A little bag of sunshine to brighten someone's day

My sister-in-law's father passed away on Saturday.  I want nothing more than to give her my shoulder to cry on and help take away her heartache and pain.  She's a private person and doesn't want to burden anyone with her sorrow.  But I have to do something for her to let her know that I am grieving the loss as well.  I decided that what she needed was a little bag of sunshine to brighten her day.

I went on a shopping spree and found a bunch of fun, yellow things to remind her of the sun.  Her favorite candies are Sour Patch Kids and Lemonheads and the colors go with my cheerful theme.  There is also sticks of Crystal Light lemonade, Juicy Fruit gum, Airborne with Vitamin C, Morning Burst face wash and sparkly gold fingernail polish.  If I find anymore fun yellow things at the grocery store this evening, I will have to add them!

I put all of these goodies inside a cute little burlap basket with yellow bows and a yellow rolled paper rose.  I hope that this brings a bit of sunshine to her day, I know she needs it. 

This little bag of sunshine could be put together and used for anyone who needs some cheering up in one way or another.  I am sure there are so many more yellow things out there to fill this up and make someone's day.   

I have known her and her family almost all of my life.  I wasn't close to her dad but my heart is aching that he is gone at such a young age.  My nephew Fischer won't have any memories of him so I hope that they help him to remember who his papa was.  Rest in Peace JR, you will be missed by so many.

Linking up with:

Five Star Frugal

Late Summer Sunflowers in the Kitchen

Summer is slowly coming to an end here.  It's still hot out and there are fires all over Idaho with smoke choking us out everyday, but there are other things that let me know that Fall is just around the corner.  These sunflowers grow wild all over the place here.  Today, while out on a drive, we stopped to cut some so I could have a pretty little bouquet of them.  I sat them on my island next to some yellow squash.

Then I got stuff out to make some lemon flavored yellow squash bread and I saw the prettiest colors coming together to make a beautiful scene and I had to take pictures to share! 

The aqua, white and yellow look so pretty on my island in my kitchen. And the sunflowers make it feel even more lovely. 

I have been ready for summer to be over for quite awhile.  The heat and I don't get along!  The nights and mornings have been so cool that it makes me long for Fall even more.  When I smell the freshly cut alfalfa, see onions that were being hauled from the field all over the roads and see rows of corn growing so tall, I know we are getting closer and closer to my favorite season. 

These sunflowers are another sign and one that I can bring home with me as a reminder.  The smell of a freshly cut mint field in the evening as the sun sets so brightly in the sky is something everyone should have the pleasure of experiencing at least once in their lives.  I have been fortunate enough to experience evenings like that my whole life.

I always feel like I am rushing time by wishing for Fall to get here.  But seriously, I love everything about it.  Summer has its good moments, and we definitely enjoyed the BBQ's, camping and yard sales.  But I am a Fall girl through and through! 

One thing is for sure, I am going to be enjoying all that these late summer days still have to offer.  Maybe one more camping trip will be in store for us.  Maybe I will go cut some more sunflowers after these wilt.  Maybe we will have a few more BBQ's out on the patio.  I will savor it and look forward to Fall all at the same time!

I also forgot to mention earlier in the month that I won 2 first place blue ribbons at our county fair.  Both of the pictures that I entered won!  The categories I entered were portrait photography and black & white photography.  I was over the moon excited to see these blue ribbons hanging off my pictures!

Linking up with:

Submarine Sunday

Amaze Me Monday

Cooking & Crafting with J & J

The Art of Homemaking Mondays

Show & Share

Roses of Inspiration

Inspire Me Tuesday

Brag About It

Wow Us Wednesday

Sizzle into Summer

Worthwhile Wednesday

What's It Wednesday

Share Your Cup Thursday

Fabulous Fall Party

Share Your Style

Simple & Sweet Friday

Home Sweet Home

Feathered Nest Friday

Sock Monkey 1st Birthday Party & Cake Smash

My nephew Fischer turned a year old on August 12th.  His mom asked me to help plan his birthday party back in May and we decided to do a sock monkey birthday party.  Fischer was the cutest sock monkey you ever did see!

I designed and printed the invitations which is always something that I love to do.  They turned out so cute and everyone that got one loved it! 

Last Saturday we did his cake smash pictures.  My mom made his smash cake and at first he wasn't too sure what to think.  But he definitely had a great time with free reign on his cake.   

He even employed the help of a spoon.  He didn't let that spoon go for a long time.  Isn't he adorable? 

My sister-in-law found this adorable chalkboard on Etsy and was willing to pay big bucks for it.  I told her I could design it for her for free and it turned out perfect.  We had it printed at Walgreens on board.  This will be so fun to look back on over the years. 

I made this banner and my SIL added the pictures to it.  It was so cute hanging above the door to the patio.  My little sock monkey is just too sweet! 

These chalkboard picks are from Michaels and then I added felt monkeys from World Market to the top.  It was quite the feast of fried chicken, rolls, macaroni salad, taco salad, baked beans, hashbrown casserole, chips and fruit.   

My mom made his birthday cake as well.  It turned out so cute.  There were also cupcakes and of course everyone wanted one of each! 

Of course Fischer got spoiled and got lots of fun presents.  He wanted to play with each present that he opened as soon as he opened it.  This little monkey is definitely loved! 

I can't believe how fast the last year has gone by or how much I love my nephew. I have a hole in my heart that he has definitely filled in a little.  Happy 1st Birthday Fischer!  Auntie loves you soooooooooo much!

Wedding Flowers

Cody's niece got married this weekend so on Friday, we set off on a 4 hour. 200 mile drive.  We got there just in time for the rehearsal dinner and way too many drinks.  Saturday morning while Cody got to hang out with the boys, I was hard at work putting all the wedding flowers together!

The flowers came from Sam's club and we had a lot of work to do.  We made 8 boutineers for the guys.  They were simple with 1 rose, some babies breath, 1 fern, wrapped in twine with a little twine bow to finish it off. 

The ladies corsages had a little more babies breath and ferns with an aqua bow to finish them off.   

The bridesmaids bouquets were 3 coral roses surrounded by babies breath and ferns.  The handles were wrapped in burlap. 

The bride's bouquet had white and peach roses surrounded by babies breath.  The stems were wrapped in lace and had pearl pins all the way down for a finishing touch. 

It was a beautiful wedding and we really enjoyed our weekend.  Cody got a little emotional when he saw his niece, who he is so close to, walk down the aisle.  The father/daughter dance had me and him both emotional because her father died when she was young and her stepdad has really stepped up.  Cody said he could tell her dad was there on her special day.

The backdrop to the ceremony was a big, beautiful desert mountain.  What a beautiful wedding that we got to be a part of.  Congratulations Kris & Drew!