Boyd...Boyd...Boyd....What can I say about Boyd! He an awesome 2 1/2 year old! I had sooooo much fun playing with Boyd! Every night during the Nauvoo Pageant he and his brother Raymond would come and play with me. They would sit on my lap and push me down saying "your dead!" I would fall backwards and my tongue would hang out. Or they would just attack me and wrestle me! All I could do was laugh!
Well, on Monday night, the night of Blue Cast's dress rehersal Boyd and I were playing the "You're a sleep...now I am awake" game. Boyd would sit on my lap....push me down and lay on top of my stomach and say "sleep!"...we would do some snoring...and then I would yell "awake!" Well...on this one particular awake yells...I was the only one asleep...as I sat up Boyd decided to got to sleep and smacked his head on my front tooth. Those who know me well know that I have a scar on my bottom lip from when I was younger and my tooth went through...so you can only imagine the next part....I looked at Boyd and he had a massive amount of blood running down his head. I grab him and run over to the first aid station yelling at Cindy to go find Julie...his mother. He is just laying in my arms not crying anymore because he is trusting me that it will be ok. I hold on to him promising that he is ok. His mom comes and takes over as they examine Boyd.
I feel horrible at this point! Here I am being intrusted by all of these parents to take care of their children while they perform and here I send one to the te Urgent Care to get Dermabond put on the 1/4" cut on his forhead! Julie and Ray (Boyd's father) kept reminding me that it was ok. But I couldn't stop feeling horrible. But luckily Boyd didn't hold that against me. He was right back wrestling the next day!
Being in Nauvoo is a blast. Many asked if I was going to be on stage. But...Nope...I had a better role to play than that. I was on the Blue Cast Family Support Team. Meaning...while the parents and youth practiced I got to do fun activities and play....like....making sock puppets...playing crab soccer or "upset the fruit basket"....making Nauvoo Tote bags...building sandcastles....playing baseball....having to hold adorable little babies...making chalk drawings....and the best one....WATER FIGHT!!! It was so much fun! These kids are so amazing in every meaning of the word! They truly helped bring the Spirit to Nauvoo!!!
Karlie and I played baseball. She was an awesome hitter! We would have to remind the pitcher "that we wanted a pitcher not a belly itcher".
Caleb LOVED baring himself in the dirt. He did this on more than one occasin.
This kid can make some of the funniest faces. He was having a blast taking pictures and movies with my camera.
We had so much fun tracing eachother!
Who could resist this cute little Lacie with curlers in her hair!?!
Umm....this is my outline...I really hope my calves aren't that big!
Sister G said to me "Heather, I am a little worried!"
Poor Alexander...who wouldn't be scared with Sister C standing over them.
Oh Alexander...poor kid!
Lacie does an awesome job at outlining Carly.
Poor Oliver...is a little upside down here.
Audrey is such a good sport at letting her sister Ashley outline her.
Lacie is so much fun! We did a lot of racing! And of course she was always so much faster than me!
I think Conner is falling a sleep. And who could blame him? We had had a busy day!
I love his enthusiasm!
Sister G's best friend was Ella. She is such a cutie!!!
Miriam builds a fabulous sand castle builder!
Ella was very content with playing with her legos.
Hyrum is a hoot!!! I love his hat! I think we should all wear our hats like that.
Addie!!!! I love this little girl! She is so much fun! Her mom is Emily that plays Emma Smith. She is not a small little 2 year old. She loves to sit on my stomach and bounce. I have to make sure I go to the bathroom before I play with her or there would be a little Heather River.
Me, Boyd, and Caleb....What awesome faces!!!
This is Courtney....she was in the Red Cast. She is so sweet and cute as can be! She is one years old or a littel younger. She is very independent for a one year old. I was amazed that she could drink out of the water bottle by herself and not dump it all over her.
Janet and me...she was with us working the puppet show. She handed out the beads to the children after the puppet show. Her testimony was amazing. I was so impressed with her wonderful missionary skills.
Wilamena the Puppet, Oliver, and Me. Oliver is such sweet boy...very shy.
