Grandpa Joe

This last weekend Jon and I got to go to Utah to say farewell to one amazing man. Joseph Stanley. Grandpa Joe was one wonderful man. He put no one and no thing above his wife and family. Family meant everything to him. From the moment I joined the family 5 years ago He has loved me and expressed his happiness of my joining the family. I remember when I was pregnant, every time i saw him he would say to me, "You better be twice that size the next time i see you!Nothing more beautiful then pregnant women!" He could always make me smile, whether it was from something inappropriate he would say :-) Or just sweet things.

One time I was at a crazy busy Stanley Family Christmas party, and there were children running around screaming and giggling and playing and tons of chatter and noise. Grandpa Joe came and sat next to me, put his hand on mine and said, "Do you hear that?" and i thought to myself, "hear what i cant even hear myself thing because it is so chaotic in here." and he said to me, "There is nothing so wonderful as the sounds of children playing and having your family all around you."

He made such an amazing impact on my short amount of time knowing him. He was quite a character and an amazing strength and inspiration to all who knew him. He was a giving and loving person who always wanted to help anyone who needed it. He was Christ-like and just flat out amazing.

He was loved by all, but especially by me. I will miss him terribly but know that he is in a better place and that he is finally free of the troubles of his physical body.

RIP Grandpa Joe please watch over us as we go on without you.

Tomorrow is ALWAYS fresh, with no mistakes....

Words of wisdom from Anne of Green Gables. Words of wisdom i would do to remember alot of the time and to help me stop fretting over everything.

Feathers......

A woman was gossiping with her friend about a man whom they hardly knew. That night she had a dream: A great hand appeared over her and pointed down at her. She was immediately seized with an overwhelming sense of guilt. The next day she went to confession. She asked for the old parish priest, Father O'Rourke. She told him the whole thing, "Is gossiping a sin?" she asked, "Was that God's almighty hand pointing down at me? Should I ask for absolution? Father have i done something wrong?" "YES!" Father O'Rourke said, "You blamed false witness upon your neighbor! You should be heartily ashamed" So the woman said she was ashamed and asked for forgiveness. "Not So Fast!" Said Father O'Rourke, "I want you to go home, take a pillow to your roof, cut it open with a knife, and then come back here to me" So the woman went home and did what she was told, She took her pillow to the roof and cut it open. Then she went back to the old parish priest, as he had instructed. "Did you cut the pillow with the knife?" he says, "Yes, father." "And what was the result?" "Feathers." "Feathers?" he repeated. "Feathers everywhere father." "Now go back and gather up every last feather that was carried out on the wind." "Well," she said "It cant be done. I dont know where they went, the wind took them all over!" "And that" said Father O'Rourke "IS GOSSIP!"

More Holiness Give Me

More Holiness give me, More strivings within.

More patience in suffering, More sorrow for sin.

More faith in my savior, More sense of his care.

More joy in his service, More purpose in prayer.

More gratitude give me, More trust in the lord.

More pride in his glory, More hope in his word.

More tears for his sorrows, More pain at his grief,

More meekness in trials, More praise for relief.

More purity give me, More strength to O'er come

More freedom from earth stains, More longing for home.

More fit for his kingdom, More useful I'd be,

More blessed and Holy, More savior like thee.

do you need to FORGIVE?

My Good Friends

So i just had to write a little blog about my awesome friends Alicia and Jessica!!! They are truly the best!!! They came into my life by being my visiting teacher and have turned into so much more! They are always there when i need someone to talk to, and during the rough times in life! Alicia is always sharing her wonderful garden treasures and Jessica is always there for me to bring treats too. (I know im bad girls. I always bring you treats. :-) ) They never care if i meltdown in the middle of a conversation or if i start yelling at my kids when they are over. lol. They are always good for a chat or a walk or a crazy playdate!!! I love them so much and im so glad to have them in my life!!!!

Sorry ladies i stole a few pics from your profiles!!! :0)

ANNOYED!

WARNING/DISCLAIMER: This is a Post about my frustrations with people and the new Immigration law

Okay, so SB 1070 was passed. And everyone is making Arizonans out to be redneck racist looking to throw everyone out of the country. And its really starting to annoy/tick me off.

Everyone is being so ignorant. People think that the law is basically cops being able to go:

"Look that looks like a mexican lets pull them over!"

"Oh look that looks like one too! Lets pull them over!"

When in actuallity it is NOTHING like that,.

FIRST OF ALL there must be reasonable suspicion that there is a NON IMMIGRATION LAW being broken before an officer can even ask about their immigration status.

