California

We were able to fly to California for Darrell's dad's funeral.  It was great to be with Darrell's family and to celebrate the life of a wonderful man.  I didn't get too many pictures, but here's a few.

I loved these 2 displays of photos from Wayne's life.



Darrell's mom with her sister and brother.  



Me and Darrell's grandma Nellie.


The girls with Grandma.


We did go to the park one morning and the kids had a blast.  It took all three of us to keep track of all three of them.











 The neighbor across the street let us borrow this sweet tricycle.  Darrell and I had fun riding it to and from the park.



 Here is my tribute to Wayne.  It was one of several read at his funeral.

W is for Wayne’s wonderful sense of humor.  Wayne always had a joke ready to tell.  He was also a big tease—a trait he passed down to his son Darrell and grandson Tyler.  (And if I’m not mistaken, his granddaughters Emily and Megan are starting to show signs of being teases as well.)

A is for the awesome husband, son, father and grandpa that Wayne was.  Wayne and Carol have been married for 51 years and I’m so grateful for the legacy of love he last left for us to emulate. 

Y is for y’all and for Wayne’s southern roots.  (Disclaimer:  Although I don’t really remember Wayne saying “y’all” very much, the letter y is a hard one to come up with a good descriptive word.  But I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to comment on Wayne’s southern phrases.)   I have to admit that most of his southern sayings went over my head, but they always made sense once he explained them.

N is for being the nicest guy around.  Wayne’s such an easy-going and very likable guy.  I felt right at home from the first day I met Wayne. Both Wayne and Carol welcomed me and my family with open arms. 

E is for Easter.  That is the last holiday we shared together.  We always loved when Wayne and Carol came to Utah to visit us and to see the grandchildren each year.  Even though Wayne wasn’t feeling well this past April, he made the trip so we could celebrate the kids’ birthdays just a little bit early.  It is appropriate that we celebrated Easter together this year because it brings us hope that we will be with Wayne again.

Our lives will never be the same without Wayne, but they also will never be the same because of Wayne and his love and his life.  We love him so much and will miss him—until we see him again.

Grandpa and Emily (April 2011)

Labor Day

We made our annual trip to visit my parents for Labor Day.  We were able to attend the county fair and watch the cousins participate in 4-H type stuff.

Spectating Day 1








Nathaniel with his sheep


Spectating Day 2






Jonathan was a grand showman runner up and got to be judged showing a sheep, a horse, a pig and a cow.









Spectating Day 3  It was a cold morning.  I only got pictures of Daniel and Tyler having a grand time running up and down the bleachers in their coats.


Laura's normal horse was sick or injured so she had to borrow this horse that did NOT want to do what Laura wanted it to do.


Fun at Grandma's house.  We were thrilled that my brother Derek and his wife Tansy were able to be with us this weekend.  Derek is THE favorite uncle, especially on the trampoline.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

It was exactly 3 years ago today that we started the tradition of sending birthday wishes to grandparents on our blog.

We're sad that Darrell's dad passed away this month, but we're still thinking of him today.




We love you Grandpa!

Preschool

Tyler started preschool this week and he loves it! His teacher is Miss Katie. She is also his nursery teacher at church and she's fabulous.  Tyler goes to preschool Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:15-11:45.  It's kind of weird being on the parent end of education, but I'm so excited for Tyler to have both social and academic experiences that I can't provide for him.

Tyler with his Lightning McQueen backpack before walking to his first day of preschool.



The girls before walking with Tyler to preschool


Tyler's painting from his first day



I think the girls kind of like having the house to themselves. They love Tyler, but sometimes he doesn't leave them alone.

We love you Grandpa!

Darrell's dear sweet dad passed away on Tuesday.  He has been battling cancer for 3 years and we're so grateful for the times we've had together.

Wayne and Tyler May 2008

Wayne with Emily and Megan July 2010


3 generations:  Wayne, Darrell and Tyler April 2011


We were so grateful Darrell's parents were able to come visit us in April.  It is especially fitting that we celebrated Easter together because the Savior's resurrection means so much more now as we know we will see Wayne again.


Wayne, Darrell and Tyler (Wayne's "mini me"  Tyler definitely looks like his grandpa) Easter 2011


Wayne, Tyler and Megan July 2011


We love you Grandpa!

A Few Random Things

The other day Emily cried and cried because she wanted to take my flip flop off of my foot. When I finally figured out what she wanted, I took it off and gave it to her. Then she cried and cried because she couldn't get it to stay on. Here she finally accomplished her feat (pun intended).



Megan cracks me up. Now that she can walk, she enjoys just carrying things around. Her current favorite is the "bottoms" to some canvas boxes we have that hold their toys. She folds them up and just walks around with them.



I just had to add this random thing because it really isn't all that random at all. It seems like I'm always misplacing things. I always say a little prayer for help in finding whatever it is, and without fail, I find it.

Well, for the past 4-5 days our mail key has been "misplaced." The girls love to carry it around so I figured I'd eventually find it as I cleaned up around the house. Well, I cleaned and looked and just couldn't find it anywhere. This morning I made a call to the post office to see what we need to do to get a replacement. The lady said we'd have to go down to the post office with proof that it was our mailbox and pay $40 to have someone come out and make a new key. (Oh lovely!)

I decided we'd try one more thing. I loaded the girls up in the wagon and Tyler grabbed his backpack and we retraced our steps. We sometimes return home from getting the mail by going the "long way" so we can drag our little walk out as long as possible. As we went searching for the key I said a little prayer to help us find the key, if there was any way possible.

We were almost done with our search when I saw it--our mail key--right there in the grass next to another mailbox. I don't know if someone had found our key along the way (the girls like to drop things over the side of the wagon) and decided it looked like a mail key and so they threw it in the grass by a random mailbox or if that is where our key fell 5 days ago and stayed. The key fob is a little weathered, but I don't mind one bit. It will be a constant reminder that prayers really are answered over and over again. (And, yeah, we'll be making a copy of the key soon.)

Fun in the Sun (Actually the Shade)

It has been so hot the last week (upper 90's is hot to me). On Saturday we got out the swimming pool that Darrell's parents bought while we were visiting them and then sent it with us. We put the pool in the shade to keep the kids out of the sun and out of the heat. It was still plenty hot, but the water was cold. Darrell enjoyed standing in it, but the kids kept getting in and out of the pool.

Before the water was put in:



Tyler's pointing at Emily who ran off.







Tyler thought the hose was pretty fun.