EXPERIENCES

Shortbread/Shanae turned 19 last week!  To celebrate GJ, Ken, Shanae, Billy and Kiara went hiking to Hanging Lake.  It is a difficult hike!  But it is wonderful!  And worth the effort!  My sisters took beautiful pictures of my sweet, eldest daughter!  It is great to see her smile!  I sure miss this girl...

Billy, Shanae, Ken and Kiara

Cousins and Friends!

This is one of Heavenly Father's gifts!  Soooooo beautiful!

This smile melts my heart!

Feeding the wildlife.

Kiara and I LOVED these purple flowers!

Isn't she gorgeous?!

We also had a sad moment last week when Kevington passed away.  Kevington was our leopard gecko.  He was a good friend to both of my daughters.  Kotten Kandy buried him next to our dog, Kamelot.

We will miss you, Kevington!

Taffy and Kotten Kandy celebrated their first date exactly one year ago by recreating it at Laser Tag with Taffy's parents last Friday.  Kotten Kandy reported that "It was loads of fun!  And Taffy is beyond sweet!"  They are truly best friends!  😉 (Thank you, Maeva, for taking a few pictures for this mom's blog!)

These two know how to have fun.

Silly, wonderful kids!

My baby and Taffy

Scott had surgery yesterday.  In complete honesty, he needed the surgery 3 months ago.  He's been in a lot of pain.  But he's brave and doesn't complain too much.  All went well with the surgery.  He's home.  He's still hurting... but on the road to recovery!  I'm so grateful for this amazing man in my life.  And surgery makes me reflect on how blessed I am that we get to travel this mortal life together and I'm looking forward to eternity with my best friend!

Before surgery....  (6 AM)

Pre-Op and still smiling.

Service....  Kotten Kandy helping her father eat his first meal.

Cute - even with a "cone of shame!"

I love Blue Tongue Disease!  Blue Tongue Disease brings me joy!  I haven't suffered from this particular "illness" in a looooong time, but this cute girl convinced me to have Blue Tongue Disease WITH her!  I love you, Apple Muffin!

EXPLORE YOUR WORLD

Guess what?!  Amy and I have walked about 350 miles in the past 2 1/2 months!!!!  We are so excited about our accomplishment!  We try to walk 5 times a week 4-5 miles per day.  It's super fun!  And I love that our exercising is good for us: physically and emotionally and spiritually.  We have long, wonderful talks!  We plan our church lessons and help each other with parenting dilemmas, etc.  Exercise and friendship are a great "fit!"  And add a beautiful walking park - it's GREAT for the soul!  We also see lots of great critters at our "place!"

For the Beauty of the Earth

We saw about 6 deer on our walk the other night....

How cute, and tiny is this little frog?!

And this happy turtle was about the size of my hand.

We walked even farther

- and found this amazing train bridge.

So cool!

And I got new walking shoes!

I made a pie for the Sister missionaries on Tuesday.  Amy gave me an EASY recipe.  It was a TOTAL hit!

Lemon Icebox Pie

Combine 8 oz. softened cream cheese, 8 oz. Cool Whip,

14 oz. sweetened condensed milk, 1/2 cup lemon juice, and

1 tsp. vanilla extract.  Mix until smooth.

Pour into a pre-made Graham cracker crust.

Put in the fridge to set.  YUM!

And I got another adorable picture from Trek!  Thank goodness for people who take pics and give them to me!  I love this picture of my baby and her best friend!

Danish - Kotten Kandy with Taffy

Key Lime Pie completed Pathway this week!  I'm soooooooooo proud of her!  And she graduated with an A+ average!  And in one month she'll be at BYU-I!  Look at her graduating Pathway group (minus a couple who moved away)

And she's still enjoying her job at the dentist office as a sterilization tech (Steri-Tech).  She's a cutie:

And her hair has already grown long enough to put up:

I miss my oldest baby girl!  But I am enjoying the one at home!  She and I are re-watching The Mentalist together as I type this post!  I'm glad we can share this fun entertainment together!

BTW - We could really use prayers for Scott.  He's having surgery on Tuesday for his herniated discs in his neck.  I'll post pictures and updates.... 😉

SOME MUST PUSH AND SOME MUST PULL

I'm not sure which is more difficult, pushing a handcart or pulling a handcart.  And Trek was an adventure that was challenging physically, but rewarding spiritually.  Kotten Kandy over heated and wasn't well for half of the experience, which was a trial for her.  But it strengthened her testimony of the Savior's Atonement, and she was especially grateful for a few true friends who helped her through the affliction.  Here are a few pictures:

Kotten Kandy is beautiful no matter how sick she feels....

She's strong!  She's a hard worker!  And truly has a steadfast testimony!

Taffy loved ice-blocking....

Juice is the one with his arms out.

I love this picture of Taffy!

He loves making music!

It's one of the things we all love about him.

Kotten Kandy with her Trek family.

She really loved her ma and pa.

She's the second from the left.

In other news: I have finished re-reading the last 4 books of Harry Potter.  They are wonderful!  I'm so grateful I took the time to re-read these classic novels!  I truly love Harry Potter and all the characters, the stories, and the life lessons throughout.  There is nothing to dislike about these books!  This is my 3rd time to read these books and each time is truly "magical!"  This series of books is on my all time favorite list....

THE JOURNEY BEGINS HERE....

Kotten Kandy

My sweet daughter along with her dear friends get to experience firsthand the faith and determination of the pioneers this weekend.  They left this morning.  I'm so excited for them!  I'm sure it will be a faith filled adventure, and will help them grow and become stronger as they learn about eternal families and hard work.  I was able to snap a few pictures at the beginning of this journey:

Kotten Kandy flanked by her two best friends: Juice and Taffy

Our Shelbyville ward group!  They are such great kids!

Taffy and Kotten Kandy are ready for this adventure!

I say it all the time, but it's still the truth:  I love these kids!

AND MANY MORE...

Taffy is 18 today!  Since I wasn't blessed with a son... I'm glad my dear friend shares hers!  This boy is pretty amazing!  (I'd like to think that if Scott and I were blessed with a son, he would be just like Taffy!)  Taffy is amazing!  He's talented.  He's funny!  He's kind!  He's smart!  He works hard!  He is self-motivated to learn!  He loves the gospel!  He's fun to be around!  I could go on and on!  Happy Birthday, Taffy!  Thanks for letting us celebrate a bit with you!  I'm looking forward to watching this young man grow up!

Scott made a cake based on a card game!

We all sang Happy Birthday!

And Taffy promises to finally watch the best movie of all times!

Kotten Kandy was super excited to give Taffy her present.

She spent hours creating and making this quilt!

The symbol is Bridge 4 from The Way of Kings.

I think he liked it!

I'm jealous!  I want a quilt!

And the evening ended with music....

We sure do love you, Taffy!  Here's to many more birthdays....  

And to growing and becoming the amazing man we all know you'll become!

Maple is a unicorn!

Kotten Kandy and Maple also enjoy making music together!

Kiara had a fun evening too!  She went to a baseball game with her YSA group!

With her RS president....

This cute girl is definitely one of my faves!