An A for Effort!

Two stars for cuteness! And a smiley for Fun!



Warning this post is mostly meant for bragging

Big H is just the cutest. He really is the best big brother. He takes care of his siblings so well. Even Baby M, whom he tends to yell at for the most part. He always makes sure everyone has a binkie, a blankie and food or a toy-- depending on where we are. He also helps me wash everyone up in the tub. And whenever Little H cries for a toy Big H has, Big H happily passes it over. Usually without a tantrum. All you need to do is ask. He even takes care of his mommy. The other day he gave me a chip which I gave to Baby M. He then started yelling "Mommy! Mommy!" I looked up and he handed me another chip. Just making sure I got one too. So sweet!

Big H likes to help Mom and Dad. We've been doing a lot of yard work and the other day I came out to find him with my gloves, helping Craig with some pruning. He also helped me with shoveling dirt too. One day he brought the snow shovel over to the flower bed I was working on and starting shoveling as best as he could. He even tried to help my dad out at my Grandma A's house. But he couldn't even find a snow shovel there all he could find was a long stick that was once the handle to a shovel.



Yard work has it's disadvantages though. All my sweet boys must have sweet blood like their dad because the mosquitoes love them. I think Big H is holds the record though. Just look at that poor back. He seems to have a little of Uncle Brady in him too because sometimes those bites will swell. One of them looked started to look like goiter on his neck.



Shortly after the Father's Day scrubs came in the mail I saw Big H come out of the guest room in this attire. That boy has style. And quite the personality.




Oh my sweet Big H! I'm so happy you're a part of our family!

Father's Day and Some Summer Events

Thanks to a friend of mine we discovered there is a splash park not far from our house. Before we were driving up to Highland and Salt Lake to enjoy splash parks. Of course, each splash park is enjoyable in it's own way. I think the Highland one is my favorite, but this one is a plus for convenience.






We finally convinced Baby M he could crawl. It took a lot of effort on both our parts. He did a lot of crying and screaming, and we tried to have a lot of patience. He really isn't a fan of crawling. I think he'd much rather walk. He can pull almost pull himself up, so I'm sure walking isn't far away,



June 17

We attended a close friend's wedding. She's actually younger sister to my best friend when I was growing up. We've kind of drifted a part, but her family is still really important to me so I was very excited for her little sister. Isn't this the coolest cake?



June 19

We celebrated Father's Day by having a nice breakfast, or I guess more of a brunch. I made Craig some yummy crepes and invited my parents over. Later that night we had a nice steak dinner with the rest of the fam. With no Grandpa's to see it was kind of a lonely Father's Day.



Craig got a fancy flag to put on the house. The twins enjoyed marching it around the house, and they were rather disappointed when Dad put it away.



And the boys got some scrubs just like dad. I wrote Future Murse on them. That's a term used for Male Nurses.



June 20

Friends and family gathered together to mourn the loss of Grandpa Guthrie. Not the happiest of occasions, but still it was nice to get together with friends and family. This is Baby M giving my Aunt Maxinne some hugs. He kept leaning into her. It was so cute!






My grandpa's grave is close to another friend's grave. She was a girl I worked with before I moved to St. George. She died not long after I had the twins. Such a special spirit.



I was sad to see her father passed away last Christmas.



June 27

We got together to celebrate the birth of one of the most important men in our lives. Craig's birthday was Monday and we had fun swimming in the pool and eating some goodies.



Craig's cake this year was a homemade pumpkin pie and some Princess Cakes from Ikea. The princess cakes were good, but I wasn't a fan of the pumpkin pie I made.



Baby M however loved it all.



Random

Here's Craig pretending to blow out his pretend candles. I didn't bother with them because usually the wind makes them pointless. However, they probably would have worked this year. Figures!



I got bit by the art bug not too long ago. Decided to sit down and make something fun. I don't know if I like it, but it at least I enjoyed making it.



I also painted these as invites for my parents anniversary party. They turned out pretty cute!

In Loving Memory of. . .

Lloyd Morris Guthrie

My grandfather, Lloyd Morris Guthrie, passed away on Friday June 17, 2011. He suffered a fatal heart attack while riding his bike up a hill from Lehi to Draper. A passer by stopped, called 911 and began CPR, but it was too late. The paramedics and the doctors did all they could, but sadly he had already left this world for good.

A viewing and a funeral was held on Monday June 20, 2011. Craig, my mom and I prepared the programs-- Craig actually did all the work, my mom and I picked out paper, proof read and help to fold and cut. I spoke at his funeral along with my aunt. My cousin played a piano arrangement, which was absolutely beautiful.



