The House that built me.....

Emotions were close to the surface as I pulled into the driveway. This would probably be the last time I came to visit this old home. It was more than just a house to me. It was my grandparents home. The home my father and his brother and sister were raised in. And since my grandparents death my Aunt and Uncle had been living in it. But it was my house to.......it was the house that built me.

There were so many lessons I learned coming to this home. I loved going to visit my grandparents. When I lived on the outer islands (Hawaii , Molokai) Mom and Dad would let me come visit Oahu and stay with Grandma and Grandpa. When we moved back to Oahu our visits were almost every sunday for Grandpas dinners......sometimes it was just sandwiches, chips and yummy bread and butter pickles. It always tasted the best at their home. I learned how important family was in this home.

I learned to pray at this house. When I would spend the night Grandma would always come upstairs and tuck me in. She would pray with me. Even when I was a teenager she would still do this.

I learned about Jesus in this house. Grandma would always bear here testimony to me and how important the gospel of Jesus Christ is. She caught me I was a Child of God. I was important.

I learned how to cardboard slide at this house. Grandma would take me to mid pacific hills just a walk away and we would tackle the large hills. Grandma would even do it. It still brings a smile to my face. I learned you can have fun at any age. We all are still kids at heart.

So many lessons, so many memories, so much love from this home. It is hard for me to say goodbye.

I can still see my grandmother standing in the front window waving goodbye to us. She did that every time we left her home.

I am grateful for this house that built me.

What every girl needs....a really awesome camera bag!

Yes I really need an awesome camera bag! Epiphanie Camera bag is THE ONE I want. I think all my girlfriends need one. Make sure you tell your husbands I said that.

Even better tho is a chance to win one for free........ so check out these cute things and enter yourself in "Phatstraps" giveaway......http://phatstraps.com/phatstraps-giveaway.

And hey if you do not win remember .......I have justified it for

you to purchase on because EVERYONE needs have a cute bag to carry their camera in!

Christmas Traditions

I love traditions! Especially the Christmas traditions that we have formed in my family. These are things we look forward to each year. The traditions that we reflect back on year after year. Christmas Traditions can be valuable lessons on what the focus of Christmas should really be for. It also brings fun, great memories and unity to a family. This is why I love our Christmas Traditions. Below are a few of my favorites I look forward to each year.
Christmas Eve is such a blast since Mom and Dad moved to Arizona. They live only a mile away so Getting together happens often. The White Elephant Gift Exchange is so hilarious each year. Of course one gift is always re gifted and shows up each year. Our re gift is a Filipino man riding a water buffalo. Grandpa and Grandma Morgado had this in their collection. I am assuming that they got it when they lived in the Philippines. This year when it showed up as one of the White Elephant gifts it had an extra special reminder for me......My eldest Son Rian is on a Church Mission in the Philippines. It got "stolen' from each other (that is how the game goes) until finally Rylee ended up with it. It is her prized possession now. I wonder if next year it will show up as one of the gifts.....hahaha. The evening always ends with a birthday Cake for Baby Jesus. The youngest member in the family gets to blow out the candle. Ethan, my cute nephew, had the honor.

My children have been taking piano from miss Julie for 12 years now. WOW! Rylee and Kati are still in it and Brock took on the challenge a year ago to join them and learn. So going to the piano recital is so great to see the progress of everyone.

Decorating Mom and Dad's Christmas tree is a blast from the past! Putting up all the old ornaments from when I was a child is so much fun. Plus seeing the ones that my great, great grandmother made brings family to the center of the holidays.

Christmas Jelly has been a tradition in my family for about 9 years now. This recipe was not handed down thru generations but actually from the Schwan guy that delivers ice cream to your door. I saw it in one of their pamphlets and started making it. It became a hit to give to family and friends for Christmas. Every year we go with our dear friends the Wilsons and deliver 'Bread and Jelly' to our neighbors as we are caroling. So instead of figgy pudding our neighbors get brought -Bread and Jelly! A much better treat.

The Lights at the Mesa Temple are always so wonderful to see. This year our teens helped put up some of the lights so it was extra special for them. A display of different nativities from around the world were in the visitors center. And seeing several from the Philippines made me miss Rian even more. My friend Cherie was in town visiting from Atlanta so she was able to join this evening with us. Also the Bizzette family and several of the kids friends joined us.

Turkey Day...Oh what a day we had

Our Turkey day was filled with Thanksgiving, fun and a ton of food. We had 43 people for Thanksgiving. We had a ton of family come from out of state to celebrate in Arizona. Places like.....Seattle, California, Colorado and Hawaii. It was one of my favorite Thanksgivings. After all it is all about family and the memories for me. My Moms cousins (Andersons and Mckenzies) all came with their children and Grandchildren. My Fathers Brother and his family joined us again....which my kids always love to see Jessie. Jessie even taught the 'Haoles' how to dance the Tahitian. THAT was a site to see. If you look at the photos above you can see my brother really getting into it. And Uncle Stan and Aunt Candace are putting some groove on.
Dad cooked 3 turkeys, Kathy made her homemade stuffing (amazing!), Lana made homemade cranberry sauce, Ada made Cobbler with blackberries from Kentucky. Oh I can go on and on about the fabalous food we had. Thanks to all who brought food!
Getting to know my cousins better was such a highlight for me. I also enjoyed the stories Uncle Stan told about my great grandfather Harrington. My cousin Colleen had the cutest 5 boys you have ever seen who swam in my freezing cold pool.....thats what you get for having thick blood and living in Colorado. Sarah kept busy playing with JJ and Tims darling two children. Everyone got some loving. I am so grateful that everyone made the effort to come out to Arizona. My cup runneth over with gratitude and love for my family.
My AMAZING, FABALOUS, Family at Thanksgiving!

A Labor Day weekend.

I have finally gotten a chance to post on my blog. So many events have happend but I thought posting the Labor Day weekend fun would be first on my list. We had the Rollender, Gray, Wilson and Olmstead families over for a barbaque. (Plus the mass of teens that came with it.) We had a great time visiting with some of our friends. We are sure blessed.

Cody's Prom

Cody and Alyssa Marcinko

22 awesome kids and a night of fun! Cody really has a great group of friends. They have good values, standards and are a ton of fun!!! A bunch of us moms put together an incredible meal for a dinner to remember. The Jarvis family was kind to let us use their resort....I mean back yard. Robert Olmstead took prom pics for the kids and James's dad cooked the steak....

Happy National Scrapbooking day!

Some of my favorite artists.."the ettes"...are offering wonderful savings on their website ! I got 5 new scrapbook pages done with freebies that were offered.