I love craft blogs!!

and craft blog giveaways!

I've never won any, (probably cause I've only entered 2 of them :)
but I'm hoping to win this one:

http://polkadotwhimsy.blogspot.com/2011/05/welcome.html

These REALLY cute reusable snack bags, if I DON'T win, I'll have to figure out a way to make them myself, cause I think they'd be GREAT to keep almonds in my purse, or for my 'bathroom bag'

my favorite craft blog is someday crafts (which is where this was featured) because they have a melange of really great, doable stuff!!

Some Wedding Day sap...

Ashley & Gabe's wedding day was an amazing success.

It was such an expression of love and kindness - the day before so many people just showed up at the church building, offering to help us get things set up. It hardly felt like work, we had so much fun visiting with old ward members and setting things up, it was just so much fun.

The morning we had planned to get up at 6, I had to run to the church and tie up the doors, we had learned that there was to be a scouting merit badge clinic (EEEK) and so 15-25 twelve and thirteen year old boys would be running around the building that we'd just hours decorating. Right before I left the house, the power went out! GREAT timing, but I told Ash, "if this is the worst thing that happens to us all day, we'll be just fine!"

Andraya, our wonderful friend, hair lady and photographer extraordinare came to the house at 7am!! Which was amazing considering she was with us until 10:30 that night!

Everything just went so smoothly, so nice and felt so fun! We got to the temple and got things all ready...

Then came the time that we were in the sealing room. I sat next to Ashley, and Dave's mom sat next to me. I slipped my wedding ring on Ashley's right hand (for something borrowed, and maybe a little good luck) and then she went to be married...

...as they were kneeling over the alter, Ashley was facing me, and for a moment, she looked over at me and we made eye contact. It was one of the most precious moments I have experienced as a mother, it goes down in my heart. At that moment, looking at my daughter in the moment of full fledged "BRIDEDOM" in her eyes I saw the toothless little girl I had been given, grown to love and become a mother to. And my heart just burst.

Let's Talk About The WEDDING...

So let’s talk a little about Ashley’s wedding, shall we? Well it was PRETTY incredible, the entire experience! At first I was really anxious, because who are we kidding? I got married in Vegas, both times! No “wedding” no reception. I can throw a kids party, no problem, but entertaining adults, I felt a little self conscience! But I really dived in and once I did, it wasn’t so bad! Early on, we had a planning meeting with Adele (Gabe’s mom) right before she was leaving for Italy for 2 weeks, it was SO good we had that meeting, because those 2 weeks were really when we set the foundation for the wedding, and if we had waited, I might’ve gone nuts!

So early in January, there was a bridal fair in Phoenix, that was so much! The only thing we really got from that was our DJ and a place to rent the chair covers from, but we looked at a lot of cool things that sort of helped us to mold our ideas and what we wanted and didn’t want. Plus it was just a super fun day, it was Ashley, Katlyn, Tricia (Katlyn’s BFF) and I. Good stuff.

One person I probably never could have gotten through the wedding without is our friend Andraya Dietrich. She does our hair and is our go-to photographer. But let’s see, she helped with the announcements, she had all the table linens IN ALL THE RIGHT COLORS just available for us to borrow – like, really? What would I have done without her?? On the wedding day, she came over at 7am to start doing our hair and stayed with us ALL day long to take pictures, I last saw her at 10:30pm. And in the afternoon in between the luncheon and reception she ran off to Costco and had a large print of the happy couple that was taken right after the sealing made. Navie was a great helper throughout all the wedding planning, good for bouncing ideas off of and helping me think of things I would need that I maybe wasn’t thinking about.

We had a really fabulous, ifIdosaysomyself, bridal shower... we all thought it was a great success anyway!

shall we catch up?

it's been a VERY long time since I regularly blogged, and for awhile I used it as a way to just let everyone know at once what was going on with me healthwise - BOORING. I'm not so sure I've got anything much MORE interesting to say to be honest, but we'll give it a whirl, I do always have SOMETHING to say, just not promising that it'll be interesting or important. :)

so... there's that.

but due the fact that my blog has some info that I don't want the whole world to know about me, I keep it private, so let me know if you want an invite!

Katie

Tonight's Dinner

07072010017
Originally uploaded by katiesuzi

was nummy navajo tacos.

This isn't the best picture, cause I had to take it of Katlyn's plate after I had given it to her, but here goes:

Gone Private / Halloween

If you're reading this then you have received my invite to read my private blog, or you're on my private email list.

So some loved ones advised that going private might be a good idea (and after I went back and read some of what I have written I decided it might not be a bad idea-r either) So thank you loved ones... And know that I have tested the accuracy of the "lock" on this and it's nice and secure :)

SO...

We had a super fun halloween this year. We weren't gonna dress up but my grandma sent me her deviled egg costume so I wore that, Dave dresseed up as an undertaker, Katlyn as a nerd and Ash as a cowgirl. We went to the Trunk or Treat down at O'Connor. It was so fun! I love to see all the little kids in their costumes. We had dinner there as they were serving hot dogs and the annual chili cook off (my favorite white chili was there - yummm) The turn out was insane! TONS of people! After we came home the girls went out trick or treating and Dave and I did our own trick or treating: grocery shopping (wheeeeeeeeeee) hahhaaaa!

Anyway it was a fun weekend! Hope you all had a good one too!

Some thoughts on 18...

I remember turning 18... I think it was JUST yesterday! Wasn't it? Sure seems that way to me!

There's me when I was 18... the baby is Joey - now he is this big ol' man-type person. So I guess time really does march on, huh?

But we're not talking about Joey here... we're talkin' about ASHLEY - when did SHE get to be 18? Did I miss something? No, I've been here to whole time, it just doesn't seem like she should already be 18! It's so... unbelievable, the time seems to have just slipped away. Now granted she was just barely 7 when she came to live with me, so I have only HAD her for 11 years, but still, those were amazing years, incredible years that changed me forever from not-a-mom to forever-a-mom. That's pretty amazing stuff. And all in such a short amount of time. And also in that short time, she went from a little girl...To not-quite-a-little girl...

To this WOMAN...Who, most day :) I am very proud of. So proud to have had a hand in raising and am always, no matter what, very proud to call mine.

...and the world may think of her as a woman,

but forever, when I look at her, I'll see my little girl...

Happy Birthday Ash, I can't wait to see what the world has to offer you... for I already know what you offer the world... oxox