Old Friends

A couple of weeks ago, we got a call from Dave's best friend from his mission who we haven't heard from in years! We were happy to learn that he and his family were coming down to visit his sister and so we were going to be able to see them. We had them over dinner one night and it was so much fun to see them. They have 6 kids and so while it was crazy, everyone had a great time! The boys are already asking when they will get to see them again.

Of course, I didn't remember to get the camera out until the last minute, but still... here is Dave with Jared.

Of course, L had to jump in too!

It was really good to see Jared and Jami and their family. This week really a week for us to stop and be thankful for all the wonderful people the Lord as brought into our lives. We truly are blessed!

Grammy's 60th

Last week was my mom's 60th birthday. My little sister Ann came up with a great idea for her birthday after talking to her one day when she said how much she missed her sisters. Ann decided we should have a party for her and surprise her by getting her sisters here. I thought, "Yes, that is a great idea, but it will be hard to get everyone here." That wasn't good enough for Ann. She was determined and really wouldn't take no for an answer. She got on the phone and called all our aunts and uncles, worked with them and didn't rest until it was all set! My mom has 4 sisters and 2 brothers. In the end, 3 of the 4 sisters were here (the 4th had a grandbaby due that weekend, but knowing that she would miss the party, she came down for Julia's wedding), and my mom's baby brother and his wife. Coincently, her baby brother's birthday was also this weekend. He was the 15th adn my mom was the 17th. She always told us growing up that he was her birthday present because he came home from the hospital on her birthday.

It was a great night and my mom had such a great time. She was so surprised! We told her we were taking her to the movie so to meet at Jill's house. Here is a video of her coming in. She figured something was going on, but as you can see from this video, she never expected to see her family. Her reaction was better than we could have hoped for. It was so cute! (of course, she is such a cute/sweet person, her reaction could be nothing less)

Here is everyone lined up before she got there.

Julia, Tatiana, Sergi, Vladimir

Julane, Aunt Edie, Dan, Aunt Mary, Aunt Sharren, Avery (holding her grandma's hand)

Aunt Mary, Aunt Edie, Mom, Aunt Sharren, Aunt Julane and Uncle Dan

Jill set up a big table in her backyard. She strung lights like a canopy to add to the atmosphere. It looked beautiful!

Tracey and Emma (so glad they were willing to spend a big part of their vacation helping us get ready for this party!)

Dave and A

Vasa, Tracey, Emma, Brent, Terri, Vladimir, Tatiana

Vasa, Tracey and Emma

We had this GORGEOUS sunset to enjoy during dinner.

The 2 birthday kids! My aunts did a program for them, so here they are listening

Aunts Mary, Edie and Sharren giving the program

As always, Lily found A and just had to give her a hug!

Dan, Julane and I lighting the bonfire that was my mom's birthday cake.

For her birthday, we were able to get all the kids together for a Grandkids picture. She really loved it. We had all the kids line up side by side and it ended up being 4 feet long! And to think, only 1/2 of her kids have even had kids! Can you imagine what this picture will look like in 5...10 years? She said that she had just put up her old picture (that only had about 1/2 the kids) and had been thinking how much she would just love a new picture, but didn't think it would happen.

More presents:

Each present she got made her cry. Mariana snapped this beautiful one of her. :) This was present was from my aunt Julee. It was some Willow Creek figurines that said, "Sister's by Heart."

Dan got a present too to open. :)

Tatiana and Vladimir

Dessert: Vladimir, Tatiana, Olea

And, after dessert, as with all good parties in my famlies, we cranked up the tunes and danced around like a bunch of idiots, having the time of our lives!!!

Julia's dad really had fun dancing the whole time.

Dee really got into the spirit of it all too!

L taught us all her dance to Firework, from her school talent show.

Julia's dress was downstairs at Jill's house, so we made her put it on (wasn't too hard to convince her :) )

She and her dad danced again like at her wedding. I was so glad we were able to do this again! This was actually the last night we were able to see Julia's family since the went home the next Monday. It was just wonderful to see them share that one last time.

Not to be outdone but Julia's dressing up, Beth and Jill dressed up too. Unfortunately, I didn't get Jill, who was wearing her Sr. Prom Dress. Beth went and got Scott's old HS football jersey. She really is the life of the party when we are dancing. (The face is all part of her glorious show--she started giving dancing/attitude lessons to L and Anna that night.)

Tracey dancing with Anna (me behind them).

Lily had fun dancing too.

Actually, she just really loved having me lift her up so she could grab the lights.

All in all, it was an absolutely wonderful night. My mom was so surprised and just loved every minute of it. As we were cleaning up and going in the house, my mom was shaking a little bit. My dad offered her his coat, thinking she was cold. She just looked at him with a huge smile and said, "I'm not cold. I'm just so embarrassed, I'm shaking!" By embarrassed, she meant that she isn't use to the attention and focus being on her, but, really, she was just so happy by everything. It was a wonderful night for all of us, but I really think it was especially for her. It was just what we wanted her to have!

Talent Show

L auditioned for the school talent show last week with a couple of her friends. While she didn't make it to the finals, she worked hard and learned a new dance and we are proud of her hard work and dedication!

