Grandpa Landon

(This is the most recent picture I have of my grandpa. It was at Parker's baptism on

February 6th, 2010. He passed away on March 28th, 2010.)

This past week, my Grandpa Landon passed away at the age of 82. He was a wonderful man, who I love dearly and who will be greatly missed by all.

I grew up just down the road from my grandpa. One walk through a pasture and I was at their house, watching him garden, helping him pick berries, or watching him help my grandma make their latest quilt. He was a pro at cutting fabric squares for their many many quilts.

I remember as a young girl getting piggy back rides from my grandpa and always loved the way he teased us. He was always rough...in play and hugs.

He carried on the tradition with my kids-being such a good great-grandpa to them. They call him grandpapa. (And my grandma Landon "White Grandmama" thanks to her white hair.)

Except for a few years of my life, my grandpa has been not only my neighbor and friend, but a huge supporter of me and my family. He never missed a birthday party, a dance recital, or any blessing or other event that was special to me.

I love him and though he will be greatly missed, I am thankful that he is no longer suffering. He was ill for many years, fighting different battles with his health. Yet, he never complained. I think that none of us really knew just how ill he really was. And my grandma has tirelessly taken care of him and nursed him throughout these last really hard years where things got a little worse month by month.

The last memory I have of him is when Scott and I went to visit him in the hospital. It was a Wednesday and he passed away on a Sunday. On Wednesday, we went up to see him. He was very sick and was on oxygen, but was still very lucid and knew who we were and that we were there to see him. As I left and hugged him good-bye and told him I loved him, through his mask, he said he loved me too. And I know he did.

His funeral was yesterday. It was beautiful.

I have a testimony of the Plan of Salvation. I know that he is happy now, and healthy. And that is in a much better place.

I am blessed to have built our home in that pasture that I walked through daily as a little girl. Our kids have the pleasure of growing up between two sets of grandparents. I know that grandmama will need a few more visits and I will probably need some sewing lessons, pie crust making lessons, and bread making lessons.

I love you, Grandpa. Thank you for your legacy.

Here are a few pictures that I found as I was browsing through.

At Presley's blessing, October 2007

Parker's 6th Birthday- January 2008

4th of July, 2006

Halloween, 2008

Christmas Eve, 2009

Halloween, 2009

Parker's 7th Birthday, January 2009

Landon's Birthday, December 18th, 2008

At Matt's foobtall game, Summer 2008

Even when....

Presley may be the death of me.

She refuses to be fully potty trained, yet she also refuses to keep a diaper on. Somedays she wears pull-ups, but mostly not.

She hates to have me dress her. Everything I pick out she hates and fully lets me know how much she does not want to wear whatever I've picked out. If she doesn't like her shirt, she will not take her coat off. If I do manage to get her dressed and out the door in what I want, she changes her clothes the second we get back. Not only does she change but she pulls every single item of clothing out of her drawers to find just the right thing.

Mostly she wants to wear some sort of skirt or dress every single day. And if it is a skirt-it is usually a tutu.

She has to have her blankets put on her at night in the correct order. And every night is different so we never know what to expect.

I have stopped fighting her. Lately she wears whatever she wants. And I just smile and think how grateful I am to have a little girl as strong willed as she is. Now, if I can just learn to harness her stubbornness in the right direction.

And EVEN WHEN, she does things like this:

I still love her more than anything in the world. Because let's face it. With a face like that...who wouldn't be in love?

I've been thinking...

I don't know if it's just getting older or if it is my pregnancy, but lately I've been thinking so much about my little family. About Scott and my kids. And about adding another little girl to this already crazy bunch.

I have been thinking about Landon's twin that we lost and how much different our lives would be right now, had that not been a part of "the plan". (Which I totally believe in, by the way.) I know there was a reason we went through what we did at that time-and that I am still learning lessons from it.

I've been thinking about how Scott and I met (now almost ten years ago) and what a blessing he is to me. (For those of you who don't know "Our Story", the short version is...we met on July 7th and were married on October 6th of the same year. We met while I was working at The Outback Steakhouse and he came in for dinner one fateful Friday night. This is after he was all ready to order at another restaurant-but he was prompted to come to the Outback. Oh, and I wasn't even his server. We literally saw each other from across a crowded room....if you want the whole story, send me an e-mail.) I couldn't be happier! He is such a good husband and dad to our kids and is SO supportive of me and my many obligations: Preschool, dance, volunteering at the school, church calling, housework...the list goes on and on.

I've been thinking why I am so blessed to be able to conceive and carry children with little to no trouble. So many women struggle with issues related to pregnancy. And I am thankful that I have it fairly easy in that area.

I've been thinking about whether or not I am doing enough. Am I teaching my kids enough? Am I giving them enough fun memories? Am I strict enough? Patient enough? Spiritual enough? (Most of my answers to those questions are no-simply because I know I can always do more...)

