Family picture

This is the only family picture that everyone is somewhat looking and behaving at the same time. I'm so glad we got at least one good one. I'll have to crop it a bit to lose some of the sky. We had a gorgeous location picked out to take pictures, but it was irrigated so we has to move onto plan B...which was the church lawn at the end of my street. We couldn't go far since we had dinner cooking at my house. There is not one good picture of my personal family. Someone was either butt pinching, crossing their eyes or me yelling at them for screwing around. They are going to learn not to mess with me because now they HAVE to do ours over again...that will teach 'em!

Good-bye my Julie...

What a hard emotional night this was. I had to say good-bye to my dear sister Julie. It was so hard on the whole family. Lots of tears and heavy hearts as we said our final good-bye's. There are no words to express just how much we will miss her and how painful it will be to have her so far away. I haven't been able to stop crying. I really want to be happy for her starting out a new life in Tennessee with Justin, who we love. It's the selfish part of me that thinks of all I will miss out on with her. I have such fun memories of being with my sisters. We all honestly love being together. There will be such an emptyness with her gone. We need her! She is our funny girl. I hope and pray that it will be no longer than 2 years.
Julie...You better email me all the time and send pictures. I will take over the bossy sister position on a temorary basis while you're gone. Somebody has to do it and I like the power of that. :o) I love you to pieces! (((hugs))) Jolene
P.S. We took tons of family pictures that I will share later when I'm not so tired and emotional. Gotta get some sleep!

Got buttons?...

I've been storing my buttons in a couple of pint size mason jars, but I really wanted them to all fit in one large jar. I found this at Wal-Mart. The best part is that it was CHEAP!...we're talking like $5 bucks cheap! and cute to boot! Hey...I even have a good inch and a half of space left at the top. Perfect for digging in to find just the right colors. :o)

Cute little tummy!

I've had requests to see tummy pictures of Brittany. It may seem teeny to you, but her tummy was beyond flat so we've seen lots of growth. She is feeling the baby move everyday. On Thursday she will be 20 weeks. HALF WAY THERE! I also included a picture of Brek and Brittany with their new (used) car. We all love it and it has the all important air conditioning. We are hoping to get an ultrasound very soon so we can see what this little bundle of joy is. The rest of the information is copied and pasted in from her pregnancy calendar.
Size Your baby is between 5 1/2 and 6 1/2 inches crown to rump, and between 9 and 10 inches from head to toe. She weighs about nine ounces. Over the next month, she'll gain about a pound! Right now, she is about the size of a mango.

Mesa CK Convention

WOW! I can't believe it's been so many days since I've posted. The convention was so much fun! This was the first year for my sisters Julie and Coleen. (Rene' didn't go) All my classes were great. Of course I came home with several unfinished projects...I always do. Julie and Coleen are coming over tomorrow to finish some up. (see the cute boxes we made!) I won prizes in 2 classes! A big woohoo for me! I got a bag full of stuff from the card class that was sponsored by Provo craft. Then I got a way cute purple 9X9 album with paper, ribbon and rub-ons from Making Memories class that the adorable Margie Romney-Asslett taught. She is such a fun girl...I love her! (Me and her in the top picture) There is also a picture with the pickle ladies, Kristan and Joan. I made a beautiful album in that class. They were great teachers and both very sweet. I got to see Katherine Brooks-the artist briefly, but so sad that I didn't get a picture with her. I really wanted to, but she was sitting in the back of one of our classes and left before I could. My sister had her for a teacher and loved her. The vender fair was a lot of fun too...like herding cattle. Surprisingly I didn't buy as much as I usually do. I did get a few things like Basic Grey paper, Melissa Frances paper, the pink QK hand tool, rub-ons, 2 shirts and renewed my magazine subscriptions. Plus $20 worth of stuff from the $1 booths. Perhaps that means I already have too much...who knows. I don't really think that could be true. ;o) My good friend Paula came to convention for the first time too. It was her birthday present to herself. She had some good classes and managed to do some damage in the vender fair too. I think she is officially hooked now. I'm glad she had so much fun. Notice the picture of the police car...well I don't really know the details, but I saw a woman sitting in the back of the car hiding her face. (I was nice and didn't take a picture of her) I'm assuming she was shoplifting because the cops were kind of chuckling about being arrested for stealing paper. What kind of scrapbooker would I be if I didn't at least get a picture of the car. It was part of the weekend experience.
After convention was over on Saturday night I came home and was so tired, but I had promised Mark that I would go with him on the motorcycle to meet up with a friend of his and his girlfriend. I was too tired to even change into good shoes so I kept my sandals on. It had been warm all day so I thought to myself ...no big deal! I was so wrong! We drove out in the desert through Fountain Hills and then into Scottsdale to this outdoor restaurant. It was the greasy something...can't remember the name. They serve burgers and you eat out at picnic tables while listening to a live band. It was fun except for the icky smoke in my face all night. On the way home I froze my butt off! I know what you're thinking...crazy Arizona girl doesn't know what cold is. I am fully aware of my wussyness, but it was freaking cold...especially out in the desert. I was so wishing I had on my boots and chaps. It was a very long 45 minutes of teeth chattering and shivering. I was so happy to be home and in my own bed.

