Valentines Cards

I saw these on pinterest and decided to make them for the boys for their classes this year. 

i think that they turned our pretty cute.

the boys really liked them. 

so did i!!

Harry Potter New Years Eve

We had originally planned on being home for New Years, but when our friends the Palmers invited us to a Hogwarts Party in honor of Ollie we decided to stay and have a little fun. 

I had spent the day with Stacy and some of our other friends getting some things together and making some plans. Really Stacy had collected all of the stuff. Amy and I were kind of like House Elves just helping to pull all the last minute stuff together :0)

It was so much fun. The kids loved every minute of it.  Here is how it went!

(Disclamer-Stacy typed this all out on her blog, so I am totally stealing some of it because it was described so well)

The Harry Potter Party

(as you read the description, it is stacy talking. just so you don't get confused)

The Sorting Ceremony:

Each child would sit on a stool and we'd place the sorting hat on their head and the hat would actually tell them, in a pre-recorded voice, what house they were in. Then they would receive a matching scarf to symbolize their house and the next child would come up. Oliver was first and I placed the hat on his head while Ed helped him lean forward. Of course he was placed in Gryffindor and so I put his scarf around him and he laid back down. Everyone clapped and cheered and he had a big smile on his face. It was so fun to see the kids reactions to what house they were placed in. Too funny! The hat would say one of these three things.

"Plenty of courage I see, not a bad mind either. There's talent, oh yes, and a thirst to prove yourself, but where to put you??? Mmmmm... difficult, very difficult... GRYFFINDOR!!!"

"I know... HUFFLEPUFF!!"

"SLYTHERIN"

Gryffindor - Oliver, Meghan (not me), Kaden, Kael
Slytherin - Jaren, Briea, Cullan
Hufflepuff - Eden
Ravenclaw - Phineas, Ayla (ages 2 & 1)

 THE FEAST
After the sorting ceremony we had a buffet set up of all sorts of finger foods. Drum sticks, a relish tray, chips and dip, little smokies, cheese and crackers and of course, Butterbeer. Amy made it with cream soda, Redi-whip, and butter flavoring. It was so good! Some of the little kids couldn't even lift up the mugs because they were so big! Ginormous... as Ollie would say. I wanted to make pumpkin juice, pumpkin pasties and rock cakes, but just didn't have the time. I'm sure we'll do it this week as I have all the ingredients.

Butter Beer

THE TRI WIZARD TOURNAMENT

After we cleared off the food, we set up the potions class on the table where Ollie could see it as well. We had lots of old glass bottles filled with some potion ingredients. For example, white vinegar and baking soda which of course had cooler names like 'goblin pee' and 'crushed dragon bones'. The kids would take turns coming up and helping us add the ingredients. Briea, who will be 3 in March, gasped in amazement when one of the potions started bubbling and foaming up. So funny! Oliver even got to make his own potion.

*The First Task - Successfully brew your own potion. The kids were having a hay day with this! They used their wands, chopsticks, to stir their concoctions together.

*The Second Task - Create and draw your own crest. I printed off a downloadable coloring page off of the internet so they could fill it in themselves. They were excited about it and Eden ended up making two of them.

*The Third Task - Find the Golden Snitch. Since I knew Ollie wouldn't be able to participate in the hunt, I asked him where I should hide it and he pointed to a wall sconce with a candle inside of it. I perched it on the glass that covered the candle. We then told the kids that someone had stolen the golden snitch and Harry needed it for his next Quidditch match so we had to find it fast! They looked around the dining room and living room until Eden finally found it! It was fun watching the kids using their wands to look for it. Meghan had hers out and was using it to peek under Oliver's blanket trying to locate it. "Accio, snitch" didn't seem to work.

After each task I would give them Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts from Gringott's bank (chocolate gold coins) to spend later on. They were each awarded with their very own Tri Wizard Cup, a tiny gold trophy I got from the party favor section of the Dollar Tree. I wrote each name on the front along with the year. They loved it! I heard "I'm a REAL wizard now!" from the kids when they received them!

  HONEYDUKES Candy Shop & ZONKOS Joke Shop

We set up a small area in the kitchen for the kids to go shopping and spend their wizards money. Dollar Tree had tons of candy and fun jokes and gag gifts to make it fun for the kids. We got large glasses, magic tricks, fake spilled ketchup and nail polish bottles, fake snakes and cockroaches and all sorts of fun tricks and gags. They could each pick out one thing they wanted from Zonkos and then off to Honeydukes where we had Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans (Jelly Belly jelly beans), chocolate frogs and broomsticks, Licorice Wands, Cockroach Clusters (Hersey's crunch bar clusters), lemon drops, pop rocks and all sorts of other goodies to choose from. They filled their bags and their tummies!

Since Ollie couldn't make it out to the kitchen, I grabbed his bedside table and filled it up with all sorts of goodies, like the candy cart on the train that Harry Potter loves so much. I wheeled it over to him, but he still wasn't feeling well, so I just put some things in a baggy for him if he felt up to something sweet.

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Ok. it's me again. 

see, such a fun night. 

here are a few of some of my favorite pictures form the night.

Ayla loving on Ollie. She is usually kind of shy, but she was kissing and loving him up!

 this little guys name is Kaden. He was making me laugh. When it was his turn to put on the "sorting hat", he had his eyes closed so tightly and was whispering "please Gryffindor, PLEASE!"

 Everyone Congratulating Ollie on making it into Gryffindor!

 is this me or Professor Trelawney??

 My little Harry.

The Tri-Witch Champs!

I just love these ladies. 

They are so fun <3

While this New Years Eve was definitely bittersweet for us, we had a fun time. We knew that this would probably be the last time that we got to see Oliver and so goodbye this time was much harder than others. I cried the whole way back out to my in laws. I have know Oliver since he was still in Stacy's tummy. So to watch from beginning to end is more painful than i have imagined.

I say that knowing that knowing only how I feel as a friend. Please pray for this sweet family. I know that this new year will more than likely hold heart ache for them and that is heart breaking for me.

if you want to read olivers story you can.

wwww.oliverpalmer.blogspot.com

thanks so much friends for including us on this very special new years eve. 

it will definitely be one we will never forget!

i took so many pictures that night that there is no way i could post them all. 

so i decided to put them in an album if you want to see them. 

my big day

well thursday turned out so much better than i thought it was going to. i have to admit i was feeling a little down. i was bummed that garran was going to be in class all day and i was bummed that i was so far away from all my friends in waterloo. there was a group of us there that use to have birthdays close together and so we would all go out to dinner to celebrate each year. this is the first year i wouldn't be there for it. 

so this is how my day went. garran came home around 1:00. he surprised me by having a lady from church come over to watch the kids and he took me out to lunch. he was so proud of himself for pulling of surprise. he usually can't hold it in when he has a really good surprise, but this time he did. i had no clue. i love him so much. even when we can't do anything to big, i love that we both try to do something to make the other one feel special on big days like birthdays. 

after we got home, garran had to go back to school. boo! but the kids and i had a fun night. we had dinner together and I had picked up a small ice cream cake since I thought that would be my only form of celebration.

 here is the yummy cake. i think the kids were more excited than i was!

 b was to tuckered out to make it to cake. i was ok with that. while i love her bunches and bunches she had been really grumpy and i knew she really needed some sleep.

 ayla however was ready to party!! to bad she could not have any cake.

of course the boys were ready for some yummy fun!!

it was a fun day, and now i have started a new decade of life. hopefully i can make this next 10 years even better than the years before!!