So basically if you arent Illegal and if you arent doing anything wrong or illegal itself the you have NOTHING to worry about! So its got nothing to do with anyone being racist. Its no different than an officer pulling someone over for speeding and then giving them a sobriety test because they think they might be under the influence. This law just like every other law is in place to inforce the rules!

Rules mind you that juts about any other foreign country has. Numerous people living in foreign countries wether it be for Missions or Tourism or work can be arrested or deported at anytime if they dont have their visas or paperwork in order or even with them. So our country is just barely starting to impliment the laws that everywhere else around the world have already had in motion for some time!!!!

Arrgh! So everyone stop whining and complaining about it already! Its already a law! So just deal with it and abide by it just like every other law that we are recquired to obey!

Sorry I dont normally post ranting blogs but this had just gotten to me to the point that i wanted to scream!

This will probably be the only ranting post as i use my blog normally to just update family and friends on the happenings of my family. :-)

Spring Chick Cake Balls

Thanks to www.bakerella.com i decided to make these delcious treats known as cake balls.

I took these ingredients and made the most delicious and sugar filled treats. First i took the Cake mix and made.....

.... baked them into cupcakes and then....

...crumbled them and mixed them iwth the frosting and turned them into...

......into cake balls
which i then dipped into white chocolate chips with food coloring!

a flock of blue chicks

a blue one

a pink one

The finished product

Spring/Summer

Here are some of our Spring/ Summer time activities that we have been doing over the last few months. :-)

My Sister in law and my niece and nephews came over to fly kites!

Since it isnt normally windy enough in Arizona to fly kites so we enjoyed the little time we had. :-)

I told the girls that we could have our picnic outside (mostly for mommy to get them to get all their wiggles out. So we trekked out to find a shady tree and nice spot to have our delicious picnic. and settled on a place. and sat down to eat. :-)

They really enjoyed playing outside

Animal Crackers for dessert

Bethany ate all of her food

The Girls adore picnics and are their new favorite way to eat lunch!!!

The "Sea Monster"

So me and the girls took a walk to the nearby Basha's because we were in need of some milk and other things and while we were there i thought it would be fun to introduce Melody to the Lobster tank. Lol. I had no idea the obsession i would start with her. The kid didn't want to leave that section of the store. Every time we walked away she would throw a conniption fit. As we walked through the store finishing collecting the few items we needed she insisted we go back to see the Lobster on more time and this is what she had to say about it:

Mel: Mom! I love this Sea Monster!

Me: Do you want to ask daddy if you can have it as a pet?

Mel: Yes! That Sea Monsters name is Ice Cubes and it is like a crab! I will have it and pet it and then I will BITE IT! I love that sea monster mom!

Too bad she only liked that sea monster for the first trip to the store that day. We had to go back a second time later in the day and she freaked out when i suggested we go look at her "Sea Monster Friend" Lol Melody just cracks me up!

Melody

4 years ago..... Melody was born on March 21st! She is such a wonderfully fabulous little girl and we love her so so so so so much!!! She has the most wonderful personality and is friendly and accepting of everyone we meet!!! Hooray for turning 4!!!

We of course had a Birthday Party to celebrate Melody turning 4!!! It was a Super Awesome Dance Party!!!

Melody and her Daddy were sent on a trip to get a few balloons from the Party store and they came back with over 40 Balloons crammed into the car. When they pulled into the garage mel was saying, "MOMMY!!! GET ME OUT OF HERE!" It was very funny.

Jon did a fabulous job of stuffing the icecream pinata with candy and pencils and crayons and pirate coins!!!

Melody relaxing a bit before all her guest arrived

The Birthday girl in her Party Hat(s)

Bethany doing the Hokey Pokey. "You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around..."

Bethany and Grandpa "putting their elbows in" lol. I think this is one of the cutest pictures ever!

The Stanleys enjoying watching the party. :-)

Jon said, "Hey Jessica!!!!" and this the picture that resulted. lol

Heaton and Lainee "helping" Melody blow out her birthday candles

Singing Happy Birthday

"Happy Birthday!!!!"

Bethany super excited for the Pinata

Bethany trying to hit the Pinata

The Pinata trying to hit Bethany. lol

"Ok, lets try this again...."

"How did you get over there?"

Melody trying to get the pinata

"Get it!!!"

Swing and a miss!

Lainee taking a whack at it

Swing and a miss!

Grandma Patti's turn!

Go Jenni! Look out Jon!!!

Kristin's turn!!!

"Look mom its CANDY!!!"

The gathering for the gift openings

Mommy trying to get Melody to sit to open presents

Opening Presents

MORE candy

A giant disney fairytale book!

The Party was a wonderful success, as always! Happy Birthday Melody! We are so very very grateful that you came into our lives!!! We cant wait for our next big adventure with you!!! We love you!!!