You Can't Make This Stuff Up.......: Feb 1, 2011

Grandma Jo

I spent the afternoon with Grandma Jo yesterday. She was in really good spirits, and was very lucid. She kept saying over and over again that her doctor appointment was the easiest one she could remember. Well, she's right, it went really smoothly. I just reminded her that when she eats well, and doesn't get out of bed without help, all of her appointments would be this easy.

I hated to leave her when our time together was through, but my own family needed me. I'm always amazed at how easily she can bring me to tears with her sweet words and loving smile. I was certain that yesterday when I looked into her eyes I saw a piece of heaven.

She shared with me a special moment from the girls baptism. She said that after the girls were baptized Madilynn was sitting next to her (it was actually Kiersten, but who's counting) and she held her hand. I remember looking down the row and seeing the look on their faces and knowing that it was a very sweet moment. I didn't really understand why until yesterday. She told me that while the girls were being confirmed she felt that Grandpa Rex was standing over her other shoulder and was that he was holding her hand. Kiersten was waiting for her turn to be confirmed and noticed that Grandma had a tear in her eye. Kiersten then leaned over to her and whispered, "Don't cry, Grandpa Rex is here! I can feel him. He wouldn't miss our special day." Grandma said in that moment she knew that Grandpa Rex was really here to see his little princesses make their very first covenant.

On a lighter note, she also remembered the fall carnival. She told the doctor twice and every other person in the waiting room that she has more kids that come and visit her than anybody else at Jamestown. I'm not sure that's really true, but she does have lots of family to surround her. She also told me that some of her "friends" there are so ornery, they probably have family but that she wouldn't come and visit them either. Today, I went back and found the pictures of the fall carnival so I could print them up for her and decided to post them while I was at it. I hope that we have many more moments like these to share with her.

The girls have gotten really good at getting Grandma ready to go on walks around the duck pond, or down to dinner. She joined us on the lawn for the petting zoo.

Grandma's always good for hugs and kisses. The little kids love to help push her chair and get a ride on Grandma's lap.

Lots of Hugs and Kisses for Grandma Jo!

The kids enjoyed all of the games, and even the parents enjoyed the prizes the kids won. It's a lot harder than it looks to get the ball in the hole.

There was lots of good food!

David and Sammy combined all of their tickets to get a fishy! We weren't sure the fishy would even make it home in one piece.......but it did.

There was a magic show. McKenzie and Mike were just a few of the stars from the audience.

Grandma enjoyed every minute of it.

There was cotton candy, and more cotton candy. Alexis kept Grandma Jo supplied!

One of the most entertaining parts of the afternoon was Matisyn and Sammy having a wrestling match on the lawn. They had a good time.

We LOVE you Grandma JO!

Our Second White Dress

My mom bought me a white dress,
Not red or pink or blue.
She said it was a special dress
Like very other few,
There has been just one before,
A dress now put away,
That I wore some time ago
Upon my blessing day.
As a little baby clothed In my first white dress,
My dad held me in his arms,
There to name and bless.
So pure and clean was I just then,
With time to grow and learn
About the Father's plan for me.My glory I must earn.
Now I've reached the age to judge
The wrong road from the right,
And I am here to be baptized
In this dress of white.
So once again I'm free from sin.
The path is clear to me.
I'll grasp the rod and hold on tight, I vow with certainty.
Just as mud would stain my dress,
Sin would stain my soul.
The key is to repent or bleach,
For whiteness is my goal.
And if I try my very best,
Then richly blessed I'll be,
Wearing inside God's holy house
White dress number three,
So today I make this pledge:
I'll strive to choose the right,
Through this sacred baptism ordinance
In my second dress of white.

(Linda Gay Perry Nelson, 1993)

I wanted to share a special moment from when I took the girls shopping for their Baptism Dresses. It was the last Saturday in August. I was really insistent that I did not want their baptism pictures done in a studio, so we shopped early for dresses. I shopped around at several stores ahead of time and decided that Dressed in White had the best selection and the lowest prices. We planned the entire day with Grandma, a "Girls day out!"

