I Received Flowers Today

I received flowers!!!! Not from my husband, which he does do from time to time...but from a very sweet friend! I wasn't expecting this at all! When the door bell rang and the lady said, "for Diana" I thought, "who would be sending me flowers?". However, when I opened my card, I found out they were from my dear friend Sarah!

THANK YOU SARAH SO VERY MUCH! You made my day! I am truly blessed!

Super Friends

We were blessed with company this weekend. Our great friends Vince and Nancy came over on Saturday to visit with us and the girls. I have to say right when they walked in the door that late afternoon, the girls and I just felt so happy! They are great people. Olline had been counting down the minutes to see them. She loves her Uncle Vince! We are so grateful to have them in our lives and thankful they decided to come see us. I think Jade was a bit happy as well...hee.

We went out to dinner at the Hydra that cold windy night and had a super yummy dinner there. Then we got home and played a few rounds of Kinect bowling and Table Tennis. Otherwise, we spent the evening chatting and catching up on each others lives. Which means more to us than anything.

(Thank you Nancy and Vince for coming to see us. We appreciate your time and love for our girls! Please come back anytime!)

Nancy and Olline dancing after a round of Table Tennis! They won!

Olline is a super serious bowler! She was having an "off" night and she really wanted that strike! She holds a ball to get the "feel" of the true bowling experience! She is a doll!

The big boys played a round of Table Tennis also. They even tried a round each of the boxing! It is so fun and funny to watch!

Uncle Vince in a serious bowling roll!

Sweet Melina decided not to play Kinect with us and she played on the computer! We missed her, but she was just happy and content to be here at the computer.

2-20-11 The next morning when Vince and Nancy were about to leave, our sweet little friends came over to play with Melina, Olline and I. I was able to watch my friend Sarah's kids for the day! They are the best behaved/sweet kids ever! Really! Olline and Briar get along so well. They are both a little stubborn and I could hear them argue a little, but it seems to never bother one another! So cute and precious.

Here they are playing with the toys. They had a great time (I hope) and we played hard! I think all of us were a bit tired that evening! It was a great day!

2-16-10 I just liked this photo of Olline and Kiwi. Olline was making a few "foam" characters on the futon and Kiwi was checking out the garage door. Probably because Cortez (the garage cat) was making noises.

Oh, by the way, we finally got Cortez neutered!!! We took him in on Saturday and did the deed! We got his shots and they even said he had worms!!!! YUCK! Which means that before winter he was never fully treated by our neighbor (who said he would take care of it). I think our neighbor tried, but Cortez just wouldn't stay over there to get treated, because he was always at our house. Anyways, I am so happy he is fixed and will have a chance to be healthy. And maybe calm down a bit!

Hope you will all have a great day! God bless you!

Things to Share

Hello to all! How is everyone? Lots going on here. I'll just dive into it all with my photos...

Here is sweet Olline on Valentines Day.

Melina was able to go to a "girls only" dinner with the church group for Valentines. She even picked out a dress and looked amazing!!! We fixed her hair and she left to get ready with her friend Amanda later. I wasn't able to get photos of her in her dress! Wish I had, she was so pretty! Please STOP growing up!!!

Here are the cupcakes Melina and I made for Valentines Day. My mom-in-love (law) sent us the most fun package in the mail. It had everything to set up for a Valentines Day Party! She even sent the cake batter! Thank you Mom S. for all that you do for us here in Idaho! We LOVE YOU!

Okay, here it is...BUTTERBEER! If you are a Harry Potter fan, you probably are interested in the Butterbeer they talk about in the books and movies. My mom found a recipe online and we tried it! www.mybakingdom.com I think I would definitely use less whip topping and maybe try a orange cream soda. I am not huge on the regular vanilla cream sodas. It was super duper sweet. We were trying to match the one sold at the Harry Potter park at Universal Studios in Florida. I have never been there, but I can imagine it tasted about like this photo.

2-6-11 Olline had found a packet of Fairy paper dolls. I had no idea I even had it. They are so beautiful! Olline loved punching them out and putting them together. Go to www.flowerfairies.com to see more of these items.

Cute Fairies!

Here they are altogether.

Have a Great Evening! God Bless!

Weee, Another Post

Today, I thought I would share yesterdays pictures and stories. So every Saturday the whole family wakes up early, around 6am, to get ready for work (Jade works) and for the girls Funatics ski classes. I usually ponder on if I should go up to the mountain, or stay home to clean (or be lazy and rest). Well, yesterday Melina decided to ride up with her dad, while Olline and I took the 8am bus up to Schweitzer. Olline really wanted to go with her dad, but I think she had a great time with me and riding the Schweitzer bus for the first time.

