What a Life-Altering Week!

I told you in the last entry about the tragic accident of the Johnson family. Last Saturday was the funeral of Amanda and Alexis and I had the great privilege to attend. (Read further down in my entry for information about these beautiful drawings.)





The service was simply amazing--so full of hope in knowing that we will all see these two girls again. All the youth (which were hundreds) stood and sang a hymn together. I know there were angels singing with them--it was simply a life-altering experience. The Johnsons are doing better than expected. They were comforting others and are such a rock-solid family.

I felt so close to the girls after creating tribute albums for them. Certain pages were taken out of the book and displayed on black boards during the visitation. The pages were then returned to an album that fits inside a beautiful memorabilia box. (Thanks Angela and Angelyn for helping me with this project--love you guys!) We only had less than a day to get them done.

Blue is a favorite color of 15-year-old, Amanda, so we used a lot of blue in this book. This is what a few of the pages looked like displayed on the easels.



These beautiful blue flowers were for Amanda.



And the orange flowers were for Alexis.




Orange was a favorite color of Alexis. So--we used orange accents on her album.





Life is so precious and short. I'm sure the Nikki and Joel Johnson would tell you to hug your loved ones a little tighter and to not sweat the small stuff.

As for the drawings, a dear friend's daughter, Anna Bryce, just found out this year through an art class at school that she has a hidden talent--drawing faces. These are the drawings she loving did for the Johnson family. When the father first saw the drawings, he said that she captured them exactly how they look now--in heaven with Jesus!

Hope you're having a great week.

Sincerely,

Lisa

P.S. I'm a guest host today (Thursday April 30th) on the Creating Keepsakes site. You can check it out at http://creatingkeepsakesblog.com/2009/04/29/guest-lisa/. (Sorry--I tried to link it but it didn't work.) I talk about my friend, Angelyn Bryce, whose daughter was the artist of the drawings above.

P.S.S. Just reminding you that I will be on QVC next Monday May 4th for Papercrafting with the Pros (several time during the wee morning and afternoon). Also that my 11th year anniversary will be on Thursday May 7th at 5:00 p.m. (EST). There will be some exciting new products plus an announcement you won't want to miss.

Back from Spring Break--Orlando 2009!

We got back from Sunny Orlando early Saturday morning and had the time of our lives! Here's a quick recap of the week!

We stayed with these wonderful friends! We met them 18 years ago on a house boat on Lake Powell. One of my best friends is married to Eric's best friend. So thankful they are in our lives.



They live in a beautiful house on a lovely lake.

Collin had a blast playing basketball on their full-sized court!



I had a blast (not!) holding their sweet little pet! Don't ask me what type of snake it is!



Collin actually really did like it!



The kids had a blast canoeing, jet skiing, paddle boating and tubbing on the lake.



We went to three church services on Easter Sunday. (Three different denominations.)



Sage was the cutest chick of all at the Easter dinner and egg hunt!



We also went to Islands of Adventures and Universal Studios for three days. These are my kids very favorite theme parks. And--the deal is amazing. Buy your tickets on the internet and for $99.00 you can have a seven-day unlimited pass to both parks. On top of it, they have a meal deal for $19.99 per person--all you can eat food in the parks. My boys were in heaven!

Cocoa Beach was so much fun and also so scary.



Sage and Steve were so cute together building a sand castle and playing in the water.





I felt like I was in heaven as I snapped photos. This was the last photo I took of Sage . . .



before she ran up to our towels with the other kids. I chatted with Steve for a few minutes then joined my family in our little spot. Collin and Brecken were playing ball--Kade and our neighbor, Taylor, were eating Subway sandwiches. Suddenly I discovered Sage was not with them.

I scanned the crowded beach looking for a bushy blond pony tail and a pink and black swimming suit. I searched the water. No Sage. I then got scared and alerted the others. Everyone started frantically looking. People around us started searching. No Sage. Everything felt like my enemy--the water, the hundreds of people I didn't know, the parking lot, the busy road close by. I ran to the restroom yelling Sage's name. No Sage. I searched the parking lot. No Sage. I started to cry. I started to panic. Five hours later--I mean 15 minutes later I ran back to the beach. A kind man ran up to me and said "Your daughter's been found!" Pure relief! Pure joy! Pure rejoicing! Sage had been found! (She had not followed the rules and had gone in the water by herself. The tide had taken her down the beach.) Really a scary experience.

We came home to some sad news. A family we know in the next neighborhood was in a horrible accident right outside of Las Vegas while on spring break. There are six children and two of the girls didn't make it. The rest of the family members were rushed to the hospital. Nikki, the mother, has a broken back and several more injuries and is still in the hospital. We are praying she will make it back for the Saturday funerals. Alexis, the 17-year-old, has been in one of the Kade's classes all year. Tomorrow the seat will be empty. Life is so short. I am in the process of creating tribute albums for them to display at their funeral. My sweet sis, Angela, is helping me. Thank goodness for photographs that help us remember the roses in December.

