Thanks for all your support this past week. We’ve received two letters from Collin and he is doing great! It was a huge blessing to have this cute couple waiting for him when he got off the airplane:

We were able to get this photo almost immediately thanks to our neighbors being best friends with these kind people. What a tender mercy!

My sweet friend gave me this necklace that I’ve been wearing nonstop. It’s Collin’s birthstone and the year he will return. I love it–I feel so close to him when I wear it!

Steve has something big going on in his life! He got an accounting degree many years ago but now he is a full-time student again at a local university. He plans to get a business degree and teaching certificate so he can teach high school. I’m super proud of him! This is no small feat. For one of his classes, he had to create a video. He just posted the one he made on YouTube. It’s a tribute to Collin. You can go here to watch it. I need a tissue every time I see it. Great job, Steve!

Summer is in full swing! Tomorrow Brecken and I go to a church youth conference for three days with around 250 14-17 year olds in our area. We will then join our family for our annual Lake Powell trip and return home at the end of next week.

One very strict family rule that we have is to ALWAYS buy lemonade from a kid. My kids and I have learned to love warm lemonade! Here are two photos that I snapped in the past few days that just makes me happy:

Hope you’re summer is sizzlin’ hot with fun. Oh–and I can’t wait to tell you about a new Project Life product and an innovative printer that I’ll be featuring on August 5th on HSN!

Sincerely,

Lisa

Yesterday was the third hardest day of my life.

The first was in 1985 when I said goodbye to my own sweet parents as I left for an 18-month mission to Scotland.

The second was in 2010 when I said goodbye to my oldest son, Kade, as he left for a two-year mission to North Carolina.

The third was yesterday, June 4, 2013, when I said goodbye to my second son, Collin, as he left for a two-year mission to New Zealand.

The past few days have been spent packing, repacking, checking lists to make sure everything was packed and then packing again!

Collin also got a proper lesson on shining his shoes from his dad, ironing his white shirts from his mom and taking care of his suit coat from his brother.

We took lots of photos and spent lots of time as a family.

We laughed a lot:

And hugged even more:

We ate at all of Collin’s favorite places:

And then the tearful goodbyes came:

The security line was very long and once he got past the check-in point, he didn’t look back . . .

until he was about to turn the corner.

He glanced back, gave one last huge wave and blew three kisses in the air.

This image, while not captured on film, will be captured forever in my heart.

After almost a day of travel, we just got word that Elder Bearnson and his companion, Elder Pelo, just landed in Auckland New Zealand:

(Incidentally we discovered that I went to jr. high and high school with his parents! What a small world!)

Last night we returned to our house and there were so many reminders of Collin:

Wet towel hanging on the rack.

Empty gas gauge in his car.

Childhood bear sitting on his bed.

Gym shoes flung in the middle of his bedroom floor.

Notes and hand-drawn pictures on each family member’s pillow.

And all this mom felt and continues to feel is peace, peace, peace.

And that, my friends, is the best feeling in the world!

Thanks for helping me through this difficult time.

I truly love you all!

Lisa

P.S. Thanks, Loni Stevens, for snapping the family photos!

Thanks to all of you for the garage stories. They put a smile on my face and made me feel better!

This past weekend was spectacular. It started Saturday night with a big friend and neighbor luau in our backyard for these two cuties:

Sunday morning we had a brunch for family members and close friends (again in our backyard), then Collin and Ally spoke at our main church service. It was an emotion-packed day–one I will cherish forever.

Yesterday was Collin’s last Memorial Day with the family for three years. So–we had a day of fun.

(By the way–love this neighborhood tradition where flags are placed on the front lawns for patriotic holidays.)

The day started off in the beautiful mountains for a yummy breakfast with neighborhood friends and our family. Collin was holding Kade and Taylor’s new puppy and it was attacking the back of Sage’s head!

We then played volleyball in the pool for hours. It was pure happiness seeing all my children having so much fun together. I even joined in on a few games.

We’ve been working hard in our yard to get ready for the luau. Just had to show you my front porch. Love the simple happiness that flowers bring!

I am so excited to share with you some of the things I’m working on for my next HSN show which will be August 5th! So stay tuned for some really exciting news.

I’m off to enjoy seven more days with Collin. He’s such a great son, brother and friend and he’s going to be sorely missed.

Hope you’re having a Terrific Tuesday!

