G's Cookie Bake '08

I mentioned in my post about my grandma that when I was growing up, she would have all the grandkids over for sleepovers and the annual Christmas Cookie Bake. It was always one of the most fun nights of the year and some great childhood memories. Once my mom started having grandchildren of her own, she took over this tradition and has been holding Christmas Cookie Bake Sleepovers ever since. Most of the grandkids are older now and many are starting to have kids of their own, but this is still one of the best parties of the year! My mom goes to so much work and makes hundreds (literally hundreds) of sugar cookies for everyone to decorate and eat. She is such an incredible grandma and I know how much everyone loves this night!

Although the kids are older now, it's still serious business decorating all these cookies.

Cassidy and Courtney getting started...

Chauntelle, Colby and Logan with their plates of cookies...

I'm not sure that Mae had any cookies with her frosting! It looks like she just went straight for the bowl of frosting! So funny!

Riley is a great decorator, especially for an 18 month old!

Evie Mae and sweet little Trey. Best Pals

Madison even made the trip down from Idaho just to decorate cookies. She was also a big help with Riley and the other little ones.

Apparently at Grandma's house, you can eat frosting with a spoon and as much candy as you can find. This picture was taken just moments before these sweet little girls found my purse, dumped it out and man-handled every single content with those sticky little hands. Bless their sweet hearts!

Thanks Mom for such a fun night! Even though I am not one of your grandchildren, I love being invited to this party and making such happy memories!

Until next year!

I'm back...new computer, new year, new me!

Hooray! Thanks to Santa (and CJ)...(and GP) we finally got a spiffy new computer to help us ring in the new year!

As you can see from the advertised photo..."monitor sold separately"! So, although we got the new computer, we decided to stick with the lovely 17" monitor with an 80" girth, that takes up most of the desk and looks more like this: (atleast for now)



We also hooked ourselves up with a sweet corner desk unit from none other than IKEA and yet another room in our home is nearing completion. Yea.

I have lots of happenings from the last 6 weeks that I'd like to update, but I'm not quite sure that I have the energy to document it all!

We'll see...Stay tuned.

SO GOOD! SO GOOD!! SO GOOD!!!

The night that we've been waiting for...

Could I be any more excited?!

He did not disappoint...

This 67 year old heart-throb had me giddy as a school girl!

I can't wait until he's back in town!


Thanks again for a great night CJ! I love you!

ARGHHHH!

Oh man... I have actually have access to a working computer this afternoon and I can't get stupid blogger to upload any pics!

So... some updates with pics to look forward to...

• Grandma's Cookie Bake Christmas Party with all my nieces and nephews.
• Benihana Christmas Party.
• Kitchen countertops and most of the appliances now functioning!
• NEIL DIAMOND CONCERT that I have been anxiously awaiting! Its TONIGHT!

For now... I'll just share my wish that I sure hope Santa brings the J's a new computer this year!

Christmas Traditions

Okay, being that we still don't have a functioning computer at home... I am just about the last to blog about this, but I wanted to document it anyway. If you'd like, you can read more about this amazing and treasured holiday tradition here, here, here, here and here!

These are my lovely and amazing friends from high school and this is our amazing, ridiculously fun, always entertaining, laugh out loud funny, "how did we ever get so lucky" annual Christmas party. We started going up to Sari's cabin when we were sophmores in high school to sleepover and exchange Christmas gifts and the tradition stuck. Now, as we are all older and busy with our own lives, it is the party that we all look forward to with much anticipation each year. It is amazing to come together and know that you are surrounded by true friends who know you, love you and support you in spite of (and sometimes because of) all the dumb things you've done in your life. Although we're all in different places in our lives and have different social, political and religious outlooks and views, we all genuinely really LOVE to be together and have so much fun acting like school girls again. We eat, exchange gifts, talk, laugh, reminisce and stay up until the wee hours of the morning. (I'm pretty sure Jill and I saw daylight before we finally dozed off)

I always leave feeling so very lucky and blessed . I really, really love these women and the examples that they have been in my life!

The annual group photos are always one of the most entertaining parts of the evening.



Then it's just time to hang out...




