it.
So, my mind spins right now with so much going on in my head right now. Life is short, so we need to enjoy each and every day God has blessed us with. Today, I'm going to concentrate on my emotions of EXCITMENT and GRATITUDE, as I look forward to Hayden's return today.

Have a wonderful day everyone!!!!!! Make it your best!!!!

Just walk away.....

I would just like to add a little sidenote to my comments from yesterday. Yes, I went to the gym today to undo some of my dastardly deed of eating Sprinkles cupcakes.....{this is the sidenote}...... I was NOT smiling while working out. I just wanted to let you all know that.

Why, why on earth is it so much fun to put weight on and so much misery to take it off????

My advice to anyone out there reading this blogpost.....just walk away from the cupcakes. : )

May they rest in peace

May these sinful treats "Rest In Peace". I have indulged this week for my birthday.....and have paid a very large price......2 pound weight gain.
How on earth can such a small little ~~evil~~ thing be so absolutely delicious??? I must say, it was worth it. I will be at the gym everyday this week to undo my dastardly deed, but will smile with the fond memories of such an ~~evil~~creation.

Woo Hoo I won!!!!!!

I can't remember the last time I won anything so this is kinda fun. Kwerner has a new color challenge out again this week. Unfortunately, I have had NO time to participate, so I just admired the entries of those that did. While commenting on one of the darling cards.....I won blog candy......woo hoo!!! Click HERE to see this darling card. A great BIG thank you goes out to Yvonne for her generosity.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?????

I am absolutley shocked and amazed!!!! Will went home????? What is that about???? C'mon people.....help me out here!!!! I thought that Will was going to win the competition hands down. I was sad last week when Gev left, but I'm SHOCKED this week about Will. So, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the show progresses. By the way, for those who have no idea what I'm rambling about.....it's the show So You Think you Can Dance.

Wow!!! That's all I can say. Wow!!!!

Age is just a number ....... right?????

So I haven't posted in awhile because there really wasn't anything to post.....now ....bam!! I'm hitting the blog with 20 pics just like that.
Yesterday was my birthday.....that's where the age is just a number comes in. My beautiful Amy texts me yesterday with, "hey mom, you're 47 today." My reply was, "yeah, 3 years away from a half a century old." So, I will continue to claim that I am still 28. Instead of calling them birthdays, I prefer to refer to it as an anniversary of my 28th birthday. Sounds better don't you think???? What a fun day I had too. Trevor and Gary took the day off to play with me, and play we did!!!
I love this picture of Amy and Dallas and the one of Trevor and Amy. We took those yesterday while "playing".

My birthday actually started the night before, when Amy, Trevor, Gary and I went to Cheesecake Factory at the GardenWalk for dinner. Then we went to see The Dark Knight.....okay, I don't see what the big what to do is all about.....I'm glad I saw it, but WILL NOT be seeing it again. So, we didn't get out of the movie until 1:00a.m. That's why I say it actually started the night before. My birthday began while I was sitting in the movie theatre watching Batman. Then we got up the next day.....and YIPPEE I got to go back to the gym. My 10 days away is up and Gary and I went and worked out. We came home, took showers and then Trevor joined us and we went to Lazy Dog Cafe for lunch, then off to Disneyland. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the new Toy Story ride and just wanted to go ride that one ride.....ahhh the joys of having a Disneyland pass. Trevor wasn't too excited to stand in line for an hour for one ride, but you can see he was happy to ablige.....Thanks Trevor I sure do love you.
After waiting in line for 45 minutes in the sweating heat, we got to ride the ride. Gary and I in the 4-D glasses you wear during the ride. (Bowing my head humbly as I say this, I kicked Gary's butt.....got my highest score yet. woo hoo)
Then, I was just so happy from ...... winning.... I asked Gary to take this silly picture. In the background is the rollercoaster ride with Mickey, but I put my head where Mickey's was and it looks like Mickey's ears are mine. Just being silly.After Disneyland we went home and loaded up for an absolutely wonderful time at the park. Heather, Jeff and Amy work right by this beautiful park in Irvine, so I thought it would be fun to just meet them there and have a picnic for dinner instead of going out to a restaurant. I was greeted with these beautiful flowers. They were a gift from my granddog, Dallas. Thanks Dallas. Daisies are my favorite flowers and it was full of them. He also gave me a card that said, In dog years, and then you open it up and it says......You're dead. Loved it.

I thought this was cute, Haylee brought her own stuff for a little picnic of her own. She has been into tea parties lately and brought it with her.....Little girls.....you gotta love 'em.
We just had a fun time hanging out together and being a family.


We went to the playground and Dallas thought he was one of the kids. He would run up and slide down the slide with the kids. It was really funny to watch. The following pic is Dalls and Erick wiping out together on the slide.

The funniest thing though was when the kids were swinging. Dallas would try to jump up at them, and as he came down he would flip over. He loved it and so did the kids. He was crazy!!! We had taken a volleyball to the park to play a game, and when we came back from the playground a family was walking up. They saw our volleyball and asked if they could play with us, so we played a game with them. It was fun. They were a very nice family. They were also from Anaheim and had family visiting from Boise, Idaho. The picture below is Erick and I saying "Yes" because we had just hit the ball over the net.
We had a great time. Never did get their names though. Look at how pretty the sky is in this picture. So pretty. The next few pics are of us just hanging out and having fun.

Me eating my Birthday Cheesecake. "Yummy in the tummy" as Erick says. We had a great time and all commented that we need to do that more often. The only bummer about the whole day, is that Hayden was missing. If you are reading this Hayden, I love you so much and miss you terribly. I can't wait to throw my arms around your sweet little neck when you get home and just SQUEEZE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LeeLee finally meets Dallas....and the girls have a day out!!!!

My sister Lora ....aka Lee Lee....finally got to meet her Nepdog....is that a word??? I don't think so, but that's what we'll call him. She has a boxer too and has been anxious to meet the newest member of the family. It was love at first sight, both ways..... Dallas was also happy to see Grandma again. He had so many kisses to pass around.
Erick with his great grandma Suppenbach. I thought this was such a cute picture.
And the girls are off on their adventure. My mom and sister came down to have fun with me for my birthday..... I still have a few more days until I'm older.....It was good to see them again. It had been way too long.
We wanted to try something fun and new for lunch, but I wanted to go to Aldo's or Gaby's at the Orange Circle, in Orange Ca., but it was so crowded and no parking.....onto the next thought.....oh wait...we didn't have one. So, we drove and ended up at a restaurant named Peppino's. It was okay. We were the only ones in the restaurant, so we figured it wouldn't be too much to ask the waiter to take a picture of us.

Mom's a big time quilter and was looking for some fabric to finish a quilt she's working on, so we went to some quilt shows. Mom was in heaven. It was fun to just be together!!! We needed a sweet treat, so off to Golden Spoon for some yummy treats. Okay, so a yogurt just isn't complete until it is covered with peanuts or almonds. So much for fat free....ha ha ha
Then we headed back to my house to "hang out" and play with Dallas. You can see that Dallas was glad to see LeeLee back, to give him a belly rub. They became instant buddies. Now we just need to get Uncle Danny over here to meet the new pup......
Giving kisses goodbye. Dallas is definetely a lover.
So, mom and Lora, are we going to wait another 5 months before we have a date day again???? I hope not.