29 December 2010

. . . party on . . .

. . . i've had a couple of friends
{hi friends!}
ask to see these photos
from the little wedding dinner fiesta
we had for these two . . .

{jessalyn and drew - the [at the time] soon-to-be-married couple}


. . . decorations consisted of red and white . . .
. . . lots of red and white . . .
. . . readily available at this time of year, obviously . . .


. . . my awesome friends
{hi awesome friends!}
and i baked cookies . . .

. . . lots of cookies . . .

. . . no ~ really . . .

. . . we baked a LOT of cookies . . .

. . . and then we built a fancy dessert table
in the middle of a basketball court . . .
. . . with BIG, HUGE thanks
to my sister-in-law, molly . . .
. . . for her expert help
and the use of her awesome stuff . . .

{see if you can spot my dentist, former next-door neighbor,
the nice guy who kept all the chairs wiped off at the reception,
an oregon state football player, an engaged couple,
my stake president, and where's waldo}

. . . drew and jessalyn did a fabulous job
of introducing all the guests . . .


. . . these guys from costa vida
are my new best friends . . .
. . . did you know they will deliver, set up,
serve, clean up
and package all the leftovers for you? . . .
. . . now you know . . .


. . . my cute sons . . .
{chris, drew, brent and tyler}

. . . and beautiful daughters . . .

{amber, amanda, jessalyn and amelia}

. . . pretty grandmas . . .

{davis and romney}

. . . best friends . . .

{shellene and amanda}

. . . lots of blondes helping in the kitchen . . .

{amanda, karen, lori and vicki}

. . . i'm sorry there are no photos of peg . . .
. . . she literally spent hours
helping us set up and baking . . .

. . . and then . . .
. . . THEN . . .
. . . everyone helped clean up . . .

. . . it was great! . . .

. . . and before i knew it . . .
. . . it was as if this . . .

. . . had never happened . . .

. . . thanks so much to everyone
who helped me in any way . . .
. . . i love you ALL! . . .


24 December 2010

. . . jammies @ grammy's 2010 . . .

. . . and when i say jammies . . .

. . . of course i mean loungewear . . .
. . . jammies were outlawed several years ago . . .
. . . except for toddlers . . .
. . . and to all those who chose to ruin family photos . . .
. . . who are not toddlers . . .
. . . i hope you enjoy your coal . . .
. . . merry christmas from the romneys! . . .


18 December 2010

. . . take two . . .

. . . after getting rained out thursday . . .
. . . plan b was scheduled for saturday . . .
. . . at 7:30 in the morning . . .
. . . not a big deal if you're the groom . . .
{except for the whole "squinty-in-the-morning romney eyes" thing}
. . . but the bride had hair and makeup
to think about . . .
. . . thankfully ~ light showers stopped completely
as soon as we got to the temple . . .

. . . the boy . . .



. . . the girl . . .


. . . the dress! . . .

. . . it was a team effort . . .

. . . including lots of dress arranging
and hair primping . . .
{one time i fixed drew's cuff because i felt so left out!}


. . . annie is a pro . . .

. . . don't you think? . . .

{*all photos except the last one are from my little point and shoot camera ~
not to be confused with annie's fabulous work, please!}


14 December 2010

. . . a little bling . . .

. . . molly gave jessalyn
the most awesome bridal shower gift . . .
. . . she invited all the bridesmaids
to a private bead party . . .
. . . so tonight they got together
to make jewelry to match
their cute green dresses . . .

. . . i really wish i'd taken a picture
of molly's bead inventory . . .

. . . epic . . .

. . . one short week till drew and jessalyn's big day . . .
. . . and everyone'll be looking good . . .
. . . thanks to molly! . . .


13 December 2010

. . . elliott's big news . . .


. . . and from the looks of things . . .
. . . he's pretty pumped! . . .
. . . so are we . . .


12 December 2010

. . . i want a second opinion . . .

. . . this is dr. michael wolff . . .
. . . bill is his patient . . .
. . . has been for four and a half years now . . .
. . . he's received multiple recognitions
as a top doc in phoenix . . .

. . . the scene: his office . . .
. . . dr. wolff {to me as we were leaving}:
"nice purse ~ reminds me
of one of those strings of dried red chilis
. . . {pause} . . .
we're way too comfortable with each other" . . .

{the purse ~ taipan trading co. ~ ranco cucamonga, CA ~ ca. september 2010}

{the chilis ~ santa fe, NM}


. . . the scene: 10 days later ~
scottsdale ambulatory surgical center ~ . . .
. . . surgery center nurse
{to me walking into the recovery room to pick up bill}:
"i love your purse. it's so festive.
it reminds me
of those strings of dried red chilis" . . .

. . . i guess that settles it . . .


09 December 2010

. . . christmas tunes . . .

. . . think/say what you will about glee . . .
. . . but, the production numbers are usually genius . . .
{they put to shame anything we ever did in show choir ~
the only choreography i remember was swaying back and forth as couples
during "i can't help falling in love with you" ~ BORING!
sorry mr. garrett :( }

. . . case{s} in point . . .
. . . "proud mary/rollin' on the river" in wheelchairs . . .
. . . "singin' in the rain/umbrella" with all that water . . .
. . . "marry you" at finn/kurt's parents' wedding . . .

