Family : Forever, For Always, No Matter What

Under Construction

Well hello there bloggity blog - I have missed you. 

As there have been so many changes in my life recently I find myself wanting to reformat my blog to make it a one stop shop for all my inspiration on the great big world wide web. My place to find all the links to things that I find important. So please be patient as the construction takes place. Come back and check up on me and maybe there just might be some things that are useful to you to !!!!

Baby Beckett

Sweet Baby Beckett is a week old. He is doing well he just continues to need time to grow. 

Our Sweet Baby Boy

Help us raise money to support this sweet family as they care for their sweet baby boy

http://www.gofundme.com/babybeckett

Best Koolaid Playdough Recipe

Here’s What You Need To Make The Best Playdough Recipe:

• 2 Cups of Flour
• 2 Tbsp of Oil (any oil will do, coconut, vegetable, olive)
• 1/2 Cup of Salt
• 2 Tbsp Cream of Tartar
• 1 1/2 Cup Boiling Water
• 2 packages of Koolaid

Mix flour, salt & Cream of Tartar. Add oil (don't stir yet)  add the Koolaid to the boiling water and then pour over dry ingredients. Stir until combined well. Then knead on a floured surface until it is not sticky. Best Playdough Ever !!!

My original recipe came from HERE and I adapted it using koolaid

One of the hardest things I have gone through . . . .

After one of the hardest weeks of my life I am able to still feel Gods love for me. Even though my sweet friend has gone on to her eternal home, she showed me that I could truly love someone other than my own family so deeply. She left me with what now feels like an extended family and a friend who now feels more like a sister. After what would be officially my first day of being unemployed , I have been called and offered 3 jobs already. Really wanting to take about a 3 week break but so I am feeling so grateful at this moment with the many ways my sweet Adell has blessed my life the last four years and especially this last week as I witnessed many miracles take place and she made the transition to her eternal home to be with her sweet husband and family that has gone before. Even though I miss her more than words can say, I am so grateful for everything she brought into my life, because of her I am changed for the better and my heart will never be the same. 

My Sweet Adell

What a wonderful celebration of my sweet friend today !!! 

The service was just how she would want it, we song all of her favorite hymns and it was beautiful !!!

I could watch this over and over and over !!! Oh how I miss her. 

Goodbye My Sweet Friend

My Sweet Friend made her journey home this morning it was beautiful and peaceful. Thank you for all of your kind words.

There Are Angels Among Us

Spending what is most likely the last night caring for my sweet friend here on this earth ❤ you know they say you grow to love those you serve ❤ and I have grown to love her soooo much . It has been a roller coaster of emotions these last 7 days. She is such a strong woman and she has slept right here for 7 days as everyone came to accept the fact that it is time for her go with her loved ones on the other side. This entire experience has been such a blessing and yet it has been so difficult. Not sure how much longer my sweet friend will hang on, but I know our time is short.....‪

True Devotion

A true example of devotion 

❤

 he has not left his mama ... He remains right next to her.

Faith In Gods Timing

Cherishing every moment left with my sweet friend. We are near the end and Angels are awaiting her. She has lived a virtuous life and loved the Lord with all her heart❤ he will welcome her with open arms so very soon. Well done my sweet friend.

Today is A Good Day

Do you know what I love about Tuesday ? Spending it with my cute friend of course. The weather couldn't be more perfect on this beautiful Arizona afternoon. Today is a good day.

We love Golf

So my cute friend Adell used to be a pretty top-notch golfer in her day. She ❤'s Golf. It's too cold and too crazy for her to get out to the open, so we have the best seat watching it right here on TV. #shelovestiger#ilovephil #neitherofthemmadethecut #tobadfortiger#sosadforphil but she is okay she just loves the excitement of the game. #onceagolferalwaysagolfer #mydadwouldbeproudofme #pga #wastemanagementopen
 #stillthephoenixopentome

Counting My Blessings

Feeling really blessed. I love that right now in my life I have the opportunity to do things that I love and that I am passionate about. I may not be rich and get a big paycheck but I get to do things that hopefully make a difference in peoples lives. I love working with fabulous people sharing my passion for Documenting Your Life and sharing your families stories and supporting local retailers with the best products on the market created by the best manufactures in the industry to help people document their story and engage in a craft they love. I love sharing my love for Documenting your life with MemoryMixer and giving people that avenue to tell their story and fill their creative outlet just by sitting in front of their computer. I love being back in the foster care arena and hopefully I can help make a difference in the lives of a few children and bring an awareness to families that everyone can make a difference in the lives of children and families. And I love caring for my sweet friend Adell a couple days a week as she goes through her life journey and the challenges it brings along with it. And most of all I am grateful for the blessing of being a mom and grandma, by far the greatest joy I will ever have. I feel blessed to have the gospel in my life and the peace it brings into my life every hour of every day. This is one of my favorite songs that I sing with my sweet friend Adell on the days that I spend with her. When we stop and count the many blessings in our lives we will find we truly are blessed in far greater ways than a paycheck can ever provide.

