Happy Day!

First of all, Happy Birthday, Chel!!! it's Michelle's very special day today as she is entering the wonderful 30's! :) Hope it's a really spectacular day, Chel!

What a better picture to put up than the one of she and I when we were both preggie back in 2005. Chel, I want that cute shirt. I forgot how HARD it is to find cute maternity clothes!

Most of you know my very dear friend, Alexis. She and her family are living in Japan now for the next 2-1/2 years. They've been there since the first of the year. I'm thankful that throughout the miles (she's halfway around the world, 14 hours ahead), she's still so close. We keep in touch in every way imaginable. You can follow her amazing journey as a stranger in a new world (with a huge language barrier) here----> You don't want to miss it.

So yesterday the kids got a package in the mail from none other than Alexis in Japan. They were beyond excited! Usually they get packages from Oklahoma, not Japan! :) Of course Maia doesn't understand the actual distance and that it's coming from a different far-away country, but Noah does (but monkey-see, monkey-do). But they both do realize when I say it's from Japan, that it's something probably from Sami. That means a celebration in our house! As you can see, they were thrilled!

And what was it? It looked like Japanese candy and, to Noah's excitement . . .

. . .his very own pair of chopsticks!! (He loves to use chopsticks. We get sushi quite regularly in our house, whether we go out or get take out. Noah has learned quite well how to use them - I think he's a little better than his mommy, actually! He loves using them, so he was SO excited to have his own very cool Japanese pair. Sami would be proud of his chopstick usage! )

So the kids weren't the only ones excited about the goodies, Neil was all into it as well. (Last night we all dug into them. My favorite is the green - slight apple taste. All very "light" in taste. I like it a lot.)
Neil got a kick out of these candies and you can only imagine what he called them. He told me I needed to put on Alexis's Facebook page, "Thanks for the nipples!". Yeah, that's my husband! I spared Alexis the harassment :)

And Alexis didn't leave her favorite Val out. For my birthday in March, she sent me the best little surprise. My own Bento Box and chopsticks! I looooove it. Thanks again, dear friend. The kids thank you, too!! It's all been so very special.

Happy Day; Today & Always

May you always have walls for the winds,
a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire,
laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,
and all your heart might desire.

Happy Birthday, Chel! Love you.

And now I'm back!

And I'm still alive!

I'll can't go into exact details as to why this wedding was so dreadful (going into it) for me, but God was looking after me, as it wasn't nearly as bad as anticipated. The bride & groom were great despite the laaaaarge wedding party, and both looked quite stunning! We even made great time on the photos and I just ignored some of the guys who complained about having to be there 3 hours prior to the wedding (you know, guys, they just don't get it!). Everyone was super and the thing that scared me a bit turned out to be okay afterall. I was quite anxious about it, but things worked out and all went very well. I know it's easy for me to say that since it's o-v-e-r now, but really, it did all go well and I'm just so relieved. First wedding of the year down with success! Yipppeeee!

On another note, now that I can let my hair down and RELAX, I can give some credit where credit is due.

It is my fabulous sis-in-law's birthday today. Michelle is 28 years old today! (Chel, I'm sorry I didn't post something earlier, but you, for one, know how stressed out I was prior to today!)

Michelle is the most wonderful sister I could ever hope for. She was sent from God above to be not just my sister-in-law, but my sister. We are share so many similarities from our love of cereal, to our years growing up as farmer's daughters to our deep sensitivity and compassion for others . . . for life. I could go on and on and on. I love her dearly . . . and she loves me. And I know I didn't choose her like people choose friends but if I had that opportunity to, I definitely would have asked her to be my friend and would have even asked her to share a BFF necklace with me. (*giggle*)

Hope you had a great birthday, Chel! Love you!

I have to brag . . .

. . . . about my sis, Michelle. She is not only someone who just married into the same family as I did, but she is also a dear friend . . . a best friend. I would have picked her as a best friend even if we didn't have hubbies who were brothers. We share so much . . . our backgrounds (farm girls . . .small schools . . . close-knit friends and family . . .), we share Lake Sara (who would have thought?!), we share our love of dorky blue-eyed blond-haired skrony guys - oh wait, that's just Neil (hehe). We are almost the same person with the same morals, goals, sensitive feelings, and love for our children . . . life. But yet we aren't the same person and still respect each other for what we each are. I would have picked her out of a million other girls to be my friend, and luckily I got her without even trying, and as a sister! Thanks for the great birthday wishes and posting an entry just for me. What a fabulous belated birthday pressie. I'll take and extension of my birthday any day if that means I no longer have sick kids and can still have some ice cream and cake! (Can I use you as an excuse to go to DQ?) So sorry our sick kids kept us from seeing each other. . . . till next time! And you know we'll be talking to each other soon . . .

(pic above is me, Ashley - our other sister!, and Michelle taken in Hawaii in 2004)