Dancin' Queen

Recently, Taylee has been excited about participating in many different activities and clubs. She's in 'Paws'itive Panthers (a school service club), Basketball and Dance Club.

Dance Club met after school, twice a week, for approximately 30 minutes. They learned some basic dance moves and then put them into routines for a performance.

Thursday was their performance. Three small groups and one big group danced. Taylee was in the big group. She was excited to show off what she had learned. The music was catchy and the moves were cute. (I can't get one of the songs out of my head!)

It was fun to have Grandma McKinley, Tim, Karen, Audrey, Katelyn and Sydney there to watch. Jason was also able to get off work early enough to catch Taylee's performance. (Candice & family was there in spirit too).

If she didn't show her gratitude or tell you thank you, I want you to know that she really did appreciate you being there. Thanks for your support.... and for sitting on the hard gym floor. ;)

This is Miss Holden. She is Taylee's student-teacher in the classroom right now, along with being one of the dance teachers. I spoke to her after the performance and she had several complimentary things to say about Taylee. She said Taylee was a very sweet girl. She also said that she was a great communicator/deep thinker and that she could see her being a leader of some sort of movement or good cause.
I told her how we thought we had named her appropriately, Taylee ROSE. She loves Mother Earth, is a little "granola-ish" and almost always 'stops to smell the roses'. She's our groovy girl, born in the wrong era.

This is the other student-teacher Miss Balentine. I appreciate that she and Miss Holden, took time after school, to teach these girls and give them a fun experience.

Thank goodness for good teachers!!!

Lesson by Taylee

We had another wonderful FHE lesson given by Taylee, Monday night.

This is becoming a regular occurrence. I love it!

First, she had us put together a puzzle to give us a hint about our lesson topic.

A Taylee original.
We were instructed to complete the puzzle, BEFORE guessing.
A hard thing for Abree and Treyson to comply with.

I'm guessing Noah's Ark....how about you?
Then she had each one of us pick an animal and read what was on the back. We learned a piece of Noah's story or answered the question.
The kids were surprised to learn that there were more than 2 of some animal. Noah took more of the animals they used to eat and sacrifice.

Next, we read/paraphrased the story out of the Bible.

I appreciated, when we had been discussing the story, then got off topic and Rylee asked, "Are you done yet Taylee?" She said, "No. I would like to bear my testimony......" And then she did.
Sometimes I worry if the good things are sinking in or if I'm being a good enough mom. I don't know, but I was glad to hear Taylee's budding testimony and was proud of her willingness to share it with our family.

To help us keep record of our FHE's, Rylee filled out
"Our Family Home Evening Journal".
This FHE journal was given to us, as a Christmas gift, from Grandpa Waite. It's really cool. It has some expected things like; Opening Song, Prayer, and Lesson Topic. But it also has things like; World/Community Events, Family Goals and Weekly Family Plans. It's been nice to set a family goal each week. This week's goal is: Everyone is to have their bedroom picked up and bed made by 8:30am.

Treyson says THUMBS UP, to another great Family Home Evening.

Little Red

I've had a nice leather-covered day planner. I've owned a PDA. But for me, nothing works better than a regular ol' spiral notebook. I like the casualness and ease of it. I can freely write down brainstorms, take notes at meetings or use page after page for lists upon lists upon lists.

I believe "Little Red" became a constant companion of mine around October or November. I knew in order to keep everything straight, prioritized and planned, I'd have to write it all down.

"Little Red" not only held the secrets to the AWESOME 80's Party, but addresses, Christmas gifts, books to read, new recipes to try and people to contact. She was bursting with good information.

A few times, I carelessly left her vulnerable and exposed where her contents could have been discovered.

I cringed when I realized she was in the van with Jason. He was waiting to pick up/drop off kiddos from their weekly activities. What if he got bored or needed a piece of paper? I considered calling, but wouldn't know what to say and would have probably sounded suspicious. So I didn't and he didn't.

I worried when my notebook was open, on the counter, and my kids were hovering. I had written down each Christmas gift and the cost. They could have known everything...down to the penny.

To my knowledge, "Little Red", was never read. She just looked like a scraggly old notebook to them, but she was much more to me.

