31 December 2007

. . . all dogs go to heaven . . .

maggie
{age: new puppy}
december 1993 maggie, amelia & alisse
{age: 6 months, 8 years & 9 years respectively}
spring 1994

maggie in her prime
{age: almost 5 years}
august l998maggie watching general conference
{age: almost 14 years)
october 2007


Diamond Margaret {aka}

"Maggie"

came into the world on

28 October 1993

& she departed
31 December 2007
at the ripe old age of
14 years 2 months & 3 days
she was a darling doggy
& we'll miss her lots
& i cried


28 December 2007

. . . guess what . . .

. . . came in the mail today? . . .
a very important {& scary} envelope
& yes, i cried when
i took it out of the mailbox . . .
. . . wouldn't you? as you know,
important occasions call for
certain preparations.
of course, lots of people
would be coming to our house
for the opening of this envelope ~~
so, of course,
there must be food,
or at least snacks & beverages.
since the call came
at around 2:30
& the opening was to be held at 6:30,
there was not much time
~~ chips & salsa it is!
see, i told you
lots of people would come!

everyone made a guess

as to where

elder romney would go

here's elder romney

{with shaky hand & letter opener

passed from friend to friend

expressly for the purpose of

opening these important envelopes}

elder romney beginning to read

{note the envelope covering the letter ~

exposing only one line at a time}

the letter & the call . . .

. . . to serve in the
mexico city north mission
beginning wednesday 2 april 2008
{i swear i didn't know where he was going
when i made salsa this afternoon!}
happy sisters
{& snickers in her christmas sweater}

really excited dad & sister

{she was playing the part of the

"cryer" tonight since

i'd already had my own episode

when i went to get the mail this afternoon}

addi was excited since her guess was . . .

mexico

{side note . . . she was not so excited
when i handed her the prize money
~ $1.00 ~
her comment ~ "just one?"}

happy grandparents & preoccupied aunt

katelyn looks excited

so does kenzi
& all the fackrells for that matter
question . . . how many people
are texting in this photo?
answer: three {at least}
most importantly . . .happy
elder andrew davis romney

note from mom: i would advise against

having an only boy be your youngest child.

i can't even describe how much

i'll miss this wonderful son

who always behaves & makes us laugh.

we are so proud of him!



25 December 2007

. . . it's a wrap! . . .

. . . i hope drew likes ties . . .. . . merry christmas . . .
. . . from our crazy family . . .
. . . to yours . . .



24 December 2007

. . . from disaster . . .

. . . to delicious . . .
a "how to" guide
. . . start with these
ingredients . . .

. . . mix in cute

red bosch . . .

. . . make a big mess . . .

. . . wind up with a

disgustingly filthy sink . . .

. . . dirty every dish

you own {almost} . . .

. . . pop these beauties out

in about 55 minutes . . . . . . repeat x 60 loaves . . .
. . . deliver to wonderful

friends&neighbors . . .



23 December 2007

. . . fifty . . .

. . . years deserves a special celebration . . .
. . . complete with a

beautifully set table . . .
{look how pretty the white roses are

in vases filled with key limes & cranberries,

& individual boxes of godiva chocolates ~

it was just lovely}
. . . a delicious menu ~ including . . .

    christmas wassail

    chips&salsa*

*{made by "the secret mexican" ~


aka my brother


~ who won a salsa-making contest


in the town of queen creek!}



    fresh guacamole

    albondigas soup

    bolillos

    tamales wrapped in banana leaves

    scrumptious rice

    refried black beans

    choice of lemon/raspberry or godiva cheesecake

. . . & all because

these two crazy kids

fell in love . . . . . . you'd think {at age almost 81}

that my dad would be

celebrating more like his

60th anniversary . . .

. . . but then mom would have been

only twelve years old &

i think that's illegal or something . . .

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

special thanks to

jeff&lora ~ hosting

eric&molly ~ food

heather&sean ~ dessert

{all i did was make the invitations!}



21 December 2007

. . . a recommendation . . .

. . . today, one of my
favorite blogs . . .. . . features one of my
favorite people . . .
. . . read all about it here . . .


16 December 2007

. . . question . . .

. . . if you have jammies this cute
for your grandbabies . . .. . . would you wait until
christmas to give them?
. . . halleigh taking the
peppermint theme
perhaps a little too far . . .

. . . addi demonstrating that

these pjs are,

in fact, suitable for sleepwear . . .

they're especially fun to wear

while being chased

by a puppy named

snickers

on your mark, get set, go
tate, sporting his new gingerbread,
getting in on the act
{sorry, but girls really are more fun to shop for}

action shot

again, i ask you . . .

if you have jammies this cute

for your grandbabies . . .

. . . would you wait

until christmas

to give them?

yeah . . . neither would i . . .


12 December 2007

" . . . ♪♫ this is that time of the year ♫♪ . . . "

" . . . ♪♫ a tinselly, glittery time . . .
. . . {momma} keeps buying presents
and sneaks them into the closet ♫♪ . . . "
truthfully . . . that's a lie!
. . . unfortunately, {momma} isn't very inspired
and {she} hasn't even started buying presents yet . . .
. . . what {she} has started buying
{and sneaking into the closet}
are wrapping paper and ribbon . . .
. . . {momma} can't seem to help herself . . .
. . . these are three of my favorite papers . . .
and if you believe that,
you don't know {momma} very well!um . . . could someone please talk to costco?
you gotta love their
neverending rolls of paper,
but come on!
these have to be the dorkiest prints ever!
. . . why {if your paper is reversible}
don't you show the more attractive part?
. . . the other sides are so much cuter . . . . . . i was thinking i need to make some more tags,
until i got the box of leftovers out . . .
. . . but, i think we're good . . .

. . . here is {momma}'s real addiction . . .
♥thanks costco♥
. . . i do ♥love♥ your ribbon,
and the price is unbeatable . . .
. . . all in all,
you have to admit that
{momma}
has a little problem . . .


01 December 2007

". . . ♪♫ christmastime is here ♫♪ . . ."

. . . ♫♪ happiness and cheer ♪♫
♫♪ fun for all ♪♫
♫♪ that children call ♪♫
♫♪ their favorite time of year ♪♫ . . .
i call it my favorite time of year, too
. . . a few before & afters . . . . . . this one's a little dark, but isn't that the point? . . .
. . . p.s. another gerbera daisy died
{moment of silence, please} . . .

. . . you'll be seeing a lot more of these colors . . .

". . . ♫♪ haul out the holly
put up the tree before my
spirit falls again ♪♫ . . .". . . come on in . . . . . . we
{& maggie, our antique lhasa apso}
welcome you . . .

. . . this leads upstairs

where amanda&brent

moved out of yesterday

{single tear [for me], but

happy new home owning [for them]} . . .. . . remember the quilt?

i found a happy home for it . . .

. . . this buffet belonged to my

great grandmother rogers . . .

. . . it's such a good sport
it just sits there & lets me decorate it . . .

. . . here's our normal

living/home teaching room . . .

. . . looking in from the entry way . . .

. . . gotta give a little shout out

to shesgotitall.net . . .

. . . love it! thanks so much

vicki, shalae & suzanne! . . .

. . . we let these twostand guard . . .
. . . some say this looks like
whoville or minnie's house . . .

. . . i say it looks like

many years of

collecting shtuff . . .

all in favor of thanksgiving
always being so early in the month
say 'aye'
i loved the "extra" week of november!
now . . . welcome to december

merry christmas
from our house to yours