Spring fever?

Found this cute bowl and plate and just had to get them, they are so fun and scream spring.

As soon as I saw them I new what I was going to make with them.

Any guess?

I will show you tomorrow!

21 years I would have never guessed!

March 24 th Dale had his retirement ceremony , it was small and fuss free event just they way Dale wanted it.

Here he is getting his award and metal for service, it has some fancy name but I cant remember it.

Our good friend BJ, Dales supervisor put together This amazing shadow box reflecting his career.

The flag was flown over the capitol of the united States  in honer of Dale on Jan 3 2011.

This was the certificate stating that.

{Very cool i might add}

It was a nice day and a proud one for Dales parents and I. 21 years a go when he joined I never guessed we would have a child in WY then move to California and add 2  more little girls move to Kansas and have 2 little boys , Then 4 years later move to another part of California  where we would add 3 more kids.  I would have never guessed I would have to  kiss my husband goodbye as he got on a plane to go to war. I would have never guessed we would ever need to say goodbye to our youngest child as he died in our arms. I would have never guessed 200 amazing military men and women would have attended his funeral in support of our family. I would have never guessed that I would have met my closest and blessed fiends. I would have never guessed that we would ever be living in Alaska where our oldest child met and married her eternal companion.

The military has been an amazing way of life for us in away I am sad it is over but excited for this new adventure of civilian life to began.

Life is Good!!

My life has been so busy these last two weeks that some days I feel like I just wake up rush through the day and then go to sleep hopping I missed nothing.

I am watching Miss M 4 days a week again and now I have her baby brother J so getting used to a baby again is a lot of work.

I do have to say my kids love having a baby around again.

I always have to giggle when I see Garrett my giant 12 year old play with little J.

He lays on the floor and talks with him reads to him and plays with his toys with him.

Little J eats it up!

This week will be just as busy as the last two weeks.

My in laws are hear they came in last Thursday just in time to see Dale retire after 21 years in the Air Force.

I will share more on that later.

Friday Dale and I will be leaving to Colorado for 10 days I am excited.

It will be nice to get a way from the cold and to go shopping.

I really need the break and plus I will be seeing friends and family.

I will also get to see Williams grave, I haven been to there in almost 5 years.

More catching up later.

Beautiful girls!

Each year our church host a prom for youth 16 and older.

My girls love going because it is a safe place to be with kids that have the same standards as them.

You can also go with out a date and no one cares.

That was a big deal for Mylissa.

She is just not into dating.

She wants too but none of the boys she is around appeal too her.

So she went with her friend KaLene.

KaLeen came over along with Mylissa's best friend

Eve

So I could do their hair.

Eve left early with her date Robby.

So I did not get a picture with all the girls together.

But Madeline and Ben had no problem posing with the girls.

I think Madeline was dreaming of the day she got to wear a fancy dress to go to the prom in.

As it was she had her make up done and she put on a church dress.

The girls had a fun time until they were almost home and hit a dog.

I will tell you that story later.

I learned a lot about integrity and obedience from KaLene  from this incident she is an amazing young women.

The race is on!

Every year this time every Father, Mother, Brother, Sister of a cub scout dreads or is excited for the {Drum roll Please}

The PINE WOOD DERBY!

In our house personally I dreaded it.

I kinda hated pine wood derby we had some bad experiences that left a bad taste in my mouth.

I haven't had a cubby for a few years now and I still have 2 more years until Ben's pinewood derby eligible.

Our Ward at church has a cub scout pack and the Primary presidency is primarily in charge.

Being in the primary  presidency I get to hear all about what's going on with scouts.

I was a little sadden when I heard what was planned for the derby and put my two cents in and said it needed to be a bigger deal for the boys.

Our poor primary president was prob frustrated with me so I said I would come and help and do my ideas.

She was very pleased.

So I said I would make a cake and do the awards because I felt every boy should get something.

So I thought what kinda cake should I make?

Duh!

A race track cake.

So in my limited cake decorating expertise I came up with this little ditty.

It was pretty simple to make.

I worried if the boys would like it and when I brought it in they all oohed and awed.

It was totally worth the extra effort to see their joy!

I realized as I watched the boys race that I truly did not hate pine wood derby as I once thought I had.

{May be because I did not have a boy racing}

I know have a different attitude about pinewood derby and can't wait for Ben to be a scout. 