Ode to "Little Red"

Little Red, you are practically dead.

Your back cover's torn off and a page spilled with broth.

You held the keys, to mysteries.

My lists to do and Christmas gifts too.

To you I am grateful, I had quite a plateful.

You kept secrets well and the party was swell.

Rest in peace.

Happy Anniversary!

After a packed two weeks of Birthday and Valentine's fun, next up was our anniversary to celebrate. Jason has heard all our married life, "I've never been in a limo before." So for our 14th anniversary he rented a limo.

The neighborhood boys went nuts when they saw it parked out in front of our house. "It's a limo! It's a limo! Why is there a limo in front of your house?"

Our driver's name was Willy..... with a Y. He was kind and funny. He also does clowning on the side. Anyone need a nice grandpa-type clown?
We were ready for our limo adventure.
The limo could seat 8-10 people and was equipped with a TV/VCR, radio, CD player, glasses and ice bins.

We went to Jaker's for dinner. Jason had steak and garlic potatoes and I had a BLTA. Mine was a BLT sandwich with avocado and melted cheese on a chibata style bread. It was yummy.

When the waitress found out we were celebrating our anniversary, she brought us a complimentary dessert.... a HUGE mudslide pie! We were so full, we didn't even finish it, but it was delicious.

Next, we enjoyed our limo by driving around downtown, then up to the train depot and then on to the Lucky Peak area.

When going to Lucky Peak, we spotted 4-5 deer at the side of the road. We tried to take a picture, to no avail. At first glance, they looked like they were standing by a "Deer Crossing" sign. We thought that would be a great picture.

We talked and enjoyed the company of our driver. We shared many stories of our lives. It was nice.

Just some of the reasons why I love Jason:

-He watches "chick flicks" with me.

-He takes time to talk and LISTEN to me.

-He cheerfully does "Honey Do's" for me.

-He likes to make me happy and has my best interest at heart.

-He likes to surprise me.

-"He's not going any where".... he's staying with me.

-He's patient with me.

-He puts up with my particularities and insecurities.

- He lets me have the remote control.

-He likes me and considers me his best friend.

Sometimes I get anxious about life (& death), but feel a calmness come over me when I remember he'll be there with me. I too feel truly blessed to have married my best friend!

I love you Jason!

Happy Anniversary!!!

Jason's ACTUAL Birthday

Just because the party was over, didn't mean that I was done surprising Jason. I had a few more surprises up my sleeve.......

I told Jason I wanted to celebrate his birthday Friday night with the kids, because I had something different planned for Saturday, his ACTUAL birthday.

Cute wall quilt made/designed by my MIL. It has button-off interchangeable names for each person in our family. Isn't it fun?!

I cooked his birthday dinner request.... tater tot casserole.

Then we had him open presents from us.

I was trying to keep the evening as normal as possible, so we all got our jammies on and Jason and the kids watched some Olympics, before we had banana cream pie (another birthday request).


I started to get nervous as it got closer to 9:00pm. I had a "special delivery" set to arrive around then. At around 9:15, we heard a knock at the door. The kids rushed to answer it. (I wanted Jason to answer, but the kids were just too fast.) They opened the door and there stood Ira and Nicky Crawford. Rylee rushed over to Jason and said, "Ira and Nicky are here????"


The Crawford family had travelled from Smithfield, Utah to stay with us for the weekend and to surprise Jason for his birthday. Yay!


Jason and Ira have been good friends since high school in Alaska. Jason says they only knew each other for a short time, before they moved away from one another, but have remained friends and have kept in touch over the years. Ira's older brother Jason, is also another very good friend.


We hadn't seen the Crawford's in years, but we just picked up where we left off and started our fun weekend together. ---Nicky and I have become good friends also. We always enjoy lots and lots of good talking time, usually centered around being a mom, a wife and other commonalities we share. ---Our kids had fun together too. Rylee said, "It was nice to hang out with friends that had kids our age." (She and Brayden are only a month a part... but everyone else are different ages. It's all a matter of perception.) Taylee hung out with Brayden and Emilie. Treyson really got along with Emilie and the little boys Abree also enjoyed playing with the little boys. We all had fun being together.

