Fun times with the sister, Jasi's b-day, etc

PS...blogger is being stupid and is messing up how I want to post these. And leaves huge gaps at the beginning on the posts...gah!

At the end of February my little sis Caitilin (Caiti) came to town with her youngest boy, Liam.

Fun was had by all. 

And now that she as made the announcement public...

She is having baby #4 in August. 

And...

IT'S A GIRL!

This Mom of 3 boys is finally getting her girl. 

We are thrilled!

Caiti and nephew Aidan hijacked my phone.

Liam & Lily are best of friends. They were so happy playing together, dancing together. And of course crying together when they bump into each other. 

Grampa with Liam & Lily.

Sweet picture of Grampa & Lily


Isn't he precious!?!

In the car waiting for Mommy.

We had a girls night and drove up to Maxwell's restaurant in Salt Lake to see little brother, Conn, sing
and do his Jazz thing.

Caiti excited about seeing them perform.

Rob is basically a member of the family.

Me & Conn.

Newscaster Ron Bird on Channel 2 news posted this picture on Instagram of himself, Conn and Rob, when they performed there one morning. Such a cool thing to see my little bro on TV. 

He's so talented!

Us silly ladies

More selfies in the car with Liam.

We had beautiful weather for the most part.

About a week before Ryan's b-day we went out on the town.
We are selfies fanatics...obviously.

almost 9 years of marriage to this man...never a dull moment.

My awesome, lovely, kind, funny SIL, Jasi, had a birthday in February. 

I love this pretty lady!

And I know she just LOVES me for having posted this montage of pictures of her. 

Hehe!

Valentines Day

Had a great Valentines Day with the hub. 

Woke up to a lovely bouquet of Roses. Ryan doesn't usually do flowers because...as he puts it...

"flowers die and my love for you doesn't die." 

Sweet. But I love flowers. 

This year he got them. And boy was I surprised! 

I kind of like that he doesn't get me flowers very much (3 times in our whole almost 9 years) because when he does get them it makes it that much more special. 

I told him that all I wanted for Valentines day was a love letter from him. 

This is what he came up with. (made it himself in photoshop)

I laughed so hard! This is his kind of love letter. 

Not what I was expecting, but I'll take it. I love his humor. :)

...and then I sent him this. 

Later that night we celebrated at Tucanos with Erin & Dave.

Had to do Valentine nails. :)

Catching up...

2014 happened. 

Had a January birthday celebration for my Dad and nephew, Kalin. (my parents are so cute)

Lily girl...just because she's so darn cute, and such a poser.

I decided that Lily is my twin. 

On the left a picture of me at 4-5 years, and Lily on the right at 3 years. 

And I'd say we're twins in more ways that just looks - we love the sweet things.

My sister Erin had a birthday in February....

...and we had a surprise girls luncheon for her....

...this was taken before she arrived. I love my sisters (missing Caitilin)

...and Lily again. I can't help post her cuteness.

I have been drinking a lot of water. And I mean A LOT. Check out my Water post here. 

After Grandpa Richards passing Mama Jane sent us this great picture.
L-R: Bud (grandma's son from her first marriage, Grandma Richards, John Jr, Grandpa Richards, Jane, Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Richards.
Circa 1950-ish?

I am addicted to this salad that I seriously make er'day. 

Lettuce/Spinach, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, lite Olive Garden dressing, and grilled chicken.

Yum!

Had a bad stomach flu. No fun. Glad it was quick.

Due to eating healthier my blood sugars are normal. YAY!

Foggy day

Cute nieceTara.

Reinventing my story

Friends! Come follow my newest blog. 

My weight, my emotional well being, my insecurities have been a HUGE issue for me...my whole life. I am seeking new ways of changing me for the better. Follow my journey of 'Reinventing my story'. It's a new story about a new me.

My old story is the person I was before...overweight, fearful, insecure, a worrier, etc, etc. I'm done with that person and I'm so happy with the person I'm becoming; the person I'm supposed to be, the person I was designed to be and the life I was designed to live.

