Happy Birthday Jacque

Our oldest daughter celebrated her 22nd birthday today!!  I am always learning about this sweet daughter of mine.  Did you know she loves to go to Cost-Co?  She hates to spend money, doesn't like her picture taken, and she loves to eat left-overs.  And don't ever put an Oreo in front of her....she'll inhale the thing!!
So, let me tell you about how Jacque spent her birthday.  I took her shopping to her favorite store and we swapped roles.  I wanted to buy a beautiful dress for her birthday/graduation and she didn't want to spend the money.  The nice lady helping us just looked at us bewildered and asked....."Um....aren't you two suppose to be in opposite roles?"  It was quite hilarious.
This morning, Jacque indulged her mom and had Matt snap some graduation pictures for me, we met for lunch and went shopping at Cost-Co.  W-A-Y too much fun, if you ask me!
She wanted to "whip up" an pasta dish for her birthday dinner. This was the best part of the day. Jenny came over early, and with Jacque, Lexy, Aly, and myself, we made quite a fantastic dinner for everyone.

Spaghetti with beef, smoked almonds and basil/tomato sauce

Afterwards, we just had fun watching old movies and playing a good hand of Mormon Bridge.  Spending time with her family - it's what Jacque is all about.  She has a tender heart that expands with every member of her family.  She is the ultimate people pleaser - that is what truly makes her happy - helping others and making sure they are taken care of.  She is about to graduate from ASU from the Nursing Program (taking care of others) - and make her own way in the big world.  I am so proud of her accomplishments, her determination, her love for life, and her desire to always do her best.

How I love this daughter of mine!  She is a blessing to our family and I enjoy every minute we spend together.  Being a mom is easy and I treasure our relationship. She has truly taught me how to love unconditionally and to reach out to others.  She makes it looks  so easy!! 

Dinner "guests"

Beautiful daughters - sisters - best of friends

Newest member of adopted Weech family - Lexy

Shoes and spices...what else does a girl need?

(BTW- yes, she got the dress!!)

LOVE YOU Jacque!!

Easter Festivities

We celebrated Easter with our wonderful family.  It can't get any better than that.  I also planned a little Easter program for the Primary and there was such a sweet spirit present.  Each week, I pray that those little children (some not so little) will feel the spirit and recognize those feelings.  This is such a crucial time in their lives - developing a knowledge that our Savior loves each one of them - no matter what they do, no matter what their circumstances are - they are loved!!  It went well, and again, my family were all there supporting my efforts.  How I love my family!!

After church we tried to have our bi-annual family pictures.  We didn't quite get everyone - but we did our best. 

(Brad feeling left out!)

How I love to capture the silliness of our family.  My girls are always a little crazy, but oh so beautiful!!

Afterwards, we headed over to Grammy/Grampy's home for an Easter Egg Family Hunt.  This year we had a mini hunt for the smallest cousins.  They thought that was the best!

Then, the big hunt begins. Only our Grammy would think to hide Florida Quarters in each of the eggs!! Why Florida quarters?? Because this guy is leaving for his mission to Florida in a little over one month!

Grammy thinks of everything!

Big kids help little kids.  Candy is swapped and nibbled on before dinner and all have a good time.  We enjoyed a wonderful dinner and afterwards...we all waddled around and relaxed.

I have reflected on the peace and contentment being with family brings.  I'm sure up in heaven, it was an hundred-fold and more.  When we experience moments like these today, we can glimpse the love and hope that our Heavenly Father has for us and His great desire for us to return "home".  How He loved us!  The greatest love, the greatest sacrifice - for us to return home.  My blessings are all around me.  But I will always acknowledge why I have those blessings.  A song in Primary expresses my thoughts the best:

"Hosanna, Blessed be the name of the Most High God!  Hosanna!"

Yes, I CAN Keep a Secret!!

