Happy Holidays !!!

Christmas is by far one of my favorite times of year! I look forward to seeing my family and being able to buy and give gifts to others. I love the lights and all the decorations that get put up. This year was just that much better !!! Being able to watch my very own daughter enjoy the moments of the holiday. She didn't quite understand the whole concept of presents, but entertained us all with her amazing personality. I can't wait to see what the future holidays have in store for us.

We celebrate Christmas Eve at my Grandma Perry's house. Santa Claus comes and gives everyone a gift and then sings songs with the kids while all the adults take a million pictures. Our Santa is just that... our very own !!! I haven't the slightest idea who he is, but I do know that he has come to my grandparents house as Santa for aver 30 years !!! He has literally watched all of us grow. I am so thankful to have Santa as part of my Christmas.


Afterwards we go and have lunch at my Grandma Lukes' house. Unfortunately this year we couldn't spend a lot of time there due to me having to work. It is always a pleasure to be able to spend time with my grandparents, even if it was for just a few minutes.


Miridyan and Paityn are always interested in what the other is doing. I know I have said it a million times, but they truly are best of friends.

Christmas in St George

So... after we are finished with all the family visits up in Salt Lake, we all drive back to St George to celebrate OUR family Christmas. I had to work until 6 pm which is never fun, but I do what I have to do. We finally all gathered at my parents house later that evening. We had a lovely dinner (Thank you Mom) and then it was time...

The Christmas tree was jam packed with gifts. My mom usually designates herself as the one who hands them all out.


Miridyan was pretty worn out from all the holiday visits and the 4 hour drive home. But more presents were enough to keep her attention.


Donny was spoiled, as he is every year. He got just what he wanted... an I-Phone !!! I plan on not seeing him again for a few weeks while he learns all the funcions. ;)


We were so blessed to have Kyle as part of our family this year. He is such a pleasant young man. We our proud to call him ours.

We also were privileged in having Travis join us. We miss him so much and are so happy when he comes to visit. We ask him every time if we can just keep him.
Travis... you are welcome any time !!!

Yummy Macaroni !!!

Miridyan's first taste of Macaroni and Cheese !!!

She loved it !!!

Something else that she loves... hooking her toes on everything!
This is something that she has done since day 1.
There was even a time where we got her to hold her bottle with her toes instead of her hands.

Santa Claus

This was the second time that the girls met Santa Claus. Miridyan did surprisingly well. Paityn, on the other hand, was not loving him one bit.

I laugh every time I see this one !!!
It almost looks like Santa tooted and the girls are trying to escape.

They let Kyle, Travis, Morgan and me get in for the last couple of shots.
Thank You Santa !!!

Granny Great

My Great Grandma is truly an amazing lady !!! She will be 98 years old this coming February. Her sense of humor and wit hasn't changed one bit. She currently lives with my grandma and grandpa Perry who takes such great care of her. I know that she misses her own house and feels as though she is a burden, but I love that I get to see her more often because she is there. This weekend we had to go up to Salt Lake for one of my foster son's doctor appointments. I was able to take off a couple days of work so I stayed as long as could. I have the greatest relatives in the world. I just wish I could see them more often.
Miridyan loves to visit with Granny Great. I am so grateful that she has been able to watch Miridyan grow. Granny always sings Patty-cake with here and Miridyan claps right along. This time she was very interested in Granny's walker.

She even tried to help.
Granny Great thought this would help her practice her walking skills too!

When I went downstairs, I became concerned when all I heard was silence. As I went into my grandma's art studio, I saw that she had put my boys to work. All I could do was smile !!! They were sitting quietly, painting Christmas ornaments that my grandma had given him. It was actually quite nice to see a different, quiet side to them.

Meet the Band... The Inner View

Well... If you didn't know, Donny is in a band. I believe at this point in time they are calling themselves the Inner View (they have gone through a few name changes). Anyhow... Donny is the lead singer and also plays the piano/keyboard. Brandon is the lead guitarist as well as the back up singer and actually the lead singer/songwriter for a few songs, Race plays the base guitar, and Dave (my dad) is the drummer. They do a variety of music both covers and originals. I think that they are pretty dang good, even if I am related to half the band! Look for them in the near future ;) Feel free to give an honest opinion (just keep in mind that the recording is off of my phone).

Preparing for the Holidays !!!

I absolutely love this time of year!!! And the fact that we get to celebrate it with our foster kids makes it that much more memorable. This year we even had the pleasure of having Travis, one of our old foster sons, come and help us decorate as well. It is so nice to be able to remain friends with our kids. We love each and every one of them and hope that we can create as many memories for them as they do for us.

