Princess Abby Ga-Ga

On June 25th we got to wish our Princess Abby (Lady Ga Ga) a Happy 21st Birthday!! In the midst of all the excitement of her 21st birthday finally being here... we all get the sad news that Farrah Fawcett has passed away from cancer. We knew it was coming, just not on our Abby's birthday.


Then as the day of fun & celebrating progressed... shocking news of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson dies too! ... again, not on our Abby's birthday!

So.... needless to say, we will always remember when & where we were when these two celebrities passed away.





Back to Celebrating Abby!!

Here is just a little taste of what having Abby as a daughter has been like over the years:


Sweet as pie- this sweetheart has never ever been mean to anyone. She is always the peace maker and would do anything to make things easier for anyone. She would give the shirt off her back to help someone in need.

Smart as a whip- we are so proud of her. She know's what she wants and she is going for it. She is on her way to getting into the Masters program at BYU in accounting.


Suzie Homemaker- she is an amazing cook. Her specialty is desserts, salads and her home made bread. It wouldn't be a get together without having Abby's home made bread.

She has a 'Great Personality' - no, she's not fat and has a "sweet spirit" =0) ha ha ... she is truly a blast to be around & has a fabulous sense of humor. She is up on the 'one liners' our family uses from funny shows & we can dialogue for hours just on silly one liners...she is a crack up!!

Hard Working- she is always working and going to school. When she takes time off, she is traveling & seeing the world before she settles down someday (SMART- *see Smart as a whip!!) She works hard & plays hard. She is dependable, loyal & honest. She is always the one to offer help at a party or family get together. She is such a blessing to us.

Best Friend- she will take time out of her crazy schedule to go to Jordan or Hayden's games, programs or whatever they ask her to come to. She has taken each of them snowboarding & spent the whole day with each one of them individually. How many 20 year olds do you know that would do that? She is so sweet and such a good example of how to treat your family & be self-less. (wow! I am getting teary....)

Pretty as a princess- yes, Abby is beautiful!! She is as pretty on the inside as she is on the outside. What you see is what you get with Abby. She is the all around perfect package. Some lucky guy is going to be in heaven when he gets to spend the rest of his life with this truly amazing young woman.

Happy Birthday Princess!!

Love, Dad and Cindy
(pause blog music before opening Smile Box)

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Stuck In A Rut

Doug & I took our kids, Jake, Abby, Jordan & Hayden to the Widow Maker hill climb today to watch VP of Smith's, Kenny Kimball, make it up over this enormous mountain. I never thought I would enjoy watching a bunch of crazy guys try to climb a ridiculously straight up & down mountain on dirt bikes, but I did!! Every time one of them would start, you would tense up, in hopes that he would make it to the top. I even felt myself rocking a bit, trying to help them up & over... A few of them ended with motorcycle & rider tumbling down the mountain but most of them got 'stuck in the rut'.

Every time a rider would go up the mountain, they would spin out at a certain point & could not go any further... ending the race for that rider and causing a deep rut for the next rider. The next rider would go up & get caught in the same rut... and so on & so forth.
As I sat there watching rider after rider try to go around the rut & end up making another rut further up the mountain, I pondered.... there in the hot scorching sun, I pondered...

We ALL get stuck in a rut... we try to go around it & get a little further ahead, then make another rut further up our mountain of so-called "life". Sometimes we try so hard to get further ahead & we tumble down the mountain, shamelessly dust ourselves off & try again to get out of the rut we've placed ourselves in. I've never really seen what getting "stuck in a rut" looked like until today. I was ever so enlightened! ha ha

Needless to say, several crazy riders got over the top and it was fascinating to watch. We all had a great time and it was fun to spend time with Jake and Abby.

Waking up every morning with "Squidward"

Yes, you are probably wondering, "what is she talking about?" Well, we live on a dead end road and there is a "farm" next to our house that is facing my bedroom. I wake to the most gawd aweful sound every morning... BAAAAAA BAAAAA (in the deepest most annoying voice ever... think of Squidward on Sponge Bob Squarepants, the one that looks like he has man-junk for a nose... ;0)

As I lay there and ponder whether to get up or not, I drift off into deep thought, I wonder if that is what I sound like to God when I whine? We are known as His sheep and we hear His voice, the Shepherd.... the visual is "lambs". He hears our prayers and let's be honest... we whine sometimes. BAAAA BAAAAAA.... and then, as I am pulling myself out of my deep thought process, I remember, He loves every living thing... especially me, 'cuz I'm His little girl! (even if I WHINE, HE LOVES ME!!) YEAH!!! .... =0)

Hawaii Trip- Cross one off the ol' Bucket List!!

Larilyn gave us all a warm Hawaiian welcome... we all got a lei

Beautiful Hawaii.... Aloha!!


Dr. Nelson & his wife Amy took all his staff to Hawaii

Signature Smiles Staff at Polynesian Cultural Center

Brittney and Cindy at the PCC


Dinner at Haleiwa Joe's for crab & lobster with Dr & Amy

Golfed the world class course at Turtle Bay


Dr. Nelson and Doug golfing Turtle Bay

Saw actual Sea Turtles on the North Shore at Turtle Bay!!

North Shore on O'ahu


Giovanni's Shrimp truck for lunch!!

Shrimp Scampi platter... to die for


Brittney & Rikki fulfilling their dream...

Brittney & Rikki's dream of reliving a moment on "Friends" where they buried Joey in the sand. Dr. Nelson helped make that dream come true for them!

Amy and her Mer-MAN!!


getting ready to hike up Diamond Head!!

at the top of Diamond Head

Hamaena Bay, getting ready to go snorkel


got to witness Rikki's first Tiffany purchase!!

Doug and Cindy at Pearl Harbor


The wall of those who lost their lives at Pearl Harbor

a beautiful Hawaiian sunset....

Thank you to Dr. Nelson and Amy for making my Hawaiian dream come true! We had the best time. We also went parasailing, but I don't have the pictures yet... they are on someone else's camera. I now have the bug to go deep sea diving....

What an amazing world underwater!! God is so creative and awesome!! I just got a little taste of what the ocean holds. It fascinates me... so, I think I will add scuba diving to the ol' bucket list and go get certified.... look out world, here I come... =0)

It's a BOY!!

For my Mother's Day gift this year, I got a darling card from Lenzi & Ben and a one way ticket to Vegas the day before the long awaited ultrasound appointment we have all been waiting for!! We get to find out the sex of the baby!! We were crossing our fingers for a little girl, since Lenzi and I are surrounded by boys... but, after seeing our little guy covering his face wih his hands and then finding his mouth and sucking on his fingers... we forgot what we wanted and just wanted to hold him NOW!! He is so adorable. He was wiggling and kicking, we kept asking Lenzi if she could "feel that". She couldn't, her placenta is in front of her stomach so she will not be able to feel the baby for a while... =(

That afternoon, we all traveled back by car to SLC. We spent the weekend together... Lenzi and I, of course, went baby shopping.... found the cutest bedding at Babinski's in Foot Hill Village. After looking at how much everything costs, my reaction is OH BOY!!

PRESS PLAY

This is him sucking on his fingers!! (I am gritting my teeth, he is so cute!!)

Thank you for being a friend...

I have had the privledge of meeting my friends for lunch/breakfast lately. We have made an honest effort to get together & what a blessing it is for me. It is so fun to see everyone & have some one on one time. Life seems to go so fast & we forget to take time to STOP & smell the roses... or taste the coffee in our case!! ha ha (my boss calls it "the devils juice!!" as he sips his coca cola... hmmm)
Here are some pictures of us getting together the past few months. I also want to give a shout out to Jonelle for her surprise visits to church & her April (not so) Fools text message!! =0)

I love each one of you... like my children, in my own "special" way!! Each one of you touches my heart in different ways. All together, I am a very blessed gal!! P.S. I also have several old friends I really want to get together with too & catch up!! (thank you Face Book!!)

The Bucket List

After watching the movie The"Bucket List" I have decided to do my own. There are several things I want to do & accomplish before I "kick the bucket"...

Doug decided to do the bucket list with me. Here is a list we WILL work on:

DOUG'S LIST

Golf at August GA , Pebble Beach, St. Andrews & TPC at Sawgrass

See the Space Shuttle take off

Go to Hawaii

Go on a cruise with Cindy & enjoy it

Shoot an elk (not with a camera...)

Catch a King Salmon on the Kenai River, Alaska (I will go with him to see ALASKA

Win the Lottery

CINDY'S LIST
Compassion trip to Africa

Travel to Hawaii & pick something off a tree.... =0)

New York, Alaska.... (Okay, all 50 states is my goal....)

Become a jogger & actually run in a marathon, goal to = finish

Learn to play the guitar

Go on a cruise with Doug & enjoy it

Helicopter ride

Scuba Dive

Hot Air Balloon ride

Visit Israel where Jesus walked

Final activity & most important: BE READY to spend eternity with my JESUS!!