Please say a prayer for the Johnson family. I know that Alexis and Amanda are in a better place. They were best friends and I think this quote is so fitting for them. "In life we will not be divided and in death we will not be separated."

Sincerely,
Lisa

Life is Full of Heroes plus QVC Studio Audience Information!

Yesterday was truly a wonderful day. I was able to spend time in the hospital with Brittany Bush, my 19-year-old friend from Idaho Falls, Idaho. Brittany has battled Cystic Fibrosis (CF) since she was six months old and has to go to a hospital three hours away for two weeks every six weeks.

I wrote about Brittany on my blog last November 2008. I asked if you had any spare scrapbooking supplies in your stash to send them her way. Your response was a amazing and Brittany and her mom shed tears of joy every time they found a package in the mailbox. The mailman asked Brittany if she was a celebrity with all the fan mail coming her way! Please know that your acts of service will be remember forever by Brittany and her family.

Just wanted to thank all the wonderful caregivers who help on Brittany's behalf.

This is cute Steve, the respiratory therapist who is so loving and sweet with Brittany. He makes her laugh--just what the doctor ordered! Oh--and his wife is a HUGE scrapbooker! She has more than a room full of supplies and Steve spent three entire days just sorting through her paper!



Her is Brittany's loving mother, Tanya, who has spent almost every waking hour for 19 years by her side. The treatments for CF are grueling and Tanya has taking this daunting task and learned to find the joy because she knows it extends Tanya's life.




Here's to a cute aunt, Verlena, who is always so creative in the special gifts she takes to Brittany in the hospital.



And here's to one spunky, adorable girl, Brittany! Please know we love you and pray for you!

So, here's what else I've been up to this week. Five boys from England have graced our home and we've loved having them. Here are four of them with my family the first night. We built a bon fire and roasted marshmallows in our backyard. Also watch an incredible movie, Forever Strong, that will be released to the public later this month. You must rent or buy this movie--really something ever age should see!



Here is Elliott, the fifth English boy, with Brecken and Collin. Elliott's dad is a good friend of mine. I met him in Scotland over 25 years ago and now our children spend their vacation time with other's family.



Here's the hard part--keeping them fed! I've been going to the store every morning before they get up and getting three gallons of milk (two white, one chocolate), bananas, orange juice, Lucky Charms, Golden Grahams, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, brownies and bread. They go though all of this in one day! Then there's dinner--it's like cooking for a small army! Last night they wanted Shepherd's pie. I've never made it before so thanks to the help of my pal, Cherie, we pulled it off.

On a different note, I'd love you to be in the audience for my May 7th QVC show. It's from 5-6 p.m. and it's always fun to see enthusiastic scrapbookers in the audience! The studio is in West Chester, PA. For tickets, call 484/701-1000 and ask for the studio store. Make reservations for the May 7th Creating Keepsakes show.

I'm off to Orlando for a week! I will talk to you then!

Lisa

Still . . .

I'm off to Orlando for Spring Break later on this week. We are staying with some friends and will probably do the Disney World and Islands of Adventures thing. Any advice on whether it's best to get tickets at the park or online?

My pal, Kerri Bradford, did a neat thing on her blog a few weeks ago. She wrote an entire post around the word "still." Thought it would be fun to try it myself! This pretty much describes my life right now!

Still ready for Spring (finally some decent weather today after a week of snow storms).

Still don't like having a dog that sheds in the house.

Still am crazy in love with being a mother.

Still am proud of my guy, Steve. He's lost 35 pounds over the past three months on Weight Watchers!

Still can't keep up with all the laundry.

Still love the song "Still" by the Commodores.

Still am behind in my deadlines.

Still am not ready for my children to grow up.

Still eat a treat everyday (I love sweets!).

Still love having an open pantry policy at my house. (This photo depicts every Friday and Saturday night.)



Still love brunch more than any other meal. (Twice a year we have the opportunity to stay at home for church and hear from our general church leaders via television or internet. So this occasion happened yesterday and between services, Kade left for a little while and returned with our neighbor, Taylor. They had whipped up a brunch for us at her house--with the help of her mom--then brought it over! It was a fun surprise and enjoyed by all.)



Still go to bed too late and don't get enough sleep every night.

Still love meeting news friends though scrapbooking. I met this lovely lady, Amber, last year at CKU-Provo. We've become great friends. She's from Montana and last week came to very cold Utah for their Spring Break. Kade had a great time with her kids, Buster and Kennedy, while I enjoyed visiting with Amber and hubby Jared.




Still love the summer months the best and can't wait until they get here.

Still enjoy reading comments from you.

Happy Monday.

Lisa