Beckie, Miss and I




Sari...modeling her super cute new hat and scarf.


The annual 'Pregnant Girl" Picture.
There were 4 this year - Jill, MaryJane, Melissa & Rachel!
Someday, I hope to be able to make it into this freaking picture...
...someday. *sigh*


Ahhh...this is the life! This is really what we do best...lounge, eat, laugh and enjoy!


This is the insanely adorable and whimsical snowman that I got to take home with me (among other treasures)- Thanks Shan! I LOVE him!

*

*

*

*

And for good measure and fun... just a little reminder of what we all looked like around the time we started this fun tradition! Oh, how far we have come!

Holly and Sandy--- we missed you this year!

XOXOX

update 101

sorry, no pictures. computer is broken. need a new one.

a sampling of the highlights of the last 2 weeks:

Family Pictures with the whole Nelson clan. that's a lot of people.
Jazz game with the Mister. love him.
Long awaited dinner with the Sherry's. always so fun.
Wedding #1 - Lindsey & Brandon. so cute together.
Niece Ashley's Birthday Party. all about princesses.
Twighlight Midnight Movie with my favorites. loved it. love them.
Wedding #2 - Brooke and Steve. beautiful night. beautiful couple.
Slumber Party @ Hotel Monaco. last night of eternity being a single girl for my aimo. love her. miss her like crazy.
Wedding #3 festivities - Amy & Mike. a-m-a-z-i-n-g! thanks mike for making her so so happy. she is so lucky and you are even luckier.
Finally a day of rest.
Decorating for the holidays. love having a new house.
The first (but not last) limited edition peppermint ice cream of the season. yum.
Seeing Twilight AGAIN with all the YW and teenage girls I know. so fun. loved it even more the 2nd time.
Thanksgiving. one of my favorite holidays of the year.
Sleepover with Mom. always a delight.
Black Friday shopping with all my best girls. fun tradition that I look forward to every year.
Another very needed day of rest.

looking forward to:

Friends Christmas Party/Sleepover with all my besties. love this tradition.
Christmas lights at Temple Square. wouldn't be the holiday season without them.
More Christmas lights with extended family.
Neil Diamond.
More peppermint ice cream.
Maybe seeing Twilight, yet AGAIN.

hopefully pictures and better updates to come shortly. stupid computer.

and the FORTUNE COOKIE says...

I just hope they are good changes.

No Tomorrow...

It has been 10 years since my beautiful Grandma Leah passed away. As this anniversary has approached, I have found myself thinking of her a lot and all the things that she taught me. I have so many amazing memories of her that I will always cherish. I loved being with her. Sleepovers at Grandma's with my cousins were the best! We would make sugar cookies and she would cut out our hand prints in cookie dough for us to bake and decorate. Sometimes we would make popcorn balls, but no matter what...we would always make a mess. Grandma would always let us play dress up and wear her nightgowns, fur coats, jewelry, purses and heels and we would pretend that we were princesses, because that's the way she made us feel. She LOVED to travel and she had this incredible guest room with a huge hawaiian beach mural on it. We all loved the "Hawaii Room" because spending time at her house really was like a vacation. She would tuck us in at night and tell us stories and sing songs until we fell asleep. She had a beautiful voice and she knew the funniest, clever old folk songs that we all loved. I have an old cassette tape of her singing all of my old favorites and I still throw it in every now and then and think about her and her amazing influence on my life. She was so beautiful, I never remember a time that her finger nails and toe nails were not perfectly polished. And she almost always wore pearls and heels. If she wasn't in heels she would be in bright, fun keds that would perfectly coordinate and match her outfit. She always wore bright lipstick and I never remember her not smiling. She was the kindest and happiest person I have ever known. She was the only person in my entire life that ever called me Kimberly (not even my parents) and she always called me Kimberly, never Kim. Still to this day, I don't like anyone else to call me by my full name...I get a little sad. I kind-of feel like it was her special thing and no one else is quite good enough to call me that. Wow, do I miss her. I have always prayed that I would someday have a daughter that I could name after my beautiful and beloved grandma. It continues to be my prayer, today.

4 generations...

Me, Mom, Grandma and Great Grandma Martha- not too long before she passed away at age 96.

