Celebrating Alex and Cole!

Here comes baby Cole! 

Baby Showers are just so much fun.

This one was no exception. 

We made the theme 

Mustache and Ties

Rather than doing silly games that no one likes or enjoys we decided to have a Onsie making station.

Each guest created their own Designer Onsie for baby Cole using material and a heat bonding paper. The creativity was incredible. 

 Here is a picture of all the onsies that were made at the shower. They turned out sooooooo cute!!

At the entry the entry way we had everyone fill out an envelope with their own address on it so it would make less work for the Mom to be to do her Thank You's. We also had our thank you gift to each person on the table as well. A mustache sucker for everyone as they left.

 On the mantel, we placed the custom building blocks I had a friend make for my little guy and we framed the back of the invitation and used it as part of the Decor. They turned out so cute!! I can't wait to see Cole playing with them!!

 All of the food tags were purchased through Etsy. You send the info to them and they email you the PDF's for all things printable!!! Its really slick and a fabulous way to personalize your shower!

 For food we had a make your own fruit pizza using sugar cookies and a homemade cream cheese frosting and fruit! It was a hit and it was absolutely delicious!!! We also had Pinwheel sandwiches and cucumber sandwiches for lunch as well as pretzel chips and an incredible Dip my daughter made!!

 We decided to order the cupcakes to take some of the food making load off. All i will say about that is make sure your bakery attendant is listening to you. They were not what I asked for but they tasted great and still looked kind of cute!

Onsie and Mustache almond cookies!! AMAZING!! 

 Floating rubber duckies in the punch with their little mustache face on was also a hit! I found the blue rubber duckies in the dollar section at Target!! Great find the day before the shower!! It's funny how the little things make such a difference!

 

 Ties cut from scrapbook paper in my boxes of paper at home made our Tie Garland! We also hung one out in front of the house!

The water bottle labels were awesome. Again the same Etsy design. I believe for all of the designs I paid 14.95. 

You print it all on your own computer. For the water bottles I went to Michael's and bought the blank water bottle labels in the Bridal section. They were awesome!! 

This pacifier started the theme several months back when I found it at Patina in St. Paul Mn. 

I had my sister make this amazing creation and we through the Mustache pacifier in to go with our theme!!

 Darling little Wreath with a cut men's dress shirt and tie that just happened to match our color theme. All from a local Thrift store! With the letter C for Cole on it as well as a vinyl mustache to go with the theme.

 All my girls made this day to celebrate Alex and Cole so special. I still cannot wrap my brain around the fact that I am indeed going to be Grandmatized in a matter of weeks!! So much still to do to prepare for our little man to arrive!! I just can't wait to hold my little buddy in my arms!

This is my beautiful gracious friend who was so willing to let us invade her home with two truck loads of decor and food. Laura you are indeed a rare gem and I cherish you ! 

Thank you for making this and every day so very special.

 I still cannot wrap my brain around the fact that I am indeed going to be Grandmatized in a matter of weeks!! So much still to do to prepare for our little man to arrive!! I just can't wait to hold my little buddy in my arms! The theme for this shower was so fitting. It took me back to when I had Coles daddy Jon. I called him my little man. Now my little man is having his own little man. Its all so hard to believe. But, here we go! The final weeks are here! Alex has never been more ready and we are too!

Every once in a while someone special comes along and touches your life in a deep place.
That is my friend Zina. She sparkles with joy all the time. She is indeed the most beautiful woman I have known.
Her life has not been easy, in fact I would dare say it has been down right difficult at times.  regardless of that, Zina exudes joy like no one else.

To talk to her requires a very intent listening ear as many of the things she has to say are not the point of the story but, nonetheless beautiful nuggets of truth for life.

In the short time that I have had the pleasure of getting to know Zina, I have felt a dear love for this tender hearted woman of God. She, just by her example has blessed my life.

She is in the, behind the scenes activities at my church. She is a prayer warrior. If you ask her to pray about something, she stops right then and there and prays!! She does things like ironing the buntings for our Freedom Celebration and much more. She is always willing to lend a hand whenever someone needs help.

Women like Zina are a rare gem and deserve to be recognized. While they would never think that way because of their humble spirit, I do think that way and I want to say thank you.

Thank you to the Zina's in the world that are the "behind the scenes" warriors. Storming the gates and training up the next generation to do the same!!!