365 Days {Day 72 }

{Why?}

Not sure why I took this pick when I was in LA.

I was looking at old pictures and just couldn't figure it out.

365 Days {Day 71 }

{Lunch}

When I want to spoil myself I go to Vagabond Blues and get their lunch special.

I love there soups.

365 Days {Day 70 }

{Lunch date with Maddy}

I will tell you more about it later.

365 Days {Day 69 }

{Twins}

Garrett was frying up some eggs and when he cracked this one it was a double yoke.

He got excited and had to have a picture of it.

I agreed with him that it was super cool!

Sewing Fun!!

The other day I was in a sewing frenzy I made all sorts of creations and this was one of them.

Can you guess what it is?

Any clue?

A crayon roll you may say?

If you did you would be wrong.

Here is another clue.

A pencil roll or a craft roll?

Still wrong.

Are you any closer to a guess yet?

It's a crochet roll, you know for crochet needles.

{That I don't own hence the pencils}

No I don't crochet but I have a lot of friends who do.

So I thought I would make a few for some friends who do.
Little miss M 's mommas birthday was the other day so I made one for her.

She loved it! {I think}

I need to make one for Kadie bug now and maybe I will take up Crochet and make on for me.

So what do you think?

365 Days {Day 68 }

{Ben's first love}

I found this old photo the other day and it brought back such good memories.

This is Ben at 9 months old and his little friend Nora she just turned one.

Benny was so in love with Nora from about 2 moths old.

Nora's Mommy Tracy and I would stand in the halls at church and Ben would always try to hold her hand.

He always cooed and looked at her with such love whenever they were together it was always just so sweet.

I am so glad I have this picture.

Memory lane

My cousin sent me a request to pray for a friend of hers who's daughter was diagnosed with a fatal brain cancer.

With this request was a video and the thoughts of the parents.

The mother and Father both stated how do you continue to live once you hear the words

"Your child is going to die"

This is every parent's worst fear.

Five and a half years a go I heard those very words.

Your Baby is diagnosed with a fatal chromosome defect.

FATEL DEATH

Those words screamed out at me and almost sank me into a total black obsess.

Thanks to the light and love of our savior Jesus Christ I was Abel to face my greatest fear.

I gave birth to a beautiful little boy William Stonewall Wilderness.

We spent every day Cherishing his life.

I held him almost every minuet of his life.

Once in a while I would share him with other family members but I was greedy with my time with him.

I can say with out regret I was the best mother in the world to William.

I gave him my all I gave him my every thing and he did the same for me.

During this time I was so blessed with amazing friends and my selfless sister who took care of me and my family for 6 weeks.

After Williams death it was hard for me but I learned to lean on My Father in heaven.

I thought often of the death of our savior and the grief our Father in heaven had to endure.

He new my pain my sorrow and my grief.

I also learned what it meant to let God carry your burdens.

He did that often he also lightened the vise that was squeezing my heart and times I new the warmth I felt around my shoulders was his arms cradling me and giving me strength.

I can't say that I would ever want to experience this kind of pain again but I am glad I made it thru.

I can also say I faced my greatest fear and hope to never face it again as long as I live.



Pre- birthday fun!

I am so far behind in blogging and so much has been happening in our little lives that have been keeping me super busy.

I will have a catch up post later first I am going to tell you about Dales pre birthday fun!

Kadie and Dan came over The night before Dales birthday and whisked us away for dinner.

{They had obligations on his birthday.}

We went to this fun little Mexican restaurant.

I love the bright fun colors and decorations there the food is pretty yummy too.

We had so much fun talking and hearing about Kadie and Dans plan for the future .

I told them it would be nice to have a grand child for my 40th birthday in 2 years.

Kadie agreed that would be a good gift.

I told her I wouldn't mind if it was for my 39th ether.

Dale just snickered at us and Dan tried not to say anything.

I love spending time with Dan and Kadie.

I think Dale liked his pre- Birthday surprise from his oldest daughter.

I will tell you later what our 2nd daughter got him.

Her card was something to snicker at and typically Shelly!

365 Days {Day 67 }

{Cheese}

My kids were playing with my camera and when I downloaded pic the other day I found some funny and sweet ones.

I love finding these little treasures on my camera.