Anyone who knows me can agree that keeping fun, silly secrets is very, very hard for me.  It's a breeze to keep the serious secrets, but the Christmas/Birthday presents/surprise type of secret is just not that easy.  Especially with Jacque.  She can tell you story after story about me and how I either ruin a surprise inadvertently, or because I'm just too excited to keep it in for one more second.  I don't know when this started...maybe in my youth....when I always had to find the secret hiding places for Christmas presents my mom and dad would so carefully hide from young, prying eyes!
Anyways....Lexy, Aly, and Kade wanted to throw a surprise birthday party for Jacque.  We decided on a date, a locked surprise facebook account was created and the secrets started to fly....more like little white lies, but what the heck....we were going to pull it off!
So, first of all, I needed to go shopping at the good ol' Cost-Co...which, by the way, is Jacque's favorite store.  She wants to go with me...so I say:  "I have to pick up a bunch of food for a scout thingy on Saturday and an Easter program for Primary".  She happily helps me pick out some yummy food and has absolutely no idea it is really for her birthday party.
Then, I decide that I need to clean "early" so I don't have to clean the day before Easter.  Jacque agrees to help....for her birthday party.  Yes, I'm a terrible mom.
Aly takes her out for dinner.  Savannah cooks all her wonderful little goodies (of course they are all for my make-believe Scout activity).  All her friends come over.  They come home for a little break before the "movie" and Jade is here.  Jacque rushes in to see her....and chases Brad holding Jade down the hall...and this is what happens:

Oh....by the way....when she is hiding behind the wall...she is really giving Aly a good slap or two for tricking her!!  We had a lot of fun and I am happy to say I actually kept a secret from this beautiful daughter of mine!!

Happy Birthday, Savannah!!

It's birthday time in our house and our "oldest" is celebrating another wonderful day.  We love this girl!

We have had fun getting to know her and the love she has for others.  I can't tell you how many times she is cooking up something for someone...just because she knows they need a "pick-me-up" or a thank-you or a "just thinking of you" something.  She knows how to cheer up anyone!  She loves her family and it shows!

We really feel blessed to have both Savannah and Aaron living with us right now.  As they continue to search for a home, we have the pleasure of having their expertise in cooking (Savannah is the queen of desserts!) and computer help (I don't need to remind anyone how amazing Aaron is....and this IS about Savannah!)
Another thing I love about Savannah is her zany humor.  She has a special way of making us laugh....even if it is at ourselves. 

So many times, when I am at church, I have a friend stop me in the hall and tell me how much they "LOVE" Savannah.  They love the confidence she has, her zest for life is evident in everything she does, and she is always willing to help.  I couldn't agree more!!  I feel blessed to have Savannah as a daughter!
We love you Savannah!!
Happy Birthday!!

It Takes a Village

You know the saying:  "It takes a village to raise a child"?  Well, I have learned over the last 4 weeks, it also takes a family to get "Mom" thru college!
Most know that I am taking 2 classes a semester to finally get my college education.  I have found that 2 classes is a good fit with my other responsibilities as a mom, a wife, and a Primary leader.  But, I needed to take a one-credit class for some of my required credits.  How hard can a one-credit class be??  It was on the Arizona Constitution, it was only going to be 4 weeks, the textbook was small and easy to read, it was an on-line class....an easy A!
For the last 4 weeks, I have been swamped with homework.  This class was insane!!  Quizzes, tests with 5 essay questions on each, and a 5 page/10 slide PowerPoint presentation.  Let me share with you some of the questions...
"Describe the 3 levels of jurisdiction in Arizona.  Explain what courts make up each level and create an example of the type of case that could be heard by each court."
OK....so with Brad giving me examples, and Aaron critiquing my answers, I was able to answer this "simple" questions....1 1/2 pages of typing!
Here's another:
"Describe how the process of 'initiative' works.  Be sure to discuss both normal laws and constitutional amendments.  As part of your explanation, create one example of a possible initiative".  CRIMINEY!!!

That wasn't all.  In this same time period, Aly had to present her Honor's Project (Spanish presentation), Jacque was finishing up an 88-page assignment, and I also had to present my informative speech - which was 1/3 of my grade.  Talk about a stressful time.  It was ALOT of fun around here, let me tell you!!!

