Grandma Scott and Family Time!

My Grandma, Clara Scott, passed away December 27th, 2010. She was such a joy to me and my family! We will miss her, but I am very excited for her to be with my Grandpa again! The last few months, she would say, "I wish that Grandpa would come get me, already!" I have so many wonderful memories of my Grandma, I just want to list a few of my favorite things about her that pop into my head!

1. She loves Pepsi, 1-6 cans a day and she lived to be almost 88!

2. I could get her down to 1 Pepsi a day if she knew she was going to have an Orange Dream Machine from Jamba Juice!

3. She loved toast with plenty of butter on it!

4. When I was little she would sit on the other side of the counter in the kitchen and use a step stool for a seat and the cutting board for her table to eat so she could serve us kids! I have adopted this tradition and even had the cabinet people come in and add a cutting board in my new house!

5. When I was young, she would mix chocolate milk (my favorite treat) in glass cups and I loved the way it tinked when she stirred it! And she always put in plenty of chocolate...unlike my mom! lol!

6. When staying at Grandma's house, we always woke up to the smell of the best tasting hashbrowns in the world and bacon!

7. In the daytime at Grandma's we would roll up and down her grass hills in the front of her house with our cousins, watch the movie "Savanna Smiles", and drink Shasta!

8. After dinner at Grandma's house, we would have icecream in a cone almost every time!

9. I would always have my Grandma tell me about her pregnancies and raising her kids. And about when she fell in love with my Grandpa!

10. When Grandma would come stay with us in her old age, my girls loved to help her by getting her pop and holding her hand to guide her. They were helping Grandma, but I think that by doing so Grandma was helping us!

11. Grandma always dyed her hair red from the time she was a teenager, maybe that's why I like to put a little red in my hair now and then!

12. I would say, Grandma we have all of these things to do (errands, etc..) I'd say, "Does that sound like fun?" Grandma says, "well?..." So, I asked Grandma what she thought would be fun, she said, "getting my nails done and drinking a Jamba." Grandma always had beautiful nails!

13. Grandma would pray out loud at night and I spent many times listening and shedding a tear. She would pray for every grandchild and "their babies." She was always thinking of others!

14. We took many family vacations with Grandma and Grandpa Scott; Florida, New York, Nauvoo, Omaha, San Diego, British Columbia. We always loved having them along. Except that they always wanted to eat at McDonald's! After a few times, I would just sit in the car and wait! (usually because my mom was frustrated that I wouldn't eat McDonalds for the tenth time in a row and make me stay in the car instead of listening to me whine!).

15. My Grandpa Scott died right before my 16th birthday... I remember my Grandma giving him one last kiss before they closed his casket, it was such a tender moment and I decided I wanted that kind of love for myself someday (luckily I found Ryan!)

16. I have so many more memories I can't possibly list them all. I just loved my Grandma and I will cherish her memory forever! Love you Grandma!

Love, Jules

Now, the best part of Grandma's passing was getting together with the family. It was a really wonderful time for everyone to come because it was over Christmas break. My Brother Brian and his family even got to come over from Japan, which was a little miracle itself! We had so much fun with them and Brad and Shanna! We will be holding onto these memories with them for the next three years until we will see them again (unless if I talk Ryan into taking me to Japan!!!) Grandma's funeral service was beautiful and it was a wonderful day, except that it was stinking freezing!

Christina, Kim, Julie, Melody! This is me with my cousins that are all the same age as me. Our Mom's were all sisters and all prego the same time! I will try to dig up some pictures of us when we were little! I love all of these guys to pieces!

My cousin Kim came over before they had some family pictures and I did her hair and makeup (thanks for not talking back to me Kim :) This is her adorable son Emmett! She also has Branson (6), and Eli (4). She's having the boys, and I'm having the girls!

I have some gorgeous pictures of my Grandma and Grandpa that I will have to add later! Grandma always had nice legs!

My cousin Shawn and Kim's Eli.

A little Christmas action at Grandma Colleens, she always makes everything fun!

Like Father, Like Son.

Sophie reunited with her Aunt Natalie (reunited from Heaven,... ya... I went there:)

Nathan and Uncle Ry bonded major! They were such good buddies and will be forever! Man, I am already missing those guys!

