Our NEW revamped Master Bedroom

The last week I decide to give our master bedroom a makeover. As many of you know that I have to have change or I go nuts, so after living in our house for almost 3 years, I decided that I wanted something different in the party palace. I painted 3 of the 4 walls "sesame" and the 1 wall "plantation brown" with a brushed glazed look to it. It was a good thing that Justin was in Montana for 3 days, or else I waould never have finished it. It was a lot of work and I love it, with a little help from the boys and Jaci. (she did stick her whole hand in the brown paint and try to lick it, YUCK!!!)
The bathroom is not finished and will be in the next few weeks when Justin heads on out of town for a few days so the painting can begin, once again.

Brayden's Transformer Birthday Party...

Brayden was so excited to have his birthday party that he wanted to have a Transformer cake in Colorado!!! He invited 9 friends, including Dylan to his party with only 2 girls. As the kids showed up, they each got an armband that was either an autobot or a decepticon. We divided the kids into 2 teams and played freeze tag, balloon hop and musical chairs. The kids had so much fun and it was a riot.
Andy made the Transformer cake into an autobot with red and blue cake and frosting. Brayden loved it, although his expressions are very vague. It was an hour and a half of chaos, but it was fun and the Brayden had a blast and got some very nice gifts from all his friends.

A Sleepy Jaci Lyn

Lately, we have been putting Jaci in her room and closing the door so she can learn to play with her toys by herself. It has worked out very well. As usual I was busy doing things so I needed her to go in her room, so I gave her a bottle and put her in her room. About 20 minutes later I walked by her door and didn't hear anything, so I peeked in and this is what I found.......

She woke up about 40 minutes later with drool on her cheek and very much still tired. I guess if she is tired she will sleep just about anywhere at anytime.

Tallest Block Tower Ever

Brayden and Dylan built the tallest block tower (at least taller than them) while they were playing in the basement as Justin and I were painting the living room. They were so proud of themselves. They couldn't reach the top to put the last few blocks on, but they were fine without them. We must have too many blocks or our children are just a little on the short side (very unlikely).

Rockin' Fish

Jaci gets on this fish toy and rides it like nobody's business. She can rock that fish all the way backwards and forwards. I can't believe it since she is only 16 months. She loves it and doesn't like it when anybody else is on it. (We inherited this toy when Tracey and David ventured to China for a year.) Thanks for the great toy, Tracey & David!!!

Brayden's 5th Birthday

Brayden was lucky to have his birthday celebrated in Colorado for the first time with his Grandma and Grandpa Lawson. He got to choose what he wanted for dinner and let me inform you that this is one above average 5 year old....his request was fish, mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy, veggies like broccoli, carrots and cauliflower and also a transformers cake. He got just about everything except the transformers cake, which he is getting for his birthday party on March 8th. The cake he did get was chocolate with caramel drizzled on top and a layer of marshmallow cream as the topping. It was very delicious and Brayden loved it. He has opened up so many presents and I think that this is the longest drawn out birthday for a 5 year old that I know of. I wish it was all over, but the birthday party for his friends is only a few days away and I will be glad when that is done.

Zachary Smith's Blessing

While I was there, Steph and Trevor blessed their little bundle of joy.... Zachary Davis Smith. Several members of Trevor's family came and many from the Lawson side as well. Grandma Lawson made the beautiful blessing outfit for the 13th grandchild in the family. He has a ton of hair and is very wiggly, but he is one cute baby.
After church we all had dinner at my parents house and ate turkey, shattered ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, cherry jello, and homemade rolls. For dessert we had triple berry trifle and Lemon Cream Pudding Dessert bars. It was very delicious!!!
Justin was able to join us for the blessing and it was a short reunion with the kids and I, but we had missed him since we had already been in Colorado for about 10 days.

Valentine's Day

Since I was in Colorado on Valentine's Day, Justin sent me 2 dozen rainbow roses to the store at All Discount Vacuum. It was very sweet with a love note and a box of chocolates. They were so yummy. For dinner at night, Grandma made crab, parmesan sliced potatoes, mixed veggies, strawberry fluff, and had a yummy dessert. (which I can't really remember what it was.) The boys got little bags of valentine's candy with rain boats. Brayden got lizard boots, Dylan got Giraffe boots and Jaci got a pink adn brown flowered jacket from the Valentine Phantom. It was so much fun and the kids loved it.

