Remembering Kira Bagira Halona

In loving memory of my baby girl, Kira "Bagira". I cannot believe it has been two years. I still miss her SO very much and I know I always will. The emptiness of her being gone will never fade. I am so incredibly grateful that I had her for 10 amazing years. Kira was so smart, always made me laugh, gave me comfort when I was sick or sad, and stuck with me for some of the most difficult and confusing times of my life. She left me only when she knew that John would take it from where she left off. Kira will forever hold a special place in my heart that no one or no thing could ever replace. I love you Kira!

Day 3 of my weekend alone - Hiking

Sunday was my last day alone. I slept in, and then laid in bed watching HGTV & Style with my coffee. Around 11:30, Homer J & I went for a hike with Lynzie, Chevy, and Polly (Grandma Rasmussen's dog) up Millcreek Canyon for some much needed exercise & fresh air. It turned out to be a pretty warm day and we laughed as Homer J laid down, superman style, in the water to cool off. All the fall colors were out and it was a fun hike and the kids were pretty good....except miss Chevy Lyn always wanted to be in front of the pack, LOL. Silly Chev :)

After the hike, I went home long enough to change and then headed down to my step-dad, Kent's in Santaquin to celebrate my step-mom, Suzanne's birthday. I kind of wanted to stay home and get things done around the house that I neglected to do during the weekend, but I also really wanted to see my family that I don't get to see very often. I had alot of fun and I'm glad I went. By the time I got home, John was back and we had a quiet evening watching tv before he passed out at 8pm. Poor thing was worn out. I enjoyed my weekend, even though I didn't get to do a lot of things I wanted to around the house. However, I got to watch a ton of chick flicks and spent time hanging out with my different family members & Lynzie. But I'm glad John & Amos are back! My bed was pretty empty & lonely without them :)

Day 2 of my weekend alone - Who wants Pie!

Saturday morning, Homer & I went to Lynzie's house to make Peach Pies!! She has a few peach trees so we decided to make use of them and bake some pies while Homer & Chevy played around. Lynzie also happened to be dog-sitting Grandma Rasmussen's little dog, Pollyanna, and Marq's parents dog, Ricky, so we had a houseful of dogs.
The pie recipe we used was her grandma's. I have never made a pie before so I was a little nervous about screwing it up. Especially since I've heard pies are kind of hard to make. They took longer to make than I expected, but boy were they worth it! They turned out SO good and we were very proud of ourselves! Better than Marie Calendars ;) Next pie project....Apple!

After pie making, I spent the rest of the afternoon shopping! I went to Tai Pan, Barnes & Noble, Petsmart, & Wal-Mart. When I got home I made dinner and watched more chick flicks..."Made of Honor"; "50 First Dates"; "Steel Magnolias"; and "The Little Mermaid".

Day 1 of my weekend alone - Stampin Up!

Last Friday morning John took Amos to go Grouse hunting with his dad for the weekend. So for 3 days it was just me & my Homer J :) I wanted to get some things done around the house and also enjoy some time alone while I had it by watching as many chick flicks as possible! So that night, I went to my "Stampin Up" club at Desiree's house. I had SO much fun making projects and hanging out with 3 of my little sister's (Re', Gia & Melody) my dad, my step-mom Pam, and some other girls. And of course I got to hold my new little nephew, Hurley :) He's already starting to get bigger and filling out like a cabbage patch ;) Such a cutie!! When I got home, I made some popcorn and watched "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" & "The Wedding Planner" in bed :) John hates it when I eat anything in bed and is not very fond of chick flicks, so I thoroughly enjoyed myself! I didn't get to sleep until about 1:30am. Mostly because Homer J had a hard time going to sleep, he kept wanting to go outside. I think he was looking for his brother Amos :(

CATS

Thursday night I went to see the play "CATS" at the Capitol Theatre with my mom, my sister Leigh and my brother Mike. It was part of my mom's birthday present. First we went to Benihana's for dinner and then we went to the play. I was so excited....until I sat down in my seat. The woman sitting in front of me had the most GINORMOUS hairdo I've ever seen. It was like Priscilla Presley was sitting in front of me with her beehive! I couldn't see a thing and I had to keep leaning & tilting my head to see at least a portion of the stage. I finally was able to find a position so that I could see. Half way through the play it was intermission, and when Act II started, the woman with the big football helmet of hair, switched seats with her husband and she was now in front of my sister...LOL! Luckily my sister had an aisle seat and could lean way over to see the stage. We found ourselves randomly laughing about her hair throughout the rest of the play, LOL. Besides that one obstacle, it was a great play and we all had a good time.

Mom's bday at Mirror Lake

Sunday we took the boys and went to Mirror Lake up in the Uintah's with my family to celebrate my mama's birthay :) Even my brother in Logan brought his family and it was SO fun to have everyone together. I prepared a picnic for all 17 OF US with hoagies, fruit bowl, veggies w/dip, chips and I even made a cake. It was a lot of work but my mama is worth it! After we ate, we went fishing and walked around the lake. Half way around the lake, we let the dogs run around and play in the water. Amos had SO much fun learning how to swim with my brother's GINORMOUS Newfoundland, Tinkerbell, who is 2 times Amos' size. They would chase each other all around until someone threw the ball back into the water and then they would swim after it. My nephews also had some fun playing in the water and I enjoyed watching all 8 of them play around & fish. After awhile some of us walked around the entire lake. It turned out to be a beautiful day and I think my mom had a good time. Happy Birthday mom! You're the best mom anyone could hope for, you're our inspiration, our guiding light, our strongest supportor, and my best friend. I Love you!

Greek Festival...Opa!

Last Saturday evening we went to the annual Greek Festival downtown with Marq & Lynzie. I have never been to the festival but Lynzie is always raving about it and I have wanted to go for several years to get a taste of the Greek culture and of the course, their food! There were a ton of people and we waited in line for quite awhile to get the food but it was a lot of fun and I'm glad we went. The Loukoumades definately made it worth while :) They are these doughnut things with honey & cinnamon...yummo! We all had fun and can't wait until next year! Opa!!

Silly Homer J

Homer J is such a funny little guy and always makes me laugh. The other day I was sitting on the couch and he jumped up and sat on the top of the couch behind me as usual. That's his favorite spot because he can look out the window. I turned around to pet him and noticed something red under his chin on his fur. It was a piece of gummy candy!!! I started laughing and grabbed my camera. After I took a picture I pulled it off his fur and he took it from my hand and ate it! I guess he was just saving it for later...LOL. Silly Homer J :)