I didn't realize how much I would miss this man till now. I truly grew to admire him in so many ways. I struggle to find peace with everything. I find I can continue normally if only I not think about it, but then I see a biker on the street or a commercial talking about heart health and a rush of sadness comes over me. I have now lost both grandpa's that I grew up with and I never realized how lonely that would feel. I feel like a piece of me is gone.

I know as time goes on my heart will ache less, but I'm sure the pain of loosing him will never completely go away until I see him again. Either at the Second Coming or when I too pass on.

Here is the talk I prepared for those who would like to read it:

I got permission from Craig to post the talk here and he said it was alright with him. ;)

I don't feel I deserve the honor of speaking at this funeral today because for so many years I feel I misjudged the man I call grandpa. Or at least I didn't see all that he was. But I felt a real need to take part in the services today, and my grandma graciously allowed me too. I hope by doing so I can make up for those years that I misread my Grandpa Guthrie.

I really feel like I knew two different grandpa's. There's the grandpa I knew when I was younger, and there's the grandpa I was just getting to know as a wife and a mother. The grandpa I knew, or thought I knew, when I was younger was bold and blunt. He seemed to have such a hard exterior and to be so opposite of me. I was a hopeless romantic with a love for fairy tales and fantasy. My grandpa was very rooted in the real world. My life choices probably seemed illogical and strange to him. We seemed to disagree at every turn. If you had told the younger me that I would be here speaking at grandpa's funeral I probably would have rolled my eyes in disbelief.

I thought I knew the man, but I didn't. I wish I had known sooner just how wrong I was about him.

As I grew up, and out of my teenage years, I met a man, we married in the temple and we had three kids. Suddenly I got to know a different grandpa. He was proud of me and my choices. Gone were the lectures and simple, enjoyable visits took their place. I felt now I could just talk to him person to person, parent to parent, granddaughter to grandfather.

But the true realization of who my grandfather really was, and still is, came when he talked about his children. Most importantly: My Mom. He told the story of when she left her first husband. How she called him not knowing what to do. She had a baby, no money and she lived 800 miles away. He told her she had better just come home. As he told the story there was no sound of disappointment in his voice. Not a hint of “I told you so.” In fact the only thing I felt was the pride he had for his daughter and how he knew that what she did took true strength. Soon after she left her husband died and he told of how he felt such a need to protect her while funeral arrangements were made.

Now, my mother and my grandpa didn't always get along. I'm sure he didn't always agree with her decisions. But that isn't what mattered to grandpa. What mattered was family. Not only that, but having them safe and protected. I then realized that everything that man did in life, good or bad, was to just that. To keep his family safe and protected.

I used to think that grandpa was the last person you would want to turn to when you were down and out. But I now know, no matter what decisions you've made, grandpa would always welcome you home with open arms-- or in his case a side hug and a kiss on the cheek. And no matter what the need he would do what he could to get you back on your feet. He wasn't the one to avoid. He was the one to go to. He had a forgiving heart, and he would never turn his family away.

My own time of need came not too long ago. I hope my husband can forgive my for telling this story, but it is one I would really like to share with you. I was home one evening, with the kids, cooking dinner when I received a phone call. On the other end of the line was my mother in law. She informed me that Craig, my husband, had been arrested. He had an unpaid parking ticket, which he thought he had taken care of, and it finally caught up with him. I felt so lost. I didn't know what money we had and I knew it certainly wouldn't be what we needed. I couldn't think straight. I could barely wrap my mind around it. I never felt so alone. I just wanted my husband home but my parents were out of town and my in laws live 250 miles away. I could not think of anyone else who could help. I then told my mother in law, “I'll call my grandpa.”

Now if you had told my teenage self that I would say that, in this situation, you most definitely would have gotten an eye roll.

I dialed his number. He picked up and I just began to cry, “Craig's been arrested and I don't know what to do.”

Him, and grandma, quickly came to my side. Grandpa made all the phone calls and he helped me get my husband out of jail.

I realize now that my grandpa and I are not so much opposites as we are a like. We both have tempers that we tend to loose. We both let our emotions get the better of us. And we both do and say the wrong thing from time to time. What I didn't understand, as young teenager, was that we both also feel incredibly sorry when we have wronged, been hurtful or hard.

I wish I had realized sooner just who my grandpa was. I feel I was just getting to know the man and now he has been taken away. In some ways it seems so unfair or surreal. I kept hoping that we would get another call saying he had been revived. That we would all be standing around his hospital bed that night, not planning a funeral. I was hoping that I still had a chance to continue to get to know him. I guess at least I can find peace in knowing I caught a true glimpse of this amazing man.

