Friday, March 31, 2017

BOP TIL YOU DROP

According to Kotten Kandy the highlight of this week was two fold:  Learning to dance with friends, and Fig Newton coming home from California!
Sooooooo Tuesday night 12 teenagers got together to learn how to waltz and do other amazing dances. They danced for about two hours and ended the evening doing line dances.  They had so much fun!  And I'm glad they got to learn some new skills.
They make me laugh!
Cascada
Run Away....
Love these kids!!!!
Fig Newton came home Wednesday night.  Kotten Kandy REALLY missed her.  We all did!  She had a marvelous time - but we never want her to leave again because she really adds an element of fun and laughter to our little family!
Sisters... Sisters... There were never such devoted sisters!
And Taffy made this AMAZING shield this week.  He's such a talented guy!
Taffy is one of my favorite teens....
This week was exhausting for me.  I worked a lot.  And had activities every night.  But I did get to exercise outside on Thursday before the storms.  I had to take pictures of these two adorable kids:
Jelly Bean
He kept running ahead and waving at us...
So cute!
So funny!
Marmalade is turning into a beautiful young woman!
And she is maturing far faster than I would like...
I really love this girl!

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

ONE WITH PIGS AND ONE WITH MAPLE

My girls are keeping busy.  And by "my girls" I'm counting Maple as mine!
I love that they are good girls and always trying to live standards!
Maple spent Family Home Evening with us.  We played compatibility.  I think it's interesting how her and her brother are both so "compatible" with Kotten Kandy.  They beat Scott and I again!  What the heck?!  And they even got 10 points on this hand:
And then Kiara went with her aunt GJ to learn how to butcher a pig.  I'm impressed with both of them!

Saturday, March 25, 2017

SO BUSY... YET SO FUN!

(Warning:  This is a long post - so much to talk about: Spring, Dates, Basketball, Broadcasts from Utah, California, Germany and Books!)
It's SPRING!  I LOVE Spring!  And Monday was GORGEOUS - so we went walking with friends at Beckley Park (aka. the Egg Lawn)!
These crazy kiddos were walking backwards...?!
Maple, Kotten Kandy and Taffy
Little Jelly Bean loves his Kotten Kandy!
Kotten Kandy also decided to take a short break from school work on Tuesday and draw a beautiful Spring day... Isn't it pretty?!
Wednesday, Scott and I found ourselves kidless.  (Kotten Kandy was at work and Fig Newton went to California for a week with friends.)  So Scott and I celebrated by eating out at Texas Roadhouse and visiting about being "empty nesters."  We also spent time at Lowe's dreaming and pricing things we need to make our home better!  It's a strange stage of life we are in right now.  But at least I get to experience it with my best friend.  Scott is patient, passionate, dedicated, humorous and truly amazing!  I'm blessed!  And it's fun to hang out with him and spend time with him!  I love him!
Friday night we went on a double date.  It was the highlight of my week!  I was sooooooooo excited to see the movie Beauty and the Beast.  It was great!  I loved it!  I love musicals, Disney and romantic stories!  Soooo - was there any question I would like it?!  After the movie we ate dinner at The Blaze - Pizza and then played Compatability.  (It's a fun, silly game - but does it mean anything that Scott and I always lose?!)
Double Dating with your daughter and Taffy was super fun!
Taffy, Kotten Kandy, Me and Scott
My cute, eternal date!
Saturday was Kotten Kandy's basketball game.  They played against our good friends in Lagrange.  So it was hard to just cheer for Shelbyville....  We decided we were equal opportunity cheerleaders and hecklers!  :-)  Kotten Kandy loves playing basketball - but she is embarrassed that she turns so red when she plays.  (I actually think it's kinda cute!)
"Mom?!  Really?!  How embarrassing!"
Fast Break!  Yeah, that's my daughter!
And she really hustles!
She likes defense best!
She shoots!  She scores!  Way to go, Kotten Kandy!
The team!  Thanks, Ryan, for being an awesome coach!
Playing with besties is the best!
Apple Jacks, Kotten Kandy, Guarana, Rice Krispie and Chex
And after the games these cute girls worked hard, played hard and built lasting friendships!
I love these girls!
Sweet Tarts, Rice Krispie, Kotten Kandy and Maple
And Saturday night is one of my favorite semi-annual traditions - the General Women's Broadcast!  And Chinese food before hand!  And best friends!  And learning/listening to our prophets and leaders!  Who could ask for anything more?!  (My favorite speaker was Sister Canton.  Kotten Kandy liked Sister McConkie and Key Lime Pie [who watched it in Colorado with her grandma and aunt] liked Sister Burton! - Isn't that amazing that there is something for everyone in the Church?!)
YUM!  (The egg drop soup really hit the spot for me tonight!)
These two couldn't stop laughing...
especially when Kotten Kandy hiccuped like a drunk.
Waiting for conference to start in 1 minute....
We all took tons of notes and enjoyed spending time with our daughters!
We really missed Kiara Lea!  Mil and G.J. are so lucky to have her!

