My Grandma, Francelle Robson Decker

I know that haven't posted in a long time (two months to be exact!) but I have to begin by blogging about the passing of my wonderful Grandma...

Shortly after my sisters' Utah visit, I received the sad news that my sweet Grandma Decker had passed away back home in Mesa. She was 83 yrs old. It's safe to say that my Grandma loved being with her family more than anyone I have ever met and she was a great example of keeping those you love close.

Newlyweds Clair and Frankie Decker

My Grandpa Clair was diagnosed with Alzheimer's 15 years ago and my Grandma has taken such great care of him all these years. Truly a labor of love!

Christmas 1999- All the Decker Gals
Summer, Grandma, My Cute Mom, Me, Shanon, and Monique

It was so special to fly back for her funeral and be there with all her posterity gathered around her---just what she loved! All her children spoke at the funeral and it was fun hearing stories, both familiar and new, about my Grandma's life. My Dad asked me to sing "Be Still My Soul" in a Cousins Quartet and I was honored to do so. My cousins all have beautiful voices and I was lucky to hold up the rear amongst 3 great voices. My sister, Summer, accompanied us and it was nice to be together while we practiced the arrangement.

My Dad with all his siblings and their spouses at the Mesa, AZ Cemetery.

Grandma was buried right next to my Mom so now my sweet Mother won't be lonely! :D But seriously, I am sure my Mom was there to embrace Grandma into Heaven!

My Wonderful Family: Dad and all five of his children.
Carol did a fabulous job of displaying my Grandma's life through pictures.

(This was the entryway into the funeral...have I mentioned before that my step-mom is Martha Stewart?!?)

As sad as it was, it was also a lovely weekend, full of visiting with both my original and extended family members. I am blessed to come from such wonderful people! Rest in peace, Grandma.

Girls Weekend Time! Yeah!

With My Beautiful Sisters

(Shanon, Summer, and I)

Last week my sisters flew up from Arizona for our annual Girls Trip and we had fun fun fun!!! (Mom, you were missed yet again! Love you!) It was the first time they've seen my new home in Utah and I LOVED having them here! Our 4 days together were packed: shopping, eating (Costa Vida, Olive Garden, Sweet Tooth Fairy Bakery, and more & more), going to the movies, staying up late talking (thus becoming friends with Mr. Aspirin each morning), showing off our mad dance skills while doing Just Dance 2 on the Wii, visiting our Peterson Grandparents & our Aunt Robin, meeting Sister Ardith Kapp, and more fun stuff---what a party!

*FYI-Pictured is The Sweet Tooth Fairy Bakery's Strawberry Shortcake Cupcake...soooooo good! If you are in Utah you MUST visit one of their locations! Trust me! We also love the VaNIElla Squared Cupcake, yum!

The weather was cold with snow coming down 3 of the 4 days my sisters were here. Needless to say, all 3 of these Arizona ladies did not appreciate having to drive around while it was snowing! My sisters both decided that they like snow if they are inside a nice warm home looking at it outside! :D
As I mentioned above, we spent a wonderful afternoon at the home of our Gram & Grandpa Burke. We ate a delicious meal from "Plates & Palates" and then spent hours visiting together. It is always so uplifting to be with our amazing Grandparents! We are blessed to come from such good and kind people.

Me with Gram & Grandpa
Summer with Gram & Grandpa
Gram is holding a Family Tree that Summer made for them that shows all 100 of their descendants---quite a group!
Shanon with Gram & Grandpa
Grandpa Burke has always been a really fun grandpa that knows how to make us all laugh. Even at 87 yrs old he is still making silly faces and cracking jokes!
What a Darling Couple---Over 60 years of wedded bliss!Morning of Day 3...tired but ready for more shopping, food, & fun!
I am so blessed to have such amazing sisters! I love you both and can't wait until our next Sisters Trip! XXOO!

*And BTW, thanks to our awesome husbands, who watched all the kids so we could spend this sisters' time together!
You guys are the BEST!!!

Kids Being Kids

Our boys started Karate lessons last month and are absolutely loving it! Wearing the GIs, obeying their Sensei, learning cool moves---we have found little boy heaven!

At the end of the first lesson, the instructor taught them to say,
"Domo Arigato, Sensei." I turned to Eric saying, "he is having them quote that song, 'Mr. Roboto!'
You know,'Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto!'"
Eric just looked at me, laughing, and said, "Are you serious? The song is quoting Martial Arts Instructors everywhere---this is where the Styx got that line!" So, how embarrassing for me, but I am glad to now know this piece of info! :D

While at 9 months old, Elle is too young to begin any sort of lessons, she is happy each day to play with her two favorite "TOYS." What are these items you ask? A spoon and a stacking cup. Yes, with tons of darling age appropriate toys all around the house, Elle continually picks these two items and they bring her the happiest smiles each day! Go figure. Here is Elle with her prized possessions. Hope you enjoy these pics! (Warning: Picture overload below. Indulging in a Proud Mommy Moment!)

A Little Valentine's Cheer

I know, I know. I'm jumping the gun a little wishing you all a Happy Valentine's Day, but hey, it's the Season of Love and we really needed some cheery decorations around here! It's been cold, foggy, and dreary outside and I was feelin' the Winter blues. Blah! My Solution: mid-January I decided to break out the Valentine's decor so we could enjoy the lovey cheer for more than just two weeks. I grew up in a home where my Mom decorated for EVERY holiday and it was always so fun! So, I too, do this in my home and love to decorate for the various holidays.

