What do you get when you put a roll of duct tape, cardboard boxes and 2 granddaughters and a whole lot of imaginiation all in the same room??

A really fun Sleepover and a really neat Fort!

The girls had 2 days off of school and so they came for a 2 Day Sleep Over! We were thrilled to have them, it has been a while. Angie is getting older, and like other Grandmothers of older grandchildren have told me before...there might come a time when you grandkids want to do things with their friends instead of you. Angie has been saying lately something like that. Hard to see them get older...!

We made breakfast for Poppa and set the table for him! He in return the next morning, left them a sweet note too!

We stayed in our jammies most of the day Friday, and they worked on their Fort as much as they could...until Poppa comes home and we get more duct tape.
But we did finally get dressed and went to do a few errands.
We stopped by Sally's Beauty Supply to get some stuff and while we were there...

We decided to check the hair color and see which one matched ours.

We stopped by and got some snacks at the Health Food Store and Trader Joes! ( plus more boxes )













Then we came home and made dinner for us to take with us. When Poppa came home, we all went to the movie Zootopia, that was really fun!



Dinner in the car after the movie! Fun!















Had to go to Target and get more Duct Tape! :)

Of course we need to do some photos with the models!

What beautiful inside and outside girls I have!

Mind as well try out all the comfy furniture they have here too!

When we came home...I noticed that Jeff and both of the girls weren't feeling well. They are all starting colds. So they all went to bed right away! Oh man, hope they don't get worse, it's our Sleepover!

Today they stayed in their jammies a bit longer because they felt kinda crummy. By noon they both had fevers! Just let them play with their stuffed animals and then they colored on their fort for awhile and then laid down. 

After they got up, the sun was out and it was a bit warmer and they went outside for a couple of hours, just playing with bugs and anything else they could find.

Even though they stayed in jammies, they still were able to create!

Even the Bears needed to spend the day in their jammies!

 They are so cute...working together and creating together!

Then tonight, Poppa helped them put their roof on their fort and we had dinner and a movie! I love their sweet imaginations!

Jenny stays close to her Poppa even if it's in the garage or just watching a movie!

How grateful I am to have had this opportunity to have these sweet girls over for a 3 day Sleep Over!

Oh how I wish Kai and Oakley could live close enough to come over for a 3 Day Sleep Over!

Spring break

Yesterday Angie came home with us after dinner for her 3 day Sleep Over. That was the good news but the bad news was that she started feeling bad before she went to bed. By this morning she felt a lot worse and had a fever and a nasty cold starting. So we decided that today was going to be a lay low kind of day for our 1st day of our Sleep Over.

Everytime her fever came back I could tell...her eyes got glassy looking and she started layering up with blankets and even my hooded sweatshirts. Then when her fever broke...she start shedding everything. Felt so sorry for her but I asked her if she wanted to go home but she didn't. So we just laid low...
We watched a couple of movies, then her fever broke and she wanted to go outside. She found a bird's nest


 and then when she looked closer and we found that there were 3 little eggs ...she was sooooo excited!

 Oh how I love being around these grandchildren of mine... they truly enjoy just the smallest of things of life. How blessed I feel with Angie, Jenny, Kai and Audrey in my life. Can hardly wait to see what wonderful things Miss Oakely will teach us when she gets here.
Jeff flew out for a business trip this morning, and I was so grateful that Angie was here with me. I am really not much of a loner, so I was grateful for her company.
Then we worked making some doll clothes. Angie and Jenny both are saving up for an American Doll for their birthdays. They are trying to earn half of it before her birthdays. So we decided to look at the patterns that I had and then we worked for a little bit on teaching her how to read patterns and how to cut them out.


 She only lasted for a little bit, then her fever and headache came back.
Her cough is worse tonight so we read our scriptures, said our prayers early and got her to bed. She really wasn't feeling good at all. Sure hope tomorrow she is feeling better.
Tonight I worked on my afghan some, almost ready to crochet the border on it. This one seems to be taking me forever, but Jeff tells me that is has been faster than I realize.
Then I watched a movie on Netflix, it was called Unconditional...it was great. Clean, uplifting, inspiring and based on a true story.

You truly should watch this movie, you will be glad you did, I promise!

Date Night!

Tonight Jeff and I decided to go on a Date Night, since we missed ours with Jeff being sick. He started feeling bad on Weds night and by Thursday morning, I realized that he was still home and so I knew he had to be sick. He doesn't hardly ever take a Sick Day.
He had a bad rash all over and by the time he got to a Doctor...it was all over his body. It was a nasty Allergic Reaction, bad news after even a 2nd opinion ...no one knew what caused it. Finally he had to get Steriod Shots and today he is finally starting to get a bit better. Still hoping we find out soon what it was that caused such a reaction. Anyway...he is starting to feel better and so we decided to do our Date Night tonight.
We decided to go to the Movies, we went to McFarland USA.
It was an incredible uplifting and inspiring! I would recommend it to anyone!

Not often do you find a movie that is good and CLEAN!!!

 and 

Movie Night!

