MY WEEKEND

First off, I'm going to do this a little out of order. I'm going to start with Saturday. I spent most of the day at the boutique mentioned in the previous post. It was fun. Not as busy as I'd hoped, but still good. If anything, it was worth hanging out with Shelley all day. She's a blast to be with.


After the boutique was over I rushed home to host a combined birthday party. Actually, Mignon did all of the work - we just used my house. It was for my nephew Carter, my Erik & my Grandma Smith. It was quite the occasion since it was my Grandma's 90th! She's such an amazing women. We're still trying to decipher all of her crazy stories in life.


Yes, Erik's birthday was last Thursday. He is now 35 years old. He's getting up there & we love to tease him about it. Especially since he really doesn't care. I am blessed to have him in my life. He is wonderful. Here's just one of the many reasons why he's great & how I will now tie in my Friday night.....


We were lucky enough to go out on Friday for Erik's birthday. What does he chose to do? Go see TWILIGHT!! Gotta love that man! I thought for sure he would have picked 007, but he didn't. He was interested to see how Twilight would turn out - as well as me being absolutely giddy about it, so we went to see it. He said it was OK, of course. And I LOVED IT, of course! I'm as bad as all of the swooning teenage girls that were in the theater with us. What I loved most was the fact that people were cheering & screaming in the movie. It was great! When does that ever happen? Plus, everyone I've talked to that has seen it said people were vocal in their showings as well. Sure, it was cheesey in parts & you could tell it was a low budget film. But, that was half the charm I thought. I'm actually leaving my home to see it again in an hour by myself because I can't stand it! I have to see it again! Another thing I loved was the fact that my sis RUBY called me last night to tell me that she might be in love with Edward. She's never read the books, but LOVED the movie as well. Thanks RUBY that really made my day! Now get reading!!

Hope everyone else had a fun weekend like I did. I can't remember the last time I had a weekend packed with excitement like this that I just had to write about. So, now, in honor of my new texting fun with REN & RUBY (We like to randomly text quotes from the movie to each other.) here's a quote for ya...
"I only said it would be better for you if we weren't friends. Not that I didn't want to." - E.C.

DON'T MISS THIS!

Make sure you're available on Saturday to come to this. You won't be disappointed I'm sure. Lots of CUTE stuff will be their! Click on the images below to make them larger if you want more info. And don't forget to come say hi to me!

TAGGED

I got tagged by Rachelle today & shockingly enough I'm actually doing it. And fast, too! I was told to post the picture in the 6th folder & 7th picture in that folder. I didn't even look to see what picture it was until it popped up, but was laughing hysterically because I got this....



Erik took pictures for Luke's landscaping company for Christmas Cards the other year to give out to their customers. So enjoy!! I now tag everyone!
P.S. - If you're looking for a landscaping company you can't find any better than these guys. Call the # in the picture!!

LESSON

Today I taught the lesson in Relief Society & the phrase "the teacher always learns more" was not a disappointment today. The lesson was on the Second Coming & I had such a hard time with this one. Upon first looking at my lesson I thought,"Oh, the Second Coming - that should be easy." UH, NO!! It was really hard for me & I can't really even say why. But, a comment was made that really struck me. I knew had to write about it so I can always remember this thought...

At the end of the lesson the Millenium was discussed. 1,000 years of peace. How wonderful would that be? Satan will be bound! I always thought that sounded just wonderful. Though it still does - something was said that struck me. I never thought about the fact that not all trials are Satan's doing. Many of them are self-inflicted. Makes sense right? So, maybe the Millenium will not be "Club Med". I always knew that the Millenium would not be a big party, but this really hit home to me since I would venture to guess that a lot of my problems & issues are self-inflicted. But, this wasn't the thought that really struck me.

