Happy Birthday ~ Panda!!!

Happy Birthday Panda!

Panda is my SIL (sister in law), she married my brother on the 4th of July, and had her whole named changed officially at that time. She grew up as Vicki, but she is now and always will be Panda to me!

She loves panda bears, so I connected with her the first time we met, and it has been one of my most favorite relationships ever!

.

We tease my brother that if he ever let her go, we would adopt her and kick him to the curb. So needless to say, she is stuck with us forever!

.

Panda is fun and laughs, and brightens every room she walks into.

She makes anything fun, even if it seems like it might start out to be work, it will end up being fun if she is with you.

.

Panda is kind an always thinks of everyone around her.

.

She giggles allot, and even writes "giggle" in her emails and notes.

.

I think every picture I have of her, she is giggling.

.

Panda is very very talented, she is crafty, and I am super jealous of her "craft area" my brother built for her. But she never ever makes me feel inferior, because she always includes me in everything! She is so accepting and never judges me.

.

She has a beautiful family and they include us in everything they do too... like cookie day and kite day just to name a very few! She loves family, and it's very important to her.

.

Panda loves to play games!

.

Her creativity flows over into her cooking ideas, and treats, and she is even really creative when we are trying to lose weight together and comes up with awesome motivating ideas to keep us going. She always hangs in there longer than me though.

.

She has an awesome garden, and I can't wait to go eat from it.

.

Panda has a knack for people, in every way... seeing the good in them, getting them to do things they are supposed to be doing -but don't want to do, making them feel better about themselves, and getting them to giggle with her.

.

She is so good for my brother, and he is so good for her!

.

Panda is a wonderful SIL, I love her, and am so thrilled to have another sister in my life, and that she shares her sister with me... you just can't have too many sisters.

.

Happy Birthday Panda!

I hope it is a wonderful happy day/weekend extravaganza!!

Family Night...

Last night for "Family Night" we decided to have a fun activity;

so we went bowling!

Yippee! I was so excited... finally something competitive I actually have a chance at winning in.

Not that winning is everything... but give me a break, I live in a house with a bunch of competitive boys... and they always win!

So I drug out and dusted off the ol' bowling ball.

When the teenager was just a little tot, my strong silent mysterious man and I used to bowl on leagues and had all the equipment, and actually got pretty good at this game.

The teenager could get the ball out there....

And my strong silent mysterious man looked pretty good, I will admit...But it's really all in the form!

Yeah... that's right... three in a row!

He looks worried huh!

And the teenager is now wishing he hadn't bet treats for the loser of the night to buy.


The first game in order SSMM, then Mom, then the teenager.... not bad at all.

Second game, SSMM, Mom, and the teenager very close behind.

But the third game, SSMM, what's this Mom 191!, and the teenager fell off and didn't even break 100....

A couple of funny stories of the night... when my strong silent mysterious man was beating our pants off, he tried to console us with a funny story. He said when he was young, his Uncle took him and his two older sisters into Burley to go bowling, and his sister ended up with a score of "4". Sorry you weren't here to defend yourslef Johnna, but it did help the teenager out a little to laugh when he didn't break 100. We did learn later you were only like 12 though. Still he couldn't believe that was even possible! Too funny!

And the other fun story of the night was when the teenager was a little tot, he came down to the bowling alley to watch us finish up our leagues one night. And my strong silent mysterious man had left a split on the lane after his last ball of the game.

So he let "the tot" (probably about 4 years old) go bowl a final ball.... being the independant sole he was, carrying the ball struggling all the way to the line. Set it on the floor and pushed... he walked all the way back to watch for the results. You could see every rotation of the ball, it was so slow, listing to the right and then slowly back to the left. And finally the ball went right between the pins and knocked them both out of the way, at the same time, picking up the split... he was grinning and laughing ear to ear, so proud of himself!

Just about exactly like this shot here only in much slower motion!

It was a really fun night, and a good time was had by all!

I've been tagged...

I had been tagged on a few blogs... today is my catch up day on all my tags.

Your Opinion Counts...

Your opinion counts: (I've been tagged)
Here's a meme where your opinion gets to be heard!
Here are the rules:
Copy and paste the blank form into your blog twice, only fill in one.
Fill in the blanks with whatever you think is the appropriate answer, bold your answer if you wish. and they don't exactly have to make sense.
Add one more item to the meme.
Tag 4 people and comment on their blogs.

I think it should be mandatory for each household to have {family night}.
I think the President should name August 22nd {water play day}.
I think stop signs should be a different colour, I think they should be {I like red}.
I think that {TV} is wasting America's time, I think they should be spending more time {as families}.
I think that fashionable clothing is {fine in general, but gives me a headache}.
I think writing essays is {good for your mind, but never should be mandatory or part of your grade}.
I would never {intentionally hurt someone}
If I had power to {adopt all the puppies in the world } I would.
If I were alone on the planet for 3 hours I would {look inside rich houses, sing really loud outdoors, and go try all the flavors in the ice cream st0re}.
I will tag: rachel, lindsey, patsy, mike

-----------------------------------------------------------------
I think it should be mandatory for each household to have____.
I think the President should name August 22nd __________day.
I think stop signs should be a different colour, I think they should be_____.
I think that _____is/are wasting America's time, I think they should be _______.
I think that fashionable clothing is a_____
I think writing essays is_____
I would never_____
If I had power to _____ I would _______.
If I were alone on the planet for 3 hours I would ______.
(add your own here)
I will tag:

A-Z

A-Z

(I've been tagged)

A- Attached Or Single: Attached

B- Best Friend: Mom, Lynn, Brenda
C- Cake Or Pie: Pie
D- Day Of Choice: hmmm, they all have +'s and -'s (can't decide, probably Sunday)
E- Essential Item: cell phone (my link to "the teenager and ssmm"
F- Favorite Color: recently Orange
G- Greatest Accomplishment: Temple Marriage
H- Hometown: I consider Seattle my hometown... but born in Simpsonville, SC
I- Indulgences: Pedicure
J- January Or July: January, I'm a winter
K- Kids: 1 "the teenager" I currently complain and get sarcastic about him, but I don't even know what I would do without him.
L- Life is Incomplete without: My Boys, My dogs and the Gospel
M- Marriage Date: To the top of anywhere for the view
N- Number of Siblings: 3
O- Oranges or Apples: Oranges
P- Phobias or Fears: Snakes
Q- Quotes: I am not quoted often... he he he
R- Reason to Smile: "the teenager" and puppies
S- Season: Winter
T- Tag five friends: Lindsey, Aimee, Rachel, Kristen, Angela
U- Unknown Fact about Me: I have a pacemaker
V- Very Favorite Store: Ikea and REI
W- Worst Habit: putting my fingers in my mouth when I am nervous
X- X-ray or Ultra sound:Neither.... yikes!
Y- Favorite Food: Steak
Z- Zodiac sign: Scorpio

I heart your blog...

The Rules:

1. The winners put the sticky sticker of uber stickiness up on their blog to say "Look at me! I'm COOL... or at least someone else thinks so!"

2. Then, they get to link back to me.

3. Nominate a few of their own winners!

Spread the love!

A Blog I Love...

My SIL Patsy at Six and Holding

I love to read your blog everyday!! I can't miss an episode! I can keep up with my nieces and nephews (and you and your hubby and Max too). And see through pictures and reading along about their experiences, how much they are growing. I have really gotten to know them even better through your blog... that has been priceless to me! I laugh, and I cry. It shortens the long miles between us! I realize how much I have in common with you at times. I admire all the things I want to be like you. I get creative ideas. I am never afraid to try out some of your wonderful recipes, because I know you would never steer me wrong, and you have tried them out on your kids already. You taught me how to blog, and are a great example to me. And lets just face it... it's always an adventure to re-live life through your eyes, you are a wonderful writer and find all the right words to make me feel like I have lived it right there by your side!