HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!! Our mom is always doing birthday blog posts for everyone in the family, so we thought we would return the favor. However, she is lucking out because unfortunately I don't have very many embarrassing pics of her, like she posts of everyone on their birthday posts. :( But I will do my best with what I have. Even though my sisters and I all live far away from one another, we always put our heads together and plan a birthday gift for our parents on their birthdays.





1. First, each of us girls all wanted to say something special to mom on her birthday...

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! We just want to let you know how much we appreciate you and all that you do for us. You are a great example to us in all you do. You are a fantastic mother who is always looking out for us. We hope you have a great day and feel all the love that we all have for you!" -Love Katie and Richard

"Happy, happy birthday, Mom! We love you! On your birthday, we want you to know how much you mean to us. You're a wonderful Mother and Grandma. Thank you for all your efforts both big and small. We truly appreciate your example of "becoming" - it inspires us to keep trying and working toward positive progression in the things that matter most. We hope you have a great day and know that we'll be thinking of you. We love you!" -Bob, Dani, and Addie

"Happy birthday, Mom!! We wanted to take this time to let you know how much we love and admire you. Your example to me will always help me to make good choices. I have been thinking a lot lately how I always took for granted all the things you taught us growing up, both small and big, and now I see just how important being taught those things really was. They make me a better wife now, and even when you thought we weren't listening, we were. Thank you for being the best mom and always being there for us!! You are an amazing individual and deserve the best on your birthday! Have a great day, mom!! Love you!!" -Nick and Lindi

2. This year, after thinking for awhile and trying to decide on what she would really really like or enjoy, we came up with this... Does anyone, besides mom, remember this creation?

Well, if any of you know our mom, you know that she loves to cook and does an amazing job as well. However, if you saw her "recipe box" better known as her recipe "folder", its full of unorganized miscellaneous papers of all shapes colors and sizes. Hard to believe I know, because she is one of the most organized people we ALL know!! ;)

SO, Mom, our gift to you is your very own new recipe box that will become filled with beautifully created cards with all of your own amazing recipes on them!! Of course the box itself and all the created cards will coordinate with your kitchen! We hope that you will enjoy your newly organzied recipes!! :) :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! WE ALL LOVE YOU!!!

Continue In Patience

Well To Sum Things Up...

... I have been SLACKING in the blogging area. So, since I have now decided to catch up on a few things, I will make this quick and to the point. The past few months have been busy with a few trips!! After our trip to Idaho Falls for the funeral a week later we went on a...

1. Road Trip to Missoula, Montana for Nick's interview with the Missoula Rural Fire Department. 28 Hours of driving in 4 days, but a beautiful fall drive. He ended up not being offered the job; however, still very thankful for the opportunity to have gotten that far in the process since it is very competive and highly unlikely getting hired first time having an oral board interview. He has a reason to be proud about that...WAY TO GO SWEETS!!! We also got to spend time with our friends Don and Kelsi and my roomies from College in Wyo.

2. Addie's FIRST Birthday was October 14th, so my wonderful sweet hubby sent me down for 10 days. The first week was spent painting Dani's house and helping her with Addie as Bob was gone at a Teaching Conference. Katie also got to come down from school and we spent a whole week together!! :) The remainder of the time was spent with my whole family {minus mine and Katie's hubby's :( } playing and enjoying the time together. The theme for Addie's party was Farm Animals... too cute. She also wore her Carhart overalls that made the finishing touch. What a sweet sweet baby... I'm now waiting any time now for Dani to post about how Addie is walking... she is so close! :)

No more trips planned for us for awhile. Now its work work and getting ready for the Holidays!!

INTRODUCING....

...my NEW online Handmade Hair Accessory(s) & Pin(s) Website....

...SIMPLY BY HAND

I finally gave in, or got brave enough, to design an online store where I am now selling handmade hair accessories & Pins for all ages. Some of you have been interested in hair accessories I have made for my niece, Addie, and now they are available for purchase on my website. There are also a variety of designs available as hair accessories for ladies or to be worn as pins on clothing, hats, shoes, scarves, or bags. Here are a few available for purchase NOW!!

Check it ALL out at....

simplybyhandstore.com

In the future, I plan on using this website for offering other services such as digital scrapbooking, custom invites and announcements, and more fun creative handmade crafts!!

If you like what you see, be sure to take a "button" to add to your blog and always check back often for updates and new designs. (see top right-hand side of blog for options)

Thank you and ENJOY!!!!

