My Ode to Patty!

I'm at my friend Patty's and she has reminded me that it has been 3 months since I've updated this blog!! okay so this is for her! Of course she really knows everything I'd put on here because we've talked non stop for 2 days!! I've loved every minute of it! So instead of telling you some new things in the life of my family.(I promise I'll do it in another post) I thought I'd tell you all about her.

Patty is the kind of friend I always wish I could be. She's amazing. She's the kind of friend who always calls first, and doesn't make you feel bad because you didn't call. One way I like to describe her is Patty sticks. When you let her into your heart and your life she's there to stay! You couldn't shake her if you tried, but the point is you wouldn't try. You'd never want to lose a friend like her.

She's thoughtful in the little ways that make the biggest difference. She sends little cards, or housewarming gifts, little things that others don't think of. She never forgets a birthday or an important event!

Patty is the best kind of sounding board. She listens when you need her too, and she gives sound advice when you ask for it. But most of all she empathizes. She knows how you feel and recognizes and understands what you need.

And her best quality (in my humble opinion) is she says it like it is. You always know where you stand, and I love that about her! We all need someone in our life to tell it to us straight, and she does but she does it with love, because she doesn't like to hurt people.

My friend Patty has always been there for me. She's helped me through some rough patches in my life and I'm grateful everyday that she's my friend. But truly she's more than just a friend. She's amazing

She has two of the most beautiful girls I've ever met, and she's an amazing mom. I know she worries about being a good mom (like we all do) but she doesn't need to worry, she's incredible. She's such an example to me, of a good mother, and a good friend. She cares so much about others, I wanted her to know how much I care about her. I love her so much! I only wish we lived closer!!!!

I would wish that everyone could have a friend like Patty. Even if she were my only friend I would be truly blessed.

I love you Patty! Thanks for everything you do for me!

This picture was taken a few years ago, but it's still one of my favorites!

Something to blog

So I've been on a blogging kick. Not only have I blogged but I set up a family blog for Andrew's family and I learned how to import different backgrounds and add music. It's been kind of fun!

Today I have a sick little girl. She has whatever I got earlier in the week. The only good thing about it is she is a snuggler when she is sick. And because she's a girl I can get away with snuggling her and watching Disney princess movies. Like Beauty and the Beast, which is one of my all time favorites but I never watch it. Parker would never watch it with me because it was a "girl" movie.

In fact one time I asked him if he'd watch a movie with me and he knows me well enough that he said as long as it's not The Little Mermaid.

Oh well, now I have a little girl that I can watch them with. Of course the only time she'll sit still long enough to watch a movie is when she's sick. But maybe that will be the thing she remembers. When she was sick, mom would snuggle her and watch Princess movies. It wouldn't be a bad memory to have.

If anyone reads this let me know what you think about the new layout and colors and stuff!

Grandmother's Funeral

We did have a sad event recently. My Grandmother on my dad's side passed away. She was my last living grandparent, and I'm going to miss her a great deal. I do know that she is now with my Granddad and I'm grateful for the plan of salvation and the knowledge that I have of it's truthfullness. Because I know that I will see her again, and I know that she is happy.

We had an interesting time getting to Colorado for the funeral. My sister Rachel and I flew out of Kansas City and took Bailey with us. Our flight out of KC sat on the tarmac for 2 and 1/2 hours. By the time we were in the air Bailey had had enough. She screamed at the top of her lungs for 10 minutes until she fell asleep!

But we missed our connection in Dallas to Grand Junction! The next flight didn't leave until 5:30n pm Which would get us in to GJ 7 hours after we were suppose to be there!!! YUCK!!!

But I guess if you're stuck in an airport for 6 hours with a not quite 2 year old. Dallas is the place to do it! I almost started crying when I saw that they had a play area for kids! Bailey was a trooper and she loved the escalator, we went up and down probably 50 times, and each time she said weeeeee!

I could not have done it without Rachel though! I'm so glad she was there, she's amazing!

