Grandma Great

My husbands Grandma passed away last month and her funeral was the first Saturday of this month. She was a wonderful woman who tried really hard to feel like she could connect with others. The Chiropractor had stories of how she would tell him that they were related through this relative and she would tell him stories of this ancestor. She would talk to me about her visits to PA because she knew my family came from there. She would show off the artwork that her grandsons did that she proudly displayed on her walls. As well as tell stories of when some of them were little that made her laugh because she loved them and liked remembering them as little boys. She was proud of them and their accomplishments. Although I am not sure if she ever straight out said it to anyone particularly. She would regularly tell everyone else about what her children and grandchildren were up to. I believe it gave her a sense of belonging and pride. She loved her family. She always made me feel welcomed and I was grateful to know that she loved me as well. She also loved being Grandma Great and was excited every time she saw the great grandchildren and loved to be loved by the children. Here are a few pictures of her graveside service and our little family. She will be dearly missed not just by us but by all those who knew her.

KIDS

So here he is falling asleep while eating his lunch. It always amazes me how kids can do this.

She loves to do puzzles and here she is posing next to her puzzle that she did with a little help. She for the most part figured out the middle while daddy and I helped with the all blue water part.

Making Green Beans

So we do Bountiful Baskets and one week we got a bag of fresh green beans. So for Sunday dinner we decided that we would cook them up as the vegetable. Yes when I said we I totally meant me and the mouse in my pocket. But nobody in my family disagreed with me either. In fact my daughter was more than happy to help out. She did really well at getting the ends off and breaking them in half.

First Days

Her first days of this school year. She is in dance, talking time(speech therapy), and preschool. She started her dance class in August and Talking Time started the last day of August. Then Preschool started just a couple weeks ago. I figured that I should just do it all at once though so as not to feel repetitive. She cracks me up these days. It is next to impossible to get just a nice smile when I take a picture anymore. She always has to make a face of sing while I am taking her picture. I love this little girl. She is so independent these days. She tries to push me out the door. As for me I have a hard time just leaving her at dance since I don't have to go and Preschool she totally forgot me the minute she walked through the door. Talking Time is time that I get to go with her and not have to leave her. But I do have to leave my son. I feel torn by this new stage we are in. She was supposed to be my little girl forever. So here you go and a sneak peek at her first dance class.

Dance

sneak peek

Talking Time
Preschool Orientation
First official day of Preschool

17 months old

Ok so he is closer to 17 1/2 months now. But I realized that I hadn't updated this kind of stuff in a while. I can't believe how much he has grown. He is so busy and gets into EVERYTHING. I truly was spoiled with my daughter. He keeps me on my toes in a whole new way. He is my little guy. He follows me around into every room that I am in. And we are finally at the stage where he will just cuddle and snuggle with me. I am no longer food to him and so I am enjoying this new relationship that I am beginning to build with him.
Eating some cantaloupe.

One day he grabbed a book and chilled out in this chair. He looked so intent as if he was really reading this little book of his.

We're going to the Fair

So we went to the County Fair last month. We had lots of fun riding the rides, going to the petting zoo, and all the free entertainment. We were impressed by the fair entries and loved seeing all the creative things people feel confident enough to enter. I admire their confidence. I feel that I have some things that I can do; yet, I don't feel like I have anything that I truly excel at. So I look at these people that have showcase-able talents and think 'Yay for them, not only do they have an amazing talent but not afraid to show it off'. So hoping that you can enjoy these pictures of our day at the fair. It started off early with some friends doing the free activities and then later we came back with my husband.

Excited to see the animals.
She loved being on the pony rides.

In the petting zoo

They had a fun kids area to play and explore. My kids loved playing there.

Whoever thought of a sandbox on fairgrounds made my sons day.

She waited in line so patiently for this balloon hat. She was so happy to have it. Then in the car at one point on the way home one of the petals popped. Then later that night another one popped. And then it all popped and she was very unhappy. We were having a hard time getting her to calm down enough to understand her. But when we did we found out she was upset because in her words, "The Clown is going to be mad at me".

While my son took took a nap in the car we drove around. We found ourselves near the nature reserve. There were ducks and what surprised me was the Pelicans. I don't know why I didn't expect them to migrate so far in land away from the Oceans.

We got our daughter a wristband so she could ride whatever which was the cheapest way to go. Then my husband got a few extra tickets and rode a couple with her. She is so brave. She even wanted to ride one that she was not big enough for. I was surprised that she was not frightened at all. It was a fun day.

Sleeping Baby Boy

So one night we put him down to sleep and he had this Stuffed Tiger in his bed till he fell asleep. When we went in to check on him we found him snuggling it. We thought it was cute.

Fire Station

So another day this summer during play group we went to one of the local area Fire Stations to take a tour. Here is some pictures from that trip. After we toured the station we went to the park and had lunch there. I am a little sad that the pictures were a little blurry though. These were fun pictures.

Old Fashioned Fire Truck with Cute kids.
Fireman's Pole. Apparently they don't use this very often. But it is still cool.

One of the Firefighters got dressed into his fire fighting gear. In order to help the kids know not to be afraid if they are in a fire and see him coming.

They even got to sit in the truck.

At the end they all got a hat and a pencil for visiting. Aren't they cute!

As we left I noticed some firefighters doing some training. I think this looks fun. Even if I am a little afraid of heights.

May the Force Be with You

Temple Pageant

We haven't been to this Pageant put on by our church in a long time because it is a little far. But we love going there for 2 reasons. One for the atmosphere which is amazing and two for the Turkey BBQ. We love the story portrayed that goes through both the History of how the LDS church started as well as through the story of the Book of Mormon. Also it has a beautiful message of life after death and being with our loved ones again. The kids fell asleep during the pageant though which was nice because it gave us the chance to sit and enjoy it. I was worried that we would miss most of it because we would be chasing kids. Then we camped overnight at a nearby campground and it was wonderful. We haven't been camping since our daughter was 1 and I was pregnant with our son. It didn't work so well with our little girl. But this time they slept beautifully and it is encouraging. So we may try camping more often.

The glow stick necklace didn't last long she took it off and I had to hide it. I didn't realize how bright those really get.

Daddy and the little guy

Our friend that met us down there with my daughter. They are buddies.

Daddies learn so many things when they have little girls. One of them is learning how to fix a ponytail.

The Temple

Me and my son

Having fun in the tent

She really enjoyed her air mattress bed. She slept till 10 am. Of coarse she woke up on the way to the camping ground after the pageant. Decided that she wanted to be up for a while. But she finally fell asleep around 1 am. So 10 am was a good 9 hours of sleep.

After she woke up we went swimming for a while and then went home.