"Things" that make me smile...

So...after 2 seperate trips to the ER...one for each of them... Caleb and Cam seem to be on the mend. Cam is still not up to par...but his ER trip was only just last night. I am glad it was so warm today!!! 41 degrees!! YEA!! I opened up the front windows with the sun beating on the house and I turned the furnace fan to on. It ran for about 45 mintes and I am hoping it pulled in lots of fresh air and cleared out some of the germs floating around here. Lysol has been my friend as well. LOL!

Ok... well... I have a friend that started listing things in her home that make her happy. I have been thinking a lot about this and so decided to start taking a few pictures of THINGS in my home that bring me joy and make me smile. It has lifted my spirits and made me feel so much love and gratitude today. It has been amazing!!! Just what this girl needed!! *wink*

And so I am sharing some of them with you. Here they are...in no particular order. I couldn't post them all... but here are a choice few...


This was in my Grandma M's house. I always loved reading it while sitting on her couch listening to the family visit.


I love all the electrical Jess adds to the house. Timers for Christmas lights has to one of my favs!


These are drawings Jess' great G'ma did. They are dated '26 & '27. Very cool! I love old farm lands and old barns...I love to imagine the family and history that lived there.

My fish tank. I always had one when I was a little girl. They are calming and relaxing to me. My kids love them too. At the moment we have no fish and it has been pretty sad!

My IKEA drinking glasses. They are heavy on the bottom so tipping is not as likely...and they just make me smile! They look fancy...but they was dirt cheap man! LOVE IKEA!!

This is collage my friend Amy and I put together for our friend Maria. This is my youngest and Maria's youngest...we think they could almost pass for twin brothers. They LOVE each other! This makes me smile so much I have it on my fridge because I havent found a frame I like, and I love seeing it many times a day. It was a treat to pull this off without Maria knowing...and so it reminds me of the fun Amy & I had taking the pictures too! (p.s. Amy's photo blog is to the left...she does an AMAZING job!)

This is a photo of my stamped concrete out front along the sides of the driveway. Jess, G'pa E and I did it ourselves. It makes me smile everytime I see it.

This is our "Dinner Bell". My G'ma S. had one to call us in from the garden. I bought this, and the kids LOVE it! I do too! I don't have to yell anymore! Hee Hee!!

How could this big wonderful big pantry NOT make me smile??

And the certificate Jess' family gave me for Christmas makes it even better! I get to put heavier duty shelves in so they don't bow anymore, and I get to design it! I am excited to figure out what I want! *grin*

These are the shoes I bought for Relay for Life last summer. Our team's color was yellow and our theme was "E-lemon-ate Cancer". G'pa E, a cancer survior, came and spent the evening with us. He, & my G'pa M (who died of stomach cancer on my birthday) were our reason to Relay. They honored them with a special dinner & program, then they had surviors walk the first lap with bag pipes playing. I cry just thinking about it. And I LOVE these shoes for the memory they give me.

This is my dream car. We got a SCREAMING deal on it last summer, when our van was no longer serving it's purpose, and I LOVE it. I feel like a princess when I drive it. I will happily drive this car until the day I die. It is perfect.

This was my G'ma S.'s. It is a Dunken Phife (sp?) table. They got it as a newlywed couple. My dad remembers laying under it as a child and flipping the latches along the edge to make noise. I did it too when I was at G'ma's.

This is my dream stove. I LOVE it!! I found it on KSL this summer for a HUGE deal! It's older and used, but it works beatifully. I feel so spoiled to have it! Jess is so good to me!!

This is our Big Blue Chair. I love this chair for the memories it gives me. Jess bought it for me for Mother's Day when I was pregnant with Emma. The kids ask for "Big Blue Chair Time" when they need to talk. When they have chair time...no one gets to be in the room with us, I just hold them and we talk about whatever they want to. I also rocked and nursed all my babies in this chair. It doesn't match with much of my decor anymore...but it stays. It's the Big Blue Chair after all!!

This is a crossstitch my oldest brother and his wife made for us years ago for Christmas. My brother loves to stitch...so this is special to me for that reason. It also is special because during the unemployment years it was a gentle reminder to find the good. It makes me smile.

G'ma S. made this for us for our wedding. It was one of the last ones she did. And the quilt frame was made for us by Uncle Shawn and Aunt Jeannine, whom Jess did welding for for a time when we were first married. He has a special bond with them and the frame makes me smile.