Lisa

Yesterday was one of those days–literally was running around like crazy. We are having a neighborhood and friend luau for these two at my house tomorrow night and are expecting around 300 to come!

So–lots to get ready for both inside and out. Some sweet Hawaiian neighbors are cooking all the meat, noodles and rolls. WOW! I wouldn’t know how to cook for 300 people! If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by!

Collin and Ally have been friends pretty much their entire lives. So fitting that they will be speaking together in church on Sunday before they leave for their missions and to have this luau for them tomorrow night.

Now for the lemons. Can I just say I hate garage doors? I mean I love the practical use of them but . . .

September:
Hit review mirror on garage door while backing up; used duct tape to keep it from dangling until we got to dealership mechanic.

January:
Duct tape would no longer hold mirror in place; called dealership and he said $180.00 to fix; had to dangle mirror inside my car through window in below zero degree weather with snow blowing in while driving to dealership; pulled in mechanic garage and accidentally rolled window UP instead of DOWN crushing the mirror; mechanic looked at me and smiled and sweetly said: “It’s $640.00 now instead of $180.00.” Awwww! It’s okay–everyone’s safe. I can deal with this.

March:
Parked on busy street outside my hair salon; walked to my car and found the same mirror crushed and dangling–a car or truck must have hit it; drove to same mechanic; he looked at me and sweetly said: “It’s still $640.00.” Awwww! It’s okay–everyone’s safe. I can deal with this.

May:
Yesterday was running errands in the neighborhood; parked outside neighbor’s garage and leaned over to passenger seat to collect items that needed to be returned; car wasn’t in “park” as I thought; car moved forward hitting and destroying their two-car garage; estimator came out and can’t match it to the other single garage so all three have to be replace. Awwww! It’s okay–everyone’s safe. I can deal with this. Oh–and my neighbor was super nice about it (Thanks, Rob!)

Other hectic things happened yesterday too–does it ever feel like everything on the inside and outside of your house breaks at once! Trying to get it all fixed before the big weekend!

Late last night as I thought of the chaotic day, I was able to refocus and think of all the amazing things that yesterday brought too.

One more day with Collin.
Friends and family rallying around to help with the big weekend.
A great church meeting last night where my buddy, Al Fox, spoke.
Beautiful weather.

And I thought to myself: “Awww–it’s okay. Everyone’s safe. What a wonderful world.”

Hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Sincerely,
Lisa

P.S. If you have a garage door story, please share it with me. It will make me feel even better!!

I just found these photos of Collin – taken when he was eight years old:

I remember looking at the globe together and guessing where he’d one day serve his two-year mission. Never did it enter our minds that this little guy would go to one of the most beautiful places on earth with some of the nicest people you’ll ever find. He could not be more thrilled to be going to Wellington, New Zealand. We just found out today that he flies out on Tuesday June 4th and he is so excited!

And here he is today! Same adorable face – same darling personality – same vibrant personality.

Have I mentioned I’m going to miss this kid? A lot!

On Another note, Brecken made the most delicious meal on Sunday for guests here from Georgia. I must share the recipes but first and foremost – had to share this “Better than . . . Chex Mix” recipe. It is simply worth every.single.calorie. DELICIOUS!

“BETTER THAN . . . CHEX MIX”

8 cups Chocolate Chex cereal
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
6 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. Light Corn Syrup
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 cup MINI Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
1 cup mini marshmallows
1/2 cup caramel bits
1 Tbsp. heavy cream
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (more if you would like)
1/2 cup white chocolate chips1 tsp. coarse sea salt.

Pour measured cereal into a large microwaveable bowl. Line cookie sheet with waxed paper or foil. In 2-cup microwaveable measuring up, microwave brown sugar, butter and corn syrup uncovered on high for 1-2 minutes, stirring after 1 minute, until melted and smooth.  Stir in baking soda until dissolved.  Pour caramel mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Microwave on high for 3 minutes, stirring every minute.  Spread on cookie sheet.  Cool 10 minutes. Break into bite-sized pieces. Make sure Chex mixture is cool to the touch (so candy doesn’t melt). Evenly sprinkle mini peanut butter cups candy and mini marshmallows over the Chex mixture. In a small microwaveable bowl, microwave caramel baking bits and cream uncovered on high for 1 minute or until chips can be stirred smooth.  Use a spoon or fork to drizzle over Chex mixture. Repeat with milk chocolate baking chips and again with the white baking chips. Quickly sprinkly coarse ssalt over all the chex mixture while candy drizzles are still wet.Refrigerate until set. Break apart and store in tightly covered container.