Here are some of the high-points of the last 4 weeks:
Aly had a near perfect presentation!!
My crazy professor liked my writing and had good things to say.  Here's a sample and I put it in this blog so that my posterity knows I had to work my .............. off......and with all that hard work....sometimes it pays off!!!!
"Dena, do I even need to say 'fantastic work'?  It is my pleasure to give you full points.  If you are writing a paper for the final, I look forward to reading it".
Yes, I wrote a paper and yes.....I received an "A"!! (There was a little pressure on that also!!)
My speech only had a couple of hiccups and everything went well.
Jacque finished up her main classes, worked in the Maricopa County PICU, and is about 2 weeks from graduating from ASU.
Jacque snuck in one more trip to SnowBowl for a last huh-rah AND got her hair colored by one of her friends...it looked fantastic.

JADE came over!!!
She is growing so fast...and we love every new personality trait she develops.  Who couldn't smile looking at her??

Temples, Snowboarding, and....Urgent Care?

That about sums up our Spring Break.  The "Big Plan" was to go up to Utah and watch our nephew, Charlie, compete in DanceSport (more on that), be a part of another nephew's wedding (more to come), drop the girls off at the ski resorts and go to at least 3 temples.  THAT was the plan.....
However, as all know, sometimes plans change.  Sometimes life throws a curve ball and it's up to us to decide how we will react to those changes.

Aly and I left for Utah with Grammy on Thursday.  Spent the evening with Pam and her family.  The next day we all headed to Provo to watch Charlie compete in some pretty amazing dances.  VERY impressed!  We became very educated in the fine art of the "smooth" and "Latin" dancing.  We got pretty good at guessing who would end up in the finals.  It was a very fun day.  (Go to THIS SITE for all the pictures!) Aly and I left a little early to meet up with those who had traveled up on Friday morning - Brad, Grandma, the DeSpains, and Karges's.  On the way to our hotel, I remembered a famous pizza place that was very popular "back in my days at BYU" and thought it would be fun to see if it was still there and get some delicious pizza.  Boy - did that bring back ALOT of memories!!

We were able to go to the Provo Temple for a session as it was Harmony's first time.  That was very, very nice!

Saturday, we drove to Salt Lake, where it was nice and chilly and we were able to be a part of Kevin and Harmony's beautiful day.  I spent the afternoon at DanceSport with Grammy and Pam, and Aly went to Pam's house where she and Bry invaded the arcades and made a killing!
 

Sunday morning, Grandma and Brad flew home and Jacque flew into Salt Lake City.  We spent the Sabbath with Pam and her family and were treated to an amazing dinner with lots of yummy "appetizers".  We've decided that we want to eat there EVERY Sunday!!

In the evening, we headed up to Park City, where the girls were going to try and become experts at snowboarding.  I was going to spend my free time reading, shopping and had planned to go to 3 different temples on Tuesday.  By now, however, the 'small tickle' in the back of my throat has turned into a cough.  Not to be discouraged or thrown off our spring-break-plans, we enjoyed the beautiful drive up the canyon and were very surprised at the convenience of our hotel. 
Monday, my 'cough' is much worse and it looks like I will be spending the day in the hotel room curled up in many blankets.  The girls were off first thing in the morning!

Let's just say I didn't get to any temples while in Utah.  I was really sad about this, but instead spent some time reading and trying to enjoy the quiet of each day.  Tuesday, the girls were joined by Kade and some of his missionary buddies, and Justin and Nick who were teaching up at the Canyons' Resort. It was a good day of skiing .

By Wednesday, the girls were ready to come home and I was very, very sick.  Our plane didn't leave until late that evening, so we crashed at Pam's.  This is basically what I did for spring break:

It was a little discouraging realizing that I didn't get much accomplished this past week.  I've decided that I like to be productive and I do NOT like much on TV.  Even with the Food Network channel, it's a bit much after so many days!
On the positive side - because there is always a good to go along with the not-so-good:
We were able to spend some wonderful time with members of our family on both sides.  Aly and Jacque were able to fine-tune their snowboarding skills, and they were able to take good care of their mother.  While in Park City, I received a blessing from two worthy priesthood holders.  For this I'm so grateful.  I slept thru the night peacefully and was able to return home without coughing too much on the plane.  I was able to spend time reading my scriptures without any interruptions and felt the spirit strengthen my testimony and felt my faith grow.  Came home to wonderful family who had everything ready for me to relax and begin the healing process.
Maybe Spring Break wasn't what I had planned, but who knows...maybe it's just what we all needed!