Window To Our World: 2011

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Thanksgiving

It was a different Thanksgiving this year...we had family visit us and leave the week before Thanksgiving so Derek and I knew we were going to have a quiet Thanksgiving with just the three of us. It was fun to participate in the St. Jude's Walk again this year. We are making this a family tradition!

Some of our friends had family in town and were gracious to invite us to come over but we actually were looking forward to some quiet family time with just the three of us.. After a busy 3 months I just wanted to slow down and I was already in the mood for a Boston Market Thanksgiving dinner. I got my wish plus IHOP for brunch. Yummy pancakes! This is why...

Well, a day before Thanksgiving I woke up to a surprise of the stomach flu. I guess it was good that we SLOWED down. Even though I was sick, believe it or not, I still really enjoyed the break. Derek and Cassidy took good care of me. And I didn't have to cook one thing. My family was very supportive and understanding about not having a cooked Thanksgiving dinner by me. We still had the works of Turkey, stuffing, yummy mac & cheese, mashed potatoes with gravy, apple pie from Boston Market. I was grateful I was able to keep it down. But most of all we had so much fun relaxing, watching the Macy Parade, and spending time together. We had Cassidy pick out a movie at RedBox that night. She picked the movie Barbie- Princess charm school. All three of us LOVED it. Derek and I actually got emotional since the movie portrayed adoption. It was beautiful! With Cassidy snuggled between us during the entire movie, I didn't want to be anywhere else. It was the greatest feeling to have my two favorite people next to me for several days!

Thanksgiving gives me a chance to take a deeper look into all the blessings around me!

Making forts

Cassidy drew a picture of the Temple and flowers

Enjoying Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches with our St. Jude T-shirts

Thursday, December 08, 2011

Winter Frost

One morning in December we woke up to this...views from my backyard on our deck. It was soo beautiful like a white winter-wonderland.

Sunday, November 06, 2011

Her Life That Touches Ours for Good

After a couple of days of being back home from our trip to Virginia, Cassidy did something extraordinary. After a long day of working on the computer catching up with things I could hear Cassidy doing something upstairs in the kitchen. Before long Cassidy came downstairs and told me that she had made Derek and I dinner. She said that she knew I had a hard day and that she wanted to take care of dinner so I wouldn't have to. I was pleasantly surprised. She was so excited to show me what she had done. I went upstairs to find the table set with our dinner plates, and drinking glasses. On each plate I saw peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and chips. Cassidy just told me all I had to do was pour the drinks since she didn't want to spill the drinks. I couldn't believe my eyes. My heart just melted. I had to scoop her up and give her a big, giant, hug.

I also realized she had cleaned up her mess and had put the peanut butter, jelly, bread, and chips away too. Derek came home from work shortly after and found the wonderful surprise. All three of us sat down together to enjoy the sweet labor of our delicious meal. This sweet little girl is such an example of compassion and love! She's such a great example to Derek and I! That had to be my FAVORITE peanut butter and jelly sandwich!!

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Halloween 2011

I bought a Princess Lea costume last year after Halloween for Cassidy. But unfortunately, it's still too big. So Cassidy asked if she could be a Cowgirl. It turned out that she was one of the cutest little cowgirls I had ever seen.

Cassidy with her friends Reganne & Zoe

Trunk or Treat
Derek wanted to put the candy in something that went along with our Cowgirl theme so he found this box and then put a vinyl "Explosives" sign on it. He's so clever.

Cassidy with her friend Leanna

Ready to go Trick or Treating in our neighborhood. Cassidy was having fun but as soon as we finished one side of our street she was ready to turn around and head home. She wanted to help Derek pass out candy to the kids. She's such a sweetie pie. I love the little person she is! Even though I could have gone for hours.

Even our dog Oakley came with us!

Halloween Dinner: Jack-o-Lantern Pizza, Creepy Caesar Salad, Boney Breadsticks, and pumpkin cookies with cream cheese frosting. My dead roses added a little decor for the table too. :)

We had to buy Derek some new scissors from our friend. But he lost them. Can you find them?

All the kids that came to our door LOVED the scissors headband.

We had a nice, warm, Halloween. It's been fun decorating, reading Halloween books, dressing up, and eating lots of chocolate candy. I'm so grateful Cassidy shares her candy with her parents.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

This morning...

Right after waking up this morning...

Cassidy with sweetness says (Along with a sweet grin and with encouragement)....Mommy do you want to take a shower today? I said, probably.

Cassidy's reply, "Okay because something kind of smells."

I'm sure it was just my morning breath. Embarrassed.

I'm so grateful for my sweet, tender-hearted, compassionate, little girl. She tried so hard to break the news kindly and softly.

