A Day of Remembrance

The only good thing about this mucky, gloomy weather is that it was a perfect setting to take the 30 min drive to Alpine to visit some of the awesome family members I have...plus, we had some pretty good company.

As we drove to the Alpine City Cemetery, my grandma pointed out the little house her and my Grandpa Whitby built when they first got married. When we made our way up the final hill, she told me about how her grandfather had built every house on that block.  It's pretty crazy when you see that almost every tombstone in the cemetery has the name Whitby or Devey on it...which means they are related to you...

As we walked around, my grandma had a story about every name she read.  She talked about how this aunt was her favorite or how this aunt taught her to ride a bike. We made our journey here...

My grandma was only married for 7 years when her husband passed away.  She put down her favorite flowers and just stared there for a while...and I knew what she was thinking....she wanted to be there with him.  I could see it in her eyes and it broke my heart.  She has been without her sweetheart for 57 years....57 years!  That is such a long time.  She told me she loves this place.  It brings her peace.  We then tenderly placed flowers on all the graves of our family.  Each with their own story and each with there own memory. 

Both my grandpa and my Uncle Darrell were 25 when they died.  My grandma said she never really thought of that.  We took a short drive up a little hill to the top of the cemetery, were 4 small graves lay.  My aunt Jilene said she wasn't sure how they fit into our family tree but they were related and every since she was little Grandma Bennett has been putting flowers on these graves and she wasn't about to stop...

Eden was so careful to place each and every flower on the graves.  She made sure not to step on them and she also made sure to keep a flower for herself each time she placed a bouquet down.

Then as it started to drizzle Eden rode off into the sunset on her trusty stead Jilene...

It was a special day...not one I will soon forget.  There are a lot of great people that came before me and I feel honored to be apart of it all.  That has been a thought that has stuck with me all this month. What a happy place this will be when the day comes that each of them will rise again surrounded by a WHOLE graveyard full of family.  How cool will that be?  The thought of that day stayed close with me as we walked around.  Mother's surrounded by babies that died far too young.  Wives next to husbands that left them years on this Earth alone. What a sweet reunion that day will be and having this knowledge is what makes death bearable, that makes His plan complete, that brings happiness of the purest and most joyous kind.   His plan is perfect. Amen

D-O-N-E

This past week I finished my P1 year at pharmacy school...Sara and I decided to celebrate...with Nate's car

Then I high tailed it to Ogden and to hang out with the fam. I love my mom's house.  I love to come and spend the weekend.  It's home to me.  It's where my daughter belongs.  Where wrestling and chasing just aren't the same when it's only mom and dad around.

 It's where grandma's lap is big enough for all

and where soccer games are better enjoyed on the sidelines than in the heat of the battle

Grandma's house is place of "yes".  It's always "yes" to making brownies...

At Grandma's house there are no time-outs...

and the park is just one short stroller ride away....

We love grandma's house and we love that mom has NO MORE TESTS until August.  Can I get a woot woot?!

Awesome Has My Number on Speed Dial

So last weekend while I was at my mom's I was VERY crafty and busted out a few things...

Like this...I totally made that.  Marcia had a craft night with some girls from church and I got in on the action.  Then, while I was at my mom's I used her sewing machine to finish this little project...

These are little bean bags I made for Eden.  They have all the letters on one side and number & shapes on the other side.  I just used my left over scraps from all my crafting adventures...

Then my sweet little Bronson turned 4 today.  I can not believe my little peanut is FOUR.  Where does the time go?  This little boy holds a very special place in my heart.  He was my "training" baby and got all my mamma juices flowing.  He's the reason I'm such a good mamma to Eden.  I love him to pieces.  I will definitely be one of those aunts when he's older that will talk about how I changed his butt for the first 2 years of his life!  Embarrassing right?  I say, it come with being related to me!

I have officially been dubbed his birthday cake maker from here on till forever.  This year was no exception...I'd even venture to say I stepped up my game a little bit.  I give you...Lightening McQueen in cake form

Happy Birthday my little Bronson Boy.  Aunt Marie LOVES you more than words can say!

A Mother's Legacy

Mother's day was a day of reflection for me.  Not only did I think about how awesome it is to be a mother...I thought a lot about the women in my life.  I'm one lucky girl.  I come from a great heritage of AMAZING women. I feel so honored and blessed to come from a family where such strong women play a pivotal role in their families life.  My grandmas are amazing people who have shown me the meaning of enduring and being steadfast in your beliefs....and then there's my mom.

