I Adore You Layout

I truly do adore my husband, Dan the Man. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me!  It's hard to believe that because the two of us fell in love, got married and had a family, we now have 14 people in our family. We have 4 children, all of them are married, and we have 6 grandchildren. It really does boggle my mind. This picture was taken a few weeks ago at our youngest son's wedding dinner. I really liked it of the two of us so decided it should be the focus of a single-page layout.

Here are a few features and techniques I used on this layout:

• I used the beautiful January Stamp of the Month (Adore You) for the words and hearts. 
• Because of the bold pattern and colors in my sweater, I chose papers from the Some Kinda Wonderful Paper Packet, which is also bold and full of fun, funky, colors and patterns. I loved the little eye print paper so I drew an eye and cut it out and used it in the place of the letter "I" in the  👁 Adore You title.  I felt pretty clever about that! lol. 
• I also stamped the solid floral heart several times and cut them out to place as I wanted as accents around the layout. 
• I used my Shin Han Cherry Pink Marker to color the Black and White Dots to add as embellishments to the layout.  
• You may have noticed in the last year or so that angled strips on tops and bottoms or sides of pages have become really popular. I used this little trendy detail at the top and bottom of my page.

Here are a few close ups of the details of the layout, and I've also added a list of the products I used at the very end of this post, complete with photos and links for your convenience.

This gorgeous January Stamp of the Month is only available this month and is yours for only $5 ($12.95 savings) with every $50 you order (before shipping and tax). Order $100, get 2...and so on.  When ordering on my website, you'll be prompted to add your set(s) before checking out. Easy!

While ordering, don't forget that for every $60 you order (before shipping and tax), you also get a FREE Welcome Home Wreath Kit (also only available in January, finished wreath size approx. 15").  You'll be prompted to add yours. You can also purchase this wreath kit for only $18.95!!!

Happy Shopping!

Adore You�January Stamp of the Month	12" X 12" Black Cardstock	12" X 12" White Daisy Cardstock	12" � 12" Sapphire Cardstock
12" � 12" Lemon Cardstock	Some Kinda Wonderful Paper Packet	Uptown Fundamentals	Enchantment Fundamentals
Black Memento� Ink Pad	ShinHan� Touch Twin� Cherry Pink Marker	Marvy® Uchida® LePen�	Black & White Dots
2" X 2" My Acrylix® Block	2" X 3 1/2" My Acrylix® Block	Surecut� Deluxe Craft Paper Trimmer	Non-Stick Micro-Tip Scissors
3L® E-Z Dots® Adhesive

InLinkz.com

Happy Father's Day!

I have been blessed with so many wonderful men in my life!  Today, Father's Day, I'd like to pay tribute to three of them.



1. My own daddy:  LeRoy Overstreet, I love you! You have taught me so much.  The biggest thing I learned from you is to never say, "can't."  As a young girl, I remember thinking it was so dumb that every time I said, "can't," you would correct me.  Now, I am so very grateful.  You taught me whenever you believe in  yourself and are willing to put in the blood, sweat and tears, you can accomplish just about anything. Thanks for the countless hours in the back yard teaching me to pitch a softball, at the church gym helping me with layups, going on jogs with me (I'll never forget a run we took once when I was in 9th grade and while running you told me why I had the most amazing mother in the world) and always letting me tag along with you anywhere you went (to watch you coach or ref a ballgame, or just to run to the grocery store).  Thank you for being a strong example of living the gospel. I love you! I couldn't have had a better Dad!

2.  My hubby: Dan-the-Man, you are the love of my life.  I love so many things about you that I could sit and list them forever.  But, I think because it's Father's Day, I'll focus on that.  From the moment you held Kori in your arms and I watched tears slide down your cheeks, I knew you were meant to be a daddy. You have always put our family first. You have coached our boys, sat through thousands of Nutcracker performances to support your daughter, laughed with and disciplined our children, and have set an example of being a worthy priesthood holder.  You taught our children to serve missions, the importance of temple marriage, and that having a tender heart make a man more of a man, and that having a sense of humor can get you through just about anything.  Watching you with our children made me love you even more.  Now, add to that watching you with our grandchildren. I love watching the tender way you hold a newborn, the sparkle in your eye when you tease a toddler, and listening as you let the grandkids choose which animal they want for their hunting bedtime stories.  Thank you for being a hard-working, heroic husband, a fantastic father, and a gallant grandfather.

3.  My father-in-law:  You are a man of faith, knowledge and dedication.  Thank you for the way you raised  the man I chose to spend eternity with. You have loved me unconditionally and welcomed me into your family from day one.  You are the "baby whisperer." I'll never forget the three months we stayed with you guys when Kori was a newborn. I was a first-time mother and it stressed me out so much when she would cry and I couldn't make her stop.  At these times, you would gently take her from me, sit down in your chair, rock her and have her quiet and asleep in seconds.  Your grandkids and great grandkids  love you!  They love spending time with you in your garden, and the pumpkins you grow for them. They love going on tractor rides.  You have taught me so much about the gospel and I look so forward to our monthly study sessions.

