. . . observations . . .

. . . i learned some things this week . . .

one . . . elk are huge . . .

two . . . even though they're elk,

they still get that

"deer in the headlights look" . . .

three . . . i'm glad my brakes work . . .

lastly . . . six hours is

plenty of time to

actually spend at girls' camp . . .

. . . what have you learned lately?

. . . more good news . . .

. . . check this out . . .

. . . memory lane . . .

. . . sometimes i like to ask myself . . .

"what was i doing a year ago right now?"

. . . boy, oh, boy . . .

. . . do i ever remember this week last year!

sunday ~ baccalaureate

. . . a really nice meeting,

especially since i

absolutely despise

graduation itself . . .

monday ~ graduation party

. . . celebrating drew and brad

{thanks so much to the sherwood family

for being such gracious hosts}

tuesday ~ seminary graduation

. . . always wonderful . . .

. . . i love seeing that

big group of great kids

with common dreams and goals . . .

{we won't talk about the fact

that i squeaked in just in time

since my car was involved

in an unfortunate accident

only a couple of hours

before the meeting.

no one was hurt.}

wednesday ~ wedding dinner

. . . for all of our

wonderful friends and family

{thanks again to the johnsons . . .

♥love♥ them!}

thursday ~ mhs graduation

. . . again, not my favorite,

what with the air horns,

tacky people hollering

through the entire ceremony,

and general disrespect . . .

there! . . . i said it and i'm glad.

. . . seriously, it's out of control . . .

. . . but that didn't make me

any less proud

of this cute graduate . . . . . . and his fellow sister mhs graduates . . .. . . and his amazing friends,

who i also love - all of you! . . .

{it's mind boggling to think of

how scattered this group is

just one year later}

friday ~ wedding

. . . this cute couple . . .

. . . became this cute couple forever . . .

. . . this crazy group of boys . . .

. . . and these beautiful girls

were there to lend support . . .

. . . these munchkins nearly stole the show . . .. . . our family increased by one son - YEA! . . .{sidenote: immediately following the above photo,

bill was holding little man tate

and who knew that the stomach of

a one-year-old could hold so much

and it could come up so violently?}

. . . hence . . . no more cute outfit for him . . . . . . or bill who had to wait inside for

drew to drive all the way home

and return with another suit

and every single other article of clothing

a person might wear,

since it all got "drenched". . .

. . . the johnson family grew by one daughter . . .. . . then we had probably the cutest party in history . . . . . . with gorgeous floral arrangements everywhere . . .. . . various forms of ambient lighting . . .. . . a to-die-for chocolate fountain

run by my pro friends . . .

. . . more flowers and eclectic decor

than i've ever seen . . .

{cute food was soon to come -

but look at those mini sugar cookies -

the best you'll taste}

. . . angels in the kitchen

aka the best friends in the world . . . . . . a one-of-a-kind wedding cake

{oh, my goodness} . . .

. . . lovely tables . . .. . . all in all . . .. . . it was a mary poppins kind of day/week . . .

. . . practically perfect in every way

and i can't believe it's been a year already . . .

. . . they say it's your birthday{s} . . .

. . . fifty-two years ago today,

this wonderful husband of mine

~WILLIAM ORIN ROMNEY~

was born . . . . . . then two years ago

{on bill's 50th birthday}

this funny little guy

~TATE WILLIAM HANSEN~

entered the world . . .

. . . this little rock star is

definitely one of the highlights

of bill's past two years & probably

the best 50th birthday present ever. . .

. . . happy birthday guys . . .

. . . for angie . . .

. . . please note

{danger! danger!}

that vehicle is in gear

{and quite dusty} . . .. . . i'm taking requests . . .

. . . what's your favorite number? . . .

{over 50K}

{i'm not getting a new car}

. . . getting real close . . .

. . . my car & i have

a lot in common

these days . . .. . . we're both pushing fifty {thousand?} . . .

. . . she'll {is your car a boy or a girl?}

get there

a little before i do . . .

. . . Mom's Day . . .

. . . this charming photo was

among the mother's day gifts

i received last year -

which means that

drew {& maggie}

went to the effort to

pose for/ask someone to

snap the picture,

go get it printed @ walgreens,

buy a frame @ the dollar store,

wrap it

& present it to me -

all the while assuring me that

a year from then,

i'd be thankful to have it &

i'd be missing both of them . . .

. . . at that time, however,

i didn't have a blog . . .

{by the way, i sincerely hope that

all the moms out there that

actually get to talk to

their missionaries today

have an enjoyable time.

i'm only a little jealous}

. . . drew was half right -

they're both gone

& i do miss him . . .

. . . one down ~ twenty-three to go . . .

. . . in celebration of the

one month anniversary of

Drew's missionary service,

i bring you this undated photo . . . . . . i'm not sure what was going on,

but it looks like he was having a great time . . .

. . . to keep up with all his latest antics,

check here . . .

{he's pretty funny from time to time}