It's interesting that I wrote about how boring we were. I can honestly say since I last wrote, we have had excitement, emotion, craziness, and more emotion.  I'll be posting about the happenings of the last few months in a more detail soon, but here are some of the crazy highlights from 2012:

May: Makenah graduated from HS
June: Scott & I earned and took another FREE Scentsy trip to Punta Cana, DR
July: Scentsy Convention in Las Vegas
August: Maddie and Dalton started school
September: Makenah and I left for a cruise (an eventful one I might add), took Makenah to college, went to Meridian Idaho for Scentsy meetings. I was away from home for a total of 22 days. Taxes, Marching Band competitions, was home for 10 days playing "catch-up" when Maddie said she had a side ache - we spent the night in the ER.
October: Makenah comes home for a short visit, Maddie has major surgery, Maddie diagnosed with ovarian cancer
November: Maddie starts her first of 4 rounds of chemo, Thanksgiving
December: Makenah comes home for winter break, more chemo, Christmas
January: More chemo, taxes, catching up! Lots of catching up!

Next time someone says I'm boring, I'll simply say "Thank you", then give thanks and pray that it stays that way.  Sometimes boring can be a blessing.  More to come - Stay tuned.

~Angela

For Christmas this last year, Scott got Dalton lots of new gear for Scout Camp trips.  On Friday night, Dalton had the opportunity to finally use his new backpack.  This thing is LOADED with pockets and it was fun to watch as Dalton loaded it up - with EVERYTHING he thought he might need for 1 night of camping - including 7 pairs of socks.  I think he learned his lesson from last time when his socks got wet and he didn't have another pair.

The scouts stayed the night at Camp Friedlander and worked on their fire building skills.  They slept in a meg-shift cabin structure, so no real door, but at least it wasn't a tent.  It was quite windy, but not as cold as it has been the last few nights.  I'm thankful he has an awesome Scout leader, and that he was able to go with the troop.










It was the warmest night of the week - Check out what Monday night looks like!  All I can say is I'm glad I was home in my nice warm bed.

It's true!  I'll be the first to admit, we live a very busy, non-exciting life.  You know what, I'm good with that.  While I would rather spend time taking great family vacations, going to the movies, out to eat in fun restaurants, sitting in the car for hours on end on a family road trip (which I really do enjoy!), camping, and enjoying a nearby lake or park, these times are few and far between.  As the kids have gotten older, they are busy with their own activities, and we are busy with ours.  I would say that most of our one-on-one time is spent driving them to and from activities.

Since Makenah has had dibs on the family car (or as Scott likes to call it, his "other" car) for the last 2 years, we have seen less and less of her.  Our family dynamics are changing and it's something I am keenly aware of and have reluctantly accepted at this point in our lives.  Now that she's graduated with a job and will be going off to college soon, she wants to spend as much time with friends as possible. I understand that.  So the other day she said something about how boring our family is and how we don't spend enough time together. I thought that was an interesting perspective on her part.  I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that our family togetherness has become like the majority of todays population.  We all sit together in the family room, the TV on - right now, watching the Olympics.  Scott and Dalton play on their iPhones, the girls are texting friends, and I'm on my laptop.  I'm sure this is not unique to our family.  It's is kind of sad to me though and I'm glad Makenah brought this up - we did need more family time - something other than cards.  It made me stop and think.  So, Scott and I talked and came up with a few ideas.  We decided on a much needed family day this last Saturday. It was hot, it was humid, and it was gross outside.  We grabbed a few loaves of bread and ventured out anyway.

We went to the store, picked up some frisbees, and headed to the nearby park for a game of frisbee golf.  We had frisbees land in the creek, the bushes, the trees, one that hit me in the back of the head, and then into the metal baskets.  Makenah complained that it was too hot, and we were all sweaty and thirsty.  While it was fun to have some family time, and I'm sure we'll play again, I don't think frisbee golf is our new family sport.  After a round of frisbee golf, we stopped for some drinks at the gas station, then we went to another nearby park became rebels for "feeding the water fowl".

It was a great afternoon to get out in the heat of the day for some much needed family time.  . When we got home, we congregated to the kitchen for lunch.  Before I knew it, Makenah was in the family room on the couch with her feet up, computer in her lap, TV on, and everyone else followed - I guess we're boring, but boring is all right by me.

Braces X2:

It was time!  Maddie went back and forth on whether or not she wanted braces, but she finally decided it was in her best interest to get it done.  She was a good sport letting me take a picture.

Dalton has needed them for a while now.  He had so many big spaces between his teeth and a horrible overbite.  He too was a good sport during the process.

