300 posts, 800 pins...

This is post number 300 on this blog.  I started blogging in September of 2008.  Sandi Humann was kind enough to show us "how" in a Relief Society Class way back then, and I thank her for it.  I haven't gotten much better at it, but I still enjoy doing it, documenting my life...keeping a "journal" kind of.  I print my blog into a book at the end of the year, so I have a "record" of that year.  If I ever get caught up on my scrapbooks, that will be an additional record with lots of pictures.  Which Kelly Laing has so kindly helped me figure out how to do on the computer.  So hopefully down the line, my family will know what things were like and what was going on in my life. 

Here's some things going on lately...we had a HUGE windstorm the other night.  I mean HUGE.  It was no tornado by anymeans, but for people who don't usually get storms like that, it was amazing.  I woke up to it in the night, about 3 a.m.  It was blowing so hard, I could hear things being tossed around the back yard - things like garbage bins and patio chairs.  I could not go back to sleep.  It just kept blowing!  All the next day as well.  When I drove to work I saw uprooted trees, blown down fences, and leaves and debris everywhere!  Crazy!  I guess power went out in a lot of places, but we kept ours at work and at home.  Thankfully.  Here are a couple of pictures of our raked up leaves that filled our driveway and our flower beds and lawn...it doesn't look like much, and compared to everyone else, ours is definitely minimal!  But you have to believe me that it was wild wind!

This pile was just from my little edgeing flower bed...

 Thank you Joel for helping me get them all cleaned up...and speaking of Joel...on Nov. 30th there was a wonderful court of honor.  Joel earned his backpacking merit badge and they showed a very cool slide show of the camps/hikes these boys did all summer...ending with the BIG one at Mt. Whitney.  It was so fun to watch!  Here is Joel with his awesome Scoutmaster, Ryan Budge.  Ryan gave a wonderful Scoutmaster's Minute at the end, talking about reality TV and how it's not really REALITY.

 He then started "A Scout is..." and all the scouts in the room quoted the Scout Law...it brought tears to my eyes..and then he said, "THAT is reality."  What these boys do (and did - all those hikes)...that is reality.  Guess you had to be there, and I'm not giving it the merit it deserves, but it was very special. Love you Joel!  You are AWESOME!  And you have been on the highest peak of the contiguous United States!!!  And just when I think our Spiritual Giant could not get anymore spiritual, he does!  He gave a great talk in church about being thankful for the Sabbath day.  He loves seminary, the scriptures, beautiful music, and he is trying to be the very best person he can be.  He is a great example to me and I am grateful for HIM.  In today's world, he is strong and courageous and he is going to go far!

 Just when I thought I couldn't quite get into the Christmas spirit yet, Clif went out to the garage one night and came through toting our light-up snowman.  He plugged it in on our porch!  It just made me smile.  And then he asked if we wanted any lights from Target, and he would use his discount if we wanted anything.  So let's just say he "jump started" my Christmas spirit!  Then he had to work, but the next day Clark came over and he and Joel put up our outside lights!!!  (Do any of your kids work outside in their white socks!?).  Joel did the ground work and Clark was on the roof.  We had him check for any missing shingles after that windstorm!  Thankfully there weren't any...

Dave even came out for a few minutes to lend a guiding hand...his back is still in bad shape so he can't do anything physical...now my lights are up (and looking festive!  Thanks boys!) and that evening (Saturday) we went to the Relief Society Christmas concert.  Dave and I ushered and it was a BEAUTIFUL concert!  So now my Christmas spirit is in full swing and I am ready for December!  I really can't believe it is December already!!  Tonight we watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional.  Another special and wonderful night of stories, pictures and beautiful music!

Well, along with my 300th post, I want to talk about Pinterest.  I "pin" ideas, quotes, pictures etc. on a virtual bulletin board and I recently hit 800 pins!  Wow.  I am totally surprised at that!  A lot of them are quotes and pictures that I like to read and look at, but a lot of them are craft ideas, holiday ideas, cleaning tips and organization ideas, as well as many, many recipes!  I am happy to say that I don't just "pin."  I DO some of the things, and have plans to DO many more!  I have tried several recipes now that I really like, and the family did too (except for one that we probably won't make again).  I have tried the homemade make-up remover, some jewelry cleaner, and some shower scrubber.  Well, I haven't actually tried scrubbing the shower with it yet, but that's my goal this week!!  And one of my Christmas gifts, I got the idea and pinned it...(Amanda, don't let little David see this picture)..I made some felt foods!  It was really fun!  Here is what I made, can you tell what they all are? 