The excitement that morning was over the top. There was a moment or too that I was sure I was crazy to take them all at once. When we arrived at the store, each girl picked out 5 dresses they wanted to try on and we headed to the dressing rooms. (5 was the limit - it didn't last long) Each time they would try on a new dress, they would wait in the mirror room for their sisters. They would gently critique each other after trying on every one.....

"I love this lace!"

"That one has the prettiest bow!"

"This one has itchy sleeves!"

"This one floats when you walk!"

"This one is too heavy!"

"Does this one make me look like a princess?"

It was so funny to hear them work it out. They entertained quite a few people that day. At one point, the clerk said, "It looks like a Baptism blew up back here." I think we had one of every dress in the dressing rooms by the end of our 3 hour visit.

The biggest decision to be made was SAME or DIFFERENT! What to do? It was a tough decision, but in the end DIFFERENT was the way to go. Each one of them had a different criteria for choosing the perfect dress.

Kiersten wanted to look like a princess. She really loved the way her dress laced up on the sides, and she didn't want it to touch the ground. She loves to see her pretty shoes and can waltz better if it's shorter.

Alexis wanted something that was beaded and had lots of decoration on it. It was also important for her to have a dress that touched the ground. The other thing she loved about her dress was the giant bow in the back. Her dressed was named the "Rebecca" dress, which was her favorite part about it. I have to admit, it was one of my favorites too!

Madilynn fell in love with her dress the first time she tried it on. The only problem was, it was sleeveless. I LOVED the skirt with all it's layers of tulle and so did she. Madi's biggest criteria was that it had to flow perfectly to the ground after she did a twirl and sat down. It was so cute to see her do this over and over again. In the end, we bought a fourth dress that had the perfect bolero jacket to go with the dress she loved.

After hours of shopping, dresses and coordinating hair accessories were purchased and we headed for the ice cream shop. They giggled with excitement the entire way home and couldn't wait to show Dad and their big brothers. The GUYS were very patient during the fashion show as each detail was explained to them as if the entire world depended on it.

And that is how they chose, their second white dress.

Cakes & More Cakes

Well, I couldn't find them all.......but I found a few. Here are some of the cakes from the past few years.

This is the girls 1st birthday. They each had their own "FLOWER POWER" cake. We had a 4th cake to feed everybody else.

For their second birthday they got to celebrate twice. Once in Utah and then again back home in Illinois.

And then they were THREE.....

For this party I made each child their very own bear cake. At age three, having your very own is BEARY GOOD!

I'm not quite sure why I didn't bake a cake in 2007, I might have, but as of today I can't find photo evidence of one. I did find a picture of a lovely cake from Costco, I'm sure it was delicious!

In 2008, the girls turned 5! I let each of the girls design their very own princess cake. They did a great job!

When the girls turned 6 in 2009 we went all out! (As if that had never happened before?) I was inspired by a photo Dave had taken of me on our Anniversary trip to Florida a few years earlier.

At Disney world, FL......my inspiration for the Castle Cake.

The castle cake with 3 mini-princesses still "takes the cake" for the one I've spent the most time on. I spent over 20 hours just making flowers and it took more than 15 hours to assemble and frost.

2010 - the first year in our new home. We had just moved in two months before their birthday and turned our living room into a disco dance room. A Hannah Montana cake was the request. Here's what it turned out like......

Each one of the small cakes at the bottom was decorated for special for that girl, they each had a "7" sparkler to light for a candle!

And that brings us current to the year 2011, the EIGHTH birthday and Baptism of the Triplets. This year the cake request was "White, pretty, with flowers". I think it turned out just about like that.

You may be asking yourself, do I bake cakes for anyone other than the girls? Well, yes I do! I bake all the time. Here are just a few of the many cakes that I could find a pictures of.