I just finished re-reading Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson.  It was way better the second time...  I was able to get so much more out of it.  And like the first book in the series I had forgotten a lot and was able to re-remember why these books are some of my all time favorites!  I'll probably re-read them again and again in the future!  
And I finished reading Letters for Emily by Camron Wright.  I really like this author.  He also wrote The Rent Collector and The Orphan Keeper.  Letters for Emily was sweet.  It was short.  But it was full of good advice and stories.  I definitely recommend it.
So Fig Newton is in California with a few of her Thai friends.   She's gone to Universal Studios and Disneyland.  She has had soooo much fun!  YAY that she sent me pictures to share:
And here's a bit from our German daughter...  We really miss our Lollipop!:
Hello everyone,
I know it's been waaaay to long and I miss you so much. I will try my best to keep you updated more often. Anyway the reason I've been so busy is, that I got a scholarship. Basically what I do now is to study at a University Campus besides school. I'm in first semester Business Administration. Next week I'll attend a seminar on psychology from an economic perspective. I sometimes feel like I'm studying to much as classes are also during weekends. But I have a couple of things to look forward to. My birthday is in roughly two months and I'll be flying to Rome. It's not my first time in Italy but I'll see the capital for the first time. I have to think about my Colorado Grandparents whenever I'm  looking at pictures of the beautiful city. As you can see my weeks and the holidays are packed but I still need to fit classes for my drivers license in. Today is my first Saturday off in weeks and I will go out with friends to enjoy the weather that's been clearing up lately a little. I'm glad I can be part of you life while reading in sunshine sentiments. But is there anything else going on in your life's right now? Maybe we can skype soon.
Love and miss you

Saturday, March 18, 2017

AS TIME GOES BY... IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS THAT WILL BE REMEMBERED

A lot of little memories this week:
Selfies with Kotten Kandy:
St. Paddy's Day:
I made homemade green rolls, and green wild-rice soup!
It was delish!
We all wore green!  (Thanks to the Jets for Fig Newton and Scott's green jerseys!)
Apparently I didn't teach my eldest daughter well... She forgot to wear green.
But I'm grateful someone from work helped her out!
Key Lime Pie got to see/listen to Elder Holland in person!  She created this meme with a quote by him:
She was really on a spiritual high afterwards!
And Kotten Kandy needed to charge her phone at church.  So she decided the bathroom would be the perfect place to do so?!  Here's proof with a bathroom selfie (I thought I'd taught my daughter better than that!  JK!):
And Scott, Kotten Kandy and I played Puerto Rico tonight to unwind.  Scott is sick.  And we decided to cheer him up with a lively strategy game - of course, we let him win since he wasn't feeling well.  Right, Kotten Kandy?!

Monday, March 13, 2017

A WEEKEND (plus Monday) IN THE LIFE OF THE DeGOOYERS

Key Lime Pie got to go to a RS Activity and listen to one of my favorite people.  I always thought Connie Kelly was an amazing woman!  She is a professional speaker and I wanted to emulate her.  (Although I never did "do" that dream....)  Kiara learned a lot from her - about organization!  She also took a class about journaling!  I'm glad my daughter is learning from such wonderful women!
Kiara and Connie
Soooo... I love my house!  And spring time makes it beautiful!  Check out the gorgeous tree out front:
My House
My Tree
And we went to the temple on Friday (just Scott, Kotten Kandy, Amy and I)....  What a wonderful place to be!  And then Qdoba afterwards!  YUM!
Kotten Kandy, Amy, Raisin, Mark, Me and Scott
And look at this beautiful Thai dinner Fig Newton ate:  (I think the flower was my favorite part!  I want flowers served with my food from now on!)
Sunday we had our monthly gospel discussion!  And this time, we got to share it with the Melansons too!  They came to visit us from Colorado!  (Actually, they came to visit their grandsons, but we'll take it - since we love them!)  We love being with them!  They even stayed with us!  (Yay!)
Scott, Dave and Hammond discussing repentance.
Kotten Kandy, Amy, Raisin and Mark contributing
to the discussion on applying the Atonement.
These cute kids enjoyed the BBQ and playing together!
And Juice is getting so good on the piano!
Cookie Cake by Amy!
YUMMMMMM!
Nuts, Fig Newton, Kotten Kandy, Apple Pie, Amy and Raisin
And then there is our entertainment!  Scott and Raisin dancing:
Kiara got to have her own gospel discussion with my family in Colorado!  Isn't the gospel wonderful!?  I love these cute kids who also participated 24 hours away:
Shaved Ice and Shortbread
Key Lime Pie
And then... Kotten Kandy went on a date to see Lego Batman... with these cute boys:
Kotten Kandy, Jelly Bean and Apple Pie