40 & Fabulous

Hello all:

The last 2 weeks in April for my 40th birthday were SO FUN!!! I wanted to do something special for my 40th year on the earth so I told my family I wanted a party with friends and family.

I also took a week of vacation time so I could relax and enjoy it properly. I was even more surprised because as luck would have it David's vacation time landed on my birthday week so he and his lovely family (Michelle,Ruby, Noah, Holly & Lily) made the trek from Utah to spend a week with us.

Since they arrived the day after Easter, the 1st thing we did was have a belated Easter Egg Hunt.



On the search for the elusive Egg



Ruby scores some eggs



Noah scores some also



It would seem Auntie Marilee
put the Egg too high..Sorry Holly



Holly showing us her prized egg



I walked into my room to find that
Holly dumped out all the eggs and grass
and decorated herself with stickers while eating
the loot. Never leave this girl alone.. :-)

Grandma then broke out the new toy which we call the worm.



David filming his kids in the worm



Ruby strikes a pose



And Miss Holly does the same

Then they broke out the bubbles that the Easter Bunny brought. Oh how fun it is to blow bubbles.





Then they all piled on the swing with Grandma



We have had a tradition with the men that we call the RED MEN. Michelle captured a great photo of the boys.



Grandpa, Noah & David..How handsome!

Because David still has California Beaches in his soul, we went to the beach in Santa Monica. Unfortunately we chose a cold and windy day..But did this stop us--NO WAY!



Noah, Holly & I get blown down to the beach.



It's cold but Michelle & I smile anyway.



Ruby poses as she gets sand blown in her
face.



Lily is just happy to be part of
the group.



They are so cute.



Holly showing off her new shades.



Blowing away..but who cares. :-)




This beach scene should have been our first clue,
not a soul in sight..LOL!



My cool dudes agree it was a good day.

On a side note, the temperatures increased by
20 degrees and David took Ruby & Noah to the
beach a few days later.

The next day we all went to Memorial Park in La Canada and had a fun day. The kids LOVE the park.



Lily goes for a swing



Noah searches for land.



Ruby, Michelle & Lily chill out and pose for the camera



Auntie Marilee poses with all her Potter babies.

Sara, Andrew & Mary arrived late on Thursday, so on Friday they came to hang out and get ready for the party of the century the following day. I was surprised to receive beautiful flowers from Barbara & Morgan.



Me and the pretty flowers.

Friday evening David, Michelle & the kids went to go visit friends and Mindy, Mikaela, Amanda & Ashley arrived. We all decided to go out and have pedicures. What a fun day.



Ashley & Sara have their toes worked on
while Andrew & Mary watch



Mindy & Amanda relax on the other side



Cousins Ashley, Amanda, Mary & Mikaela.

Friday evening I had present opening with just my family because of the special gifts they wanted to share with me.



I got a copy of a Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode that I have always wanted.



Very cute purple pajamas



A digital key chain, so I can bore people with pictures of my nieces and nephew.

My wonderful siblings also got me an Auntie necklace with all my babies birth stones and Andrew, Sara & Mary made me a picture DVD of my life set to music. I loved it.

Saturday was my big day and I woke up to my bathroom mirrors decorated and my car windows decorated. Unfortunately I never made it outside to take a picture of it, but trust me it was very cute.

I was then taken to breakfast by my siblings. We went to Everest, which is our favorite place for pancakes.



Being silly with David..My 40th birthday necklace said--"Behold the Ageless Wonder" Very Funny.



Sara, Andrew & Mary say good morning.



Cousins Lily & Mary wish they could have some of our yummy food.




Mary puts on her party hat and says, "Let's get this party started"

Sara made me a yummy chocolate cake but I must give credit to Mindy & Michelle because they frosted it.



Behold 40 candles



Sara lights her up..better have those fire extinguishers near by.



Blowing...Blowing..Blowing..



And out they go. Let's cut the cake.




I got so many lovely presents



My party ended with a picture of all my babies. Man is it hard to get a good shot of everyone, oh well..we will keep on trying.




Ruby, Lily, Me, Mary, Noah & Holly

As quick as they came, David & Michelle had to go home... :-( I guess all good things can't last forever. Andrew, Sara & Mary got to stay with us a little longer but I also eventually had to go back to work.

When I returned to work, I got to celebrate my birthday with my co-workers..That's right I milked this birthday for all it was worth because let's face it, you only turn 40 once.

My co workers told me I had to be blindfolded to go to our destination. Since we did not have a blind fold I had to use a towel we had in the office, so I'm sure everyone that saw the car assumed I had a migraine. Cindy drove in circles to throw me off the track and Theresa read to me out of US magazine so I wouldn't pay attention. We ended up at my favorite Italian restaurant for lunch Divina Cucina where we had a fun girly lunch and then enjoyed my favorite chocolate cake from Cakery Bakery.



Getting ready to drive in circles



Cindy & Barbara posing with the blindfolded one.



I love chocolate cake



Blowing out the last set of candles for my 40th year.

Again I send thank you's to all my family that came and celebrated and made this the best year of my life.

