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Every Moment

I fight my own "wars" until I can no longer fight them alone. To be truthful, I usually wait until far longer than that. Yesterday, Tim brought the mail in and said, "Our Christmas card to Margaret was returned to sender and oh yeah, Jaxson got an acceptance letter from the University of Utah." He said it so nonchalantly. I knew exactly what he was doing. Tim was acting as if it was no big deal with the hope that I wouldn't really focus on what he was saying. That way I couldn't be sad.

I did what I do best. I put it out of my head and tried to pretend it wasn't happening. Even when Tim came over to Joy's to tell me that Hanna cried when she heard, I pretend. I looked right at him. I listened to every word and still, if I think he is really telling me that we are going to Jamaica as a family...

I am already lying on the beach and

Jaxson is still five!

Today I am driving to dance and a song that goes a little something like this... 

 "We laughed out loud 'til we cried

And the tears were sweet

Midnight melted to morning

A moment faded to memort

All these days

Just slip away through our fingers

So...

Don't let go 

Hold onto every moment

Always know

Hold on to every moment that you can........." comes on.

It was then that I decided I had to get my big girl panties on and acknowledge this. 

Jaxson was accepted to college!!!! I have known this was coming. I have wanted and even prayed for this. It isn't that I don't want this for him. It is just that in my mind Jaxson graduating marks a change in our family. Things will never again be as they are. Someone will be graduating and leaving every couple of years.

That being said, it is time that I hold on to this moment. I am proud of Jaxson. I am grateful that he is my son. I am honored to be his mother. 

More letters will come. Some good, some bad. No matter where he decides to go, I am grateful for a son that wants to go to college. I am grateful that we are in a position to help him do that. We are blessed and these are all good things!!

Married to an "older man"

Now I know what it feels like to be married to an "older man!"

Tim's flight did not land until after midnight, so it really was his birthday. The "Preference" kids had all gone home, so we decided we would all go pick up Tim.

 Tim-"Let's all get In N Out.'

Kids-"No, we are going to IHOP"

Tim-"Isn't it MY birthday."

Kids-"Yeah, but we are going to IHOP!"

 Tim accepting that this celebration is due to his old age!

Pretending he is okay with it!

We made this book of "40 Things We Love About You." for Tim. It is filled with pictures of Tim and quotes from each of the kids about their dad! Great gift!

Hope you had a great birthday!

Look Who's 40!

Lucky I'm in love with my best friend.

Lucky to have been where I have been.

HAPPY 40TH TIMMY!

Some days I wonder how I got so lucky to marry someone as great as this guy!

I know, it sounds cheesy.

IT'S TRUE!

I am blessed!

Tim is 

•  sexy (as shown above)
• a hard worker
• a great dad
• funny

• strong
• dedicated
• faithful
• honest
• kind

• did I mention sexy?
• my best friend
• loving
• romantic
• sensitive 
• athletic

I love this guy with all my heart. I love the father that he is to his children. I love the husband that he is to me. I love that his children love and respect him. I just 

LOVE

LOVE 

LOVE 

Tim!!!

Happy Birthday!

Preference!

Hanna is 16! It kills me. As many of you know, she is now allowed to date boys. (Much to Tim's chagrin!) Tonight she went to "Preference." Preference is a girl's choice dance. This meant that Hanna had to come up with a clever way to ask someone to accompany her to this dance. She asked her friend, Nate. She made a poster that said, "I got so nervous to ask you to preference that I PEED on your porch. She put frozen peas all over his porch. Clever? I know. That is my Hanna! 

Nate replied with the word "YES" spelled out on our porch in chocolate covered raisins. (It looked like some kind of poop.) For the record, I couldn't be more proud of either of them. Very original!

As much as I just want to blog about how beautiful Hanna looked and what a fun group they went with, I want to express how much I love Hanna. I loved watching her plan. They went with a of group 7 couples. All of them great kids. I watched as they made plans, changed plans and carried out plans. I loved dress shopping with Hanna. I loved watching all aspects of the preparation. 

I watched all of my kids help clean the house and watch each other while I was busy cooking, taking pictures and serving dinner to the Preference group. Don't get me wrong. My kids were all human and definitely did not do all of this with a smile. What matters to me is that they did it. When I needed their help, they supported both Hanna and I. What more could a mom ask?

 Ally, a good friend of Hanna's, came to see her all ready. I love this girl and am so grateful for "good" friends.

 Hanna and Nate

 The group

 The girls

 The group again

 The girls again

 Once again, the fabulous Joy Markham, helped me do the dinner. Now, when I use the word, "HELPED," I mean that Joy told me what to make, what groceries to get and then she cooked the main course. Everyone needs a friend like Joy. Just find your own friend like Joy. This Joy is taken!!