A special THANK YOU to Brittney Dye for the amazing beautiful photography and to Danielle Weber for helping edit my website!! :)

Family Pics!

The day has FINALLY come!! After taking family pics in June, we now have the final photos, well the ones we have picked for now!! Take a look...

All the Kids!

Mom & Dad
Nick & I

Richard & Katie

Bob, Dani & Addie

Sweet Baby Addie
And...

The Whole Family!

What do you think?

President Doug Andrus

This past weekend we received a phone call from Don, Nick's Mission Companion, that their mission President had passed away. Nick has so much love and respect for President Andrus and he learned so much from his amazing example. Wanting to attend in order to pay our respects for him, we made the last minute arrangements to make the trip. The funeral home posted his obituary online, and I have copied it below...

"Douglas Milo Andrus, Jr., 69, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, passed away 12 September 2010 at the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center after a long and courageous battle with cancer. He was a loving husband, father and grandfather and will be remembered for his kindness, love, and devotion to the gospel of Jesus Christ. He was a man of integrity, virtue and faith and was trusted by his friends and associates.

Doug was born 29 April 1941, in Idaho Falls, Idaho, to Douglas Milo Andrus and Veatrice Nelson Andrus, the second of six children. Doug attended Eagle Rock Grade School, New Sweden Elementary, O.E. Bell Junior High, and Idaho Falls High School, where he graduated with honors in 1959.

He served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Eastern States from 1960-1962. He was a faithful and diligent missionary and he had great success - spending much of his time in The Bronx, NY. Upon returning, he attended Ricks College and BYU in Provo, UT, where he studied business management. He graduated with honors in finance and marketing in 1967.

On 16 September 1963, Doug married his sweetheart, Deanna Daw in the Logan, Utah LDS Temple. They are the parents of thirteen children. He was a successful businessman and was co-owner of Doug Andrus Distributing and other related businesses. He was involved in many community organizations, serving in various capacities and received numerous awards for his service, including the Silver Beaver Award from the Boys Scouts of America, the Granite Pillar Award for integrity in business, and humanitarian service awards.

Doug was a devoted and faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and held many positions in the Church including Elders Quorum Presidency, High Priest Group Leadership, Stake Mission President, Bishopric, Young Men President, Counselor in Stake Presidency, Stake President, Mission President in the Nevada Las Vegas West Mission, and ordinance worker and sealer in the Idaho Falls Temple. He and his wife loved their mission, being together, and serving in the temple.

Doug enjoyed working in his yard and spending time with his 13 children and 56 grandchildren. Doug kept a journal throughout his life and seldom missed a day writing in it. In his home office, he has a filing cabinet full of these journals. During the last couple years of his life, Doug reread many of his own writings and he compiled them as his life story. Although in general much of life is routine, his children appreciate the many simple memories he has recorded.

He is survived by his wife, Deanna, and their children: Lori (Clay) Murdoch, Lynette (Kory) Kunz, Lisa (Bob) Braithwaite, Monica (Dave) Kuhn, Heidi (John) Owen, Pauline (Dan) Marshall, Charise (Chris) Monson, Stan (Brooke) Andrus, Jared Andrus, Kevin (Emily) Andrus, Curtis (Nichole) Andrus, and Heather (Rocky) Davies. He was preceded in death by his parents, his son, Brian, and a grandson, Houston Murdoch. He is also survived by his older sister, Norma Fielding of Saint George, Utah, and his younger siblings: Janet Orchard of Idaho Falls, Idaho; Heber Andrus of Idaho Falls, Idaho; David Andrus of Green River, Utah; and Steven Andrus of Idaho Falls, Idaho."

President Andrus' funeral was how I think every funeral should be. It was the most uplifting service I have ever been to. The spirit was so strong and the program was amazing. There were around 30 missionaries who had attended and they were all asked to sit on the stand as they were on the program to sing the "Las Vegas West Mission" song. It was an overwhelming sight to see the number of lives this man had touched and influenced. The closing speaker was Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the stories he told truly touched our hearts. President Andrus and his brother own a trucking company that consists of 280 trucks. Elder L. Tom Perry said that President Andrus told him once that he had a system that allowed him to know where every single one of his trucks were, all across the states, within ten feet. He told all the children and grandchildren that he was guessing President Andrus had probably already developed a system where he will know where each of them are within 10 feet. ;) He was telling them this story, so that they might always remember the teachings and example that their Grandfather was to them.

