A Very Special Valentine!

For the past year I have been homeschooling four of my children. With that being said, between teaching and working with my different children the kids each have some down time during the day. The other day Denver had finally gotten some decent snow. A couple of my children wanted to go outside and play in the snow. How could I refuse them the perfect recess! After being outside for a while one of my children came in to get me. Brennan was sent by Christopher to come get me because he had something to show me. First of all Christopher loves to build in the snow. Whenever we get snow he will spend hours if he can out in the snow building forts and igloos. He has become very good at it I must say. This day was no different. Christopher built his snow cave and it was amazing but he also made something else. I must say that I think it is his best work so far. When I followed Brennan outside I was so suprised at what I saw. Christopher had made several hearts out of snow and carved "MOM" into the snow. It was beautiful! Everyday when I get up I open my back door to see if my statue is still there! It will be very sad for me when the sun melts it away. I am grateful to have a camera that I can keep these memories alive for myself and for my children.

Table Centerpieces

One of my biggest stresses about the reception has been centerpieces for the tables. Especially since I have 40 tables to decorate. I really don't have a budget but I still want to keep this as simple and cheap as I can. I also don't want to end up with a bunch of decorations after the reception. Last night while I was heading off to lala land I remembered watching an episode of "DC Cupcakes". In that episode they made flower pot bouquets. So this morning when I woke up I had to "google" flower pot bouquets! What a simple way to decorate the tables. Plus I was already planning to make cupcakes for the reception but I was having a hard time figuring out how I was going to display 600 cupcakes! I also like the idea that flower pots are cheap! Since I am using daisies as my flower I plan to cut a daisy out of fondant and place it on each cupcake. I can't wait to get started!

Pictures

My husband and I have decided that one thing we want to do for the reception is to have a slide show of our family over the past 15 years. I also want to frame some pictures on a table as decorations. In my family room on my fire place mantel I have done this very same thing. It is really neat to look at all the pictures in the frames of different times in our family's life together. I even have an 8x10 picture of my husband and I at his senior prom. It is very special to me. While I was looking through my many files of photos I came across a picture of the Denver Temple that I don't even remember taking. It was such a neat thing to come across. It gave me such a warm feeling as I thought about the fact that I will be going there someday soon with my family. I had to post this special picture.

The Dress!

Since the ring thing didn't work out so well my wonderful husband still wanted to get me something special for our 15th anniversary. Since we are planning to go to the temple in June I told him that he could buy me my dress. Not only did he buy the dress but he actually helped me pick it out. Now some people may say that it should be a surprise and it will be because he will not get to see me in it until that day. My husband and 2 of my daughters went with me to "David's Bridal" and did find a dress but it was strapless. I was shocked when they told me that most of their dresses were strapless. I did find a very pretty dress but with the kind of alterations it would need to be more modest it would not look right. A little bummed I decided to check some Internet sites. I was able to find the dress of my dreams for a lot less than I was expecting to pay and it is beautiful! Romanticgowns.com has a huge amount of dresses. To my surprise they even have a section called "Temple Ready". After going to the site I wanted to "google" them to see if anyone had anything bad to say about the company. I was pleasantly surprised to only find good things about the company. I haven't received my dress yet but I will definitely be blogging about it when it comes.

Replacing the Ring!

