First Date and Prom

Well, Todd has a few more "firsts" behind him. He had his first date tonight AND also went to his first Prom. Jacquie Smith, a friend of Todd's, asked him to go with her to Prom, he said yes, and here we are. Not really much to say except that I hope he is a gentleman, I hope he remembers his good manners, and I hope they have a great time. Fortunately, Jacquie and Todd weren't camera shy and I was able to get some cute pics of them beforehand.

Our new home

Appropriate for mother's day!

I don't watch Family Guy, but came across this video on a friends blog and had to share it. It made me laugh out loud!!! Hope you enjoy it too.

Happy Mother's Day

I have been blessed with a great mom who is an amazing, talented woman and who can do anything she puts her mind to -- she can cook anything, she sings, she sews, does genealogy, she quilts, she is a tireless worker, she's funny but doesn't know she is and has a girl-like giggle when she laughs. And she has an unwavering testimony of the gospel and loves her Savior.

With six kids, now grown, our family get togethers are rowdy, obnoxious, and always hilarious and we cause mom a little stress as we ACTIVELY try to embarass her or relive stories from our "youth" -- leaking a few long-kept secrets as we relive them.

"Oops...you didn't know that? Huh. Imagine that."

We find it funny. She is often shocked and her facial expressions are priceless...

"You guys", she says as we get rowdier and raunchier -- mission accomplished.

She wears her emotions on her sleeve and you always know how my sweet mom is feeling by the look on her face. I love her face.

Anyway, now that I'm a mom, I find myself doing things or saying things that my mom did or said (things I vowed NEVER, EVER, EVER to do or say). It's funny, kind of, that I'm a little like her -- like I said, she is an awesome woman. So I'm blessed to be a little bit like her. I have her determination and will to do for myself. I zone out sometimes during card games and always fall asleep in the car, just like mom. If I hear a few notes of a song, it's stuck in my head the rest of the day.

And speaking of music, mom ruined a couple of church hymns for me (and I think the rest of the kids): "Let us Oft Speak Kind Words" and "Love at Home" because she would sing them to us whenever we fought or were being mean to each other -- so we really tired of them as they were WAY oversung at our house (kinda like the top 20). To this day, I cringe whenever I hear them.

At any rate, that's not the point. My point to this post is to let my mom know how much I love her, respect her, and want to be more like her. Mom, you are such a good person. There aren't words to let you know how much you matter to me. I love you. Happy Mother's day.

Todd's 16th

Well, it's been more than a day since his 16th birthday, but we had a great celebration and I think Todd had a great day and now I'm getting around to posting some pics.

Kendon and Todd went to a Red Sox game at Fenway the day before Todd's birthday to kick off the "party week". They had a good time at the game and enjoyed being at Fenway.

We spent Todd's birthday day hanging out together -- opened gifts, played with gifts, hung out, etc. Then we went bowling and out for dinner at a Teppanyaki restaurant, which is something Todd had wanted to do for a long time. We enjoyed the day together and I'm getting used to the idea that my baby is growing up. Next, the first date, drivers license... look out!!