Grandma Ruth

My dear sweet Grandma Ruth passed away recently and we celebrated her life this past weekend with a viewing, funeral, grave dedication, and a luncheon. Grandma was an amazing woman and I've been blessed to live close to her nearly all my life. We all have incredible memories of grandma and her kindness, service, spunkiness, and honesty. I want to be more like her in so many ways.

 

 

The weather was perfect on this day. Here are my brothers and cousins as pallbearers.

 

Grant and me at the cemetery. Grant just loved the free space to race around with his cousins.

Grandma's beautiful casket and floral arrangement

At the church we enjoyed a family luncheon that was beautifully done and delicious too. Preston spent the day with Grandma Norine because he would have been unhappy with all the activities and no naps. 

 

For the first time since my wedding 6.5 years ago, all five of us siblings were together. Dave came from Seattle, Matt from Tulsa, Laura from Dayton, and Adam and me from here. It was wonderful to see them all and have some time together.

 This is certainly not a complete family picture (we are missing 2 spouses and 9 kids), but here is the group with whom we enjoyed the weekend.

We love you and miss you Grandma Ruth but we are so happy that you are with grandpa again and that you can speak and move and serve like you used to!!!

My Big Boy

I finally got around to taking Grant's 4-year-old pictures today. I had about 7 minutes before the sun went down so I tossed Preston in the stroller, changed Grant's clothes really quickly, walked the boys to the park next to our house, and captured these. I love my big boy!

 

 

Grant's 4-Year-Old Stats:

 

Weight: 36 lb. 2 oz. (51%)

Height: 41 in. (66%)

 

He's growing up. He smiles really cheesy for the camera. He loves to wink at people and calls me "toots". He asks for oatmeal at nearly every meal. His favorite drink is capri suns. He wants to be a pilot when he grows up. He loves affection and hugs. He tests my patience and warms my heart all day long. He tells me he wants to be nocturnal so he can play all night. He struggles writing the number 3 but can write every other letter and number. He adores his little brother and is excited for a sister. He's worried about growing up and cries if you mention him going on a mission. He's a sweet boy and we're so lucky to have him as our first-born.

 

Here is proof--he loves winking at people!

 

Health

There is nothing that makes me more grateful for my health (or my children's health) then being sick. I wish it didn't work that way. For two weeks the boys and I struggled with a cough. The doc says it was a viral bronchitis which is a nice way of saying just deal with it, we can't help you at all, it will go away in a couple more weeks. Ahh!! So hard for the kids. They wake themselves up at night in coughing fits and then they are upset and don't want to go back to sleep. Preston's naps were terrible (because of the cough) and that just makes the whole day bad. Well, we made it through that hurdle, hurray! And now the coughs and illnesses are gone.

 

Unfortunately, the coughing (mixed with loosening of ligaments/muscles that pregnancy brings) caused me to displace 8 of my ribs (4 on the right and 4 on the left). Oh my gosh the pain was severe! Moving, lifting, sneezing, laughing hurt so badly! I would just break down in tears because my ribs hurt so bad. And once again, there is no cure for displaced or even fractured ribs--you just get through it for a few weeks until they heal themselves. I alternated hot packs, cold packs, Tylenol, lidocaine patches, and Percocet when I just couldn't handle the pain any longer. It wasn't pretty. The days were long, Preston couldn't be held so he would just cry with his arms raised up to me asking me to pick him up. Well luckily a few weeks have passed from that ordeal as well and I'm feeling a little better. I can hold my baby, I can cough or sneeze without crying, and I haven't taken any meds in probably a week! The ribs are still tender but much better than before. Oh I never want to go through that again!

 

This was Preston's demeanor while he was sick. He was so sad and grouchy no matter what we did. Even swinging outside didn't bring a smile. =(

 

 In other happier news...

 

 

Baby girl and I at 27 weeks

 

and again at 29 weeks

 

We bought a van!! Sean has been looking for months and we finally found a 2007 Honda Odyssey that fit our tight budget and requirements. Here she is in all her glory. Now we can have a third child.

