Quick and Crazy

Not last Monday, but the Monday before, my mom called and said she was thinking about stopping by here on her way back home from Utah and wanted to know what we thought. We were of course, ecstatic!

She came Thursday evening of the same week and and we just finished 8 days of crazy fun and busyness. There was no time for blogging or emailing, so I am WAAAAAY behind on both, but we accomplished so much and I can't wait to show it off to you!

Instead of trying to catch you up all at once, I'm just going to do short posts every day or so until we get there.

Friday we headed out shopping. We searched for Halloween costume supplies and items needed to complete my plans for decorating the kids' rooms. It was intense! But you won't get to see any of the fruits from that trip until future posts.

That night Blake headed off to choir practice for the big performance the following night. Naturally, the rest of us stayed home and played Cootie Bug.
Bryce's face is a foreshadow of the fatigue to come

The finished bugs

I love his face. This is what I get now when I ask for a "big smile".

And this is a catch up photo that I uploaded from my mom's camera. It's me and my sisters after my grandma's funeral. I love my sisters.

It's Pumpkin Patch Time!

First, I just have to announce that it is NOT freezing outside today! It's actually pretty nice! I'm so happy about that!!!!

Okay, we were going to get our pumpkins from the same farm where we picked strawberries. Then I learned that it would cost us nearly $20 just to get into the farm. What?! They had some fun activities and stuff in addition to the pumpkins, but seriously?!

No way!

So, I remembered a patch I'd driven past on my way home from the airport the other day. I found them on-line and discovered that they did hay rack rides out to their patch and didn't charge a penny for it.

That's pretty much all I require for a decent pumpkin patch.

So, we headed out last Thursday night as soon as Blake got home from work.

And we discovered all this fun stuff they had set up. Like this little trike race. Kayli wasted no time hopping on a bike--even though it was WAY too small. But what is Bryce doing back there?

Kayli didn't worry about it, she just raced to the finish line to get her prize

Good thing Daddy was there. It appears he somehow bonked his nose. I'm not really sure how or on what, but he's an expert on bonks, so I believe him.

Do you see that little green peeking out under his coat? It's a little Tinker Bell skirt from my mom. He has managed to sneak out of the house in it twice now. How do we miss that?! I'm not sure. And I wonder what people think when they see our little boy in a shimmery skirt. Oh well. I know that under the skirts and nail polish, he's all boy.

Then Daddy helped him make it to the finish line so he could get his prize, while Kayli went for round two. I just love her zest for life!
Then we saw the hayride, so we hopped on! Blake was so excited he couldn't even open his eyes for the picture.

Why can't everyone look at the camera in the same photo?

The kids each got one of these cute little pumpkins. At first, I was upset because they were so small, but then I learned that they were free (like everything else) and the kids were delighted that they could hold them by themselves.

Then we hopped back on the wagon for the return trip. On our little journey we passed a giant two-faced spider made out of a hay bale. It was really cute. And some other cut out figures.

Then Blake snagged us some *free* food catered by the Olive Garden while the kids jumped in the bouncy house. They were waiting in line for the face painting when the place finally decided to close down, 20 minutes later than they were supposed to.

So, the kids were really disappointed, but I tried to help them understand that the people had been kind enough to stay open so they could jump in the bouncy house. It might have sunk in.

To end our evening right, we picked up some donuts and and hot cocoa (sans the trans fats, of course) and donuts at home. Yum!

I just LOVE fall!

Did anyone else laugh when they read that I will "lover" my dog from my prior post? Maybe I just need more sleep. Or I need my brother-in-law to email me every typo he finds because I'm sure he find them all. And I know there are plenty.

Hello, Computer!

So, we've been busy lately, but I've been keeping the blogging to a minimum because my computer is painfully slow. As in, I read a book while I sit at it because it takes so long in between requests. I get a lot more of my book read than I get done on the computer.

Frustrating!

But today, it seems to be having a good day. It's like new life has been breathed into it. It's not speedy, by any means, but it's.... well, working.

So, I decided I should do a post and not waste its good day.

The problem is, I hardly ever pull the camera out any more. I think it has to do with a fear of the camera being chewed up by our sweet puppy.

