Thank You For Being A Friend............

L*O*V*E These girls!

Forever Family

I am 18 years old. The Oregon sun is warm but mild and I'm content. I'm carrying my cousin Nick. He's so tiny. I've been told I need to brush all the sand off of him before he can get into my grandpa's car. I lift him onto the gate of the car. While I brush the sand off his tiny little arms and legs he's saying funny things in his squeaky little voice and we're laughing. Something tugs on my heart that I've never in my 18 years felt before. Someday I want to be a mom. I have NEVER felt that way before this moment. It stands out so clear in my mind as one of those golden summer moments. Just sweet and simple, purely about the joy of family.

A few years later Nick's little brother Josh is born. He is a self proclaimed "mini-Nick." He's the first baby I've seen that tiny since my little sister was born when I was 9. I hold back tears the whole time I'm meeting him. The presence of our Heavenly Father is so unbelievably strong with him. It's a sacred moment I won't ever forget.

I love my little cousins. No matter how old they get they will always be little to me and when they move onto new adventures this weekend they will leave a little hole in my heart.

I'll miss Tyler. He's the sweetest of all the brothers. Born with a sweet smile and a mild nature that he still has to this day. He was such a happy baby. He's going to be a Senior in High School next year and I'm proud of him....I'm really proud of him. I'll miss Ethan. When he thinks Nick and Tyler aren't looking, he's the BEST big brother to Josh, sweet and attentive. Patient and helpful.

I just can't keep my fingers crossed enough for these precious guys. The little seaside town they're heading to will NEVER be the same again...mostly in a good way!!

Jonny's Birthday

Jonny turned 30 yesterday. His biggest birthday request; to go to Wendover with his buddies! I'm sure they had fun, I'm not even going to ask and even if I did I wouldn't get the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and that's just fine with me. Jonny works hard, he is incredibly patient with me, my sister, his sister, my dog... most of all my cat! That man deserves some fun! Anyway, while he was in Wendover I decorated for his birthday and made him a cake. I have a limited budget, due to our impending wedding, but it still looked festive. The cake was kind of a disaster but you live and learn and I guess it's the first birthday cake I've ever made....next year will be better and it tastes good and that's really all Jonny cares about anyway!

New Years Feast

I really hate New Years, which is weird because I'm a girl who loves her holidays. This year to soothe the yucks I decided to make my family a New Years Feast. We had pumpkin curry soup, Salmon marinated in soy sauce and brown sugar, brie cheese with raspberry sauce wrapped in pastry, and a delicious green salad with the best veggies that can be found in Saudi! My dad even let me buy some fresh flowers from the commissary. I chose pink and white lilys and they smelled like heaven. It turned out really fun and my Uncle Greg even came and brought this really yummy ice cream. I'd never tried it before but it was a mixture of vanilla, chocolate, strawberries, caramel and peanut butter! YUM!

The Ugly Cry

Today I tried on my last and very favorite wedding dress. Okay, I know I said earlier that I thought I'd found "the dress" but I really did find it this time. I put it on and I just knew. It was SO ME! I still had a dressing room full of dresses left so I tried them on too. I was trying on all my dresses and my friend Kristal reminded me that I needed a veil. Now, I don't know what it is about veils that gets me so emotional but when I saw my friend Erica in her wedding dress for the first time and I was just fine but when the lady put her veil on HERE CAME THE WATERWORKS! It was pretty much the same thing today. At first I thought it was a controllable cry and nobody would notice but it got so bad the nice lady helping me had to get me a tissue! MY OH MY! It was a great day! Love to everyone..I'm just bursting with it!

Support Sluts

I saw this magnetized sticker on the back of a truck that often parks in front of our house. I was "in a funny mood" the other night and put it on my neighbors Morgan and Natasha's car. It somehow made it's way back to my car and I ended up spreading the love by putting on my friend Andrew's car. Don't worry he's paying it forward by putting it on someones car at work!!! Happy Holidays everyone and don't forget to support sluts!!!!

Coolest Thing Ever

Last summer while going through some old clothes in the laundry room of Jonny's house I found some dresses that looked to me like antique flapper dresses from the 20's. Jonny told me that he thought his aunts probably sewed them but I was convinced that they were the real deal. WELL, today I was in the basement doing nothing special and an old hat box caught my eye. Three hours later I was covered in dust but knee deep in treasures! Here's the best part, in an old trunk I found a stack of black and white pictures. I brought them upstairs to look at them in the light and guess what, I found a picture of a young women wearing the exact dress I found last summer. I was so excited my hands were shaking! How amazing is that??! More on other treasures I found later!!