I dashed to the bathroom and grabbed my toothbrush. What would I do without her!

Monday, September 05, 2011

Cheerleading!

My friend Shannon is the Varsity Cheerleading coach for Air Academy High School. She invited Cassidy to sign up for their Cheerleading Camp. Of course Cassidy wanted to take the opportunity! She was the youngest one there. I was so impressed with the older girls and what a great job they did for all the little girls who signed up. They really made it fun for the kids. It lasted 4 days, and 4 hours every day. Each of the varsity cheerleaders were assigned to a girl or two who signed up.

They practiced a dance and a cheer for the Sky Sox game that they would perform on Saturday. They learned jumps, cheers, new stunts, and also played games. It was good exercise. At the end of the week the cheerleaders gave each of the girls a goody bag full of candy, and fun girly stuff with a personal note from them.

Shannon was assigned to teach Cassidy and of course she adored Shannon. At the end of the week Shannon gave us her contact info in case we ever needed her to babysit. :) And Cassidy drew Shannon a picture of them cheerleading and included the picture below of the two of them.

Shannon & Cassidy

My friend Shannon helping Cassidy with her first stunt on the first day

Cassidy's confidence grew with her stunts after several days

We bought this shirt while passing through Flagstaff, AZ. Derek and I had to stop at the gift shop at Northern Arizona University (where we met and went to school) and we found this cheerleading shirt. We had to buy it for Cassidy, since we knew when we got back from our trip she would be in cheerleading camp. Go NAU!

Performance time! Group Picture outside of Sky Sox Stadium

Video of performance. The girls did awesome!

Sox the Fox (Cassidy adores him)

The girls made posters for the Sky Sox team. These two girls did a poster with Cassidy.

Cassidy invited her good friend Emmeline to come with us to the baseball game. Emmeline had fun watching Cassidy perform before the game started. Then we had fun pigging out on some hot dogs and Dippin' Dots ice cream. :)

Of course Derek couldn't miss watching his little girl perform! The only time I could get him to go to a game.

A few other surprises of the night:

A surprised appearance by Billy Ray Cyrus! He sang the National Anthem.

A marriage proposal surprise. She thought her boyfriend was still in Iraq serving in the Military but he was in disguise as the team's catcher. She just thought she was picked to throw the first pitch of the game. But she was actually pitching to her MAN! He got on one knee to ask her to marry him and of course she said YES!! Smooches!! I never witnessed this in person before, it was very sweet!

After every inning we were entertained by this man's "The Village People" gimmick show. It was so funny and clever!

Video of "The Village People" show

Friday, September 02, 2011

Summer Fun

We spent A LOT of time at the Pool...

Hot Tub was a favorite spot for all of us

Enjoyed the rainstorms and playing in the rain puddles

Soccer, until I spranged my ankle :(

Playing at the Playground

Rock Climbing with Friends

Outdoor concerts at the park

Cooking breakfast

Library Summer Party, many things to do and see

Jamie and I having fun with Nickell who came to visit from Utah.

Our cute kiddos!

Roller Skating with friends

Jamie and I having fun with Nicole who came to visit from DC.

Our cute kiddos!

We also enjoyed going to the movies, and having picnic lunches...GOOD SUMMER FUN!!!

Saturday, August 27, 2011

FedEx ,Here I Come!

Cassidy has been a fan of FedEx since she could talk because her daddy works there. Whenever she would see a FedEx truck she would shout FEDEX! This summer she has been asking Derek if she could go to work with him. Derek gave it some thought and surprised her with a Daddy/Daughter work schedule.

Cassidy was soooo excited and packed her backpack with coloring books, puzzels, "Greenie" (her favorite blanket), some toys, water bottle, snacks, band-aids, etc. She was so prepared, I didn't even have to help her.

That Thursday afternoon couldn't come fast enough. Derek thought it would be best to start at just one hour and then I would pick her up. She did great! She colored pictures for all of Daddy's co-workers. They had such a fun time. I think once every other week is going to stick. It's a special time for the two of them. And for me, it's a great time to read, go shopping, or catch up on some phone calls.

I just love what those two share together!

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Ward Campout

I asked our Bishop if our ward can have a family camp out this summer...the wish came true. I really enjoyed helping with the planning. We had 23 families come. Everyone helped out with the program, food, games, etc. I think it was so fun and hopefully we can make this a new tradition every year.

Devotional about our Pioneer Heritage

The day of the camp out, we got permission to have a campfire. The fire restrictions were lifted. And every night that week it rained but not our weekend of camping. The weather was perfect! The moon was so bright we didn't need flashlights. Talk about being blessed!