 I hope little David will have fun playing with them...and I did not see this idea on pinterest, but after I made my BOO blocks for Halloween, I thought it would be fun to make some Christmas ones...

They were fun to make!  Now me and my girls each have a set.  (Amanda, yours will be in your box!) And I made them with a friend, who made blue and white snowflake ones.  If you ever visit Teri Stringham, check hers out!  Yes, I post and pin, and in between I make a few things and bake and clean, and I am ready for the Christmas Season!  Oh boy, I've got Joy!

Thanksgiving eve...

I had a very fun Thanksgiving eve...I wanted to see the newest Twilight movie, "Breaking Dawn" and knew that I would never get Dave to go to that one with me.  So I asked on facebook who would want to go, and my bosom friend Donna said she would!  And our other friend Joan wanted to come and bring her daughters.  So it was set!  We would meet in front of the theater at 5 p.m.  Donna said she would come pick me up and I was ready!  Well, she brought with her this lovely birthday surprise!!  She felt bad for being late, but I was so happy and it was worth the wait!  And besides, who doesn't want to just keep celebrating and getting fun things!?  She MADE these yummy chocolate (with filling!) cupcakes and decorated them as hydrangeas!  She also made the pot, the wire cupcake holders and assembled the cute little plant and cupcake picks all for ME! 

 Did I say she was a bosom friend!?  I can only begin to appreciate all the time and effort she spent making this gorgeous and delicious surprise for little ol' me! 

And then...while we were waiting outside the theater for Joan and her daughters, it wasn't busy at all so we hadn't been up to the ticket window yet...a lady came up and asked us if we were seeing Breaking Dawn.  When we told her we were, she gave us a FREE ticket!  Somehow she had an extra one and was willing to give it away without taking money for it!  She just said, "Happy Thanksgiving!"  I guess I was in "birthday mode" and accepted it, told Donna that was a tithing blessing, and didn't think until later to SPLIT it with Donna.  I wasn't very thoughtful and I feel bad.  I did offer later, but of course she wouldn't accept.  I would be perfectly happy to see the movie for half price!  Donna, you are a kindred spirit and bosom friend to be sure!  Thank you for your generosity and your loving friendship!  We had a great time at the movies...Joan and her daughters were a lot of fun too...and the movie was really good too!  It was all a wonderful pre-cursor to our Thanksgiving day which was also wonderful!  I had ALL my kids here, when we did the web cam with the Georgia kids.  It was fun all being together even if it was for a short time.  The meal was wonderful and we just enjoyed our day so much!  I have SO MUCH to be thankful for!!   

Another birthday already?

Another year has gone by so quickly!  Can't believe I had another birthday!  It was on 11-11-11.  Pretty fun!  Dave and I both took the day off work.  It was a gift just to get to sleep in!  We did some shopping and I got to see the movie "Sarah's Key" based on one of my favorite books.  We had lunch at Red Robin with Clif and Joel, and then in the evening Ashley and Mario came over for a lasagne dinner (which Dave made with help from Costco!).  It was a lovely day!  Because I took Friday off for my birthday, Thursday at work everyone brought food in so we could "party."  My friend Ruth brought a scrumptious chocolate cake and a beautiful fall colored mini mum plant for me.  There were other fun and snacky foods too.  About 9:15 I looked up from my desk and walking into the file room were Clark and Ashley!  They surprised me!  It was so fun...I have never been surprised at work!  They brought this beautiful hydrangea cake that Cupcake Stef had made.  I was thrilled!

 They both didn't have to be to work until 10, so they had time to come by and wish me a happy birthday.  Ashley was going to order some kind of cookie boquet for me and one of her friends at work said she knew someone who made beautiful cakes...funny that it turned out to be my friend Cupcake Stef!  She did a beautiful job and it was a very yummy cake!  My boss had the day off for a wedding, but he stopped by also with these scrumptious cupcakes from Frosted Cakery.  One was double chocolate and the other one was caramel.  Oh they were delish!  People sure know me well!  I thought it was clever how the cupcakes were in an upside down plastic cup.  What a great idea!

Anyway, I received fun gifts from friends and family, tons of birthday wishes on Facebook (over 60!) and several phone calls and cards in the mail too (on Saturday, because Friday the 11th was also Veteran's day and there is no mail).  It was a wonderful few days and I feel very spoiled!  I am happy to be done with celebrating birthdays now and will be glad to be 29 and holding from now on!  Thank you to everyone who helped make me feel so special all week long! 

