Tag: Family

Scrapbook Love

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I had the opportunity to create a page for my daughter’s church group and it was delightful to pause and reflect for a moment on how much joy she brings to our lives! She really is as beautiful as she looks, inside and outside.

Scrapbooking truly builds the self-esteem of children! I’ve watched my kids share their scrapbooks with friends so many times and they are so proud of every picture. They smile and laugh as they flip through each page. Sometimes they “remember” things they were too young to really recall, simply because it has been documented in their memory album. It makes the effort all worthwhile.

It is a work of love for me, too.

Page Recipe (all supplies from Stampin’ Up!):

  1. More Amore Designer Series Paper (129309) and Champagne Glimmer Paper (127885)
  2. Card stock: Real Red, Pool Party, Very Vanilla
  3. Ink: Primrose Petals, Pool Party, Real Red
  4. Paper Doilies (129399)
  5. Typeset Alphabet Bigz Dies (127553), Labels Collection Framelits (125598) and Big Shot (113439)
  6. Pretty Petites stamp set and Petite Curly Label Punch (Sale-a-Bration items: each FREE with $50 purchase)
  7. Punches: Small heart (117193), 3/4″ circle (119873), 1″ circle (119868), Scallop Trim border (118402), Petite Pennants Builder (122361)
  8. Baker’s Twine

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A Wonderful Wedding Weekend

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Really, it could NOT have been a lovelier weekend: My oldest son (Kayson) was married to a beautiful young lady (Whitney) in the St. George LDS Temple!

The best part of the weekend, I think, was that my father married them 🙂 Now I’m wishing I had taken a picture of my dad with them! What was I thinking? I’ll have to take one when they get home from their honeymoon. I am very grateful for the Sealing Ordinance that binds husband and wife together for eternity and for the peace and beauty found in the temple.

Angie Clayson took family photos outside in the GORGEOUS weather (one of the reasons they chose to be married in St. George) after the wedding and while this isn’t her photo (I’m sure it will be better than mine), I thought it was so cute:

Next, I have to give my wedding planners/sisters Mindi & Megan a.k.a. Frank (prounouced FRAHHNK) & Howard and my mom a HUGE thank you for the luncheon decorations and my brother-in-law Russ for the location. Mindi has an amazing talent for decorating (as does Megan, but she prefers to be the assistant while Mindi is directing) and I am grateful to be on the receiving end of their talents! They truly went above and beyond the call of duty to make it a lovely event on a SHOESTRING budget, unlike the Father of the Bride 2 clip in the above link 😀  I owe them tons of scrapbooking service. And FYI, I did put my Stampin’ Up! supplies and Big Shot to good use for some of the decor as you can see the silver glimmer paper monograms in the first photo 🙂
 

Isn’t it beautiful? The colors were Pool Party, White, Silver and Pewter. And can you see those cakes? My sister Megan made the white/strawberry one and the German Chocolate one, which guests RAVED was the best one they ever tasted. I want her to open a dessert cafe in southern Utah. She is that good.

Now why didn’t I take a picture with my sisters and mom?!!? Again, I’ll do that later and post it so you can see their beautiful faces.

Not to be left out, I must also thank my brother Ryan and SIL Alison, my in-laws Launa & Dixon, my best friend Kelli and my BIL Neal for running last minute errands, making/buying cakes, gathering canning jars, helping to clean up, serving and babysitting services! You all contributed to making it a perfect day!

After the ceremony, we just held a family luncheon (no formal reception was held) and here are the happily married couple cutting the wedding cake:

My heart is full from the beauty of the day and the service my family provided. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

Guessing Jars: A Family Tradition

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A favorite tradition from our family reunions (on my dad’s side) are the “Guessing Jars”! If you need a fun game that EVERYONE can participate in, this is it: Each family brings a container filled with something and we number each jar. Every person gets a piece of paper and numbers it with the number of jars that are on the table, then takes a guess at how many items are in each jar (or answer the related question on the jar/container)

Our family gets pretty creative: There have been piggy banks filled with loose change (guess how much $money is in the bank), pencil boxes filled with random school supplies (guess how many hours kids go to school each year) and even a package of Oreos (If Oreo cookies were laid side by side, how many would it take to cross the Golden Gate Bridge? Answer: 28,800)

But most of our “jars” are containers filled with candy, something like this:

This particular jar was one I created the Late Night Stampers Reunion Party at Stampin’ Up! Convention and it is filled with taffy and rubber stamps! We wanted to start a new “family” tradition for the Reunion Party,and this fun game popped into my head. Here’s a close-up of the sweet tag…I have to say I love these folded paper medallions and they are as addicting to make as the sugar in the taffy!

