A reminder

Gratitude. A gracious heart.

Sometimes I have to be reminded.

Sometimes I have to realize.

Life.

we are blessed.

so blessed.

but sometimes I let life catch up to me

and I feel so busy.

and sometimes down.

Things in my life. that have been trials.

I remember. and I let get me down.

But I am reminded,

l i f e...

life is beautiful,

life is an opportunity,

life is OURS.

every day.

we get to be.

we get to wake up. see the sunshine

and do the best we can do.

sometimes it is not easy.

sometimes the fight is so hard.

I had such a week.

SO much on my mind.

wondering, questioning.

but reminded.

a simple reminder on sunday.

from our bishop.

I was humbled and so grateful.

I sat in my chair and cried.

It was a good moment for my heart.

I needed it.

A reminder.

And now I can move on.

I feel blessed.

so blessed.

overwhelming blessed at times.

wondering what I did to deserve such joy.

But let me tell you something.

I love life.

I love the opportunity to live each day.

to be a mom, a friend, to choose freely,

to teach, to guide, to direct,

to laugh, to cry, and just to be.

that's all.

my simple message to you.

(and more for myself)

A reminder.

thank you Bishop Archibald.

I love our gospel just for that reason.

have a glorious, good day.

And always remember...

be grateful.

Tawny

(love the picture in the beginning. Happy moments :)

~And so excited for my sis, Amber coming to visit for the weekend!

and off to get ready for a baby shower I am hosting..we invited 130 people!

so fun :) lot's of work. And excited for Ashlyn to do her first triathalon on

Saturday! Great weekend ahead! Oh and p.s. listen to the words of this song

by Paul Cardall. Pretty amazing guy :)

goodbye's.

Ashlyn gave her bracelets to all the sisters yesterday.

It was her idea. A farewell gift.

A bracelet with a heart attached to each one.

The idea:

When the girls wear it, they will think of Ashlyn and I.

She worked hard and was so excited.

She attached a heart to each one.

At the party, she let each girl pick one.

She gave each of them a hug. It was cute.

This weekend was so busy.

Twins 11th birthday party (so fun!)

(one for Ash, one for Aus),

We had a birthday bash with 14 of all their closest friends...
(I will do the post in CO.)
Ash- aquarium, Aus- hoop bouncer.
Then we all met up for a big BBQ!

It was so much work and so much FUN...more later.

Then we had two farewell parties in

honor of the Stott's!

( one for adult's and one for the cousin love)

It was such a great weekend...

but soooo emotional too!

Ry and I will never forget this weekend and the LOVE

we felt from my family.
it was happy and sad.

A good moment

for

goodbye's.

The adult party at Misty and Bri's house.

(thank you so much! It was beautiful)

My family made Ry and I's favorite dinner: tri-tip, homemade breadsticks, pasta salad, spinach salad, and strawberries and banana's.

It was so divine!

(notice the sign!)

A party with memories, and lots of stories.

Stories from the past and stories from the present.

Words that had us laughing with tears and words that had us crying with tears.

Each person bringing gifts and momentos...stories with each one.

Care packages for my kids, special necklaces and books, pillowcases with well wishes written on them, picture frames with me at the beach with sis's, minkies for Mace...

It was so sweet...

I've got to tell you, I was blown away by the love.

A night and a day we will N E V E R forget.

All the details made the party perfect for us.

Here are a few pics and I am off to get ready for movers tomorrow.

I love you guys so much.

Thank you to my family,
Ry and I are flattered.

Really we can't thank you enough.

Love my Brown's.

Pics:

Adult party.

Misty and Bri's house.
(some of the girlies!)

Troy, my twinner. posing funny for the pic.

(And I want to thank my bro, Troy, who switched his business trip to Manilla and left on Mother's Day (sorry Kristin!) so he could be back for Ry and I's farewell party! You are so sweet!)


Jan and Hugh (oldest sis) and Kristin (Troy's wifey. love her!)

And NO I am NOT that tall! It's just our pose!

The family roast.

Oh man did I get it! I was laughing so hard. And then crying so hard....

pics of everybody....

Sunday afternoon,

Family farewell party #2 with all the kids
Cousins saying goodbye...

High point park

My family took the whole park!

Grace and Carson

(my twin bro and Kristin's kiddos)

made the Stott family the

cutest CARE package for the car!

We loved it. Coloring books, magazines, drinks, our favorite treats!It was so thoughtful and such a good idea!! Thanks cute kiddos

They decorated them too! It meant a lot to us.
(love my earrings!)

At the park:

Ashlyn's bracelets. sister love. Never forget us!

(Remember us when you wear your bracelet love.)

We just want to say, from the bottom of our hearts:

Thank you everybody.

thank you.
so. much.

The Stott's had a fabulous weekend...

So emotional and so hard (to say goodbye's)

but yet happy too.

One we won't ever forget.

We L O V E you all.

NOW off to get ready for the movers! 24 hours!

Official goodbye's in a bit.

xo!

p.s. sister trip in 4 days! yay. A much needed break for me. The house will be all packed up and on it's way OUT to CO.

Then Sunday I fly out and move everything in the CO house.

and then fly back to S.L and let the kids finish one more week of school..(living at gma's!)

then it's an OFFICIAL GOODBYE!

are you sick of us yet?? j.k!

Friends for L I F E.

Do you have those best friends you haven't talked to in a long time

and you pick up the phone and start off from where you ended last time?

I do.

Do you have a friend who you grew up with, shared all those crazy junior high moments, had crushes on boys, lazy summers, and sleepovers all night?

I did.

Do you have a friend you cherish because she listens, cares about, and checks in every once in a while even if she lives all the way over on the East Coast?

I do.

I want to thank that "friend" who I love and feel so lucky to have. I grew up with her since 5th grade and she was my Maid of Honor at my wedding.

A little gift came in the mail

and it contained the sweetest note and my favorite treats.

Oh she knows me well...

it meant the world!

You KNOW who you are. I am lucky to have you girl.

and thanks for your message. I needed it.

Loves to you and your fam!

xo!

Prayers for Savannah

The world seems to stop when you get an email like this. Candice, our realtor and friend, sent us this email. Her 7 yr. old daughter, Savannah Grace, was diagnosed on March 4 with a brain tumor and is having surgery on Tuesday, March 17th to remove it. Even though you don't know Savannah, any well-wishes and prayers would be appreciated...especially Tuesday morning.

to visit Savannah's website: www.caringbridge.org/visit/savannahgraceevans