Time Out for Women

Once again, I got to attend women’s conference this year with my wonderful mom and awesome sisters and sister in-laws.  This has become a tradition for our family and I really look forward to it.  This year Hilary Weeks was the performer and I just love her.  She is able to make anything funny, even a topic like laundry.  She really uplifted my spirits and made me feel that the role of motherhood is so important, even though it can feel routine and unimportant.  Sister Belcher was also one of the speakers that really impressed me.  She had a disease that caused her to loose her eyesight and even though she has had many experiences that could make her bitter, she is nothing but positive and optimistic.  She did admit to having her hard days, but she was such an inspiration to me.

One of the fun memories from this trip was us trying to find our hotel.  Mom told us she got a different hotel than last year because it had better ratings.  Well, downtown Phoenix was so smart has to design one-way streets, ridiculous!  When we came out of Time Out for Women, it was raining and cold.  So we hurried to our car (even though strangers tried to get in it with us lol) and tried to find the hotel.  Well, between the one-way streets and my bad navigation skills, it took us over 30 minutes to find the hotel and come to find out, it was the same hotel we stayed at last year!  It was fun to spend the night with my mom and sisters and visit.  I look up to all of them so much and will treasure the memories we made during our time together.  

Chris’s Birthday!!

Chris celebrated his 26^th birthday on the 3^rd and I was lucky enough to have work off and we enjoyed spending the day together.  I wish I was able to do more to show my husband how much he is loved and appreciated.  When I asked him what he wanted to do, he said just wanted to hang out at home with me and Tyler and veg out, so that is exactly what we did.  Chris is a very hard person to shop for because when I asked him what he wanted for his birthday, his reply was, “I don’t know, I don’t really need anything”.  So, I was kind of on my own for ideas of what to get him.  He has been telling me for sometime that he wanted another pair of nice sunglasses, and I always found an excuse not to get them.  But birthdays are for spoiling, so that’s what he got with some basketball and casual shorts.  I knew I did a good job of surprising him with a gift he liked because he actually smiled when he opened his present!  He doesn’t show too much emotion, but I cracked him this time!!  Since Chris is the main cook at our house, we went out to dinner at Olive Garden which was very yummy and came home to enjoy strawberry cheesecake I had made.  Chris does so much for our family and I am so appreciate of all his hard work and sacrifice.  He never complains about watching Tyler while I sleep before or after I work.  He is always willing to change a diaper, even the poopy ones.  He continues to be so thoughtful and giving.  On several occasions I will come home from work and express how tired my legs are, and Chris will come in and rub my legs or feet.  He is the most unselfish person I know and I love him so much.  He is truly my best friend and I look forward to the many birthdays I get to celebrate with him.  I love you Chris! We are also very happy and excited to have Tyler's blanket that Grandma Brogan did for him. He really enjoys sleeping with it.

Halloween!

As everyone knows, my mom is very into Halloween and this year, our family was able to participate in helping her with it.  Our family decided to dress up as “Woody’s Roundup”, with Chris as none other than Woody, me as Jessi and Tyler as Buzz Lightyear, and quite a cute one I might addJ  Our main focus this year was the Haunted House.  Chris was a huge help in getting it all set up, the only hard part was remembering that it was for children, not for adults so he had to try and tone down the scariness of it.  It was a hit though!  Grandma and Grandpa Cluff dressed up as Lily and Herman Munster for the theme of “Monsters”.  The grandkids didn’t really understand who Grandma was but after they watched the video Grandma bought them of “The Munsters”, they understood her costume much better.  They were all very impressed with Grandpa’s costume though!  Mom always does such a good job of finding costumes for her and dad that go with the theme of her party.

What party would be complete without games?!  And yes, mom is amazing and thought of games that went with her theme of monsters.  She had the kids make each other into mummies which they really enjoyed.  They also had more fun games and of course, a craft.  I am amazed at everything mom does to make Halloween a fun time for the grandkids and remember Doyle.  Even though Halloween could have become her most dreaded holiday, she has made it lots of fun for each of the families and made lasting memories.  We had so much fun helping with the party preparations and have so much appreciation for all the hard work mom does to make Halloween fun for everyone.  Love you mom, and thank you for all you do for us!