Although it's a journey, and not something that happens over night, I look forward to the transformation physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally. It's not a diet. It's a way of life. It's changing my negative thinking to the positive. It's changing the way I have hated my body to now loving it now matter what it looks like.

I have a lot of personal information on this blog that I would never have thought to share with others in a million years. But it's kind of freeing. I like it so I'm going to continue doing it. :)

Follow me in my journey. :)

Christmas/ Grandpa Richards..

A week before Christmas Ryan's Mom came to visit us. We always love having her here and spending time with her. I lucked out with my in-laws. They are wonderful people that I love so much and get along so well with. Love them!

She was set to leave Sunday December 22nd. So, on Saturday we went up to Temple Square to see the lights. 

I decided that my favorite time of day to see the lights is right when they go on. It's still light outside but it sure makes for beautiful pictures. 

Our little 'Babushka'. :)

Fast forward to about an hour after Jane left.

We got a call from Ryan's Uncle that Ryan's Grandfather, Jane's Dad, tragically passed away just minutes before he called us. It was a sad, sad day. I have never seen Ryan cry as much as he did. We both cried.

Sadly, Jane didn't know it until she got back to Wyoming that evening. Ryan's Dad didn't want us to call her while she was on the road - too dangerous and it was snowing - we didn't want her to get into an accident.

So, off we went to Wyoming on Tuesday morning - Christmas Eve. 

Max did really well in his kennel. He prefers to sit on our lap in the car.

It was great to see the in-laws, and other family in Wyoming, including Ryan's cousins. We love them!

We got together with everyone and had a good time remembering Grandpa Richards. 

(Kendy Richards, John Richards Jr. (holding Jamie), Jane, Ryan, Dan

Kabre, Grandpa, Jasi, Grandma - Circa 1980...something)

Later after everyone left we found some old pictures of Grandpa. I love these pictures. I didn't know Grandma Richards but I know she was a good woman. 

Dan & Jane's wedding June 1969

(Grandpa Rex Hadden, Grandma Jenny Hadden, Dan, Jane, Grandma Hildegard Richards, Grandpa John Richards)

Grandma & Grandpa Richards June 1969 - Dan & Jane's Wedding

One of my favorite pictures of Ryan and Granpa. 

Grandma & Grandpa's Wedding Anniversary. I want to say 50th, but I'm not totally sure. 

Grandpa & Grandma Richards with Ryan. 

Christmas morning picture at the Hadden's.

Ryan & Max

We headed home on Friday before another storm was to come on Saturday. 

This was a normal site as we drove. Ryan taking pictures of old cars...

About 10 minutes from Evanston our car broke down. All the engine lights came on, it had no power...and it was cold outside, and we were on the highway. Not fun. 

Thankfully Mazda called a tow truck and we were rescued and taken to Murray, UT. 

My sister and brother were kind enough to take us, and all our gear, back to our house. 

We were car-less for the next week or so as it was getting fixed .

Turned out to be a faulty transmission, which they fixed since it was under warranty. Thankfully!

Family were so good to us letting us use their car while it was in the shop. 

It was a crazy end to our already crazy week.

I don't know why I look like I'm smiling below. It was not fun.

-The end

Sometimes I'm crafty...

...but not all the time.

My sister sent me vinyl stencils for Halloween and Christmas pillows, and since last night was 'sisters craft night' I decided to give them a whirl. And even though Halloween is over I really wanted to make one for next year. 

I love how they turned out!

Here's what I used:

-White, and Black 'GURLI' pillow case from IKEA, $3 each

-Two pillow inserts from IKEA $3 each.

-White, and 'Christmas Red' craft paint from Hobby Lobby. $1.37 each.

I told me sister to do a step by step video on how to do this. I'll keep you updated on that.

For now...lets' just bask in the fact that I. ME. SHANNON did something crafty. 

That's a big deal.