Remembering My Grandpa Today

5 years ago today the world lost a wonderful man.  I can't believe it has been that long. Time is funny when you lose someone you love.  It is a two edged sword because it seems just like yesterday that we were on vacations, or he was watching me run or perform with the band, or we were eating lunch at McKay Dee Hospital because he and grandma were volunteers there (he would take me and my girls around to others that he knew and show off my twins), or we were all together and couldn't find a seat on Sunday night at their house because the whole family loved being there.  I loved all these times. It also seems like yesterday when me and my family were together on that Sunday when he died. On the other hand, it seems so long since he has been with us.

Grandpa was so much fun.  He always kept us laughing.  

This is one of my favorite pictures, although not the greatest picture quality, I feel like it captures a lot of his personality. I love his grin!

A few yeas before he died, I went with my parents and grandparents up to Cache Valley where Grandpa grew up.  This is a picture of my mom and Grandpa in front of a store where Grandpa used to work.  He went in and found the first teen-aged worker there and proceeded to tell him stories about the store and Lewiston for the next 10 minutes. The worker could have cared less.  It was fun to go with him to Lewiston and hear his stories and see the street he grew up on.

Grandma and Grandpa

My grandparents and their children. They have 5 children, 19 grandchildren, and around 40 great-grandchildren










He left a legacy of love and faith and humor!!  I love you and miss you Grandpa!

4-Wheeling!

A couple of weeks ago we took some 4-wheelers up to Hardscrabble for a day of dirt!  It was fun to get away with the family and go where it is a little cooler. 

The girls with Grandma and Grandpa in the Ranger
(Whitney rode with Daddy on the 4-Wheeler, but jumped in for a picture)

Koda came along for a fun day too!

 We had a fun day riding around, having a picnic, John went for a little hike, finding Koda when he got lost - only once :), and taking the girls fishing for the first time (officially, they have been to the trout farm before, but that doesn't really count), and ending with dinner at Steph's in Morgan. So grateful we are able to do this together.

Whitney's first fish!

The girls found a "bouncy tree"

My sweet girls and the wild flowers they picked for me

 

Summer fishing with Daddy

This just about sums up how we felt when we got home.  It was fun, but we were tired!

The Toothless Twins!

I just had to have their pictures taken when they were both missing their front teeth.  They are so cute!!

My laugh therapy

This is Amber's blog.  This post about my cute nephew Logan just cracks me up!  I go back a read it a couple of times because it is my laugh therapy.  Love that kid.  Love that family!

http://anthonsanonymous.blogspot.com/2012/05/stff-logan-says.html

and this about my adorable niece Rylee

http://anthonsanonymous.blogspot.com/2012/05/bolt-vs-megamind.html

??????

It split from one end all the way to the other!

The girls and I were jumping on the trampoline about a month ago, and this is what happened. Nobody got hurt (permanently, it did hurt my knee for about 10 min. I must have landed funny)

I don't think they cared it was torn because they kept jumping on it from one side to the other and that was just as fun too.

Yesterday, we were coming home from tumbling and John had a dinner meeting in Salt Lake. I told the girls we would have a girls night.  I asked them what they wanted to do. We decided to stop and have dinner at Warren's, and then at home do "something fun".  I asked what they wanted to do that is fun. They said we could all jump on the trampoline, but not if you are going to break it again!

Time to start running again!

We played frisbee when we got home, and then they got distracted by friends and started playing with friends.

This is our girls night dinner to Warrens

Love these girls!!

Jackson Hole Pole, Pedal, Paddle

On March 31, 2012 John participated in the Pole, Pedal, Paddle in Jackson, Wyoming.  He has been thinking about it for a couple of years, and finally trained all winter and signed up to do it!  It was a fun get-away for he and I (we left the girls with Grandma Mare).  I should have taken a picture with the car that we packed to go up there.  Each event had its own equipment, so the car was pretty loaded down.
 The race consisted of downhill ski, x-country ski (10K), bike (20 miles), paddle on the Snake river (9 miles).  John did great and had fun. After the race he said that he didn't want to do it again as an individual, but maybe next year as a team; but when we heard the results and he was not too far from placing, and there are a few areas that he could improve and really cut some time, he is considering it as an individual for next year to place!
Pictures are a lot better than my long boring story so here we go!

John's kayak is the little bright green speck

John before it all started!!

Finished with the downhill, changing shoes to run over to the x-country transition area

X-country ski transition area

Starting the x-country ski

Finishing the x-country portion

I think this would have been John's favorite part if there had been more whitewater, it was mostly flatwater

Going under the bridge at Astoria Resort.  The bridge I am on is the finish line

FINISHED!!!