Tonight Jeff and I went to see the movie called "MEET THE MORMONS" Now you may wonder why I am going to a movie, about what I believe but it is great because I am proud to say... that it really was a wonderful way for anyone to see and understand what we believe. It even addressed all the misconceptions about our beliefs, and I think that could be really helpful to teach people.
So I would suggest anyone who ever had any questions about what I believe, that you should go to this movie. You can watch the previews HERE:

I would invite you to go see it, so that you could at least understand what Mormons really believe.

I believe that the Lord expects all of us to treat each other with respect. I think he expects us to teach our children and our grand children to not to exclude anyone... because of religious, political or cultural differences. I am grateful to be a Mormon, grateful for my beliefs, they are what makes me who I am. My beliefs are what gives me HOPE and a HAPPINESS... that is everything to me. I hope you find the time to go see it.



Good night dear friends!
.

The night before the wedding... we are almost ready!

Last night we had a Girls Night Out with the Bride to Be!
Here Aunt and Cousin came in from out of town, and Krystal ( sister in law ) came in last week.
Amy came too and we had a blast!
We started out at Charming Charlies  (a to die for jewelry and accessories store, in Redmond Town Center ). Bethany and Shirley presented her with a cute poem and Bride to be gift...too cute! Then we headed of the the Movies there at Redmond Town Center too! We saw the movie ...The Hundred Foot Journey...it was incredible and clean, that's rare now a days!

I had to laugh, as we were

 leaving Charming Charlies, the  Manager asked us if we were going to have any more cocktails, could we please do a online survey about how much fun we had at the store tonight first?

 I just laughed and said that we would be glad to do the survey, then I said "believe it or not, we haven't had cocktails before we came in here, we were just having a lot of fun. We don't even drink, and never had!

I think she was quite surprised that we could be having that much fun without drinking! Obviously she has never met our family! The look on her face when I said that...PRICELESS!

So here we are now... the day before. Had a wonderful luncheon with Nik's family, it was so much fun having our dear friends...now become part of our family. We are truly blessed. 

Then tonight another family dinner and wedding preparations. Clothes are pressed, altered and all the corsages and other flowers are done and ready and package, Shirley finally helped me do my dress andz we are almost all finished taking showers and getting the last of the essentials ready to go in the morning. I hope I can sleep! This is sooooooooooo exciting!

Just watched the movie ....heaven is real

What a great movie! I had heard great things about it and I thought they did a great job. I think it is so true, if we pay more attention to our children...we would realize life is pretty simple and beautiful. Watch it for yourself

here:



http://patch.com/georgia/gwinnett/11-years-after-heaven-what-life-is-like-for-the-burpo-family-gwinnett#.U9NBhvldUf0

Here is the story of the real family that it happen to..,watch it here:

Impromptu Sleep Over !

Today I was just organizing some things and missing my family. The house is so quiet now that it is just Jeff and I. I didn't really have any big plans this morning except try and clean up my scrapbooking mess I made a couple of days ago ( when I was trying to get more organized ).  Amy called and asked if they could come over for the day...I think I said yes before she even finished the question! Oh how I wish Krystal and Kai could call and ask to come over too, but Texas is just a bit further of a drive!
So today the girls just played, Amy helped me organize a bit more and then one of our dear friends ( actually  she was our son Lee's friend first, but we sorta adopted her a long time ago ). We have done that with many of our kid's friends. It was so fun to see her, she is home for the summer from college. We had a wonderful couple of hours visiting with her. She is such an amazing young woman, truly beautiful on the inside and the outside! We love her to death and are thrilled when we get a chance to see her.
Then after dinner tonight the girls were getting ready to pack up, when they asked if they could do a Sleep Over! Once again I think I said yes, before they even asked their Mommy ( which was actually not the right way to do it ), guess I was just excited. Lucky for us Mom thought it would be fun. Although they didn't have plans to do it, so we had to go into our extra clothes container to find outfits for bedtime.
Then the fun started, they helped Poppa water all the flowers and fix a few more things outside.

Then after another prayers and another Bed Time Snack, we brushed teeth and then decided to do our story telling outside snuggled up on one chair on my lap with a quilt on us and under the stars. We tried to take a photo of ourselves but it was too dark, but we did get a photo of a little part of the crescent moon to show you. After the story then the girls said, we hope you never move away from you Nana, then Jenny said " I think we should get a house that is smashed up against your house, that way we could do Sleep Overs whenever we wanted to. Then Angie said " yeah its just not fair that we live so far way!" As I tried to explain the LIFE ISN'T FAIR speech, she interrupted and said..." Nana, our Daddy can build anything, maybe tomorrow we could draw pictures of the kind of house we want for all of us". Jenny replied " it would be fun to have a tree house in between our houses and we could have secret doors to get to it."

As I got them tucked into bed and kissed good night and was shutting the door, they both  said " Nana, this is the best Sleep Over Ever! Then Angie said " Yes and tomorrow we will draw our plans for our NEW HOUSE!"

No matter how bad things get or have been...being with my Grandkids makes everything better!

Good night dear friends!