Speaking of her, Blake asked a couple nights ago if I'm glad we have her. My honest answer? I'm pretty sure I will be. But right now, I have a third child--a second toddler. And I'm potty training them both at the same time! And this one I didn't carry around in my womb, or make other horrible sacrifices for. And when she smiles, it doesn't remind me of Blake. At all.

So, she didn't earn the instant love my children did.

But she is sweet. And she's trying hard to learn the boundaries and abide by them. Very impressively for a puppy, really.

So, I have no doubts that I will be grateful for her and lover her. Just a little further down the road.

It was sweet how excited she was when I walked in the door last weekend after returning from my trip. I think she almost missed me as much as the rest of my family.

Speaking of returning home last weekend, I forgot to mention that I returned home to SNOW!

Yeah. Remember when I said I thought it was fall a few weeks ago? Shortly after that, I began thinking about how cold it is and realized, maybe I'd missed Fall. Maybe it had come and gone and now we're in the midst of winter.

Snow!?! In early October?!? How on earth am I supposed to keep my kids warm while they go trick-or-treating in two weeks?

And the snow almost made me have to spend the night in Denver. I realized after purchasing my tickets that I had only 35 minutes between my first flight and my second on my return trip. I decided to cross my fingers. I got to the airport Saturday morning and they informed me that my first flight was delayed due to snow in Denver. I would have 12 minutes from when my first plane landed until my second plane took off.

Sweet!

So, I called Blake and my parents and asked them to pray for me. And you know what? It all worked out. And I am still so grateful for that.

And one final random note:

Did you know that my siblings, parents, and I live in five different time zones? We do. How weird is that?

My Quickest Trip Ever

I still can't believe that a week ago I booked the trip and have since flown out to Utah for my grandma's funeral and returned home.

I'm so grateful I was able to make it. And I'm very grateful to be home again.

The funeral was very nice. My mom is one of nine children. All nine children and most spouses shared some thoughts and memories about my grandma. Plus the life sketch (spectacularly done by one of my aunts), a speech by one of her close friends, a couple musical numbers, and some wonderful thoughts from my grandma's bishop.

That added up to one of the longest funerals I've ever been to. But I was grateful to hear what everyone had to say. Given the chance, I wouldn't change a thing.

Well, one thing. I wouldn't put me in as the chorister for the grandchildren/great-grandchildren choir singing "Families Can Be Together Forever". I know it seems like I should be able to lead music with ease, having played the piano since I was four. But I can't. It just doesn't work out for me.

My grandma was buried with my grandpa at Camp Williams. It's a military cemetery, so there aren't any traditional headstones or elaborate flower displays. It's very simple.

These always make me sad, even when I don't know the person inside.

My father, many uncles, and I believe great-uncles

They released doves into the air. It was so beautiful and peaceful. And made me think about how it must have felt for her spirit to be free from the sickness in her body.

It was like they were trained to fly in some pattern and kept circling around for a while before flying away.

She is loved and missed by so many

The coffin was really beautiful. And I didn't get a picture, but I don't think I've ever seen so many gorgeous bouquets and floral arrangements.

My parents, me, my sisters, and a brother-in-law

This little cutie was having so much fun smelling and sharing this flower she found. She is adorable!

And that was all I remembered to have my camera out for.

In addition to the viewing and funeral, I spent a lot of time with family. Immediate and extended. My sister was kind enough to let me stay with her most of the time I was there. Thanks, Meg!

We had a great time visiting (I reconnected with cousins that I haven't seen in probably 10 years or more!), playing games (it seemed like the best way to remember Grandma since that's exactly what she would have done with that many people in her home), ate, and ate, and ate, and talked some more.

Aside from the reason I was there, it was a wonderful trip. And even then, it was a great opportunity to be with people who love and admire my grandma as I do.

A big THANK YOU to my friend who watched my kids every morning and to my sweetheart who came home early every day and tried to work from home, so they could be with him. All so I could take this trip. It meant everything to me to be there for her funeral, so I can't thank either of you enough.

The kids had so much fun every day, they never even sounded like the missed me. But they must have. Last night Kayli asked if Daddy would be working today. When I told her he would, she replied, "Good, I want to spend time with you." I thought that was kind of funny. But then we talked about being able spend time with Mommy and Daddy at the same time. She acted like that was a new concept, but we do that as much as we can, I thought.

