My Mom - 70 Amazing Years

My amazing Mom celebrated her 70th birthday today. Her birthday has had me thinking back over the life I have gotten to share with this woman I call Mom. Mom, by definition means “female parent”, but any mom knows that is the lamest definition EVER. It can be the most unappreciated job that you can’t quit or walk out on! I will only share the definition of my Mom, and it is HARDLY exhaustive. I hope you get a glimpse of the amazing woman that I get the privilege of calling “Mom”.
• Cook – She is a great cook and not just supper. She cooked breakfast every morning for her family. I am so thankful for all the breakfasts she stood & made.
• Chauffeur – She got me to every Girl Scout meeting, every ballet class, every soccer game, & t-ball practice and that is just me. She had three children!! I would love to know the miles we put on that white station wagon.
• Spiritual Advisor – She raised her family on a foundation of faith. She wanted all of us to know & love the Lord.
• Professional Mover – My Mom moved us more times then I can count. She made sure we all knew how to pack a box so things would not be broken. We made two cross country moves with no breakage!  You taught us well Mom!
• Wise Business Woman – My earliest memories are in my parent’s upholstery shop that was behind our home in Ohio. Weaving in & out of fabrics & playing with tacks….ouch! She is an incredible business woman that always knew what to do & when to do it.
• “Single Parent” – My folks have been married over 45 years, but there were stretches of time that my Dad would be in another state finding work. The 80’s were not the best years. Many plants shut down, which we experienced not once, but twice. So Mom stayed behind sold homes, packed boxes, disciplined children, ran a home by herself! She amazes me!
• Cheerleader – Mom ingrained in us that there wasn’t anything we couldn’t do. We weren’t even allowed to use the word can’t in our home growing up. She would say “you can do anything you put your mind to”. I even got in trouble with a nun when I corrected her when she told me I couldn’t do something.
• Servant – I cannot ever remember a time my Mom hasn’t served. She has served her parents, her family, at church, at work & co-workers, her children’s schools & activities, neighbors, strangers, the homeless …….She is a beautiful example of servant-hood. We served as a family our entire life. I cherish the memories of serving together. A virtue that I treasure & want to pass on to my own family.
• Tenacious – She never gave up on me. I was quite a handful to raise. I really gave her a run for her money. I gave her a ton of heartbreak & disappointments, yet she always believed in me.
• Thoughtful – She constantly amazes me with how thoughtful & caring she is to everyone around her. As her daughter, she was always there with 2 weeks worth of food & tons of diapers when I brought babies home from the hospital. She always picks up the cutest things for you with “I thought of you when I saw this.” Always giving!!!!
• Biggest Inspiration – Now having children of my own & seeing my characteristics coming out of them, I am even more appreciative to my parents. My Hopie is so much like me when I was little. My parents have had the “you will get through this” talk with me several times! I find a peace in the fact that I am still alive & they didn’t kill me; also, that they survived raising me. They have some pretty fabulous stories of “getting through it”! So I too, know that by God’s grace I will get through this whole parenting thing!

This is a glimpse of the gift I have been given by my Mom. I would count it a blessing to be told, “You turned out to be like your Mom!”

Happy Birthday Mom ~ I love you so very much!

Your Daughter,
Elizabeth

Hume Bound for Birthdays

We are always looking for a reason or excuse to head to Hume Lake.  It is our "Happiest Place On Earth"!  So our latest excuse to head to the hills was to celebrate the twins birthday, covered wagon style!  Hume was having their Country Fair Weekend.  Wagons, in Wagon Train, were available for families to stay in for the weekend.  So what better way to celebrate your 6th birthday then in a covered wagon!  We were all excited!  So we celebrated!

Papa & Luke - one handsome pair!



Our birthday Girls!



Abbie



That boy trust sure trusts his Papa!



Our Hope




Present time - fishing poles!



Trying out the new poles

Time to hit the lake

Those two must be livin' right! :)



Keri & Abbie taking a dip



Oh my ~ sometimes I am at a loss for words! ;-P




Hope braves the water



Mama takes a goofy picture hanging off the back of the boat!





One of these would come in handy at home!

8 years of fun & Hope

Today my baby girl turned 8! She is the one we call "Fabulous" & for good reason! That is the adjective that rolls off my lips in all sorts of circumstances we find ourselves with Hopie. So we are celebrating this girl’s life & that she still has it! She has had some close calls. Living life to the fullest comes at a price! I am so thankful for my Hope! She is my daily dose of lovin’. That girl can hug & kiss on ya like no other! Brace yourself when you see her comin’ at ya with one of those “Abshire” hugs! Yeah, she is her Mama in soooo many ways. My parents have assured me that they survived, as I will! They sure do enjoy the laugh at the pay back I am getting’ for what I did to them. All I can say is I am in for it!!!! So here are some pictures from my FABULOUS Hope’s birthday celebration.
She helped Mama with the cupcakes!

This is the birthday crew getting ready for pizza, of course!

We are girls, we have to do nails!!!

And get our groove on with Juast Dance!

Oh yeah, one handsome little devil was allowed!

Ssssshhhhh.......It's a surprise!

If you have hung around this blog for any amount of time you know that there is an old cowboy that I (Elizabeth) am quiet fond of. Well that cowboy, Ben, turned 80 this year. I wanted to do something special for my buddy's birthday. So another buddy of mine, Steve, and I had been planning a surprise birthday party for Ben for over a year. Ben would not take kindly to the idea of throwing him a birthday party so it was a “Top Secret” operation. Yeah, you try to pull that off with a child like my Hope around. So I made sure to keep real quiet about anything having to do with the party, in hopes we could pull this thing off! I can’t believe we were able to do it, but we did. Ben thought he was attending Steve & Sara’s anniversary party. He walked up carrying his covered dish for the party. Ha! It was too funny to watch his expression as he figured out that it was his party, filled with lots of old friends & family. Family even flew in from other states to make it to this Critter’s party! We served over 100 people that evening. It was an absolute blast!

Here is a collage of pictures from that evening.


Here is a link to the entire party:
Ben's 80th

Cowboy wisdom: Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.

Abbie's 10th Birthday

Celebrating 10 years of my daughter's beautiful life.

She is a precious treasure to me.

Hopie surprises her with breakfast in bed.

Bestest Sisters Ever!

Abbie had a few friends from school over for a dance party.

The girls got to make their own pizzas.

Mama went easy this year ~ thanks Rosie's Cookies!

Abbie loved her birthday!

She is a jewel! Her spirit is so tender!

Abbie & Ellie ~ Adventures in Friendship

Today was a day that took me way back. Back to when I was thirteen and got my ears pierced. Ellie, Abbie's girlfriend, turned ten on Wednesday and was allowed to get her ears pierced. Yes, this caused much whining in my home, due to the fact that Abbie will be thirteen (like Mama) when she gets her ears pierced. We were invited to the inaugural ear piercing. It was too fun. Abbie & I were just giddy going through Claire's Boutique looking at all the girly-girl stuff. Mind you, Abbie is my "Bling-Bling" girl. Mama's heart was touched watching Abbie & Ellie being such "girls"....giggling, trying things on, and dragging each other around. Then Abbie announces that we must purchase this 2-part necklace to bring strength & comfort to the nervous feelings of her best friend. You know the necklaces..."best" on one piece & "friend" on the other piece.

So the comfort purchase was made

and happily received by both girls.
Now to commence the era of pierced ears, Ellie must pick her earrings that she wants permanently attached to her ears, for the REST of her life.....nah, just six weeks! With this important decision comes instructions for theses new fixtures in her ears.

All is still good up to this point but the nerves are starting to set in.

Claire's is so sweet to provide a stuffed teddy bear for moments just like these.
Cold feet were vastly approaching. With her options placed before her, a pep talk from Auntie Liz, which included a pinch to simulate the pain, Ellie bravely chose her course of action. She was getting her ears pierced. I will spare you the pictures, for they were not the most flattering of Ellie or my girlfriend, Amy. A "good" girlfriend knows not to post unflattering pictures. The end result remains the same. Ellie proudly bore her newly pierced ears for the whole world to take note of.

