So Blessed

For those of you who are my friends that read this blog, I want to say - thank you.

I have been so blessed to be surrounded by such inspiring and uplifting girlfriends through every phase of my life. In particular, I feel very blessed by the wonderful friends I have made during our almost ten years in Oregon. (Wow!) When we left behind our family and loved ones in Utah back in 2000, my heart was broken for the miles that would separate me from everyone I knew and loved dearly. I still ache to be closer to our family members, but I will always remember the blessing my dad gave me on the day that he and our other family members left Mac* and I "all alone" in Oregon. He blessed me to make many joyful and lasting friendships here. Ten years later, that blessing has been fulfilled exponentially. I can't tell you how many dear friends have made me laugh until I cry, inspired me to be a better person and loved me despite my many shortcomings. I feel so so blessed. If you are reading this, unless you found my blog by accident (o:, you are most likely one of those people I am so grateful to have in my life. So many women, including my awesome young women, have touched my life for good. I love you all. Here are a few pictures with some friends that I just happen to have seen or said goodbye to in the last little bit. I wish I had more pictures with all of you. Maybe I will make that a new goal and make a collage of women I love! So if I follow through with this and I ask to take your picture, just be flattered and smile. (o: he he

I was so excited to hear from my friend Katie a few weeks ago when she was visiting the area! She was one of the very first Portland friends that I made - I think she WAS the first friend that I made here. What a fun history. I was pregnant with Sarah and I remember watching her little baby boy Jackson. He is now 10 years old and was such a sweet and polite young man when the family came into our house! And I got to meet Katie's other two boys and sweet baby girl. A lot has happened since those early motherhood days! But Katie is still just as fun and sweet as I remember her and it was just the same as it used to be when we'd hang out together in the olden days! She is a wonderful mother and it shows in her cute family. Katie's visit was brief, but I was grateful to see her! Love ya Katie! (o:

This summer another one of my first friends in Portland, Rachel, came to visit from sunny California. (o: She always missed the sun during her years here in Oregon (she's a native Californian), but now that she's in California she misses our sunny faces! (o: Right Rachel? he he. Rachel was so awesome because she always planned girls' nights - usually at Applebee's so we had to follow tradition and meet there. When she comes in town, it is a big reunion for all of us. This awesome group of women: Keira, then me (sort of awesome), Rachel, Julie, Jami and Jillyn were a part of the core group of the first friends I made in the Rock Creek ward, our first ward out here. Back in the day, we had all kinds of fun outings together to explore our new northwest home with our babies. We got together for scrapbooking, baby showers, zoo trips, park days, birthdays (for kids and moms), Christmas ornament exchanges, exercising, walking, swimming and just hanging out because we needed adults to talk to. We helped each other out often because most of us had no family out here. We laughed and cried together and figured out how to be moms. Rachel and Keira were also my Harry Potter buddies - we went to two of the book releases together - sometimes VERY pregnant. I love these ladies tons!

This is one of my good friends who moved away this summer. (Hey there's a theme here. These are all friends who have moved away.) Kirsten is awesome - in addition to teaching my kids how to swim and play the piano, she has taught me how to be more savvy with money, how to serve others, make good food, be a better mom and she is super fun to talk to! We will miss her and her cute girls and hope they come back in a couple years when her hubby finishes school.

Natalie has loved to hold Miriam since she was born, can you tell? (o:

Happy Birthday Puddy Tat

Twilight's birthday is actually sometime in September, but that month was so crazy I post-poned a little celebration for her birthday. I've talked with the girls about having a birthday party for her for months and they were so excited about it. Angela wanted to invite some other real cat friends for the festivities and put hats on all of them. (o:

Our fun kitty cupcakes. (o: The girls loved making these.

Sarah invited her friend Mallory to join in the fun. Mallory was so cute and got just as into it as my girls did. She even made some homemade kitty toys and brought them for her gift.

These were really yummy. Too bad Twilight couldn't actually eat them.

Angela modeling her party hat with kitty ears and a crown.

The cute homemade cards made by the girls. And our pawprint napkins we found at Winco.

Twilight was very curious about the flame on her "stinky" food. Ned* had to keep a close eye on her as we sang.

Twilight just liked climbing into the bags more than anything. She didn't care much about her new sparkly collar or cat toys at first.

We read this together because this kitty reminds us of Twilight. (o:

We Heart Costco

I guess every fall, Costco has a night where they host an Intel night. (I'd never heard of it before this year.) After regular store hours, the store stays open for Intel employees. They have all kinds of fun things going on in the store. I was excited. Heck, I love to go to Costco even when nothing exciting is going on inside. Getting free samples is excitement enough to draw me in. (o: And did you know that our Costco here is the biggest Costco in the world? Aren't we lucky?!
Anyway, on this night they had face painting, cookie decorating, free cake and cider/coffee, a balloon artist, games and a raffle. When we go to Costco, Vern* always runs into co-workers, but this time, he obviously ran into quite a few more. (o: It was fun to see our good friends Mark, Michelle and cutie patootie Ruby and it was also nice to meet some of Jayson's other co-workers I haven't met before.

The most exciting part for me was winning one of the raffle prizes! WAHOOO! They did several prizes and were on the final prize when they called my number. Luckily, Vern* was paying attention. I figured I wouldn't win and was looking at a recipe book. I won a $50 gift certificate to one of several local restaurants like the Portland City Grill. Ooohh - we need a date so bad! It was the perfect prize to win! Thank you Costco! I love you even more now.

Never a Dull Moment

Look at these sweet girls. We had a lovely bride's night for a young women's activity recently. We had several ladies in the ward come to model or display their wedding dresses for the girls, share their wedding albums and share some fun things with the girls. We talked about the qualities to look for in guys when dating - the women who came shared what they loved most about their husbands so the girls could think about which qualities really matter in guys. Being cute is a nice quality, but if he's a cute jerk - forget him! (o: Anyway, for the treat at the end, the girls all decorated their own mini wedding cake. (an upsidedown cupcake with a mini upside down cupcake on top.) Our evening turned into a no-hands eating contest like ones that you would see in a county fair. (o: They even talked me and Penny (another adult leader) into joining in the craziness. Penny and I had a close competition - I don't remember who won, but I remember it was disgusting. (o: Lizzy, you'll have to send me some pics of those. If they are not too embarassing, I'll add them to this post.
Never a dull moment with my Laurels (the 16+ girls in my young women's group).