Surprisingly Enough....All things Girly

So as the title suggests, I spent much of the weekend doing some girly stuff. It was a fun change from the norm. Nolan's mom, her sisters and their daughters/daughters-in-laws have decided to meet once a quarter for a lunch and craft day. This was my first one and it was a big success. It was held at Aunt Kathy's house in American Fork. I'm hoping to host the next one, if anyone has any craft ideas - let me know. Oh, and make them easy please.

Jody, Cambra and Gayle

Getting serious about crafting.

Gayle & Pat

Gayle giving Pat some friendly crafting advise. After the trouble Pat had with her ribbon, it was much needed.

Briley

This is Nolan's cousin Cambra's baby girl. She's so darn cute. I was lucky enough to play with her much of the afternoon. I had her lying on the couch and was talking too much. I looked down and this is what she had done with her bib. She didn't make a peep though. She is so pleasant. She did not make a peep only coos, throughout the afternoon.

Shauna and Kathy

A hard working Melanie

Melanee did a great job manning the cricket machine....which is amazing by the way. She was nice enough to make everyone's vinyl lettering.

Ta Da!! The finished product

I made mine as a Valentine's Day decoration. They were really fun. Parlene and Melanee did all the labor so that we could assemble them. They turned out terrific.

Kathy

Everybody was able to chose whatever 4-letter word (only the nice ones) they wanted as well as the font. I wish I had taken more photos of the finished products. Everyone's looked great. Kathy made an address plaque...so cute!!

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Later that night......

We gathered for Stef's B-day/Bunco. We call it "Bunco" even though we have not played in years, too much visiting to be done. I have realized the older I get how very important it is to have good friends and I have some of the best. This gathering once a month is always greatly anticipated and needed.

Thanks girls.

Emmalee, Steph and Kanani

Me and Tara

Alex, Shanon, Jen and Me

Kanani, Christy, Al and Linsey

Christy made this cake for Steph. We were all very impressed. It tasted as good as it looked too.

My Privilege

Today, I had the great privilege of becoming the Godmother to Olivia Nicole. She is the daughter of my dearest friends, Tara and Jeremy Jewkes. I was so honored that they chose me to fulfill this big responsibility. It means so much to me to know that I will always be a member of Olivia's life. It is the greatest gift anyone has ever given me. Thank you so much Tara and Jer.

Getting ready..the photo shoot begins. Tara, Olivia and Me.

Doesn't she look precious. She was so funny during mass, she certainly showed off for the crowd, spotting her Nana and Tof behind us. She giggled and cooed throughout. We giggled when the speaker that announced the baptism and called her Olivia "Jenkins."

Cole, Cy and Josie.
A small part of the big crowd of supporters.

Olivia had fallen asleep during the ceremony but was awaken by the cold water (someone forgot to turn on the water heater the night before). She cried for a second then fell right back to sleep with the cutest pouty lip. I wish we would have gotten a picture of it.
Some were surprised that I did not boo hoo through the entire thing, I was too, that tends to be the norm. Unfortunately, I was far too nervous. As the only non-catholic, I appreciated how much Tara had worked to assure that I would still fulfill my Godmothering duties, but was afraid I would mess up so much that I would make a fool of myself and embaress Tara. Or the powers that be would change thier mind and tell me no. Gratefully, it all went off without a hitch. I didn't mess up, Olivia did awesome the church was beautiful and filled with love.

Sleeping angel.

It's official now.

The proud parents & Godparents.
Jer's brother Rod, Tara, Jer and Me.





Cy and Olivia at the delicious brunch held at the Jewkes' home afterwards. She is the happiest baby ever. After having two colicky babies I am just blown away with how agreeable she is about almost everything. Poor little bug, just struggled with a bout of RSV and double ear infections, but grinned through most of it. I am so glad she's feeling better. The boys think she is a lot of fun. Cy particularly likes to help take care of her. We are so blessed to have her in our lives.
I love you, Olivia.

Just stuff......

Cy played his last basketball game and had quite the cheering section. Uncle Rick and Aunt Marta stopped on their way to Price from Winnemucca, Nevada and Aunt Pam was in SLC so they all came. Cy gets very upset when he doesn't have enough people watching. I think he loved it. It was nice to catch up for a minute. Cy was so sad that this was his last game. A far cry from how we started the season. He was so nervous that he cried all the way to the game. He is too polite so we had to work on being more aggressive. He did a great job. It was alot of fun to watch the somewhat organized chaos.

Isn't he cute?

Best part - getting the trophy!

