Jett

Santa found me this year...

No words needed... she's awesome.

And this guy is a softy... He LOVES her.

Her favorite cuddle spot :)

Did I mention she's pretty awesome?

What The?

26 years old? Excuse me, where did the last year go? 

Might as well embrace it I guess...

Dinner at The Five Alls

I love him :)

Daisy by Marc Jacobs... delish

Flowers at work are the best! My man is a stud.

Here's to having yet another birthday!

Emma Grace

It all started with this:

 

When I first saw this commercial a few weeks ago, this adorable, sweet, soft spoken little angel brought me to tears.  Full grown woman tears :)  "Oh Noell, that's just silly... to cry over a St. Jude commercial!"  That's probably what all of you are thinking right?  It may seem silly to some, but this little sweetheart touched a special place in my heart with her short 30 seconds on air and her few spoken words. (I even recorded the commercial on my DVR and will occasionally play it over and over again just to see her! Call me crazy if you must, I don't mind)

Emma Grace was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) in December of 2009. She is 4 years old.  I took instant interest in Emma's story and wanted to find out more about her.  I searched the internet, and to my dismay, I found exactly what I was looking for.  Emma's story.  On this website, Emma's mother, Marcy, keeps a journal, depicting everyday life with Emma.  The good days and the not so good days.  I've spent hours reading Emma's journal... amazed at her courage, positivity and humor :)  Emma has an amazing family caring for her.  Not just her family that consists of her parents and siblings, but her other family... at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.  Emma has her own web page at St. Jude, as she should... she's a star :)

You can also see Emma's "Birdhouses for St. Jude" Facebook page here.  This is Emma's way of giving back to St. Jude.  I've ordered MY birdhouse and it should be ready for delivery come spring :)  She is so busy with her birdhouses, that I am number 31 on the waiting list!  All of the proceeds going to St. Jude of course.  I am so excited for my custom made birdhouse, you all should get one too.

Emma Grace and I are complete strangers.  Maybe I'm crazy for spending so much time reading about her and wanting to know more, but I don't care.  She's worth it :)  Please visit the links that I've posted.  You will fall in love with Emma Grace instantly, just like I did.

Emma Grace was officially declared in remission on February 4th 2010.  She is expected to finish all her treatments by September 2012.

Giving Thanks

My cup runneth over...

great health

a warm & comfortable home

eBay

loving & supportive families

modern medicine

Provo Pediatric Dental

a reliable car

technology

an amazing husband.

Just to name a few.

We had the opportunity this year to spend Thanksgiving day with my family.  We then headed up to Missoula to visit Jace's extended family.  It was a wonderful weekend and I am so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life!

Thanksgiving Day

Crafts with the girls

Shoveling snow in Missoula

View of Missoula from Papa's deck

Cousin Thomas and Jace

Towing our car up to the house... it tried hard, but just couldn't make it up the steep, snowy hills.

The cousins. Ready for some good eats from Gramma

Jace and Riley

I just love my Missoula family!!

Turkey Tourney

Yesterday was eBay's 9th Annual Turkey Bowl.  If you put football and tournament in the same sentence, you can bet your bottom dollar that we (Jace and extremely loving and supportive wife) will be there.  It was a cold 5 hours of flag football.  And when I say cold, it was COLD.  And the 50 mph winds didn't help much... but like I said, I am a very, VERY loving and supportive wife and I stayed the whole time Jace's team played. Most of the other wives left early, so that makes me pretty much the coolest wife ever. That's just what I've been told.

Bonus: eBay fed us breakfast AND lunch and had an endless supply of hot chocolate :) Which made it bearable.

Unfortunately, Jace's team didn't make it to the final bracket in the tournament, (I was secretly okay with that, seeing as we would've had to stay another hour or so in that dreaded wind if they continued. And I already could no longer feel my extremities) but they played so hard and did really well regardless! 

Wife Of The Year

Did I mention that eBay is pretty cool?  We are feeling very blessed and are extremely grateful for the opportunity Jace has been given to work for them.

Hungry

The thought of having a baby has always been something on my mind.  I am a woman for goodness sake.  It's my divine nature to want to be a mother and give life.  But other thoughts have pushed their way forward... "We're not financially ready."  "We need to be more established and successful."  "I'm scared."  "Having a baby will change our lives forever."  "We're enjoying out time together, just the two of us."  All of those thoughts are legit I suppose.  I mean, it's normal to factor in all types of concerns when one is considering making a life altering decision. Right?

Right.  

Nevertheless, I'm hungry.  So ridiculously baby hungry I don't know what to do with myself.

Every magazine I see in the grocery store, pictures another celebrity's 'baby bump'.  Every fast Sunday (it seems) there's another baby blessing... sometimes multiple ones.  Every Facebook status is announcing the exciting news of the 'new arrival' of their first, their third.  It's all around me.  Pounding into my brain.  I feel like the world is screaming, "DO IT!"  And it seems like that's all I can think about... wanting to be pregnant.  Wanting to have a baby.

Jace and I have a list.  A long one.  Consisting of 'oh so darling' names that we wish for our future children.  I find myself really, really wanting to put that list to good use.  And as of late, I've come to the realization that we will never be 'financially ready' and that yes, 'having a baby will change everything' and that it's completely normal to be scared out of my mind.  

But when?  When do we make that life altering decision?  That is the question that remains unanswered. 

Double Date

Friday Night.  MacDonald's.  Happy Meals.  Wal-Mart.  Sponge Bob.  Jammies.  Sleeping Beauty.  Cookies.  Coloring.  Diary Of A Wimpy Kid.  

All of that + this dynamic duo:

= one fun date night :)

Downward Slope

 Jace's birthday last weekend put him past the Quarter of a Century mark and on to the big 26... Now, 26 isn't that old, but once past 25, you're now considered "Late 20's".  That's huge.  Especially because it puts you one year closer to 30 :) Despite the fact that we (meaning ME) have found TWO gray hairs on his head in the last month, he's handling this whole getting older thing... pretty well.

At the Montana-Weber State football game with the Helean's.  Sad to say, Montana lost :( Not the outcome you want for a Montana boy on his birthday.

The weather was cooperative, UNTIL the last quarter. Then we broke out the good old ponchos. 

Dinner at one of our favorites, Texas Roadhouse.

Did I mention that I'm sure happy that this kid was born 26 years ago? He makes a pretty cool roommate :)

Gettin Crafty

I saw this on Studio 5 and thought I'd give it a whirl... 

Fun, Simple and Classy. And it sure beats the mess of carving!!

Happy Halloweening.

"Flyin" Solo

The annual Park Family Halloween Party took place Wednesday night.  Despite the fact that I was husband-less, it was a great evening!  My family rocks. Enough said.

Great minds think alike :)