Although the trip was for a sad reason It was reallyn great to see all my family! Some I haven't seen in years!! Out of 29 grandchildren there were 21 there. And lots of greatgrandchildren. I just want to say how grateful I am for all of my family immediate and extended. I'm truly blessed to come from such a good family!

I also got to spend time with my best friend Kim!! I miss her so much and it was great to get to spend a couple of days with her!

We did get home without incident (thankfully) and I'm really glad we got to go!

Here are some fun pictures of the whole group and the grandkids!

Key West

So the Monday after Christmas, Andrew and I got to go to Key West with his firm. Grandma and Grandpa DeLaMare watched the kids!! THANK YOU MOM AND DAD!!!!

We flew into Ft. Lauderdale and drove down to to the Keys it was a beautiful drive when we got to the Keys. The 7 mile bridge was really neat! It was however a lot longer of a drive than we anticipated but we had fun!!

Andrew had to be in meetings two of the days we were there, so if you ask him I had more fun then he did!!

This was the view from our hotel room!

I had 3 goals while I was in Key West. The first was to run on the beach, the second was to spend one whole day laying on the beach, and the third was to watch the sunrise. I'm proud to say I accomplished all 3. I don't have pictures of running but here are some of the beach I laid on.

These are the palm trees I was laying under! Honestly I was in heaven it was so great. The resort where Andrew's meetings were and where we laid on the beach was a full service resort and at 2:00pm servers brought around popcicles on a silver platter! It was so cool!

Thursday morning, Andrew and I and one of the other attorneys Kathleen and her husband Jeff, got up and watched the sunrise and then ate breakfast on the water! It was beautiful and peaceful!

Needless to say we had a great time and it was really hard to leave 80 degree weather and come back to 10 degree weather and snow. But it was great! The last pictures are of Andrew and I one on the pier, behind us is the southern most part of the USA and if you look hard on a clear day you can see Cuba, or so they say! And one at night on the wharf close to the resturuant we ate in!

Our little snow bunny!

Here in Missouri it snowed 8 inches on Christmas day! It was incredible. I guess it's been 50 years since it has snowed on Christmas day! The kids loved it. Andrew however did not since he had to shovel. I even helped him and there was just so much snow. And then it seemed like it kept snowing!

Finally this week (the second week in January) it has warmed up enough that things are starting to melt! It's been a crazy winter so far.

Here's pictures of Bailey all dressed up for the snow!

When I blog I really blog!! So I ran a 5K in October and loved every minute of it! Now I'm addicted to running! I've been running about 20 miles a week since then. And I'm going to run a 10 k in June and a half Marathon next October.

For someone who has NEVER enjoyed running this is a BIG deal. I actually really enjoy it. And a great benefit is I've lost 12 pounds since the beginning of November!! Okay that's the best benefit really. But I'm excited. I've only ran 5 miles at a time so far, so I need to keep working to increase that but I'll get there. Anyone who has any running expertise please feel free to give me some advice.

Now I'm going to be teaching a triathlon class at the YMCA on Fridays. That should be fun. And then we'll do an indoor sprint triathlon in March! Who would have thought?

Here's some pictures after I completed the 5k! I did it in 29 min. My goal was under 30! And these are the girls I ran with!!

I'm reminded almost daily that I'm a horrible blogger! So I thought I'd blog! These are a few things on my mind! Just in case anyone still checks this blog!!

Life is crazy, and wonderful all at the same time! Sometimes I get so frustrated with work or people or whatever and then my son will ask me to play a simple game with him and the frustration vanishes, or my daughter will say something funny in her almost 2 year old way, or my husband will do the dishes. Isn't it great that the people around us can make our life better by simply being in our lives. I love my family. And I get so caught up sometimes in getting every thing done that I think I need to that I don't take the time to spend with those I love the most. My new vow is when Parker asks me to play a game or watch a movie with him, instead of saying after I finish the dishes or maybe after dinner, I'm going to stop what I'm doing and spend the time with the ones I love most. For a mother who really is trying to have everything done and keep everything organized this will be hard but I will try. That's what's on my mind right now!