From 12 to 52 Yahoo!

I met these two when I was in 7th grade!  We have always been great friends and are now family we choose for ourselves.  What a wonderful thing to have.....such great life long friends.  We grew up together, had kids together, and are now gramma's together.  Time goes by so fast!  Our memories together are many and fun.  It's still a lot of fun making more memories together.  I sure do love Mallory & Kathy.....and I know they love me too. (sounds like a child's testimony)  It's always fun to celebrate our birthdays.  We like to meet at Applebee's since that's kind of middle ground for all of us.  I love getting together with these two....I never tire of them!  We set another lunch date in 2 weeks!  Mallory and I use to meet every Monday up until a few years ago...now we get together every few months. I love my friend Mal and Kathy our other pal.

Birthday Lunch

One of the fun things about my birthday is going to lunch with my friends!  I love going to lunch with my friends.  I love taking them to lunch on their birthdays!  I just love Birthdays and Friends.  Lunch is just a good excuse to visit and enjoy each other.  Today I chose to go to Red Robins.  I love their Whiskey BBQ Chicken Wraps.  I love Crystal and Kellie more!

Kellie and Crystal both build me up and make me want to be better.  I admire and learn so much from each of these wonderful ladies.  I am glad that they want to spend time with me too.  I am very thankful for Crystal and Kellie!

Happy Birthday to US!

♪♫•*♥One year older and a lot of fuss.....Happy Birthday to US!♥*•♫♪  I love having my birthday just before my sisters.  We always celebrate together and it's fun.  My dear parents bring everything for the party to my house and we have a great time together! (bless their hearts)

The older kids pitch in and bring food too....thus there is always so much food!  It's yummy and filling!

I love seeing everyone together!  I love visiting with my sister and her kids and seeing her grands play with my grands.  My heart is always full and smiling when we are together!

I didn't take as many pics this year and noticed I didn't have pictures of my boys!  I did get a cute one with my older girls though.  Have I ever mentioned how much I love my girls and how much each of them teach me?  Well it's true they all do!  Each one texted me on my Birthday and made my day brighter.  I am very blessed to have such wonderful kids....including the ones that marry into our family.  I love them all so much!

We ate and visited and enjoyed each other for hours.  When Shannie was leaving she noticed all the grands in Natalie and Justin's vehicle.  We went out to  get them out and I just laughed.  The girls were all seat belted in their spots and the two little boys were running around the back.  We're just glad they didn't try starting the car since the keys were inside still.  I hope the grands remember some of the cute things they do together and are making happy memories!  

Family Time is the Best Time!  I sure do LOVE MY FAMILY!!!

The Story of Ed Week.....

I absolutely love Education Week!  Heather (Clark) Joy introduced me to this wonderful program many, many years ago. (I remember taking Jaydan as a baby)  What a blessing it has been in my life.  I always learn so much!  My testimony is always strengthened and I always feel better about myself.  The topics I have been drawn to have changed over the years.....because I have changed.  I started out going to self esteem and parenting classes.  Now I go to more classes that build me spiritually.  This year the main topics I was drawn to were on the Atonement, the Sacrament, and Repentance.  All of which intertwine and go together. My first three classes were all I needed.  In those three classes I had plenty to work on.  I continued following them the next few days.  Right off the bat in one of the first classes I had the strongest "feeling" of the Love Our Heavenly Father has for me.....Dawn Ropelato.  It was awesome and appreciated!

The morning of my birthday (Saturday) the first class I went to was Heartbound and they sang Happy Birthday to me!  I couldn't help but smile!  I also received many texts throughout the day that also brightened my day for me!

It has been said that this could be the last year of Education Week in Idaho. :(  I am very sad about that since I really like the campus there.  It's so nice and there aren't people everywhere like in Provo at Ed Week. (I don't really care for crowds)  I have enjoyed going over the years and appreciate my family for allowing that in my life.

One of the things I also love is being with my friends and being crazy and laughing.  Not being responsible is so much fun and we really take advantage of the time we have while we're away.  We laugh a lot but we also share our testimonies with each other and teach each other.  It's quite wonderful.

Since I would be in Idaho again for my birthday I decided months ago to take crowns and sucker rings for all the ladies.  We are Princesses forever....no matter what age we are!  I also shared one of my childhood treats with them.  I got on line and ordered Honey Comb in the form of a Candy Bar.  It taste exactly as I remembered as a child......yummmmm!!!  We went out to dinner one night and again for lunch on my birthday to celebrate it!  I like celebrating Birthdays....especially mine!

I just want to mention a few funny things about our room events this year.  The first night I woke up sure I was a Popsicle.   We all prefer a COLD room and it sure was.  I was really glad I brought my blanket Tonya had made me.....it was needed and appreciated.  I believe it was the second night I woke up to an
"explosion"!!! Scared me at first until I realized one of the ladies was relieving herself while she slept.  It happened a few times and if awards were being given for such behavior....this friend of mine would have won it!  I have never heard such loud, explosive, long........... (you know what I'm talking about)  I got the giggles.  I covered my heard in the blankets and just shook from giggling.  I had to really work at not giggling because I didn't want to wake my bed partner up.  It was so funny and it was mentioned the next day.  I wasn't going to say a word but someone else brought it up and good for her that she did because I had really thought it was her. Hahaha Good Times!

I was welcomed home with a Bouquet of Balloons tied to my car.  The house was clean and my family was home. (the ones that live here) Jaydan, Kimi and Jared all gave me the memory page they made for me.  I love the memory pages.  They had a mint-chocolate cake that was moist and yummy waiting for me too.  It was so nice to come home to all of that.  Larry took me to dinner and since neither of us were very hungry I chose Zupa's.  It was a wonderful Birthday in every way! (Larry had asked me earlier what I wanted for my birthday and I chose to have him pay for my Blog Book for 2011....which came last week!)

I am thankful for all the many things I am able to do.  For the people that surround and bless my life!  I am thankful for My Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ!

Ed Week & My birthday! (pics only)

Chococo Salad....... (I made it up)

Today at lunch I had this "brilliant" idea for a Salad.  A salad with Chocolate and Coconut.....I call it the Chococo Salad!  It's a healthier way to enjoy Chocolate.  (I know I said I didn't care about healthy and I still don't but some people do)

To make this Fabulous Salad you will need: Greens of your choice.  (I used Spinach & a Variety Mix) Mounds and/or Almond Joy (I used one of each bar) Chocolate and Coconut Syrup and fruit if you desire.  I liked how the fruit brightened the salad as well as add to its deliciousness.

 Mix the greens and put on a plate.  Cut the candy bars and put over the top.  Then drizzle the chocolate and the coconut syrups over the top.  You can eat like this or add some fruit.  I thought the pineapple was a good choice with the coconut and the berries made it look better and was wonderful too.

It tasted yummy!  I am feeling pretty good about my creativity today.  I bet we will see a salad similar to this one day.  I use to order "melted cheese" on my fries and that was before Cheese Fries. (I didn't get credit for that but I should have)

Yummmmm!  Be brave and give this a try.....it really is yummy!  Larry and Kimi both tried it and they liked it!  Of course I liked it.....it's Chocolate and Sweet!