 This is a funny angle but it shows how Preston just sits on his sister every day and enjoys the ride on the baby bump.

 

One morning we took a tour of the fire station with some friends. The firemen were really good with the kids and let them climb in the truck and see everything. Grant was a little nervous so he's the one in the back.

At least once or twice each day this is where you'll find us--on a walk. Preston loves the fresh air and Grant enjoys riding the new bike he got for Christmas. (Don't worry, nowadays he wears a helmet too because he fell down and was nervous to ride after that. )

Birthday Time!

January 1st was birthday time for Grant! We celebrated with our New Year's baby by eating a scrumptious breakfast at Joe's Farm Grill. We sat on their heated patio and it was lovely.

 

 Then we went to San Tan Mall and stopped inside the Disney Store for Grant to pick one item. He chose the toy airplane El Chupacabra from Planes. He loves it!

Then we went home and finalized our party preparations. Grant has been saying for months that he wanted a mustache party--so that is exactly what we had.

 

We enjoyed Texas sheet cake, ice cream, opening presents, a bean bag game, and pin the mustache on the boy. It was a birthday on a budget but we still had fun. Happy 4th Birthday my little Grant!

Christmas and More

 Christmas was just lovely! We had time to ourselves as a family of 4 and time with both extended families as well. It was perfect.

 

 

A few weeks ago we took family pictures in a pecan grove in Chandler. I'm pretty happy with them. Except Grant was sticking his tongue out in 90% of them. Oh well, such is life.

 

And to update the baby bump... 

21 weeks along

 

and 24 weeks along

This little girl is moving a lot now. She is healthy and well and we are so grateful!

 

We also enjoyed a family hike at Papago Park. The kids loved watching the airplanes fly in.

 

I tried to be a fun mom (doesn't happen too much) and plan Christmas crafts for Grant. This kid is so happy with a project to work on. Here is what we came up with on 6 different days.

 

1. Candy cane ornaments: pipe cleaner, propeller beads--huge hit!

2. Coloring a page of Christmas symbols and discussing what they each mean.

3. Santa ornament: paper, cotton balls, pipe cleaner

4. Manger for Jesus: lunch bag, paper

5. Rudolph ornament: paper, googly eyes, cotton ball, pipe cleaner

6. Letter to Santa: he wrote his name, I wrote what he told me for the rest. And guess what? We sent it in the mail and actually got a response from Santa in the North Pole. How fun is that?

 

 

 

Too Many Santas??

Well December is busy as usual but so fun too. Last weekend we somehow managed to meet 3 Santas and Grant was simply in heaven.

 

First up, Grandma and Grandpa's Christmas block party.

 

 

Second, Bass Pro Shop. Poor Preston was sick of waiting and not happy about a stranger holding him.

 

And third, we went to downtown Mesa to walk around their "Western Days" and found a lovely Santa sitting with absolutely no one around, no line, no kids. So we had to say hello and take yet another picture. (He was my favorite--looks the most like the real one.)

 



Also last week, we (in the primary presidency) treated our primary teachers to hot chocolate at Liberty Market as part of their Christmas gift. It was a nice hour out, getting to know them better, and enjoying adult conversation. This is something we want to do every year if our budget allows.

 

Grant completed his weekly cooking class with Ms. Kathy at the rec center. It was a good time for him, he made new friends, and got to have fun in the kitchen. This was their final class and they decorated gingerbread houses.

 

We love our little, pre-lit Christmas tree. We've used it for 6 years now and even though it's not life-like, it's perfect and the kids adore it. Preston sometimes likes to pull on ornaments but luckily nothing is breakable (thank you shatter-proof balls).

And just because it made my day I have to include this. As I was putting Grant to bed tonight and walking out of the room he said to me, "Mom, I can't wait to see you in the morning." Ahh--it melted my heart!