Smile

                                 Things that make me smile...

Friends...

birthday cake

   dutch bros coffee

babies

         running           sisters

ball gowns

Getting kidnapped by friends...

rainbows and lollipops
      cameras
samples from Costco

sour skittles
       hiking  butterfinger

                                       3-D glasses     Nike

goofiness...

i-pods   writting letters
running
   make believe   homevideos


and more goofiness...

summer swimming
weddings  panda express Flowers
English Country Dancing
            sweaters

And more goofiness...

scrap bookingscones      Horses  gel pens

*sigh* need I say it... ;)

sleepovers
knitting        stuffed animals
fingernail polish
brownies

Mom and Dad :)

Charlie the unicorn
giggles and smothered squeals

polka dots
      humming birds
blueberrry muffins 

smiles...

music
 flip-flops  piano
funny faces
dutch blitz

Arguing with friends... it's actually really funny... :)

"Your not fully dressed until you wear a smile."

:)

He is Risen!

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!"

In His great mercy he has given us new birth into a loving hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade- kept in heaven for you,

                                                                              

who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time."

1 Peter 1:3

I hope everyone had a great Easter. :) Don't you just love these flowers? They were on the table at my Aunt's house during our Easter lunch. I loved them! :)

Darling, your earrings are just gorgeous!

 On Thursday, April 14th...... Joelle got her ears pierced!! 

It was really exciting. Us girls made an afternoon of it. We went to Salem after lunch, and went to the mall. After locating the Claires and meeting the really nice piercing lady (I'm not sure what the technical term would be...) we got down to business and started choosing a pair of earrings. 

Mom and Joelle right before.

The lady was super nice which made it a pleasurable experience for all of us.

Here the lady is putting purple dots on Joelle's ears where she's going to put the earrings in. 

They did both ears at the same time. Otherwise they might do one and then Joelle say, "Ouch, that hurt to much! I'm done." Haha, that wouldn't be good. :)

She did so great! She didn't freak out, cry, puke, get dizzy, faint or even flinch. Thaaaat... would be me. 

(Seriously my knees were shaking the whole time. Those of you who know me know that I'm like that. Totally freaked out at blood, pain or needles. Not good...).

Here she is. All done!

Joelle held the bear, but I don't think she needed to. I wish I could've held it. :)

Love these hats. Although $21.99 is a high price to pay for love. I didn't pay it. I guess it wasn't true love.

Now this, on the other hand, was true love.

I found my wedding dress!!

And my bridesmaids dress!!

.....And.... my.... ahem.... ball dress?

Ta-da! 

Simple pleasures...

I think this is pretty self explanatory. :)

I'd rather have roses on my table then diamonds on my neck. -Emma Goldman

Dreams of ball gowns, gowns and more gowns...

Every Thursday night, at 7:00pm, I go English Country Dancing.

Now that might sound boring, but I assure you, it's one of the funnest things on the planet!

We do all kinds of dances from Irish jigs, to waltzes. 

Whenever I do one of the slower waltzes I wish I was wearing a long flowing gown. 

A Regency Gown.

Somehow, regency gowns are appropriate for almost any ball. (Not 7 brides for 7 brothers though... haha).

I want to sew one REALLY bad. 

I'm still deciding what colors and such. 

I'm thinking maybe a light, earthy green.

If I do that then the clear fabric over it would probably be like the fabric in the first picture. 

I also can't decide if I want long or short sleeves. I might have to do one of each!

Here you can see the top of the short sleeve gown. This is a darker green then what I was thinking, but it looks really good. Hmmmm...

Here's the top of the long sleeve gown. I like the style of both the long and the short. :)

The next ball is The Count of Monte Cristo. 

A regency gown would be perfect for that. 

Well, I shall bid you good night, and go back to my dreaming and planning. Hopefully this will pan out. =)

Apple Pie Day 2011

The day started out cloudy, rainy, and cold. 

 We didn't know anyone who was going to be there, and dad couldn't come with us. 

Needless to say, we weren't very excited about going. 

But, when we arrived the rain had stopped and the wind was dying down. 

The walk from our car to the capital was beautiful.

We walked down this side walk that was lined with trees full of spring blossoms.

Things were looking up.  

Joelle, Dawson and I sang in the statewide choir. 

We practiced from 10-11:00am. At 11:30 we went out and lined up on the capital steps. The rally started at 12:00. We sang "The Star Spangled Banner" at the beginning of the rally, and "America the Beautiful" at the end. (Joelle and D are in the bottom row on the left. I'm in the back row on the right.) We had fun. :)

Then we took a lunch break. We ate our lunch on a bench on that lovely sidewalk. Brock took this great shot of Dawson. 

At 1:30 I played the piano in the Galleria. It was really fun. :)

After that we went outside and played on the grass by the fountain. 

The sun had come out, and it was 65 degrees!

At 3:00 we took a partial tour of the capitol. (We had to leave at 3:45...) We got to hear the history about the Rotunda, and we also saw the Governor's ceremonial office.

We took this picture by his desk. :)

So, what had started out as an "Eh" day... ended up as a "Yay" day. :)

Three cheers for Apple Pie Day!