My cousins Alicia, Wade and I, playing dress-ups on the beach at Grandma's house. Oh my goodness...what wonderful, happy childhood memories those are.

Of all of the things that I learned from my grandma... her love of life, her kindness and service continues to be what I cherish the most. I remember many times going out to her garden and helping her pick some of her beautiful roses or dahlias and then heading to a nearby nursing home and asking if there was anyone who was lonley or could use a visit. She was always serving others, only it didn't feel like service because it was just who she was. She was visiting others, delivering treats and brightening lives until the very day she died.

Today, I feel incredibly

thankful

for her love and legacy and for the example that she has left for me.

Grandma also wrote beautiful poetry and as I was going through some stuff recently, I came across one of her books of poetry and found one of my favorite poems that she ever wrote. It perfectly captures who she was and the things that were important to her, the only difference is that she DID do these things, all of them... regularly. This poem reminds me of all she taught me and continues to teach me and wow, do I have a long way to go.

I love you, Grandma!

NO TOMORROW

I promised myself I’d begin anew,
By doing the things I had neglected to do.
I’d mail the cards I had meant to send,
To the sick and the lonely, the forgotten friend.
To the one pressed with sorrow,
I’d visit tomorrow.
I’d speak kind words, I’d take his hand.
I’d let him know I understand.

My crippled friend was lonely and sad.
I’d pay her a visit and make her heart glad.
The boy overseas was depressed and alone;
He longed for a letter from folks back home.
I loved my mother, I was sure she must know;
But just to make certain, I’d tell her so.

My thoughts were noble; my intentions were good.
I really meant to do as I should.
But the days passed by like a swift moving stream,
And lost in the current were my aims and dreams.
When I hadn’t kept faith, excuses I’d borrow.
I kept telling myself I’d do it tomorrow.

Then one day, as I paused to regret.
I received a call I shall never forget.
The words that were spoken were harsh, but clear.
My crippled friend was no longer here.

What remorse filled my heart; I had sealed my own fate.
I had waited too long; it was now too late.
What help does it give the heart that is broken,
If the words that could heal were never spoken?
Maybe the card I didn’t send could have brightened
the life of my crippled friend.

Will you be found guilty, will you be to blame,
For that longed for letter that never came?
You can dream of your deeds and the good they will do:
But they’ll remain only dreams if they are not carried through.
A good thought without action, no pleasure brings.
It stands without motion, like a bird without wings.

In this world of ours, it is plain to see,
Time will not wait for laggers like me.
As I reflect in sadness, my heart seems to say,
There is no tomorrow, there’s only TODAY.

~Leah Pyne Rowley Meldrum~

one of those months...

{OH MY GOODNESS}

Here's a sampling of things already filling the November calendar...

and we aren't even a week into it yet!

However... keeping with my "November Thankful Theme"

*

I am very thankful for friends and loved ones' upcoming occasions and the opportunity to celebrate

GREAT and happy things!

tHaNkFuL

It's the perfect early November day and I am
feeling a little

INTROSPECTIVE

ˌ{in-trə-ˈspek-tiv}: a reflective looking inward : an examination of one's own thoughts and feelings

and also very...

today.

I hope I can remember to stop and feel this way, not just during this month of gratitude, but throughout the year!

Just a few of the many things I am thankful for: down comforters, hot chocolate, democracy, giant snowflakes outside my window, clean sheets, phone calls from loved ones, leftover Halloween candy, fluffly slippers, steam cleaners, diet coke, warm towels, good neighbors, the mister, my health, funny emails, my friends, pictures of my nieces and nephews that always make me smile, fall sweaters and boots, my parents, half eaten tub of cookie dough in my fridge that I bought from my nieces school fundraiser, good books, pretty packages with beautiful ribbon, quiet and solitude, crossing things off my to-do list, the soft lighting of lamps on during a gray & gloomy day, fresh smelling laundry, my "i voted" sticker, leisure suits, my sisters, days off from "work" work, the crackling of the leaves beneath my feet when I walk outside, the extra hour of sleep this week and mostly just having another day to face the battles.

{Happy} November...

be GREAT & be thankful