gracie's birthday party (FINALLY!)

we FINALLY had gracie's birthday party!!! she had a great time with her family and friends and there were plenty of horse presents to go around! gracie with her buddies cyan and summer lots of presents

here's all the kids!

gracie and cyan

this is the cake!!! HUGE, i know, but gracie specifically asked for princesses with a horse and carriage on top of her cake. wouldn't you know that we happened to have that in the playroom! so, the cake had to be big enough to hold the dang thing!

gracie and nonagracie with her uncle neal, aunt lisa and cousin zachary
gracie was so tired from all the activity throughout the day that she totally fell asleep on the patio! it was a good day for her. notice the lantern. my girls and my girlfriend's kids, katie and matthew played outside in the dark for a few hours! she and i snuck outside and totally scared the crap out of them too! that was classic!!!!!

sunday afternoon walk

okay i tried to post this a week ago and the laptop was acting weird, so here it is. we took an adventure one sunday afternoon with the puppies. they did okay with the leashes but they definitely need more work. we had a good time and that's all that matters.

max waiting to go

lucy getting ready for our walk.sarah and lucy

gunnar even got to come
savannah with max

gracie had fun just running along the road pretending to ride a horse!this beautiful sunset was pointed out to us by savannah a little while after we returned. love it!

early release day at the playground

i have been promising gracie that i would take her to the park all week and since today sarah and savannah had early release i decided today would be a good day to do it. by the time we ate lunch and got there it was soooooo hot! but we went anyway. they had a great time until we found out there was nooooooooo drinking fountain! what the heck? after the big girls whined way too much mom was done and we came home. but i did get some good pics of them while they were enjoying themselves.

i LOVE this one!

picnic anyone?

i had forgotten that i took these photos. a few weeks ago gracie was really into picnics. she really wanted to do them outside until the puppies kept eating everything and ruining the blanket and tea set that she set up so perfectly. so inside she came stuffed animals and all. we did have to put brady away as he kept running off with the pretzels! eating her "leaf" sandwich. (gracie really loves her sandwiches in the shape of a leaf. a cookie cutter does wonders with pb&j!)

gracie and rusty her picnic companion

prop 8 church statement

this was issued on November 5,2008

Statement from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Since Proposition 8 was placed on the ballot in June of this year, the citizens of California have considered the arguments for and against same-sex marriage. After extensive debate between those of different persuasions, voters have chosen to amend the California State Constitution to state that marriage should be between a man and a woman.

Voters in Arizona and Florida took the same course and amended their constitutions to establish that marriage will continue to be between a man and a woman.

Such an emotionally charged issue concerning the most personal and cherished aspects of life — family, identity, intimacy and equality — stirs fervent and deep feelings.

Most likely, the election results for these constitutional amendments will not mean an end to the debate over same-sex marriage in this country.

We hope that now and in the future all parties involved in this issue will be well informed and act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility toward those with a different position. No one on any side of the question should be vilified, intimidated, harassed or subject to erroneous information.

It is important to understand that this issue for the Church has always been about the sacred and divine institution of marriage — a union between a man and a woman.

Allegations of bigotry or persecution made against the Church were and are simply wrong. The Church's opposition to same-sex marriage neither constitutes nor condones any kind of hostility toward gays and lesbians. Even more, the Church does not object to rights for same-sex couples regarding hospitalization and medical care, fair housingand employment rights, or probate rights, so long as these do not infringe on the integrity of the traditional family or the constitutional rights of churches.

Some, however, have mistakenly asserted that churches should not ever be involved in politics when moral issues are involved. In fact, churches and religious organizations are well within their constitutional rights to speak out and be engaged in the many moral and ethical problems facing society. While the Church does not endorse candidates or platforms, it does reserve the right to speak out on important issues.

Before it accepted the invitation to join broad-based coalitions for the amendments, the Church knew that some of its members would choose not to support its position. Voting choices by Latter-day Saints, like all other people, are influenced by their own unique experiences and circumstances. As we move forward from the election, Church members need to be understanding and accepting of each other and work together for a better society.

Even though the democratic process can be demanding and difficult, Latter-day Saints are profoundly grateful for and respect the ideals of a true democracy.

The Church expresses deep appreciation for the hard work and dedication of the many Latter-day Saints and others who supported the coalitions in efforts regarding these amendments.

there is also another statement that was issued today about members in california that are being harassed because of this.  you can check it out on the church website.  click on the angel moroni link on the right side of my blog.

oh the randomness of life

i have been tagged once again so all of you beware out there in the blogosphere!  i have to list 7 random things about myself.  like you heidi (the tagger) i don't know what i can list but i will try.

1. i love to read!  i actually just went to the library and loaded up on more books even though i have a HUGE stack of "to be read" books in the house already.  

2. since moving to florida i hate wearing socks!!  i feel like i am suffocating if i have them on sometimes.  maybe because it is sooooooo hot all the time.  i swear i only buy new socks like every 5 years!

3.  i LOVE napping!!!  it doesn't even matter if i've gotten a good nights sleep i can just curl up in my bed and go out like a light. 

4.  i love the smell of coffee even though i don't drink it. when i used to work i loved coming into the office to fresh coffee brewing.  my co-worker at the time said she was going to find some coffee potpourri for me.  i think now yankee candle must have that scent!

5.  i like painting. (the walls in the house)  i know it's weird, but once i get all the tools out i love the painting process.  and of course the results.  i still have a lot to do here in the house but i don't mind doing it.

6.   i will steal one from heidi as it is something i hate as well.  people touching me while i am trying to sleep.   give me my space!!!!  why do you think we have a king sized bed???? and yes i am one of those moms that CANNOT stand it when kids get in the bed with me in the middle of the night!  hello!!!! who likes to be kicked all night and have a leg on your face while you are trying to sleep?

7.  i love puzzles.  any kind.  crossword, jigsaw, sudoku, etc.....  i told mauricio i want a nintendo ds so i can get the cool crossword puzzle game they have for it! 

okay so now i tag gina, lizzie, becky, and lynelle

i voted! did you?

here is my nifty sticker to prove that i did go to the polls today. i was right too! no waiting! all those crazies that went early and waited in LONG lines! but thanks to them i think that is why there was no waiting today.

tonight should be interesting. i am sure we will be glued to the news. hopefully florida will not be in the scandal column this time. we have new voting machines here in palm beach county so i hope that will remedy some of the problem. keep your fingers crossed. good luck to california with their big prop 8 vote today. we had a similar one here but wasn't as publicized as theirs was. say a prayer and hope for the best!

FaLL ParTy

savannah had a fall party this past friday. i went in to help out. it was tons of fun. they did halloween crafts, writing (they had to make up a scary story), games and best of all had ice cream sundaes! yummy! gracie enjoyed participating as well.

HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!

so halloween has come and gone! wow! it seems like you prepare forever and it's over in a flash! here are the girls before we headed out to score tons of candy!

the winning pose!

dorothy upon spotting the tornado! run dorothy! run!

withchie-poo.

digging in to the loot! any resee's in there for mom?
after trick or treating we pulled out the sofa bed in the family room and the girls watched some halloween movies. after gracie fell asleep the big girls got to FINALLY watch the 3rd harry potter movie! i tried to watch it with them but i went out about 11:50! what a wimp i am nowadays!