Why the Long Absense?

I realize I haven't posted anything on here for a few weeks, but my life has been a bit of a roller coaster! Here is a bit of an expanation (which also happens to be my SECOND post today!) . . .

Our dear, sweet Oma died last Friday. She was 96. We are missing her already. We have had my niece's wedding (which was on Wednesday, in addition to it also being her father's 50th birthday - my birthday was the day before, when we had Oma's funeral). Also, I have been helping prepare my oldest son, Devan, to leave (which he did last Wednesday - same day as wedding and BIL birthday - ya with me so far??) to serve a two-year mission for the LDS Church (sniff! sniff! - he will be serving in Germany - Munich/Austria area).

In addition to being out of town for one reason or another during the whole summer (I realized I was only in town about one week in three!), I have been doing the ordinary get-ready-for-school stuff and keeping the books at our family business, so I was going a little crazy there for a bit! Hopefully, life we be a bit more normal for a while!

While Devan is gone, I have vowed to send him a card a week. Upon further contemplation, I decided to send him a card with at least ONE butterfly image in it every week (that would be, um . . . 104 butterfly cards! Yikes!). The reason for the butterfly is that his nickname, since he was little, is Butterfly Boy (comes from when we were at Lake Powell and his older cousin, Nathan, started teasing him that he looked like a butterfly with his life jacket on - you know the ones with the little pillow flap behind the head? He HATED the name, but grew to love it over time).

Fast forward . . . trying to think of a card that would have butterflies on it and that he would like (he has, after all, only been gone a few days!). My kids and I are fabulous Harry Potter fans. They found some little animated shorts called "Potter Puppet Pals." They are so cute and silly! This card is an homage to one of those animated shorts (which in their later incarnations became actual puppet shows!).

Here is a link to one called "Trouble at Hogwarts":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1yn9mrZELg&mode=related&search=

After watching that, check out this easter egg clip, hidden in "Trouble at Hogwarts":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x64P7t-JtuA

Once you have watched the easter egg clip, this card will make sense (I even stamped the word "Weeee!" on the inside!)

You are now free to go and watch all of the other clips ('cause I know you want to!). My favorite one is called "Bothering Snape". Enjoy! (And this is probably one of the GOOFY-EST looking cards I have every made! But Devan will like it, and that is all that matters!)

(BTW, this last picture is me and Devan the day he left! Amazing that I have any makeup on at all . . . by the end of the day I had cried most of it off!)

TO SEE THE LINKS, JUST COPY AND PASTE THEM INTO YOUR BROWSWER . . . WE WERE HAVING A LITTLE TROUBLE WITH THESE, BUT THEY SEEM TO BE WORKING NOW!