I want you to know you are loved and most important you are seen! Seen by me, but more importantly, you are seen by God. Matthew 5:8

Bless you my sweet friend and thank you.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

44 years ago today this world became a better place!
A young man entered the world that would change so many peoples lives in so many different ways.

This little boy would eventually grow up and leave South Florida, (without that spiffy jacket) to attend college in Minnesota.
Where 3 weeks into first semester of college he would meet me!
I fell in love with this silly kid who was running for class president, by running with the Ferris Bueller campaign idea of giving everyone a day off!

While not a very focused student ( I may or may not have had something to do with that) He was a very focused man. He knew what he wanted and he went after it with all the gusto in the world!

Within a year he would find a job that would take his talents and make him soar! He has been doing so with the same company for 25 years now!

Within 2 years we would be married.

As my husband he is amazing. The most patient, loving caring man I have ever known!
He loves unconditionally and has been the best earthly example of our Heavenly Father!
As a father to our 3 kids. My husband has been incredible. From poopy diapers to poopy Teenagers he has been a rock! Holding firm to his beliefs and convictions and never wavering!
As the rock of this Bettelli Family he has taught all of us a tremendous amount about Love, Joy, Patience, Kindness, gentleness and self control.

I consider myself the luckiest girl on the planet for being able to be married to this man!
Honey, whatever coffee shop you are reading this from, (and I know you are) I hope and pray they have enough Kleenex's to clean up the mess this is causing at your table.
I loved you from the moment I met you and It has only grown stronger. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me and you have made me who I am today.
Happy Birthday Sweetheart. I love you from the bottom of my heart! You are truly someone to celebrate!

Winter doldrums!

The simple truth is that I am completely tired of winter.
Its amazing in the fall when all the leaves have vacated the trees and the grass turns brown, how natural and even exciting the first snowfall can be. I rush to the window to see the tiny white flakes falling from the sky as if I had never seen them before.  Gently blanketing the dormant ground.
Suddenly, I catch my breath in the midst of enjoying the new fallen snow and think, Dear Lord this is going to be here until April!

Fall, that was 6 months ago!

I long for my patio time in the sun.
I miss my patio rest after my morning run.
I miss long walks with my dearest friend Laura.
I miss pool time with friends.
I miss the warmth of the sunshine on my skin.
I miss the smell of fresh cut grass.
I miss iced coffee that feels refreshing.
I miss my bike and the long rides through St. Paul.
I miss being able to walk to my car and not run creating a wind chill.
I miss taking my dog for a walk.
I miss opening my windows!
I miss seeing people driving convertibles with the top down. (although if it hits 50 this will happen!)
I miss grilling, or even just the smell of someone else grilling down the street!
I miss spontaneous bonfires on cool evenings with friends and neighbors.

While I miss all these things I cannot help but think of how spoiled I have
been these last 4 months.

                                      December we were blessed with a free trip to Aruba!!!

           February we took our daughter Kelsey on her graduation gift cruise to the Bahama's

                                  Just last week I was blessed with a trip to Arizona for 5 days.

So I really have nothing at all to complain about and that is not what I am doing here. (OK well maybe that's not entirely true.) I do miss summer and everything warm.
Winter does has its advantages though. As I was blogging this very post I found a huge spider in my downstairs bathroom! It was DOA which makes me wonder if one of us brought it back in our suitcase from our recent travels! AHHH!!
As much as I hate spiders it gave me  fresh hope of Spring as well as a new appreciation for winter and ALL that it lays dormant for 6 months!
Funny how a silly spider can put all my thoughts into perspective. I am thankful for where I live and that I am only 3 hours away from anywhere warm that I want to go for a winter get away.
Holding on to the Hope of Spring but flushing the spider! I will enjoy 31 degrees today from the sunshine stream inside my home!

Life's Deer Moments

As a young girl I was never very fond of the movie Bambi. I felt the sad storyline was a bit on depressing side even as a small child.

But one week of my life I got to catch a glimpse of Bambi's little life!
My brother and his friend were traveling through a what used to be remote part of our city. When they saw the deer on the side of the road. They stopped to see if the mother was near. She was and she must have been hit by a car earlier. The fawn stayed nearby 

  Not knowing what to do but overwhelmed with compassion for this young animal, my brother scooped up the baby and took him home.

What was he going to do? How would this poor deer eat? Where would this poor deer live?