It was also in the lesson that the earth will turn to glass & be as a giant Urim & Thummum. That people will be able to fully see themselves as others see them. Upon reading that I instantly got worried - being reminded that my thoughts will be an open book for everyone. But, a comment was made about a flip-side to this thought. A sister talked about how she was excited for this time so that certain family members & friends would finally have the chance to see themselves the way that others see them. In the sense, that they are such wonderful people that don't think much of themselves - people that will definitely benefit from realizing what beautiful people they are! This was awe-inspiring to me.

There are so many people in my life that I felt this definitely would apply to. I have family members that don't truly know how great they are, how much I & others look up to them. It breaks my heart to think that these people live their lives not knowing how truly loved they are. Especially since I myself get in those moods & I know how dangerous those thoughts can be. We are all loved by so many & are so blessed. We are all loved by our Heavenly Father. Even though it is hard to do - we must always remember to have the faith we need to continue through life.

To all who read this know that I LOVE YOU! Because most that read this are my friends & family. I will always be here if you need me.

QUOTE ANSWERS

Check below for the answers to the quotes. Major kudos to Valerie who got one of the hard ones - Albus Dumbledore's quote from Harry Potter. And how is it that only EmmaLee knew the easy ones? I would have thought those were a given! At any rate, good job Emm. You deserve a ride on my "shlip 'n' shlide". Shweeet!! Wow! I'm tired & getting silly - I need to go to bed....

VOTING

Cherylann - this is for you....

For the first time ever - I, Melanie, voted. I know, I know, before you all go and start yelling at me & asking "Are you American?" please know that I am a very proud American. I am, however, not a fan of politics & how they are run. Which I'm sure is another cause at some major backlash - so, no yelling at me please. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But, hey! I voted today & so did Erik. I felt it was necessary this time - mainly for Prop 102. Not to mention that the prophet asked us to do so. Here's pictures of us with our "I voted today" stickers to prove it...

HALLOWEEN 08

We had a blast this Halloween. We pulled the girls out of school early (which meant Jadyn didn't go at all) & headed down to Arivaca, AZ! Luke & Rennie invited us down for fun & excitement in a small town. There's no other way to do it - small towns know how to hook it up! Everyone in the town met at a church & had hot dogs, etc. Then, everyone piled onto a hayride. Luke had the best rig, of course, so we hopped on for the ride of a lifetime. Once we were on our "hayride" we followed a line of other trucks & made designated stops to trick-or-treat. Not until after I got yelled at for not following the rules though. Seems you're not allowed to jump onto the truck when it's about to move. Once the signal of one honk was made you were to remain still. Who knew it would be bad to jump on after running from grabbing something out of the car? At least no one got hurt. We made 3 small stops where people had tables set up to pass out candy. Then, the last stop was on Main St. - the downtown area - where the street was lined on both sides with tables to trick-or-treat at. We were really proud of Kylie who usually ends up not trick-or-treating because she gets scared of scary costumes, but she was a trooper this time & we didn't have any issues. The kids had a blast & told us multiple times how fun it was & that is was the best! (We owe a HUGE thank you to Rennie's mom for making Kylie's chaps & vest for her cowgirl costume. Lainie wanted to be a cowgirl, too, so she was nice enough to make Kylie some as well when she made Lainie's. They were perfect!! Thank you Sally!! Oh & Rennie for Jadyn's costume. Basically we didn't buy costumes this year - we just bummed off Rennie. Yeah us! Thanks again Ren!!)
Then, what's Halloween without having a little fun with the mullet?! We got some choice looks. Maybe people thought we were poking fun. We were - only just at ourselves! WOW! That's a scary picture of me! Notice I'm doing a hang ten sign with a mullet on. HUH?! I don't know. But, Ren, looks perfect!
We rode horses on Saturday at the ranch & Erik took pictures of the Hallows gang. The boys even had a little mishap on a horse & fell off while riding bareback. They're tough, so it didn't do anything to them. We had so much fun we ended up staying until Sunday morning instead of leaving on Saturday as planned. It's just so hard to leave when you're having fun! Thanks again Luke & Rennie for the fun weekend!!