My Omi

  On April 2, 2014, my sweet Omi, Grandma, passed away.  It was a bittersweet week as we knew that she was in her final hours.  Her hospice nurse had noticed the signs of struggling to breathe and a slowed heart rate and encouraged the family to gather.  It was so great and neat to be able to visit her at Heritage in Bountiful on Monday night (March 31st) and say our goodbyes along with the rest of my extended family. 
   The past few years Omi has struggled with Alzheimer's/Dementia and it has been so hard to watch.  It's the weirdest thing when someone you've known your whole life suddenly doesn't know who you are.  I watched my dad and my aunt, Annina, take such good care of Omi as they kept Omi in her home in Sugar House as long as they could.  Omi never wanted to "be put in a home" but the time came that for her safety that was the best option.  She wasn't in Heritage too long before she had a stroke that sent her to the hospital and then to a skilled nursing facility and then back to Heritage for a few days before she passed.
    Needless to say, I am thrilled that she can be with my Opa again and rest from her earthly pains.  I am so grateful for the legacy of faith, family and love that she left.  I love her so much and will miss her.  With her passing, it's kind of the end of an era for me, she was my last grandparent still living and now they have all gone to the other side.  I cannot wait for the day when I will see them all again.  Rest in peace, I love you.
     Her funeral services were wonderful.  It was truly a celebration of her life as we listened to all of her kids speak and then heard a few sentences from each of her grandchildren.  I will treasure the wonderful memories I have of her.  The weather on the day of her funeral was just incredible!  There was blue sky and sunshine, it was fabulous.
  

A display at the viewing the night before her funeral.

                                 

Pictures of Omi when she was younger, on display at the viewing.

                                                       

Kayleigh pointing to her hand print that she did when she was 1 on a quilt for Omi's 75th birthday surprise.

                                                       

 

 

All of the kids were so tired after the funeral.  They all zonked out on the way home from the funeral.

                                                    

                                                     

                                                    

Our 2014 Lagoon season has begun

                                             

 

                                   
                                                                     
   
                                     
                                                        
  Our family got Lagoon season passes for Christmas last year in preparation for this summer.  We went yesterday for the first time and it was fun!  All of the kids have grown in the past 6 months, so much so that it has changed what rides they can go on.

   Poor Kayleigh is too tall for almost all the kiddie rides.  Landon can now go on the Wild Mouse and the Swings.  Yesterday we couldn't convince him to try Wild Mouse.  We've got all summer to though!  

   I rode Tilt-A-Whirl and really thought I was going to throw up.  I focused so hard so that I wouldn't. I will not be riding that again.  I hate how my body has changed over the years and I can't ride certain rides any more.  Thank goodness Michael can still go on these with the kids.  Glad we could spend time together.  Here's to many more hours this summer spent there.

 

IKEA

  We've had a great day today and it ended with a fun family trip to IKEA.  It was such a fun shopping trip! We got a ton of good ideas and thoughts for our new house.  I picked up a couple of awesome deals and I'm thrilled!

   Now all that sounds great but to top it off our kids were so well behaved!!  I don't know how/why they were so good but they were! Kay and Land stayed with us and didn't run off.  Wy sat in the cart for 2 hours without a fight.  It was awesome! Michael and I were able to look at what we needed to to make some decisions with pretty much no interruption.  

   I love moments like this when you feel so proud to be their mommy and that what you are teaching them is sinking in. 

New house

                             

  Yesterday we went under contract to buy a home in Syracuse.  We are soooo excited!  It's a two-story home with an unfinished basement.  We absolutely love the layout and the views from the house.  We hope to close in a few weeks and then make a few changes before we move in.  I hope to be in sometime in May.
    While visiting the house today (the boy's first time seeing the inside) Landon ran in the family room, sat on the floor and said, "I love this house so much I could just give it a hug!"  It was so cute and it made me so happy that we are able to move to a home that will have more space for our children to run and play and make themselves at home. 
   My mind is pretty much racing non stop with décor ideas and of all the things to buy.  I know I know, all in good time.  Again, we are so excited!

Women's Conference

  I had a fun day with Kayleigh today.  Her and I went to an early dinner with my mom, Marie and Grace.  We wanted to spend some time together before the Women's Broadcast.  This is the first year ever that 8, 9 and 10 year olds were aloud to come.  So we were basically history in the making!!  Kay isn't quite 8 but when I mentioned to her that I would be going and that they let 8 yr. olds go now she got sad and said she wanted to come.  Since she looks like she's ten, I told her if she could act like an 8 yr. old then I'd let her come.  She said she would and so off we went. 