Good thing tonight is Family Home Evening.

The Things I Miss the Most

These two wonderful people are together again, at last.

You may remember that my Grandpa passed away last December. My Grandma joined him on Saturday. I already told you about the amazing bond between them, so I won't go into that again. I'll just say, I'm so happy they are reunited.

But my heart hurts to know that I won't see her again in this life.

She was the strongest person I ever knew. My grandpa was in the military and so she had to do much of the raising of their nine children by herself. And she did it with a smile. Even when everything went wrong.

She was an amazing person. If you want to know more about the things she taught me, please see my Abiding Joy blog.

Right now, I just want to mention the little things that I'm going to miss so much. Mostly, it's for me. I don't ever want to forget.

I'll miss the way she would smile and throw her arms open wide when I walked into the room. And the crazy things she would concoct for eating--like jalapeno jelly on vanilla ice cream, or salsa on spaghetti.
How she cuts pizza with scissors and shuffles a deck of cards by throwing it in a bowl and stirring with a spoon.
I'll miss her placing her last card in the final round of a game of Mormon Bridge behind one of her eye glass lenses.
I miss Thanksgiving dinners at her house, always overflowing with food and love. And always, copious amounts of pie.
I'll miss talking to her on the phone and hearing her say, "Bye bye, for now" at the end.
I'll miss playing endless games with her. And the way she cheated at most of them. (c:
I'll miss all of her amazing stories with the names and places that she could always amazingly remember--she had new stories every time I saw her, she lived such a rich life!
I'll miss making plans with her to one day open a bed and breakfast together because she likes making beds and hates baking, while I despise making beds but love baking.
I'll miss watching her make my children smile. It breaks my heart that they probably won't remember her.

And I'll be forever grateful for the acts of service she provided me with like going with me to the doctor when I was in college and missing my mom, letting me stay at her home for a couple weeks before Blake and I were married and had a place of our own, letting me stay at her home while Blake was out of town and I was too afraid to stay by myself, giving us the opportunity to manage their apartments while we finished school (thus helping us to avoid having to take on more student loans), making me chicken noodle soup and providing me a place to rest when the hospital said my labor "wasn't progressing fast enough" for them to admit me while I was in labor with Kayli, letting Blake and I cheer the Cougars on with them for all the away games, letting me stop by whenever when I was a new (and struggling) mom, raising an amazing daughter who's a lot like her who became my mom, and all the countless hugs, smiles, words of praise, and expressions of love.

I feel blessed beyond measure to have known her and had her for my grandma. I'm grateful for all the years I lived close to her. And I am so thankful that I felt so strongly that I needed to drive all the way to Seattle this summer. Because I drove, I was able to spend three wonderful, priceless hours talking with her and being with her.

I miss you, Grandma. Until we meet again.

Rambling Randoms

I forgot to mention another funny thing from last week's mall excursion.

You know how sometimes there's a car inside the mall being given away? It's so that they can get the contact info on billions of people, really. But one lucky person gets a car. Or so I've been told. It's never me. I get the junk mail.

Guess what they give away in malls here?

A nice green John Deere tractor.

Speaking of tractors, that's one of Bryce's favorite songs. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, you're missing out.

About the dog:

It's pronounced: zeeema.

Blake speaks Russian. So, a Russian name seemed fitting.

I think it's fall here. I love fall, you know. But the weird thing here, is that everything pretty much looks the same. It's just colder. Which is fine, because I prefer wearing sweaters and jeans over shorts and t-shirts. But where are the swirling leaves? I love how they smell. Is that odd?

I also love the smell of cold air. At least we have that out here.

But today there's a wind advisory. And it's FREEZING.

And somehow, we lost Zima's collar and tags out in the yard. Don't ask. But it's really not an ideal day to find them. I search for as long as I can (about three minutes) and then I have to come in and breathe still air and thaw.

She hates her collar and tags. I'm starting to think she just ate them. Seriously, she made an entire raw hide disappear in ten minutes flat this morning. That girl's got some serious chewing skills.

I could continue, but I'll spare you. Those are just some things I needed to get off my chest today.

Oh yeah, and I thought you might want to see these little sneak peaks from the family photo session