Ollie's All Star Bash

February 20th 2009

Well we did it. We pulled it off. Last night was Oliver's All Star Bash! It was AMAZING!! Everything went pretty much according to plan. There are always hiccups here and there but for the most part the night went very smoothly. I got there around four so that we could finish up some last minute details. We had over a hundred volunteers that needed to be organized and told what needed to be done. We had the most amazing volunteers. They were all UNI students and had been coordinated through a lady named Jen Beck. I will forever be grateful to them. Without them the night would not have been such a great success. They were super helpful and great with the kids! So here are pictures of the night!Oliver and his family were picked up in a limo and brought to the location.Here they are pulling up.Oliver being greeted by the limo driver as he exited the limo.The Palmer Family.
Oliver, Stacy, Jaren, Eden, Ed (minus their two month old, who was to sick to attend)
As they entered the building their were Camp Adventure (UNI students) lining the stair way waiting and cheering with confetti.Here they are getting ready....Here is his big entrance. I think he was a little shocked. A lot of people were cheering. I think he got a little nervous. ;0)Here he is. The big man of the night! He looks so sweet and handsome in his tux.
Once the Palmer's arrived, it was time for the party to begin.
Downstairs we had food and games for the kids.There were so many fun tables and activities set up. Camp adventure kids had tables set up to make fun hats and other crafts, Jiva a local salon set up a table and were giving all the little girls manicures. There was a balloon guy who was making just about anything you could think of out of balloons for the kids. There was a flat screen set up with a wii in the corner for kids to play different wii games. It was really amazing and I think all of the kids had such a good time.
While everyone was eating we had some guests arrive. The local fire department decided to drop in. They asked Oliver if he would come outside for a minute. Then they surprised us all and scooped him up, set him in the truck and starting fastening him in.After they got him all buckled in, they put a head set on him so that he could hear the other guys in the truck. Then....they let him pull the horn! How fun. Stacy, Amy and I were joking about how most grown men we know would probably like to do the same thing!The surprises just kept coming. After checking with Ed and Stacy, they turned on the sirens and took Oliver for a ride around downtown. We were all standing outside and could hear the siren as the toured the downtown area. I know Oliver thought this was pretty cool!
After they got back, there was one more surprise.The Fire Marshall made Oliver an honorary Fire Fighter. It was very sweet. I believe he got a badge and a tee-shirt that said fire fighter.
The night did not end there.We had another special guest. The Bucks, a local baseball team's mascot came to enjoy the evening and greet people that were there.
Once dinner was over, people started moving upstairs to the dance floor. We had a DJ set up as well as a silent auction and raffle. Here is Uncle Bryan, Grandma Young, and Oliver!Cullan rocking his balloon gear. The balloon guy was amazing! He was so great with the kids. People were waiting almost thirty minutes in line at some points just so their kids could chat with him and get a balloon.Here is Jaren, Oliver's younger brother playing with his balloon sword.The dance was great. The DJ played fun music and everyone had a great time. These are some friends of ours from church that I snapped a quick picture of dancing. Eric and his daughter Addy.One last special guest for the night. TC the Panther mascot from UNI came to dance the night away. Oliver was so funny. When he got to meet TC he put his hand up on his head to cover up his Hawkeye logo. He said he did not want TC to be upset with him. What a sweet kid.The party was AMAZING. People were so generous and I think that everyone had a fun time. I think that the dancing started to tapper of around 10:00 or 10:30. Again the UNI and Camp Adventure kids were great. They helped clean up and tear everything down. All the work was done in no time at all. So after everyone had left and everything was said and done, we decided to get one more picture.So here we are. The Committee Gals!
Starting on the left side, bottom.
Bridget B, Andrea G, Stacy P
Right side back to front
Jen B, Myself, Amy B, Meghan H.

I can not say enough good things about Jen B. and her volunteers from UNI and Camp Adventure. I am also so grateful for everyone who came out to support our event and to enjoy the evening. My heart has been filled to the brim with love for complete strangers. Multiple people who stopped me that night and told me stories about how they knew the Palmer Family or how they did not and just came. I have been humbled by the kindness of others and hope that I do not soon forget the feelings I have had through the experience of these last two fundraisers.

If you would like to know more about Oliver and his condition you can go to his website below.
Oliver Palmer

farewell fun!

tonight i went to a going away dinner for these two ladies...

megan and reggie
i have know megan for a few years know and reggie for almost 9 years. we have gone to church together and been in the same ward a few times. they are each heading in different directions and we are going to miss them when they leave.(malissa, eunice, reggie, stacy)
we had fun tonight. these ladies are so funny. we were laughing and crying and everything in between!stacy and i hamming it up for the camera...if i get it from her, she has a great picture that involves cake!!megan and jenelle getting ready to enjoy some cake!reggie opening her willow tree from someone at the party. this picture is so cute!
i will have to post the other pictures when i get them from stacy. we had such a good time. i hope that reggie and megan enjoy their new homes and have safe travels getting there!