Happy Birthday..ugh!!!

Yep...it was my birthday on Friday...I'd prefer not to have those anymore...they're really getting old....so to speak. On Thursday my very dear friends Debbie and Sara took me to lunch at the Farm at South Mountain. If you haven't been you should go...it's really nice. We ate lunch at a cozy little outdoor restaurant surrounded by trees. There are gardens and restaurants on the property. What a great place for a reception or party.

Sara and I...

Debbie and I.....

It was a really nice time...I always have a great time with my best girls....Thanks ladies!!!

For my birthday I wanted to clean my house with no distractions. So that's what I did...ok...I did have a few distractions but the computer was not one of them so I was able to get back on track quickly. In the afternoon we went to a nice little park in Estrella for a cookout. Stormy came down from Flag with her roomie Becky, Breezy and the kids came, as well as Seth and Tara and their 3, my sister Sally and Debbie all came out to celebrate my aging. It was fun to play with the kids at the park and visit with the other old folks...:) I wish Noah could have been there...I miss having him around.

Dutch playing on the toys....

Maxx enjoying the chips....

Maylee with her adorable new bow that her mommy made....

Kade with a really messy face....

and Jace..who wouldn't look at my camera...

I discovered while at the park that if children grow up without a swingset to play on regularly they are terrified of them as adults. Check out Stormy on the swing.

Saturday after the conference sessions I took some photos of Stormy and Becky...it was a bit weird at first cuz I'm used to photos of one boy or one girl...for senior photos...or of a couple when i'm doing engagement photos...I wasn't quite sure how to pose two girls...but we muddled through and got some really cute shots.

They are cute girls and are a lot of fun to take pictures of. I'm so glad Becky came down with Stormy this weekend...she's a lot of fun and I enjoyed having her here.

The Slumber Party!!

So Nancy made it to town and we had the surprise birthday party for her. It was fun...and...she was surprised. On Sunday evening Sally, Nancy, Mom and I got together at Sal's house for a slumber party. It was great fun. For the most part we sat around the kitchen table and laughed and ate. We did eat chocolate and paint toenails and...Nancy even straightened Sally's hair. Apparently they hadn't done that since they were kids and had to use the iron and ironing board to do it. Sally said she always went to school smelling scorched cuz Nancy did it too long. LOL!!! We finally went to bed around 3am. It was a good time...just way to short. We really need about a week to do all the stuff we want to together. Hopefully one day soon the 4 of us can take a trip together like we did a few years ago. I vote for a cruise...that would be the ultimate in fun. Here are a few pictures of the night.

We almost forgot to get our group photo so this was taken the next day as we were all about to leave.

Nan and I decided to take our pictures with our head back...just to see if it would help.

I think we're on to something here. I won't show you the pictures we took while looking down. Eww!
Look how cute our mom is!

Photo Ops!!!

I'm certain you're all wondering how Gracie is doing since her encounter with the fish hook. She's fine. I did take her to the vet and they put her on antibiotics to prevent any infection. As for our morning walks....she's no longer allowed to fish.

I've been quite busy with photo sessions this past week and a half. I went out to Josh and Lacy's and took pictures of their girls. I thought it would be fun to capture them in their own surroundings. It turned out great and I think I got some nice shots. Here are just a few of them.

Later in the week Tara brought the boys over for a photo session...we needed a 6 month picture of Kade...I think we got a cute one. I'll let you be the judge.

Is that cute or what?

Maxx is quite the model!

Breezy comes out to hang out with me on Wednesday's. It's fun to have her and the kids out for the day. So of course I have to take pictures of Dutch and Maylee. Here are a couple of cute ones.

That's right I have cute grandkids!!! They're so awesome!

Gone Fishin'!!

So...funny story...kind of...this morning I was walking my dogs around the lakes in Estrella. They love to run and chase the ducks. There is a leash law but I'm almost certain it doesn't apply to small cute poodles. Anyhow...Gracie spotted a couple of young boys down by the waters edge and headed toward them, I didn't think they would mind so i didn't leash her or call her back. Moose followed her and they both went to check out the boys, who happened to be fishing. I headed down there to make sure the dogs didn't bother them and I think Gracie and I both noticed the fishing pole with the hot dog on the end of it at the same time. However, I didn't go for it...she did.....yep...that's right...it had a hook in it and Gracie was now on the wrong end of a fishing pole. She started yelping and flipping trying to get away from it.....(she looked very much like a fish out of water).....I immediately grabbed her and pinned her to the ground and stuck my fingers in her mouth to prevent her from burying it any deeper than it was. Upon first glance I thought it was in her tongue, I typically don't carry my reading glasses on my walks. Anyhow...I realized it was in her lower lip. I didn't know what to do but knew it had to come out. One of the boys offered me a pair of scissors. WHAT??? Apparently with a fish if you can't get the hook out you jsut cut the line and call it good. Not quite the best way for a poodle, not my poodle. When I said I didn't need the scissors I asked him if he could help me. He said..."Just pull it out, they come out real easy." Ya, right, like he's ever pulled one EASILY out of his lip! Anyhow....I knew it had to be done so I asked him to do it. I turned my head, still pinning her to the ground with my fingers in her mouth, and he did the deed. I could hear it come out...gross...my poor little Gracie. She licked her lip for quite a while and then went back to chasing ducks. I imagine it's a bit sore now...perhaps a leash isn't such a bad idea after all. I thanked the boys for helping me and the one boy said..."It's ok...it happens all the time." Hmmm...apparently there are lots of dogs around the lakes with sore lips? Can you just hear the conversation when he gets home from fishing? Mom: "Hi Son, did you catch anything today." Boy: "Sure did, a poodle....I let it go though."

Belle of the Ball

Last weekend I was in the annual Buckeye Melodrama. This year's play was "Belle of the Ball". It's a spin on Cinderella and Snow White in the old west. I played the wicked step-mother...I'm good at that...just ask Josh. :) It was a lot of fun. We always had a good time at rehearsals. The big draw back is that we spend weeks and weeks learning the lines and all the staging and then give two performances and it's over. I really think we should take it on the road. Now I understand why 'Broadway' actors love it so much. Once they get through the tough part of learning it then they jsut get to have fun with it everyday. Anyhow....most of my family came to see it which really makes me happy. I was sad that Noah couldn't be there and still am trying to come to terms with Seth and Tara's excuse for not coming. Maybe next year they'll be more supportive of me..:( ok...just kidding...they had sick kids....at least that's their excuse...see, I told you...I'm trying to come to terms with it. I'm so glad that Breezy and Stormy took some pictures for me. They did a great job. I'll post some of them here.

Wow....those are some terrible faces....thank goodness for stage makeup...HaHa!!

Movie Review Time!!!
This past week I saw "Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins". My advice to you would be to not waste your money or time. It was just not great and I could have done so many better things with my time, but live and learn I guess. Hopefully I'll have a better review for you next time.

My sister Nancy is coming to town this week. I'm looking so forward to that. We have such a good time together. Mom and us 3 girls are going to have a slumber party next Sunday night...I imagine we'll eat pizza, chocolate, cheese cake, ice cream, more chocolate, paint each others nails and laugh our heads off. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures, it's sure to be a great time.

Look How Cute!!!!

Hey...I did it....I made my blog cute...and it was so easy. Well, check your West Valley View for a picture of me...a horrible one. But I'm in character so it's ok. Tonight is the first performance, hope to see everyone there.
I see I made a mistake on the Idol thing...it's Jason Castro...I had the wrong last name...anyhow...glad he made it to the top 12, I think he's great.
Here's to hoping everyone has a great weekend. Is our weather great or what?

Busy Busy!!!

Ok...so it's taken a long time to get my blog updated...but i have been ridiculously busy. On February 17th Breezy had her baby girl. Maylee Jane, 6 pounds 1 ounce and 19 1/2 inches long. She's absolutely beautiful and I'm so thrilled that she has my middle name. We had Dutch for the next 3 days because he was sick and didn't want to take him around the baby until he was better. On Tuesday they came home from the hospital and David came down with a really bad virus...fever, chills and headache. Wednesday I went over with Dutch and Breezy started getting sick. By Friday David was no better and Breezy was worse so I took Maylee and Dutch home for the night. It sure brought back memories of my own newborns. By Saturday evening David and Breezy were feeling better and were both pretty anxious to have their babies back. I was looking forward to a good nights rest but woke up Sunday morning at 4am with body aches, fever and chills. I was sick until Wednesday night. Wow...it was no fun. Anyhow....there were even more events in the David and Breezy saga but you can check out her blog for that story.

