Let's celebrate!

We are always up for a celebration in our family with eachother and friends. Here are some small and some BIG and happy celebrations lately!

Sweet friends found out it was a Mr. at the baby reveal party. We totally cannot wait to meet the miracle baby boy to their family. It has been a long road for them...so we celebrated BIG over the special and well-waited for baby surprise!

Polly celebrates her "cuddle cup" each night.

She stays in it for hours and hours all rolled up like a kitty!

We celebrated BIG for the big news of my children's art illustrations being accepted by a Hobby Lobby art buyer!

To be produced/manufactured in July and in the stores September this year.

More to come about this....!

We celebrate rockin' awesome curls with our new curling wand!

Celebrating Lauren and NO MORE BRACES!

Round one... check.

 Round two...in about a year.

We celebrated BIG for Lauren's induction into Junior Honor Society this year. 

You are something else, kiddo!

Celebrate just being girls.

Celebrating a new couch for Nana's house!

Totally celebrating little boys and sleep overs!

We celebrated family in Colorado coming in from Cali.

We celebrate just being together and winning in some game time.

We celebrate cool cousins!

We celebrate good company and sunny days!

We celebrate almost 4 years of piano lessons for the girls.

Easter time 2015

Tradition.

We always keep our tradition of egg coloring...

With loads and loads of color for some...

Crazy creative for some... (Lauren)

Creative design for some...

Then church and Easter meal and egg hunt at Nana's.

She found this old picture...

And I had to take a more recent one (same pose, same tree, same girls!)

Goes so fast. 

(sniffle.)

And here is Nana and Mr. Lamb cake.

Gotta love tradition.

biggest paintings ever

I love our church here. 

Like, love love love! 

I was thrilled to be a part of the "creative team" this past year. I thought I would share some of the biggest paintings I have ever done! As a group (there are about 6 of us or so) we come up with a plan for the stage design. Typically the church series are from 4-6 weeks. They are always different, so sometimes we do creative things...sometimes not.

The picture above was my hand lettering projected up on an about 8ft by 12 ft canvas.

Pretty cool to see my handwriting so large!

This series was one on marriage. So, we took some traditional vows and painted them on this huge canvas to be hung in the sanctuary. Here is one of the fabulous gals that helped me. It was a big job!

Along with some huge frames with vintage wedding pictures in them and other things in various areas.....we hung it up- looked great.

This was for Easter. They were HUGE wooden planks that we stained and I carefully painted the HOPE.....

and RESTORED.

It was lovely to be a part of the Easter message. 

It was even more meaningful to me to know 

(and hear that morning with all my Colorado family and a dear teary-eyed friend) 

the true meaning behind these words on the weathered, rugged wood.

What can I say?

Powerful.

Winter.

I finally downloaded the 300 pictures on my phone on this computer. The pictures are a bit rough and blurred- sorry folks.

Okay let's talk about the weather: here in Colorado ya just don't know what to expect.

                                                           One day this: (no kidding!)

Then this:

Then more of this:

Then you ski down it:

And ski again: (that's Lauren)

Then you hike:

Then your hubby makes you smile:

Then your friend makes it sweet and invite you for "spa day" and hot tubbing at their house:

Or you go to the local Bier Garten with friends:

Then go with again with family and dance the night away:

You hang some more with friends:

You camp in the backyard in it:

Then you put your daughter behind the wheel:

(not in the snowy weather yet though- yikes we are starting slow!)

There you have it.

Winter adventures.

Texas-bound

Every year for the past several years, the girls get one BIG present from Mom/Dad. So Christmas 2013 Hannah wanted to go see her best friend in Texas. For some reason, we didn't make it there in 2014... so, 2015 it was. We booked tickets for Hannah and Ellie's birthday (they are 2 days apart and have always celebrated together).

So here we are. 

Mama was wanting to take a selfie when we were landing.

Hannah was like.... "really, Mama?!! (um, so not cool.)

After much much much too much drama renting a car and driving into Tyler.....

Driving past my Mom/Dad's old home, our first home in Texas with some misty eyes....

Ellie and Hannah were finally reunited!

They were just as excited as Mimi and I were to see each other.

(although no pic of us...)

I met up with Colleen and we had ALOT of trouble with our HOTEL ROOM. I am talking...ALOT of  trouble here, people. We ended up at Chuy's for some yum yum yum's.

NOTE: the Mexican food here in Colorado SUCKS. 

I FULLY enjoyed my meal at yummy Chuy's!

And then...back to our hotel room to see that the door was open.

Open?

It looked like someone had broken in.

NOT OKAY according to us or our hubbies at home without us.

After much more drama,

we got THREE rooms at the new modern hotel for FREE.

Free is good.

Meanwhile, Hannah was chowing at her favorite Whataburger...and staying with Ellie all safe and snug and playing at the park.

Precious.

So I grabbed her Sunday morning for church (so good to see friends) and then to Mandi's for lunch with the big whole crew. Mind you... Hannah hadn't seen all "the boys" for a long while. (Luke and her were sweeties in kindergarten together!)

It was super sweet (a bit akward for them) to see them all together. 

Like the good ole' days when they were littles.

(I am talking a couple weeks old little together!)

Such a precious time with the Bryans, Adams and Glenney's.

It's Valentine's Day! My date Colleen at the best pizza place EVER...Bruno's.

Us girlies gathered again and we chowed at Julian's after hanging at our fancy hotel room

We laughed, we cried, we talked, and talked...

we hugged....

we loved.

Man oh man, I miss my Texas girls.

Seriously, I didn't want to part.

Hannah and Ellie celebrated their 15th with cake and ice cream.

The last night I got see Shannon's lovely home and stay at Renae's....and fall in love with Jack.

Sad tears to go but a really good trip overall.

We needed a little bit of sugar help us get home....ha!

(NO we didn't buy all this at the airport, just the Mentos)

I felt like it was a cherished HELLO and a treasured GOODBYE to all the good, some of the hard...

and all of the priceless blessings that Tyler, Texas was for us for 15 years.