My Beautiful Days

It feels a little strange to be writing a new blog post when I haven't been blogging for over a year, but this is something I want to share with the world, and my blog is a great venue to do so ... so - I'M BACK! In the past year, Claire (our oldest) has graduated high school and moved on to college, our family has moved to a new home to be near extended family, our kiddos have enrolled in a new school, I left my job to be home with the kids during this transition, and Monte has continued to be a rockstar in keeping us all sane through these transitions. While all of these things deserve a blog post of their own, the thing I am focusing on today is our new home - more specifically, decorating this home!  It is no secret that decorating is not my forte.  My mom, Sharon, and my sister, Tanya, are amazing  decorators and seem to have this crafty eye that comes naturally to them.  I, on the other hand, was not blessed with this gift so it is no surprise that I turn t...

A week ago today, on Tuesday, April 23, my Grandma Evelyn passed away.  She was 90 years old and had lived a very full life.  My sister and I, along with our two youngest munchkins (Khloe and Ethan) were able to go visit her a few weeks ago - a visit for which I will forever be grateful.  I got to look into my Grandma's beautiful blue eyes and tell her just how much I love her and I got to hear her talk about her excitement to finally see Jesus face-to-face.  She was at a point where she was done with everything here - there was no more reason to eat when she could be feasting in Heaven.  I am so thankful that she had Jesus in her heart, which means that we will see each other again! Grandma and I - February 2011   Growing up, we would visit my Grandma every Saturday (as we lived only 15 minutes apart) and we would spend time together playing 'Kings in the Corner' and eating Pinwheel cookies (which were my favorite, once upon a time).  We would...

Good morning and Happy Monday to you all!  Today I am very excited to announce that I have a guest blogger here on My Beautiful Day!  My guest is my oldest brother, Jeremy.  He is an amazing brother, a husband and father to four beautiful kids (the last of whom is not yet two weeks old!), among other things.  He also is the one person who harasses me constantly that I'm not good at keeping up with writing on my blog - and every time he says this to me, I always tell him that he's welcome to do a guest post and that way my blog will have new content.  Well, this time he took me up on it!  What he wrote is something he posted on his Facebook page and told met hat I could use it for his guest post.  I love what it says and appreciate any positive  feedback you might have for him.  Even if you aren't in agreement of what he says, at least be positive with your response. So, without further ado, here is my big brother! Minnesota Marriage Amend...

This past weekend we celebrated Christmas with my extended family.  We had lots of food, lots of people and lots of noise radiating through our home!  During our present exchange, I asked my amazing daughter, Claire, to capture some of the action on our camera.  The pictures that she took weren't necessarily what I had intended, but they make me smile, nonetheless!  I decided that I had to share our Christmas through my daughter's eyes:   Isn't it funny how the picture of her is the only one that's centered and the entire subject is captured? That's because my niece was operating the camera for that one!! :)   Not necessarily my best angle! :) So, she certainly had her own unique way of photographing the event!! :)  I just love that girl! I couldn't resist sharing a couple of photos of Ethan enjoying his new Buzz Lightyear car!  He just LOVES this gift - thanks Uncle Martin and Aunt Tanya! Have you ever seen the movi...

Have I ever told you about my uncle and aunt, Sherwin and Laurie?  They are the most amazing, phenomenal couple I have ever met in my life (yes, even compared to Monte and me!).  Sherwin was born with Cerebral Palsy (CP) and has used crutches to get around since he has been able to walk.  He has always held a very special place in my heart, as I grew up only 10 minutes away from him.  I used to go with my dad to visit Sherwin and my grandma on Saturdays, and Sherwin and I would head out - sometimes on a walk to the local cafe to get pie, sometimes on a drive to McDonald's to enjoy some food.  Sometimes we would just walk for the sake of walking together. For as long as I have known him, Sherwin has been a perfect example of Christ's love in action.  He loves God with all of his heart and never hesitates to sing praises to Him; whether he's walking down the road, at home, in his car or at the mall, Sherwin is almost always heard singing or whistling a prai...

While I know many of you are anxiously awaiting more updates on how life is going with our sweet little Ethan at home, I have decided to take the time to blog of an update to help out my brother, Tory.  You see, his sweet little baby girl, Abigail, is entered in the Gerber Photo Contest with the possibility of winning a $25,000 scholarship, which would be an amazing award to win.  Is there any way that you can help out and quickly visit the following link and cast a vote for Abby?  The first time you vote, you will have to verify through an email you receive that you are indeed a person and not a computer, but it literally takes only a couple of minutes - and those couple of minutes are rewarded by seeing this adorable photo of my beautiful niece!  Please visit the following link to vote for her .. and remember that you can go back and vote every day (and we would appreciate it if you did!)!! Click here to vote for Abby! In the meantime, things on the home front...