Rehearsals are winding down for the Buckeye Melodrama....our first performance is this Friday the 7th at 7PM, with another one on Saturday at 7PM. It's been a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to the performances. If you live near you should come and see it...if nothing else it will be good for a laugh. The cast is really a lot of fun and have been so fun to work with.

As for movie reviews....well I did see a movie this week. Bonneville Rated PG....3 older women take a road trip to return one of the ladies husbands ashes to his daughter for burial. Many things happen along the way. Interesting to note is that it is pointed out early on in the film that the 3 women are Mormons....one reads her scriptures constantly and the others...well...lets just say they don't. It's obviously not written based on LDS doctrine but I didn't find it offensive and thought it was quite cute and enjoyed it. Definitely a chic flick.

Stormy got accepted to the Quito Ecuador Orphanage...finally she''ll have a loving home. :) Actually she's going as a volunteer for 3 months, July -October 2008. She heard about it through several friends in college and they all loved it. She will wind up the trip with a 4 day trip to the Amazon. Wow...lucky girl..what an amazing experience....I'd love to meet her in the Amazon for that.

So American Idol fans......what are you guesses at this point? David Archuletta is great...but I really like David Cook and Jason Yeager a lot too. So far none of the girls have really jumped out at me. I'll be watching tonight though.

Look at me....A blogger!!!!

Ok...so the kids seem to think I should have a blog. I tried it last summer but didn't get very far so we'll see how it goes. Tara says I should give movie reviews since I see movies a lot. Well...I really don't see them a lot but do enjoy them when I can. With my empty nest it is nice to be able to go to lunch with a friend and see a movie once in awhile. Ok...so last week I saw two...but that was rather rare. On Monday I took my mom to see The Bucket List. It's rated PG-13...obviously for language....the story was great and we both enjoyed it..the language however could have been less crude without changing the story at all. Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman star in this one and are outstanding actors. Tuesday Kathy and I went to see Mad Money, also rated PG-13. Not sure why...I don't recall bad language..no skin...so I don't know why it got a 13. This one stars Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah and Katie Holmes. It was very cute...definately a must see. The week before last I saw 27 Dresses (PG-13) with Debbie Pocock. Very cute....great chic flic and a must see in my book.

I'm currently doing some acting of my own. I'm in rehearsals now for the Buckeye Melodrama "Belle of the Ball" which will be on March 7th and 8th in Buckeye at the old high school auditorium. It's really going to be cute. I enjoyed the stake play that I was in last November very much...but I think the comedy is more my thing. I'm really having fun with it and...I get to use an accent. I have rehearsals twice a week and will try to get some photos of it to post on here.

I've been spending quite a bit of time working on family history research lately. I really enjoy it and get so caught up in it that I tend to lose all track of time.

I'm still dabbling in the photography....I say dabbling because I haven't had much desire to really get out there and shoot lately. I'm trying to find my niche and I think it's more in the area of photoshop as opposed to the actual photography. What I really enjoy doing is playing with photos and making them more beautiful and even artsy fartsy. I've thought about just advertising for people to bring me their photos and I can artsy them up...or restore old photos...or turn them into collages..etc. I don't know..it's just a thought process right now.

Well, I'm no longer going to Gila Bend for church...it's nice to go to my own ward only a few minutes away. Although i had to speak in sacrament meeting today...but thankfully thats over and in this ward I shouldn't have to do it again for at least a year or more. I've been called to teach the 4th Sunday RS lesson. I'm excited about that. It's different than what I've done for a long time.

Well...now I'll try to add some favorite photos of mine to jazz this thing up a bit and then I'll call it a day. Ok...I could only get one picture on and then things went crazy....I'll work on it more later...