As we prepared things for the funeral I caught sight of his military discharge papers. I read, “Honorable Discharge”. I thought to myself, “Of course it was. Everything that man did was honorable and honest.”

He was a valiant servant to the end, and now the Lord has called his valiant servant home. I'm sure he will continue to serve him well.

I am sad to see my grandpa go. How I wish I could have just one more visit with him. But I know there were others anxiously awaiting his arrival on the other side. Perhaps now my brother, who passed away so long ago, can get to know grandpa as I have.

I love you grandpa! And I will always miss you! But I know one day we will have time to visit once more. And I can continue to get to you again.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Art City Days 2011

We had a blast at Art City Days-- our city's local celebration-- this year! I wanted to get in on all the action because last year I thought I'd just get in on the festivities on Saturday and, by doing so, I missed out on pretty much everything. This year I marked up our calender and was fully prepared to take advantage of all this celebration had to offer.

I was lucky that Art City days was this last week because I had promised my nephew he could come spend some time with us after school got out, which was just about a week ago. He came to stay with us for two whole weeks because his mom also happened to have to report for her national guard duties. How lucky are we!

We started off the week at Family and Community night at the Art Museum. We were late but enjoyed the last part of an awesome local drum group's concert and then we participated in the art project.



On Wednesday we headed to the carnival for "Every ride only 1 ticket" night. It was crowded, but we made it on some fun rides. This was the twins first time actually riding the rides at the carnival-- or anywhere for that matter.





I even got to share the fun little roller coaster with them. When I was a little I loved this ride. Of course, back then it was a caterpillar, but it's still pretty much the same. I had to ride with them so we didn't get pictures of us on it-- Craig was waiting in line to ride The Fireball with my nephew during our ride. The boys cried the whole time, but it was still fun. Plus I think Big H got a little into it towards the end.



Nephew K and Nephew Big P rode it too-- this was after they found out they were too short to ride The Fireball.



My only regret was that we couldn't ride the Ferris Wheel together-- another favorite of mine. The line for that was horrendously long.

On Friday we woke up at 6:00 A.M. to attend our first Balloon Fest. I've always passed on these because of the early time, but now I have a balloon loving boy and suddenly the sacrifice doesn't seem so great. After all what's more rewarding than seeing that expression of complete amazement on their face. And, trust me, it was well worth waking up at 6:00 in the morning!




The kids got their faces painted while we were there. I was so glad that they could draw a shark because my nephew was set on having one drawn on his face.




The balloons would throw out candy and prizes as the ascended into the sky. My nephew kept complaining because he couldn't get any. "You have to fight for them!" I said. He never quite grasped the concept. I quickly watched for balloons going up so I could tell him to run over. One of the times he did he got lost. We searched and searched for him but couldn't see him anywhere. We found another lost little boy and, when we took him up to the front, we found our lost little boy. Phew!

As the balloons started to take off Big H ran up to them, waving his kitty in the air joyously. Why he did this I don't know. Perhaps he wants his kitty to have experiences just as we want him to have experiences.



We even waited two hours in line to enjoy a tethered balloon ride. The boys cried the whole time because of the noise from the the fire.





This is how Baby M spent his time at The Balloon Fest. He was sick all week with an ear infection and slept as much as he could. He's doing much better now and it's so nice to have my happy, smiley baby back. I missed him!



Well, waiting in line for the balloon ride took so long we missed The Fireman's Breakfast. So I convinced Craig to take us all out to Del Taco for some yummy breakfast burritos. The boys were feeling awfully independent that day. They both wanted to put on their own shoes. I helped big H and then he strapped them. What skills!



After breakfast we went to the children's art festival. It was a lot of work, keeping track of the kids and helping the twins with their projects, but it was so fun! I'm really glad we went for my nephew's sake. I think he really benefited from it and he made some BEAUTIFUL art!




On Saturday the boys and I enjoyed a wonderful parade in the morning-- my nephew finally figured out how to fight for the candy that gets thrown to the crowds.



The twins loved the bands the best!



I think this is my favorite float! ;)



After Baby M's nap we scurried on over to the car show. Their were some beautiful cars there.



Then that night we enjoyed a concert. . .



. . .and some fireworks.




The fireworks are my nephew's favorite. And I'm happy to report that Big H no longer cries during the show. Little H however watched the entire show with his face hidden in the blankets.



My poor, timid, little boy. One day I'm sure you'll love them!

And thus ends our Art City Days celebrations. It was a crazy busy week, but I'm glad we did all that we did. It was so great to get out and do all those fun activities together as a family!