Silly News & Exciting News

Hello All:

It has been a while since I have blogged..but to tell you the truth, there was nothing to blog about, till now.

Monday I was getting my nails done and enjoying the peace of relaxing in a pedicure chair when I heard a familiar voice. I looked up to see who it was and low and behold it was Allison Arngrim, that's right...Nellie Oleson from Little House on the Prairie.





She was really nice and very laid back. She told me that she just got back from France after being there for over a month and really needed a pedicure. But I never asked for an autograph, partly because I was chicken and partly because I think even minor celebrities deserve peace.

I started to drive home and decided to call Michelle because I knew she would want to know..but there was NO ANSWER. I then called Melissa because I knew she would want to hear...NO ANSWER. I went home, thinking Mom will want to hear about it but my home was all dark, and nobody was home. I called Dad's phone and he said he & Mom decided to eat at Conrad's. So I finally called Sara and she listened to my story. That was the silly news! Now for the exciting news...

I was putting things away in my room and Mom & Dad came home. Dad said, you need to come here Mom wants you to see something.

And here is what I found...The big, fat fibbers were not at Conrads...



Please meet Miss Scarlet..She is a 2009 Toyota Camry (Because they wanted to be just like me)

Unfortunately Golda the Saturn broke down again and was just going to be too much to repair, so Miss Scarlet has joined our family.

Dad has always wanted a red car, and now he has one.

I hope all is well.

Love

Marilee

The new hire @ UPS

Most of you know that I am lucky enough to work with a 2 year Labrador named Morgan. He belongs to my boss.

Who am I kidding he is the BOSS.

He recently thought about leaving State Farm to work for UPS.

Enjoy the pictures below.

Love Marilee



How do you work the signature board?



Our UPS man Eric trying to recruit
Morgan for the job.

Good News from Oklahoma

Hello Family:

Just received happy news from Jimmy & LaShonda Potter. They just found out they are expecting a bundle of joy in late September.

Congratulations to the happy couple and to their son Jameson. He will get to be a big brother soon.

Love to all

Marilee

***** 2/9/2009 Unfortunately Jimmy & LaShonda lost their baby. Our thoughts and prayers are with them *****

Marilee has a sink. Woo Hoo!

I must share my frustrating month and a half with you.

On December 20th, I noticed that my bathroom rug was very wet. I kept looking under the sink only to find that everything appeared to be dry. But the drawer underneath had a mysterious puddle of water that I kept cleaning up.

I started to have thoughts of water seeping from unknown places, and plumbing bills in the thousands.

I unloaded the whole cabinet in preparation for the plumbers on Monday morning. They also saw that the towels were very wet and that it was dripping into the lower drawer but couldn't find where it was dripping from. We finally discovered the tiny leak in one of the valves which was slowly dripping and causing a pool of water in the bottom drawer.

We thought good, repair the valve and we will move on. But Noooooo! I went to open the bottom drawer and it fell off in my hands. This slow leak had destroyed the particle board construction and left us with an even bigger mess.

So we went to Lowe's and picked a new sink, cabinet and faucet. But the bad news was it wouldn't be delivered for a month. I thought that won't be so bad. At least I have another bathroom.

I know my Great, Great, Great Grandmother Ann Jewell Rowley, that crossed the plains would shake her head when I say this, but it is a pain for 3 people to share a bathroom. Dad knew it was getting bad when I started to wash my face at the kitchen sink.

It was finally delivered and installed this week and I am the happiest person in the world.

I have been walking around the house, saying "I Love My Sink".

So if you are in the neighborhood, come by and wash your hands in my new sink.



Very wet towels.



Preparation for removal



Goodbye sink



What a freaking mess.




Checkout my new pretty sink.

Mary Jade's special day.

Hello Family:

The Potter Family was able to gather for a lovely long weekend 1/31 - 2/1. We were celebrating the blessing of our sweet Mary Jade.

Mom, Dad & I flew into SLC on 1/31 and were met at the airport by Andrew, Sara & Mary. We then met up with David, Michelle and their family at Chili's for a wonderful lunch (Thank you Mom & Dad) and a nice long visit.

Sunday was such a beautiful, crisp day as we prepared to go to the blessing. We got to church to save lots of pews for our family and Andrew's family. Mary was given the most beautiful blessing by her Daddy. It was a very sweet and emotional day for all.

We then gathered at Sara's in-laws for a Mexican fiesta that would put any restaurant to shame thanks to the talented Val Ostler.

We enjoyed good company, good food and a very exciting Super Bowl game. ( And that says a lot coming from me as I'm not a sports person).

Since it has been so long since we were all together, we took a new family picture. (Not perfect, but what family picture truly is).

I have attached pictures below of Mary's special day.

Big Hugs to all

Marilee



The Star..Miss Mary Jade Ostler (notice the cute jade
bracelet Grandma Julie had made for her)



Sweet Sara and her baby girl
P.S. Mary is wearing Sara's blessing dress
and bonnet



Mary and her parental units.



Uncle David, Auntie Marilee, Sara & Mary



Dad & David. Don't they look like father and son.



All because two people fell in love.