Yup! it's real!

As soon as Chad turned 18 he snuck off and got himself a tattoo. He hid it for as long as he could, but eventually mom's find these things out. In case you are wondering what exactly it is...apparently is it the "famous" logo. I see this thing on all of his art work. I tried to explain to him that in a few years he is not going to think this is cool and yet he has PERMANENTLY tattooed this to his chest. HUGE MISTAKE BOY! and there's not one darn thing I can do about it. Why oh why do teenagers think they know everything??? :o/

Old window flower box

I finally got all the dried flowers poked in the old window box and hung it up today. I think it turned out real pretty. I'm now wishing I had cut them a teeny bit shorter so I could see more of the window, but then it would have shown the ugly wire that it's hanging by. I can't win everything. I'd say that the curb appeal has improved quite a bit, so I'm a happy girl! :o)

Mesa CK convention!

Mesa CK convention is this weekend...so dang excited!
Here are my classes:
Thursday night-
6:00-8:00-Photo corrections and artist effects (Epson)
Friday-
11:10-12:10 A years worth of cards (provo craft)
12:30-1:30 Simply fabulous with MM (making memories...Margie is teaching..yay!)
1:50-3:50 A year in the life album (rusty pickle)
4:30-5:30 20 more tips and tricks (creating keepsakes)
Saturday-
8:30-10:30 Is it art or is it scrapbooking (provo craft)
1:50-3:50 Just between friends (Melissa Frances by heart and home collectables Inc.)
There is plenty of time in my schedule to wander around the vender fair ogling at everything. I will try to keep the drool to a minimum. I usually always take a class from Deluxe Designs, but Katherine Brooks teased me and said I've already done it all and don't need it. She is so funny! She is a great teacher! My friend Paula is going for the first time to all three days as well as 2 of my sisters on Saturday. Should be lots of fun! I haven't made any layouts for the contests and it's not looking like there will be any time this week, but that's okay with me...too much un-needed stress.

My biker dude!

Here's Mark in Minnesota picking up his new bike. I think it's a 2003 Yamaha Venture Midnight Royal Star. Even if I'm wrong, it sure is pretty. It's not like he know the names of scrapbook companies. :o) Doesn't he look so happy?! Jim and Ginney, the couple he bought the bike from emailed me this picture just before he left. He really liked them a lot. He drove for several hours on Wednesday. That first night he slept in Ankeny, Iowa. He woke up at 3:30 a.m. and headed out again. He met his Brother Steven and his wife Chris in Missouri so they could show him the land they bought there. He said it was beautiful! Then he was off again. He drove all the way through Kansas, and a piece of Oklahoma and finally decided he'd had a long enough day and pulled into a town called Dalhart, Texas to sleep. I talked to him this morning and he was in New Mexico so he will be home early this evening. His butt is sore and he's had way too much exposure to the sun. Good thing I sent him with sunblock. He thought it would be nice cool weather for his ride, but it turns out that part of the country had record highs. I'm just glad he got out of Kansas before the tornado hit there. Can't wait to see him!

More cute porch...

It let me post two more pictures today so you could see the potting bench closer and a different view of the porch. I've talked to Mark a few times but have yet to tell him about this. I also bought and old window that has a small flower box attached. I'm going to buy some dry flowers to put in it and hang it on the front wall just to the left of the door. I love it!