Christmas time is here!

We got our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving and we kind of have it so one year we buy a tree that I want and the next year we go get a tag and cut one down. I am not a big fan of the trees here is Utah...they just aren't Christmas trees so we made this deal when we got married. So it was my year this year and I picked out the perfect tree....however, it was not a big fan of the cold and dry weather and was pretty dead by Christmas. Oh well, it was pretty while it lasted. :) I don't have any pics of just the tree, not sure why I missed that but here is our family Christmas card that we sent out. If you didn't get one I'm sorry leave me a comment and I'll send one next year.

Shari's Baby Shower

Tonya (Jason's cousin) and I put on a baby shower for Shari out in Orem in November. I did refreshments and Tonya did games. Mandy did the invite for the shower too! I made a baby shower for the cupcakes (ideas from the book, Hello, Cupcake for this and the bee hive) and then some yummy punch for a drink. She got a lot of fun stuff and some really nice quilts from Mom....Hint Hint :) We had a lot of fun and it turned out great.

Third Times the Charm

Last but not least she got to have her party at home as well. Her are the cute invitations that my friend Mandy made for her party, check her out she makes all sorts of cute invitations. We had a Bee theme (in case you couldn't tell).Hailey had to wear her "party" dress too!

Bridgette's three birthdays!

Growing up I always loved my split family because I got to have two birthdays. Double the presents was so much more fun! Well this year Bridgette got to have three birthdays. One at my Dad's, one at my Mom's and one at home when we got back from Oregon. Here are pics from her two parties in Oregon.

Dad's
Mom's:

Sharks and Otters and Fish, OH MY!

On Saturday while in Oregon we went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. If you have never been to an aquarium you should go! I love seeing all the fish and the touch pool. We went with my Uncle Roland and his family and my Grandpa came as well. After a fun time at the aquarium we went to my favorite restaurant in the world, MO'S! It has THE best clam chowder and bread, and fish and everything. It's a must stop every time we go to the coast, I guess you could call it a Lee family tradition. After the wonderful lunch it was time to head back over the mountain to my mom's house to see her before we had to get back to Utah.


This is a big tube that you get to walk through that has sharks and fish swimming above, below and all around you. Hailey thought it was great!

It was a little rainy so we stopped at Walmart to get a coat for Bridgette and I thought I grabbed a 12 mth but it turned out to be 24 mth. Oh, well it will fit her for a LONG time :)

Hop, skip and a jump to Oregon!

I wish it was that easy to get home to Oregon! We left on Wednesday November 3rd at 7 am and decided to drive until the girls couldn't take it anymore. We made a lot of stops along the way and just took it easy. We had lunch in Twin Falls which is where these pictures were taken.
Then made it to La Grande Oregon around 7 pm to stop for dinner and find a hotel. We had a lot of fun playing in the swimming pool then crashed for the night.

The next day we drove the rest of the way with a nice stop at the Portland Temple to walk around the grounds. I love all the Fall colors. I sure miss this living in Utah!

Later that day once we got to Salem we went to my Grandma's viewing, and the on to my Grandpa's house, where I played a game of Cribbage with him (which we haven't done in at least 6 years) and then a lot of the family went to Paddington's Pizza for dinner. I apparently don't know how to take pictures because I have none of the rest of this day.

The next day we went to my Grandma's Funeral. Here are some pics of the grave site.

It was a sad time but joyous as well. I don't remember the last time that our whole family got together. It had to be when I was little for Christmas Eve but a long time ago. It's sad that it had to happen like this though. Any of you with family make sure you spend lots of time with them because all too soon they are gone.

In memory of.....Ida Belle Lee

This post may be long and is more for me to get out so don't worry if you don't read it all.....

October 29th was a very hard day for me. I got to work and saw I had a voice mail on my cell phone. I knew that my grandma hadn't been doing to well, especially after the last round of surgery that she went through. The voice mail was from my dad (Matt). He called to let me know that my grandma had passed away the night before. Talk about knocking the wind out of ya! I burst into tears and went running into the bathroom. (Not the best news to hear right when you get to work). It was a rough day but I got through it. After the initial shock I started to calm down and feel comfort about it. No, she is not a member of the church, but I have a strong testimony of eternal families and believe one day that we will be reunited again. It's so wonderful to have the church and knowledge that I have when something like this happens. I am so thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who knows me and is there for me anytime I need him. Prayer is a wonderful thing!
I got an email from my Uncle Dick asking me to write a letter to my Grandma of things I want read at the funeral. I struggled with this for many days, I think the main reason is because for many years she was like a mother to me, and to pick one or two memories to write down didn't seem sufficient for me. She raised me how do you choose something like that? I found out that the funeral was on the Friday following which was the November 5th. Nothing could have stopped me from being there. My work offers 5 days bereavement pay which I was unaware of until this time, and it was a blessing not to have to worry about work. I will talk about the trip more in a different post. We were able to make it to the funeral where I was allowed to get up and speak about my Grandma Lee. I took a deep breath, said a prayer and smiled. I felt an overwhelming feeling that she was happy. That she knew we were all there that day celebrating her life. I got up talked about the good times, and as I sat down gave my Grandpa a big hug. It was a sad day, I wish I could have been around and saw her more these last 5 years, but it was happy as well, she is not in pain any longer and is happy. I love my Grandma very much and can't wait to see her again someday. Here are a few pictures of her and I, enjoy. These aren't the best scans...I wish I still had some of my baby clothes for my girls. I will for sure remember to keep a few special outfits for my girls to give to their kids.And for those of you who think that Bridgette looks more like Jason I think she looks quite a bit like me here :)