Kyle pretends that he doesn't like to be photographed, so I have to be sneaky. He has been a joy to have in our home. We are excited to see what his future holds for him.


Travis had so much fun decorating the tree.
Because of his size, he got to decorate the top of the tree.

Miridyan had a blast getting into all of the ornaments and decorations.
She wanted to help everyone with everything.

Grandparents are the BEST !!!

With Christmas just around the corner, my parents are going crazy buying things for the girls. The only problem... my mom can't seem to wait until December 25th to give them things. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining one bit. These are all things that Miridyan needs, including pajamas, hats and gloves, Christmas books, toys, etc. Miridyan loves every bit of it. Thank you Gram and Gramps!!! We all love you... and your over-flowing heart!

I am thankful for...

There are a million things that I am thankful for in my life. My family, my children (foster kids included), my job, my health, etc. I really don't have much to complain about in life, as far as the major things go, that is. Lately there is something, rather someone, that I can't give enough thanks... my brother Kennon... aka Uncle Ken. Donny was out of town for three weeks, so on the days that I worked it was him who came over to watch Miridyan (minus the days that he sent his fiance over - thanks Maggie!!! ). Keep in mind that I have to be at work at 6 AM. There were even a few days when my sister needed him to watch Paityn as well. So... Ken would come to my house at 5:45 am, wait until Miridyan woke up, fed and dressed her, loaded her up in the car and drove over to my sister's house to watch both girls. There were times he was exhausted! Lucky for him the girls were exhausted at the same time.


Kennon, I can't thank you enough for being such an great brother and an even better uncle!
The girls are so blessed to have you in their lives.
Thank you again, and again, and again or all that you do.

Happy Thanksgiving !!!

Happy Birthday Morgan !!!

Happy Happy Birthday to YOU !!!

I am so blessed to have you for a sister. I know we didn't get along that great growing up, but times have changed... thankfully! You have been such a great friend to me and an amazing Aunt for Miridyan. We all love you very much !!!

Catching up !!!

Today Josh and Michele Mitchell had a little get together for some of our old dance friends. It was so fun to be able to see everyone again after so many years. I hope that this can be a frequent occurrence. Only next time, it would be nice to see others that were missing. Dancing was a huge part of my life for over 20 years so some of these people are like family to me.

In this picture we have Nicole, Brad, Robby, Myself, Mike, Patrick, Josh, and Michele
In this picture we have the above stated guys plus Adam (Nicole's husband), Chris, and Paul (Lindsey's husband)
And here is a picture of the girls: Me, Mindy (Patrick's wife), Michele, Nicole, Heather, Lindsey, and Jen (Mike's wife)

This was mine and Miridyan's first little road trip with just the two of us. She did amazing as far as the car ride went. What an angel. We tried to get as many visits in as possible. We stayed at my Grandma Perry's house which is always a treat. I love spending time with them. My cousin Tjaden has me addicted to Yahtzee now. I need to go out and purchase the game so I can practice up and whoop him next time I am up there. You better watch out Tjad !!! We were also able to spend some quality time at my grandma and grandpa Lukes' house. Miridyan adored them. She just kept pointing and smiling.
We love our grandparents !!!
Some others we got to see included Brandi and her kids, Ashleigh, Alex & Emily, Rick and Julie and their kids, and Nikki and Troy

Halloween 2008

We have had a very busy couple of days leading up to Halloween itself. Trying to get pictures of the girls in their costumes, going to plays at the kids school, birthdays, and cleaning the house for visitors is all worth it in the end.

This year both Miridyan and Paityn were little skunks !!! We actually found these costumes last November, I believe, at The Children's Place for 99 cents ! Can you believe it? We couldn't resist. We didn't love them at first, but after actually seeing them in them, we fell in love with them instantly. I am already debating on what to dress her up as next year. I love Halloween !!!





I have yet to introduce our newest foster son, Travis ! He is an amazing kid and we are so blessed to have him as part of our family at this time. Of course I will have to post pictures of the real him. Donny did his make-up and everything. It's definitely hard to tell what he really looks like from this picture. Miridyan wasn't scared of him at all. She actually laughed at him at one point. In fact, when I put a skeleton close to her face and say "BOO", she leans over and gives it a kiss. Guess she won't be too picky when it comes to dating ;)


Miridyan and I went to Travis' school to watch him in a play. It was so fun to go and watch him play so many different roles. I never would have thought that he would be interested in theater. We also went to our old foster daughter's play earlier that morning. She happens to go to the same school and called to invite me personally to come and watch her. Way to go Travis and Tara !!! You both did a remarkable job.



