The Latest...

5 years ago Kevin applied for and got a tentative job offer from the DEA as a Diversion Investigator.  A job field he's dreamed of being apart of for years.  4 years ago, his application was "shelved" due to a hiring freeze.  Well, last September, we were totally caught off guard when they ask Kevin if he'd still be interested in the job.  We decided to go forward to see where thing lead us.  And after 9 months of  background screening,  they officially offered him the position!  Best of all, BASED IN SALT LAKE CITY!!!  

But now, it's crunch time!  He begins at the Academy in 18 days in Washington D.C!!!  And I have to pack up half my house because to fulfill this dream, we are renting out our basement again.  I am so excited for this adventure and I have felt VERY BLESSED for how things have just fell into our lap at just the right time!  

The timeline of things have been so quick!  We got the call Monday, had to respond by Wednesday and we left for our trip to Fish Lake Thursday Morning.  And upon our return, found our renters (good friends of ours) and have to make the switch by Saturday. 3 days.  Which I'm okay with.  I'm in a get-er-done kind of mood.

And there you have it.  Lots of change for us!  I'll be busy, busy, busy, packing and reorganizing so I don't know how much blogging I'll get to.  But I'll try my best!  And as for the Craft With Me Thing, I still really want to do it!  But it might have to wait until things slow down for us.  Maybe end of July or something.  I've got to get my craft fix through all this, right? 

Cole's Last Day of Kindergarten...

ended much more differently than I expected...

Rex, Peter, Cole and Mrs. Barrett

Cole, Sasha, Annebelle.

After school ended, the kids got to take home their report cards and new teacher assignments for the next year.  Well, after these little pictures were taken with his friends, We found out that Cole will be in a GREAT class next year with a fabulous teacher (which I'm so excited about).  The big bummer news for Cole is that Sasha will be in a different class with his best friend Peter next year.  He was SO sad.  He couldn't understand it.  He cried all the way home. :(  I felt so bad for him.  He just kept saying "it's not fair!"  But we talked it out and he is handling a little bit better now.

I wanted to cheer him up on his last day so we decided to try and make some doughnuts.  My first try!  They were so yummy!  A definite repeat!

But for the life of me, I can not find the link to where I got the recipe!!!  Online somewhere.

I'd like to try this one too.

After making doughnuts, Cole rode his bike on the street in his Apron.  And Dad brought home his friends 4 wheeler to get it tuned up to take on our trip to Fish Lake. 

Cole being so serious trying to drive the ATV for his first time.  

I think his day was saved!  Unlimited doughnuts and riding the 4 wheeler, how can you beat that?

Baby James

This is my friend Marilee's cute new baby boy James.  Luckily I was able to meet him and take a few pics before they made their big move to Arizona.  

This is the fun little onzie I made him.  So easy to make!  

Sadie's Dance Performance!

My little dancer had her Tap and Ballet performance!

Unfortunately we had forgotten her Ballet shoes at home.  Oh well, I don't think she even thought about it once.  

These are my favorite shots!  Sadie so awkwardly doing her plie. LOL!

This is her fabulous teacher Ms. Julie.  She is so full of energy and delight!  She's the best!

Daddy's shoulders seem to be the hot spot lately! 

Good job Sadie!  You are such a fun little girl! 

Hill Air Force Base

Recently we had the privilege to have my cousin Nate (who's an Air Force Pilot) take us to the Air Show on their practice day to avoid all the crowds.  It was so much fun to see!

First we stopped at the cool museum.  The kids loved trying to find all the missiles!

Sadie, Austin, Luke, Scotty and Cole 

Cole wants to be just like his Dad and wear a hat with sunglasses.

Here is Cole demonstrating the airplanes.  As the planes would fly above us, they would pass each other so closely that it would look like they were going to crash!

A photo taken by my Dad that was supposed to capture the giant plane behind us.  I guess I just have too many expectations when I pass the camera.  Even if I have it set to just point and shoot.

Thanks Nate for taking the time to give us the VIP treatment!  So fun!

Mom's 60th

The main reason for my blog slacking is that I planned a surprise 60th birthday party for my Mom and since then, life just doesn't seem to slow down!  It was so much fun to plan for though.  We had an Ice Cream Sundae Open House.

Here is her invitation.  The yellow ice cream cone was made of glittered paper.  So much fun to make with my Cricut!  Everyone was so good at keeping it all a secret! 