After the funeral, Nick and I took some time to walk around the grounds of the Idaho Falls Temple. I was telling Nick that this temple was were my family and I were sealed and how grateful I was for that. I am so grateful for the knowledge I have that we all have the opportunity to be together as families forever. I found these thoughts so comforting for President Andrus' family as well, as my heart ached for their loss. President Andrus was an amazing individual who devoted his whole life and heart to serving others and I'm so grateful Nick was able to learn and appreciate the things he did from President Andrus.

A HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISH!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANI!!!!

Today is Dani's 26th birthday!! Because I am such a lame sister her birthday package will be arriving later this week. Until then, I want to wish her the best birthday and let her know she means so much to me.
Dani is the best big sister anyone could ask for... so caring and sweet, but will always tell you how it is and what she thinks. I always respected that about her because I knew just what she thought and didn't have to guess what she could be thinking. She has such a strong testimony of the church and shows that by example. She always puts herself last and thinks of others first. She is hilarious and its mostly because shes so honest about everything! ;) She is such a beautiful woman who is so smart and has the drive to become better all the time. She is a great wife and mother and has been blessed with the sweetest little baby girl.
I have been blessed to have Dani in my life and even more blessed to have her as my sister. My sisters are my best friends and I wouldn't change that for anything. I have learned that being far away from them is not fun or easy as I miss them everyday. Have a WONDFERUL 26th birthday and take some time for yourself!! :) Wish I could be there to celebrate with you!! Love you sis, you are the best!!

Summer Fun!!

A couple weekends ago (August 19, 2010), Nick's parents came to visit!! :) They brought down Tyler, Nick's Younger brother, to College in Cedar City. Vegas is only 3 hours away from Cedar, so they were kind enough to come the extra miles for the weekend. It was a very fun and relaxing weekend that was full of different activities.
Once they got in Thursday evening, we went to dinner at Lucilles (an amazing southern BBQ resturant). We got home and stayed up WAY to late chatting and catching up. :) So of course we slept in the next morning and then planned a day of fun at Red Rock. We packed a picnic and drove out to the "canyon" to see the sights. Ya know, even though its a very dry desert out here, it does have SOME beauty to it. (of course I can't prove that because I didn't get any good pics of Red Rock).
While on the drive, we stopped and got out of the car to get some pics of the Joshua Trees. We were simply taking pics and walking along the side of a road that was off the main highway, when all the sudden this Highway Patrol or Forest Ranger comes flying up behind us with his lights on. He then gets out of his car and says with a very big attitude problem, "Get back in the car so I can write you a ticket."????? We were all so confused as to what we did wrong, but we got back in the car. He then went off about how we can't be stopped off the side of the road within a National Park. He explained that its a huge fine and that it causes problems with the traffic. Funny, because the whole time we stopped to take pics, not one car went by?? Anyways... he ended up not giving us a ticket because Nick has the same birthday as him, and so he let us go with a warning. Pretty dumb reason to not give someone a ticket, but we can't complain. :)
On the drive we kept passing signs warning us of Wild Burros. :) Yes, Burros! When we stopped for lunch we learned just how 'Wild' they really were!! Take a look...

They were so funny... just coming right up to our picnic table and eating our food. Not ten mins after being around them, we were warned by a local citizen, not to harass or feed them because we would be fined $500. WOW huh? These ppl are ticket happy for sure. So we tried our hardest to ignore them, hoping they would leave... no such luck! :) That evening we had a BBQ with Jason and Claire. Jason is Jerry and Terri's nephew and they wanted to spend some time with the family they had here. Most of the family they have here did not show up, as we had planned a fun evening, but the evening with Jason and Claire was PERFECT and so fun!
The next day we went to the temple and then relaxed at home as Nick had to work that evening. Sunday Nick and I had to speak in church. It was funny how it worked out just right that his parents were there to listen that week!! :) We hurried home afterwards and enjoyed some lunch and then had to take them to the airport.
We were both so glad they came and spent the extra days with us!! It was so fun and were hoping that because Tyler isn't too far from us, that it may happen more often!! Thanks guys!! :)

On another note....

This past week I had been hearing on the radio that the Oak Ridge Boys were in concert in Vegas. I was by myself when I heard it and seriously said outloud to myself, "NO WAY... they are still alive?" :) When I was a little girl, my parents had a tape of thier Christmas songs and ever since I can remember, I listened to that tape every Christmas season. If you heard it, you might ask yourself WHY? But its a sweet memory I have and love to still listen to it.

