Flash Back Friday - 1987

I was 6 years old. I am wearing a sweater and skirt bought in Ireland by my Grandma & Grandpa Vallieres. This was one of my favorite outfits for church when I was little. I still have it, packed away in my hope chest.

Thursday Thoughts

While I'm glad that Aurora is growing up, I find myself missing the time when she was a baby.

New Cell #'s

Just wanted to let you know that Robert and I had to get a new cell phone carrier and unfortunately had to change our numbers. If you didn't get the e-mail I sent out and would like mine or Robert's new #'s just e-mail me at culaparker at yahoo dot com and I'll give it to you.

Birthday Fun!

The day didn't go exactly as planned since the kids were sick. We had to ditch half of our plans for the day, but it was still a lot of fun. We started Aurora's Birthday with pancakes shaped like 2's.

We decided to watch her favorite movie, Cinderella. I know..... it's not Sleeping Beauty, but at least it's not Snow White. Then it was time for lunch. We had "2" shaped grilled cheese sandwiches and fruit salad.

Then it was nap time, and then we played more and had dinner. We had Aurora's favorite meal; lasagna, corn, salad and garlic bread.

Then it was time for dessert. Cupcakes and Grandpa Sugar's Homemade Rootbeer Ice Cream.

It was a fun day! I love celebrating the kids birthday's, and can't wait for her party this weekend.

2 Years

Today, our adorable Princess Aurora Janell Isabelle turns two. I can't believe how long it's been, it seems like just yesterday that she joined our Family. She has brought so much joy and happiness into our lives, especially since she was born the day after Hayden. We have a fun day planned, I'll post again tonight.

6 Years Ago...

I gave birth to a perfect little boy. I can't believe it's been that long ago; my sweet Hayden Andrew would be 6 today. He is our reason for living and we think about him everyday. We love being with him at his grave site, and wish that we could see him more, but 800 miles tends to keep us apart more than we'd like.

I often wonder what Heavenly Father saw in me that made him think I could handle being a Mother to a perfect child. I know that in the beginning I blamed myself for his death but as the years have passed I have found it easier to cope with and I am now just starting to understand Heavenly Father's reason for taking Hayden away from us. He needed him more than we did, and I know that he is in Heaven watching out for us and keeping us all safe. I know that he is being well taken care of by my Grandma and Robert's Aunt Gwen. I count myself lucky to be his Mother, and know that we will be together again.

It helps that Sage & Aurora know who Hayden is and that we do talk about him every chance we get. They love to visit their brother and bring him presents. We take balloons, cars/trucks, flowers and anything we see that makes us think of him. We can't wait to be with him again, we are all anxiously awaiting the day when we can all laugh and play together.

This year we started a new tradition. We did it yesterday, since it would have meant spending money on Sunday. We decided that we would have a Family Day filled with fun, lunch and dinner out and then we would send him balloons for how many years old he is, so today we sent him 6 balloons. We attached a little note the the strings and we all signed it then the kids sent them floating off to Heaven for Hayden. Sage says... "Mommy, the balloons are going up to the sky for Hayden cause he's with Jesus. I miss Hayden Mommy". It makes me feel so good inside to hear him say those things about his big brother. Hopefully, Aurora will say those things soon too.

My friend just had a baby boy, and named her Son after Hayden. I feel so honored that she chose that name for her son, and cannot wait to meet him next week. We've decided that next year we are bringing Hayden down here to San Diego so we can be closer to him and visit whenever we want. I hope this year passes fast.

Flash Back Friday - 1981

Today I am taking you back to the year I was born, 1981. This is the to my Mom's Baby Shower for me that her friends threw for her. I don't know what happened to the bottom left corner, but it's gone. I didn't know that people did baby showers after a baby was born, I always thought they were supposed to be before the baby came.

Thursday Thoughts

Today's Thought:

Why as adults is there still Drama in our lives, and why do some adult's love to cause it??? It's driving me crazy!

Grandma's Chair

My Mom got a new chair for Christmas and it finally came this week. Robert went to go pick it up last night. As soon as he got it in the door the kids ran and jumped into it. I had to pry them out of it to go to bed last night and this is where I found Sage this morning when I woke up, I think they miss you. Mom.... good luck getting them out of it.

