Dancing Queen

McKenna had a dance recital Friday night at Eastlight theater. Her cousins Tristan and Desi were also in it and all three did a fantastic job! McKenna was in two dances, Tristan was in a tumbling routine and Desi danced later on. Great job girls!

This was in the parking lot before she went in. This was her outfit for "A Spoonful of Sugar" (the pink crocs aren't part of the ensemble haha!).

This was after her second dance "I Pledge Allegiance"




"A Spoonful of Sugar"


After with me and my mom, with flowers from her Nana Karen and pink roses from us

My Mom

Just taking a moment on this Mother's Day to appreciate my Mom. Amazing that someone just 4'11" tall and is 80-some-odd pounds is indeed the strongest person I know. She has overcome more in her life than most of us ever have to face. In fact, if I had been challenged with even a fraction of what she has had thrown at her, I would have buckled under the pressure. But not her.
She dealt with polio at age 5. Then the diagnosis that she would never walk again. Then years of physical therapy and training her legs to walk in a new way, using different muscles. Spent her childhood having surgery after surgery. Had two C-sections. Worked. Only took 1/2 hour lunches, eating a sandwich from home rather than spending money on a restaraunt lunch. Dealt with her daughter's lovely teenage years. Deals with MS with dignity and stubbornness. Handled losing the love of her life. Even though she deals with pain and illness on a daily basis, if I so much as sneeze or mention a headache, she is much more worried about me than herself.
I hope that when I am a mom, I have the same elements of compassion, grace, stubbornness, priorities, and most of all love, that she has.
Happy Mothers Day to my mom and to all of the moms, grandmas, aunts, sisters, and moms-to-be!

It's Morel Season!!!

It's time for Morel Mushrooms again! This season was delayed a bit by the weather (normally it's long over by May) but the wait was well worth it! Jeff went turkey hunting yesterday morning and decided to look for mushrooms while he was out. He ended up finding about 5 lbs including this whopper in the picture (the quarter is there for size reference). While it's certainly not a record setter it is the biggest one he's ever found. So tonight we feast! Can't wait to get the little gems all breaded and fried... mmmmm.....

Maternity photos with Sonya

Yesterday my friend Sonya had a maternity photo shoot (photo shoot, that sounds professional doesn't it? Ha ha!) and it was a LOT of fun! Sonya, her husband Greg, and their baby boy are great subjects to work with. It was so easy taking photos of them, I could have snapped pics all day long. Here are just a few of my favorite shots. Enjoy and thanks to Sonya for letting me share!

Jonah is 3!

Jonah actually turned 3 on the 15th but I kept forgetting to bring my camera in to download pictures until today. He loves dinosaurs and so he had a dinosaur themed party complete with dinosaur decorations and even dinosaur noses that you could wear (that I didn't get a picture of, of course).

Here is the birthday boy with his dinosaur cake!

He got lots of dinosaur gifts! Here is a dinosaur puzzle!

A dinosaur backpack for school!

His very last present was this awesome remote control dinosaur! This guy could do everything!
He could walk around, sit up, roar, eat (he belches after eating..), and sleep (he starts snoring after a minute). It was the hit of the party!

Happy Birthday JoJo! It sure has been a lot of fun being your aunt! Love you bunches!

Photo Tag

Charity tagged me to do a picture post and since I LOVE taking pictures, this is the best kind of tag! Here are the instructions...

1. Go to Document/pictures
2. Sixth file folder
3. Post sixth picture
4. Blog about it.
5. Tag 6 others.






This was taken at Johnston Lake near Banff, Alberta, Canada. It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. The glacial water was a gorgeous blue/green and since we were there in October, the aspen trees had started turning a bright, sunny yellow which contrasted with the deep green pine trees. The Canadian Rockies are AMAZING and I hope to be able to visit them again someday.

Since I don't really have a blogging family or community that I belong to I don't really have anyone to tag :( But I hope you enjoyed my photo post. It was nice being able to revisit Johnston Lake for a few moments ;)

Melina is 4!!!

Sunday was Melina's 4th birthday! A Tinkerbell party fit for a princess was held and we had lots of fun! It has been wonderful watching her grow and learn these past four years. It sure seems like it's flying by!

The Birthday Girl!

Blowing out the #4 candle on her Tinkerbell cake!

Her new princess scooter!

Getting the hang of her new princess roller skates!