Welcome Home, Dawson and MORE!

All the crew who were there to welcome Dawson home.

This week has been cray cray (in a good way) at the Pedersen home.  I hope you'll indulge me as I share a  little bit of that with you.

1.  Our son, Dawson, came home after finishing his 2 year LDS mission to Sydney, Australia on Tuesday.  For those of you who don't know much about how this works, I'll give you a little explanation.  Most LDS boys, at the age of 18, go out somewhere in the world to give full-time service and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. They do this 24/7 (okay, they do sleep...lol) for 2 full years. While gone, they get to email their families once a week, and get to call or skype with their families on Mother's Day and Christmas.  It is a huge sacrifice for the boys and their families, but it is also one of the most awesome blessings our family has ever received. Dawson is our third boy to serve. Our first son, Easton, served in Houston, TX (Spanish speaking). Our second son, Tannon, served in Malaga, Spain (obviously Spanish speaking).  Dawson was called to Sydney, Australia. He was also assigned to serve in the Spanish language but got very little chance to use it.  He did, however, serve much of his mission among the Tongan people in Australia and came home fluent in Tongan.  As we have watched our boys serve, we have realized that although it is hard to say goodbye and turn your son over to the Lord for 2 years, the blessings far outweigh the sacrifice.  The people they become in this 2 years of service is absolutely amazing.  Let me clarify: they were already awesome people, but they came home changed in a way that would be hard to do in any other way.  Anyway, I'm rambling. I guess I'm just saying how happy I am our boys served, and how HAPPY I am that I am done sending missionaries!  *wink*

That first hug.  Heaven!

The first hug at the airport is the BEST!  I can't even begin to tell you how it feels to see your son for the first time in 2 years and have him wrap his big arms around you and sqeeze!

2.  My hubby, Dan the Man, celebrated his birthday yesterday (Wednesday).  Although celebrating by having Dawson home was the best birthday gift ever, he has experienced a REALLY hard last 5 weeks. He injured his back and has been flat down for 5 weeks.  It has been horrific.  He has been through MRI's, several series of injections in different areas of his spinal joints and back, 3 different doctors, and so much more. He has been in constant pain and hasn't been able to walk more than 20-200 feet (depending on the day) for that whole time.  There is one very specific position he can sit in and one he can lay in with minimal pain. Walking, standing, or any other sitting or laying positions are impossible.  We honestly didn't even know if he would be able to go to the airport on Tuesday to welcome Dawson home. We had a family fast and have been praying for him and we had our own little Pedersen miracle.  He was able to go to the airport on Tuesday and welcome Dawson home.  He couldn't have imagined a better birthday gift!  He still has a very long way to go to be fully functional again, but we are getting there. Thank heavens!

Dan (and Tannon) waiting at the airport for Dawson's return. We had to bring a funny, portable chair for Dan but we somehow made it work!

3.  Our daughter, Kori is expecting her 4th baby any day.  We are so grateful he didn't decide to make his debut on Tuesday when we had Dawson coming home.  Any day is fine now.  I'll be sure to announce it when he arrives!

2014 Pedersen Year In Review, Part 2

I'm back! Here is part 2 of the Pedersen Year in Review in pictures. Enjoy! We sure did!

Let me just give you a quick reminder that today is the last day for the December specials at Close To My Heart. Be sure to check back tomorrow for January's specials.

July

• Shooting with the family
• Independence Day
• Visiting Grandpa P's garden
• Family Time

 

August

• Sage turns 1
• Tuachan with Dan the Man to watch Daysha
• Dan and I road trip it to visit his mission of 35 years ago in South Dakota
• Daci starts Kindergarten and soccer
• Kori and I can salsa for a week (Kori's in charge of onions!  Age has it's advantages!)
• My birthday

 

 

 

September

• Kori and I continued to can salsa (it is quite a production to can 60 quarts! Kori was still in charge of onions)
• Brookley's birthday
• I held a meeting with my Close To My Heart team that included over 70 attendees!
• Football!

October

• Pumpkin pickin' 
• Football!
• I travel to Minnesota for a meeting with my team
• Dan is put in the Bishopric
• Daysha performs in Thriller
• Utah Deer Hunt (Rick's first deer)
• Halloween 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November

• Team Builders Meeting with CTMH
• Football
• Rick's birthday
• I took family photos for Kori
• Thanksgiving (forgot to take pics!)

December (I'm embarrassed to say that all of my December photos are still on my camera. All I have to share right now are from my phone. Forgive me!)

• Family
• Christmas 
• Skyping with our Australian missionary on Christmas Eve
• Tannon's elbow surgery
• Easton's Birthday

 

We have felt so very blessed in 2014. We are looking forward to another wonderful year.  Happy New Year!