One of my favorites is Valentine's.
As with most of my holiday vignettes, there is really nothing fancy---just some cutesy little objects that I love. And as those close to me know, I love creating vignettes! I feel that decorating for the holidays is a way to celebrate the different seasons of life for my family. And. . . it's fun! :D

This year I found the directions for the below heart garland on {Scrappergirl} ---super cute and super easy! So my friend Ashley and I took a shopping trip to Hobby Lobby & Michaels to buy our supplies and then got together to each made a darling heart garland for our house. We loved how they turned out!
(Notice the two red rosette balls from my January 20th post? Turned out adorable!)

By the way,
I love love love Apothecary Jars!
I have used them with each holiday: 4th of July with atomic fireballs, starlight mints, and red/white/blue taffy; Easter with marshmallow Peeps, jelly beans, & chocolate eggs; Fall holidays with candy corn, black licorice, and caramels; Christmas with candy canes, red & green M&Ms, and mini ornaments; AND Valentine's with cinnamon lips, gum balls, and any other red candy. I've bought these jars over the years at Michaels---regularly priced $10-30, but they're even cheaper when you use your 40% off coupon, which I've done for all that I own. But look out, because these jars will start out filled to the top and then the supply will slowly (or sometimes quickly) diminish!

I had enough extra supplies to make another heart garland for my Great Room's mantel, too. I changed the papers a little bit from the entryway garland but since I obviously think this is such a cute idea AND it's super easy, how could I not make a second one! Too cute!
Of course my Dining Table would not be complete without its own little V-vignette. The theme here is Love Birds! See the darling Wonderfully Wordy Love Birds plate, my birdhouse w/ decorative balls, Tattered and Inked free printable "I love you a bushel and a peck," and of course, my heart frame featuring some real life Love Birds kissing! :D Cheesy you say? True, but I grew up with pics of my parents kissing everywhere around the house and I think it's a great thing for kids to see of their parents. (Makes me smile, too!)
Antoher cute idea. . .these darling Valentine's cards!
My cousin Cameron's wife Stephanie, has the most creative ideas and last year I saw this idea on her blog and decided to copy it! So, since I am creatively challenged AND computer illiterate, I turned to my fabulously talented sister Summer, to help me design them and voila---aren't these so cute!?! Such a fun idea for Valentine's Cards! Thanks to both of you gals!

Well, find your sweetie and give him a big kiss. . .
Celebrate the Season of Love!
Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Groundhog Day!

In honor of my sister Summer's favorite "holiday," my family woke up to this Groundhog vignette on the kitchen island...

Of course tonight will include watching the movie "Groundhog Day," the M&M game of "Don't Eat PHIL (Pete)," and Summer's traditional dessert of Chocolate Molten Lava Cakes with a groundhog peeking over the top of each ramekin cup (groundhog pic on a toothpick). Summer's goal: get the whole USA to join us in our Groundhog Day traditions! Just something silly & fun to do with your fam! Enjoy! :)

The boys eating breakfast after watching Punxsutawney Phil emerge just after dawn to make his 125th annual weather forecast. No shadow, by the way, which predicts an early Spring. Our SLC weathergal said "don't hold your breath" since she sees more cold, cold, cold days ahead for us here in the Wasatch front. Tye asked, "So basically, Phil is just a legend with no scientific truth behind him whatsoever?" Maybe we shouldn't have told him about Santa this year? It kind of taints his thinking...

Anyways, my point about the cold:

Drove boys to school today in -3 degree temperature, though the news said the wind chill made it feel like -21 degrees---Awww! It is cold outside for this Arizona native! One plus: Elle looks adorable all bundled up!

Changes, Changes

Driving through the snow, I went today to get my first official Utah license plate and driver's license. For a life-long Arizona girl, this is an odd thing to see on my car! The one upside: got a BYU plate to support my school---go Cougs!

A Celebrated Rite of Boyhood

Oh happy day!

The Boy Scout Law states that "a Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent."

Not a bad set of guidelines for a young boy...or anyone, for that matter. The Boys Scouts of America is a wonderful organization that has been helping to shape and mold young men for 100+ years. And any parent of a Cub Scout knows that scouting means uniforms and badges and patches and den meetings and awards banquets and…the Pinewood Derby!

Well Thursday was the big race for our Tye guy.
Some said that it couldn't be done. But against all odds, here in the Mormon Motherland of Utah, Tye did what we thought was impossible---repeated his Pinewood Derby win! He beat 20 other cars and it was awesome! Last year was such a thrill for my two guys (see post Tye's Big Events) who spent hours and hours building their 2010 car. You see, Tye's first Derby showing was against a troop full of boys with Engineer fathers and Eric knew how tough the competition would be, since we all know scouts make these race cars with some help from Dad—well maybe a lot of help from Dad! :)

Since we moved to the Mormon Mecca (aka Salt Lake City), Eric has been dreading this race, sick that he would disappoint his boy (and I believe he wanted to win, too!) Once Tye received his car last month, Eric explained to him "that all the 'tricks' of the craft, all the clever designs and ideas were well known in the land of the Mormon Pioneers. We would try and push for the top 10, and if we got it, we would consider that to be a personal win." Obviously their work paid off!!! I really enjoyed the night as I watched the fear leave Eric's face little by little with each of Tye's wins. As I wrote before, Tye had been gently told we didn't stand a chance here in Utah, so his total excitement and joy was darling, too! What a fun night!

That is a shocked and happy face! :)

Pure Joy!
Tye's winning car is the red & light blue #37, in lane number one.
Our very happy family.

And for those who know the tongue and cheek Buckley Family Motto on Game Nights ("If you're not cheating, you're not trying") be assured that Eric makes sure to follow ALL the rules when it comes to real life stuff, like the Pinewood Derby.

A.) You want to beat others fair and square because it's the right thing to do,
and
B.) Who wants to have a tainted win, or worse, get their win taken away because they cheated?!?

So let it be known by this Mom who saw it all, these wins were both legit, baby! :) Until next year, when Spencer enters the fray...