Party Weekend

What a great weekend we had! We had Lexi’s 8^th birthday and then on Sunday we celebrated both Marty and Lexi’s birthdays with Marty’s family. Great weekend full of family and fun.

Friday night we had our nephews and niece over to stay the night. We also had one of our very good friends and his 3 boys over also to watch the BSU football game. We ordered 4 large pizzas and 4 orders of bread sticks and it was all gone by the end of the night. After the BSU football game we went out and played basketball in the dark, well kind of in the dark, it was dark outside but our basketball court is lighted. It was kind of like playing flashlight tag…

Saturday we took 8 little girls to Build a Bear and to the Cheesecake Factor for an ALL GIRL birthday party. Each little girl got to build a bear and have a giant slice of chocolate cake from the Cheesecake Factory.

After we came home from the birthday party I made a yummy spaghetti dinner for Marty’s family. We ate more cake and opened more presents. It almost felt like Christmas!

November 6th

So today I set a goal for myself. I have found that because I have been super busy with elections and pageants that my house has been on back burner. I did not realize what a “pack rat” I am! I do not toss anything out!

So my goal is to DEEP clean 1-2 rooms a day until all the rooms in my house are back to being organized. Perfect timing right with the holidays just around the corner!

Tomorrow is my daughter’s 8^th birthday party! Yes myself and 8 little girls will be going to Build-a-Bear and the Cheesecake factor. I will make sure to get all the little girls on a sugar high and then send them home…. So glad it is not a slumber party!

Today I went to the fabric store (something I do not do to often) because I wanted to try to sew something. I bought all the fabric needed to make my project came home only to find out that my sewing machine was BROKE! I had my hopes up to make something new and really show my domestic abilities however it just did not happen today. I am sure I will not have that bug again for awhile.

Birthday

What a great day yesterday was. It was Marty and Lexi’s birthday! I can not believe my baby is 8 years old, am I really getting that old? It was also Election Day. I was campaign chairwoman for Nampa Mayor Tom Dale. Proud to say another victory! Also my mom City Council Woman Pam White was running for re-election and she won! Great day all around. Both of them won with over 70% of the votes, if it’s not broke why fix it right!?

So for Marty’s birthday we went to Red Robin for lunch (it is a tradition.) Then for dinner we went to this awesome new restaurant called Darby’s. What was funny is that I asked Lexi what she would like for me to make for her birthday dinner and she said “well did you ask dad?” I said no, she said “well I want to go to Darby’s.” Well then ok to Darby’s it is!

After dinner we went to the campaign party until about 10pm. Because Canyon County is SO SLOW calculating the votes we did not get the official results until 2am! Mind you only 8,000 voters voted! Are you kidding me!?!?! I could have hand counted them faster than that!!! Anyway, I was pleased with the out come!

It was indeed a great day all around!

Trick or Treat

I just love this time of year. Halloween the night were age doesn’t matter. This year I dressed up like Lucille Ball “I LOVE LUCY.”

Lexi and I joined Alishia and her two daughters Autumn and Kirsten, and went tick or treating in her neighborhood. Alishia and I have been best friends for 18 years and here we were again dressed up like we were back in Jr. High! She was Daisy Duck!

Marty and Kaiden went over to my mom and dads house to help pass out candy and watch the USC vs. Oregon game (they missed out on a bag full of candy.)

Kaiden was going to be the traveling gnome but as the day went on he decided he did not want to trick or treat this year! Well that was until Lexi came back with a back FULL of candy!

So then we dressed him up like a witch and took him around my parent’s subdivision. And of course Lexi went also. You can only imagine the amount of candy we have!!!

The Oregon Coast

My family and I went to the Oregon Coast for our birthdays. My birthday id October 14^th and my husband and daughters birthdays are both November 3^rd.

It was so nice to get out of town together as a family. Our journey started out on Wednesday October 28^th. We drove 10 hours to get from Nampa Idaho to Seaside Oregon. That was 4 ½ movies in kid time!

