Tag Archives: Dalton

Why The Countdown to Star Wars Has Trumped The Countdown To Christmas

For those who aren’t aware of it, I have a 24 year old son, Dalton, who is absolutely, unequivocally, obsessed with Star Wars and all things Star Wars. Not only has he spent years collecting Star Wars Lego sets, he has made it his life goal to own every Star Wars Lego Set so he […]

Adventure Is Out There

This past week has been one big adventure in my life and after a week of numerous public speaking engagements, several board meetings, two black tie events, and hardly any sleep, I just got home. It’s near midnight and I still need to prepare a powerpoint presentation for another speech I am giving tomorrow morning […]

Only 48 Days Until Christmas – Let The Countdown Begin!

Can you believe there are only 48 days until Christmas??!!  It’s just so exciting!  So because it takes so much work to decorate the house for Christmas and put op our 13 foot tall Christmas tree we decided that from now on we are going to enjoy those decorations as long as possible, which is […]

Protect that what you value most

When my two children were young they started calling me “Mama Bear” because they knew their Mama would fight fiercely to protect her two little cubs. That’s because we protect what we value most, and my kids have always been what I value most. Becoming a parent is one of the most surreal experiences in […]

There is no such thing as a perfect parent

“There is no such thing as a perfect parent so just be a real one.” – Sue Atkins Without a doubt the hardest job on the planet is that of being a parent. The stakes are so high because every mistake you make as a parent affects your children and you realize that so you […]

Treasure Every Precious Moment

Today was the baby blessing of my grandson Flynn Dalton Anderson. When I saw him in his little white outfit I was amazed at how much he looked exactly like his father, my son Dalton. I remember my son Dalton’s blessing day as if it was just yesterday. I remember getting him into his cute […]

If your future self could speak to you…

I have been out in Washington DC for the last few days and I was reminded of how beautiful Virginia is.  I lived in Vienna, Virginia when I was a teenager in High School and during this visit I was able to drive past the house I used to live in while I was there […]

If parenthood came with a GPS it would mostly just say: RECALCULATING

The other day my son Dalton, whose wife is expecting their first child in August, called me sounding a little stressed and said something to the effect of, “Mom I just realized that I am going to have a kid here soon  that’s going to be with me forever and that I need to parent! […]

The Importance of Dads

“A daughter needs a Dad to be the standard against she will judge all men.” I was blessed with a Dad who set the bar unbelievably high as to what to expect from the men in my life. And it was his example that led me to choose an amazing man for my husband and […]

Tale As Old As Time

Last night I went with my husband and my kids to go and see Disney’s new movie, Beauty and the Beast. If you haven’t yet gone to see this movie GO SEE IT! I don’t just say that because I happen to be obsessed with all things Disney, which I totally admit to being…I say […]

Wisdom from a 94 year old WWII Veteran

Over the weekend my family and I traveled down to Moab, Utah to spend a little time together. We also went to go and visit my Great Uncle Mel Dalton (he is my Grandmother’s brother). My Great Uncle Mel is 94 years old and he has lived an incredible life. Over the last year I’ve […]

God intends to give us what we need, not what we now think we want

“Whether we like it or not, God intends to give us what we need, not what we now think we want.”  C.S.Lewis I was recently talking with a friend who had a plan they had made for themselves and they had done all in their power to make it happen. But despite their best efforts […]

It’s not the What or the Where – It’s the Who

There is little better in life than spending time with the people we love. And this year we were especially lucky because we had an extended Christmas holiday break off from the kids colleges – they had an extra week off this year because of the way the holiday dates fell so they were off […]

A Look Back At 2016 and celebrating 9 years of bliss

2016 is almost over. As I look back at some of the milestones that have happened this past year I think about the trip my husband and I took to New Zealand and Australia, I think about my daughter Ashley coming home after completing an 18 month service mission for the LDS Church, I think […]

Find something new to get excited about!

I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas! I was able to celebrate Christmas several times last week – we celebrated mid-week with my son and his wife and my daughter in an early Christmas celebration since my son and his wife were heading to spend the actual holiday with her family this year, then my […]

You are never too old to put on a costume for Halloween!

