Christmas 2011

This year, I got Lee a remote control helicopter. He knew he was getting it, since he picked it out, but I made him act surprised anyway :)

While flying it, he had a crash landing resulting in some minor damage. Luckily, replacement parts are cheap so it will be as good as new in no time.

 I also got him some new games for his PS3

Here are Syd & Kota opening their present

Don't be fooled by our surprised look either. We knew we were getting it since we picked it out so this is completely staged :)

Here's a more sincere picture.

Lee got me a bunch of new Willow Tree figurines and a couple cute plaques. I love them!

My sisters and I went in on this beautiful picture of the St. George Temple for my parents. They want to retire down there, so in the mean time they can enjoy looking at it now.

My Dad surprised my Mom with an Antique sewing machine he got off e-bay. He had to print her a picture because it was a last minute thing he decided to get her. He's so sweet!

We got my parents Boxer-opoly, since they have 2 Boxers :)

Here we are doing facetime with my Sister and her kids. It was fun to able to see them and the gifts that Santa brought them. We also did a video chat with Lindsay while she opened her gifts.

Even though we didn't have all the family together this year, it was a good Christmas. I'm so glad to have all that I have and I'm so very blessed.

Vegas

Last month we went to vegas with Adam & Shelly. Adam signed up to do a 60 mile bike race so we went to support him. We really don't need an excuse to go to Vegas, but that was a good reason :)

Adam wanted to drive the course so I took some scenery photos.

I love the red rocks against the blue sky

You gotta have your picture taken with the huge slot machine :)

The Statue of Liberty made out of Jelly Belly's

These last few pictures are the view from our Hotel room

Quilting Projects

Back in April I started a new quilt project. I got it all finished and sent it off to have it quilted. It took 2 months to get it back, so I'm excited to finally have it done. I think it turned out really cute.

I've started another quilt, which is being made out of Minky and Denim Circles. It will take awhile to finish, but with no deadline, that's OK. So far I only have this one row done. Hopefully I can start working on it again after we move and get somewhat settled again. I'm really excited to see the end result of this one :)

On top of that, I'm doing another quilt class with my Mom, and Shelly that will take a year long. We won't know what it will look like until they unveil it at the end of the class right before we assemble it all. All we know is that it is a Halloween theme.

My Poor Kota

A couple years ago Kota broke his foot. They had to put pins in 2 of the bones in his tiny paw. Well lately, although he runs around just fine, he's been yelping when jumping down off the bed or the couch. It got to the point where he has stopped jumping down, and barks for us to come and get him. We took him to the vet and he thought that maybe the pins were slipping or just bothering him so that it would be best to take those pins out. So we scheduled him for surgery a few days later.

I'm always so nervous when my dogs don't feel good. They are so helpless and don't understand why things are happening to them. I dropped him off and worried all day long waiting for the Dr. to call and tell me everything went well and that he was OK. Well, that's not exactly what happened. Because the pins are so small, the Dr. was unable to find them to pull them out. He said he dug around in his foot for a half hour and was afraid that if he kept going, it would cause more damage than good. All he could do was close his foot, wrap it up and send him home.

I was so sad that we put him through all that for nothing. My poor baby was so sad that night, still recovering from the anesthesia. Even though he's getting around OK, he's doing it on 3 legs. I called the vet today and they instructed me to take the bandages off to see if he will start using his foot without them. I'm so nervous he's going to hit it on something and hurt himself while he is healing. He has to go back in about a week to have the staples removed. I really hope his foot heals and that it won't continue to cause him pain.

The Harrison Family

Check out some pictures from my latest photo shoot here!

In Loving Memory of Judy Ann Hill

Lee's Mom passed away on June 8th, 2011. Before she passed we were able to go to Michigan and see her one last time. The first day we got there she was coherent enough to know that we were there with her, but after they placed her into hospice, she was pretty much incoherent. She was placed on Hospice on May 25th and the Dr.'s gave her only hours to days but she fought and held on for 2 more weeks. Lee and I came home, because we didn't know how long it would take, and it was so hard waiting day to day for that phone call. It was almost a relief when we finally did get that call because we had the peace of knowing that she was no longer suffering.

While we were visiting her, it gave Lee's family the opportunity to all be together. They haven't all been together since his Dad died in 2005.  It was so nice to be able to see everyone again, even though it wasn't under the best circumstances. 

This is Lee with his Uncle Dave, His brothers Fred & Rob, and his sister Nan. (missing from this picture is Lee's brother Darrell)

Here we are with Lee's Uncle Dave and his wife Becky

Fred with his cute boys Aaron & Elliot

Lee with Fred's wife Becky

She was buried on such a beautiful day. The sun was shining and the skies were blue. She was buried in the national cemetery in Holly Michigan with Lee's Dad Al. That cemetery is so beautiful and is such a peaceful place.

 Lee called his Mom almost every weekend. I know there will be times where he finds himself reaching for the phone to call her and then have the painful reminder that he can't. We will miss her, but we are so thankful to have the knowledge of eternal families and know that we will see her and Lee's Dad again. We are thankful they have been reunited.

