Merry Birthday, Mom!!

A few years ago there was a happy little girl...

as you can see.

She grew up to be an amazing woman and teach me almost everything I know.

I love you so much,

and I am so proud to be your daughter.

Happy Birthday on this special day.

ready for the big man...

Neighbor gifts... check.

Christmas cards... check.

Gingerbread houses... check.

Presents wrapped.... okay, that's next on my list!!

We are SO excited for Christmas around here.. only 2 more days!! :)

feeling crafty..

So fun.

The girls needed a place to hang their necklaces.. short and long.

So...

I added these cute knobs to a piece of molding and ta-da!!

Inspired me to move on to another project I've been thinking about...

Christmas presents for my sisters!  

I better get moving...

A Gift to the World

We were blessed enough to get tickets to the Christmas Devotional last night...
it was amazing.

Beautiful music, inspiring talks and the new movies... wow. 
I got up this morning and had to watch again...

Merry Christmas!!

Vacation=Happiness

All Hallow's Eve

 Happy Halloween!!

We had witches #1 and #2, an astronaut and a 

teenage party girl this year!

 Of course we had to end our night with a visit to see our 

favorite little skunk,

Taya - she LOVED Braden's astronaut helmet.

It was a highlight when Jared had her say 

"Luke, I am your father."

through the microphone.

She hammed it up for us.

 This would be witch #2 and our teenage party girl that went all out this year, as you can see!

The night ended with the ever popular- candy sort!

 

 

 Hope your Halloween was delightful!!

(And not frightful,like the snow this morning...)

pumpkinfest

 Fun times.

Gooey pumpkin parts.

Kelly's tasty pumpkin seeds.

Good clean (or not) fun.

 The preparation.

 Tracing red bird to perfection.

 Madison's intense look. :)

 Kenna's nod to texting...

 Cruz loves Mad's goofy jack.

 Braden's angry bird.

Really?  Could it be anything else? :)

And Kimbel's moustache jack... she seems to have a fascination lately! :)

fast and furious. kl style.

So. 

I got my chance to visit Shirlee in Kuala Lumpur.

Not the way we had planned, but a visit, nonetheless.

Shir was REALLY sick and in the hospital for a few days and upon returning home realized she could use some help.

That's where I came in.

Talked to her Sunday evening and was on a plane Monday evening!

Yup.  Fast and furious.

So, here are a few of the pics I took...

 Ethen and Maya trying to get each other wet!

Shir (after she felt better) and Maya at the

infamous food truck.

I wish it came to my house!!

 Maya and I stopped to pose on our way to the mall.

(realizing I'm not going to wear that shirt again... not flattering!)

 The amazing artist who wrote each of the girls names on a single grain of rice.

Then the rice was put in a charm and made into necklaces for Ken and Kimbel,

a keychain for Madison.

Shout out to Mad - who took her driving test the day after I left and passed with flying colors!!!

Is it wrong that she had to drive herself to the test?

Picture from inside the Chinese Central Market.

What a fun place!

A Buddhist temple that we stopped and visited after the market.

Very interesting.

And very colorful.

 Okay.  I think Ethen is the "fast" part of this post.

The only time he slows down is when he's asleep...

or Thomas the Train is on.  :)

 The seaweed aisle at the grocery store.

I brought some home for my family.

It wasn't a hit.

No. really. yuck.

The night view of the Petronas Towers from Shir and Dave's apartment.

It is absolutely breathtaking.  Gorgeous city.

I'm so glad I could go and provide a little love and support at least.

Don't know how much I did, really.

I just colored with Maya and played trains with Ethen

and thankfully Shir was on the up and up when my time was done.

Worth the 30 hours of travel time to get there.

Thanks to Niccole for being the heaven-sent auntie

and thanks to Kel and the kids who stepped up and let me go.

And thanks to Dave and Shir for showing me around their latest adventure. :)