You see, I try to safe gas money and wear on my Suburban by taking the bus. I usually do not go up to the mountain till around 2pm. However, Jade encouraged me to go early and I DID! So glad I did.

The girls started their classes at 9:30am, while I got ready to snowboard. Jade met me on the hill for one run, then he had to go back to work. I stayed out and did about 5 more runs (meaning I rode the chair lift up and snowboarded down 5 times) and had a great time. It is a huge ordeal for me. I have a "little" fear about riding the lift. I just have a nervous fear about getting off! I have gotten stuck twice on the chair lift and it isn't fun. So I get a little worried. However, I know that if I teach my children that "they CAN", I need to practice what I preach. So I did, and in the big mass of people surrounding me. It is a bit intimidating. WOW, I think I am rambling on too much. Sorry...

SO, the weather was perfect. The sun was shining and the snow was pretty great! I even saw my girls in their groups having a great time. We are so spoiled and I never want to take it for granted. I want to enjoy every moment that we have in the opportunities the Lord blesses us with.

Well, then I decided to take the 1pm bus back down the hill so I could get some things accomplished at home. It is a very strange feeling to leave your family on the mountain like that. I felt like I should stay till the girls were finished, but I know they are in perfect hands with their dad!

Okay, enough of my yapping...here are my photos from yesterday...

Here is Olline sliding down on a small hill in the back of where Jade's office is. Oh, and I heard that Olline skied her first Black Diamond run yesterday! I heard she is looking so good and has really good form! Proud of you honey!

Here are our girls ski's. Fun stuff!

2-5-11 Before the girls went out they were practicing their sliding abilities with just their ski boots on! They have a great pair of friends that are sisters as well. Kaitlan and Kinzie. They are the girls same age and they also swim together. In fact most of their ski team also swims.

2-5-11 Here they are! (left to right) Kinzie, Olline, Kailan and Melina. Melina looks like a giant compared to the others, but when you are about 5' 4" at 11 you will look TALL! hee

Here is fearless Melina. Isn't she cute! I am so proud of her and she is becoming a very excellent skier! I think she can go pretty much anywhere on the mountain. She has a really good group!

I forgot and hate to admit...but why not share to all my imperfections? I did take one more run on the hill. I was tired and I had just ate a huge yummy burrito. So, I get off the chair lift just fine and I was boarding down just so easily. I got to a part of the hill that was pretty steep and feeling full and a bit weak, I clipped the edge of my snowboard and fell. I started sliding sideways, then sliding backwards (with my feet and board up in the air), then I slid on my other side. I finally got my board in front of me to stop myself! I think I slid about 30-40 feet down the mountain! It was crazy! I couldn't stop myself AT ALL! Scary, but I am so thankful there wasn't anyone around me. Not because of embarrassment, but because I didn't want to hurt anyone! Okay, finished...

Hope you all have a Blessed day!

We're Here!

Okay, here I am...trying to take a moment to say "hello" to all of you reading my blog. I feel like I am a stranger. Almost forgot how to use this thing. Yes, we've been busy. School has taken over our lives. It is still going strong and we eat, sleep and breathe school!

Well, not quite like that, but it sure does feel that way.

Girls are great and working hard. Also swimming hard...but you already know that. There really isn't anything "new" to tell. I think we are just moving into each day and surviving the winter. We've had some really cold weather and the next two photos shows the cold beautiful weather we have had. It is finally warming up. I believe it was a warm 32 degrees today! I think we may sweat! Hee!

With all the things going on in this world...I just have to say..."Remember who you are" & "be strong" & "hold onto what is right" & "never walk away from His path and if you do just walk right back on" & "God has open arms to all"!

2-1-11 Here is Jade...well that man there is not Jade, but he and another man came over to buy our big plow! Jade is under his truck that he drove threw the snow in the backyard and got stuck!!! The three of them worked so long to get that truck out! Jade is putting on chains so he can try to get out! Can you see the little bit of yellow to the left, right behind where those "neighbor" dogs are? That is the plow Jade is trying to get to...to pull it to the front of the house! Oh, and it is just 15 degrees! Not sure if that beautiful sun is helping any! Burrrrr!

Well, they finally got it all hooked up and ready to move. Once Jade got that plow hooked up, he 4x4'd really fast to get it OUT! Surprised their fingers didn't fall off! So thankful the men were there to help, because Jade was going to do that all by himself. It all worked out perfectly!

1-31-10 Here is sweet Olline, playing her Math game. You have to type in the numbers super fast and it made her so nervous. However, she LOVES it. It is apart of her school. Her whole body was all tense. I LOVE IT!

Well, okay, I did it! I finally did a blog. I am sorry, I will try and be back soon. Be patient with us, life is just moving so quickly!
Love you all! God Bless!