Instagram: November 2013

Kendree's dream came true tonight.  We watched "baby" Todd and because her face is the one he was most familiar with (due to play time at Gma's house) when he was upset he didn't want me, or Ronnie, he ONLY wanted Kendree. #lovestomothereveryone

Our puppy Devynee. #shedoesthisallthetime

The Happiest Place on Earth! #immoreexcitedthanthekids

Yesterday was fantastic!  Characters met, rides ridden, magic enjoyed.  the kids did awesome and lasted from 9-7, then went back to grandma's and the adults closed the park (not literally, but 11:20 feels like closing to this 30 year old). #lovedeveryminute #nowthekidsknowthemagicthatisdisney #evenronwasreminded

Texture Turkey - completed! #kindergartenrocks

These sweet, brand new shoes were free at a clothing exchange.  Now Kendree is counting down until they will fit her. #tootallforchurch #lookslikeineedtogosomewherefancy

All week I've been documenting exactly what we watch on TV for the Nielsen ratings. Enlightening. #disneyjuniorshouldbepayingMEmoney

I meant to come out and take pictures of the rabbit tracks, and in the meantime two other animals came out to play.  Turns out the last two are cuter...

The finished product looks just like a 3 year old did it, but she sits in one location and is happy as a lark for 20+ minutes. #itakewhaticanget

Happy Birthday Devynee!

See this? It's my itinerary for a trip to Vegas with the best roommates ever. I am ridiculously excited. #ifonlyididnthavetowaitthreemonths

Handmade ornament of 2013. 1 down, 10 to go... #familyornamentexchange

Thanks for inviting me to pie day @ohmyhannah1! It was so fun and Ron will love the apple (he better).

Thanksgiving with my little fam. #lovethem

Dad doesn't have the inborn fears that Mom does, so these two monkeys are helping put up Christmas lights.

24 wrapped Christmas books ready for tomorrow!

Watching the Cheyenne Christmas Parade from inside Daddy's warm office.  The only way to go.

Loosing umph

The end of NaBloPoMo is always torture for me.

I like to talk, to catch up on this blog of mine, etc., but no one needs me to post this much! :)

So, in the interest of keeping this short and sweet, let's talk turkey. 

Left over turkey. 

Do you eat it on a sandwich with mayo?

Or make sure you have some Durkee sauce?

I prefer mine with A.1. sauce.

Go ahead, judge me, but it is delicious. 

Giving Thanks

I love the idea of this holiday.  A day to be with family. A day to think about all that we have been given. A day to love.

I am so grateful for all that I have been given. I'm grateful for a loving father in heaven and my personal Savior.  I'm grateful for Ron and my three beautiful children.  I'm so thankful that I am blessed to be a mother and be at home with my children.  I have been blessed with a wonderful family and married into an equally wonderful family. I have a warm house, good food and more than I can ask for.

In short, I am blessed and today, I am publicly acknowledging that.

Ron + KaLee

Recently, I was asked about the story of Ron and I.  I couldn't remember what I had documented on here, so I did a little digging.

You can read the very brief story here:  http://kaleeronnie.blogspot.com/2008/02/3-years.html

And more about our wedding day here: http://kaleeronnie.blogspot.com/2009/02/four-years-down-eternity-to-go.html

Then, about three years ago, I told the long version here: http://kaleeronnie.blogspot.com/2011/02/6-years.html

I went through my journals to see if there was any additional information worth sharing [Ron just informed me that no one cares about this, so you can stop reading now]. I did write in my journal every Sunday (roughly) from 9th grade all the way through college, so there is some good stuff in there.

Ron is mentioned in October of 2002 when I was dating his roommate.  We went on a double-date or two during that month, etc.

Then, he isn't mentioned again until the summer of 2003, when I flew to San Diego to visit my roommate Cheryl and we drove up to Huntington Beach, stayed at his house and went to a dance, the beach and other general fun.

Fast-forward a few months and he takes me out for my birthday dinner in 2003 and gives me a charm for my italian charm bracelet (it had a heart with the words "best friend" across it).  Everyone say it with me now, aaahhhhh......

For the next 9 months Ron is mentioned here and there with different group outings, or hanging out.  Then, there is a two week break in my journal writing and all of the sudden we are dating. :)

Basically, our relationship came down to guts.

Guts when I asked him if we could date in the summer of 2003 (let's remember he shut me down) and guts when he told me his feelings in the fall of 2004.

Ultimately, while we loved each other as friends, the truth of the matter is that we would not have been able to stay at that same level of friendship forever.  Eventually, if we didn't get together, one of us would have gotten a boyfriend/girlfriend and our relationship would have changed anyway.

Obviously, I'm glad it worked out the way it did and as I read my journal I can see that several other relationships didn't work out that for all intents and purposes, should have.  The Lord guides and directs us and allows us to make decisions.  If we listen to His promptings, we will be blessed.

Oh, the Random

Today was a day where I felt very busy, but couldn't really tell you exactly how that busy energy was spent.

I ran errands (final food items for Thanksgiving), chatted on the phone with family and friends, did dishes and general house cleaning, sent emails and worked on projects for work, and started making my handmade ornaments for Ronnie's family exchange.

Man, now that I type that out, maybe I do know why I felt busy! :)

To make this post as not-boring as possible, let's have a look at that ornament, shall we?

My internal "Christmas Season" clock is seriously messed up with the late Thanksgiving this year, so I'm trying to be proactive about some things in the hope that I will be less crazy later.

We will see how that plays out.

Family Pictures

When Grandma and Grandpa Cali visited way back in August/September, we had Grandpa take some family pictures.

Here are a few of my favorites:

You'll be seeing this one in our Christmas cards.

Stretch break!

All three of these faces deserve to be documented.

Devynee mid-tantrum.

Ahhhhh....

We had to document the guests as well!

Devynee's Party

We had our local family over for a party on Devynee's birthday.  We started the festivities at 10 a.m. so that we would be done in time for a few different football games on television.  This would also hypothetically allow the birthday girl to get a nap (this did not happen).

Shortly after everyone arrived, we got the present opening underway...

 Here's all of the loot.  This girl was spoiled rotten, but loved every minute of it.  When she was all done opening presents, she kept on asking if there were more (I'm not sure what that says about my parenting, exactly...).

 She was just so tired!

We then fed everyone hot-diggity-dogs in keeping with our slight Minnie Mouse theme and afterwards did cake!

 I did my traditional, no-fuss, round cake with circle roses and some toys stuck in the top.  Easy as it gets.

The lighting in this picture is horrible, but I found this darling banner online and made it in under an hour.  My kind of project.

General balloon happiness.

After cake and ice cream, the boys settled in to watch football.

Adam, Alicia and baby Todd printed some documents,

Sarah spent time trying to text while entertaining the birthday girl,

And a blurry mom and I finished cleaning up.

Later on, the girls had to try on their jewelry sets - beeee-uuuuu-tiful!

It was a great day and we are so glad that some family was able to join us!

Happy 2nd Birthday Devynee!

Let's take a look back at this little one in pictures, shall we?

Newborn:

1 week:

1 month:

Blessing Day:

2 months:

3 months:

4 months:

5 months:

6 months:

7 months:

8 months:

9 months:

10 months:

11 months:

1 year:

13 months:

14 months:

15 months:

16 months:

17 months:

18 months:

19 months:

20 months:

21 months:

22 months:

23 months:

Today - at 2 years old!