We invited 16, yes 16 5-6 year olds to help her celebrate the special occasion. My kids get a party on their 3, 5, 8, 12, 16, and 18th birthdays. So they know on the other years not to ask for a big to do. 
We converted the living room into a beauty salon and fashion runway for all the models that attended.
This was Angela's very sassy outfit that she sported on the runway. 
We had quite the spread of pink food and munchies for all the girls to eat.
A great time was had by all and Angela was in heaven... Okay so was I, can you tell I've waited a long time to do the girl thing. I LOVE IT!!! Happy Birthday Lala, we love you!
I barely finished cleaning up from the party when I remembered, oh yea, I have card club this week. So hear is what I did. I made wedding invitations for one of my brides that is getting married in May and I made a few extra pouches to make my cards with while I was at it.
I found this great plastic-like paper with the cool swirls and voila cards for card club.
On Tuesday we attended the 3rd grade music concert that Eric John participated in. He had a blast and they did a good job with the patriotic theme.
Then on Friday the 13th, it was Dallin's birthday. 17!!! Now that's scary. How does time go by so fast? The picture above is from a year ago. Look, he's still growing.
I like to make my kids their favorite meal for their birthday, so of course Dallin picks something complicated. He wanted Chinese food, so egg rolls, fried rice and chicken skewers it was. Funny story...We like to grill the chicken, but I ran out of propane and we only had about half a bag of charcoal, but since it was for his birthday and we wanted it to be extra special I asked Josh to get the coals going. I finished the egg rolls, I made the fried rice, I also made sugar cookies that turned out great (thanks Rachele for the great recipe) ...the chicken was marinated and ready to go. Eric finally got home and was ready to grill. He kept going in and out and no chicken. almost an hour later he comes in with 3 little skewers of meat, so I ask him, what it taking so long. So I go outside to see what all the fuss was about, I could not believe my eyes, there were literally about 30 coals, about half lit and a grilling area of about 4 inches. I had to just walk away. I turned the oven on and stuck the chicken in. It's funny now, but not so much for our hungry tummies.
Anywho, Happy Birthday Dallin, I love you.
Valentine's Day did prove to be any less busy. I woke up to a phone call at about 8 am from the food co-op Bountiful Baskets, I signed up for it this week and despite my large note on my mirror, I forgot. I had to literally run out the door (you don't want to know what I looked like) and over to the park area where they were waiting just for me, Loser! Needless to say I was grateful for the phone call. It was a great basket, everything was fresh and beautiful. I look forward to all our meals this week.
It was also Eric's Dad's birthday. He had to spend it at the hospital. He's been really sick. He has cancer, diabetes, a pace maker and to boot broke his arm 4 weeks ago. The healing is slow, but steady. We hope he can recover and be home soon. Eric has been staying with his Dad off and on at the hospital to give his mom a break. His mom is so tired and such a trooper, she never complains and is always tending to her hubby. Eric truly believes that this is the reason he is out of work right now. He has been such a help to his parents. He's a good son.
We went to our ward's annual marriage fireside. It was great. I love that our ward does this.
We went to dinner and a movie after and called it a night.
I have to say that Eric is a great husband and even though he was tired from being at the hospital all night he still wanted to take me out and spend some time with me. He's a good man.
I hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day.
How did I possibly live without a Valentine's Day tree until now? We found these cute slim trees at Walmart on clearance for $5. Add a few finds from here and there and voila!! Life is always better with glitter!
...cute ribbon and paper from Michael's and Hobby Lobby...
... and some note cards to give to the ladies I visit teach.
I set out a few other things I had from before. I'm trying to get a Valentine's tree done, inspired by Kim Skinner (see her blog) and fun things here and there. 
...made these for a few friends...
Made advent calendars for my sisters and Mora sisters-in-law (sorry no picture)
We celebrated Christmas Eve at my brother's house and did presents a little different this year. We did a modified white elephant gift. For the kids 11 and under we brought a new $10 gift wrapped for the kids to choose from. We drew numbers but we didn't have them take it from each other, you know trying to avoid counseling in later years. As you can see the anticipation was almost too much to bare...
But eventually everyone had a turn and we had a lot of very happy customers. 
The teenagers had to bring a gift that they either made or had to give up something they owned to give to someone else. I have to say that they did a great job with all of their gifts. My favorite was Josh's Ultimate survival kit, he rounded up a compass, pocket knife, hot spark(to start fires with) and a first aid kit. He took a piece of foam and cut a spot for each piece. It was a big hit and the boys even traded back and forth a few times. Hopefully we'll do this every year.
The adults did a traditional white elephant. Some of the gifts were very funny. We had a $10 limit so it was very interesing to see everyone's gifts.
We were happy to have my mom with us just 10 days after complete knee surgery. She has been doing so well and recovering nicely. 
We also had a nice dinner at my sister Adriana's home for my dad the weekend before. It was nice to have my dad with us for a little while.
I'm grateful for the earth we live in and for the freedoms we have in this great country.
I'm grateful for my family, even though they hate taking pictures.
Grateful for my brothers and sisters and that they open their home to all of us to celebrate these special days. 
For a home to live in especially in these difficult times (but I'm especially grateful for the decorating part of it)
I'm grateful that my mom taught me the love of crafting among many other things. I do it as much and as often as I can. I attempted to do a boutique this year and these are some of the things I did. 
Grateful for good schools that my children go to and that they still celebrate the Holidays.
This was Eric John's class and their thanksgiving feast.
Especially grateful for little surprises like Dallin coming home the other day with a shaved head. After I got over the shock, he explained that the whole football team did it in Honor of a friend battling cancer, and they did it to lift up his spirits. He passed about a week later and the kids were all very strong and decided to dedicate their playoff football game to him.
Red was Loren Merkley's favorite color so they all wore red the whole day...
Even for their game. The cheerleaders cheered for him and I'm sure that his family truly appreciated it. I proud of all the boys. Good job Bulldogs!!!