{check out this cake!}

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These pictures are in our kitchen. Right above the stairs that go to our tv room. Jay made the clown when he was little (it's made from yarn). Isn't it cute?

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I love this family portrait our niece drew for us.

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This is another masterpiece by Jay, from his school days. Click on the picture and you'll be able to read the fun story he wrote. :)
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Robin drew this Spider-Man.
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When I was little, I used to draw everyone as a princess. This is my mom as a princess. The original is only about 4cm tall.
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On our way out yesterday, Sienna wanted to take a picture of me when she saw that I was bringing the camera with me. Yes, I always look this tired. And please don't ask about the cropping. There's a reason for it. :) This is one of my favorite jackets ever. Underneath is a down vest from Eddie Bauer.
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Yesterday was fun. Sienna and I went to Scholar's Choice where I bought some gifts for friends who have had babies. Sienna also got some new paints and glitter to mix with the paints. Sienna loves playing with the Calico Critters doll house there.

Then it was time to go to church where I helped decorate the room for our Relief Society annual party. Our theme was "Let's Get 'Purse'onal" so the decorations were mainly purses & bags, balloons and ribbon bows around the back of the chairs. Pink, white and black. Tissue paper was put in the purses. It turned out really nice.

This is a picture of the cake my friend made. It's still in it's wrapping here but I'm sure you can see what an AMAZING cake she made. The purse handle is made with a softened Tootsie roll. We also had other cakes and punch with floating raspberries.

The program was awesome. The young women (ages 12-18) were invited also and they did a beautiful music number. There were couple other amazing musical numbers too. Some people are so musically talented, I tell you (not me!). Someone told the story of the organizing of the first RS. There were three awesome short talks. First one by a teenager who showed her purse and what's in it and how it relates to RS and the gospel. Then my friend showed three of her purses. First her backpack from her university days. Then a small trendy purse. I actually asked for a copy of her talk as it really touched me. Here's a short quote about the trendy purse: "...This purse symbolizes freedom and hard work for me. It is a product of my first purse. I'm able to carry this purse because of the long years of studying and working hard at school. As a result of the backpack, my wallet in this purse is now filled..." Then she showed us her current purse - a large diaper bag. This is when my eyes went blurry with tears. Because she said: "My husband and I waited 21 years to acquire this purse (even longer than Jay and I did!). It has long been awaited for with much emotion. It was really difficult for us to acquire this purse and we gave up many times during our lives trying to get it. We tried so many avenues to it and often felt that this wasn't going to be a purse that we would get in this life time. But faith and 'purse'istence saw us through..."

Then another one of my friend's grandma talked. She's almost 86 years old. She told us about her family moving to Edmonton and how they lived in a dugout (a hole dug into the ground) when they first got here. They didn't have a house yet. Then they built a house but had no electricity. Eventually they had a radio. One of the few in the neighborhood and people would come to their house to listen to hockey games. It was neat to listen about life "way back when". It was so funny when she also told us that she thought her father was from Poland and had a Polish name. Then she eventually started doing family history and found out his name was Italian! :D She mentioned how she's well enough to drive still. Every Thursday she goes somewhere by herself and her family wonders where she goes. She said not to worry as all her boyfriends are dead. :) Etc. Etc. It was such an awesome talk as well.

Why am I writing all this? It was such a wonderful evening and I don't want to forget it. It was almost like a quick look at a woman's life in all the various stages of her life. Very 'purse'onal talks and the spirit in the room was amazing.

Afterwards we played a fun game "what's in your purse". We were asked if you had this and that item in the purse. If you did, you had to raise your hand and show it. The first three got a chocolate. Yep, they even asked if someone had Tampax in their purse. :D It was fun to see the stuff people had in their purses. Some women sure are prepared for anything. :)

Anyways, I came home so uplifted and edified. Us women know how to throw a great party.

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ps. My last night's dream involved Sting, Michael Buble and me singing "tuiki, tuiki tahtonen" (twinkle twinkle little star in Finnish). Don't ask. :D

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