. . . so ~ yes ~ i picked up
saturday night . . .
. . . wrestled with the wrapping
in the target parking lot . . .
{why are they sooooo hard to open?}
. . . popped it in my cd player . . .
{which skips all. the. time. grrrrrrr!}
. . . and heard the first three tracks
by the time i got home . . .
. . . xoxoxoxoxo . . .




. . . fast forward to sunday . . .
. . . on my way to church . . .
. . . track four comes on . . .
. . . "baby, it's cold outside" . . .
. . . let's just say i was startled . . .

. . . if i'd seen the christmas episode
before listening to the cd,
i'd've been prepared . . .

. . . as it is ~ i will stick with
the james taylor/natalie cole version . . .

. . . other than that . . .

. . . still tapping my toe to "deck the rooftop" . . .
{a glee-style mashup of "up on the housetop" and "deck the halls"}

. . . mr. schue and guest artist kd lang's
"you're a mean one mr. grinch"? love it . . .

. . . rachel's "o holy night"? respectable . . .
{even though her character is jewish. although that never stopped barbra, barry, or kenny g!}

. . . mercedes' gospel inspired rendition of
"angels we have heard on high"?
the girl has pipes . . .

. . . and finn, puck and artie's
"jingle bells" big band style?
yes, please . . .


08 December 2010

. . . a new bauble . . .

. . . i didn't buy any new christmas shtuff this year . . .
. . . well ~ only like one roll of wrapping paper . . .
. . . it's a holiday miracle ~ believe me! . . .

. . . but ~ this little ceramic beauty
was gifted me by a sweet friend . . .
. . . thanks, friend! . . .

. . . seriously ~ i've never seen the likes of it . . .

. . . it weighs in at about 15 pounds . . .
{slight exaggeration}
. . . is almost 12 inches from tip to top . . .
. . . and says ho! repeatedly . . .
{right behind the red beads}

. . . should i be offended? . . .

p.s. elliott is feeling much better.
thanks to those of you who asked!
they say it was a bacterial infection in his blood stream,
but the source is, as yet, undetermined.



02 December 2010

. . . words that start with x . . .

. . . have you ever wondered
how to get a two-year-old to hold still
for a chest xray? . . .
. . . wonder no longer . . .

. . . it's a giant test tube . . .

. . . elliott {poor baby} is a sick little boy . . .
. . . we're very grateful for modern medicine . . .
. . . and praying he'll be good as new in no time . . .


30 November 2010

. . . thankful #the last . . .

. . . thanksgiving month draws to a close . . .
. . . with no fancy photos . . .
. . . no funny quips . . .
. . . no sarcasm . . .
. . . just a very grateful me . . .
. . . and though some of my "thankful"s
may have seemed trivial ~
i certainly realize how truly blessed i am . . .

. . . i am surrounded by a wonderful family . . .
. . . a husband i love . . .
{and admire beyond belief for his patience and faith through this time of great trial}
. . . children i adore . . .
. . . sons- and {soon-to-be} daughter-in-law
who are just the right matches for my kids . . .
. . . five precious grandkids {so far} . . .

. . . my health . . .
. . . a lovely home . . .
. . . the best friends you can imagine . . .

. . . and {most importantly} an unshakable testimony
of the divinity of my savior . . .
{to whose birth i will now turn my attention for remembering and celebrating}

. . . and i feel extra blessed . . .


29 November 2010

. . . thankful #29 . . .

. . . what's that old saying? . . .
. . . "you don't know what you've got
'til it's gone" . . .

. . . here's what my speedometer
looked like today . . .
. . . when i was at a dead stop . . .
. . . making it a little tricky
to judge how fast
i was or wasn't going . . .

. . . so if you see me on the road . . .

. . . cross your fingers for me . . .
. . . because my appointment
to get it repaired
isn't until thursday . . .


28 November 2010

. . . thankful #28 . . .

. . . generosity . . .
. . . what a fun party yesterday . . .
. . . jessalyn was definitely showered . . .
. . . and people are so nice . . .
. . . from the hostess and her helpers . . .
. . . to the many friends
and family members who came . . .

amelia, amanda, suzie {jessalyn's mom}, me, amber, jessalyn, kalie {jessalyn's sister}


27 November 2010

. . . thankful #27 . . .

. . . assembly line . . .

. . . makin' a list and checkin' it twice . . .

. . . wedding invitations ~ done . . .


26 November 2010

. . . thankful #26 . . .

. . . black friday costco success . . .

. . . and this guy's crazy bedhead . . .


25 November 2010

. . . thankful #25 . . .

. . . thanksgiving day . . .
. . . is that redundant? . . .
. . . being thankful for thanksgiving day? . . .
. . . because i am . . .

. . . here's how amanda and i started the day . . .
. . . at the neighborhood turkey trot . . .
{or bike or skate or jog or walk or wog}
. . . take a look at just a few of the folks
who show up for such an event . . .

. . . then there's the food . . .

{i actually had really easy assignments today}
. . . my mom is such a great cook . . .
. . . we look forward to her dressing every year . . .
. . . legendary . . .

. . . but the best part about thanksgiving
is the people . . .
{proof that i was having fun? no pictures}
. . . neighbors, friends, children, grandkids,
brothers, sisters,
cousins, aunts, uncles, grandma . . .
{i missed my dad today}
. . . we caught up with each others' lives,
we laughed, we played, we ate . . .

. . . and naps . . .

. . . let's do it again next year . . .