Fairy Tales do come true!

Since Lauren was a little girl, she always loved the Disney Movies. She can win any trivia game there is on them. When she was 2 years old, she sometimes would go into her little tantrums and when she did, it seemed like nothing or no one could get her out of them. Then we noticed one day that as soon as I turned on the Disney Movie Jungle Book, that she stopped crying, screaming, hitting or biting whoever or whatever... and began to dance and sing.
 My Mom finally got brave enough to tell me " Lynn, I can only watch her if you buy me my own copy of the Jungle Book...just in case she gets out of control" . She was a bit fiery to say the least! My Mom always said deep down she must be a Red Head :) Just kidding, we have redheads in our family and love them, but...Lauren from the time she was little had a mind of her own and kept us laughing and on our toes...all the time. We love her and are so excited that today she and her best friend Nik...got engaged. (Actually it was last night on St. Patrick's Day! ). How fun, Nik will never have to worry about having a dull moment again...in his life!!!
So I thought it was fitting today that another Disney Movie came out ...on the same day as our little Disney girl, announced her engagement.( Below is the writer Jason F. Wright's explanation why the movie had done so well. I agree!)
 Fairy Tales really do come true don't they!!!! Congrats Nik and Lauren! We love ya!
Good night dear friends!

• 
  

Last week, my family hosted a few good friends for dinner. At some point during the banter between pizza and brownies, one of our guests abruptly changed topics. “So, I’ve been meaning to ask, what’s all this fuss about 'Frozen'?”

These friends don’t have yet have children and, believe it or not, hadn't heard much besides hype about Disney’s megahit movie.

I smiled at my kids across the table and had them confess how many times they’d each seen it. By the time we got to my 15-year-old daughter, it began to feel like a support group.

"Hi, my name is Jadi, and I've seen Disney’s ‘Frozen’ seven times."

"Hi, Jadi," we answered in unison.

Her mother and I admitted it’s not just the kids with a hankering for the film. I've seen it four times and my wife has seen it three.

Even my mother has seen it, and the last movie she saw starred Charlie Chaplin.

Then it happened — our guests made a mistake that might haunt them forever.

They asked for a quick recap.

Taking turns and marching one major scene at a time, we offered a rundown of the story that would have made Walt himself proud. We even sang each song when we hit its respective spot in the plot.

I can’t be sure, but I think my gang was much more entertained than our pizza pals.

An hour later, we said our goodbyes and promised to do it again sometime soon, though after our little show it’s debatable whether they will accept another invitation.

Since that night, my wife and I have speculated on why we’ve made the film a family favorite.

And, clearly, why we’re not the only ones.

You probably know that "Frozen" has been a massive global hit, hauling in nearly $400 million domesticly and more than $1 billion worldwide, according toboxofficemojo.com. It's won two Academy Awards and spawned thousands of covers of its Oscar-winning lead track "Let It Go."

The production and its messages have also been sliced, diced and analyzed more than any movie since the Zapruder film.

Why do so many seem stuck on "Frozen"? Why after 16 weeks is the movie running in the top 10 and dominating so many playground and conference room conversations?

Could it be because it's clean, entertaining and inspirational?

In an industry that generates so much product not suitable for younger eyes, and many would argue for any audiences with eyeballs period, "Frozen" stands out for its purity.

While Disney has been making hefty deposits each Monday morning with this family-friendly film, the rest of Hollywood has been releasing a flood of R-rated films for adults. Perhaps the most ballyhooed is "The Wolf of Wall Street," with its graphic sex and 506 creative uses of the f-word.

The film was one of the most critically acclaimed of 2013 and has earned less than a third as much as "Frozen."

Sadly, even many children's movies these days are filled to the rim with potty jokes and, in some cases, even sexual innuendo. According to Screenit.com, a popular website offering movie reviews for parents, "Frozen" scores better in the categories of sex/nudity and profanity than any animated movie in more than two years.

Even if money trumps content, Hollywood might want to pay more attention.

In 2013, the highest grossing R-rated film was only the 15th highest grossing overall, according to Screenit.com. The all-time numbers favor family-friendly fare, too. Mel Gibson’s "Passion of The Christ" is the highest grossing R-rated film in history, and it’s only number 25 overall. You have to drop all the way to 61 to find another R-rated flick.

Isn’t it obvious that audiences are hungry for uplifting entertainment?

Now more than ever, in a weak and wary economy, with consumers carefully measuring their money, moviegoers seem to want films that are both high quality and entertaining for all ages. Sure, there are exceptions, like the "Hangover" movies or the occasional breakout slasher film, but the numbers don’t lie.

So, why is "Frozen" thawing hearts and wallets around the world? Maybe, just maybe, in our chaotic world where sex, profanity and bad news dominate reality, this 102-minute fantasy treasure lets us escape to an unapologetically hopeful place where talking snowmen are real and the jokes don’t require you to cover your children's eyes.

On March 18, "Frozen" will be released on DVD and you can bet the Wrights will be at the front of the line with plans for an evening viewing party.

Want to join us?

Read more of Jason's articles HERE: