Memorial Day

It's Memorial Day. It's a pretty sad holiday, if you ask me. I think it's wonderful that we have a day to honor those men and women who have served our Country and laid down their lives for our freedoms. I think it's sad that it's become more of just a day off when you can go camping and boating. I wish that people would remember why we have this holiday and not make it so worldly. But that's just me. (and please don't feel bad if you did go camping or something) I was in Nephi for Brett's homecoming, so I was lucky and got to go visit the cemetery for Grandma and Grandpa Sperry and Grandma and Grandpa Baker. The kids helped me pick some of my mom's Lilacs and I bought a Geranium to take up. When I got there, I was sad to see that no one had been there yet. There were some pink flowers, I don't know who brought them, but I guess I was expecting that there would be a lot of flowers already there. We placed the flowers, then I sat on the grass and cried. I wanted to sit and have a good long cry, but my children were trying to pick everyone else's flowers so I had to reign them in, so I didn't cry for very long. My sister Heidi came up after me and just in time to give me a comforting hug that I really needed. Just as we were getting ready to leave, Aunt Marg came over, she had been down decorating Grandma and Grandpa Hansen's grave. She and Uncle Kay and Elaine (Uncle Gord's girlfriend) and Uncle Gord brought some flowers for Granny too. Uncle Kay stayed in the truck because he just wasn't feeling well enough to walk. It made me sad to see him looking so old. It was so good to see them though. I'm so glad I was there when I was. Add was jumping up and down on the grass, and she said, "do you know why I'm jumping on Granny? It's because I love her, and I miss her so much." I hope that she will always remember Granny. She probably will only have a few vague memories, but she knows that Granny loved her. I took the kids down to see Grandma and Grandpa Hansen's grave, and then we left.




We had Brett's open house and it was pretty fun. I got to visit with a lot of my Aunts and Uncles and cousins. We had a good time. It's so nice to have the whole family home again! On Sunday Brett gave his homecoming talk. He did a really good job. He talked about testimonies and it is really neat to see how his testimony has grown so much in the past two years. After everyone slept for the rest of the afternoon, we headed down to Salina to visit Grandma and Grandpa Baker's grave.
The Salina Cemetery looks better than I have seen it look in a long time. I had a hard time when they buried Grandma there because it looked so awful. Of course it was still winter and a very cold day. That doesn't make it easy to bury someone. But it looked really nice. It was really hard to be there also. We always go to decorate with Grandma, not for Grandma. She would always pick flowers out of her flower garden and take them up to Grandpa. It was very hard that she wasn't there. But I was happy to see that there were irises and daisies and tulips from Grandma's garden. I think it was hard for Brett because he wasn't here when she passed. When we left the cemetery, we stopped at Uncle Shyrel's house (which is Grandma's house) it was really hard to be there. I didn't want to go in. I was just going to stay outside, but I had to go to the bathroom so bad that I had to go in. It was hard. As soon as I walked through the door, I fell apart. I still can't believe she's gone. I can't bare it. So I try to pretend she's still there. But actually being at her house, where she is not, I can't pretend. The emptiness is too real. The house is too different and in some ways too much the same. It was hard.



And here are a few other tidbits from this weekend...

Addie and Leighn had a great time painting everybody's fingernails and toenails. I don't think that anyone got away without getting them done. In fact The Babe called me this morning and said that he was talking to a guy at work and the guy asked what happened to his fingernails. Add had painted them with the Del Sol polish that is pink in the house, but turns dark purple out in the sunshine. He forgot to take it off!
Grandma had lovely, thick, purple and pink and gold toe nails. The gold kinda made them look rotten. It was very entertaining! My toes were red on one foot and blue on the other.

If you ever need a look-a-like here's one for you....

Meet Edna Moes from The Incredibles!

And one more bit of randomness....

For Marie:

The other 'Molly's Mountain', just in case you were wondering what it looked like! It's not everyday you get to compare 'mountains' but when I saw it I thought of you so I had to post it for you!

Father and Sons for them = Girls Night for us!

So the girls chose Dinner Queen for dinner. They had corn dogs and ice cream!