For my anniversary my amazing husband wanted to get me something special.Since my husband's wedding band got eaten by the dog we thought about replacing his ring and possibly getting me a new ring set to replace my currant ring. I already have a beautiful ring that he bought for me 15 years ago but we wanted to look at possibly getting a new one. On the advice of several friends we went to "Jared". I should have known that it was going to be expensive because when we walked in the door there were eager sales people waiting to assist us. Once a sales lady approached us she told us about the wonderful playroom they had for children. My older daughter Tatiana took our youngest daughter Bailee to the playroom to play while the sales lady explained the importance of buying a "Jared" diamond! After the video about diamonds, that I must say, I still didn't understand or really care about, the sales lady takes us over to the counter and starts showing us bands. I like the wrapped band so she pulled out one that I liked. She then proceeded to ask me what size diamond I wanted to try first in the wrap, reminding me that 1/2 carat would not be good enough for that particular band. I fell in love with the wrap and the 1.5 carat diamond ring. Then came the fun part, the price! The band was only $1800.00 but the diamond would be an additional $15000.00! Suddenly the thought of replacing my ring vanished very quickly!! I tried to lightly nudged my husband hoping that he would not show a reaction to the price. The sales lady quickly offered a lay away plan or financing. If I really wanted the ring I know that my husband would have made sure that I got it that is just how he is. He spoils me beyond reason and I love that about him. At the same time I can think of far more important things to spend $17000.00 on! So with that, no, I did not get the ring instead I got a deeper appreciation for the ring that I have worn for the past 15 years! The only thing that I don't like about my ring is that it is still in 2 pieces. I have never had the engagement ring and band sealed together. So for $29.00 I am finally getting that done. My husband said that in a strange way the sealing of my ring is like a symbol of the sealing of our family.

Happy Anniversary!

Yesterday my husband and I have been married for 15 years. Knowing that this is a big milestone in our marriage brought great joy to us both. I am sure that there are many people out there wondering how we celebrated. We are planning to be sealed with our children in the Denver Temple in June so that is how we are celebrating. We are plaaning a huge reception for all of our friends and family to attend after our sealing. Since this event is such a big thing for us we decided that on our actual anniversary we would go out to dinner. My husband wanted to go some where really nice down town Denver since we have been married for 15 years. He did let me make the final decision though. Over the past few weeks I have been thinking about were to go eat. Of all the places that we could go eat I was craving "Panda Express". When I told my husband he laughed at first but then agreed. He had been wanting "Panda Express" too, just not on our anniversary. So for our anniversary my husband and I had a quiet dinner at "Panda Express." While we were there my sweet little 5 year old daughter called me on cell phone. She told me that she was not having fun because I was not there. A little history about my relationship with my daughter: My husband has 2 amazing daughters with his first wife. When we got married we ended up having 4 boys and then lastly a little girl. My little girl and I are very close. I am hoping that it stays that way but for now I am enjoying every minute of it! I told Bailee that we were on our way home with ice cream and cake. When we got home we celebrated our anniversary with our children. Of course during our celebrating we all talked about going to the temple. It is so interesting to me how much preparing to go to the temple has taken over our whole family. It is not just something that my husband and I want but our children as well. Knowing that when my life on earth is through I will be able to spend the eternities with the people I love most brings so much joy and happiness to my heart I can't possibly put into words. I wish the same for every family! Families can be together forever through Heavenly Father's plan!

Families are Forever

Being LDS I have always believed that "Families are Forever." It is through our Father in Heaven's plan that this is made possible. We believe that by obeying the commandments given to us by the prophets and living rightously we all can attain this goal. This year, actually tomorrow, January 26, 2011, my husband and I will be celebrating our 15 year anniversary. Although this is a wonderful milestone in ur marriage it also brings some sadness each year that we celebrate. I say this because, we have not been sealed in the temple for time and all eternity. This anniversary comes with a new hope because this year we will be taking our family to the temple. Tomorrow will be a great day but on June 25th, 2011 that will be an amazing day! That is the day that I will go to the temple with my wonderful husband and 7 amazing children and be sealed together forever! I have spent lots of time over the years imagining this that day. Many times it seemed so far from our reach. Gratefully I can say today that we have a day and those past dreams are now becoming my reality! As a member of the church it was often hard to sit in Primary and sing songs about going to the temple, knowing at the time I still had work to do. I must say that I am not perfect nor is anyone that enters our holy temples, but there are certain requirements that at the time I had not been living up to. I am glad that I can say today that I am doing everything I can to be able to receive the blessings of going to the temple. This blog is about not only my journey but also the journey of my family.