But most of all, I've been thinking about how truly blessed I am. That is the bottom line. I am blessed. And grateful.

And just because, here are a few random pictures from the last few months that didn't make the first cut onto the blog. Just because I've also been thinking that my kids are pretty dang cute. Not to mention my husband. I think he is definitely getting better with age....

1st Ever Piano Recital

I had a friend accuse me of not blogging as much as I have in the past. This is true. I have found that I don't take as many pictures as I have in the past and therefore, my blog posts are fewer. Maybe I should start my ten for Tuesdays again....

(However, I should ALSO say that said friend's blog has had the same post since NOVEMBER 2009) I'm waiting to see an update....

The preamble was totally off the subject really, so getting down to the real business of this post, here is the girls first ever piano recital. They both did a super job. They both memorized two pieces and played them almost without flaw.

As much as piano practice pains me, and it does, I know that the payoff with be worthwhile when someday they play in church and accompany others. Something that I only wish I could do. It's one of my "I really wish I would've listened to my mother" moments in life. I wish I wouldn't have quit piano to do jumprope....because let's face it. I don't get asked to jumprope very often in Sacrament Meeting...in fact NEVER.

Good job on a great recital girls! We are very proud of you for developing your many many talents.

First of many....

Riding days with dad.

Landon wanted one thing for Christmas. Moto-X Gear. He was VERY specific. Blue, just like daddy. Pants, jersey, gloves, goggles, boots, and helmet. Blue..just like daddy. He must've been a pretty good boy this year because Santa happily granted him his wish and brought him all of the items on his list. (Minus the boots. Those he inherited from his sister, though he doesn't know that....)

He wears them around the house, constantly. Boots and all.

This past weekend, Scott was headed to Utah for a riding day. The girls and I stayed back at home doing our own fun things. Cleaning the house, eating....you know. (We did go to a movie though and that was really fun.)

Anyway, Scott loaded up his big bike and Landon's little 50, also inherited from Parker, and they hit the road. He said that Landon did great, did about four laps and then called it a day. Scott also said it was pretty cold. It is February after all.

When I asked Landon how it was he said, "I had jumps, Mommy."

I'm sure there are going to be many more jumps for him to hit and plenty more riding days with his daddy. And NOTHING would make Scott happier.

It's not ALWAYS Parker's special day....

Things have been a little centered around Parker lately. Pacie had a bit of a hard time a few days ago proclaiming, "Why is it always Parker's special day??" We had to reassure her that she too would have a special 8th birthday, a celebration for her baptism, etc., etc., etc.

So-just for her, here are some pics that we took one day because it was funny. She came out of my room wearing my favorite lounge around pants-just wearing them a bit differently than I do. Then she started doing a funny little dance in them that had Parker and me nearly in tears.

Oh, little Pacie. It's not Always about Parker. You brighten our days just as much as she does with your quick wit and your sweet soul.

Birthday Rewind

I know I'm doing things a little out of order-but I'm trying to get everything in so that when I do the next blog book/scrapbook, everything is included that I want to remember. And with the way my memory is going, if I don't write about it now....I won't remember what we did.

Parker's birthday was on a Tuesday-not so great on a school + dance day. But, despite that, we still tried to make it as happy as possible.

Her morning birthday request was Swedish Pancakes-what most people call Crepes.

She got a really cute outfit from G&G Taft and she wore her new shirt to school. It's still a little cold for the capri's that were included....

Scott wanted to get her something really special since it is her 8th b-day. He went and got her roses and balloons and took them to school when we took her birthday treats to her class. She was so excited and I'm not joking, they were the prettiest, longest lasting roses I've had in the house for a while!!

We let her miss the last hour of dance and let her choose where she wanted to go for her birthday dinner. Her criteria was "somewhere where I will get a free dessert". Red Robin it was. There was actually a giant red robin walking around the restaurant which Presley would have NOTHING to do with. She didn't care for him at all. The other kids thought it was great!

She thoroughly enjoyed her free ice cream dessert-as you can see. It really was the cherry on top!
We raced home and had Mamie & Gramps and Matt & Ashley over for presents and cake and ice cream. Parker was thrilled with her presents and her requests from us was a Selena Gomez barbie that has hypercolor clothing. It changes with warm/cold water. I was glad that even though she seems to be entering that "tween" stage all too quickly, that she still wanted a barbie doll. Matt & Ashley got her a super cute outfit and Mamie and Gramps got her a new church outfit, complete with new shoes. Parker got to go shopping all by herself with Mamie and had so much fun trying on a ton of dresses.

The other HIT of the night was days of the week socks. If I would've known how much she (and Pacie) both liked them, I would've bought them AGES ago! It makes me laugh that she likes them so much.

Her requested cake was a flower cake that was "purple and blue". So despite the colored tongues...and teeth in all of the present pictures, I'm glad that I was able to make our little 8 year old girl happy!!

She was intent on making these silly faces all night....so I'm putting one on here-just to show her that I will!!