Well Nick and I were laughing about it and talking about how fun it would be to go to their concert. Nick was working Friday night and parked the Drumers car who plays for them. He told the drumer how much I loved them and the Drumer gave us 2 free tickets to their show that night!!! :)
When we walked into the concert, we started laughing and joking about how it looked as if a bus full of Senior Citizens had been dropped off to enjoy the show!! LOL!! :) We tried to get a picture of the audience, but it didn't come out very well! We loved every min of it and were laughing about it the entire night. It was a neat experience to see them in concert and amazing that they are STILL singing at all. Time to retire I think! ;) They have an amazing sound and it was cool to get to hear that in person. Of course they didn't sing any Christmas songs, I was hoping they would take requests! ;)
After the show we were walking out and we saw the bass singer walking towards their bus. We stopped and asked for a pic. :) We also stopped and talked to the drumer on the way by. Nick got a picture with him and then he gave us a free CD. :)

It was definetly a night we will always remember!! :)

The rest of the weekend was spent with Nick's brother, Tyler, as he came down to hang out with us! We had fun with him and are looking forward to living so close to him as he is at school!! :)

A Message of Hope

We were working on our talks that we have to give sunday... :(... and we came across this amazing mormon message. Nick mentioned that it has been too long since I have posted one of these, so we decided it was worth sharing... enjoy!!

Matts Wedding

Nick's brother, Matt, got married in Denver on July 29th so we made the trip to be there. It was a very quick trip with lots and lots and LOTS of driving! :) yes, we drove instead of flying because it was cheaper... still not sure it was the best idea! Neither of us have been in a car for that long before and it sure was an adventure.
We started our trip as soon as nick got home from work Tuesday (July 27th) morning at 2 AM!! Why did we leave that early? Dani and Bob only live three hours away from Denver and we weren't about to pass up the opportunity to see them. Instead of driving 11 hours to Denver, we drove 14 hours to Lingle, Wyoming! :) We lived off Rockstars and junk candy to stay awake, which wasn't as hard as I was imagining. We got to Bob and Dani's at 5 pm, had dinner, played games, and enjoyed sweet Addie. Wednesday morning we got things ready for the wedding and hung out as long as we could. Then around 2 pm we headed to Denver for the wedding dinner.


The drive seemed so short and sweet as we got to Denver around 5 pm. We checked into our hotel, met Megan and her family, and waited for the rest of both families to get in. After a very crazy evening we ended up having dinner at Applebees around 9 pm. Thursday morning came and we all headed to the Denver temple for Matt and Megan's Sealing at noon. Nick's Grandpa Garrick performed their sealing and it was SO beautiful. It brought back sweet memories of our sealing as Grandpa Garrick also did ours... what a sweet and kind man. I just LOVE weddings and the temple was so pretty! Matt and Megan both looked so happy and cute together. We took tons of pictures on the grounds and then met for a wedding luncheon.

At the luncheon, right before Matt and Megan took off, we realized that no one had trashed their car... panicked we went into the restrooms grabbed a ton of t.p. and some food from the buffet (Tyler took an entire pie) and did the best we could with what we had! :) We owe that restaurant a couple bucks for their product ;)

After the luncheon we all went back to the hotel to rest and later went to a movie and ordered pizza. It was such a fun, adventureous, and relaxing night.

Friday morning we woke up early, checked out of the hotel, said good-bye to family, and drove to Fort Collins for breakfast with Bob and Dani. Fort Collins was the halfway point for both of us. We met at Ihop and then went to a nearby park to play and relax. The boys played catch with the football and Frisbee while we played with Addie. They managed to get the football, Frisbee, and volleyball all stuck in the tree at once... very entertaining to watch. Since we had a LOVELY 12 hour drive ahead of us back to Vegas, we said good-bye around noon.

We took the I-70 back home and we loved every min of the drive. So beautiful!! We managed to get a few good pics of the scenery.

We got into Vegas around 1 AM and it has been a crazy non-stop week since. This is this first time I have had time to sit down and blog and clean house. We had a GREAT time, even though it was a LONG drive and such a short stay. We are excited to get to know Megan better and are so happy for them both!! CONGRATS!!


p.s. Thank goodness for Thompson Springs, Utah. Haven't heard of it? It will always been known to us as the gas station that saved us a lot of walking/waiting time. :)

We were too distracted by the scenery and just getting home that we looked down as the gas light came on and realized we were almost out of gas with fifty+ miles left to go before the next town. All the sudden Thompson Springs(a gas station) came out of the middle of no where and saved our lives!! :)