I was surprised with a visit from a dear friend of mine from New York, Jeff Lange. He had just finished up a project in California and was driving back to the East Coast. I am so glad that he was able to stop and say hello. It had actually been 7 years since I had seen him. I met him on a train from Connecticut to New York. I had a ton of luggage due to me deciding to move to the city. He was kind enough to help me carry my DVD player that was in this huge box. I can't thank you enough Jeff !!! I hope to be able to see you again soon.



And last but not least... HAPPY BIRTHDAY KENNON !!! My little brother turned 21 years old this year, on the 28th to be exact. I still can't believe how grown up he is. He is such a wonderful uncle to Miridyan. She smiles so big every time she sees him. And she absolutely loves to play with his beard.

I CAN SEE !!!

I finally did it !!! I had LASIK !!! I am so pleased with the results. I had it done at the Zion Eye center here in St George. Everyone was so good to me... and not just because my mom happens to work there. In fact, my mom actually got to come back and watch the procedure (so prouud of her for handling it so well) and afterwards, Dr Cohen turned to my mom and said " hey, I think I met one of your daughters the other day" (referring to the pre-screening done about two weeks ago). My mom just looked at him and said "oh, you mean that one" as she pointed to me. That is when one of the techs asked why no one told any of them that I was her daughter. It was comforting to know that I was treated so great, regardless. Thank you to all the staff there at Zion Eye !!!

9 Months Old !!!

I can't believe that my little girl is 9 months old already. She is truly the best baby ever. She smiles at everyone, and has just started to scrunch her nose with each one. She also loves to point at people if they are not paying attention to her. We were at Lowe's and the employee was trying to explain something to me and she kept pointing at him, which made it difficult for him to focus on what he was saying. It was actually quite funny! She is definitely a people pleaser on top of an attention getter. At her 9 month old doctor appointment Miridyan weighed 19 pounds 13 ounces and was 27 inches long. Her head circumference was enough to put her in the 94th percentile !!! She must get that from her dad for sure ;)



I am so blessed to be the mother of such a beautiful daughter. I am so excited to see how she turns out as she grows.



I LOVE YOU SWEETHEART !!!

Miridyan's Nursery

I want to thank my dear cousin, Brandi, for turning Miridyan's dream nursery (my dream, that is) into reality. It turned out better than I ever imagined. I should have posted these pictures a long time ago (I think she actually painted it back in April) however, I wanted it to look perfect before I took them. I will be so sad to leave this room behind when we move.

The theme of the nursery came from the book The Twelve Gifts of Birth. I absolutely love this book and can't wait to teach Miridyan these wonderful life lessons.

Brandi, I can't thank you enough for doing such a wonderful job. I am blessed to have you as a cousin, as you are blessed with such an amazing talent. Let me apologize now for when we do move. Just know that your work will be admired by all those who see it, including the next family that lives here.

Fun with the Family !!!

After dinner tonight we played the game Wackee Six. It is actually a really fun game. The best part about it is that everyone plays at the same time, so it keeps everyone's attention. Even my dad was into it. I was surprised when he was the one to say "just one more game". It's also pretty interesting to see who becomes competitive.


My mom didn't get to play the card game, but she did get to spend some quality time with Miridyan, who absolutely adores her! By the way... didn't I read somewhere that you are not supposed to introduce your child to the television until they are like 2 years old? I guess Grandmas can get away with whatever they want. Love you mom !!!

Music Music Music

Well... the time has finally arrived !!! Miridyan is on the move ! She has been attempting to get where she wants for quite some time. It is amazing at how these little minds put everything together. Tonight she crawled right over to Grandpa's drum set (well, scooted on her hands and belly). She absolutely loves to sit and watch him play, just this time she wanted to try and play herself. Right now it's cute, but I am awaiting the day when something gets broken. (Hey dad... guess you will have to invest in a second set of drums, one that the girls can play with!)


We took the girls to their very first concert. It was the Honkey Tonk Tail Gate Party, which featured Mark Wills, Trent Willmon, Buddy Jewell, and Ray Scott. It was a pretty mellow concert. Miridyan and Paityn played on the blanket and watched the people around us. They were perfect the entire time.


Paityn was caught a little off guard here. I am not sure what emotion she is displaying in this picture, but we love it !!!

A new season is coming !!!

There aren't too many stores here in St George that specialize in children's clothing so we LOVE the Children's Place in the outlets. Ever since having Miridyan, shopping has become a weekly event. They just have the cutest little girl clothes... it's not my fault !!!