Mom's 50th Part 2 - Sending Our Love

I really wanted to do something special in remembrance of my Mom on her birthday. So, I had this idea and it was really fun and sweet with the kids...
I bought 50 pink balloons - thanks to my wonderful husband for meeting me at Harmon's to help me pick them up, I hadn't thought about the fact that 50 balloons would not fit in my car - then I wrote a letter expressing what I wish I could say to her and Pierson wrote a sweet little note to send her. Then we headed up to find a nice spot up on the hill, which ended up being at the school since the wind was blowing so hard we thought we'd better stick to a grassy area. We attached our notes to the balloons and sent our love!

It was so windy I had to hold on so tight to the balloons, I was a little afraid we'd end up like Curious George
We let them go...

...and the kids chased them as far as they could...

...then we watched them float up and away until we could no longer see them, which was pretty far.

I just have to share a couple of thing that made it so sweet- that morning I wanted to tell Pierson what we were going to do and why. I started to talk to him about Grandma Kathy and I said, "today ..." he cut me off first with, "we're going to make cinnamon rolls?!" (We do this on October 1st, the anniversary of her death.) I told him no and started again..."today is the day..." and he burst out, "She's coming back alive?!" Talk about melting my heart. It was so sweet. I told him no, I wished, and asked him what would happen before all the people who have died will come alive again. He has a great understanding of this and knows that Jesus will come back to the earth and then we will see Grandma Kathy and all the people who have died. I just loved that he thought that it would be a good day for her to come back!

Then right after we had let the balloons go he said, "maybe our balloons will go all the way to Clinton, or maybe all the way to Europe!" Maybe, Bug, maybe.

Then later he asked me, "do you think our balloons will really make it all the way to heaven? Do you think Grandma Kathy will really see our notes?" I just told him I don't know, but I sure hope she knows!

Mom's 50th!

It is very hard to believe that today my Mom would have turned 50! I could never picture her growing old, she was just meant to stay young! Forever 43.

In Honor of Mom’s 50th Birthday- 50 Things I love and miss about Mom
1. Her laugh
2. Her hugs
3. Her pink “tutie frutie” nails
4. Her smile
5. Her eye lashes (gotta love Mary Kay mascara)
6. She always looked good, make-up and hair done, even if she was just cleaning or mowing the lawn
7. How she loved to mow the lawn and didn’t want anyone else to do it
8. Her beautiful red hair
9. Her hands, she thought she had “dragon hands” but I thought they were little and soft
10. How she could still do the splits, no matter how long it had been, and without even stretching out! She amazed so many people with that!
11. We had the same size feet and I could wear her cute shoes
12. Her DELICIOUS cooking
13. Especially- Her world’s best-huge cinnamon rolls!
14. And-Her divinity (I don’t know if I will ever be able to master that one)
15. And-Her sugar cookies, they were the yummiest ever, and we had so much fun making them with her as kids (she taught me well on that one)
16. And her potato salad
17. And Her making a green salad with crackers on it (so simple, and for some reason so good, definitely her special touch, Stac will agree)
18. Her having “pics and cheese” on hand for Stac
19. Malt-O-Meal and toast for breakfast, somehow she made this so yummy, I have tried making it and it was not good at all
20. Going grocery shopping with her at Stop & Shop
21. “Then my name isn’t Dr. Emil Schofhousen!”
22. “Wwwwelcome to the 90’s Mr. Banks!” “It’s a cake”
23. Her watching Lois & Clark with us (Dean Cain, he was fine)
24. “It was me! I’m a bull!”
25. Eating cinnamon bears and York peppermint patties
26. Her playing the piano, especially Fur Elise
27. Her playing and singing Les Mis with us
28. Listening to our favorite musicals – Cats, Starlight, Joseph, Phantom, Miss Saigon
29. Taking me to the theatre to see such shows
30. Her singing
31. “The Auctioneer”
32. Her bus
33. Red Ford Festiva, I thought it was so cute and cool
34. The Van – Ford Aerostar with a stick shift!
35. And her teaching me how to drive, how awesome to learn on a stick shift van, loved it!
36. Listening to Manheim Steamroller at Christmas time
37. She made Christmas so fun and exciting no matter how old we were
38. Her Christmas Decorations
39. “Here Kittykittykittykittykitty!”
40. “His name is Bo-o-o-o-ob, He is the fatest one, He is badest one…..His name is Bob, His name is Bob, His name is Bob”
41. “Well, I guess I’ll just marry Prince!”
42. Her killer whistle
43. She was one of the girls and all of our friends loved her
44. She had a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and she shared it, I knew it
45. She loved the temple
46. She loved that I loved the temple, and was so excited for me to go, we shared such a special time for my endowment and wedding, I am so deeply grateful for that.
47. She always did more for us than herself
48. She helped me make the decision and have the courage to go away to college
49. She helped me make the hardest and most important decision of my life and supported me, no matter how crazy it seemed at the time
50. I knew she loved me and was proud of me (even if I was never the “star player”!)


