Saying Goodbye

While we were in Utah, I got a phone call telling me that my grandmother was given less than a month to live because cancer has taken over her body. I talked with her on the 4th of July & said goodbye, but my parents were going to go & see her & they took me and the girls. It is a 2 day drive, 12 hours a day to get from Arizona to Springfield, MO. So we piled in my dad's truck and headed out.Grandpa let the girls wash the windowsWe ate at the largest McDonald's in the world...although their a/c was broken & it was really hot we still watched the cars drive under us while we ate french fries.When we got to Missouri we went to see my grandmother. I haven't seen her in 2 years. I have not lost a family member & did not realize all the emotions you feel when someone you love is getting ready to leave this life. I am grateful for the knowledge that I have of life after this. That I know that when my grandma crosses the veil that she will see her family and that she will see Jesus & know His love for her, that she will have true peace for the first time in her life. Zhara wrote her a note & when I asked her what it said she answered "I told her to tell Jesus HI". Me and my grandma Mary

They were so good with her. I didn't know how they were going to react because sometimes she says some strange things because she has dementia, but we talked alot & I believe that our children are sensitive & know how to love. They just crawled right up into her lap & Zhara played along when my grandma kept thinking she was me & called her "april". They held her hand & walked her back inside when she got hot.

This is my favorite picture of my dad with his mother. What do you say to your mother when you know she won't be here anymore? How do you tell her how much she has meant to you in your life despite mistakes? How do you say goodbye? I don't think anyone knows the right thing to say but there were very tender moments with my dad & grandma. She picked him a flower & he just sat with her and you could see the love they had for one another. I will cherish these memories forever.

There were some fun moments in our time there. We went shopping & the girls thought the mannequins at Old Navy were their friends

They loved the turtles at the nursing home & chased them around (well chase is a relative term since the turtles are so slow)

They discovered fire flies for the first time & Aunt Charlotte helped them catch them & got them a jar to put them in. They would have stayed out there all night if I would have let them.

Uncle Bryan is working on a 1966 convertible mustang & he took us for a ride in it & then the girls "drove" with cousin Jordan

I'm thankful for the chance that I had to say goodbye to my grandmother. It was hard to hug her & walk out of the nursing home knowing I will never see her again in this life, but I am grateful for the blessing of knowing I will see her again.

More Utah..time with family

Saturday the 4th we drove to the other side of Salt Lake Valley and got to spend some time with David's family. The girls were very excited to see Aunt Debbie & Uncle Jeff, who they hadn't seen since last Feb and Grandma & Grandpa.They took us to a demolition derby & fireworks show. It was fun & very loud. The most exciting part for the girls (and me) was when we met someone special. We have some musicals that depict scripture stories & the girls favorite is David & Goliath. They sing the songs in the car. Well, the man who plays Goliath is a retired Utah Jazz player Thuram Bailey. He sang the National Anthem and so I pointed that out to the girls. A little later, when the girls were bored I took them to go play & as we were walking he was walking towards us.... Me: "girls there he is"
Thuram: (in a very deep voice and hovering over us at like 7 feet tall) "hello girls"
Me: "do you know who that is? this is Goliath"
He smiled & started singing the song the girls love: "I am Goliath!!" It was so very cool. It may not mean much to everyone who reads this but it will to the girls when they read it someday in the future.
The girls can't get enough of Aunt Debbie For those of you who have never been to a demolition derby it's a bunch of cars who run into each other until there is only one still running

Eating an icee to cool us off....

Those mountains in the background are my favorite part....

Sunday morning Uncle Jeff taught the girls how to make his eggs

And we played a little more Rock Band, only David didn't sing & Zhara joined in this time

Sunday night we did more fireworks (the first time in David & I's history that we have ever spent money on fireworks) and this time Alyssa held the sparkler

Monday night there was a family reunion on David's mom's side and I got to meet family that David hadn't seen in 15 years. It was really fun. The house we went to was amazing. The girls went swimming and played on the in ground trampoline and playground, but their very favorite part was the playhouse their cousins had. It was a 2 story house that had babies and everything you could imagine, including a/c & heat so you can play all year round. Once they got in this house, they didn't want to come out. We had such a great trip & enjoyed seeing our friends & family...we hope we make it back before another year goes by.

Utah Day 2....reunion with friends

Saturday morning was a reunion with friends. We had friends in Colorado Springs the Roberts & the Andersen's. Our kids played together all the time & frankly so did the adults. The Roberts moved to Indiana & we moved to Arizona within months of each other. Funny enough we were all visiting family in the Salt Lake area over the 4th and so we all met at a park and spent the morning together. Zhara & Evan were best friends & spent the first 3 years of their lives together almost all the time. Zhara was so excited to see Evan & I think he felt the same. It was so cute to see them running towards each other & hug. We had a great time...it was hard to part ways again. We miss you all, but cherish the memories that we have. Maybe we can do it again next year :) Enjoy the photos of the happy reunion:

Utah Day 1

I have been so busy & have fallen very far behind on blogging but I will try to catch up....

For the 4th of July we took a trip to Utah to visit some of David's family. We drove to my parents house & stayed the night on Thursday & then got to Utah Friday. We spent Friday night with our friends the Bees. The girls were so excited because they have 2 daughters also. Gracie is a little bit older than Zhara & Ava is 3 like Alyssa. Alyssa doesn't have anyone her age, she always has to play with her sister's friends, so she was so excited to see Ava "she's my age!!" We started out with dinner, the adults had pizza and the girls ate cereal. Then we played a little rock band & David sang a few too many high songs & lost his voice.Even though the girls were all in "bed" when the neighbors started shooting off fireworks they were ready to do their own

And so they did...Alyssa wouldn't touch the sparklers though and Kaylee was afraid they were going to call the cops on Trevor shooting off Roman Candles in the neighborhood. We had so much fun. Thank you Bee family...hope to see you again soon!

Fun in the Sun

Today we went to a park near our house with a little splash pad. It was hot today, only 103 at 1030 am but the humidity was 37% (which is very high compared to our usual like 8%) and it was so muggy. The girls played in the water, went "hiking" in the forest and played princess with some other girls. I had a proud mom moment when Alyssa was playing all by herself in her "castle" while the other girls all played together. She called me over & told me she was sad because no one was coming in her house. Then I saw Zhara running around & she yelled "Mom I can't find Alyssa". She told me she was looking for Alyssa so she could invite her to play with them. It was sweet.