You've Got A Friend In Me...

Anyone who knows Sage, knows that he's obsessed with Toy Story and Toy Story 2. Lately he's been acting it out to the letter. Last week he came to me with a pair of scissors and asked me to cut Woody's arm off so we could fix it, just like Andy does in the movie. I promptly told him that I would not cut Woody's arm off. Well..... after pestering me about for 3 days he finally took matters into his own hands.

He then proceeded to cry hysterically and asked me to fix Woody. I was in the middle of fixing lunch and told him and would have to wait until after school that day. As soon as we walked in the door from school that afternoon, he immediately ran to Woody and said " It's okay Woody, I'm here, Mommy will fix you!". It was soooo sweet, how could I not fix Woody?

Sage and Woody together again!

Awesome Headbands

I just love this woman and her blog! She is always offering great giveaway's! Today's giveaway is an fabulous headband from Tucker Blair. Click HERE to check out the giveaway.

YW Lesson 5 & 6

I have a couple of questions for you all. Have I mentioned how much I love the Young Women in our Ward? Have I mentioned how much I love creating fabulous handouts?

I decided to combine Lessons 5 & 6 because 5 is very short and because they were both about finding joy. The lesson went really well, and the girls are quick to answer questions for me, I love it! For today's handout I made these super cute candy bar packages. I printed the image off onto regular printer paper and made it into this awesome wrapper with an Almond "Joy" inside.

To assemble them a just used a strip of sticky strip across the end and wrapped it together, then adhered some more sticky strip to the ends and crimped them to give them that candy bar wrapper look. The girls LOVED them! They were tons of fun to make.

Giveaway Alert!!!

I found this great giveaway from Custom Blog Designs. I just love her site! She uses digital scrap booking to create awesome blog designs, each one if different and unique and I really want to win her contest!

Giveaway Alert!!!

I just discovered another awesome giveaway for a custom blog design, check it out HERE!

Flash Back Friday - 1982

This picture was taken in 1982 at my Grandma and Grandpa Bigler's House. That's my Brother Joey holding me. Sage and Aurora call them Grandma Sugar and Grandpa M&M's.

My Grandma passed away 2 weeks after Aurora was born but she knows who she is and loves to see pictures of her. My Grandpa has this awesome candy machine filled with M&M's and Sage and Aurora always have to have M&M's when we go see him. I'm so glad that my children have a good relationship with my Grandparent's, and love to spend time with them.

Thursday Thoughts

I've decided to take a page from the Mama Sparkles Blog and start a weekly theme for Thursday's. I'll be sharing a thought that has come to my mind. It could be anything from the kids to my husband to being a wife, mother or daughter or whatever. Today's thought is:

I love my Mother so much, I am truly spoiled to have her with me. I guess it's only fair that I share her with my brother's from time to time. When she's gone I really do miss her.

Giveawat Alert #2!

Oh my gosh, I love a good giveaway and this is it! Check out the Giveaway Addicted Mommy Blog for the chance to win a Slanket!

Go!!! Horsey, Go!!!!

The kids were running all over the house Sunday morning and this is one the pictures I was able to snap of the craziness. Aurora was jumping up and down on Sage saying " Go!!! Horsey, Go!!!!". It's a good thing that they're both SO adorable.

Cheeseburger Velveeta Mac

As I looked at my Calendar full of menu's yesterday, nothing on it sounded at all appetizing. So I browsed the Internet and landed on the Kraft Food & Family website and started searching by ingredient.

Here's the recipe.

1 lb. hamburger

2 3/4 C. water

1/3 C. ketchup

1 tsp. onion powder

2 cups (8oz.) uncooked elbow macaroni (i used rigatoni)

1/2 lb. (8oz.) Velveeta Cheese, cubed

Brown meat in skillet and drain. Add water, ketchup and onion powder; mix well. Bring to a boil. Stir in pasta. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover. Simmer 8-10 minutes or until pasta is tender. Stir in Velveeta; cook until melted.

Giveaway Alert!!!