I believe there are times in our lives when God smiles on us and gives us blessing after simple blessing.  For me, this past weekend was exactly that.  We had an extended weekend at our house, as our kids had no school from Wednesday through Friday.  Having them home was definitely a treat!  My brother, Tory, and his family arrived to spend the weekend at our house on Thursday evening.  It was wonderful to have them over, as I truly just LOVE hosting people at our home!  Thursday was spent catching up and playing with the kids late into the night, and by the time my head hit the pillow I was more than ready for a good nights sleep! Friday was a fairly busy morning, followed by one of the best blessings of the weekend!  You see, our very favorite babysitter, Krista, had sent me a message a few weeks back asking if she could take the kids at some point during this break from school.  Krista is a senior this year and her schedule and ours don't alw...

What an odd morning it has been for me.  You see, my eyes popped open just before 5:00am, and they haven't closed since!  I knew that I needed to get up early today, as my kids are going to the zoo with two of their aunts and they are leaving shortly after 8:00am ... and I need to finish the boys' laundry before they leave.  Maybe that's what caused me to wake up on  my own at the crack of dawn, maybe not, who knows.  Regardless, it is now 6:57am, I have already showered, done two loads of laundry, made breakfast for my husband, ate my own breakfast and now I am just sitting here amazed at the fact that I'm awake.  You see, normally I don't get up until about 7:30am (well, at least when the kids are on summer vacation), so to be awake this early is just crazy! I know I've been away from the blogging world for a few days, but life has once again become extremely busy!  The kids are now officially on summer break from school, sports are keeping us insa...

Of all the things I could think of doing on a weekend, this past weekend encompassed the best of the best!  We had such an amazing holiday weekend and absolutely none of us were ready to start the week again this morning. Our weekend started off on a high note with Friday.  This is the day that I got to drop Colin off at my neighbor's house (as she was watching him for me for the afternoon) and head to the airport to pick up my sister and her family of FIVE.  In case you haven't been following my blog for long, or in case you just weren't aware, my sister's family just got back from their trip to China where they picked up their adopted two-year-old daughter, Khloe.  Their journey is amazing; if you haven't checked it out, definitely take some time and visit her blog here . I arrived at the airport nice and early and ended up sitting to wait for them, as international arrivals do not come into the regular baggage claim area as national flights.  I waited abo...

Remember the brother who's birthday I featured this past Sunday?  Well, there is nobody in the world that I can imagine who is more perfect and completely compatible to his quirky personality than his amazing wife, Lisa.  I mean, come on, check out how well she rocks the ugly Christmas sweater: So today, dear Lisa, enjoy your birthday!  Sit back and relax.  Make Tory wait on you hand and foot (and that includes getting up in the middle of the night when this adorable little girl wakes up!): Have a great day and just know that we love you!  Happy Birthday sister-in-law! :) P.S. I'm a slacker and have yet to mail both your and Tory's presents.  I will get to that as soon as I feel the motivation to do so! :)

Remember the story I told about the brother who put me inside a refrigerator box in our garage, stood it upright and walked away?  Well, that brother is the same one who put me in the dryer and turned it on, as well as sent me down our laundry chute when we were kids.  The brother who beat me up, tortured me and scared me half to death with the crazy way he drove his car .. that's the brother that I'm celebrating today.  You see, today, this stud muffin (and yes, it is appropriate to call your sibling a stud muffin) turns 30! I am happy to say, though, that we've both grown up quite a bit.  Now that he's 30 (and I'm 26), we get along like mature adults ... we drink coffee, we have nice chats and we enjoy each other's company.  It's on a very rare occasion that he would feel the need to still torture me ... yep, very rare indeed! (FYI: I had just picked a booger out of Colin's nose and was on my way to wipe it on a tissue when Tory decided to try and...

It's off to China they go!  That's right, today I dropped my sister and her family off at the airport where they have started the last leg of their journey to their beautiful daughter, Khloe.  We can't wait for them to arrive home .. but we definitely have to, as they will be gone almost three weeks.  However, I'm thrilled to say that we won't be without report, as Tanya will be emailing me continual updates which I will be posting to her blog, so it's almost like we're there .... right?! :)  I am also thrilled to say that I get to be the one who welcomes them home from the airport and brings them home (though with Memorial Day weekend traffic, I think it's going to be a LONG ride home!).  It's going to be perfect, just perfect! Beyond that, I don't have much time for an update, but wanted to tell you to make sure to be tuned to Fox 9 News tomorrow evening (Wednesday, May 12th) at 9pm as a very familiar family will be featured in a story by the...