I am a HUGE fan of Halloween. First off, we all get free candy and who doesn’t love candy?! And second, we all get to put on a costume for a day and pretend to be something or someone else – it’s an escape from our everyday routine lives when we can get creative and […]

The Link Between Traditions and Happiness

This weekend marked the beginning of my family’s holiday season traditions beginning. Each year in October my parents and siblings and their families who are in the area all come together and we go to a place called Rowley’s Red Barn where we start by enjoying their homemade donuts and apple cider for breakfast and […]

There Are No Mistakes – Only Discoveries

Those of you who read yesterday’s blog post learned that my 20 year old daughter Ashley’s birthday present to me this week was to write a few blog posts that I could use in order to give me a few nights off on my birthday week to enjoy myself. This post she wrote below is […]

You don’t need money to lead a rich life

“You don’t need money to lead a rich life. Good friends and a loving family are worth their weight in gold.” Last week was a week about friends and family for me and it was definitely a reminder of how our friends and family really are worth their weight in gold. From the start of […]

Put Yourself Out There!

Tonight my husband and I attended a political fundraiser event that I was on the host committee for where politicians from both sides of the aisle participated in a talent show / variety show. There was everything from legislators performing a Riverdance celtic dance to Congresswomen singing Broadway tunes from Wicked and Hamilton to the […]

Be In Their Lives Today

“To be in your children’s memories tomorrow, you have to be in their lives today.”   Oh, how I love that quote. And it is such a great reminder for all of us that have the blessing of being a parent. I remember throughout the growing up years of my children when they would ask me […]

You’re Never Too Old To Wish Upon A Star

This week I have been sharing life lessons I learned during my family trip through the Mediterranean on the Disney Magic cruise ship where we visited Spain, Italy, France, and Monaco. To wrap up my posts for this week I will share the biggest life lesson I gleaned from my trip – “Where there is […]

Do It So Well They Can’t Forget You

Our first three stops on the cruise were all locations in Italy. I happen to LOVE Italy. A few years back my brother and his family were living in Rome and we had come to stay with them for several weeks and we absolutely fell in love with the country…after all, they do food better […]

Everyone Should Be Welcomed With Applause

The next life lesson I learned on my European Adventure came about the day we boarded our Disney Cruise ship in Barcelona. I have taken many other cruises before but never have I gone on a Disney cruise. For one they charge significantly more than other cruise lines so I have always opted for the […]

One Painstaking Petal At A Time Creates A Masterpiece

I promised this week I would share some life lessons I learned during my families recent European Adventure. Today I want to start by sharing my experience in Spain, specifically, during my visit to the Lladro factory in Valencia, Spain. First I need to explain my love for Lladro porcelain statues. My Mother once received […]

Everyone Needs Some “No Phone Time Together” (Our European Adventure)

Over the last two weeks my husband and I and our son Dalton and his wife Alexis and our daughter Ashley all went together on a European Family Adventure! We planned this trip to be our first family trip of just our own family because we wanted our daughter Ashley to get to know her […]

Find that thing that brings you JOY!

Back in 2011, as a Christmas gift, my son Dalton who was a freshman in college at the time, decided to write a blog for me one night so I could take a night off from writing. It was posted back when my blog was only for my employees so none of you got to […]

Dads. Our First Love and our Forever Heroes.

Happy Father’s Day to all the Fathers out there! How do we even begin to pay tribute to all the men out there who grew up to be amazing Dads?! I have come to learn that any man can make a baby, but it takes a true man to raise a child. A Dad isn’t defined […]

Thank heaven for Guardian Angels

Today when my weekly email arrived from my daughter Ashley who is out serving a mission the subject line “I GOT HIT BY A CAR”. My heart dropped! I opened the email to find that she had been riding her bike with her companion and as she crossed the road an elderly man was entering […]

HOORAY FOR HOLIDAYS! Happy Memorial Day to All!

So let’s just say it – HOLIDAYS ARE AWESOME! Right?!  I mean what could be better than getting a day off from life when everyone else is taking a day off too! I LOVE HOLIDAYS!  And I love that we had the entire day today to be with the people we love. This Memorial Day […]