Ryan's cousin Jaclyn Hone married Isaiah, it was a gorgeous reception at the Loft! We have this cute picture of all of the babies born.. Way to go Sophie, you are the only girl, you will have so much fun running around with these boys! JimBob (E.J.'s Dad) holding Gage, John (Ray's Dad) holding Jake, Brad holding Kylan, Ryan holding Sophie! Sophie is the oldest of these, they were all born within 2 months, and Ryan's other cousin Eric had a boy (Jack) during that time as well! So fun!

Well, that is all for now! Life is good! I am getting the organizing bug, so I better take advantage of it... I have not done very good since Sophie was born, life has been pretty crazy, but good. Hopefully, things will be more normal (ya right!)

Love, Jules

Just a little Christmas fun!

We had such a wo

nderful Christmas break! We spent time at Annie and Papa Arfmann's house in Salmon! The kids had a great time with their cousins and we made many great memories! It was such a fun and special Christmas!

I surprised Ryan with a Benelli supernova shot gun for Christmas! He was pleasantly shocked, I wrapped it in pink paper and said it was for the girls, he had no clue... it was great! (I'm terrible at surprises, so I was pleased with myself for pulling this one off!)

Don't shoot your eye out honey!

We went sledding at Dump Hill! It was great! We would hook the sleds onto the back of the 4-wheeler to get pulled up the road, then fly down! The kids were loving it! WE will for sure do this again!

This is my cute sister-in-law Lori, she is 34 weeks pregnant with a boy! But, still living it up!

Me and my other cute sister-in-law Hollie!

The girls (Ryan) got DSI's for Christmas! They had a lot of fun playing them. (All I can say is that I'm glad the newness of them is wearing off and the girls can go to the bathroom and eat without them!)

Ryan surprised me with a new hot pink Columbia! I love it!!!! Thanks Honey!

The girls went skiing with Ryan, here they are pooped at the lodge! They are quite the little skiers, though!

Lauren and Sophie!

My cute little smile bug! She is such a fun baby! Tonight she is sleeping in the crib for the first time! She is growing up!

Bo and Brie, best buds forever!

Ashlie, Preslie, and Ava... loving the new barbie house. (the one with the elevator!!!! All of my dreams are finally coming true!!!) Jessica Doggett had one of these when we were growing up, I always wanted one ;) Thanks Santa!

Savanna and Maylie! They are both turning 8 next month and are getting baptized together in March! It will be so special! They had so much fun together! Maylie also got to get her ears pierced, (I felt like I was giving her a tattoo or something... I had no idea that it would totally stress me out, these things are permanent you know!!!)

Thanks to Annie and Papa, we had a wonderful Christmas! Such great memories made with all of our Arfmann cousins! So, this is all for now, but, we had a whole lot going on over Christmas break! Wow! So, I have a few more posts coming! WE don't want to miss a thing! Love ya! Jules

Merry Christmas! Blessing Pictures!

Merry Christmas! Love, the Arfmann's

Christmas Miracle!

I received this email from my sister-in-law Natalie this morning about the Provo Tabernacle burning down. As I read the article and looked at the devastating pictures and losses, my heart was sad for that beautiful building and what it stood for (also the million dollars worth of electrical equipment!) that were destroyed. The last picture shown was of these firemen that found this picture of Christ. I think the picture says a million words, itself. So, I will leave you with my testimony that Jesus is the Christ and He lives today! What a miracle to show unto the world this Christmas season that He lives! Merry Christmas! Love, Jules

Winter Dance Recital!

The girls have taken dance this year from a studio called Infinity Dance. Luckily, it is in the same building that our old dance class was in (We miss you Miss Nancy!) and I can see it from my front window! Three different dance classes in a day is a doosie, but, we love it! This first semester the girls learned ballet and modern dance which has been really fun. Maylie and Brie also did a hiphop/tap class which they have absolutely loved. You've got to see their moves! Too cute! Don't worry though Dad, Maylie still has basketball practice tonight, they still want to be sporty too!!