New Cousins

My little sister, Annie had a baby girl back in August. Unfortunately, due to many circumstances, I was unable to see her until right after Christmas. She is truly a miracle baby. She developed Spinal Meningitis just days after she was born and had to spend several weeks in the hospital. Thankfully, she is doing just wonderfully and we were so happy to finally get to meet her. She marks the 5th granddaughter born in a year (1 year and 1 day to be exact). These little girls are going to have so much fun growing up!

Here is A and Abney together. They are only 3 1/2 months apart. Note the size difference!

A really liked seeing her new friend.I just had to include this. If Ab was wearing tight pants, it would have been much more impressive.
But Abney with her baggy 3-6 month pants and A's with her skin tight 12 mo. pants.
I really do love her squishy little body!

CK had fun with her too.

Look, Ma! No Tooth!

CK has had a couple of loose teeth for some time now. No matter how I try, I just can't convince her that she wants them out. I would wiggle them for her, but, I will admit, not too gently, just to get the ball rolling. Still, nothing. I finally decided to take matters into my own hands last month a couple of weeks before Christmas because the 2 new teeth are almost completely grown in. I went to "wiggle" but instead, I yanked! I got 1 out, but the other one was (and is) still pretty secure.

Despite getting rid of her first baby tooth, she still was pretty traumatized by the event.
Here she is holding her letter and tooth for the Tooth Fairy.

A beautiful close up. You can see the adult tooth poking up, and the other one up trying to maneuver itself in too. (That 2nd tooth is till securely in her mouth and you can imagine how much more it has grown in!) You can also see a nice big tear sliding down her cheek.

While she did enjoy the money the Tooth Fairy brought her, she is still extremely cautious when I come around. She clamps that mouth down awfully tight and I'm not allowed anywhere near her mouth! I think I may have to try sneaking in her room at night when she's sleeping for the next one...

Dee and Iuliana. 1-1-11

Dee and Julia got married on New Years. Julia is not a big wedding person, so she was dreading it a little, but it was all so beautiful and she looked absolutely gorgeous and in the end, she had wonderful time. It was so much fun.

We were originally going to have it at my parents house, but we had a cold-wave come through with high's in the high-40's, low 50's. That may not sound like much to you, but for us, that's extreme. Besides, who wants to sit outside for a few hours in that? We moved it over to my parents church and my mom put her magic touch to work. It all looked so great.

Scott started things out by welcoming everyone:

All the little neices (both Iulia's and Dee's) were flower girls. Here is my dad showing them the way to go.

The little girls reaching the front of the aisle

I tried to get a picture of her walking down the aisle, but she didn't feel the need to go slowly! She actually had both her dads walk her down the aisle (my dad, and hers). It was sweet and I'm sorry I missed the picture. Oh well. Here is her dad taking his seat after coming down the aisle.

Don't you love her dress? She isn't a traditional "white wedding" type of person. She is extremely classy, but black is by far her favorite color. She never wanted a big wedding, so getting a big white dress wasn't her thing. She was afraid people would be unhappy with her choice of black (like she was mourning getting married). When we first went looking at dresses, she tried on a few white dresses, and she was fine with them. I made her try on a black one, and her face lit up. She didn't buy it and when she talked to her mom about it, she decided to stick with white. She reluctantly ordered one online. Meanwhile, a lady in my ward, who is a seamstress, had talked to Jill about it and when she heard about this, she got online and ordered a dress. She took it over and told Jill, "Every bride should feel beautiful on her wedding day." She said she would do to it whatever Julia wanted. It started out white and nothing that Julia was looking for. In the end, it was perfect! (I'm going to have to find a "before" picture so you can see just how far it came)

Members of the wedding party:

Susha, Sergi (Julia's brother), Olea (his fiance)

Alla, Usef, Mariana

You may kiss the bride!

Dee composed a beautiful song for Juila as a wedding gift to her. Here he is playing it for her just after the ceremony.

A

Sweet little baby fell asleep while we were serving dinner. Perfect timing. We laid her in her carseat and she slept among all our boxes and stuff from decorating.

I really love this picture! Julia just looks so gorgeous and you can tell by the adoring look in CK's eyes how much all the kids love her (how much we all love her really).

Sam, A, Zach, and Anna

KL dancing with our little friend, Bowden

Cutting the Cake

Dee and Iulia having their first dance

Iulia and her Dad, Vladimir having their father/daughter dance. I really tried hard to get a good pic, but they were spinning around so much around the dance floor, I just couldn't get a shot of their faces. They were so fun to watch. Totally Fred Astair/Ginger Rogers! You can see her hair and dress flying! They were going so much, her entire train was airborne!

Shalae and KL Dancing together

Iulia dancing with her mom, Tatiana

Vladimir, Iulia, Tatiana, Sergi, Olga, Mariana, Katy

My sisters! I have 1 sister in law missing, but otherwise, here we all are!

Shalae, Mary, Beth, Iulia, Me, Mariana, Annie, Mary, Katy, CK joined in the fun here

We sisters always give each other love pats...here we are doing it in a nice long line.

Our family! (most of it anyway)