Conference

I love Conference Weekend! I just feel good listening to our Prophet and Apostles and hearing the awesome music. I think the older I get the better I like it. (Of course I do because I don't have little kids running around needing my attention) I usually take notes but for some reason I didn't this conference. So that leaves me to my memory.......I should have taken notes! The talk that I can remember was by President Dieter Uchtdorf and the quotes I have here are from his talk. I love these quotes! Such good advice!

I love our family tradition of going out to dinner after the Priesthood Session on Saturday. It is late but it's always fun being with the family and keeping traditions. The grands love our tradition also and look forward to it. I love having Natalie and the kids over during the session.....it's fun visiting with her. I just love them all soooooo much!

It seems that the grands may be starting another tradition. They like sleeping over and ask whenever we are together. We agreed to let them all sleep over on Sunday Night and it was fun.
They love playing together. I love that they love playing together. The only problem with sleep overs is they are so excited they don't want to go to sleep. :) We got all ready for bed and put a movie in. The movie was a short princess movie and I thought that would put them to sleep. NOPE it didn't. We agreed after the Princess Movie that we would watch Mama Mia. For sure this would put them to sleep.....besides it was getting really late. Well Ivy (Who chose Mama Mia) did fall asleep during the movie. Zaden gave out a little bit before it ended but Mya and Kamryn were like the Energizer Bunnies! They watched the complete movie. When it was over they asked what's next? (it was about midnight at this point) I told them we were going to sleep. They whispered to each other telling the other one to "close your eyes" or "be quiet". They are too cute and crack this gramma up. I didn't mind staying up with them. It wasn't long and they were all sleeping soundly. Very soundly and very noisy. The sleeping noise also made me laugh.

Oh my I love my family!

Bowling "242"

I enjoy going bowling. Not because of the bowling but because of the ladies I get to bowl with. I have become aquainted with so many great ladies and made so many new friends. That's the real reason I continue to go!

I get hugs from Sylvia and she always tells me she loves me and calls me her Dawn's early light. I love watching others make their way to Sylvia also...she gives great hugs. I "WooHooHoo" it up with Taryn. She told me I am one of her favorites. :) I laugh with Debbie, Cheryl, Julie and Lynn over anything. Tina from my Thursday team said she liked coming because I was always so upbeat and positive and she liked being around me. I am not quiet while I bowl....I make a lot of noise and cheer for everyone. I smile when I hear the same noises come from others.

I get asked to sub quite a bit these days and I think it's because I am fun.......I'm sure it's not because I am good. I can bowl good but I don't all the time. Today I was subbing and having a great time and the last game I bowled a 242! WOOHOO to ME! Funny thing is I didn't even realize I was doing so well. I knew my team mate was and I was watching her score but didn't pay attention to mine. My team mate, Janet bowled a 245! I was shocked I was so close. I guess I just do better when I don't pay too close of attention.

I know I make a difference in others lives. I don't think people are use to being around "happy" that much. I think people like "happy" though and like it in their life. I am glad that I can share my happiness with others. When I do I just become more happy! It's a win win situation!

So that's the real reason that I bowl!

From the Mouths of Babes!

I so love my little grands. They say the cutest things. A few things that I want to remember are:

A week or so ago we were sitting at the kitchen table talking after our Sunday dinner. The kids were asking Mya questions like "Who's you favorite Uncle?".....etc Then someone asked her who the prettiest one was. She looked at everyone and then said "Gramma". Oh my crud she made my day. We all laughed but I loved it! (Mya thinks I'm pretty!)

Last night Kamryn got to stay with us while her parents went to a FHE with the Young Adults. I was putting a movie in and Kimi and Jared were arguing about something. I was looking at them and probably saying "Really?" or something similar. Kamryn then says: "Gramma Dawn?" I looked at her and she said: "You are the best mom!" Oh my heck I love the grands! They love me and let me know.

Ivy and Zaden don't ever want to go home when they get to come. (doesn't happen often these days) I guess they know that they are all my favorite and I love them so much! I am glad!

Easter Egg Dive

Weber State had an Easter Egg dive for kids 14 and younger. Kevin told us about it and Jared thought it sounded fun. It was fun! Jared had a total of 3 boys in his section and so they had a fourth of the pool to themselves to gather eggs. Kamryn's had a bunch of kids in her group. The parents had to go in the pool with them and so it was full.