I haven't had a chance to see if the videos are post-worthy. But, I thought I would put up the pictures, they were little beauties up there dancing and we really had a special time. They especially loved it when Grandma Colleen brought them each a red rose! Thanks Grandma! Have a great day! Love, Jules

Blessings

Today our little Sophie was blessed by her Dad. It was such a special day to have family and friends around. Sophie looked so adorable in her little blessing dress. I was going to buy her a new one, but, I just loved Ashlie's so much that I decided they should share and I'm glad I did, because it was absolutely perfect for Sophie! It was so cute when Ryan was finished blessing her, he lifted her up and you could hear the whole congregation go, "oh, awe". It made my day! The blessing was beautiful and she was a good little baby all day. We just love her to pieces! She has a real sweet spirit about her and she is so pretty (biased?... yes, but it's true!) Since all of the Arfmann's were together, we snapped a couple of family photo's and I think they turned out pretty cute! Thanks to everyone for coming and spending this special day with us! The only thing that would have made it better, were if Brian and Natalie and their family could have come (they live in Japan, so I guess it's okay that they couldn't make it :) The official blessing pictures weren't quite ready, so check back for the pictures of the dress, it is so cute and fluffy!

Chace, Amy, and Sadie (Chaces girlfriend)

Annie and Sophie

Papa and Sophie

Grandma and Grandpa Call and Sophie

Sophie (2.5 mo.) and cousin Landon (4.5 mo.) We couldn't resist taking lots of pictures of these two cuties!

So, now the next thing on our list is CHriStmAs!!! I just checked my weekly calendar for this upcoming week and surprisingly it is blank as of right now! Not like the crazy previous weeks!!! I'm sure it will fill up with all sorts of fun stuff fast, after all, I do love a blank canvas! (you know, like, the empty drawer that becomes the junk drawer, or the empty shelf that becomes the jewelry, tag, change drop off)

Well, I just hope everyone takes time to enjoy this wonderful time of year. I keep thinking back to when I was a kid and how I loved feeling the spirit of Christmas! I hope that I can do as good of a job as my mom did at bringing that special feeling to our families Christmas activities! We are so grateful for the birth of our savior Jesus Christ. This year, we have seen his hand in our lives many times and in many ways. We feel so blessed to have the gospel and such wonderful family and friends (if you are reading this, consider yourself hugged ;). Merry Christmas! Love, Jules

This is the life!

This little baby just makes my day EVERYDAY! She is such a fun baby! She is now 2 months old and is smiling and cooing, I love it! The girls (and DAD) are absolutely smitten with Sophie, it has been fun to watch them take care of her every need! They even have changed a few diapers!

This picture was taken when Sophie was 6 weeks old. Poor thing, she puts up with all of us dressing her up and fussing over her, 24-7!

I always love the crying pictures... "EnoUGh aLREady!!!" It makes my milk come in just looking at it!!!! :)

This was from Halloween. Oddly enough, it was the nicest Halloween we've had in a long time. However, since then, the weather has not been this nasty this early in the season since 1983! But, who's keeping track anyway!!!! The Hones brought over this awesome trailer for the girls to ride around the neighborhood for trick-or-treating! They had an absolute blast!

This was my attempt at last minute decorating!

Danika and I! I am so excited for Danika, she is having her baby any day now! And, she doesn't know what she is having (she already has 3 girls, who knows!!) However, I already have bought her Nike onesies just in case it is a boy!!!

Sister Love! Sister Power!

Sister Love! Sister Power! We had the funnest girls' weekend in Park City! Amy, me, Lori, and Hollie, and Erlene (photographer). We shopped and did glitter toes and laughed a lot!!!

Ryan and Jayson were sweet husbands and Dads and took the kids to Chuck-E-Cheese, The Dinosaur Museum, and swimming! They were voted Dad's of the year by all of the girls!

Thanksgiving plans got crunched and smashed by the snow storm and closed roads. We were going to go to Island Park and stay in a condo for the week with my parents, but instead, we stayed home. It actually ended up being such a wonderful week! We went iceskating, sledding, 4-wheeling, and had a great time!

So, we were trying to take a nice family picture on the ice, brought the baby out and everything, and this teenager is standing right behind Ryan making a faCE!!!! So immature, but, it was totally funny when we went to look at the pictures. I faded her out as much as I could! I should post the original though, because it is so funny!!! The girls loved iceskating!

We had a delicious feast at my Mom's for Thanksgiving! The Hones and Infangers were in town, so they all came too! Ryan was in heaven having his cousins around! The girls had a blast with their cousins!

Well, that's all for now!!! Like I said for my title, "This is the Life!" Not that it is perfect all of the time, but, we for sure try to think of it that way (it makes the bad days go by faster!) Love you all! Have an awesome weekend! Love, Jules