See you next year!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Me and my mom at the airport

October 2005, 4 generations!

I think these are the 3 beautes! Sorry Diane and Marilynn

I love being a mom.  I am so grateful for my girls, and that I am their mom.  I love my mom, and I love John's mom (I have great in-laws!)  I love my grandmothers, and I was also lucky in life to know 2 of my great-grandmothers.  I have great examples of women and mothers all around me.
I have a great expectation of myself when it comes to my own way of mothering because of this long line of exceptional mothers, and also because I see my girls and I think they deserve the best and they also deserve so much better than me for a mom.  I am learning, and I love learning with my girls.

Now that I have my own family, I realize more of the sacrifices and the unseen details of motherhood. I am amazed at my own mother and all that she did.  I remember my mom as a pre-school teacher, piano teacher, going to college, relief society president, young women's president, young women's camp director, and bishop's wife to name a few.  All while doing this, she kept an immaculate home (this is one area where I fall way short), she cooked amazing dinners every night (my favorite is her spaghetti sauce), and helped us all keep up our grades, read books to us (I remember Chester, I Love You, most of all), family home evenings and always family prayer (oh, yes, and she ironed EVERYTHING!)  Now do you know why I have a high expectation of myself?  I think this is the way to succeed at motherhood (I don't do even HALF of these things).  The most important thing that I remember about my mom when I was growing up- was that I was loved.  Never a day went by without being told and shown.

My mom supported me in everything! She came to all the band concerts and marching band competitions, every track and cross-country meet (no matter the weather).  One of my fondest memories is when I was running at Weber State.  I went to an outdoor meet at BYU. I had just been injured and red-shirted indoor season, so this was my first race after returning. The weather was nice, but it was expected to storm.  I was running the 5,000 meter run on the track (that is 12 1/2 laps!)  When the starting gun went off, it was like it shot a hole in the clouds, and it POURED!!!  Before we even finished 1 lap, the officials had decided to cancel the men's 5,000 meter race (which was scheduled after the women's). Needless to say, I did not have a good race.  I was last, and I was lapped. During the 12 1/2 laps, people left the stadium, and as the runners finished the race they quickly left the stadium to get out of the pouring, freezing rain.  As I crossed the finish line, my mom was on the track (out of the bleachers) and at the finish line with my warm clothes and an umbrella.  She cheered the whole race.  I was so frozen I could not move, so she basically dressed me, and we make it back to the car. We were some of the last people there.  The best part of the day was stopping afterward at a restaurant to get some hot chocolate and driving home with my mom.

So this Mother's Day, my mom is off on her next great adventure on the other side of the world (serving others - of course).  I debated for a long time on what to get her. We are sending a card, but I still wanted to do more. So I learned how to make a picture video for her.  It is a bunch of random pictures, mostly of my girls, and some others I thought that she would like. It ended up being longer than what I expected, and bigger than what I could e-mail to her or even upload here.  So I had to upload it to You Tube.

Hope you enjoy it Mom.  Thanks for everything you have done for me, and for all of the opportunities you have given me throughout my life. Thank you for being an unbelievable grandmother to my girls. They miss you and love you. I Love You.

Thank you Marilyn for being a wonderful Mother and raising John to be a wonderful man.  Thank you for loving me as one of your own. Thank you for being a wonderful grandmother as well. I Love You.

I love my girls, and I am so grateful to be their mom. I Love you Summer and Whitney! Being a mom is a dream come true, and it is even better than the dream!

Here is the link for the You Tube video. It is about 15 min long, and probably not that interesting to a lot of you, sorry.  It was made for my mom!  Happy Mother's Day! I miss you and Love You!

Prayers, thoughts and love always.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqLCh52sad0&feature=youtu.be

Great Brains!

A couple of weeks ago, the girls came home with an assignment called the "Great Brain Assignment".  They were to pick a subject of their choice, research it to become an "expert", then make a presentation to the class.  I asked the girls what they wanted to present on.  Whitney chose sheep, and Summer chose Butterflies. Here are their projects.

They both did a FABULOUS job. For Whitney's project we called a family friend who has sheep on his farm, and asked if we could get pictures. We all went down to the farm to feed baby lambs.  There was even a baby lamb that was born that morning they got to hold! They loved it.

Feeding the lambs with bottles.

Summer holding the lamb born that morning with a nervous mama sheep making sure the baby was OK.

Whitney LOVES animals, so she was in heaven holding the baby lamb born that morning

I feel so lucky that my girls have Great Brains.  They are so smart and so loving.  They are so fun.