Jer helped Nolan coach and was great with the kids. Nolan was very appreciative of his help and input. Thank you, Jer!! and Tara, who gave up her husband a couple of hours each Saturday.

The next pictures are from Morgan Philips' b-day party. They had a girl come who was dressed like a character from HS Musical. She did face painting for the kids, it was a big hit.

Cole chose venom, he thought he looked so cool.

Cy was a puppy, dogs are his new obsession.

Look at these cute babies. Maile and Oivia, they were so funny together and just the prettiest little babies.

A great day

Cy has been counting down to the 20th of January since November 5th. So today Cy and I sat on the couch and watched the inauguration of Barack Obama. I wanted him to watch as as history was made. He took it all in, asking some questions that I was not prepared to answer. I hope I did some of them justice. I know that he probably won't remember this, and does not realize the weight of it, not even I can, but when he looks back on this time I hope he will be proud to have had it happen in his lifetime. It is wonderful to see the world through the innocent and accepting eyes of children. I loved the commentary about all children actually seeing what they have always been told, that they can do or be anything they want if they work hard. It was a great day for all Americans.

Pre-school Drama

Cole was upset the other day when my parents picked him up from pre-school. Upset that Kaitlyn will not "crush him," she will only "crush Brayden." This means that she does not have a crush on him. Cy asked him later if he was using his "good manners" with her. Cole reenacted how kindly he always asks her. Then reenacted her abrupt "no!" Poor Coley boy!!

Merry Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We started with Christmas Eve at my parents house. Nolan's parents joined us along with my Grandma. My mom prepared our traditional meal of ham, yummy potatoes and such. Delicious! We ate, visited, played games and opened Christmas Eve gifts. All of us were pretty tired, pretty early. Too much anticipation.

The O'Brien Crew

Mike, Ashlee & Boys

Grandma & Grandpa Skiby with Boys

The Boys and their Great Grandma Mary, we were very blessed to have her with us this Christmas after a heart attack in October, she's 91 years young.

We made sure that Santa had a snack to tempt him to come.

Don't forget the reindeer. Cy had made some reindeer food in school. It was made up of oats (for them to smell) and glitter (they are drawn to sparkle). Worked like a charm!


Christmas morning started pretty early. Cole is suddenly an early riser (boo!) and was up at 6:30, it was still dark so the coast was not clear. We waited until Cy got up around 7:15 to get started. Santa left a letter saying that the reindeer were so enticed by the food we left out for them that he had stopped at our house first out of all the homed in the neighborhood. Santa gobbled up his Cookies and took our elf, Ralphie, back to the North Pole. Ralphie had kept watch over the boys each day and reported back to the North Pole each night. We look forward to seeing him again next year.



Showing off some of their gifts.
Night vision goggles from Granny & Papa Skiby.


Cuddly Storm Troopers

Santa brought Cole his own Indiana Jones hat and whip.


We had a great day. This is the first year that we stayed home all day. The boys are at the age that they want to stay and play with their toys and avoid running around. We asked our families to come over to our house. It was such a relaxing day. Norm brought over and made all of us breakfast. We chose a great year to do this as the weather was terrible!! We appreciate everyone braving the storm to come spend some of the the day with us.

The theme of our Christmas was Recession Shmession...what recession. It was crazy. As the owners of the only grandchildren on both sides, we were swimming - no drowning in gifts. I still do not have them all put away and it will take 6 more garbage days for us to get rid of all the packaging. Everyone was more than generous, we are very spoiled.

This is the end of the day, still in jammies. We were happily worn out.

Here is Cole re-enacting how he had slept waiting for Santa.

Thanks for a wonderful Christmas. Each one seems just better than the last. Already counting the days until the next one.

R.I.P. Billy Ocean

Cy's fish, Billy Ocean, saw his last day on December 21st. Billy had had a previous health scare a few months ago. I had called Nolan to tell him that Billy had died and to stop and grab another one on the way home. When Nolan got home, he came out of Cy's room shaking his head at me. Billy wasn't dead-apparently just playing possum. So Cole got a new fish that he named, Naughty.
Again, it was me who found Billy. This time I knew he was dead because he was white (normally blue & red). Nolan and the boys were out doing some Christmas shopping, I called to ask what I should do. Nolan chose to tell Cy. When they got home Cy was crying and very upset. He's so sensitive. He made me say a few words and then he flushed him. This is the letter he wrote about Billie.



Being the sensitive little brother he is, Cole, told everyone that Cy's fish died but his didn't, he told everyone Naughty is "awesome."