We were able to stop at Camp 18 for dinner, which we have never done in all our trips to the coast. It was great food and a wonderful atmosphere. If you get a chance to visit I would stop in for a bite to eat. Check out their website at www.camp18restaurant.com

Once we were checked in, no time was wasted… It was off to the beach. Our room was amazing, we stayed at the Shilo Inn and it had an ocean view with a fireplace and a kitchen in it! Marty won a $250 gift certificate to the Shilo Inn in a golf tournament, so we went for the best room!

As we put on our winter coats to head down to the beach because it was only about 40 degrees outside we saw that the hotel had a 24 hr. pool and spa. Yep you guessed it next stop the pool. We were not even on the beach for 10 min. and we were already hearing “when can we go swimming.” So after a short wet (it started to rain) walk on the beach we came back and went swimming.

The next morning we had to wake up at 6am. We HAD to be the first ones out on the beach to find ALL the sand dollars. Well I am not sure where all the sand dollars went to but we did see about 12 squid that had been washed up on shore. I had never seen squid like that before. They have one giant eyeball and it was freaky looking! After about an hour looking we decided to come back in and eat some breakfast. After breakfast we went back out but still no luck.

Because it was raining we decided to go on a field trip to other small towns around Seaside. We found a old ship wreck so we had to stop and explore there. We went to Fort Stevens and saw all the old battles fields. Then we decided to get back on the road and head to Cannon Beach. Still raining we shopped in some of the stores there then decided after lunch to brave the rain and head down to the beach by Haystack Rock.

There are always great tide pools around Haystack Rock, and once again we were not let down. Despite the rain and the wind we were able to see o many wonderful sea creatures.

By the time we got back to the car I think we each weighed about 20 more pounds because we were soaking wet from the rain. But it was still great family time together.

The OVERCOMER

I feel so blessed to have a church family that is supportive and non-judgmental. I was able to go and talk to some of the women of Christian Faith Center about how to be an “Overcomer.”

I believe that each one of us has what it takes to overcome many different obstacles in life. For some of us to “overcome” these issues come easier than for others. As I look at the many obstacles that I have had to overcome I know that there are so many other ladies out there just like me who have had to fight a battle in their own lives. I am thankful for the many challenges I have had to overcome because it has made me into the person I am today!

Being involved in pageants I have had the privilege of meeting many young and older ladies who have had to overcome different issues. I have heard happy endings and I have heard sad endings, but I look at these ladies and see that they have OVERCAME!

What a powerful message many of us have to share. I would like to encourage you to get out there and share… You may never know whose life you may touch by just sharing where you have been and how you ended up where you are today!

“OVERCOMER”
Lord you know I am pushing on to run this race
I fix my eyes on you in everything I face
Even when my feelings say it isn’t so
Your truth that beats inside my heart won’t let me go
With every step of faith you strengthen me
Along every mile of trust you’re remaking me
Tho` a trial of tears marks the path that I’ve come
Until your arms, I’ll continue to run!

Golf Tournament and Corn Maze

This week has been such a crazy week. I feel like it is pageant week without the drama! I have been planning our churches first annual golf tournament. I am excited for the turnout. I hope all the players have a wonderful time. Did I tell you I had about 2 weeks to plan this tournament? I am thankful that I am the kind of person that people are able to recognize that if they need something done I am the person to turn to! That is a wonderful feeling.

I am also planning a photo shoot for the 2010 Mrs., Miss and Teen Idaho International Queens on Thrs. PLUS our music pastor and his wife went out of town and asked Marty and I if we could watch two of their kids. They are good kids so it is no trouble to watch them. I am excited to do so. We are planning to go to the corn maze.

Every year we take the kids to the corn maze. It is tons of fun, we go when it starts to get dark then walk through the maze in the dark with no flash lights… The best part of this is when we hide in the corn stalks and jump out at people walking by and scare the pee out of them!!! It is so much fun; I would recommend others to try it!! Each year they design the maze as something different, here is the link for you to check out what we have walked through in the past. http://farmsteadfestival.com/OriginalCornMaze.htm