I found this great blog today! It's called Giveaway Addicted Mommy. She is always hosting giveaway's and they are great ones! Her latest one is for a pair of See Kai Run shoes!- check it out HERE.

Aurora the Goof!

I was scrolling through some pictures this morning for a project I'm working on and came across this picture.


Aurora crawled up into my lap and said "Look Mommy, it's Booties!"

YW Lesson #4

I was recently called back into Young Women's after being in Primary for 2 years. I never thought I'd miss the teenagers but, after teaching my first lesson yesterday all the love I have for these girls just came flooding back and made me an emotional mess.

I LOVE teaching the girls, and love the relationship I have with them. Most of these girls I've known since they were born. I taught most of them when they were Sunbeams in Primary.

I plan on posting my handouts, hoping that it will help someone. This weeks lesson was on Seeking the Companionship of the Holy Ghost. The Scripture on the card talks about the Holy Ghost letting you know what's right in your mind and your heart and dwell in your heart, so I packaged some Conversation Hearts in a cello bag and attached the tag, which would be great for the girls to keep in their Scriptures.

Flash Back Friday - 1988

Today we're going back to 1988. I was in 2nd Grade, Mrs. Grimes was my teacher and she was AWESOME!!! I wore this black dress everywhere I went. I remember my mom washing it at night, so I could wear it again and again.

Cheesecake Factory!

Robert and I went out for our Anniversary this week. It was nice to get away just the two of us to a restaurant. We received a gift card for Christmas (Thanks Joey, Amy & Adelle!) to The Cheesecake Factory. Robert and I LOVE The Cheesecake Factory!!!!!!

I took some pictures of our food, minus Robert's California Cheese Steak Sandwich (he dug right in). I actually ventured away from my most favorite Parmesan Crusted Chicken and had the Three Cheese Pasta, it was FABULOUS!!!!!!

Then for Dessert Robert & I had the Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake. It is Chocolate Heaven on a plate.

We had a great night. Thanks Mom for babysitting, and to Joey, Amy & Adelle for the gift card!!!

Addictions

I was tagged by Amber. Here it goes.

5 Addictions

1. SU!- As if you didn't know this all ready.
2. Television- Robert and I love t.v. and DVR at least 15 tv shows
3. Perfume- I have a dozen different perfumes and wear each and everyone of them depending on my mood, even if I'm just going to an SU! meeting or the grocery store.
4. Lipgloss- I have to have it on all the time, I don't feel girly if I don't have it.
5. Coke-a-Cola- I have to have at least one a day, otherwise I get BAD migraines.

**NOW I TAG: Marissa, Diane, Amy V. & Angie

Seven Years!

Seven years ago today Robert and I were Sealed in the San Diego Temple. Looking back I can't believe that it's been seven years already! Our Marriage has been full of happiness and I can't imagine being without him. We have had sadness, but it has only brought us closer together and made us stronger! The loss of Bryton and Hayden, shook us to the core and certainly tested our marriage, but we've come out of it stronger.

Then with the addition of Sage and Aurora our lives became more blessed. We love our lives here in San Diego, and can't imagine our lives being any better. Robert is truly my knight in shining armor and I am grateful that I found him. Here's to Eternity!

Day at the Zoo

We were given some zoo passes that had to be used by the 31st, so Robert and I took the kids to the Zoo. It's been 3 years since I've been there and now I remember why, I'm not a fan of all the hills, but it was still tons of fun seeing the kids reactions to all the animals.

Sage and Aurora in front of the Zoo while waiting for Robert to find a parking spot.

Aurora feeding the goats in the Children's Zoo.

Sage feeding the goats. I think that was his favorite part aside from the Monkey's. Aurora's favorite animal was the Lions.

Sage and Aurora posing as a Caterpillar and butterfly.

Sage on the Sky Fari ride. He had so much fun, and insisted that we go on it. He made me really nervous when he'd look out over the sides, because I'm the paranoid Mom that I am, I made him hold my hands while he did it.

All in all it was a good day, and we all had fun! Aurora has recently started to outgrow her naps so most importantly it tired the kids out and they fell asleep at 6pm.