They Can Still . . . .

Such a Good Reminder

Angel Food Cake Churros Bites

Angel Food Cake Churro Bites from Lil Luna

Ingredients

• 1 Sara Lee Angel Food Cake
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cinnamon
• oil

Instructions

1. Let your Angel Food Cake thaw. Once thaw, cube the cake. My cubes were about 1.5 inches x 1.5 inches.
2. Heat vegetable oil on low-medium heat. Fry cubes until golden brown.
3. Once golden brown, immediately put them in the bowl with cinnamon and sugar and toss around. Continue doing this until they're all done.
4. For even more flavor, mix 1 cup powdered sugar with a tablespoon and milk, mix and drizzle over the bites. ENJOY!

Happy Anniversary !!!

Happy Anniversary to my main man !!! 

Once upon a time we were just young kids who took a chance on each other and the results have been amazing !!!

"A perfect marriage is just two imperfect people who refuse to give up on each other" 

When you look at our eyes, you don't see perfection, and you may not see a love story that someone would watch on the big screen and dream about. But you will see two people who will fight for each other and protect each other despite of all our imperfections. 

The reality is "if I had to do it all over again, I would still choose you" 

Through all the ups and downs. Good times and bad. We grow and love and learn. 

I wouldn't trade one experience. Because through each experience we have grown in ways we never imagined and that is what has made us the couple we are today.

When two people really care about each other they always find a way to make it work. No matter how hard it is.  I wouldn't want it any other way !!!

Look at what we created !!! This is what true happiness is all about. This family is a result of two people falling in love and sticking through it no matter good times or bad. 

We have only just begun. Thanks for being my forever partner. So glad we are in this for eternity and we get to take this crew along with us. 

Elf on the Shelf and Santa's Love for Jesus

So it really has been fun having a 6 year old in our home this holiday season.  It has been my goal to help create a magical Christmas for him.
We have had so much fun decorating, watching Christmas movies and we have loved the fun we have had with our Elf on the Shelf. His name is Leo. 
But I knew that early on I wanted to address the fact that even though this is so much fun having our little friend Leo here it isn't the reason for the season. 

In no way shape or form did I want our Elf or Santa to take away for the real reason we celebrate Christmas. So Santa is going to leave a very special letter tonight. 
Of course he has to address it to ALL the boys in our home . . . 

I just want you to know that you are some of my favorite boys in the whole wide world. Leo has loved being in your home and watching your family these last 4 days. He is excited that you are following the rules so he won’t lose his magic and he can stay until Christmas.

Christmas is almost here and I know that you are all as excited as I am! Every year you all have such a wonderful time with your family on Christmas and I cannot wait to see all the fun that comes this year.

I want you to know what a wonderful family you have. I know that you are filled with love for each other and I also know that you love Jesus. Did you know that I love Jesus too? He is the reason that I do what I do.

And did you know, Leo loves Jesus too and gets so excited every year to celebrate His birthday. Did you remember that Jesus’ birthday is Christmas day? Just like we love to give presents every year a very very long time ago Jesus was born and was the very first gift given to us on Christmas.

Celebrating Christmas with gifts, parties, and lots of Christmas goodies is fun but I want you to remember the real reason we celebrate Christmas. We celebrate Jesus and the love God has for us in sending His Son for us. How amazing is that?

Have you made a Christmas list with a few things you would like for Christmas?  It’s ok to want a few things, but I’ve seen people – grownups and kiddos – get very selfish with all the stuff they want.  They want so many things that they forget the whole reason we even have Christmas….

I don’t want you kiddos to forget about Jesus as you prepare for Christmas.  I want you to enjoy all the fun – hot chocolate, singing Christmas songs, candy and presents – but I don’t want you to forget the most important present: God’s love for us and His son, Jesus. 

I don’t want you to forget that it’s still important to love others … to be nice to other people … to help other people (especially the people in your family) … to show other people how wonderful Jesus is.

So this Christmas season I have sent Leo as a reminder for you. A reminder of Jesus and a reminder to share love with others through our gifts, kind words and loving actions (the things we do for one another).

Remember  . . .

Love each other

Speak nicely to one another

Help each other

Help your friends and neighbors too

Give to people who don’t have all the stuff you have

Remember that Heavenly Father loves you soooo much

Take care of my little friend Leo – he and I talk every night about you kiddos and how you are doing this Christmas Season.