You’ll repeat this recipe over and over again – promise!

Talk to you soon!

Lisa

Collin and I arrived home from Florida and WOW! Perfect weather, perfect lines at Disney World and perfect time together!

This kid is bound for a two-year mission for our church to Wellington, New Zealand in just two short weeks:

Yep – this is what he will look like for two years! He will wear a suit and tie and probably ride a bike most of his mission.

He is so excited to go and I am happy for him. But – gotta be honest. This mom’s heart is breaking a little right now too. It’s so hard for your little ones to leave the nest.

I’ll post lots of pictures of all the events over the next two weeks. And I have so many great memories plus these recent Florida ones that will carry me for two years.

He looks like “Where is Waldo.!”

New Smyrna Beach is one of my favorite beaches in Florida!

Thanks for all your support!

Lisa

Today was the perfect day at Disney World. We planned to hit four parks in a 13-hour period, but I got sick in the middle of the night (due partly to the 3-D Star Trek movie the night before!) so we got a late start.

We ended up only going to three parks – the first one being Epcot. We were greeted by these lovely topiaries of Mickey and Goofy.

I made the mistake of going on a space ride while still feeling sick to my stomach and promptly had to go to first-aid for some Dramamine. Luckily it helped immensely and the rest of the day I felt great. Good thing, because WOW,WOW, WOW! You should have seen the flower festival going on right now in Epcot. Truly a site to behold!

Our next stop for the day was to Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

The Expedition Everest, houses the greatest rollercoaster ever! The majority of the time it goes backwards! Animal Kingdom is a nice, more relaxed atmosphere than the other parks,  which is a nice change.

Our final stop was Magic Kingdom. We walked into the park and I immediately started craving ice cream – something that rarely happens. So Collin and I both got mouse-eared scoops and I enjoyed every bite!

Of course I love Space Mountain and Splash Mountains in this park. And, there’s a new Monster’s Inc. show that’s really clever. We loved it so much we went again – back to back.

The weather today was beautiful and the crowds were fewer in number.

A great day to spend with my boy!

Thanks for all the great support on HSN!

Have a great weekend!

Lisa

P.S. We had dinner last night at Kona Cafe with a great friend. It’s in the Polynesian hotel and was so yummy! I love that hotel and the food – yummy!

Thank you so much for all of your love and support while I was on the air, over at HSN, these past 2 days. It was so much fun!

Now that I have wrapped up my work, it is time to play! Collin and I are staying here in Orlando for some much needed Mom + son time. I got a kick out of this, while driving around:

Only in Orlando, right?

Last night, Collin and I hung out in Downtown Disney – sporting our very own mouse ears:

And, since this trip is all about Collin, he gets to choose what we do. His first choice was to watch the premiere of “Star Trek: into the Darkness.” I must really love this kid to agree (sorry – not my kind of movie). And to make it worse it was in 3-D on the IMAX screen. I walked out feeling like I had been on a roller coaster for 2+ hours. On the flip side, Collin LOVED it!

Collin’s big plans for us today? For us to hit up all four Disney theme parks! Wish me luck!

Lisa

I am getting ready to go live, one more time, today on HSN (you can watch on your TV or online). I hope you will join me at 9:00 AM EST. As always, I appreciate your support while I am on the air!

Happy Wednesday!

Lisa

Well, I have made my way back to the HSN studio for another fun edition of Paper Crafting with Lisa Bearnson. I am so excited to be back here and especially LOVE my new logo that you helped me pick out! Do you love it?

Another exciting edition to my trip this time around, is my son, Collin, has joined me. He is headed to New Zealand in a few weeks for a 2 year mission, for our church. I am extremely proud of his decision to serve and so happy to have some extra one on one time with him before he leaves.

I hope you all will tune in TODAY at 2:00 PM & 6:00 PM and then again tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM EST to see all the goodies I will be featuring. Here is one last picture of the beautiful set HSN has set up for me.

See you soon,

Lisa

PS – make sure to give us a shout out today on your social media tags: @lisabearnson,  #lisabearnsonHSN,  @HSN,  #HSNcrafts