Two Special People, One Special Day

Sorry, Papa and Danielle....you have to share this "Special" post.  December is kind of like our July...full of birthdays!  December 10th is my niece Chloe's Birthday-

Happy Birthday, Chloe!

and then the 12th is my dear cousin Rebecca's  -

Happy  Birthday, Rebecca!

And December 11th belongs to my BFF, Danielle and our dear Papa.  

Who would have known that the only picture we would have of Danielle and I together for a whole lifetime would be this picture of us the week before I had Luke.  And just for the record, that was my fattest pregnancy ever.  (I do believe there was a shot taken at her wedding that if she wants to send me a copy of, I would TOTALLY accept.) If I don't get one soon, I will have to bust out with some Leavenworth photos. 

Oh, I totally forgot about this picture we have together that Danielle posted of Facebook.  She said I was the best rabbit she has ever known.  

I have to resort to stealing pictures to post a more recent pic. Sometimes I wish I could travel back in time 17 years and pop in on Danielle and I walking to campus and say, "Hey, Danielle...this is the Ghost of Christmas Future....YOU ARE GOING TO MARRY TY MANSFIELD!!!!"  This would truly have been good tidings of great joy unto us all.  No one could be happier that Danielle married Ty than me.  I loved them both since the day I met them. I might have liked Ty a wee bit better.  Danielle was grumpy and wouldn't dance.  We were both 14.  Ty, he had me at, "Every year they throw a party here in town" in his lovely tenor voice.  (He was singing with the BYU men's chorus.)

No one knows our silly shenanigans like Danielle's sweet mother.  And Danielle's mother would testify to all the awful birthdays we have celebrated with Danielle through the years.  Phrases that come to mind are: "I don't WANT to decide where we go to eat."  "I HATE the color purple."  "I don't like movies."  "I hate teddy bear calendars, how dare you!?"  Okay, just a few things I thought of off the top of my head.  Just kidding about the awful part though, anytime with Lika is party time and we don't usually even need a birthday to celebrate.   

 I love you, Dani Girl!  Thanks for being my best friend through the years.  Seriously.  And just for the record, that is the first and last time I will ever call you Dani. 

Well, this guys is another year older and wiser too....

Happy Birthday, Papa!

Papa (and Nana, of course!) always go the extra mile to stay involved in their grandkids lives.  In this case, they went an extra 600 miles. 

We have many fun memories of relaxing on vacation with Papa. 

Papa will always be young at heart...remember when took the boys to fly through the hills of California with the windows down and the mud splashing?  (Yes, that is the inside of his car, and yes, that is mud and rain covering the kids.)  The look on their face is pure joy.  Papa knows how to have fun!

I wonder where he got it from!?  I love this picture of Papa with his "little" brothers.  

I bet Grandma is in heaven in the picture, sitting between her two favorite men... the charming Uncle Doug and her handsome son-in-law.  They give her a hard time and I think she loves it. 

Papa having fun with a dear friend. (I think they might be chatting about their hot babes back on the beach...Judy and Gayle.)

All my kids like to sit with Papa and watch movies.

When feeling sick, Papa is a natural nurse.  He will make you a potion, rub you down with just the right blend of oils, or just let you sit on his lap.  

I never got to meet Papa's Dad.  But, but I know his Mom, and she is one great lady!  I love this picture of the two of them. 

Papa and Nana, never frazzled by the chaos!  

Another favorite of mine...passing on his love of hockey to the next generation!  

The top two pictures are of Luke.  Born in California, and then a visit from Papa in Idaho.  

The bottom two are of James.  Hanging out as a toddler with Papa, and later a surprise visit in Idaho.

He is a great grandpa to the kids! It is amazing to see how the kids have changed...Papa has stayed the same. 

 Another picture of Papa, he has traveled all over the world. 

Papa and his sweetheart traveling together.

Papa has been a great dad to his four kids.  You always know that he cares and he doesn't hesitate to give hugs and compliments.  

Happy Birthday, Papa!  We love you!  Thanks for ALL that you do for us.  Even though birthdays are not "your thing" I hope you have a great one!  

(Hey, it must be the date...since both you and Danielle have that attitude! ha-ha)  

All that glitters isn't gold...

Sometimes it is Spray paint.  More on that in a minute.  The past couple weeks since getting back from California have been so busy!  Last week Ryan was out of town all week, and then this week we spent the first three days helping out of neighbors so we had a household with twelve kids.  Here are a few of the things we have been doing...

I took Luke, Michael, and their friend Gunnar to Sams club with me last Saturday and you would have thought I took them to Disneyland.  They wanted all these treats.  I told them to let me take a picture of what they like so I could remember for upcoming Birthdays.  I do this trick whenever they find something they want at the store.  One, somehow it makes them feel like getting that item might be a possibility and so it satisfies them.  Two, it actually has come in handy when I am Christmas Shopping alone.  Sometimes I can't remember which kid liked which thing, so I just pull out my phone.  

After having twelve kids for a few days, six is a breeze.  It actually was not too hard, I would say the after school chaos was the craziest time.  I tried to make it go smoothly with milk and cookies. I think that makes everything go more smoothly. 

I thought this was crazy how James' new tooth was coming in right over his baby tooth.  We have lost two teeth around here this week, but the tooth fairy hasn't made it here yet.  Somehow in the hustle and bustle those two kids haven't noticed.

James got his Arrow of Light last week. 

His leaders looked awesome.