I am also very grateful to be an Army Brat, and am always proud to fly the flag on Veteran's day and remember my dad as well as all of those who have served our country.  It is truly a special day in more ways than one!

DI, Halloween and Hobby Lobby...

The morning after Barbara's birthday party, we headed to Deseret Industries.  My favorite thrift store ever!  We of course HAD to go so I could drop of these "Burrito Babies" that our Relief Society had put together.  They are for the humanitarian center which is inside DI.  I had picked up the kits the last time we were there.  

 Our ward Relief Society got together one evening and we sewed, stitched, painted, and made hair to do these cute little dolls.  We made 33 of them in just under 2 hours!  It was a very fun evening!  So off we went to deliver them to DI.  I mean, the humanitarian center!



 Then of course, I shopped the book section.  My friend Ann needed a Harry Potter book and a Prelude to Glory book that she was missing from her set...they had them both!  And Amanda needs some more of the Work and the Glory volumes so I was able to find some of those too.  It was a productive book day! Here's what all I got for about $30 bucks...

 Some books for the grandkids, and for me, and for Dave (he puts as many in the cart as I do and he hardly ever reads!)

 I think Amanda needs one or two more of the Work and the Glory, but thanks to DI she has almost all of them.  Big hardbound books for $2 each!  Can't beat it!

 I bought what they had for Prelude to Glory and Faith of our Fathers series...when I get them all, I will start reading the series.

 Dave threw in this computer book...it was all of 50 cents...and I have read the Sisterhood book and liked it, so added it to my collection.

 Dave put in the Paul's life and letters book...we already have a copy, so if someone needs a copy, I have an extra one.  It was a very fun shopping morning...didn't find any dresses this time, but it's always fun to look!

 I only got one picture of halloween!  I was in the ktichen for our trunk-or-treat party at the church, which was a big success...and then on Halloween night Joel had some friends over to watch movies.  They took a break in between the two movies and went trick-or-treating for a few minutes.  We didn't have very many trick-or-treaters so it was fun to just watch Joel and his friends having a fun evening.  Some of them hadn't seen the movies before.  They watched The fantastic Mr. Fox and The Sixth Sense.  We had lots of candy...

Here's our Georgia kiddos...ready for Oz!  Jacob wouldn't keep his lion head on...but aren't they all so cute!
 

Last but not least, I needed to go to Hobby Lobby in Visalia again for craft supplies.  I was asked to help the other ward make the charger plates and the glass etched ornaments like we made for our super Saturday.  So Teri S, Linda R, and Teri's fun neighbor Joanne, all went together for a shopping day.  We had a great time!  ALL the Christmas items were 50% off that day.  And I was able to get ALL the things I needed for the craft night.  The only thing I bought for myself (since it was 50% off) was this cute Snowman plate.  I just loved the whimsical look of it!  We stopped at Fosters and had a yummy lunch before our 45 minute drive home.  A perfect way to spend a Saturday morning.  Thank you my fun friends for  spending it with me at Hobby Lobby!!

Happy 80th Birthday Barbara!

Friday, October 21, 2011...my beautiul and wonderful mother-in-law turned 80!  Dave and I both took the day off, and we let Joel play hooky from school and we drove up to Folsom to help her celebrate!  I had seen this balloon wreath on a blog, and since Barbara and Terry ran a balloon business for so many years, I thought it would be fun to make her one!  She really liked it.

 Barbara's sister Ramona was there...she is 93 and spunky as ever!  I had an enjoyable time visiting with her.  She lives in an assisted living home close by Barbara so they see each other several times each week. 

 All of the family that live close by were there to help with the meal and to help celebrate too!  We had a fun time catching up with Dave's brothers John and Mark and their families that could be there.

 Terry bought a lovely cake...white cake with lemon filling and whipped cream topping...I hear Barbara got to pick it out.   :)

 All the great-grand children were excited to sing "Happy Birthday" and get a piece of cake!  This is Judy with some of her cute grandkids...

 Ramona sang with gusto and Barbara seemed to enjoy the attention...mostly she just enjoyed having so much family around!

 More on-lookers...John, April and some of their cute grandkids...Joel is the cameraman in the back...

 Aaron was out of town, but Stephanie and the kids came, it was fun to see all those cuties!

 Dave's sister Gail flew in from Arizona, it was fun catching up with her too.  

 Dave's brother Mark, me, Dave and Terry enjoying our yummy meal!

 It was a lovely evening to sit on the "veranda" and have a nice meal...

We are all so grateful to have Barbara in our lives.  She is a jewel!  Those mean "mother-in-law" stories and jokes have never applied to me because we have always had a wonderful relationship and I love and admire her as much as my own mother!  We all wrote little letters or fun memories we had of her and John and April had them bound into a little book for her.  She loves it!  And for those that didn't get theirs turned in on time, it's not too late, get them written!  Happy Birthday Barbara!

The next morning we went to my favorite store...DI!  More about that coming...

6 years ago...

I cannot believe it has been 6 years..but it has.  My dad was taken back to heaven for a joyful reunion with family and friends.  We sure miss him.  I miss his laugh and his big tight hugs with his one good arm...and whenever I am driving down the street and see a Nissan Murano, I think of the new one he had just purchased and was so excited about!  I was told by a client of his how his eyes just lit up when he was showing off his new car to the client and how happy he was with it.  He could get in and out of it without a lot of trouble or pain and was enjoying everything about it.  I am sad we had to let the dealership repossess it, but none of us could afford the payments and Mom had stopped driving by then.  Love and miss you Dad.  I know you are busy up there, but thanks for letting us feel your presence now and then, and also for the wonderful life that you led...it gives me a goal, to try and enjoy life the way you did.  Whenever I have Il Divo playing in my car and they sing "Amazing Grace" and add the bagpipes it, it makes me cry every time.  Loved that we could have bagpipes at your funeral like you always wanted.  I am proud to be an "Army Brat" and am enjoying working on the Army Album I always wanted to make.  Just wish you were here to tell me the stories that go with all the pictures!  The caption on the above picture from Vietnam says "Don't pick the flowers."  Love you Dad!

on another note, it is also my Mother-in-law's birthday today...we are going up to Folsom to celebrate.  I will blog about that soon...and another trip to DI.  YAY!

Dave's new toy...old pain

Dave has always been the more "health concious" person in our family...which is probably why he hasn't gone up much in size in our 29 years of marriage and I have!  He has good eating habits and when he learned of this new one from Grandma Honey and her husband Dennis, he wanted to try it.  It's the Green Smoothies.  He watched Dennis' video of how he makes his, and decided to start making some.  He used our old Osterizer blender for as long as he could, but it just can't handle all that stuff that goes in it!  So he finally had to get the one he'd been researching and reading about. (He does this for quite awhile before he makes a big purchase).  As of Saturday, this is the new member of our family!  Dave was kind enough to purchase it in RED so it matches the kitchen. 

The Blendtec.  It came with a lifestyles recipe book.  I think he is planning on using it for more than just his smoothies! (Which he needs to, to make it pay for itself!)  He has already made two of his green smoothies and a batch of chocolate ice cream for me (hoping I will be sold on it...ha ha).  He has gone to demonstrations at Costco for two different brands of blenders and this is the one he wanted.  As he has been researching it, we have learned of more and more people who do green smoothies.  I guess there is a "Green Smoothie Girl" website with lots of info about it all...but I soooo don't do greens..so Dave continues to be more healthy than I am.  But for the record, I am the one that gets to help him put on his socks every day because of his herniated disk.  Yes, that has flared up again after an almost 2-year absence.  He is in pain quite a bit and has started going to physical therapy again. I guess he deserves to have his green smoothies and his new toy...it will help make up for the things he CAN'T do.  And if he makes me some ice cream every now and then, I will keep helping with his socks. 

A little catch up...

A few things have gone on lately and I need to catch up this blog!  In September I had a vinly party.  A lot of people came and we had a fun night!  Debbie Miles was the vinyl cutter and I just LOVE the words above my family pictures in the entry way.  "Family...a journey to forever...It turned out great!  It was fun to see what the other ladies ordered and the different sayings they picked.  I have a lot of creative friends!  Thanks Miles of Vinyl for helping me "cute up" my house!  And thank you all my friends (old and new!) who helped make it such a successful evening...

 One day I came home from work and there was a package waiting for me.  It was addressed to Grandpa and Grandma and it was an anniversary present!  How did those Georgia kids know I needed a new one of these!?  And a cute red one to match my kitchen too!

 We immediately made waffles for dinner!

 Cute little heart shaped ones!  Thank you!  Thank you!