Words can express how much I love my mom.  She is awesome.  The greatest thing she taught me was unconditional love.  She loved me through some hard times.  She never judged me, just loved me and it will always stick with me.  I hope that I can be half the mother that my mom was to me to my children.

To show our appreciate to our AWESOME grandmas went went old school and nurtured the artist within a 1 year old...

She was very serious about this job and made sure to only get paint on the pictures...I think we may have a little Picasso on our hands...

Okay, maybe not, but I think the gift turned out so cool.  Cool enough, in fact, that my husband requested a set of Eden Originals for Father's Day.

 Mother's day was fabulous.  I was served breakfast by the cutest, little, binkie sucking toddler I know.

I was able to enjoy a sacrament free of a screaming child, but consisting of a lot of OTHERS' screaming children (which inwardly made me chuckle) and I made out with a sweet gift.  I then came home to a clean house, clean husband, and dinner ready with the in-laws.  SA-WEET!

We gave our gifts to the grandmas which they loved and a big I.O.U (when I'm rich I'll actually buy you something for mother's day, but until then please accept our home-made crafts.)

I then enjoyed much needed time with sister-in-laws and family.  I tried to soak it all in.  What an awesome family my little Eden gets to be a part of.  We really are lucky you know?

and a couple of presents never hurt anyone...

As the day wound down I got to do what I do best, and I got to love on my little girl.  As I laid her down for bed, I told her ALL about the absolutely wonderful people in her life who happen to be girls.  I told her how lucky she was that Heavenly Father sent her to us.  There is a strong line of women in our family who don't take no crap from nobody (much to their husband's dismay) and she gets to be a part of it.  I told her how lucky she was that she has grandmas and great-grandmas who love her SOO much.  I told her about her aunts who would drop everything if she needed them. I told her just how much I loved her and how I was so honored and thankful that she gets to be mine.  I love being a mother...and with it...nothing else matters.

Happy Mother's Day!

Nighttime Moments

Tonight after a fussy baby was tucked into bed, I heaved three overflowing loads of laundry up the stairs and got to work.  The house was quiet and the dishwasher was going.  I settled in and tackled the mountain of clothes looming before me.  I was getting into quite the rhythm when I heard pleads for "mamma" coming from down the hall. After holding my breathe for a minute or two hoping the cries would stop, they didn't, so I headed down the hall to give my little girl one more kiss goodnight.

After requests of "hold you" and "sing Eden song" and "rock bye baby"  I gave in to her sweet tired voice and lifted her out of the crib.  As I cradled her and sang her my montage of Primary songs she lifted her little hands and touched each of my eyes, then my ear, then my nose and finally stuck her fingers in my mouth, all while quietly listening to me sing her our night time songs. 

During the second verse of "Love is Spoken Here" my sleepy baby sat up and gave me a hug, squeezing my neck tightly.  I sat there and squeezed her back just as tightly soaking in the moment and willing myself to remember it always...then she took her little hands and put them square on my cheeks and pulled my face into hers.  We sat there with noses and foreheads touching looking quietly into each other eyes.  I was sending "I love you vibes" with all that I could muster.  We sat in silence for a minute or two...and then I busted out laughing.  For a split second, it scared the CRAP out of her, but in the same instant she returned my laughter full force and straight from the belly. Then she hugged me and did it again.  Noses touching...staring into eyes...then laughter.

Les came to see what all the fuss was about and asked us "just what exactly are we doing in here?"  I tried to tell him what had happening but I couldn't get a word out because my face was being smashed into our little girl's...and laughter always in sued.  After one big last hug, I placed her back in the crib with a kiss and "I love you."  After a quick pick up of toys that where sure to result in a stubbed toe in the middle of the night without the help of contacts, I looked over and found my baby out like a light...

When the day comes that she's 13 and wants nothing to do with me...I'm going to relish this moment and remember that once this little girl was my whole world and I...hers...Happy Night!

Weekends with E

Weekends with Eden means eating left overs in our bed in our pjs...

watching...what else?  M-I-C...K-E-Y... is there any other way?!

Or playing outside THOROUGHLY enjoying the new Easter present recently assembled my none other than yours truly..

It also involved getting ready to celebrate grandma and all that she does for us...

 

more on this to come shortly...