We sent my parents to a movie while Stacey and I had just 2 shorts hours to decorate and pull everything together at their home! 

 Stacey made a cute book for people to write a quick note to my mom.  And I had set up a photo booth to take pictures of all the guests to add next to their comment in the book. 

She was so surprised!  Especially to see her Mom and all her sisters!

Jeanine, Grandma, Mom, Cathy, Nancy

A picture of us in the photo booth.  MaryJane is a pro at that scowl!  

It was so fun to surprise her!  She had no idea!  

A very special Thanks to everyone for coming and helping me pull this off!!!  

Hope you had a great and rememberable time Mom!  Happy 60th!

What do you think?

So for a while now I've wanted to start a little "Craft Night With Amy" group.  Where maybe once a month I'd pick a craft, sewing project or even feature a guest to teach us a craft/project.  We'd all bring our machines and learn together!  I'd charge $ for any supplies or fabrics and have them provided for you,  all you would have to do is show up with your machine!  

My cousin gave me this idea months ago but I just haven't had the time to even think about it.  How fun would that have been to have a class showing you all how to make the Valentine Chair Backers?  Maybe next year!  

I thought for my first project we could start on something simple!  This little shirred dress I made for Sadie and MaryJane which was so fun and sooo easy!  Shirring is elastic thread which creates this cute stretchy smocked look.

Major Disclaimer:  I am no professional in ANY way.  I'm not some knowledgeable pro.  I just thought I could help you learn what I have learned in trial and error.  And if you have something to teach us all or want to learn how to do, let me know and we could make a class out of it.  We can all inspire each other!

So, what do you think?  Would you be interested in my little "CNWA?"  What are some ideas of projects you'd like to complete or explore?

Sadie's Preschool Program!

This was Sadie's last day of her first year of preschool!

She is seriously the happiest child!  She was so confident and sang at the top of her lungs!  It was precious!

We have LOVED Ms. Dana!  I can't say enough about her!  And this program was so cute!  It brought back many memories of when Cole was in her class.  Wow time how flies!  My babies are growing up way too fast!

Children's Discovery Gardens

Last Friday we met my Mom and Dad at Thanksgiving Point for an afternoon of fun!  It was our first time to the Children's Discovery Gardens and It was SO MUCH FUN!  It was such a quiet day there.  Not very many people at all.  It felt like we had the place to ourselves!  We couldn't have asked for better weather too.  

A water fountain, hedge mazes, bear caves, a light house, cute bronzed animals everywhere and so much more!

MaryJane enjoyed her freedom!  

The kids were completely entertained!  They LOVED exploring! 

The blocks were a huge hit!  The kids loved creating towers for the longest time!

I think they could have stayed there all day!

Cole offered wagons rides to Nana and Grandpa.  

And Sadie happily wandered through all the beautiful flowers as she sang softly to herself like a princess.  Completely in her own world. 

It was such a fun day and the kids were just begging to go back again soon as we made our way to our car.  I had no idea that this place even existed!  Thanks Nana and Grandpa for the fun afternoon!

Outdoor School Bash!

Wow!! I've fallen OFF the blogging planet!  It's time to get all caught up one post at a time!  Things just don't seem to slow down!  Everytime I sit down at night to update my blog, I fall asleep just uploading my pictures!

 Cole's school had an outdoor Bash in May.   They always love to get their faces painted!  When we had arrived, Cole saw Peter's cool Batman face and he had to have the same thing!  I couldn't stop laughing after I saw Cole's Batman.  Not even close to the cool one he wanted so bad!  Peter must haven gotten the school's art teacher as his painter.  Cole was so disapointed when he saw his!  Ha Ha Ha, I thought his paint job was so funny!

Once Cole laid eyes on the dunk tank, he couldn't wait to be dunked!  

He waited so anxiously to have Sasha be the one to dunk him.  

Which she did and dunked him just when he happened to look away.

And the poor Batman paint smeared all over his face. Wishing I took a pic of that!  

Color Me Mine

For gifts to my Mom and MIL I decided to get the kids involved this year.  I took them to Color Me Mine and they picked out a piece for each of them and painted it together.  

This was our first time ever trying this and it was a lot of fun!  I was able to draw a pattern with a marker on the piece so the kids had something to follow.  (And yes, that is Cole wearing his General Grievous Costume!)

I think they turned out REALLY cute!  It was so fun to see how excited the kids were to give them the gift!  Our Mom's just loved them!