Mardi Gras

King Cakes are a huge part of Mardi Gras traditions throughout the south. The cake's origins date back to the Feast of the Epiphany or Twelfth Night, which honors the three kings present at the Christ child's birth. Which is most likely where the custom of hiding a tiny baby doll in the cake started.
Tradition calls for the person who gets the "lucky" piece of cake with the baby doll inside, to throw the next party or make the next King Cake. The cake closely resembles a rich, sweet bread is decorated in teh traditional Mardi Gras colors: green, representing faith; gold, symbolizing power; purple, dnoting justice.
I made this King Cake for Greg's office - we'll see who gets to make the next one!

OPERATION KLONDIKE!

So this is how the February weekend getaway went.....

• I wanted to know where we were going (up until 2/18)
• He wouldn't tell (more on that later!)
• I told him okay, now I don't want to know and oh by the way, you get to pack for me AND if you pack the wrong clothes, you get to buy me more clothes (SCORE is what I'm thinking!)

mmmmm.......now that I know the entire story.....all I can do is just laugh! We are truly enjoying ourselves and our weekend getaways! I can't wait for March!

So on Wednesday 2/18, I asked Greg where we were going (for the last time). He said, "we're going to Mt. Rainier and doing some snowshoeing." At which I promptly replied "yea, right!"

Well.....it turns out he wasn't kidding! Greg had planned for us to go up to Mt. Rainier when we first decided to do these weekends....so he enlisted Beth and Bryan to help....now, this was clear back in December 2008! Way before I decided on January's getaway! So when I understood where we were going (and it wasn't until Friday night when we were headed down the final stretch to Beth and Bryan's that I believed him), I had a big laugh. Greg and I are so much alike in our thinking sometimes and this was one more example! Here are some pictures of our fabulously wonderful weekend!

Greg named this weekend Operation Klondike when he realized I had planned our January getaway up to Mt. Rainier. He, Beth and Bryan would converse and refer to his plans in the code name to keep me in the dark!

Yes it was Greg's idea first and I have to admit we had an even better time this weekend than in January. Beth and Bryan had their blocks with this phrase already on the mantle when we arrived! How they must have chuckled over keeping these secrets!

This is the place where we rent our snowshoes. In January, there was snow on the ground. It's all gone for now but more snow is predicted for the coming week....

The mountain was majestic and awesome. We were very blessed to have had such a glorious day!

We are dressed in fewer layers on this trip - it was quite warm (at least above freezing) and with the sun out, it was toasty at times! This was one of the steep climbs we undertook. Greg is actually 1/2 way up the hill when he stopped and took pictures of us beginning the ascent. We snowshoed for 4 hours and were exhausted at the end of the trek. Great day it was!

The Carpenters

Lowe's had a workshop just for kids - and here are the budding carpenters! Lauryn even got to make her own jewelry box. She wouldn't let go of it all day! Here are the three before.......

Lauryn loved the hammer and could hit the nail (and Grandma's fingers) quite well!
Meysa liked the googles look! Safety first! Ayden did his own - he woudn't let anyone help!

And here are the three at the end!

"It's a Miracle!"

Little Lauryn, Ryan and Aimee's comedic relief, comes up with another one! Every day each of the kids have chores to do: brush teeth, say prayers, pick up room, get dressed and make bed. So on Saturday morning, Lauryn asked me for some help with her bed. It was quite rumpled and blankets were everywhere! She helped straighten everything and when it was all done, she threw her arms up in the air and stated, "It's a miracle!" It's one of those times I wished I had a camera to capture the pose and expression. But here is the miracle!:

Weekend getaways 2009

In December, we decided to devote some time to ourselves. We came up with the idea to take one weekend each month and do something different, just focusing on us. No rules, just a weekend to ourselves. My months are the odd ones (jan, mar, etc) and Greg gets to plan the even ones (he says it's because he wants his birthday month!). That being settled, it was up to me to plan January. What could we do that we have never done before, that would be fun and somewhat inexpensive? I came up with snowshoeing!! And since Greg had never been to Mt. Rainier, I decided that was the place to visit. It just so happens my sister's husband, Bryan, works for the National Park Service and is "stationed" at Mt. Rainier so now we had our own personal guide! It was an absolute blast and one I want to do again! Beth and Bryan hosted us for the weekend and took us on a magnificent scenic trail. Beth and Bryan have their own snowshoes; we had to rent ours. It isn't near as much gear as when we were skiing or maybe it is, but it's much lighter!!! The park entrance - we still had an hour's drive up to Paradise where we would begin our expedition. We saw the mountain "peek" out from the clouds. A beautiful day- no snow, but overcast with sun breaks. Fog rolled in later in the afternoon so we were thankful to have such great weather in the middle of the day. Here we are......we had just finished lunch and were ready to tackle more trail!

We ended the day with a rousing game of spades. It is our tradition to play men against the women. And yes, Beth and I lost the series again! We just can't seem to catch a break against these guys! What a weekend - good food, great friends, lousy cards (at least that's what Beth and I thought!), and lots of laughter! Thanks, Beth and Bryan, for helping us have a fantastic time! Love you guys lots!

A note to my husband

This day I thee wed......15 years ago.....and am forever grateful that I did! That evening we vowed to honor, love and cherish, to commit ourselves to being the best we can be and will be for each other. The words from Don Francisco's song says it so well:

I could never promise you on just my strength alone

That all my life I'd care for you, and love you as my own

I've never known the future, I only see today

Words that last a lifetime would be more than I could say

But the love inside my heart tonight is more than mine alone

It never changes, it never fails, never seeks it's own

And by the God who gives it, and who lives in me and you

I know the words I speak tonight are words I'm going to do

And so I stand before you now for all to hear and see

I promise you in Jesus' name the love He's given me

And through the years on earth and as eternity goes by

The life and love He's given us are never going to die

Life hasn't always treated us fairly and we are not perfect, but when I think of what I could change about you, my husband, my answer is nothing. I need to always remember that you are God's to change and I need to be the wife God has called me to be. No one promised it would be easy but I am so looking forward to the next 15 + years! I love you!

Being a grandma........

is just about the best! I was blessed to spend this past weekend with Aimee and the grandkids - what a great time! We played the wii fit, wii bowling (Ayden scored a 278 with the only open frame being his first! -watch out pro bowlers!), went to the park, had pizza, made forts, played memory game and had some scrapbooking time with Aimee in the evening! We stayed up until 1am both nights - are we crazy or what???? I do cherish this time as I know it will pass quickly and someday Ryan and his family will move and it won't be as often I get to spend the time with them. Mom and Dad even made a trip out to see on Saturday night and that was really fun too! I really love my family!

Who can't love these adorable children? It's the middle of January and already the budding baseball player is hard at practicing!Who said that? Wyatt is looking for someone (Mom, maybe???)

Meysa wanted "curly" hair for church on Sunday so Aimee spent time putting braids in her hair!

The results of those braids - what a pretty girl!

Little Lauryn loves to play at the park and goes down the slide "all by myself!" It was cold but not cold enough to keep the kids inside!