Each Life That Touches Ours for Good

Sometimes it's as close as yesterday and others it feels like a million years back. 4 years ago today we lost "the party" in my family.

Pictures say a thousand words and this one pretty much sums my Dad up well.

Goofy face on, dinking on the computer, with a post it note by his side.

Goofy, because, well, he was a big goof. Someone to make you laugh as you came in the house and greet you with a hug and smile. Dinking, because he always had something to do on the computer. Whether it was our genealogy or trying to upgrade it. And the post it note was his form of organization. I can't tell you the fun they had at his work when they tried to figure out his filing system after he died. Yikes. His last big joke.

The Holiday's make me reminisce more and more each year that passes. On days that it's harder than most, it doesn't always work to tell myself that he is at peace from the worries of the world. You just have to cry it out. I try to remember things about him like his laugh and his mannerisms but it gets harder and harder. There are many times that I'm reminded of something he would do or say and I'm not as afraid to talk about him without tearing up. 

I miss having him around. I think I took it for granted a lot and regret so many silly things that relate to him. That song that talks about having just one more day is right. It would not be enough for me to have just one more day with him. I would wish for many more. So I'm pretty excited that I have the chance to spend eternity with him.

Our Number One's Number One!

         I still can't believe Kelsie is a toddler! It blows my mind that just a year ago I was holding a little baby in my arms. Well maybe not little in newborn baby terms but much smaller than she is now. As I was pondering every hour the night before her birthday and the day of, it made me a little teary eyed. I updated Chad constantly about what had been going on at 'this hour' or 'that hour' a year ago. It reminded me why I'm not having a baby for at least another year if not longer. Ha.
         The day started off with a bath. One of Kelsie's favorite things to do. She crawls in and out of the bathroom as I get the water ready.

       Then she did her usual rounds of the house. She kept chasing Chad around asking "When is the party going to start? When is the party going to start?"

       After her 2nd nap of the day, I caught her lounging on the couch with her Dad and a sippy cup full of milk watching a cartoon. Another one of her favorite things to do. And Chad's for that matter because he gets to cuddle with his baby toddler!

Some of the decor. It was a red themed party.

I made red velvet cupcakes with vanilla buttercream icing.

Kelsie opening her presents. She got a new book and a leap frog drum.

   Cousin Mary telling Kelsie how her drum is freaking awesome!

Getting ready to blow out her candles!

          Not exactly sure what to do with this big cupcake in front of her!

                                           Ohhhh. I think I ate too much!

Mmmmm? Maybe not!

And so her day ends with a bath!

          We have had just more and more fun with this little girl.  She likes to make this evil fake laugh now that I can't get enough of. It cracks me up. She also sucks in air and makes a funny noise and sniffs her nose to sound like a bunny. Sometimes she'll roar like a lion. She tries so say "I love you" and "Thank you" but pretty much just does the syllables with jibberish. She says baby, mama, dadda, bye bye and hi dad.  She pulls her self up on everything and walks around. She takes a couple of steps to us and will stand on her own for a few seconds. If I ask her to bring me something that she's holding she'll come over and hand it to me. 

          Kelsie is just so amazing. I love to see her grow and learn. We thank our Heavenly Father every night for sending her to us. She is such a blessing and I'm glad I get to know her and love her.

Golden Birthday/Halloween Party

On Saturday, we celebrated my "Golden" Birthday and also Halloween. If you don't know what a "Golden" Birthday is then I will define it for you. It's when you turn the age of the day you were born. Clear as mud? Exactly. For example, this year I turned 27 and my birthday is on the 27th. I think I've been talking to Chad about this ever since we've been married. I've also said that I wanted a huge birthday party which Chad now says will never happen again. Apparently he hates organizing them :) But I just told him last night that when I'm 54 I want a double "Golden" Birthday party. I don't think I've ever seen his eyes roll back farther in his head before. Come on. He's got 27 years to plan the next one so you know it's got to be the best party yet. I'm hoping for Hawaii!!! Haha.

Is anyone sick of seeing our hearth yet? I made the Happy Halloween sign with my Cricut. I'm still trying to prove it's usefulness to Chad.

These are mummy oreo suckers. Super easy to make. I found the tutorial on howdoesshe.com. I think I might make them for Christmas and put a green Christmas tree on the front. 

I'm pretty sure everyone made tissue paper pom poms this Halloween because the orange and black tissue paper were out almost everywhere.

The bugs in the water are from a store called Orson Gygi. They are the coolest things ever. They grow 4 times there size in 72 hours and then when you take them out of the water they shrink back. You can use them again. Suhweet!

My totally awesome Halloween and Golden Birthday cakes that Chad made. Not!