G'pa C. made this for Jess as a thank you for some electrical he had done for them. G'pa and G'ma C aren't my real grandparents, they are honoraries, but in my heart they are blood. I love them so much! This makes me feel so loved and so proud to be a Dorius, as it honors what Jess makes of our last name.

This has been my pride and joy project lately. I am still missing Ma's family and G'parent Dorius' photos...so it is not complete...but it has been so fun to do...and to learn about the pictures and our family stories. I have never enjoyed making something for our home quite as much!

I have always wanted a mini tea set like this. My mom had one when I was growing up that someday I hope she will let me have. I loved to play with it when I dusted. But until then I bought this one at my favorite place - Gardner Village. One day I hope to replace this one with Mom's and then this one will become Emma's. *grin*

Jess' mom made us this. I just love it!!

One of my FLYSistahs gave me this for Christmas. I love it. It makes me want to run and hug my little Emma. My only daughter. We girls gotta stick together! Someday I would like to collect all the parent with child ones...I love Willow Trees.

This dear item makes me tear up if I let it. G'ma E. made it for us for our first Christmas in our first home. They couldn't find a frame that it would fit in...so G'pa made the frame and background himself. It just makes me feel hugged and loved...and I love it!

There are 3 things in this photo I love. The crate itself my G'pa M used to send my great G'ma (his mom) china from Japan in WWII. It has writting and stickers on it from the trip. We found it in the old garage and I brought it home and clear laquered it as a teenager. I keep Emma's Hope Chest stuff in it for now. The wooden box on top was my G'ma S.'s. All her jewelry went to my aunt and her daughters, so I treasure this box. I keep special papers about motherhood in it. G'ma loved to keep things that inspired her...so that is what I use it for. The little pink lunch box is for special notes between Em and I. We sneak it under each other's pillows sometimes. As you can see...it is my turn to give it back to her... :)

Jestin gave me flowers after one of our last early marriage fights with this note. I have kept it displayed in the window of my jewlery box because it makes me feel so loved...and as of late it really seems to fit how I know he must feel. It gives me strength to press on and take it easy.

This gives me a grin whenever I look at it. This is Jess and I...we were both in second grade in these pictures. TEE HEE HEE

One of my dearest friends, Jill, gave me this. I say it all the time and she LOVED it! I do to! Because after all...nothing is *that* bad right? It's all good! *wink*

This was my G'ma's. The kids ADORE it! The people dance as the music plays and you can watch how it works inside. When I hear the tune I feel like a kid again.

This is my new perfume. Jess gave it to me for Christmas. It is the 1st time he has ever picked out a perfume and I happen to love it. :)

My mom drew and traced and then woodburned this for our wedding table. I just love it! I wish she would draw more often! She is SO talented! I know where my Emma gets it from!

This is the wall of my babies! The two smaller photos on the bottom are of our two foster babies, and then there a multiples of each of the kids. We made cute babies, if I do say so myself!!

I love my laundry room. I love the new washer we had to buy...it works SO good! I love the paint color! I love the stitchery that G'ma E made us, I love the hanging G'ma T made us with two socks, and I love the saying...it makes me giggle! Makes me sound like a nurse or something! LOL! I also love my laundry sorter. It is awesome!

My parents gave us this...and I love it. I love the tree behind the saying...it is so detailed. I like it. Someday I would like to learn to work with wood...

I love these pictures of Emma and I. She is only 4. We are wearing what we should have worn to my little sisters wedding. I was the Matron of Honor, and Emmalee was the flower girl. While setting up the wedding Emma got sicker and sicker. Later that afternoon she started the first of our many lengthy hospital stays with asthma and pneumonia. She missed the wedding. I came for only a short time...and I was a basket case the whole time with my baby in the hospital! It was so sad!! My sweet sister and her hubby went to the hospital before going home to change to see her...the nurses all were OOing and AWEing...a fully dressed Bride and Groom to visit the pediatrics! It was neat! We went and had photos taken when she was better. I love to see how small she was... and even though she acted so grown up back then... it's fun to be reminded how little she really was.

And last but not least on this blog post of mine... this camera makes me smile. I have a dream of being a photographer...and this is a step in that direction. It captures memories. It makes people smile and draw together. It saves pieces of time otherwise lost. I LOVE my camera!

I now tag all who have blogs etc... share what "things" makes you smile! Because...after all... although "stuff" isn't what brings true happiness in life... they still can being you smiles & joy!