Sam, Wilamena, Carly, and me.
Jaylee, Wilamena, and me. Jaylee is such a wonderful girl. Jaylee loves to help us take care of the little babies.
Caleb was so sweet. He came up to me at the Pre-Show and asked if he could buy me a treat at the consession stand. I had to take a picture with him so he could show the ladies how rich he is. :)
Adenen doing his dead man look.
Sister C and Boyd sporting their sunglasses.
Lacie making a funny face! So cute!
"Look at my muscles!!!"
Just a little game of Crab Soccer!
"Go Caleb! GO!!!!!"
Watch out! Don't kick them in the head! ....both commonly used during this game.
Poor Jamee was playing so much that she got sick. She was down for almost a week with a sore throat.
Brother R teaching the kids how to fly the airplanes.
"I'm going to get you my pretty!"
Caleb was being very sneaky....he took this water fight very seriously.
Some of the girls were a little thirsty...Lacie was there to help them out.
Serving everyone else made Lacie thirsty too.
Watch out! Lacie is going to get you! She is behind the bush!
"Watch out kids! Sister Porter is coming after you!!!"
When camping it is a neccesity to have a campfire and roast s'mores and starburst. Sadly around our campsite there are not many logs. But, Heavenly Father was on our side. Tuesday night he blessed us with a storm and knocked some trees down. Cindy and I recognizing this blessing decided to go and steal some of the branches. We were so excited to get to be sneaky and get the wood. But Darryl just had to go and ruin the fun and tell us it wasn't stealing when the tree was "wind blown". But...we just ignored hime. I know...we are "low bar" missionaries and it is bad of us to think picking up wood is more fun when you think you are stealing. ;-)
You have to be very quite to sneak up on the wood.
"Hey Cindy, Do you think this piece would work?"
"Yes Heather...stop yelling and laughing!"
"Crap its a car! Quick act like a tree!!!!"
"Do you think they noticed me?"
As I was trying to get down a car came and so I had to "freeze" and act like a tree.
I am still trying to get myself down. It was a huge tree!
I thought while I was up there I would do a little Yoga.
Cindy Sue...best criminal companion anyone could ever have! ;-)
Cindy Sue caught in the midst of a laugh! We were laughing so hard!!!
Nauvoo has been so much fun! This will be the first of many blogs. I have so many pictures and it is just so late at night and I have a fun filled day planned for tomorrow. So I am only starting with a few.
Cindy and I have been trying to be very good about eating healthy. We only allow ourselves one free day. For Sunday dinner we decided we really needed to eat well and went with Steaks and Corn on the cobb grilled. I got to be the grill master! It was fabulous if I may say so myself!!
I know you are jealous!! It was so good! I used a little Montreal Steak seasoning on it and mmm...mmm...good!!
Cindy enjoying my mouth watering grilled corn on the cobb!!!
MMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!
On Sunday the Blue Cast met at the Nauvoo City Park for a Sunday Social. People brought lots of cookies and cakes. We sat around and talked and played!
Jamee and I had to play on the teeter-taughter!!!
Cindy and I made sure to get this picture before everyone arrived. Oh what fun it was!!!
For one of the activities with the kids we did pioneer activities. Jamee and I helped the kids color triangle pieces of cloth that we tied together that made a tree. This quilt will be given to Kay, one of the Nauvoo Pageant Directors, because she is leaving on Wednesday to continue her work with David Warner.
It was getting dark and we had just finished the bottom of the tree and we needed to see what it looked like...the closes light that we had was on our phones. :)
We made the "we" and "u" out of Rubber Bands. Arent' we smart!!!
Do you like my new dress?
Jamee and I roasting our Starburst...yes that is right! STARBURST!!! They are so good! I was so excited when she said that she loved roasting starbust too!
Cody enjoying his s'more!
Cameron and I were enjoying our Starburst! I am not the only crazy one that loves these! There were about 15 other kids there that were in heaven just like me!
"Pockets" makes starburst creme. MMMMM....MMMM....GOOD!!!