Man, scouting goes fast...seems like he just was getting his Bobcat. 

Yesterday was St. Nicholas Day~the kids got candy, gatorade, socks, toothpaste and mouthwash, and gum.  Most of the kids were delighted. I won't mention any names, but I had this conversation with one of the kids that had a disappointed look on their face-

Child: I don't like those candies. 

Mom: I thought you loved those.

Child: Um, no.  I haven't liked those since I was like six. 

Mom: (In my head) SHEESH!

I am over the days that I take it personally.  I chalk it up to teenagers being naturally ungrateful.  Oh, shoot, did I just give away who I was talking about?

This picture might make one think that we are all ready for Christmas.  The decorating has been a slow process this year with everything going on.  We are pretty much there, except for one minor thing- OUR CHRISTMAS TREE!  That little tree is all we have up right now, and I am frightened it might become our Christmas Tree this year.  This weekend I am getting a real tree if I have to carry it home myself!  In the meantime, I am loving all the other decorations.  It just makes everything so cozy! 

 \

I do love to make the house look festive.  The kids love it too.  I will stay up late into the night just to get it done!  I am not too crafty, but I was impressed with this inspiration that came to me about midnight one night.  I got this wreath at that great garage sale I talked about here. It was $1.50.  

I had seen a wreath online that someone got at Target.  It was a silvery gold color and just beautiful. I  really wanted to get it.  However, that is when I remembered I had a new can of gold spray paint in the other room. I sprayed it right there on the spot.  It took about two minutes. I love it!  I think it might be even prettier than the one at Target.

For the past couple of years I have almost thrown these babies in the donate pile.  I am always trying to weed out the decorations that have seen their better day.  These seemed a little outdated and I just didn't have a place for them. 

After having so much fun with the wreath, I went to town on these. 

 Our entry way is now shiny and gold and I love it.

PS The dresser was purchased at the garage sale too-SCORE!

Well, I better get moving.  On the docket this weekend-

Ward Christmas Party tonight, and primary is over the food.

CHRISTMAS TREE

Two Basketball games

Birthday Party

Cousin's baptism and luncheon

Hosting extended family for monthly FHE and dinner

Clean my house from the tornado of 12 kids

Sharing Time

Christmas Cards

We will see if it all happens.  Happy Holidays everyone!

A Fun Day at Funderland

The day before Thanksgiving Nana came up with a great idea for the day...all the ladies go out to lunch, and the guys take all the kids to Funderland!  All the kids and ladies said, "Hooray!"  The men, well, they warmed up to the idea after they realized how fun FUNDERLAND is! 

Here is Grandma and Melanie at the Dancing Fox waiting for a table. 

This picture of Michele and Judy is a little blurry, but I still thought it was so cute.

While we were waiting for our table we were sitting in the wine tasting room.  I don't know why I even took this picture, but when I downloaded it I saw something I had not noticed before.- That ladies sweet lace tights/pants.  She is like, "Can I try some wine to go with my lace tights?"  Even though I hadn't noticed it, I think Grandma did.  Grandma is looking over there thinking, "Where can I get me some tights like that?"  Really she is thinking more like, "What is the world coming to?"

I also like this picture because it captures Grandma's attitude about the whole restaurant, "This place stinks, they don't have any meat and potatoes and the only thing I can find that I like on the whole menu is a dang salad."  

Meanwhile, over in Funderland the grandkids were having loads of fun. (That is Michael and Amelia up front.)

Pure joy.

James with Presley, Luke and Annie in the middle row, and way back there is Joshua.

Fun on the Ferris Wheel.  (Starting from Top Left: Luke, Sophie, Dane and Amelia, and Joshua and Annie)

Michael

This picture of Cade and Presley makes me smile and laugh every time I see it.  First, I look at Cade and crack up for so many reasons.  And then Presley, just so sweet and exciting doing her wave.  Love it.

This is the ride that doomed Annie I believe.  The proof is in the pictures.  Look at her in the first picture, "ROCK ON!  This is SO fun!"  Second picture:  "Uh, I am not feeling so well."

I love how excited Presley is here.  I love to see how much my boys like taking care of their little girl cousins. 

  

Michael, Amelia, and Luke

Luke

Annie and James 

(Man, another great thing about having the big boys along for the ride..just looking at these rides makes me want to barf.  I don't know how they do it!)

Michael and Amelia, she is loving it!

Annie and Luke in back,  Joshua, Presley, and James rocking out in front. 

This is my favorite picture of the day I think.  I love Michaels face.  He really loves helping his little cousins.  And check out that hair on Amelia...seriously!?  So beautiful. 

I think that Michael wasn't the only one that loves being with his cousins...

Man, wish I had been there to get Dane in this picture.  Look at these old guys.  Great picture!

After our amazing lunch at the Dancing Fox, Michele and I joined the guys at Funderland to lend our assistance.  We showed up just as they were about done.  Little "Jack Danger?" will be joining Presley in January.  

Papa and Annie

 

I love this picture!  I think it is the only one that weekend of all the grandkids.  I also love that Fall has just hit in California since all the trees here are bare.  So beautiful!  

The only bummer was that we took the picture right before we left.  You can tell, Annie is about to lose her cookies.  She did shortly after we got home.

Thanks for the great idea, Nana!  

Thanks for lunch, Grandma!  

and a BIG thanks to the guys for taking this crew to 

FUNDERLAND!  

(The second happiest place on earth.)