Purple Plaid Purse

This adorable purse is made from old jeans. It measure approximately 14.5" x 8.5". It has 4 pockets on the outside and one big pocket inside. It's a perfect gift for that hard-to-buy-for person in your life!

ONLY $25!!!

Grab it before it's gone!

(Items can be picked up at Lisa's Place Hair and Nail Salon in Syracuse)

Our Lemonade Stand

We are just a couple of sisters working hard to earn some money for some amazing opportunities!

Hi! I'm Kairi! I'm 12 years old. My very favorite thing in the whole world (besides unicorns) is singing! I am so blessed to get to belong to an amazing local children's choir. Next year, my choir is going on tour to Washington DC. I would love to go and get to sing in our nation's capital!

I'm Raegan. I am 10. Since I was a little girl, I have always loved Harry Potter. For as long as I can remember, it has been my dream to go to Harry Potter World in California for my 11th birthday.

We are trying to pay our own way for these trips. Please check out our little shop. If you see something you like, help us out! If not, thanks for stopping by!

"Vintage Collected" Wedding

I recently got to decorate the wedding of 2 of my favorite people! My beautiful & talented little sister-in-law, Jenni & her adorable perfect match, Kolt. 

(all photography courtesy of kaileyraephotography.com)

Seriously adrobs, right?! And these 2 are as gorgeous on the inside as they are on the out. 

I was so blessed and honored to get to add a little sparkle to their special day! 

Prepare yourself for an overload of gorgeous pics -partly because their photographer was AMAZING and she saw beauty in the details as much as I did, and partly because I am the world's most indecisive person  and could never decide on just a few pics... Here we go..

.The entry

The Picnic

The Lounges

The Backdrops

The Tables

The Deets

And just a touch of magic...

And just because these kiddos of mine are so stinkin' cute...

The whole day was so seriously beautiful! Down to every last detail (including the bride's amazing dress she made herself- did I mention how talented she is?)

And I have to give props to this gorgeous lady, the mother of the groom, for letting me do any and everything I wanted to her already amazingly gorgeous yard to transform it into her daughter-in-law's dream wedding.

And to my partner-in-crime, my bestie, my cousin 

check out her crazy creativity over at "The Fickle Pickle" http://www.befickle.blogspot.com/

Our Story

You might be asking yourself, "why 'The Lemonade Life?" Well- this is the story of our family, the lemons we've been handed and the day we decided to find joy in the journey despite our trials.

I am a mother of 3 beautiful children, a Mormon, and a generally optimistic person. A few years back, our family faced a really difficult time. 2 of my 3 children were classified as "special needs" and were diagnosed with different neurological disorders. My 3rd, seemingly "average" kid was in and out of the hospital with chronic digestive problems that were later diagnosed as Ulcerative Collitis.

(Photo taken by fotofly)

 In short, I felt like I lived at the local childrens hospital, I felt completely helpless and inadequate in raising these sweet little kiddos with all the care and attention they needed. I began to feel complete and utter despair. I felt like I was just not a strong enough person to watch my kids face the daily struggles they would go through their whole lives.

Then one day, I was speaking with my sister who was a teacher at a local Jr. High School. She began to tell me of one of her students who had passed away that day. This is his story (article courtesy of KSL.com)

FARMINGTON — “Do you want a free lemon today so that you can make lemonade?”

That was the question asked to strangers surrounding the ice rink at Farmington’s Station Park shopping center last weekend. On Feb. 15, dozens of people wearing t-shirts that read “Life: Make Lemonade” flooded the common area to hand out boxes of lemons.

It was all for 15-year-old Dallin Hess. Diagnosed with cancer in 2011, Dallin had on his bucket list passing out lemons as one of the things to do before he died.

“We’ve always had a really wonderful saying in our family that if life hands you lemons, you make lemonade,” said Sydney Hess, Dallin’s older sister.

The Hess family knows a thing or two about making the most out of what life hands you. That’s because life handed them cancer.

Besides Dallin, Sydney survived breast cancer at age 12, younger sister Alexis died from a rare form of cancer when she was 3, and their father, Travis Hess, died last April after battles with cancer that spanned 20 years.

A few years ago doctors confirmed that the Hess family has Li-Fraumeni syndrome, a rare disorder that makes them more susceptible to cancer.

“We’re missing a gene that fights off cancer,” Sydney said. “We get cancer all the time, kind of how other families get colds.”

I think everyone wants to leave this world feeling like they've made a difference or had people that love them.

–Amber Hess Nye, sister

As bleak as a future like that might sound, Dallin always stayed positive — even when doctors told him his cancer was terminal.

One day during his stay at Primary Children’s, “He was just puking through chemo,” said Dallin’s mother, Sherry Wheeler. Even though he was miserable, he told his mom that he wanted to put “Life” on the front of a t-shirt and go out and hand out lemons.

Initially she was perplexed by the idea.

“He was like, ‘duh Mom, when life hands you lemons, go make lemonade,’” Sherry recalled.

Flash forward to last Saturday, when Dallin — along with his family and friends — put his idea into action. Their hope is to spread the message that no matter what life hands you, something sweet can come from something sour.

“I think it’s pretty wise of this young man to even think of doing something like this,” said one woman who accepted a lemon. “Maybe it’s a good thing for all of us here.”

 “I explained to her that our son is a cancer survivor,” she said. “We’re all in this together. Cancer can’t take that away. It can’t take away love.”

Too sick to come out of the car, Dallin watched as others fulfilled his wish. The student at Centennial Junior High School in Kaysville was surrounded by friends and classmates who loved him.

“I think it’s hard to remember when you’re lying in bed and not feeling good that you’re really loved,” said Wheeler. “This has been so good for Dallin to just see how many people he’s affected. And when he leaves, we’ll really miss him.”

That reality is bittersweet. Four days after Dallin’s lemon project, he lost his long-time battle with cancer. He passed away peacefully on Feb. 19, days after his 15th birthday.

“I think everyone wants to leave this world feeling like they’ve made a difference or had people that love them,” said Dallin’s sister, Amber Hess Nye.

To order the “Life: Make Lemonade” shirts visit dallinslemonade.blogspot.com.

To his friends and family, and the strangers who accepted lemons on his behalf, Dallin did just that. Friends are even taking orders for his “Life: Make Lemonade” shirts to help spread Dallin’s message and to aid the family in medical and funeral expenses.

“We are celebrating Dallin. He was always positive and always looking for the funny side of things,” said Wheeler. “He just wanted to remind us all that life’s not always fun.”

And to always make lemonade out of even the most sour of lemons.

After reading this story, and admittedly crying for ummm... let's just say a good long while, I realized how blessed I was. Although my little family had been handed some lemons, none of us was facing anything terminal. We were all going to live. And we had a choice on what we were going to do with the life we'd been handed. 

We decided to adopt "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade" as our family motto. We decided together to do our best daily to find joy and beauty in the world around us. And when things get really dark, and it's hard to see light and joy in our life, we would create the joy and the beauty.

That's what we are doing here- finding, creating, enjoying, loving the joy and the beauty that surrounds us every day. We hope you enjoy our lemonade :)