Many know that my life in the past two years has been a wild roller coaster. With many hills and loops and twist. Two years ago my life changed completely. If you asked me two years ago I would have told you it had changed for the worst. I had lost the love of my life. My world had fallen apart. But with the knowledge of the atonement and having the love of my family and friends along with all of their prayers my life did not turn for the worst but for the better. I have found myself again. I have found a new love for life. I have gained a stronger testimony of the atonement and for the gospel of Jesus Christ. For with out it I really truly would not be the person I am today. Today I celebrate not a two year anniversary of a day that brought much heartache, but a day that has brought much joy to my life.
I love to spend time with my nieces and nephews. One Thursday I had to run a bunch of errands and decided to make it a date with Sabrina. When I came home I asked her if she would like to go to Nana's Park and to the store. She immediately put her shoes on and we were off!
One of my favorite things to do at a park is to go down the curly slide! Sabrina and I did it together...both having static hair afterwards.
Sabrina and Barbie had a race down the slide...Sabrina won!
Lets just say I love the dollar store! We had so much fun in there. Sabrina found my birthday card. She read it to me...it even had my name in it! :) We had blast trying on the St. Patrick Day hats
Our next stop was Hancock Fabrics!!! Oh is was a blast!!! After a quick trip to the potty we found the boas!!! Sabrina had to try on every color!
She had so much fun!!!! She wore the pink,purple,red, blue,black, white, and green boas!!!!
Valentines can always be such a touchy holiday. But let me just say that I had the best dates ever!!! I got to enjoy Valentines all weekend LONG!!!! Mollie and Grant had taken off for the weekend so Mollie could participate in a half marathon in Myrtle Beach, SC. I was asked to watch the kids. Man...we had fun!!! Our weekend started out with a date to Chili's!!!
When you are with me they are with me...there is never a serious moment!
Of course we HAD to get dessert!!!!
Camp out!!! Mom and Dad went with Mollie and Grant to Myrtle Beach so Blackey hung out with us. They were so excited to have him camping out too!!
Saturday night we went back to Nana and Poppa's where I made them pizza. It was a special just for Valentines!!!
February 18, 2009!!!! What a historic day in the life of Heather Rose Guffey!!! ;-) Charlotte, North Carolina opened its very first IKEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank goodness!!! I am in heaven!!!!IKEA is one of my favorite stores. I absolutely love to go in there and look around. I love the ideas that they have come up with in ways of decorating and using the space. I will tell you my favorite thing to do in IKEA....and yes this is very silly...but I love to go to the kitchen section and open a drawer and then try to slam it shut. You can't! It is awesome!!! It is every parent's dream....drawers that can't slam!!!
It was a very rainy day for the opening of IKEA and as I was merging on to I-85 my driver side windshield wiper decided to stop working. I am serious! It got caught on the passenger wiper and then it just went "FLOP" on to my side mirror! I couldn't get it back over! I had to drive looking out the passenger side of the windshield. It was quite funny!
As you can tell I am SO excited to get toIKEA! It didn't even matter that I sat in an hour of traffic...then found out that the parking lot was full and had to walk a half mile to the store because I had to park on a side street! I was going to IKEA!!! Here... this is how excited I was. Back in the fall I received an email from my sister Mollie and with in less than 5 minutes before she could call to tell me she sent me the email I had already requested the day off from work! Yes!!!! I know!!! I am a DORK!!! :)
Can life get any better???? Actually it could if I had all the money in the world and could buy all that I really wanted from IKEA.
