The Three Amigos Sleepover & Valentine Bouquet

Steve set up a sleepover for the boys and it was so much fun.   I had planned to make some Valentine cookies and I had a little helper.  Can you guess who it was?

Yep!  It was Chase.  He helped me rolled the cookie dough in the sugar and

then place them on the cookie sheet!  Thanks, Chase, for being my little helper.

The boys played that evening and then headed for bed, but not to sleep.  Finally, it was all quiet on the home front, except for one little one.  Their beds were all arranged in a row, but this is how Tyler and Chase ended up.

Ethan was having trouble going to sleep so he ended up in another room and so I asked him to pretend that he was asleep for this picture!  I thought he pretended to be asleep very well!

In the morning Steve had planned to make a special breakfast of waffles for the boys.  They turned out yummy!

Here are some pictures of the boys as they played and spent time with one another "bonding"

Ethan with his favorite blanket

Ethan getting dressed...

Tyler playing with some toys in the bedroom/playroom upstairs...

Tyler playing in the "Tube"...

At the end of the sleepover and it was time to head to different homes, I asked the three amigos to gather together for a picture.  Here's the three amigos + 2 (Rob and Steve).  We really enjoyed having the boys over to our house and look forward to another sleepover in the future.  Thanks, Steve, for setting up this time so the Three Amigos could get together and spend time with one another.  Just an FYI one of the reasons Steve wanted to plan this was because he had such a great time with his two cousins, Josh and Gabe (they were the original Three Amigos of our family)!

After the boys left, I went upstairs and noticed the way they had set up the game Thunderball Island--

These last pictures are my Valentine bouquet.  Really loved the flowers that Rob got for me and so I had to share the beautiful bouquet on my blog...

Of course, I had to get a picture of my new cast - purple this time.  Hopefully, hopefully it will be coming off this week.  Keep your fingers crossed!

So What Did I Do?

Well, out of all the things I could have accomplished while Rob was gone,

it came down to.....taking pictures of my cast with the

back drop of my favorite hooded sweatshirt...

Tyler signed Chase's name for me on my cast...

Tyler's signature and Rob's signature...

"True Love, Robbie"

Love you, too!  Hopefully the cast will come off tomorrow!

Here's to Hope and Change :)

A Trip to Vermont in Winter - How Bizarre!

Well, the Rob Fink Family has begun a new adventure!  Rob is working

on becoming a snow angel!  -- Well, not exactly although looking at these two pictures

that might be the idea.  But the real picture is that Rob is

working on a MFA.  What's that?  Well, it's a Masters in Fine Arts.

He is taking a two-year low residency program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts.

This means that at the beginning of each semester he spends approximately ten days at

the college and the rest of the program is handled on-line.

College Hall where large meetings took place...

Noble Hall where the lectures took place...

and some of the Vermont snow scenes....

This is a picture of Rob's class taken at College Hall...

A workshop group...

Rob and one of the instructors at the College...

The picture was pretty blurry and I did the best I could to

sharpen it a little....

All my best to my favorite writer...

Christmas {Part 3}

The reason for the season - Christ born in the Manger,

The Savior of the World.. Shepherds watching with their flocks...

and Wisemen bringing gifts as Mary and Joseph look on...

Rob and I had all the children and almost all the grandchildren over for dinner and the Nativity program.

Didn't get any great pictures of the play, but the actors and actresses were as follows:

Mary and Joseph: Kate and Ryan

Baby Jesus:  Baby doll

Shepherds:  Jenna and Chase

Angels: Chris and Tyler

Narrator:  Rob

Audience:  Steve, Summer, Bella & Shell

Jen said her favorite part was when Mary (Kate) placed Baby Jesus

in the manager and he giggled.  One of the angels (up the stairs) placed her hands over her

eyes and shook her head) - and then smiled.

In the past I have had two trees, but this year decided

to just have one...hated the idea of not using my ornaments and

Jen suggested that I place my ornaments on the banister.

This picture is right at the bottom of the stairs.  The one ornament says

Wise men still seek Him, then Peace and a picture of Christ...

When Rob and I were first married we painted all these wooden

ornaments to be placed on our tree... Grandma Fink gave Rob the bicycle and

Shell gave us the star.  My mother did the crocheted santa claus in the background.

A little bear - to remind us to "bare our testimonies"

of Jesus Christ...

A Santa Claus I made out of dough - really a

heavy ornament!

Well, another Christmas past - may God bless us All.

Christmas 2009 {Part 2}

Here's a picture of our Christmas tree this year.