Not only is Joy a fabulous friend and neighbor to me, my girls LOVE her. At the end of the day that is what matters most. My girls look up to Joy and love her to death.

Joy happens to be married to CRAZY Bill Markham. (Shown in the background here.)

We love Bill too. I just like to give him a hard time.

 Dinner time

After the dance everyone came back to our house for an "ice cream bar." This was such a fun group of kids. It was an honor to have them in our home!

A great night!

Peter Pan!

Joy, Bill and I took "the littles" to BYU to watch the musical Peter Pan. It was really good. Made for a late night, but all the girls liked it!

 Showing Bill the Love!!!

Good times! Great friends!!!

Family Pictures

Hey everyone! I posted some family pics on my "new and improved" TreasureLayne blog. Just click on the TreasureLayne button to the right and check it out! Would love to hear comments!

Movie Time with "the littles!"

All the big kids had plans so Grandma Robin and I took "the littles" to see Gulliver's Travels. I am not a huge Jack Black fan, but I thought it was a cute movie. The little girls loved it and giggled a lot!

Emmie's friend, Jacee, came to see it with us. They brought their American Girl dolls with them. How could they not? They spent the hour before the movie getting the dolls "ready" for our outing.

Emmie and Jacee have been friends since they were 2. They play so well together and always have a good time. I have been blessed with great girls friends and it makes me so happy that  Emmie has too!!!

Todays Favorite

 It is funny. Every book you read about parenting will tell you that it isn't good to have a "favorite" child. I disagree. Today my favorite is Morgan. How can it not be Morgan? Look at this cute necklace she gave me. Just out of the blue, "Mom, look what I bought you."

I love her. To all my other children, tomorrow's spot is still open. Start sending the gifts!!

Please do not send hate mail. I am joking. I love all my kids the same (Most of the time). I just thought it was so cute that Morgan found this and thought of me. Love her!

Does anyone feel my pain?

Does anyone else feel like once you have children, nothing is sacred anymore? It's true. For example....

 

Sunday I went to put on the outfit I had planned to wear and....one of my beautiful girls wore it and got a hole right on the front. I changed and decided to wear a skirt that someone had put away with spots down the front. Frustrated, I decided to wear a shirt that wasn't anywhere to be found. GRRRRRR!

Often the kids come home from school and one of them is wearing an article of clothing that belongs to me. When I say, "I would like to be asked before they wear something of mine." I am told that they thought it was okay because it was in their room.

Occasionally, I go to get in my car and don't have one because one of the kids has it.

Frequently, I am ready to go to sleep and anywhere from 1-5 kids are in my room, in my bed, on my chair, using my brush, wanting my blow dryer etc. etc etc.

Thus, it was no surprise when cleaning off/ organizing picture files on my computer(we do have a "kids" computer), I found about 100 of these...

Does anyone feel my pain??

While I might complain about it. Certainly, I will moan and groan about it.

Secretly, I LOVE IT and wouldn't have it any other way!!!!!

Jaxson

Jaxson was on one tonight.

First we got to watch Jaxson SWOOSH three pointers in his Jr. Jazz basketball game. He definitely gets that shot from ME! Nothing makes me happier than watching Tim out there coaching the boys. They don't need a coach, they just need an old guy to sit on the side line and pretend he is the coach. Really, Tim let the boys do "their thing." But I love watching Jaxson and Tim together!

 When we got home from Jaxson's game, Emmie was sad. She was afraid we wouldn't get home before she and Ryanne fell asleep. I gave her some love and then.....

Jaxson descended upon her!

 He kissed her until she couldn't stop giggling. It was really cute! I just love them!!!!

 Then, Jaxson decided to show Hanna who was boss. He definitely won!

I think everyone will sleep well tonight!

Thanks Jax for a great night.

1-1-11

While trying to put together a book of pictures from last year, I realized that I have very few pictures of adults. While I love my kids dearly, I wanted to document fun trips and play dates with Tim and our friends. This year, I plan to remedy that problem. 

Today, Tim and I went to a movie with Joy and Bill Markham. We then invaded Wingers too close to closing. It seemed like maybe they weren't very happy to turn the oven back on to make our "cookie zookie." NO matter.....It was a great "cookie zookie." The wings were fabulous too.

It was the ending of a great day. I photographed a wedding, ate breakfast with Timmy, and shopped with my girls all afternoon! It doesn't get better than that.

We are blessed with great kids, jobs, and friends!

Here's to a great 2011!!!!!