  Her and I took notebooks and she tried to copy everything I wrote down.  She got frustrated when I would go in and out of cursive and she couldn't read it.  She also wasn't too happy that she couldn't read the song words on the screen fast enough to keep up with the music.  Poor girl. She's so hard on herself sometimes.  She did draw a cute picture of President Eyring though, it made me smile.  At about ten after 7:00 she said she was getting bored but she really kept herself busy throughout the whole thing. 

   I am so thankful that I have a daughter (might be the only one I get) and that I could spend some time with her tonight.  I love her so much!

Me and miss Kay at IHOP.



               

Kayleigh with her chocolate happy face pancake.

 

My cute Wy Wy

   So right now my most favorite thing that Wyatt says is "yo ho ship".   Whenever he sees a boat he calls it that in reference to Jake and the Neverland Pirates (TV show) ship.  It is hilarious and so cute!! When we watched Frozen last week and he saw the ship the mom and dad were on when they died he called out "yo ho ship!" Awe, I love that kid.

Star Student

Kayleigh holding her poster she made about herself.

  This past week at school Kayleigh was the "Star Student."  This is something her teacher does where each week during the year one student in the class is in the spotlight.  On Monday they get to bring a poster that they've made about them and share it with the class.  Each day that week they can bring an item from home to show for show and tell.  Then, on Friday of that week they get to bring their family if they want, a treat to share for the class and have about 15 minutes at the end of the day to have kids ask questions about the star student and the parents of the child can tell about their child.
   Kayleigh has obviously loved this part of her class and has been looking forward to her turn all year long!  She made her poster all by herself!  She thought of all the items she wanted to bring for show and tell the night before so we could have it in her backpack ready.  On Thursday it got a little tricky for her to think of something, mostly because a lot of our things are in storage right now, but I helped her come up with something.  Friday was the day she was most excited for and she picked out the treat she wanted me to bring to share for her class.  She chose Little Debbie's Brownies. 
   Unfortunately, Landon was too sick to bring on Friday.  So, Michael, Wyatt and myself went to Columbia Elementary on Friday afternoon and got to talk with her class for a few minutes about our miss Kay.  (Thanks to Nana who stayed with Landon.) We told them about things she likes, how she got her name, and helped her explain her show and tell item.  She took the trophy that our family won last year on the 4th of July for the float that we entered in the parade. 
   It was a really fun day to go and spend with her.  I knew how much it meant to her so in turn, it meant a lot to us to be there.  I am grateful that because of the nature of Michael's job he is able to make it to little things like this.  It's hard for me to believe that there's only 2 months left of this school year.  Kayleigh's first grade year has flown by.

St. Patty's Day 2014

                

                 

   Kayleigh was so excited to be all dressed up for St. Patrick's Day.  The day before I painted her nails all festive and helped her set out her outfit for the big day.  

   When we woke up the next morning we discovered our milk had turned green and there were gold chocolate coins left for us.  So exciting! I think a leprechaun must have stopped by.  

    I know Kayleigh was disappointed that they didn't have a St. Patrick's Day party at school.  It was hard to explain to her that it's just not as big of a holiday here in the US.  She helped herself to pinching Grandpa though, he forgot to wear green. What a party pooper!! 

   When Landon woke up he was pretty enthralled with the green milk.  It was pretty neat that we had a special visit from a leprechaun. Hopefully he'll drop by next year as well. 

Sick kids

  Our little boys are sick again this week. These pics give an example of what our whole winter has been.  Sick, sick, sick!  They've had croup, ear infections, a sinus infection and Wyatt even was hospitalized with human metapneumovirus, a close virus to RSV.  

  I am so ready for spring to come and for us to be healthy.  We've given so much money to Tanner Clinic and Davis Hospital it's not even funny and it's only March.  Gotta love high deductible health plans and our awesome (NOT!) president and his Obamacare. 

  Thank goodness for Amoxicillin, Orapred and Albuterol!!!!

Family Night

  Last night for FHE we made a paper chain to countdown til when the Disney movie "Frozen" comes out on Blu-Ray and DVD.  Our kids are obsessed with that movie and the music to it. We've listened to that soundtrack a billion times and at least one of the songs is sung in our home on a daily basis.  They can't wait for it to come out!!!! It's going to be an exciting day!