So we ended up buying an entertainment center for Mollie's house. We had a ton of boxes that we had purchased. Mollie asked that I go back and get one more dresser for her girls while she went to get the van and while Suzanna guarded the purchases. Well...I hope that Caitlin and Sabrina LOVE that dresser because I got a box cut from it...not a paper cut....a BOX CUT!!! Think of a paper cut and multiply it by a MILLION and one! ;-)
The 2009 Mr. Hilliard Pageant!!!Oh My! Oh My!!! Mr. Hilliard was a pageant that consisted of 9 guys from the YSA ward here in Charlotte. Each contestant had a Pageant Coach. I just happened to be the Pageant Coach for Mr. Mark Madsen!!!! There were 4 areas that they were judged on. 1-Formal Wear, 2-Talent,3-Swimwear, and
4-Question/Answer. Let me just say that this is not your normal pageant! You could not prepare yourself for what was shown here. I was amazed by these guys! For the Formal Wear Mark and I strutted our stuff down the run way. Mark is a very "serious" guy. His biography consisted of 1-being born in a Turkish Camp and losing everyone, 2-being raised by Siberian Wolves, 3-loves long walks on the beach, 4-not afraid to cry. Like I said...very serious! ;-)
The Talent Portion of this pageant was AMAZING!!! We had guys playing the guitar and singing, playing the Bass (big violin), doing CHUBBY BUNNY (and fitting 70 miniature marsh mellows!), teaching us about fire safety, and even a reading from Green Eggs and Ham. But NOTHING was like Mark's talent! No sir!!!! Mark showed his talent of composing music for a ballet, choreography, producing and directing, and acting!!! I mean....HELLO!!! It was like nothing ever been shown before! The performance was a ballet to "Little Red Riding Hood". Now this is not any story of Little Red Riding Hood that you have ever seen. Mark takes you into the heart of both the wolf and Little Red Riding Hood and shows you their struggle with their love for each other. :)
The Swimwear...umm...yes...I know...very questionable. But, have no fear our Hilliard Men were just as sexy as can be! They sported everything from Life Guard attire to Scuba and Snorkeling Attire. Mark...being his serious self wore a Spring Wet Suit and flippers. It was matched with a lovely pair of water wings and a life jacket. To put the right touch we had a neon green snorkel mask. He made his entrance by "swimming" across the runway. Poor thing must have gotten stuck on in the seaweed because his "life coach/guard" had to come save him.
Sadly, after all that Mark took 1st runner up. BUT.....HE and I both KNOW that He, Mark Madsen, the man raised by Siberian wolves, is truly Mr. Hilliard!!! ;-)
I have been thinking a lot lately. Scary....I know. But I love music. I love to listen to it. I love how it makes me feel. I love how passioniate it can make your feel. I love to feel how the person it feeling. I am so grateful for those of you with such an awesome musical talent. One of my favorite ways to ponder and find answers is through listening to music. I have been able to solve so many of my problems through the words of others. So many of my ideas for activities that I am in charge of for church has come from listening to others sing. So I just want to say THANK YOU to those of you in the world who share their musical talent with others!
I LOVEbeing AUNT VOO!!!! There is no other thing in the world that could change that! Or could even take its place! I love being able to walk in the door and hearing "It's AUNTHEATHER!!!" or "AUNT HEAVER!!!!!!!".I admit it! I love being the Nazi Aunt! Who wouldn't love being the favorite. Who wouldn't love getting hugs and kisses like crazy by 13 AWESOME kids! Nothing makes my day better than a phone call from one of my nieces or nephews....even if it is just to sing to me "Super Trooper" or to tell me that no I can't have a dog because I am silly.I love it! I love bragging to all my co-workers about the fun things that happened over the weekend. I love being able to snuggle with them. I love being able to help them go to sleep. So go ahead and pick on me all you want about having great comfy "PILLOWS"!!! I know ya'll are just jealous that I have a special touch. I love being able to read "The Monster at the End of the Book" and "There's Another Monster at the End of the Book" over and over and over! It never gets old or boring hearing the giggles that come from them. I love acting crazy with them. I don't care what others think as long as my nieces and nephews realize that they are #1 in my book and that Aunt Heather will be there for them always!
Reese Cameron "Rose" Howard "Guffey" is Awesome! I love talking to her. We can talk about nothing for hours. She is so beautiful and smart. She is always so caring of others.
Lydia Ruth Guffey! She just puts a smile on your face! She gives the greatest hugs! She loves to hug and kiss you. I love playing the "you are a mess" game...because her response is "no, I'm clean!" It is so funny!
Jonas Michael Guffey orIndiana Jonas! Oh this is such a sweet boy! He is so caring. He loves to be with his cousins. He loves making things for others.