Mom & Taylee at Grandma Allen's 80th Birthday party, September 21st, 2002
The last picture taken of Mom's life

A Happy Birthday Girl!

Our Madi girl turned 3 yesterday! She was extatic about her birthday! She was so excited about being the birthday girl, turning 3 and "getting big"! She had super fun day and loved every moment!

Birthday Muffin

She loved that we sang to her in the morning and having a "practice" birthday candle.

Pinyata Time

Present Time

Cake Time - Isn't that the sweetest face you've ever seen?!



Madi was absolutely delighted with every minute of her day. After her nap she came down stairs and saw the plastic princess table cover I had put on for the party, she was so excited and exclaimed "this is going to be a boo-da-ful party!" She had a fun little party with her friends, we all had a great time. She was a such a sweetheart the entire time, she didn't have one moment of 2 year old tantrum, or "it's mine!", she was an absolute angel. She completly melted my heart with her sweetness. She was so happy to be the birthday girl and I absolutely loved watching her total joy!

Baby Jack

My very close-dear-wonderful-amazing-friend, Kathryn, had her baby boy today...

So fun visiting them at the hospital!

Me with Kathryn & Jack

Beautiful New Mom (yes, Kathryn you look great!)

Proud Parents- Dustin & Kathryn

Jackson (Jack) Ryan Woodbury
Ryan was so touched that they named their new baby after him ;)
(Not to mention what a cool name Jack Ryan is!)
He is a darling baby and looked so perfect! Kathryn is doing so great! We can't wait to have them home. Congratulations Dustin & Kathryn! So happy for your family, we love you so much!

Hoppin' Easter Weekend!

We had a great Easter weekend! My niece, Taylee, came down and stayed with Trit and I for the weekend, the kids were so excited to have her here. We started the fun early on Thursday with a swimming day at the Community Center. (No pics to show for that.) Pierson had a blast. As for me, public pools are not my favorite thing, but I realized a few things that day:
#1- Even though my thighs are pasty, pale, purple, and jiggly, they are not THAT bad.
#2- My stretch marks are not THAT bad. And I am smart, smart enough enough to keep mine covered up! Seriously people!
Friday night, Pierson was SO thrilled to watch "Bolt" and eat popcorn.
Saturday was a fun filled day at Grandma's. The kids had so much fun having an Easter egg hunt with cousins and having a BBQ.




Saturday night, Ryan and I enjoyed a date night out with his parents and siblings that were in town. It was fabulous. If you haven't tried the new restaurant in town, Haven, I highly recommend it! Possibly the best salad I have ever eaten! Very yummy!

Easter morning the kids were SO excited to wake up and find what the Easter Bunny had brought them. They were both so happy with a new DVD, "Brother Bear" and "Horton"! Plus nothing like candy first thing in the morning. We all loved having yummy homemade Belgian waffles for breakfast.



Handsome Boy

My attempt to get a nice Easter picture of the kids...Madi was so not ready to get her picture taken...


...after some juice out of her new "Belle" cup, she decided she was ready...



After church, we ran home, changed, scarfed down some sandwiches, and got on the road to take Taylee to meet her Mom in Filmore. The evening didn't feel very Easterish since I didn't get to make my traditional Easter dinner. We met my sister Ginger, to deliver Tay, and it was fun to see her for a few minutes. Then we got to go visit our friends, The Rasmussens, who live in Filmore now. It was fun to visit them and see their cute new home. The kids had fun playing for a bit, it was great seeing them.

Pierce & Madi with Peyton & Nora, and Heather's awesome paint job in Peyton's room

Even though we spent the evening driving for 5 hours- I thoroughly enjoyed eating my Cadburry mini eggs, and listening to "Breaking Dawn" with Ryan! My awesome husband opted to listen the books on CD on road trips. He made it through Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse around Christmas time, so he really needed some time to get into Breaking Dawn! He has enjoyed them and it is fun for me to listen to them with him and tell him all of my favorite parts and discuss it as we go! Time with Ryan, Cadburry mini eggs, Breaking Dawn- it was a good night!

We're Expecting!

Yes, it is true! I did not think this could happen so fast, so we were very surprised to find out- We are expecting....kittens! Our little Bella girl is about to become a Momma. We are so excited to have kittens! We will let you know when the little fur balls of joy arrive!

Pierson holding Bella and petting Leo- October 2008
(And yes, Bella was named after Edward's Bella)