HaPpY bIrThDaY....

Patricia Ellen!

This beautiful lady is the best mother,

friend,

woman in general that I know!

I'm grateful for her every single day--
her example,
her patience,
her humor,
her generosity,
her love.

Keep it extra HAPPY today, mama!
You deserve a day for all the happiness you bring others!

What a GOOBER!

After 20 weeks of waiting,
it looks like we will have to wait 20 more!
Apparently our dear, darling,
little baby Vieira
does NOT want to give away the big secret.
The little stinker squirmed around
all during measurements,
and then he/she decided to hunker down with legs
firmly crossed when the time came to find out
if this is Kaio Lewis or Dorothy Mae.


Boy or Girl?
Submission deadline for guesses has been extended
to March 1st.

A trip with P. Heaps

To Walden Pond!

I always feel extra blessed when the beauty of the fall
comes to New England,

especially at a place as beautiful as this!

And to make the day even more wonderful,
I got to enjoy it all with my beautiful mother.

On the way home we found a little farm stand and
shared freshly pressed apple cider and honey crisp apples.

Perfect.

Ode to Fall--in a bowl

Here's a great fall recipe to try:
Fall roasted vegetable soup!

I never make it with exact measurements,
so please excuse the lack of specificity in the directions.

Cut up
Butternut squash
Red Potatoes
Onions
and Carrots
into inchish sized chunks.

Toss with
Olive oil
Salt
and Pepper.

Put veggies on baking sheets
and roast in a 450 degree oven for about 45 minutes,
tossing occasionally to prevent burning.

When veggies are all nice and tender,
pull from oven and let cool for a few minutes.
Then in small batches,
blend veggies with vegetable broth in blender until smooth.
(will be pretty thick coming out of the blender.)

When all the veggies are done,
put the blended mixture into a pot on the stove.
Over low heat,
stir and add more broth until you reach desired thickness.
Add minced garlic, more salt and pepper,
or any other spices to taste.

Serve with some nice crusty bread,
and ENJOY!

Let's hear it for the ladies!

Next week,
I get to spend my time with
THESE
Lovely Ladies.

I feel so blessed to have such
Beautiful,
Talented,
Simply Brilliant
women as my sisters and mother.

The last few years
(especially the last few months)
have helped me to appreciate not only the women around me
but also just being a woman myself.
The more I come to understand the divine privilege
of being a woman,
the more I feel Heavenly Father's love.

In his book Standing For Something,
President Gordon B. Hinckley
states:
"After the Lord created the earth,
and everything upon it, He created man.
And then, as the crowning act of creation,
He created woman. She was the ultimate of all His creations."

Did you catch that?
The ULTIMATE of all His creations!
What an incredible privilege.
Think of THAT the next time you are feeling down.

Any happy little thought

Over the summer,
I was called to teach Sunday school
to the 15-18 year old youth.
For those of you who knew me at this age,
yes,
the irony of this calling should make you laugh.

A few weeks ago,
my class was
in
a
funk.
No hands raised.
No comments to add.
No smiles.
Blah.
I decided that something needed to be done.
Therefore,
I started what I like to call "Bit o' Happiness."
At the beginning of every Sunday school class we now take
about 5 minutes
and someone shares something that makes them happy.
This (usually) brings some smiles and unity
to the room before the lesson begins.

Today, I was in charge of the "Bit o' Happiness."
I spent part of this past week
organizing old photographs, and each one was attached
to a wonderful memory.
So for my "Bit o' Happiness," I decided to share
some of my memories.
I also decided to share a quotation by
President Thomas S. Monson:

"God gave us memories so that we may have
June roses in the December of our lives."

May we all listen to the words of
Disney's Peter Pan
and take the time to "think of a wonderful thought--
Any happy little thought"
when we are in need of our own "Bit o' Happiness."

We have enough Blah in our lives;

let's strive for more Roses.

Hide and Seek

Spartacus, our baby iguana, has a slight obsession:
our old hippie COUCH.
We're not really sure why,
but he will sit on it for hours;
he will try to eat it;
And his new favorite thing is to HIDE in it.

He crawls down behind the cushions
and tucks himself in so that only his head is showing.
He then proceeds to do
NOTHING.
Just sits there and looks around.
We haven't really figured out why he does this,
but we're guessing it is just comfortable (?).
I love getting all snuggled up in a big quilt
with just my head sticking out.
So I guess he's just mama's little boy!
I will start to worry,
however,
if we find him snuggled up
on the couch with a pint of Ben and Jerry's
watching sappy movies.
I guess I better be careful about the example I set!

to life. to love. to Marty. cheers.

My sweet husband is off to
the Priesthood session of conference,
and I miss him.
I love him.
I'm so happy to know we have
Eternity.


I love this picture of him.

Anywho...

When Marty and I began dating,
we lived FAR away from each other
and were both terribly busy with work and school.
Therefore,
a LOT of our courtship became electronic:
texts,
emails,
phone calls.
One wonderful aspect of this type of relationship
is that we have so much of it saved.
A few fun texts are still in our phones,
many an email live in saved folders on our accounts,
and even a phone message or two have survived deletion.

So, as a tribute to our love,
I am posting some of my favorite email snippits.

WARNING to all of you lactose-covered love intolerant people,
major cheese is about to be shared:

10/14/2007
"Here's to Sunday afternoon walks in our garden of Eden,
to sweet moments without words
(but maybe a few kisses),
to warm memories created over warm, homemade meals,
and to the peace that comes when I hold your hand,
hear your voice,
or when my blue eyes meet yours.
Here's to us."

10/21/2007
"Green grass. Red lips. Golden sunshine.
Blue eyes. White temple clothes--
Look at all the color you bring into my life."

10/30/2007
"We should do some yoga.
We should climb a mountain.
We should listen to the rain fall.
We should...
We should...
We should...forever."

I know that these words mean much more to me
than any of you who will read them.
But
LOVE
is
best
shared.
So, my friends, here is a glimpse of our love.
And may we all cherish the miraculous phenomenon
that love can grow more
every day.

No tricks. Just treats.

The art lesson I teach on Thursdays
is really more of an arts and crafts kinda thing.

Here is a fun project I found
for the upcoming Halloween season.

So easy to do:
1) Save your old toilet paper rolls
2) Fill them with treats
3) Wrap them in colorful paper
4) Tie off the ends with string or ribbon
5) Decorate with stickers, markers, etc.
6) Share with any friends needing a treat

HaPpY TrEaTiNg EvErYoNe!

wise words

I came across this quotation the other day.
I think it fits very nicely with the message from
President Uchtdorf.

"Use what talent you possess:
the woods would be very silent
if no birds sang
except those that sang best."
~Henry Van Dyke

Sing on, my beautiful friends.
Sing on.