I recall I was feeling a bit under the weather and laying on the couch in the living room, (that lovely red one seen there in the picture!) watching TV very late that night when my brother walked in carrying a deer. A live baby deer in my living room.

It was one of those moments you wonder, is this really happening?  How high is my fever?
I quickly realized this was real and we really did have a fawn in our living room. As the Swanson's do, we had to name this little fellow who would be part of our household indefinitely. 

We named him Kahuna. He was so sweet and so scared. His legs still rather unsteady from being so small.  We fed him from a bottle, I believe we just used baby formula. He was strong and had a darling personality. 

He would walk up to you and suck on your ear lobes. It was so funny. Certainly not something you get to do every day! 

We obviously knew we could not keep him so we ended up giving him to Camp Courage. A camp for people with disabilities. They had a lot of land and agreed to take him in.

What a joy to be a part of a week in Kahuna’s life.

Sometimes the little joy’s in life are over looked, but not this one. This experience made me the compassionate person that I am today when it comes to animals.

Thanks to a little deer named, Kahuna. 

DOG STORIES: Rocky 10

The Rocky Story

Rocky came into my life as a puppy.  Somehow , somewhere one of my brothers acquired him.

He was the cutest little puppy. His little rubber tummy and puppy breath captured my heart from the get go.

He was however a little on the, CHEWY side!

Rocky loved to chew bones, toys, shoes, the couch. Yes, I said the couch.

He took it upon himself one day while part of the family was in Washington DC for a little vacation, to chew apart our couch.

Rocky was a sweet dog but on the day brains were handed out in heaven he was chewing the Throne!

He was basically an idiot. But nevertheless he captured the heart of young Jenni and I just loved him through every mess he made.

Until one spring day when I was a Senior in high school and still taking the bus. Rocky had decided that morning to eat my little sisters blankie. Which was really nothing more than a strand of blanket.

While I stood on the corner, waiting for the bus, Dad let rocky outside to go potty.

Rocky, wandered in circles for quite sometime, some are familiar with this process, we call it the poop walk.

Then he was squealing like a pig and my dad went out to see what was the matter. He quickly assessed the situation and realized that Rocky had consumed the BLANKIE STRAND without much chewing involved and was now struggling to……… “eliminate” it!!!! Rocky was frantic. Dad was chasing him, trying to step on the partially “Eliminated” blanket now dragging behind Rocky while Rocky squealed. Dad taking steps forward flopping one foot out in front of him to attempt to catch the blanket strand under his foot to hopefully pull it loose. 

The bus was of course late that day as the 6 of us stood there watching the Rocky and Don Show.

It was quite a sight!

I recall being rather embarrassed as we all disembarked the bus that afternoon after school was over.

As we parted ways one neighbor boy whispered to me quietly, “I hope your dog is ok” and laughed with the others as they walked past my driveway!

Yet another wonderful animal moment brought to you by Hometown Entertainment!

Temporary Technical Difficulty!

In the words of Norwegians everywhere, UF DA!!

Last month I thought it would be fun to change my blog background and design.
DISCLAIMER: This should only be attempted when a professional is there to assist you!

I decided that I want my pictures to be the biggest piece of my blog. Great idea, bad template!

The template that I chose was called Snapshots. It listed all of your posts according to the picture you were telling the story about.



Again, great idea + bad template + Not tech savvy girl = not being able to post since December 28th because I couldn't find the icon to do it and couldn't change it back the original template!
Run on sentence, I know.
I was getting very frustrated as it has been over a month since my last post. I contemplated starting a new blog just to get back on the radar. But my stubborn pride was determined to figure this out. I was in it for the long haul! I even asked my very tech savvy husband just the other day if he could help me and within seconds I took it away because I was determined to figure it out myself.

Well, lo and behold this morning in my devotional it talked about relinquishing control. Trusting that God can do immeasurably more than we ask or even imagine.
Quoting Luke 1:7 FOR NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD!

I prayed over my computer and put my hands on my head and prayed for wisdom!
I kid you not, within seconds I realized what I needed to do.
GOD IS GREAT!! DON'T LIMIT HIM TO ONLY BIG THINGS! HE CARES ABOUT THE LITTLE THINGS TOO!!
Me and my blog are one again and the pet stories will resume ASAP!

I will be redesigning my blog again but not without a professional next to me to guide and assist.

HERE WE GO AGAIN!!!!