New Christmas Soap!

I don't mean to jump the gun, but . . . I'm so excited to be offering this new stinking cute "Cranberry Fig" Christmas soap! (It doesn't really stink, it smells fabulous and oh, so holiday-ish). It will be ready to ship December 1st. Each bar will sell for $5.00, however, beginning Monday, November 1st, I will be taking pre-orders through November 10th and all pre-ordered soap will sell for $4.50/bar. Remember your friends, neighbors, co-workers and family (great stocking stuffer) in a cute and useful way!!! They will love something fun from someone special. To order, click here, or go to www.ittybittysoapcompany.blogspot.com.

Note: This soap is fragranced with a fragrance oil.

Photo by Bramble Berry

(Because all soaps are handmade and hand cut, slight variations may occur).

BFF's

First off, I bugged Nicki to send me pictures of her bridals so I could post a bunch of them for the entire world to see. She did it and I never got the blog done. I notice she got tired of waiting for me and posted them herself. Thanks, Nicki, and so sorry!!! To see the pictures click here.

Now, on to my weekend. These girls are my best friends from childhood. As long as I can remember, I have known these girls and we have been friends. Allison is in the white shirt, then me, and Marilyn is in the purple shirt. We went to church together and saw each other in Primary (later, Mutual) every week, and many times in-between. Allison and Marilyn went to a different high school than I did, rival high schools in fact, but that never interfered with our friendship. As we got older, we only became better friends. Then we all graduated and went our separate ways.

Unfortunately, over the years, we haven't kept in touch as much as we should/could have. Allison and I send each other Christmas cards/letters every year, but I had lost touch with Marilyn quite a few years ago. In fact, I haven't seen Marilyn since she moved from our little valley where we all grew up about 32 years ago. I knew she lived in Utah, but wasn't quite sure where. When she heard that my mom had passed away, she made an effort to get my phone number and call me. It was such a delight to talk to her after so many years, and especially at such a difficult time for me. I will always be grateful for her efforts. Long story short, we decided we needed to get together, since we all live within 3 hours of each other.

They came to my home and we spent most of Saturday together, then they both left Sunday. It was such a great weekend. We caught up on everyone we knew, reminisced about the "glory days" of our youth, laughed about all the stupid, crazy stuff we used to do, and talked about things that we will take to our graves. The time went too fast. We needed a few more days to finish all our business together. The best thing about it is that we picked up right where we left off years and years ago - a sign of a true BFF! Thanks girls for making the effort. We need to make this a yearly event. Love you both!!!

It's No Secret - I Love Fall!

I love the house decorated for fall. I try to stay away from "Halloween" only decorations, that way I can keep the stuff up for Thanksgiving too, because even though I love my house decorated, I HATE doing it (too time consuming and a brain boggle for me)! Disclaimer here: I am no photographer, as is obvious, but wanted to share the fun anyway.

I love this fall wreath.

We grew all these pumpkins (plus a few more) in our garden this year. I think we had about 40 in all, including the 3 or 4 the grasshoppers ate (oh ya, they made a feast of the garden this year).

This tree is in our backyard and it is one of my favorite things about fall. It always turns this beautiful red color, while most of the rest of the trees I see around here turn gold or orange (also beautiful, but not like this one). The picture doesn't do it justice. I wish I had a few more of these planted around the property.

I love putting all my pretty fall dishes in my china cabinet.

I bought these a few years ago. I couldn't decide which one I liked best, so I got all three without any regrets or buyer's remorse!

The over all effect. (Sorry about the glare)

I have a ton of built in shelves in our family room. Even though it is a pain to dust, having the spaces broken up does make for easier decorating.

I love this picture over our fireplace. It was painted by Del Parsons in an orphanage Kent designed down in Ecuador a few years ago (also where I served my mission). The owners of the orphanage had a print made for Kent and I and gave it to us for Christmas the year the orphanage was finished. You can't tell from this far away, but the small children in the painting are the children who live in the orphanage and the teenage girls are the girls from BYU-Idaho that volunteer to go down and work in these orphanages. The man standing in the left of the picture is the man who, with his wife, run the home the volunteers live in. I love this picture for the obvious reasons, and because it is very unique; not every member of the church has seen or has a copy of this picture. I love it. Not a fall deco - this one stays up all year.