Grandpa Herb's Birthday!

While we were there we got to celebrate Grandpa Herb's Birthday. I don't really know for sure what his age is...but that doesn't really matter. We got to eat Swiss steak, cheesy potatoes, fruit salad, mixed veggies, and a triple pudding dessert that was just yummy. It was fun to watch Grandpa open his presents from everyone and the boys drew him lots and lots of pictures and put each one in an envelope. By the time we left, Grandma and Grandpa had to buy more envelopes. Sorry mom and dad:(

On the Airplane!!

Brayden, Dylan, Jaci and I all decide that we wanted to go and visit Grandma and Grandpa Lawson in Colorado and the fastest easiest way in the winter was to fly. That was definitely an experience. The kids did really good on the airplane for the most part, but if anyone knows how my daughter is then you would know that she was to be considered a lap child, but ended up standing and sitting in her brothers seats. The flight attendants were very nice to us and gave the give crayons and a coloring page book to do. After we got off of the airplane in Denver, we had to ride the train to baggage claim and the kids were all tired and hungry. As I was collecting my luggage, waiting for my mom to come in and help with the kids, i realized that I cell phone fell out of my back pocket and I was to do it all by myself. So, I loaded all 6 pieces of luggage on a luggage cart with Jaci sitting on the front and wheeled my kids to the southwest office to report a lost cell phone, then back to the pay phone to call my dad at work and let him know what had happened and find out where my mom really is. As I was talking to the operator to get connected, Jaci ran off and so I set the phone down and quickly picked her up and got her back on top of the luggage. Finally I made it downstairs to where my mom was supposed to be and soon she drove up and southwest called and said that my phone was in their office. I ran back upstairs and told the people at the southwest counter that I was here to pick up my cell phone and she looked at me with a dumb-founded look and replied she had no idea what I was talking about. I was just there 20 minutes prior and now she is telling me she has no clue who I am. I was just a little frustrated. After about 5 minutes of figuring out who I really was the manager said that a cell phone came in about 5 minutes ago and it had my name on it. Thanks goodness for people that have a brain and are somewhat observant. I was glad that was over and wasn't going to get frustrated anymore, so I really just laughed about how lame I must have looked with my 3 kids and 6 pieces of luggage on a luggage cart and wondering around like a chicken with my head cut off. I made it safe and sound and was glad that I was in sunny Colorado.

Grandma Paula's Birthday Party!

We celebrated Grandma Paula's Birthday by eating dinner at Little Bit of Mexico and the we had cake and ice cream at my house. We had party screamers and poppers that shot confetti. Jaci didn't know what to think of the whole thing, but I think she liked it. We had a chocolate cake with 4 layers of cake and a cream cheese frosting, that had chocolate shavings on it...it was Yummy. Along with Shaun and Krissy's family, we got Grandma a web cam so she can talk to her grandkids that live in Seattle and see things that are going on else where..we hope she likes it.

President Hinckley

Hopefully, everyone had a chance to see President Hinckley's funeral. The whole ceremony was moving. I almost lost it at the beginning when President Monson came to the pulpit and paused for what seemed like several minutes. His emotions were evident and it was then it truly hit me of our great loss through President Monson's eyes who has spent innumerable moments in service with President Hinckley throughout his life. The final musical number where they played a video montage of President Hinckley's life is where both Andrea and I cried. For me, it was amazing to recall some of the moments of service and his sense of humor. He has been the prohpet through the formative years of my testimony. He was the modern day prophet that I introduced to countless investigators and converts to the church in Mexico. I testified of him to those same people that I knew he was a Prophet of God on earth today to guide us. I still bear witness of him and now of President Monson.

While looking around the internet, I found hinckleychallenge.com. It is a simple challenge to follow one of his teachings and to honor him. Check it out! Simply it is to read the Book of Mormon in 97 days (his age at death). We are gonna take it on here in our home. (The Saturday before he died, I had set the goal to read it by conference, so I have a little bit of a head start.)

What a fitting way to remember his example!