"Life Is Lemons": February 2011

Friday, February 18, 2011

Valentines on a PhD Budget

Happy Valentine's Day! This our Valentine from Max...so sweet. I had to post this just to show off his handwriting...it's amazing. Keep in mind, he's only in kindergarten. His teacher spent a lot of time on "model writing" and it really paid off. Max is a perfectionist when it comes to his penmanship, it causes problems in school sometimes because he doesn't finish his tasks in a timely manner. Oh, well...I think it's impressive.

This next picture if of the Valentines Cambrie made for her class. They turned out so great. She used a box of conversation hearts and some rolos to make these Valentine iPods...her friends LOVED them!

I know we will look back on our memories and our life during George's PhD program, and we will miss simplicity. Valentine's Day called for a bit of creativity this year and it was a hit! The kids and I decided to prepare a "fancy" dinner to surprise George with when he got home.

Here you see Drew and Mitchell waiting anxiously for George's car so they could warn the rest of us to get ready...

The kids helped make decorations for the table. They made a "Love Lamp" by cutting out hearts, writing things they love about each member of the family, and hanging them by the light with strings.

Cambrie made name tags for each plate and a "I love to..." game to play while we were eating dinner.

For dinner the menu included potato cheese soup, pink homemade bread, salad, holiday raspberry slush, and strawberry shortcake for dessert...

I dressed up in my finest before George got home, and Drew is the only one who jumped on board with me. He put his suit on and welcomed George as he came through the door.

This was definitely a memorable Valentine's Day for us. The kids had so much fun getting this dinner ready and I have to say that it truly was an enjoyable evening with LOVE, LOVE, LOVE in the air :)

Friday, February 11, 2011

Happy 11th Birthday Brie!

Cambrie turned 11 years old on Tuesday. I can't believe it. I actually got emotional this year on her birthday, 11 seems really grown up to me. I told her about the morning she was born and how happy Joel and I were. It was truly the happiest time of our lives together. Cambrie was the most pleasant child, always smiling and happy, people were drawn to her. Here are a few pictures of her through the years (unfortunately I don't have any before she was 4...that was before digital camera life for us!).

This next picture is of her birthday this year...opening presents.

Her cake. She asked for a red velvet cake this year...

For some reason I can't ever remember to get candles. Four candles wasn't the magic number but she didn't complain...

Yeah, you can tell it's the end of the day...check out how ragged we both look. Just proof that it was a successful birthday with a lot of preparation on my part and a lot of smiles on hers.

Cambrie got a cell phone this year for her birthday. It was a huge surprise for her because we told her she had to wait until she was twelve. Not so much, she has had so much fun with it!

Happy Birthday Cambrie! Please stay innocent, kind, compassionate, loving, funny, smart, sensitive, and little. Please!

We love you.

Tender Mercies

Everyone has a story: life experiences that have either strengthened us or made us weaker and have defined who we really are. Our story is no different; George and I were both married previously to very wonderful people who changed our lives and helped us become who we are. We each suffered a tremendous loss when our spouses (Joel and Summer) died of cancer leaving us with an unfinished story of the lives we had imagined. Through the grief, loneliness, suffering, and pain we both realized that our stories were being revised and that Summer and Joel were helping in that process.

George and I met in March of 2007. We dated for a year and it was a wonderful year full of compassion, empathy, healing, and love. My dad often talks about the tender mercies of the Lord and we both know that our lives have been touched by these tender mercies in ways we never dreamed possible.

We were married on March 1, 2008 in the Salt Lake Temple. The new revisions in our story may seem complicated but to us it's rather simple. Our kids know how much we love each other and are so happy to be a complete famiy again. They also know that "daddy Joel" and "mommy Summer" are a big part of our lives and that families are eternal and we will see them again someday. George and I often joke that "we are blessed....we think!," but the truth is we have been blessed beyond measure. We've had our trials and there are still sad days but we have each other to lean on. We now have someone to share things with--it feels so good to love again!