Then it was off for some shopping. Buggie is my shopper she could shop all day. Add doesn't care for it so much but she was a good sport! We went to Del Sol where they got their fingernails painted and we picked out some new fingernail polish and we got rings. Then we went to the toy store and we bought tiarras and make-up.

With the tiarras on and the make-up applied, we went to Barnes and Noble and read stories. Then we headed home where we watched The Princess Diaries and ate popcorn. We had a really fun night. The girls were so sweet with each other.

P.S. The boys didn't actually go to Fathers and Sons, The Babe got called in to work, so he took Prt with him and then they went to his Mom's for a while.

Buggie's Day to be Beautiful!

Today Buggie wanted to be beautiful like Addie was! Every princess needs a day to feel beautiful just because!

Pre-School Graduation

Today was Addie's graduation. She was really nervous. She kept yawning and hardly cracked a smile the whole time. When she sang, she barely sang, but it was so cute to watch her! At the end Miss Toni played a picture video of their year, and I must admit I cried. I think I was the only one crying, so I'm glad I was right by the fan, but it's gone by so fast and now my baby will be in the public school system. She's excited about it, but I'm dreading it on so many levels!

One of those nervous habits

Look a smile!

And another one, I must have caught her off guard. I had to tell her several times to smile, she was being SO serious!

Addie and Miss Toni

The Diploma!

Classmates

Me and Add.

OH Brexton......The boy Addie asked to marry her....and he said YES! By the look on his face, he may be reconsidering.....

But then he was pushing her on the swing.... so romantic!

MY GRADUATE!!!

I'm so proud of her!

First of all...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!
Just want you to know how much I love you! You're the best Dad a girl could ask for! Thank you for all you have done for me in my life. I wouldn't be who I am today without your love, guidance and support! I love you so much!
Love me.

We had quite the exciting weekend. On Friday we went up North to spend some time with my fam. It was exciting anticipating the return of our little brother, Brett, from his mission in Spokane Washington! On Sunday The Babe and I and the kids went and stayed with Uncle Matt and Aunt Karen so we would already be in SLC for the big day! We had a fun time with them. We had a BBQ. The weather was perfect so it was really nice! Then we ventured over to the playground to let the kids play!

This picture is deceiving, it looks like they are playing nice...it was touch and go most of the time. Emma and Port are just at the age where its hard to share and play nicely with others! Some day they will be best friends! (fingers crossed)

Emma didn't want to get in, but she was a great help pushing from behind!

Cute little niece~who is afraid of Aunt Trina

When they finally crashed, they crashed hard!

On Monday morning, we had a couple hours to spare before heading to the airport, so we went to Temple Square! It was so beautiful. (Thanks Matt and Karen for the suggestion...we wish you would have come with us!) The tulips were amazing! I wish I would have gotten more pictures, but of course, my camera died. I should have made sure the batteries were charged the night before.

It was so amazingly beautiful! Add decided she wanted to get married in this Temple instead of the Manti. I don't blame her, it's beautiful, but I was kinda sad. But Buggie didn't change her mind, she still wants Mom and Dad's Temple! :-) The Babe and I both decided that it was better than the Christmas lights! It was warm, it was during the day before the kids were too tired to move, it wasn't crowded, and it was SO beautiful! Hopefully we'll make it again next spring!

Then it was off to the airport!!!

When he walked down the stairs it was kinda hard to recognize him! My mom yelled, "there he is!" But Heidi said, "no it's not, that's not him, oh wait maybe, no that's not him!" But it was!!! So weird to see him all grown up, I think we all expected the Little Brother we sent out 2 years ago! We love you Little Brother! We are so happy to have you home! Even though you might not feel the same yet!

WELCOME HOME LITTLE BROTHER, This is not a dream!

I'm as shocked as you are!

Today I got a phone call from The Babe. He said he was bringing something home. The kids were thrilled to death! They have been begging us for a dog. I must admit he's pretty dang cute, but I don't know how to take care of a dog so this could be a real challenge. He is half Pug and half Shitzu. We don't have a name yet so any suggestions will be considered!