This is a bit better, but again, I am no photographer.

Anyway, on with the decorating. I love pumpkins, about 90% of my fall decor is pumpkins, most of them are pretty generic, but a couple are definitely Jack-O-Lantern type. Here are a few of my favorites.

My token Thanksgiving decorations.

Last, but certainly not least, I bought this spooky tree quite a number of years ago when we lived in CA. I don't love it and have tried to get rid of it, however, it has turned out to be one of my kids' favorite decorations. They used to fight over who got to hang the little halloween decorations on it. (Ahh, such sweet memories)!

I hope you enjoyed your little tour. This was mostly done for Nicki, but I hope it was also fun for the rest of you "regulars".

Celebration, Aviation, Ordination

On September 27th, Trevor turned 12 years old. This is a big birthday for him. We went out to dinner and enjoyed some really great food . . .

and amazing desserts.

Later in the week, Trevor invited his friends over for a little party. They hung around here and later in the evening we built a big fire and the kids made some s'mores. Trevor loves s'mores.

When Trevor was a very small boy, he wanted to be a baker when he grew up. Then later, when he started school, he wanted to be a librarian when he grew up (he loved his school librarian and loves to read). Now he dreams of being a pilot when he grows up, so for his birthday, he got to go on his first flying lesson. This was a pretty thrilling birthday gift! He actually got to fly the plane part of the time. Kenna and Kent went with him.

this is the plane they flew in.

This was beyond exciting for him. He makes a good looking pilot doesn't he!

His co-captain.

On Sunday, October 10, 2010 (10.10.10) Trevor was ordained to the office of Deacon by his dad. Another momentous occasion. He didn't pass the sacrament last Sunday because we were up in Idaho for his cousin's mission report. However, he is looking forward to this Sunday with much intrepidation. He does not like to be up in front of a crowd, even if it is to pass the Sacrament with 10 other boys.

It's a Dunn Deal!

Finally, after days and weeks, I am getting this event posted. Nicki's wedding/reception was beautiful and everything went off without a hitch (well, almost everything). Being in the temple with my daughter was something I have been looking forward to for many years. We crammed a ton of people into the sealing room. Not only were there tons of aunts and uncles from my side of the family, but McKay comes from a family of 11 children, most of whom were at the temple with us, along with his uncles and aunts. Their bishop from their singles ward in Connecticutt was even there with us. It was so nice to have all these people who care so much for Nicki and McKay be in the temple with us.

We are excited to welcome McKay to the family. He is good to and good for Nicki!

I love this picture of Regan and Kenna, and I think Trevor looks pretty spiffy in his suit too!

The Wednesday before Nicki and McKay were married, his parents, Dale and Penny, flew in from Friendswood, Texas, just outside Houston. We had a nice evening getting to know his parents.

Nicki's best friend from California, Lauren Kallerman, came out too. I didn't intend to put this poor girl to work, but I don't know what we would have done without her. She and Nicki have been friends since Kindergarten and she is so sweet. We loved having her spend some time with us and were so happy to have her come and share this event with us. She is a darling girl and we just love her.

A week after the big event here in Logan, we flew to Houston for the open house in Friendswood. Nicki and McKay flew in from Mexico and we picked them up at the airport and headed out to his parents home. On Saturday, we had the open house and met some of the wonderful people of Texas. They truly are so very friendly. The cake was made for Nicki and McKay by his talented sisters who have a cake business. It was the yummiest cake I have ever eaten.

The Newlyweds!!!

Nicki with her newest niece, Alyssa. She is only a few weeks old and Nicki and McKay both have a hard time keeping their hands off her (a good omen for me;)

Nicki's other new neices. These little girls are the cutest and they were fun to watch during the big party. The little blonde one (Savannah) loved Nicki in her pretty wedding dress. She was the funniest. I really wish I could remember all their names, but I had a ton of people to meet and remember.

I'm not sure what I'm contemplating here, but it may have had something to do with the heat, humidity and fire ants that I was introduced to in Texas (and did not love)! I just thought this was a funny picture of me.

What can I say, we both love this guy!