Happy Birthday our sweet Ellie.

*Note ~ this was a good experience for Abbie to watch. I haven't heard one complaint about her not getting her ears pierced. It does help that they make magnetic earrings for those terrible mothers like me!

Elizabeth's Birthday

Having a birthday the day after Christmas can stink. You are tired, it has been crazy. You probably have traveled Christmas day and are pooped. You are maybe even a little tired of "celebrating". You just want to rest and figure out how all these new things work that you got for Christmas. So, yeah, it can be a stinky day to have a birthday. How do I know this.......my birthday lands on the day after Christmas. It causes problems for my family who "just saw me yesterday". I use to get gifts or cakes decorated with poinsettias. Heck, I went 18 monthes without a birthday one time. We decided to have my birthday in June instead on December. I had to call everybody on June 26 and nobody remembered. I give up!

Then I got married.............
My man understood my birthday and has always made it special. I get my favorite breakfast and the royal treatment for my birthday. This year though my man did GOOD! He surprised me with a Kindle, which is a fabulous gift if you are a reader. It goes perfectly with my Slanket that I absolutely love! I personally choose to wear my Slanket like an oversized robe ~ wrapped around me and all the way over my feet to keep them warm! (Because having cold feet is just wrong!) I love my Kindle & my Slanket! He did good.
Then as if that weren't enough, he took me skeet shooting at his Mom's. He borrowed a 20 guage to see if I would like it better than our 12 guage. I had a blast. I found I liked the 20 guage better and wasn't near as sore the next day. I was a regualr Annie Oakley that day. Well maybe not really, but I had a lot of fun! I got to see this sight ~ which I could handle EVERY day!

Baby Girl (in the middle) is retiring out at the ranch.

Baby Girl and I have had some fabulous rides together.

I got to spend the day with my wonderful family!

And do one of my favorite things....shoot skeet with my man!
Okay, I know I am not in the photos but
someone had to capture the day!

I loved this picture at the end of the day!
The other favorite thing about my birthday is looking forward to "Birthday Dinner". Rob's birthday is the 30th so we always head to dinner in between our birthdays to celebrate. I love this dinner out with our best friends. I look forward to it all year. Keri got her buddy a gift card for her new Kindle - she is the best! Happy times!

A Splash of Hope

Kayanna Hope has loved celebrating her birthday this year. She is so full of life & animation, you crack up just watching her sometimes. Her final celebration was with her buddies at a local splash park. These splash parks are fabulous! Free, safe, and FUN, a Mama's dream. We had so much fun.

Happy Birthday Hopie!

Kayanna Hope's Birthday

Our "spice of life" turned 7 today! She has been so excited for her birthday this year. It has been fun to watch her. She got exactly what she wanted, thanks to her Papa. She got a "My Generation" doll. She squealed when she opened it.
She got to celebrate her birthday a few times this year; with us at home, then up in Frazier Park with our family, then at the splash park with her friends (pictures coming on this one). She is someone to celebrate for numerous reasons, wink!

Birthday Boy

It is hard to believe our baby boy turned two today. We have had so much fun with this little guy. He has been such a joy. Don't misunderstand me, he is two! But as I tucked him in bed tonight I looked up at his pictures above his bed of the day he was born and we have loved these past two years. He adds such blessing to our home & family. Here is the day with the Birthday Boy!

Abbie's Slumber Party

Last night was Abbie's BIG slumber party. She has been very excited for this party since February. She is a planner! The night was to consist of pizza, making sundaes, movies, & peanut butter popcorn. It was very fun. All the girls had a great time. Papa & I played a different role at this party then we ever have. The only title that kept coming to my mind was a "concierge". We were there to help with anything but otherwise we were not needed. It is kinda sad. Music was blasting from the girl's bedroom and ten girls were jumping around & dancing. They all crashed out around 10:30. It was everything Abbie had hoped for. She has said several times since the party how much fun she had. Our Princess turned 9! That is crazy. Here are some shots from the big event.