Reese, Adrianna, and Eden were so proud because they learned how to sew.
Jonas with his Captain Moroni picture.
Emily Mae with her mom and dad on her baptism. I am so proud of her choice. Emily is such an example to me and her friends and family. She is such a smart girl. She is such and AWESOME big sister. She is always such a big helper to her mom.
This little boy is so precious! Jesse Martin Howard is such a little BOY! He loves to play with his sisters and Ethan! Oh how he looks up to Ethan! Ethan can do no wrong in his eyes!
Reese and Eden sporting their new poke-a-dot PJ's from Grandma Pam.
I love having my nieces and nephews snuggle with me! I love waking up to these precious smiles and giggles. Or hearing "Aunt Heather it is time to wake up because the sun is up!"
One of my favorite memories growing up was being at Grandmother and Grandfather's house. We would go in the basement and dress up in Grandmother's old dresses, shoes, jewelry, and purses. We would play for hours dressed up!!!! We would play house, school, and restaurant. I remember the arguments over the infamous "RED DRESS". It was everyones favorite. Having this memory made me so happy when my nieces asked if they could play dress up in my jewelry. So...I took it one step farther and got out our old bride maids prom dresses. OH THE SMILES AND GIGGLES!!!! They felt so beautiful wearing their mom and aunt's dresses. They were all PRINCESSES!!!
On Thanksgiving Dad, Mollie, Ethan, and I participated in the Annual Turkey Trot in South Park. It was so much fun! I was so excited when I heard that Ethan said he wanted to participate this year. He participated in the one mile run along with his dad.
Lily Jewel Guffey! What more needs to be said! This little girl is everything! She is so much fun to just listen to talk and laugh. She just lightens up when you walk in the room. She loves her mom and dad with everything in the world! She gives AWESOME kisses! Oh how she loves to give KISSES!
Adam Jennings Guffey...he is so sweet! I love his hugs. I got to spend a week with Jason and his family in Nauvoo and after that week I literally had 'Adam Hug' withdraws!!! He is growing up so much! Poor guy fell over in his booster seat and got a black eye...but he was still just as adorable.
Caitlin RoseSmith! I am so honored to have her share my middle name. Caitlin is so BEAUTIFUL! She is so smart and funny. I am so excited to see her learning how to play the piano. She has such a wonderful talent!
Sabrina Kay Smith! What more needs to be said than this picture! She is so funny! I love coming home on Thursdays because I know Sabrina will be there and we get to play all evening. She loves to eat pink ice cream cones with Nana. I love playing games with Sabrina. There are so many games that I never even knew existed....like "Hide Under the Blanket" Game or "Tip Toe" Game. She may be little in size but she has such a large amount of Joy in her.
Ethan Grant Smith...this little boy holds such a place in my heart! I remember when he was born and getting to start babysitting him the first week he came home because Mollie hadn't been around a baby for about 6 years. I remember his first summer when I would come home from working at the Summer Day Camp at the School House and getting to take an afternoon nap with him. I used to sing to him "A Child's Prayer" as he would go to sleep. He and I have this game of ours that we play to this day...I love it! I love how smart Ethan is! He is always learning something and exploring how things work. He is AWESOME!
Preston Scott Guffey! This kid is so special! He has the face that just melts your heart! He has these blue eyes that are so GORGEOUS!!! When I stayed the weekend at his house every morning I would get woken up by a kiss on the cheek and a "Good Morning Aunt Heather" by Preston. He is so sweet!
Emily Mae Guffey....she is such a monkey!!!!
Eden Marie Howard! This is my little twin! She is so FUNNY! She comes up with so many funny things! I just love to talk to her! I love it when she and Reese are my snuggle bugs and when we are going to sleep she starts to pretend "SNORE"! IT IS SO FUNNY!!!! She loves to make her little brother Jesse laugh and laugh.
Adrianna Christine Guffey...or better known as Oddie! This girl is the best! She is so wonderful to be around. She is so funny! She comes up with the funniest things! Oh I love it! But even with all the funny things she says...she still melts my heart with her smile and eyes!
I love you Boyd!!!!