Jared collected a bunch of eggs and had a great time. While they were collecting their eggs I was visiting with a cute girl from Uintah whose brother was in Jared's group. I met the rest of her family after the dive. What a great family. The girl and her mom both complimented me and made me feel good. I appreciate nice people.

Everyone had to turn their eggs in and they got prizes. I thought this was a great idea. I know I liked it because it was so different. I am glad that Kevin told us about it!

The Easter Egg Dive was the beginning of a very busy day. After the hunt I went to a bridal shower for Maggie Malone. Next we had the Baptism of my darling niece Mallory Ropelato. I love Baptisms! After the baptism we got things ready for Kimi's big Birthday Party! It was a success and she was very happy! I am glad because she had been planning it since last year! I was exhausted by the end of the night! It was all good though. I actually like these kind of days! (every once in awhile!)

Movie and Dinner

I decided since this week has been so exhausting that I would check Kimi and Jared out of school a little early and take them to the movie for Kimleighel's birthday! It was a good choice. We went and saw "The Hunger Games". The kids really enjoyed it and so did I. I am glad that I did that for them. I love these last two kids of mine. They are much harder but still such joys!

Kimleighel chose to go to The Golden Corral for her birthday dinner. I won't lie I was missing Tepanyaki's. (she has chosen Tepanyaki's the last three years) It was funny too see her choice of food....mac & cheese was the main thing I saw~I know there was jello too. Oh Kimi is a silly girl for sure!

I love our tradition of taking the Birthday Child out for dinner. I love spending that little bit of time with the Birthday Child. I love my kids birthdays! I always reminisce and try to remember every little wonderful thing. I know that's impossible but I can remember a bunch and it always makes me smile and so happy.

Kimleighel is growing up so nice. I think she is a beautiful young lady. Kimi has had her fair share of struggles and is working her way through them. She's really quite amazing! I love being her mom! (at least in this life.....I think Kimi is the real mom in heaven......or should be)

I LOVE KIMLEIGHEL!

Sweet 16

How can this be? Kimi is 16 years old today! My how the time has flown. I remember how happy our family was when we found out we were going to have another little girl. I remember I was the only mom at the hospital having a healthy baby that day. There were two other moms giving birth to still borns. :( I knew both those ladies and my heart was so sad for them. I remember Kimi being hard and crying a lot. But during those times I was just grateful we had her....that I was the lucky mom.

It's been fun watching our Kimleighel grow up. She is a talented child. She was born to dance! Since Kimi could walk she has also danced. It's just something inside her. She is so observant. She watches people and can tell alot about them through just watching. She has an ear for music. Last year she learned to play the Cello and the Piano. She is good at both. She hears the parts in music and can identify the instruments.

She is a determined soul. It really bothers her that she has a hard time with some learning. She likes to figure things out for herself. She is a problem solver and very independent. (I like that)

Kimi is a great kid. We've all learned a lot from having her in our family. She loves her family and especially her little nieces and nephews. We all love her!

Cupcakes 4 Kimi's Birthday

The Grands knew that Kimi's birthday was coming up and so they thought it would be a good idea if we made cupcakes......spider cupcakes to be exact! (have no idea where that idea came from...silly kids)

We wanted to do it on a day that all the grands could come and so we did it the day before Kimi's birthday. It was fun having the grands over. They all got into making their cupcakes. It was messy but really fun.

Ivy thought bunnies would be better since Easter is coming up! I think a few of the other grands caught onto that idea too and made their own bunnies. Some of the grands just used as much as possible to decorate their cupcake. It made me laugh out loud! So stinkin cute these little ones are.

It ended up being a fun night at Gramma's House. After the cupcakes were decorated the kids played with each other. I love seeing my grands enjoy each other. They all get along so well and there is lots of love shown! Oh....I LOVE them all so much!

By the time the night was over I had cleaned cupcake and frosting off the floor a few times. Wiped faces and hands and laughed and smile quite a bit! Oh I LOVE the grands!

Being a mom has always been my dream come true but being a gramma is something extra special! It has to be experienced because it's impossible to explain.I love their faces! I love their voices! I love how they express themselves! I love how they love each other! I love how they think! I love how they laugh! I love how creative they are! I love how kind they are! I love how helpful they are! I love how amazing they are! I love how stinkin cute they are! I love that they belong to me!

I love that Heavenly Father blesses me so much! (I must have done something good!) My heart smiles just thinking of my kids and grands....Oh Happy Heart!