countdown to summer....

Aliah and her friend sarah performed in their school talent show!!! 2 super cuties.

 aliah and her cousin hallie both took dance from the same place this year and their end of year recital was so cute. cutest dancers ever.

 celine was awarded for maintaining a 3.95 GPA or higher all through jr. high. wow.

 celines bravo class had their end of year showcase. this is the best group of friends!!!!

 tage and aliah had their dance festival and field day. so ready for school to be out for the summer!!!

 kaleb loves sushi. he decided to make his own. it was a long process that turned out pretty good.

 here we are on memorial day visiting our favorite angel. we love you carson!!!

 then we had swimming and a bbq at grandma and grandpa griffins. it was a perfect day with sunshine, food and cousins to play with.

 celine getting her tan on. :)

 aliah is our born fish.

 me and my bff little sis. yes, i know your all jealous of how hot I look. :) it was a perfect memorial day.

2 more days of school. we are so close, we are almost there. summer, we are coming!!!!

Footnote to yesterdays post...

Isn't life funny. How one night things can seem so frustrating and overwhelming and you wonder if you can really do all of these things. And then the next day..
1: I pictured myself over and over last night doing the workout that I was suppose to do this morning. I prayed and asked for strength and determination. And this morning, I got up, went to cross fit, and rocked that workout the best I could. No more will I ever say, "I can't do that."
2: Surprising (but maybe not to some of you) that something you needed to hear on a particular day comes from your visiting teachers. Mine came this morning right after my workout and gave me this message
"The race of life" by Thomas S. Monson in the last general conference. And all I could think was, this was everything that I needed to hear.
He definitely knows whats in my heart.

Frustrations. Fears. Facts.

Frustrations:
I have always been a girl who would say " I can't do that." Until I started cross fit. Then I became the girl, who repeated over and over and over, " I can do hard things. I can do hard things." In the last 5 months I have done things I thought I couldn't do. I ran a mile last week for the first time since I was a kid. I actually ran it. Monday, wednesday and friday I show up, see the workout, think "I can do this." Tonight, I looked at tomorrows workout and I thought: I can't do this. I told kaleb: I can't do this. I felt so frustrated with myself. Am I going to be that girl again? No. Tomorrow, I will go and do that workout, even if I throw up trying.
Fears:
Every day: am I living my life the way I am suppose to? Am I wasting my time, talents and gifts? Am I doing enough as a wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend, neighbor, leader?Am I totally screwing up my kids? Am I living up to my spiritual potential? Am I just a waste of a human being? Am I contributing anything worthwhile to this life? And the fear comes when I worry what the answers are.
Facts:
I am doing the best I can. I am trying. My heart is in the right place, I have good intentions. Do I fall flat on my face every now and then? Oh yeah I do. But, I get back up. Do I have a lot of love in my heart for the people in my life. More than I ever knew. I am doing ok. I am not giving up. He knows whats in my heart.

Happenings...

We now have a liscenced permit driver in our home. Oh boy.

Here is my mothers day present...and birthday, anniversary and christmas. :) So happy with my new furniture!!! thanks honey!

Here is what has been taking up ALL of our time, Kaleb has worked non stop to get our yard landscaped, and it looks gorgeous!!!! Finally feels finished.

 aliah and her bff performed in the school talent show. they were awesome. and super cute. :)

 Its mothers day tomorrow. Can never say enough about my own mom, who I think is the most wonderful mother in the world. I love her so much, and she is an amazing grandmother too. And too the woman who raised kaleb to be so wonderful, thank you. And to all of my sisters, friends, neighbors and all mothers out there who are being the best mom they know how to be,  you are amazing! And to the three kids who made me a mom, celine tage and aliah, I am so grateful for the three of you!!! Being your mom is my greatest blessing.

only like 15 more days of school....summer......

Bunko post on this blog??? what the?

So, yes, this month I decided to post our Bunko night on MY blog instead of the bunko blog. I want to tell you why I love bunko so much and it has everything to do with the 11 girls you see on this page!!! Kylie was our hostess this month and she always goes above and beyond with everything bunko. Bunko doughnuts, decorated bunko pages, cute tablecloths on the tables....she is awesome. Once every month we have a night just for us. We get to be ourselves and laugh and talk and vent to other people we know understand us perfectly. I truly believe every woman should have a bunko group.

Kelsey was our bunko winner!!!! She won A LOT of great stuff: shoes, a swim bag, jewelry, a super cute maxi skirt, sunglasses and tanning lotion...did I forget anything?? What an awesome prize!!!

What I love about kelsey? She is the sweetest, nicest person you could ever meet, and then all of the sudden sometimes things will come out of her mouth that have you laughing so hard!!! I love that about her!

 Here is Kim, our winner of the High score prize. She got dishes, a platter, a decorative jar and a beverage dispenser. Sweet!!!
What I love about kim: she is our newest bunko member, and yet she came into a group of  11 woman, only knowing one of us, and within 5 minutes we all felt that we had known her forever. She fit our group like a glove.  seriously can't imagine our group without her!

 here is Me!  I won medium score with a super cute maxi skirt, so comfy, a cute shirt and fabulous shoes to boot.

 Laura was the winner of low score. She also got a super darling maxi skirt, a shirt and some shoes. Perfect summer outfit.
What I love about laura: even though we are neighbors, we can go weeks without seeing or talking to each other, and then we can meet up and pick up where we last left on and chat about anything and everything under the sun. I know I could call on laura day or night or anytime in between for anything.

 Lovely Jenessa, winner of Hostess!!! I am still coveting this gorgeous purse and she also won a super cute necklace.
What I love about jenessa: she always seem happy, she puts a light and positive spin on everything, and I can ALWAYS count on her for lots of laughs.

 Janalee and Andrea won most 5's and 0's with these super cute potted plants, perfect for summer!!! Love all the color.
What I love about Andrea: I have actually known andrea the longest out of our group, we were friends way back when in high school, and I am so glad that we got to pick back up years later and still be good friends.
What I love about Janalee: she loves pink. I have never seen her where she does not have some type of something pink on her. I love it!!!!

 Wow, look at these ladies with their $5 prizes!!! Sunglasses and a swim bag, perfect for the coming summer. I will go left to right:
Cammi: I haven't known cammi that long, but I have really enjoyed getting to know her! Some of the funniest stories ever told at Bunko have been by her, let me just say that you don't ever want to mess with her kids!! :)
Amy: amy is one person I know will tell it like it is, and will get any innuendo about anything that I ever say and she can always take it one step further. This girls is an open book and I love that she can walk into anywhere and make a friend.
Kylie: I saw a picture of kylie climbing up the shelves at a supermarket just so that she could get diet dr pepper for us girls for bunko. Now that is a true friend. And I know that about kylie, she would do anything for you.
Robyn: Robyn has been my inspiration this last few years as she has turned into this superwoman runner!!! Her willpower is amazing and inspiring.
Jamie: well, there is not enough I can say about what I love about jamie, her being my neighbor, friend and sister in law, she gets to put up with A LOT of me. Jamie is seriously my "Soul sister". I swear we are always on the same page about things, heck, we even seem to end up at the same stores at the same time!!!

If you could experience one night of bunko with us, you would see that this is about the greatest group of woman. There is nothing but a great friendship between all of us and I think we all appreciate that about our group. You know when you show up at bunko, your guaranteed a fun night, with lots of food, caffeine, candy and more laughter than you might have for the rest of the month. It is a night we ALWAYS look forward to, and it NEVER lasts long enough and takes FOREVER for the next one to come. Now that is true love. :) bunkogirlsforlife. :)