Dana's Family Adventures: September 2011

24 September 2011

Argh - Hey matey its a birthday party

Jimmy heading up the youngest's treasure hunt

Walk the plank, matey!

Kaydence

Isabella

Elizabeth, Rylee, Brooke, Cierra

The girls decided this year their birthday party would have a pirate theme. Each girl got to invite one friend plus all our family was invited. Dressing as a pirate was optional but each person that came in costume grew the girls smiles. The biggest attraction was the plank that Matt made out of spare wood in the garage. It was totally the girl's idea to have a plank that once they walked off could land on the trampoline. Matt really had to put on his thinking cap to pull this one off but ended up with Daddy of the Year award in his daughter's eyes because of it. We also had a treasure hunt, tack the eye patch on the pirate, make your own pirate hat, and food all labeled in pirate lingo including hard tack - chips, blackbeard's biscuits - cupcakes, Captain Morgan's ale - lemonade just to name a few. Just can't believe these beautiful girls are getting so old. When we started these themed birthday parties Rylee was a chubby toddler not much older than Bella - looking back at pics makes me get pretty choked up. We always have so much fun planning and having the party I guess that I have to remind myself that each party means that they are growing up - way too fast.

04 September 2011

Random summer pics from our summer fun

Family camping trip

Fishing in one of Dad's fav spots

Matt and Bella keeping us warm - it was so cold the whole week

hide and seek - Nanny Jen and Rylee

doing skits in honor of Dad over the campfire

Judd & Jen

4th of July

Bella chasing seagulls at Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, IL

Bella snapping beans - gotta
start them young!

making games up - we should be hired by Matel

Picking blueberries (or our traditional ice cream eating after)

blueberries everywhere

Elizabeth getting the bags ready to pack berries

eating is really part of the u-pick experience - Michigan

cuties after a school fair

Chicago temple

Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, IL - it was so hot that day
we were cooling ourselves in the underground seal display

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My family - a cheat sheet

Me - Dana

Matt - my husband

Andi (Andrea) - daughter #1

Jimmy - Andi's husband

Brooke, Kaydence, Scarlett & Parker - my granddaughters from #1

Nick (Nicholas) - only son

Kelsey - Nick's wife

Owen - grandson from only

Reagan - granddaughter from only

Elizabeth - daughter #2

Cierra - daughter #3

Rylee - daughter #4

Isabella (Bella) - daughter #5

Uncle Judd - my younger brother

Nanny Jen - Judd's partner

Uncle Chad - my older brother

Aunt Melissa - Matt's sister

Uncle Greg - Melissa's husband

Morgan - Matt's brother

Grandma Gretchen - my Mom

Grandma & Grandpa - Matt's folks

Grandma Ruth - my stepmother

Quotes to Live By...

We women have a lot to learn about simplifying our lives. We have to decide what is important and then move along at a pace that is comfortable for us. We have to develop the maturity to stop trying to prove something. We have to learn to be content with what we are. ~Marjorie Hinckley

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Don't compare your life with others; you have no idea what their journey is all about.

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If we wish away the moments, they will be gone. The things we have wanted to leave ... the mess, the noise, the obligations ... will be gone, but so will the children! This is true of every moment of life. IF we do see its joys, if we do not make the most of it, it will pass ... and so will its opportunities. ~Marjorie Hinckley

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However good or bad the situation is always remember it will change.

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I know it is hard for you young mothers to believe that almost before you can turn around the children will be gone and you will be alone with your husband. You had better be sure you are developing the kind of love and friendship that will be delightful and enduring. Let the children learn from your attitude that he is important. Encourage him. Be kind. It is a rough world, and he, like everyone else, is fighting to survive. Be cheerful. Don't be a whiner. ~ Marjorie Hinckley

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Make peace with your past so it won't mess up your present.

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Life is a school. You are here to learn and pass all your tests. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away ... the lessons you learn will last an eternity.

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The family is eternal. Love must be nurtured. It must be spoken. We must put away our pride, our haughtiness, our shyness, our misunderstandings, and with humility say, "I love you. Is there something I can do to help you?" You can never be completely happy under any other circumstances. ~ Marjorie Hinckley

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Burn the candles, use the special dishes and that perfect scrapbook paper. Do not save them for a special occassion.....Today is special.

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Be a Mother who is committed to loving her children into standing on higher ground than the environment surrounding them. Mothers are endowed with a love that is unlike any other love on the face of the earth. ~ Marjorie Hinckley

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No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

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Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning, the Devil says, .... "Oh Crap, she's up!"

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You are only what you are when no one is looking.

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Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there. ~ Will Rogers

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I don't think it does any harm, just once in a while, to acknowledge that the whole country isn't in flames; and that there are people in the country besides politicians, entertainers, and criminals. ~ Charles Kuralt

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If we could forget our troubles as easily as we forget our blessings how different things would be.

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Think about your particular assignment at this time in your life. It may be to get an education, it may be to rear children, it may be to be a grandparent, it may be to care for and relieve the suffering of someone you love, it may be to do a job in the most excellent way possible, it may be to support someone who has a difficult assignment of their own. Our assignments are varied and they change from time to time. Don't take them lightly. Give them your full heart and energy. Do them with enthusiasm. Do whatever you have to do this week with your whole heart and soul. To do less than this will leave you with an empty feeling. ~Marjorie Hinckley

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Worship is an action word.

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"Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get but if you work really hard and you are kind amazing things will happen." ~Conan O'Brien

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Home is a preperation for the rest of your life.

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One of the ablest women in this country, now the wife of a university president, was brought up in poverty. She recalls an occasion when, as a girl, she complained of her hardships to her mother. "See here," said the mother. 'I have given you life. That is probably all I will ever be able to give you. Now stop complaining and do something with it." Each of us has some things we could complain about, but what good would it do? Complaining seldom changes anything. ~Marjorie Hinckley

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Homemaking is making a home one of eternal progression.

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Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle already.

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Try a little harder to be a little better. ~Gordon B. Hinckley