Last Week of March...

MARCH 24th: Happy Birthday Samantha Jean Houston!!
So I don't have any pictures of Sam's birthday (weird I know I forgot to bring my camera
when we went up to watch her open her presents) but I definitely wanted to mention it
regardless! :-) What is extra crazy to me is that Sam turned seven this year... where does
the time go seriously?! That means it has been 7 years now since my roommates and I
went on our little adventure to Vegas cause Sam was born on the day we were driving
home from there...which seems so weird cause I remember it like it was yesterday!
Ahhh... the memories :-)


MARCH 26th: Happy Birthday DAD!!

We went out to eat at the China Isle for my dad's birthday and then just came back opened presents and relaxed! Here is a picture of dad opening the John Deere fruit snacks my mom found him for ole' times sake since at one point in time (when I was little) he had a John Deere Tractor himself!

MARCH 31st: Happy Birthday Grandma and Goodbye to NICK!

So on that Tuesday evening we all gathered at Grandma's house one to celebrate Grandma's birthday and two to be there when Nick got set apart as an Elder and say goodbye to him since he was entering the MTC the next day...

Here is a picture of the two we were celebrating! I think this is the cutest picture ever! As we all well know as family and anyone else that knows my grandmother... she does not like to take pictures at all, so this is a priceless picture! Nick is going to be such a great missionary and will serve the Hawaiian people so well!

Grandma has that hand on her hip so you know she wasn't exactly thrilled about it but well we caught her in a rare picture taking mood cause she didn't argue too much with us so we had to take advantage and capture as many pictures of her with us as we could! Cindi loves this especially cause they were both wearing purple! :-)

And yes this is an absolutely hideous picture of me but again it is very rare that I am allowed to take any pictures of Grandma, so terrible or not I had to post it because it is very special to me... Oh how I love my Grandmother and how close we are! She will always have a special place in my heart!

I wanted to get her something special for her birthday so I found this musical photo album that plays "You Are My Sunshine" and then I put quite a few pictures of me and my cousins in it that I had already and then she can had more and more of ones she has, til she gets a picture of every single one of her 26 Grandchildren and almost 24 Great-Grandchildren (Britanie is due with a little girl in just a couple of weeks now) She really liked this present... she says it means so much to her :-) The rose on the front is special too because it is a picture of one that I took that was in her yard last summer!
So all in all it was a busy but super great last week of March!

Farewell To Elder Houston!

Today was my cousin Nick's farewell at church. He will be serving in the Honolulu, Hawaii mission and goes into the MTC April 1st. He gave such a good talk today and is going to be such a great missionary!

Here is my whole fam sporting our lei's in honor

The Houstons...doesn't Nick just look so excited?

Sam and Brandon proudly wearing their lei's... they are sure going to miss their big brother!

Ya I don't even know how many she has on? L0l!

And last but not least here is the proud missionary to be!

Together Forever...

So it's been a while since I last posted anything... it's been a busy last couple of weeks and well its definitely time to catch up! Saturday March 15th was a special day for our family, my cousin Britanie went through the Temple the night before and then Saturday morning she and her husband Joe were married in the Temple and then her three kids Tabitha, Sarah, and Casey from her previous marriage were sealed to them. It was seriously one of the most touching experiences I've ever seen! So cute to see them all dressed in white and be sealed together as a family for eternity! I am so so happy for them!

We all went back to my Aunt and Uncles house afterward for a little brunch. I wanted a picture with all of them but it didn't quite turn out the best, with the sun in all of our eyes
My cousin and friend who I could not be more happy for! Brit is due with her and Joe's first baby (a little girl) around my birthday at the end of April

Going to the Dentist is EXHAUSTING!

So I had to post this picture cause I think it is so funny... my Aunt, Uncle and cousins came in for their 6 month checkups a few weeks ago, which I am proud to say most of them didn't have cavities :-) Anyway Sam was one of the first ones in the chair, so she was done and waiting patiently for the rest of her family on the bench in the corner talking away to me and then the next thing I know I look up from polishing my Aunt's teeth and there she is collapsed and sound alseep. It made me laugh so I went and grabbed my camera out of my purse and snapped this picture before we woke her up :-)

Valentines Day 2009...

So it decided to snow on this day of Love which made it a mess for driving around in but pretty none the less. I really do love the snow!

I took my cousin Cindi to breakfast that morning at the Flour Girls and Dough Boys place, so good! I love their food!

And this was my little man I hung out with for most of the day and evening :-) I volunteered to watch my friend Toni's little boy James so she and her husband Rick could go out on a date. James is so dang cute and such a good boy! He will be turning one soon on April fools day. His birthday is the first day of April and mine is the last, no wonder we have such a special bond :-)

James loves to give hugs and he loves to play with your hair!

After a good half an hour of playing with the big valentine balloon I got him, he climbed up on the couch next to me and the next thing I knew he collapsed against me sound asleep. I then lifted him up on to my shoulder and there he slept for the next three hours while I watched Notting Hill and then took a little snooze myself. So ya all in all it was a great Valentines day, and I did get to snuggle with a boy after all :-)

Tinkerbell Teacher...

Well I just had to post a follow up on my previous story about my cute little primary girl telling me that I am her "Tinkerbell Teacher" but I would look the "mostest" like her if I wore my hair up in a bun. I did wear my hair up and I am proud to say that it is official according to Miranda that I do look the "mostest like Tinkerbell now" :-)

These are two of my cute girls: Lily is on the left and sweet little Miranda (my personal self-esteem builder) is on the right.

This is Dax and he is so funny, if you'll notice he has a fruit snack filling the gap where he has lost three of his baby teeth. He was so proud to show me cause he knows I work for a Dentist and has he puts it, "Teacher I know you think teeth stuff is so cool" :-) Oh how I love these kids!!

Quite The Compliment...

So no pictures on this post but I have a funny story to share... today during primary one of the new little girls in my class this year (Miranda who is five) climbed up on my lap during sharing time. She has a thing for hair so she kept playing with mine especially running her fingers through my bangs. All of sudden her little face lights up and she says to me "Teacher did you know that you look just like Tinkerbell and she is the most beautiful of all" I said really I had no idea. She then said "Well acutally you would look the mostest like her if you weared your hair up in a bun" I laughed and then asked her if I should wear it that way next week. Her eager reply was "Oh yes teacher please oh please you have to, so you can be my Tinkerbell teacher" How absolutely adorable is that? And talk about a self-esteem builder being compared to Tinkerbell (now if I only had her body) but I guess with me wearing my hair straight and the way it was styled I'm ranked right up there with her at least Miranda's eyes and that well just melts my heart! Oh how I love being in primary, it brings such joy into my life!