So this was my friend and neighbor, Norma's little girl, Kiana, who turned 3. Clowns, playing at the park, and pizza and cake...what more could a kid want.
Clowns...
Face painting
Well, since my husband lives in Panama now,( he wanted me to correct this to say that he works in Panama, but if he stays there for weeks on end, I would say that he lives there), I get to be a single Mom, good thing I have so many wonderful friends and neighbors to help me...or I would be way more crazy than already am...Here are some pics from our fun Halloween night party at the Graziani home. Collette, my friend always has fun parties and invites us so we come and eat too much and leave her house a huge mess, and for some reason she keeps asking us to come back. But the kids had a lot of fun there and got too much candy that they all ate entirely the next day...NICE. We were all dressed in black for some reason, but Elise doesn't like princesses anymore she has informed me, so she was a witch, but wanted her face painted and Kade wanted to be scary...but they were pretty cute...even for scary Halloween stuff, and Emily was a kitty...too cute
Well, Coartney worked her hair magic again and the result is that I am a little less blond, a little shorter (hair wise=) and I feel like a diva mama again. How cute is this hair cut?
Well, it has been quite an extraordinary few weeks. When my Dad called to tell me that he was diagnosed with liver cancer, this pass May...he started the conversation by saying..."I have bad news." I don't think I really understood the impact that those 4 words would have had on him and on my family. I asked him " what does that mean?" and he had said, "its not good"...you don't ever want to think that it is not good, especially when it is concerning your parent or a family member, but although the disease is not good, the man was and is...Because of the tenderness of my Father in Heaven, working through the angels that are my friends, I was able to be with my father as he passed on through to the next part of his life. All my siblings and my sweet mother were at his side as he took his last breathe. We were able to laugh and cry together as we remembered our father. I saw changes in the hearts of my brothers that could have only happened because of this experience. I was able to learn more about the type of man that my father was in the acts he did for others. We were able to have the "redneck funeral" that he would have always wanted. But as we stood over the grave where we said goodbye to his body, the thoughts that we could and will see him again spoke peace to our hearts because we know the truth. That was one of the things that my dad always said to me..."Know the truth and the truth shall make you free." I may not have understood exactly what he meant by that until I watched some suffering more because of our loss, because they understood not the truth.
Another truth that I know is that I would not have been able to experience all these things without the love, prayers, support, and service given to me by all of my wonderful friends. The Savior said..." Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." I have truly felt that love from each of you, my friends. Thank you doesn't seem able to cover how I have felt because of each of you...but Thank You. My dad was a true example to me of the kind of friend that I would want to be. He was able to make and keep friends for a lifetime. He had friends from his childhood that came to visit him when he was sick, that were uplifted by Dad's strength, although they were there to strengthen him, and it is my prayer that I can be that kind of friend to each of you, because that is what you have been to me.
Here is the program from My Dad's service that I think is neat and you can laugh at the funny, big hair pictures if you like...
Yesterday, we had a bit of a shock when a letter that was addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Brent Johnson was delivered to my parents house, and thinking it was a typo, my Mom opened it and saw that it was actually a copy of a marriage certificate for Brent and Laura. They had eloped on August 19th and are now happily married. Laura, I knew when she was a child, because I had dated her older brother when I was a teenager, well when I was back in PA, I met up with Laura, Brent had met her and they ended up really liking each other, so much so that they just went and got married and now he can take care of her when he has to leave for Iraq in October. I am quite happy for them, although it was a bit of a shock, I love them both.
So, I sold our one and only TV this week, and it has been kind of an adjustment, but actually really good. The kids have only said they were bored once, and they seemed to be doing just fine to life without a TV. It is quite amazing actually, when that option is taken away, what kids will do, and even myself, I find more constructive things to do, rather than just vegging...anyway this morning the kids found a new way to entertain themselves with a mattress slide down the stairs, so I had to get a picture of it and maybe some Mom's wouldn't let their kids slide down the stairs on their mattress but I figured they weren't fighting and they are learning to work together and using their imagination...
