So we walk into this ice cream shoppe...

Here's a quandry- what do you do when you have a rebellious teen who wants to express his/her individuality, spread the invariable wings, as they say, stand out from the crowd, be his/ her own person, march to the beat of their own drummer (I could go on and on)...and change their natural-born hair color?? Not with sunkissed highlights, or even subtle streaks a few shades darker-I'm talking a complete and total revamp, something outrageous, something...purple??

What happens when it is not an experimental teen, but someone's sweet ice cream buying and sharing gramma? Do you think she knows her hair is purple? Do those around her know? Is she excited for Halloween and trying out a new "kid-pleasing" look? Is she a trend-setter? Did she let a loved one try out a new color technique that went a bit awry? So many questions... perhaps she is one of those red hat society ladies, I do think they do the red and purple- maybe she is running for chapter president? If she is running, I think she should be the winner because I see 110% commitment here!!

(*nice gray-sweatered shoulder of mine in the right corner and definitely a love/ not love relationship with the cell phone cam, but I don't know if this sight could've been believed without the benefit of modern technology)...

Just nice...

Cael just loves to demonstrate his gentle, loving nature in the backyard- nice pumpkin...

nice kitty...

nice Zorro...

nice flower...

and who's coming to your house for dinner??

My cute neighbor Shawna....

Life is so precious and can change so fast. Last Tuesday night, I was in the car getting ready to take Curtis to a Stake Youth Fireside on Chastity/ Morality. My cute neighbor Shawna pulled in as I was getting ready to pull out- we smiled and waved like always, like we have done almost every day for the past 5 years.

At 5:00 am on Wednesday morning, Paul's cell phone rang (I don't know that any call at 5 am is ever good). It was Mike, Shawna's husband, calling-he had woken up a little bit earlier to get a drink and rolled over to find that Shawna was not breathing. Our cute friend and sweet neighbor had passed away peacefully in her sleep.

Shawna was a miracle girl. A little over 2 years ago, Shawna suffered a major heart attack after having some chest pains as she changed her baby's diaper one evening. The ambulance came, and Shawna crashed once on the ride to the hospital, then 2 more times after that. She never should have made it, but prayers are answered, miracles happen, and our friend, Shawna has been proof of that.

Shawna loved these last two years. She got to be a stay-at-home mom to her 2 boys for most of that time and she loved it! She and Mike and her mom took the boys to Disneyland last year and had the time of their lives. The love that you feel in her home is tangible, and the pictures that she has left are great evidence of that.

My girls loved Shawna and loved to go chat with her and she was always so gracious with them. Their school pictures are on her fridge. My 3-year-old, Cael, is super buddies with Mike and Shawna's 3-year-old, Zander.

This week has been a sad one. We miss our friend. We weep for Mike, Hunter, Zander, and Candy who have lost their wife, mom, and daughter. We miss our friend.

The thought is always there to live like today was your last or what would you do if you had one more day-cute Shawna got 2 bonus years and she lived them that way, such an example. I hope her boys can always realize how much their mom loved them.

I love my neighborhood-people have been wonderfully supportive during this sad, sad time. It is amazing how tragedies can bring out the best in people, and how the tender mercies of our Heavenly Father abound. During all the commotion on Wednesday morning, with fireman, policemen, neighbors, etc. at the house, the boys stayed asleep. I don't know how they did, but they did. Their world completely changed when they woke up, but their mom can stay in their minds the way she was when she kissed them goodnight.

Shawna was loved and she will be missed incredibly. I am so thankful to have known her and I am so thankful for my own life, everyday...

Do you rememba the very first week of Septemba?

So what do you do when Monday is a school holiday? Have a wild and crazy cousin swap/sleepover, of course!! The kiddies absolutely lived it up, all I can say is that a week later we still can't find the downstairs tv remote-tragic...
We've got spirit, yes we do(you know your neighbors are good when they can hook your kids up with orange hair spray)...
Kylie's 5th grade class buddy hooked her up with these sweet specs (day #2 with the school spirit) and how could you not want to be a safe pedestrian or say no to drugs or wear a bike helmet or whatever the event is that we are spirited about-have I mentioned that we've got spirit, yes we do??
So what do you do when it's 9:00 pm on Saturday night (and completely dark) and you hear unfamiliar barking on your front porch and you open the door to find this cute little puffy puff-ball just sitting there on the welcome mat? Let's just say that the kids had the best non-sleeping night ever with our new little puppy pal and hoped that she could just stay with us forever! Alas, it was not to be and it turned out that little "Breeze" here had slipped out of her home and had come to see us from 2 streets away! The kids were really hoping that somehow, magically she could just be part of our crew, but she already has a wonderful home and is now back with her real family. I guess we'll just stick with the 5 kids and cat and dog that we already have going for us...
And who doesn't love a good daddy-daughter luau? You, too, can feel like you'd fit right in on the Big Island, just like Mr. Goff here-stop by your local DI and get yourself hooked up with an amazing shirt...ALOHA!!