Our little lady bug Kelsie getting ready for take off. What a flippin' cutie!

"I'm so sick of pictures! Let me go trick or treating already!"

Right when we left to go outside it started pouring. We went to three house and ran back home. Kelsie would make funny noises when the rain and wind would hit her face. I almost kept her out there longer 'cause it was cracking me up. Later, all the other kids went out and about our neighborhood.

We ate Wingers Sticky Fingers, cornbread, tater tots, coleslaw from my mom, and chili from Kelli.

The Utah/Air Force game was on and we had some very enthusiastic fans here (Huggins)! The fam all showed up and some of my friends but did we get any pictures? Nope. I didn't even think about it until everyone was leaving. Hello.

Thanks everyone for coming. It was a blast! Now we just need to get carpet downstairs and send all the kiddies down there.
And I must say how much I appreciate Chad for taking the time to get all of the party together. I really, really, really am glad he was up for it even though I'm not always the best at thanking him for the nice things he does for me. He also surprised me with a Nook and I've already bought a book and read it. Thank you baby! I love you!

Recent Time Consumers other than Kelsie

Sometimes I need to feel like I accomplished something so I've been doing some crafts here and there. The clips I made below are from a tutorial on The Ribbon Retreat. My sister Jami and I made them. I'm trying to unleash her inner crafter:) Not too shabby. I can actually clip them in Kelsie's hair and they look really cute.

I bought a kit that had everything below in it. I just had to paint and mod podge it. The saying is from a talk from general conference. Great words of wisdom I think for anyone. Come what may and love it. That should be every Mom's motto 'cause sometimes it's hard to 'love it'!

It's only 4 minutes!

Kelsie 10 months!!

Its hard to believe that Kelsie is already 10 months old. It won't be too long until we are planning the big 1-year old birthday party. She has been alot of fun these past couple of months with her personality really showing through. She loves to give her mom and dad kisses, which we gladly accept, and she is always doing things to make us laugh. She is an army crawling machine, even though she only uses one leg. Its pretty funny to watch. She is now pulling herself up to her legs and standing. We really need to get a few more baby proofing items for the house before she figures out how to go head first down the stairs.

Hmmm, which toy do I want

Helping mom do the dishes

Right before Chad takes her for a bike ride. Looks like Chad needs a bigger helmet :)Cute!!

Weight: 21lbs 4 oz (75%)

Length: 29.5 inches (90%)

Head: 18 inches (75%)

If I never have to climb the escalator at Woodley Park.....

This past week Chad and I went to Washington DC. There was a conference there for Pharmacist that Chad was invited to so I tagged along. We left Kelsie in the hands of her Aunt Kelli for a few days and then her Aunt Jami the last day. She did pretty well but now every time I leave the room she freaks out at me. Hopefully that will pass. It was actually pretty hard to leave her and we were both excited to see her cute little face when we got home.

We got in Wednesday at around 5 pm, took the metro to our hotel, and then headed back on the metro to the National Mall. We walked to the Washington monument and then checked out the National Museum of American History. The Star Spangled Banner is located here and it is amazing! Plus I made Chad go look at the First Lady's dresses. Sorry Chad.

Thursday, we took a bus tour and were able to see Arlington Cemetery. As we surveyed all the gravestones and saw the changing of the guards, I started to get a little emotional. I thought about all the lives that have been lost for the good of this country. And then you think about the families that lost those good people. So much suffering and sacrifice. That is a very sacred and holy place.

The Jefferson Memorial

(Just a drive by. We didn't have time to go in.)

There are four statues on two bridges on the way to Arlington.

JFK Burial Site

Arlington Mansion

Some structure in Arlington. We thought maybe it was for funerals.

Changing of the guard.

Lincoln Memorial

There was such a difference between the Vietnam Memorial and the World War II Memorial. Vietnam was so sad and depressing but the World War II Memorial felt like a celebration. It was full of life and thanksgiving. I guess it's a true reflection of the feelings of both wars.

It was so hot! How could you not put your feet in the water. I would have swam in it if I was under 5 years old.

And of course the White House.

Friday, I had all to myself. I took the metro to the National Mall again and went to the Museum of Natural History. I was going to walk up to the National Art Gallery but half way there I gave up. It was so bloody hot! Seriously. I thought Thursday was bad. Thursday was a dream. I was sweating like crazy. So I hopped back on the metro and headed to Bethesda. I wanted to go to Georgetown Cupcakes. It is what the show DC Cupcakes is about. There really was a line out the door to get in. They weren't too shabby but I think the Sweet Tooth Fairy here in Utah is just as good. Saturday, we just dinked around and flew back home.

THE END