...we have a new family member!!

meet OLIVER.

we finally caved into the kids begging for years for a pet.

although he is not a dog ( which the kids wanted most ) he is the newest member

to the Griffin clan!!

we just got him today and we all love him to pieces already...

he's very docile and cuddly and cute as can be!

Oliver is 10 weeks old.

...at Petland picking Oliver out and getting him ready to bring to his new home...

...tyler finally has a REAL bunny!!!!

( Oliver is going to be very well loved! )

( and yes, his little bunny nose goes a mile a minute!!!)

...and just to catch up since last weekend...

April 25 was mike's birthday and we had a little get together on the 24th to celebrate!

...i made him cupcakes this year instead of a cake, which i think he felt a little ripped off because last year was a DQ ice cream cake....haha!

awwweeeee yyeaaaahhhh...

makin' up some banana martini's!!

Cheers to nikki and i....
( yes tara, i had a few for you too! )

..this is my totally cute niece airiel, with her totally cute boyfriend skyler, playing on courtney's totally cute PINK guitar!!!!

....the malinowski's....

WAKE UP DAVE!!!!

:)

...my little bro curt and his fiancee erith...

...mike and john BEFORE the chair incident....

hahahhaa.....

happy birthday honey!!!!!

(smooch)

...and just a little scrappin fun stuff...

i taught a sketches class monday night and here's the layouts we based the sketces on.

for the first one, we punched out butterflies out of corrugated COFFEE CUP COZIES from Mac's ( heehee ) and then glued pearls ( or rhinestones ) down the body of the butterfly!!

you can use pop dots to lift them off the page and also bend the wings up to give them a 3D look!

Buddies...

Good Times...

( you've seen this one recently )

Rockstar....

we rubber stamped all the circles onto a blank sheet of Bazzill Kraft cardstock to create our own 'patterned paper' and then punced small circles out of some scrap papers to embellish with. the title is painted using foam alpha letters and acrylic paints. then we sewed on a few buttons, added a journaling card and voila!!!

have a great weekend everyone!!!!!

:)

Teehee.....

...maliblu blue & his friend mello melon.

YUM.

see ya tonight!

:)

Tyler's new story book...

...he made at school today!

( for those of you with pre teen siblings at home, you will appreciate this one!! )

I am going to type out the story. The RED WORDS are the parts that Tyler had to fill in....

My Dream World
by Tyler

In my dream world I would be 10 years old. Then I could do more awesome stuff.
My dream pet would be a bunny. It would do tricks.
The book character I would be friends with is Steven. We would be cool.
The best thing in my dream world would be a big bed with a laptop. It would be fun to have it because it would be so awesome.
On my dream vacation I would go to Mexico. I would buy stuff.
At my dream school, I would be awesome.
One last thing! In my dream world, I would MAKE COURTNEY DISAPPEAR!

BAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Kids.
:)

...yesterday was my sweet Grandpa's 89th Birthday!!

we celebrated with cake and tea at the apartment (hosted by my mom) and a few gifts!!

...and Grandma's Geese have been very busy!!

they nested again, in the exact same spot at last year, right outside Grandma's and Grandpa's bedroom window!

here's Mama on her EIGHT lovely little eggs!!!

:)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA!!!!

...heehee...

after the evening home care worker came to give him his nightime pills and take his dentures out, Grandpa and I had a little silly photo shoot together...

...he was LAUGHING at himself when i showed him each photo in the LCD screen on my camera...he was saying how he "looks like an old man"...

I will always LOVE these photos and happy memories!!

x0x0x0

:)

was scrappin' yesterday...

in Winkler!

yep. i went out of town yesterday for an all day crop out in Winkler...with good friends and good times!!

i only managed to complete four layouts ( of the 6 i had actually planned...) and here's the end results of my productivity! hahaha...plus lunch out at Twisters ~mozza bacon burger, crinkle cut fries and a strawberry milkshake ~ some shopping at My Scrap Shoppe in town ~ pizza for supper ~ and then on our way home an arm twisting stop at Dairy Queen for a small blizzard.....

oh well, here's to lot of power walking this week!!!

;o)

Brother and friend...

Stuck in the Middle with You...

Good Times...

These girls...

...I am hoping to continue some more scrapbooking

"for fun"

this week as I don't often do any scrapbooking for myself, it seems to always be for class planning so i really, REALLY, RRRREEEEAAAAALLLLYYYY enjoyed the crop yesterday!!