 My visiting teaching companion (D'Von G.) has chickens and she brought me some of her fresh eggs.  I do miss our chickens from when we lived out in the country!  She has different varieties so the eggs are all different too...I love the little green ones.  They are from a chicekn call an Easter Egger.  :)

 And last but not least, I have been super busy the past month preparing for our Relief Society's "Super Saturday!"  It was a lot of work and I had a lot of wonderful helpers so the day turned out very fun! Ashley came and we worked on some etched "Cookies for Santa" glass plates.  (Inspired by Amanda last Christmas!).  It was fun having Ashley there with me for awhile...she had to leave early but everyone had a great time and all the hard work paid off!  Thank you everyone who helped in any way, no matter how small it might have seemed, it was all a HUGE help to me! 

Ashley is selling Gold Canyon Candles again and has a bunch of parties lined up...so she is keeping busy and earning some money too!  She is still enjoying her job at the hospital and she looks so cute in her scrubs....gonna have to get a picture of that some day!  She is a unit clerk in the outpatient surgery dept.  Thanks for the girl time with me Ashley!  Love you!

October 1st!

I cannot believe it is October 1st!  Fall is on it's way!  This is my favorite time of year...cool, crisp weather (hopefully soon!), leaves changing colors, hot chocolate season, and of course all the upcoming holidays.  I am very excited for this General Conference weekend.  I love the spiritual boost I get from the talks and music...it is a wonderful weekend!  And then the next weekend is our Super Saturday at church.  I am excited to help all the sisters get started on some fall/Christmas crafts and projects. So many signed up to participate and that made me feel good.  This will be a very busy week preparing for that, but it is all fun stuff and I am happy to be doing it!  Watch our RS blog to see the projects we are doing and for a follow up after next weekend.  RS Blog click here Happy Fall everyone!

Happy Birthday Georgia girl!

This cute little girl has a birthday today!  I can't believe she is all grown up and has two kids of her own!  We love you Amanda!  When the dr. said, "It's a girl," we were so happy and thrilled for another daughter.  You are a joy in our lives and we thank you for being the wonderful person you are today.  We hope you have a fantastic birthday, and please know that if we were in Georgia, we would help you celebrate all day long!!  Love you!  Happy Birthday!!

My favorite husband...

29 years ago he said YES!  It was the best day of my life, marrying an eternal companion in the House of the Lord.  It was the hottest day on record for Mesa, and boy did we know it!  Take a picture, wipe the sweat, take a picture, wipe the sweat.  It was a beautiful day for us and we did not care about the heat!  I am grateful our reception was indoors though.  It was wonderful to have so many family and friends there to support us that day.  

 I love him even more today and look forward to eternity with this wonderful man!  I am grateful that he puts up with me, and loves me back.  So to my husband I say, "Loved you then, love you still, always have, always will!"  I can't believe how fast 29 years have gone...they have been wonderful!Happy Anniversary!

Fun time in Folsom!

Friday afternoon we dropped Joel off at the church for a scout camping adventure..then Dave and I drove on to visit his parents in Folsom.  We stopped along the way for a little dinner (Subway) and got to Folsom around 8 p.m.  It was a fun date night!  Just the two of us driving along and enjoying the time toegether.  This little overnight trip had a three-fold mission.  1) to visit his parents and see how they are doing...Terry had shoulder surgery a couple of weeks ago and we wanted to see how he was doing.  In person.  It's just better that way somehow.  2) I needed to go to the church humanitarian office (conveniently located in the same building as DI!) and get kits for an upcoming Relief Society service project...and 3) hit some out of town stores (Walmart, Michaels, and Bed Bath and Beyond) for times for our upcoming Super Saturday of which our local stroes have run out.  So this was a very importan trip!  When we arrived at DI on Saturday morning, I was shocked to see the humanitarian office was CLOSED.  Only open M-W but there was a number for "special appointments."  So my sweet mother-in-law called the number and explained why I was here and how far I'd come, and the kind gentleman said he would be there in 30 minutes!  So I SHOPPED while waiting for him!  It was perfect!  I loaded my cart with books...look at all I got for 30 bucks!!!  I was in heaven! 