It's  been nice having them both done at the same time because now I just make 2 shakes or smoothies instead of one.  I remember with Makenah, she had such a hard time the first couple of weeks.  These two seem to be adjusting quickly, so I've been rather impressed.  I just feel like the "smoothie queen" right now, but it's all good.  I can't wait to see their teeth and smiles in a few years.  For now, we'll just enjoy their shiny metal smiles and better reception on the radio. :)

Here's to the next phase of your life - you are an amazing gift and I'm excited to see what's next.  Remember who you are:

I had so much fun at our Scentsy Convention 2012 last week in Las Vegas.  While I don't particularly care for Las Vegas all that much, it was a great time to connect with my team, my friends, and my business peers to collaborate.  We have some great products coming out in the new Scentsy Fall Winter  2012 Catalog (visit my website to check it out: www.iamwickless.com) on September 1st.  In the meantime, another Scentsy Family brand was introduced - Grace Adele bags and accessories!  I'm not a bag/purse kind of person.  When I buy a new purse, I keep it and use it until it's falling apart.  I am REALLY liking this product and brand - A LOT!!  I got home late from convention on Saturday night and Maddie had to look the whole catalog over for a good hour, finally deciding that she needed everything in the Grace Adele Catalog.  Have you ever been in to a Charming Charlie's store?   The layout is all colored coordinated, making it easy to find just the right accessories.  That's how our GA catalog is set up.  I love that the bags are a fun system - Visit my website: iwear.graceadele.us/join .  Check out this fun video:


To view the Scentsy Grace Adele Catalog, click on the link below:

I'm not sure how parents do this, how they prepare for such a natural stage in life.  I have been an emotional wreck for about 6 months now (I think I'm doing much better and we are moving towards the excitement of the next phase) as I have been mourning the loss of her childhood - her growing up.  The reality has set in and the dynamics of our family will change as we say good-bye and enter into a new chapter.  She hardly notices as she goes off to work, out with friends, and is trying to get every last bit of socializing in while she can before she leaves for college.

It's interesting - I was out with our little dog Lucy last Monday morning taking her potty.  We have a good size magnolia tree by our entry way, and in-between some branches, fairly high up, sits a small nest.  I've been watching a Momma bird coming in and out over the last few weeks, wondering how big her little birds are.  Well, on Monday morning the little birds were sitting up looking out of the nest facing in opposite directions, and big enough that it looked like they might be ready to leave that nest.  One of the little birds stuck it's little behind out and wriggled it's little back side, fluffing it's feathers while taking care of business out the side of the nest.  I brought Lucy back in and went about my daily tasks.  Later that evening, I went outside with Lucy again - about 6:30 ish.  I noticed one of the baby birds was out on the grass and Momma bird was out there on the grass chirping away, trying to get that baby bird to fly.  I'm sure Lucy was not helping as she kept trying to inch her way closer to get a better look - I held her back.  The baby bird would flap it's wings and rise up a bit, then fall to the ground.  Momma would chirp and fly to the low branch on another smaller tree in the yard, trying to get the baby to follow.  This went on for some time and that Momma bird was sure worried.  It got me thinking.  In the grand scheme of a birds life, it was VERY important that the little bird learn how to fly before nightfall - before all the predators come out.  There was only a small window of opportunity for that bird to fly, and yet it really didn't seem like it was too concerned as it hopped along the driveway, and over to the flower bed, then onto the brick, and finally back on to the grass - the whole while Momma bird was chirping louder and louder because she knew what could happen if her little bird didn't fly.

I'm kind of feeling like that Momma bird.  These months between High School and College have been a challenge.  Without going into detail, I just feel like I am chirping louder and louder to make sure she reaches her goals and nothing gets in her way of that.  It's hard when I don't see the same focus from her.  I'm thankful that we had a great lesson in church the other day.  "Teach them correct principles and let them govern themselves"was a perfect reminder.  I'm not going to lie when I say that college will be a good thing for both of us.  I will miss her like something fierce, but she needs to start flapping those wings.

So this year Christmas started with a dare. Makenah told me that she was going to wake us up to open gifts at 3:00 AM! I informed her that there is NO WAY she could get up that early, even throwing in a dare. She set her phone alarm in an attempt to prove me wrong. I told Scott last night that all the kids were in on waking us up at 3:00 and he wasn't amused. I told him that it was a dare and I had to follow through. He told me to set my alarm to 2:49. I woke up in time to brush my teeth and heard the footsteps of Makenah running down stairs. I stood by the door in my room and just as Makenah opened the door, I jumped out at her and scarred her half to death. It was AWESOME!! Madisen came down, then Dalton came down, and then the biggest task was getting Scott up. We had fun opening our gifts, playing with our gifts, reading some of our gifts, and then we all went back to bed (except Dalton who stayed up to play his new Wii game). I think next year we will go back to tradition of not opening gifts until after 7:00 AM, then enjoying breakfast after a good nights sleep. I hope everyone has a VERY Merry Christmas as we celebrate the birth of our Savior. I am so grateful for such a tiny little baby that was born under such humble circumstances, and for the gift that HE ultimately gave to me.