The nice thing about "fake" trees is that they last forever, so

when I finally got around to taking pictures it looked as

good as it did when I put it up in the first place.  What

we missed was the pine smell so I got a room freshener with

a pine scent - worked pretty well if I do say so

myself!

We didn't put a star on our tree this year - oversight, so

I had to put one on the tree via this photo.  It is the

star that Tyler made and it was hung in the doorway

to be used as the Star in our Nativity Play.  I

took the picture on the stairs and lined up

the star so it "looked" like it was on the tree :) hehehe

A few pictures of the tree - I liked this one because

the flash looked like a star in the ornament and there were

little "stars" all around the ornament, too.

Thought this one was funny because you could see

a picture of me in the ornament taking the picture :)

I just liked these last two pictures - just cause they

were beautiful reminders of Christmas!

Merry Christmas, Part 2! :)

Christmas 2009 {Part 1}

Rob and I had such a wonderful Christmas this year.  Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of family and so when it came down to pictures for my blog, I did the next best thing - a gift and photos of the tree and decorations.  I got some really fun gifts this year!  Shell gave me a hooded sweatshirt from Forks, Washington (any Twilighters here) - that's a hint!  Steve and Summer gave us pictures of Ethan and Bella to hang on the wall -- beautiful pics, of course! -- They are related to me :)  Kate and Ryan gave me a towel wrap so when I go to 24-hour fitness I have something to wrap myself in - hurray!!!

Lastly, Jen created this beautiful basket of goodies that she made, jams and jellies and salsa, too!!

(The corn can be popped into popcorn!)  Cool idea for her dad!  In the background are the Christmas stockings that my mother and I made for our family!  I treasure the many memories I have of Christmases Past and look forward to many more in the future.

Two nutcrackers from the mantle...

Hangers on the mantle for the Christmas stockings...

Had to have some family photos - even if I didn't take them.  These are Christmas cards from family.

Kate and Ryan Jackson's family, Chelsea Grimmius-Brunt family and Ashleigh and Chase and their little one, Haleigh...

Decorations for the outside were limited to two Chrstmas posts in the front yard...

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and we wish you all a

Happy New Year!

Christmas at Disneyland 12-4-09

This year for our December treat we went to Disneyland with

Kate, Ryan and their two boys, Tyler and Chase

Steve and Summer and their son, Ethan

(Bella was too little and it was felt that

she wouldn't have a good time

and if she didn't have

a good time we

wouldn't either!

Shell was also

able to come and

her friend, Melissa joined us

which made it alot more fun for Shell

otherwise she would have been riding alot

with her mom and dad....

Our first picture just coming into the park.  A lady was

taking pictures and offered to take one of Rob and I!

Had to get a picture of Shell at her

favorite spot on earth....

In front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disneyland Park...

One of the first rides that the boys went on...Tyler went with

Grandpa Fink, Chase with his Dad, Ryan and...

Ethan went with his dad, Steve...

Steve, Summer and Ethan shooting aliens

at the Buzz Lightyear ride...

I took these pics while I was waiting in line for the

Pirates of the Caribbean ride.  Rob and I waited at the exit to get in

because I was in a wheelchair and so we waited in line at

New Orleans Square

The Christmas decorations were fabulous...

I really love Disneyland and at Christmastime

was when I always went to Disneyland and

it brought back so many memories of

the times I went with my family and

enjoyed the magic of Disneyland!

Here is Chase, Kate and Tyler waiting patiently for

the Christmas Parade.  Unfortunately for Chase, but he

fell asleep while we were waiting and missed the entire

parade...Probably needed a little shut eye before

running off to the next ride.

Part of the Disneyland Crew (Ryan was out tracking down

some food and Shell and Melissa were sitting off to the right of

the picture...

This was a fun ride for me...the Jungle Cruise...I don't think they

have changed much of what they say in the last 50 years...

The boat always seemed to "just" miss this waterfall...

It's amazing how that happens!

This was the treehouse that the crew walked through...

I think Ryan is in this pic and maybe Steve

It's a Small World After All ride all decked out

in Christmas decorations!

"A Small World Christmas Tree"

                Shelley at one of her favorite rides with Chase

The Peter Pan Ride

     Rob and Tyler at

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

 I think the funniest thing that was said

 was by Tyler. 

His Grandpa asked him what

his favorite ride was and he said he liked the mountains....

Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain and the Matterhorn...

A much quicker way to say it!  "I like the mountains, too, Tyler!"

All in all I think we had a wonderful time at Disneyland.  The weather was good until

the sun went down and then I think we all got a little chilly!

Thanks to Jana and Kris for letting us (Rob, Shell and I) stay at their

place in Bakersfield....We had a nice visit with them as well!