I'm full of Gratitude and Love

I came across a blog today, that has really opened my eyes. It's about a young pregnant Wife and Mother who passed away suddenly, due to some heart problems, leaving behind a husband and 3 small children. The child she was pregnant with also died during that tramatic day. I don't even know these people, but I found myself crying reading her husbands tribute to her and how much he will miss her. It made me realize the blessings that I have in this world that I take for granted much to often.


I have the greatest husband in the world, who is so good to me. He is the hardest worker and will bend over backwards to help somebody out. He has a tender heart and tells me he loves me multiple times a day, every day. Lee, I LOVE YOU! My life wouldn't be complete without you, and I'm so thankful I get to spend eternity with you.


I have brother's and sisters who love and support me. Even though the brothers are through marriage, they are my brothers, who I know would do anything for me, Adam & Kolby, I LOVE YOU! My 3 sisters who I am so blessed to have in my life, Shelly, Alison and Lindsay. I LOVE YOU!


I have nieces and nephews. Even though I don't see most of you that often, I am so proud of all of you! AJ, Michael, Jaxson, Emma, Elizabeth, Jacob, Aaron, Elliot, Jennifer, Lewis & Amy. I LOVE YOU!


I have wonderful parents who have been there for me always. Mom & Dad. I LOVE YOU!


I've had the blessing of being raised with Grandparents, and even the blessing of knowing my Great Grandpa, who have now all passed on, but I will always have great memories of all of them. Grandpa Brady, Grandma & Grandpa Nielsen, Grandma & Grandpa Hansen. I LOVE YOU!

My wonderful in laws, who have accepted me into their family. Al & Judy, Fred & Becky, Darrell, Rob, Nan & Mark. I LOVE YOU!


I'm thankful to all my friends. I LOVE YOU!


Even though this sounds silly, I have to include them because they are my babies. They have filled a hole in my heart where a child should be. Syd, Maggie, & Kota, I LOVE YOU!


I am so blessed to have the knowledge of eternal families. I am blessed to have each and every one of you in my life and I'm thankful for you every day.

Summer Time is Picture Time!

Summer is coming, which makes the perfect time to have some family pictures taken. I would love the opportunity so if you or anyone you know wants some pictures taken, please contact me, or refer a friend. I will go to the location of your choice, take lots of pictures and give you a disk with all the edited pictures. You can take that disk anywhere and have as many prints you want in any size you want. If you want to see some of my work, check out my blog at here. I hope to hear from you soon!

My Ephiphanie Bag!

I was surfing on facebook one day, and saw on someones status about a cute camera bag they had found. I looked at the website and really liked what I saw. I told my friend about it at work, and showed her a picture of it, and she then showed me a different bag on her friends blog. I fell in love with this bag, but there was no information about it on the blog. My friend told me she would ask her friend about it and get the info to me. Well, I was to impatient, so I googled for camera purses and clicked through some pictures and I found it! It is an Ephiphanie bag, and I just had to have one. I instantly knew that's what I wanted for my Birthday, so I gave Lee the info and he ordered it!

I have been like a little kid waiting for Christmas to come, waiting for this bag. I got an e-mail stating that my order was delayed by almost 3 weeks! The good thing about that is the fact that they gave me 20% off which was cool, but I just couldn't stand it! I really wanted this bag to hurry up and get here.


It finally showed up, and I can't tell you how excited I was. Even though my birthday isn't for a month, Lee let me have it now :) So...Here it is, My Ephiphanie Bag! Isn't it beautiful? The inside is PINK!!! Did I mention that I LOVE THIS BAG!!! It will be perfect to fit both my cameras and my wallet and other things for traveling, which isn't to often right now, so while I'm not traveling, I can take out all the dividers and use it as a purse.

New Quilt Project

Here is a piece from my most recent project. I have 8 different fabrics, and I need to applique 2 quarter circles to 96 squares. when it is finished it will be a patterned polka dot quilt. It will be so cute when it's done. This quilt has no deadline. It's something I will work on whenever I want, or if it's slow at work. 


Next month I will be starting another quilt class with my Mom and my sister Shelly. That will be similar to the last quilt I made, where we have a month to do 4 squares, and it takes a year to finish. I have been told it is a Halloween theme, but we won't know what it looks like until a year from now when we get final instructions on how to piece all of our squares together.


I hope I don't go crazy trying to work on 2 quilts at the same time :)

Easter 2011

This year we celebrated Easter on Saturday, since we all had different church time on Sunday. Here we all are getting ready to eat our delicious meal. Don't ask me what is wrong with my family. Adam looks scared, AJ can't wait to eat, Lee looks bored, Shelly look suspicious of something, and the other 3 look like they are laughing, but I have no idea why. Either way, we all had a yummy dinner and enjoyed each others company.

This is a Reese's Peanut Butter Ice-Cream Cake that I made. It was so good! I already have some other ideas of what other candies I want to try. It's a good thing we have some Birthday's coming up :)