Looking forward to seeing great things and wonderful love from each of you,

Santa Claus


It is my hope that we live our lives so that we show through our actions that Christ is the center of our family, not only during the Christmas season, but all the time.  

I know that fun activities such as Santa, the elf, decorating and Christmas movies help us to create special family memories and that by giving gifts to those we love is one way we can share Christs love and allow him to be our focus everyday of our lives.

Time Out for Women 2013 - Think Higher, Believe Higher, Live Higher

I am so ready for tonight - want to join me ? 

TIME OUT FOR WOMEN PHOENIX

We can do this . . . .

Just when we think things might get easier, we are faced with one of the greatest challenges in life.

We can do this together. Because together is a great place to be

Every Family has a Story . . .

I absolutely LOVE all the word art that Kollete is creating . . . .

Thinking these might look awesome on large tiles for Christmas gifts

Dad : A daughters first love

I miss him everyday - but when I count my blessings, how blessed I am to have had such an amazing father for 36 years. I know I will be with him again. Families are Forever. That I am sure of !!!

www.kristanpaolacci.blogspot.com/2008/10/just-thinkin-about-my-dad.html

General Conference Weekend . . . My favorite

Post by The Celestial Kingdom.

What Matters Most . . . .

Simply Amazing

Simply Amazing !!! Can you believe that Emily ran 108.8 miles in 22.5 hours - straight with only bathroom breaks every few hours. She has been blessed with an incredible talent and a HUGE heart. Love this girl !!! She is such an inspiration to so many. Those who meet her can't help but love her.
One thing that I have gained from this entire experience of watching Emily this weekend is that we have all been blessed with different talents. Emily has taken her talent that she has been blessed with and developed it to perfection and she is now using this talent to bless the lives of so many. She raised over $21,000 this weekend to help build schools for children in India.
This weekend has motivated me to look at the talents that I have been blessed with and think more about how I can develop them and share them. No I will probably never be a runner (I can almost see into the future and promise you this) but I know the Lord has blessed me with other abilities that I can share. Probably never to this extent, but if you can use a talent or skill that you have been given to bless the life of even one person, then it will have been worth it.
Thank you my friend for being such an amazing example to all of us.
Because of you I have been changed.

Read more about the building schools for children in India at
http://www.effect.org/

and  if you have not had the chance to donate you can still do so here
https://rally.org/runemz

Say Love . . .

I love this song so much. Such an amazing reminder how important the words are that we choose to use. How just one small kind gesture can make such a difference in someone's life.

I received a note this week in the mail from a friend at church who took the time to share some kind words. What a difference it made in my entire week. We never know how something we do or say might impact some one or have the ability to turn their entire day around. So if you get an impression to send someone a note or share a kind word - DO IT. 

Go Emz . . . . . . .

This is my friend Emily and let me just tell you - she is AMAZING. 

No I am not a runner. But if anyone might one day inspire me to run it might be Emily.      For now how about I just start walking on a treadmill. That will be a good start. 

Emily LOVES her treadmill and so let me begin working on a relationship with mine.

Let me just tell you one thing, you will never meet a kinder, more gentle soul than this girl. She is AMAZING. Talk about going out and doing good in the world. 

She is heading to San Fransico today

Tonight at 8:00 pm she will begin her 24-hour treadmill run  to raise money and awareness for Effect.com

 a non-profit organization that is building schools for children in India. 

She is going to run OVER 100 MILES - yes you read that right - OVER 100 MILES !!!!

Check out her donation page https://rally.org/ru­nemz and if you are able please donate to this amazing cause. If you are unable to donate just take a moment and help raise awareness and share with others. 

Since we cannot travel to San Fransico to watch her and cheer her on. We will be streaming it live video stream via  http://www.ustream.t­v/channel/run-emz

Go Em Go !!! You. Freaking. Got. This.

The Light Will Come . . .

I love this thought from Elder Uchtdorf's talk from General Conference in April of 2013, 

The Hope of God's Light

What a wonderful reminder

Look at this darling coupon box cover . . .

 

Take a look at this fabulous box cover my friend Susan made for me. 

I was stuck with the dilema that my lid would not fit on my coupon box, and I could only imagine the nightmare of it tipping over and everything falling out. My original idea was just an elastic cover (you know kind of like a shower cap) because I don't sew, I thought this would be the easiest. I enlisted my friend Susan's help a a few hours later this was the result.

FABULOUS !!!

It is a quilted box cover made out of the cutest fabric !!!

It has a little elastic button loop so it stays secure. and it acts like a basket when it sits in the cart or when I am sorting coupons. 

I just love it so !!!

if you want one to just email Susan at susiesews4@q.com