These are all nice hardbound books in excellent condition, only 2 paperbacks.  The reader's digest stack at the back are for a halloween project I want to do.  The Dr. Seuss books for my grandsons, and the Children of the Promise series is for me (I had already bought #1 and #5 at the DI in Utah...but they had 1-4 so I bought them all.  The ones from Utah by the way, were a dollar more!  These were $2 each instaed of 3.  Brand new books!  One of them even still had a card inside it that hadn't been opened!  So I opened it.  Some poor lady named Kay either never got her book, or gave it away without reading it!  The ME book is Mary Engelbreit Chrsitmas ideas and pictures, and there is a fun scrapbooking idea book...and then a few books from some of my favorite authors that I already have but will use for gift giving.  And Dave picked out the Majesty book as I have been interested in Queen Victoria lately and the whole monarchy history and stuff...it shows a "family tree" inside the front cover so he thought I would like it.  He's right!  I like biographies...How much do you think all these books would cost if I bought them from a bookstore?  Hmmmm.

I did look at dresses also, because last time I found about 5 that were perfect for me.  At only 5 of 6 dollars each.  But this time, all the ones I really liked and that looked good, were all size 8.  Guess I will have to excercise and diet quite a bit more before I will be buying that size!

The Gentlema came and he was so very nice.  He let us into the humanitarian center where I picked out kits to make "burrito babies" and I had to sign them out saying when I planned to return them.  They are the cutest little dolls made out of scrap fabric.  I tried to download a picture of them from lds.org but couldn't make it work.  Anyway, they are very cute and I will blog about them when we make them next month.  I was so happy to be able to ge tthe kits and grateful for the gentleman that took time out of his busy Saturday to come and let me in.

After that productive and very fun morning...we went back to the house and picked up Terry who was ready to go on an outing and get some lunch.  We went to a place called Smashburger.  It was really good, but we are not sure why they call it that!  Kind of a fast food gourmet burger place.  We enjoyed it.  I had a mushroom swiss burger and Dave had a fried chicken sandwich.  Then on the way back to their place in Folsom we stopped at their Michaels store so I could use my 50% off coupon which expired that day.  Thank you for helping me get stuff done!

Barbara gave me some of her homemade seedless boysenberry jelly and we soon hit the road for home.  Aren't these little flat bottles so cute!?

On the drive home we stopped in Elk Grove at a Walmart and a Bed Bath and Beyond so I could pick up some things for super Satruday that our Walmart and BBB were out of.  I was able to find what I needed and I bought all the square plates that BBB had!  Then we google mapped Fosters Freeze and Baskin Robbins so we could stop somwhere and get something cold and creamy...Ended up in Atwater heading for a Baskin Robbins but found a Fosters first...so stopped there!  Dave got an Oreo Twister and I got an old fashioned Chocolate milkshake.  It made the rest of the drive home creamy and yummy!  It was a great weekend and I am so glad we got to go!  Thanks Dave for being my chauffeur and  being so willing to make all those stops for me...he really does support me in my calling!   We will be going back in October to return the Burrito babies and to help Barbara celebrate her 80th birthday!  Looking forward to it!

Blog hopping...and free printables...

My name is Allyson, and I am a blog-aholic...I blog hop (stalk) pretty much every morning for about 15 minutes (instead of exercising!) and find all kinds of cute crafts and gift ideas that I want to make "someday."  One of the favorite things that I find are Free Printables...yes, FREE.  You just download and print.  Mostly I just download and save...to print when I need them for a gift or something...or I email them as little happy thoughts to friends and family.  Anyway, I came upon these two particular good messages one day and I loved them...so thought I'd share them here...the first one is a style called "subway art" where they use lots of font styles and I really love them!  So please, don't try to cure me of this disease...it truly makes me happy and inspires me!!  And of course now I am addicted to "Pinterest" which is a virtual bulletin board you can "pin" all these ideas and keep them in one place and see what everyone else is "pinning" to their boards.  Yes, my name is Allyson...and I have an addiction...just pray for me.  :)

 T

Loved this thought on forgiveness, I might frame it someday...perhaps for a Relief Society Lesson, or just to give my brain some deep thinking...

And this was a cute back to school subway art...might give it to a teacher sometime...colorful and fun!

59 years ago...

...these two youngsters got hitched...and are we ever glad!  We wish they were here to celebrate...we miss them terribly.  We know there is probably a big party in heaven on this day though, because 51 years ago on this same day...

...our sister Lori was born.  She passed away a short two and a half years later...here she is holding me...the sister I never knew, but can't wait to meet someday.  Birthday and Anniversary, that's cause for some kind of party somewhere!  Love and miss you all, hope you are smiling down at us from Heaven and that you know how much we love and miss you!