( no pressures, hahaha! )

.....I still have room for this coming friday's hall crop ( April 23 ) if anyone wants to come out and play...6pm - midnite, crop fee $10...

email me for more info or to register

thegriffs@mts.net

...mike is making us back ribs, rice and veggies for supper and i CANNOT wait!

( everything is starting to smell pretty yummy, so i better go and make my coleslaw...)

...and how was YOUR weekend???

:)

just a couple little things...

on monday, mike bought me a dozen beautiful PINK roses ( the other half are in our bedroom )!

i love the smell of fresh flowers in the house and they just brighten up the room...

thank you honey for spoiling me, again...

...and also on monday afternoon, a quick "easter rabbit" was trying to secretly leave a treat on the doorstep for the kids, but didn't quite get away unoticed...heeheehee!

THANK YOU FOR THE TREAT LORI!!!!!

... i seriously, without a doubt, have THE BEST husband, family and circle of sweet, loving friends anyone could ask for.

my life is truly blessed!!

:)

Gimli Getaway, Gone Scrappin 3...

...was a blast!

i am completely exhausted, but in a good way! ( 16 hours sleep in 4 days takes its toll )

our family went out to Gimli thursday night to pre-setup and have a nice quiet family night at the hotel, go for a swim, soak in the hot tubs ( yes, they have TWO outdoor ones this year aside from the 10 person one indoors! ) and some pizza...

mom was able to make arrangements with some homecare for my grandpa for the weekend so that she could come out with us thursday night and enjoy an extra day of family time too!

i am so thankful that it worked out for her to get the most deserving break that she needed and come have some fun with us and the kids!!

the staff at Misty Lake Lodge went above and beyond their call of duty once again, and I can honestly say that this year has been my best year yet out at this weekend retreat!

I am so happy!!!!

...debbie, the kitchen supervisor added a little extra excitement for the kids by giving them chopped up carrots and apples to take out to feed the horses...courtney was in her glory!

..okay...on to the festivities...haha!

aside from the welcome bags all the scrappers received upon registration, i made up these cute little pink ( of course ) treat bags full of lots of Easter goodies - a sugar rush when needed to keep that creative mojo going!!

...the following are just some shots of my store all set up around the room...

...lots of new products were ordered in to fatten the store up and have the girls drooling over it all....hahaha...i know how they felt when it all arrived at my house!!

WOOT!

:)

....HERE'S WHAT THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM LOOKS LIKE...

...AND HERE'S THE STORM...

heeheehee

...and some classroom fun...

( the girls' registration also included 2 class projects to make )

...haha...tara's welcome bag included a photo card of EDWARD for inspiration...

( ok, who am i trying to kid? he was there souly for hotness purposes...)

LOL

:)

...saturday night line dancing....

awesome!!

-thanks for the entertainment girls!

...poor elanor. she had a sprained knee and still stuck it out with all of us!!!

...all i am going to say about this one is...

"what happens in gimli, stays in gimli"....

LOL

:)

...sunday afternoon just before pack up time, all the contest prize winners are announced and awarded their prizes...

here's the layout challenge winners ( lori once twice - YAY! )

and tannis won the photography layout contest...

...tracy ( aka: Brat ) and Michelle won the prizes for the mini album challenge...

...and the winner of the layout contest was Tracy!!!

( this was a charity donation contest with all proceeds going to

St. Boniface Hospital Research Foundation )

and we raised them $120.00!!!!!!!

thank you ladies for your generosity and kindness!

WHEW.

if any of you are Facebookers, and are not "friends" with me yet, feel free to hook me up and you can see the whole photo album of pictures i took throughout the weekend!!

THANK YOU to all my girls who came out this weekend and helped make

Gimli Getaway, Gone Scrappin a great success!

I enjoyed meeting all the "newbies" this year and was so pleased that some familiar faces also made it out for their first time too!

I hope that your weekend was most pleasant, relaxing, enjoyable, creative, inspiring and most of all FUN!!!!

I had a great time planning and organizing this weekend for you, I loved seeing so many happy smiling faces and I sure hope that you consider joining The Scrappin Studio again next spring for another fantastic weekend in Gimli....

Luv Luv

:)

...and here's a few shots of my girl just accross the highway from the Lodge on our way home last night....

:)