We stayed up WAY too late and talked Friday night. (I loved every minute of it.)
Then Saturday, Jason worked a little in the morning, then came home to spend time with Ira, while Nicky and I went shopping. Later that evening, Ira, Nicky, Jason and I went to dinner and then a play. We saw "Footloose" put on by Starlight Mountain Theater, at the Nampa Civic Center. Jason and I had seen this play during the summer, but this time it had a new cast including our good friends Brandon and Mindi Pierce. It was entertaining and fun to see the people we knew in it. (Another member of the cast was from our old ward. She did an awesome job too.) When we got home, we celebrated more by having pie... chocolate satin and banana cream. Yum!

Sunday, the Crawfords went to sacrament meeting with us and then headed towards home. We managed to get a few photos in, right before church.

Nicky, Jarin, Brayden, Kamden, Ira & Emilie Crawford.
Jarin was NOT happy to have his picture taken that morning...but at least he was in them. :)

Jason & Ira... still good friends after all these years.

A Valentine's Day treat for the kids... and maybe a little bribery for taking pictures too.

"Can we eat them now? PLEASE!!!"

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

.....and HAPPY BIRTHDAY (again) Jason!

Party Time!

Finally, it was party time.Guests gathered.......and waited......and waited for Jason and I to arrive.Brek answered the door and said, "Hi Jason! Are you ready?" "SURPRISE!"

Jason said, "I can't believe it!...This is crazy!...This is crazy!"..... as he greeted guests and discovered everyone who was there.

I was so happy that it all worked out. Whew.
Let the party begin! Do you identify with any of these.... sadly I do.

I wanted to go "old school" with a Polaroid picture of each guest. I thought it would be fun for them to have a keepsake from the party (dressed in their 80's duds). I asked Amber to be my photographer. The camera was old and so was the film, so the pictures didn't turn out all that well. Oh well, it was a good thought.

Here are some of our AWESOME guests (some got away w/o a picture).

J.C. & Julia Smullin

(Jason's brother, SIL)

Candice & Dean Waite
(SIL, my brother)

Tim & Karen Waite
(my brother, SIL)

Dean Waite & Lora Dawn McKinley
(my brother, mom)

Cary & Julianne Shelton
(ward friends)

Travis & Ann Manning
(college friends)

Marianne & Brek Stoker
(good friends and wonderful hosts)

Cathy & Sarah Anne Olsen
(Jason's sister, niece)

Tyrel Waite
(my brother)

Jared & Teresa Smullin
(Jason's brother, SIL)

Marianne Stoker & Jaime Blaisdell
(my AWESOME friends)

Mom & Chanel Nelson
(cousin)

Steve & Krissi Goodmansen
(AWESOME friends)
Don't you LOVE Steve's mullet? See, I told you he was a good sport.

Kevin & Jana Nelson
(uncle, aunt)

Kevin & Marla Chandler
(ward friends)

Brinton & Amber
(BIL, my sister)















Birthday Boy, Jason & Me

As the guests entered, they grabbed a name tag and put their 80's photo on the "Wall of Shame".

We had a few guests sign Jason's poster, but we didn't get everyone.
"Wall of Shame"- Check out that 80's style!




Guests voted for the best 80's costumes.

We ate food, listened to 80's music ....

and then went around the room and introduced ourselves and said how we knew Jason.

We also said something about Jason; our first impression, something we liked about him or a story.

On the menu:

"Cabbage Patch" salad

"Three Amigos" chips and salsa

"Breakfast Club" sandwiches

lots of candy...

and Pac-Man cupcakes.

(When I was making these, Abree said, "Mom, why are you making so many yellow lily pads?" I guess they do look like lily pads...I should have put eyes on them.

Costco saved the day.... after the cool Rubik's cube cake failed.

We chose this one because the colors matched our other decorations and because it said "Happy Birthday". I was looking at it as a caterpillar, but Steve brilliantly pointed out that it was a "Centipede" for an 80's party. When I told Jason this he said, "Actually, Centipede was one of my very favorite games growing up." Uh huh, I knew that.... not.

We sang Happy Birthday and Jason made a wish.... and then couldn't blow out the candle because it was a sparkler.

Happy 40th Jason!

I love you!!!