And of course, glitter makes everything cuter, so the edges are dusted with a little bling 🙂 
Update 5/28/13: Apparently I didn’t finish my thought when I originally posted this! Each jar gets a number so that people can start anywhere on the table with their guesses (for instance, you could pick up jar/container #8 and write down the number and your guess, then move to jar #12, etc, until you had made a guess for each jar). Once everyone has made their guess, the M.C. reveals the correct answers and the person who guesses closest wins that jar/container!
This is a fun game for a crowd because there can be MANY winners 🙂 You may choose to only allow a person to win ONE time. However, if they were the closest guesser on a future jar, they could choose to exchange it for their first jar, giving the original jar to the next closest guesser. 
To see how we modified it for a bridal shower, see this post. 

Pulled the Plug

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Between computer, television and gaming systems, we felt that we were spending too much time in front of a screen at our house this summer, so we pulled the plug.

That’s right, you heard me…pulled. the. plug.

It’s only been about a week and it has been a blessing…and a curse.

Blessings: More time to finish projects, clean house, play games together, READ (yeah!), peace & quiet, less fighting and we choose (via dvd) which things we WILL watch together as a family.

Curses: Trying to keep up with my blog/website, can’t print information from the internet or e-mail people in my address book, have to run to the library to use the computer, harder to stay connected.

We weighed the options, and while it’s hard, it was “courageous parenting” (at least that’s what I keep telling myself). Truth be told, it’s been good for me, too. Who hasn’t wasted hours in front of a computer and looked around and wondered where the time went?

So while we are trying this out, there will be less posts here than usual because it’s hard to update at the library. But I can update my Facebook Fan Page, Creative Juice by Loni, so go ahead and “like” it: http://tinyurl.com/5w4bpgk

I hope you’ll be courageous, too…turn off the technology, read a book, stamp a card, get a tan and reconnect with your family this summer!

Sign of Spring

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What is cuter than a baby bunny? 

  FOUR BABY BUNNIES!!!!

And watching my kids with the baby bunnies was even more precious…there is just something about a baby of any sort that reminds you of the great love of God and a deep gratitude for all of his breath-taking creations!

Poetic Justice (or "All in the Family")

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Kayson has been looking forward to his Junior Prom for months now.

Back up 20 years: One day his teenaged dad came home and mom (Kayson’s Grandma) said, “Get dressed. You are taking your cousin to prom tonight.” Kayson has given his dad crap for years about that priceless gem.

So for this coming-of-age-event, Kayson asked a girl he really liked. He met with a friend every day for 2 weeks going over THE PLAN for their date. At different points in THE PLAN, they were going to rent a limo, ride around temple square in a carriage, go miniature golfing, go to the fanciest restaurant in town, get to the dance, take pictures and somehow get home by midnight (curfew). After drawing a time-line for him to visually demonstrate that it would take a miracle, they settled on the limo and dinner at LaCaille. This is my son: live in the moment, damn the cost.

Meanwhile, Kiersta is a senior and didn’t have a date, but wasn’t really worried about going this time…she’s been blessed to attend every other dance during her High School career. However, dad stepped up and threatened to buy her a date. She said she’d rather go with him! So the daddy/daughter date was a go.

Prom was last Saturday. On Thursday night about midnight, Kayson’s date goes to the E.R. for an emergency appendectomy. He misses school to stay by her side at the hospital on Friday, but gets plenty of other offers/suggestions via cell phone, now that she’s out of the picture.

Luckily, Mindi is bringing the girls up to stay at our house on Saturday night while she and RBC go to the Jazz game…so guess who Kayson took to Prom?

Tux: $110. New Shoes: $65. Corsage: $18.
Taking your cousin to Prom: Priceless!
And SUCH poetic justice.

A great time was had by all, but DH doesn’t like to be on the blog, so here are the girls before the dance:
We did tell Kaitlyn that she can’t date (again?) until she is 16. Does it count if you fill in and go to the prom with your cousin? Especially if you stop by the home of the girl-newly-without-appendix and give her the corsage?