Easter maddness...

We have a special Easter tradition in our family. You are probably thinking, oh they sit around and read the Scriptures with one another, or they do a charitable act of service for someone in need. As these are all wonderful recommendations, yet they are somehow far from the reality of what we participate in!
Our entire extended family gets together, and then we have an Easter Egg hunt. I know what you are thinking "how original." But let me expand. All the ADULTS participate. Yes that is right, young and old, male and female, we are all apart of this juvenile charade. But it doesn't end there. Each adult has a partner that they are duct taped to at the ankle and at the knee. Then, with visions of cadbury eggs in our head, we race like absolute lunatics to find the delicious Easter morsels that await our gullets.
Usually there is a minor injury, an argument that transpires amongst couples, and little attention given to our children (who might I add our left to fend for themselves). We have entirely too much fun, and I fear for the repercussions of our actions and the scar our atrocities will leave on our little ones.
This beautiful tradition was founded by the Armstrong family. IT was established when we were all adults, and still longing to be a children. We used to do it individually and not taped to some other shmoe. But, one year I was pregnant, Jolene had just had a lung surgery, and my sis-in-law Kristen had just had her appendix removed. All of us poor ladies knew that we would have no chance at the Easter loot, and that the men wouldn't take it easy on us. Therefore, the brilliant plan was created to have each healthy young man strapped to a disabled woman (of sorts). It was a complete hit, and from there it has grown to now include our extended family, and now are unsuspecting off spring. Doesn't it just cause tears of joy to well within your eyes!
Unfortunately this year we didn't have the turn out we usually do, but that just meant I acquired twice the candy! Snooze you loose suckas!
PS Church was pretty cool too. (Do you like that little quip?) I knew I had to add something Spiritual in nature!

Maddie adores her Great Grandpa Beagley. To this day she still thinks he is the Prophet. She calls him Grandpa Hinkley.

Aunt Lynn takes her job of duct taping us together extremely seriously. After she is through you can literally feel the blood flow to your lower extremities be cut off. Aunt Lynn truly has a gift.

This year Corey and I had an added handicap (aka Gibson). I am still miffed that we had to carry around the added weight. I know if he wasn't strapped to us that we could have obtained at least 16.5 more candy eggs. Sometimes being a parent requires sacrifice, this should not be one of those moments!

Every man for himself. We don't even help fallen comrades.

This year our greatest challenge was our low rise jeans. With each grueling step we took, our pants were pulled lower and lower by the tape. It was difficult to hold our pants up and not expose booty, and still keep our eye on the prize.

Move out of the way old man! I see an egg with my name on it!

Thank goodness my mother was snapping pictures of Madison, or I would have had no idea what my daughter was up to during the hunt.
By the way, do you love how Madison is wearing a Hannah Montana shirt over her Easter dress?

Don't judge us, you are just jealous you didn't think of this rad tradition! Don't hate, congratulate!

Time Out for Mommy...

This weekend I had the privilege of going to Spokane for Time Out for Women. It is an amazing woman's conference with some of the most inspirational speakers and musicians within our Church. What made the experience even more wonderful was that I went with my mother and friend Erin.

I have to admit that I was apprehensive at first to be in Spokane, since that is where Jolene lived for the last6 months of her life, that is also where she left this life. Our hotel was only a few miles from Deaconess Hospital, (the hospital Jolene passed away in). Somehow though I feel Time OUT was supposed to transpire there. I think it is because every thing seemed to come full circle, and I felt I was able to have an Eternal perspective.

When my mom and Erin arrived in Spokane, the first thing we did was a session in the Spokane LDS Temple. I had never seen that Temple before, and it was ever so breathtaking. It is a mini temple, but the Spirit that resides there is anything but SMALL!! It was the perfect way to begin our weekend!

The first day was a life seminar that was limited to only 500 women. It was wonderful because it was a smaller more intimate setting. That way we were able to interact more with the speakers. Speaking of interacting with speakers, I had a lengthy conversation with Virginia Pearce (aka President Hinkley's daughter)! I also was able to meet Sherri Dew (for the second time) and speak with her as well. There is something to be said about meeting the people who you admire and inspire you. I think the reason why it is important is because you are able to see that they are REAL people like you and me. It helps me to feel like I can really achieve the desires of my heart, if I but put forth the effort. Their talks were literally life changing, and ultimately inspiring in every sense of the word.

That evening we went to a concert put on by Michael McClain. His music is beautiful and touches your soul in a way that words alone cannot. He is also extremely hilarious! I never knew that about him. He had the arena of women rolling! He performed some of his old songs, and some new ones. I don't think I have cried that hard in a long time. Every song he sang seemed to remind me of Jolene in some way or another. It was bittersweet, and I am grateful that I had my mother to comfort me. After his performance I was able to meet him. I spoke to him about the possibility of writing a song about Jolene. The thought of that gives me goose bumps! :)

The next day we had a full day of speakers, and musicians. To name a few: Mary Ellen Edmunds, Hillary Weeks, Mercy River, and many more. I don't think my hand will ever recover from taking 2 days straight of notes. My right hand is affixed in a claw position, in which I fear it will never fully straighten completely.

It was the BEST weekend. I left feeling absolutely rejuvenated spiritually. I feel as though I can take on the world, (and maybe even my family)! I feel that it helped me to strive to be a better woman, wife, mother, and Daughter of God. It was a life changing experience that I will never forget, and I hope to implement this wealth of knowledge into my own life. The only down fall was that, in the midst of these inspirational talks and music, we had little time for rest. I felt as though I was in Spiritual and knowledge overload, my brain actually hurt! Even several days after Time Out I was nursing a spiritual hangover! I don't remember the last time I had been so tired, but it was a good tired!

I am so grateful for Gospel, and the light, knowledge, and peace it brings into my life.

My mother and I outside the Temple.

Erin took this one of the Temple. It is sad when your friend knows how your camera functions better than you do!

My mom, me, and Erin. Hey mom, look at the birdie!

Virginia Pearce and I.

Here is Virginia and I again. We are tight yo. We are going to have a best friend handshake and everything! Is she not the cutest thing you have ever seen?

Sherri Dew and I. I know that she was quite honored to meet someone of my caliber. he, he!

Michael McClain and I. Do you like how my eyes are all red and swollen? I had to thank him for making me cry like a baby.


Erin and I on the last day. Don't we look all the wiser? :)

Vacationing is my drug of choice...

Over President's Day weekend our family had the privilege of having our first vacation together. Our family paired up with our amazing friends, the Christensen's.
We went to Leavenworth which is about 2 hours from us, yet it feels a world away from the every day monotony of life. Leavenworth is an adorable little Bavarian Village that is tucked away in the Mountains. I love the fact that when we visit there, that you not only feel you have gone to a quaint beautiful place, but that you feel as though you are in another country altogether.

All the Christmas lights were still on in the town village, and in the town square. There was snow on the ground, but not a cloud in the sky. The weather and scenery couldn't have been more breathtaking.

We shared a cabin with our friends, which was only a mile from the Town Square. The view from our cabin was spectacular of the surrounding Mountains, and the river was but within a walking distance.

Each day we would all venture out to walk around the town, and investigate the shops. In the shops I spent a great deal of time watching Madison, in fear she would break a beautiful and expensive item. Luckily we didn't have any mishaps.
In the evenings after the children would go down for the night. All the grownups would go downstairs to the game room, and play card games. That is also when we would break out our secret stash of chocolates and candy that we had acquired throughout the day. I don't know how Maddie never found our 2 lb Reese's cups, and our other assortment of diabetic delights! We would stay up entirely too late, and consume too much garbage, but we had a blast doing it! We would definitely pay for our decisions the next morning, as the children would wake up bright and early!
It was a relaxing couple of days. I am so thankful to have had a wonderful time with my family, and our dear friends. This was our first vacation with our entire family, and I look forward to the trips that we will share in the future with one another.

Erin and Teage with their perfect twin boys, Dylan and Lucas. (FYI Maddie had a hard time choosing which twin she wanted to marry, but after much deliberation she decided on Dylan. She feels as though he is the "funnier" of the two, and she likes that he has more hair than that of his twin counterpart!)

Lucas and Dylan. My favorite one is which ever one I am holding and kissing on in that moment! These little guys are so cute that it is actually painful to watch them in action, yet I cannot pull my gaze from them! They are fast, but not fast enough to escape the fury of my kisses!

"Beautiful, gorgeous, wish you were here!" Name that movie quote ladies (or men who enjoy a good chick flick)!

The town square. Love it!!

Please support Team Jolene, and help to find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis!!

Friends and family,

I am calling on you to join an amazing cause! I am asking for your support in raising funds and awareness of Cystic Fibrosis. I know that not everyone has a lot of money to give, but honestly every dollar counts, and will go to finding a cure for this devastating disease.

For more details I would ask you to look at my website and see what you can do to help. Please take a minute from your day to do something that could literally give someone a longer life!



Here is the link to my page: http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/dsp_DonationPage.cfm?walkid=5329&idUser=215909



Thank you for taking a moment to support a cause that is so near and dear to me!



Love to all,

Karine Waggoner