Grandma Jeanne's Funeral

In 2018, we lost Grandma Jeanne (on April 4, 2018).  Though, to say that isn't quite right.  We had been loosing her for a long time.  The dementia didn't leave much but her earthly shell.  In fact, while it was sad of course, I don't think it was as sad as it could have been.  Those who were in Utah, and who had still been visiting, had been saying goodbye for a while.  And, through semi-regular visits, they were able to see that she wasn't really there anymore.  For me, I said goodbye every time I had the chance to visit.  I never knew when I would be able to go back, and if she would still be there.  So, the goodbye process was rather long and drawn out.  Which, in some ways, made it slightly easier when the final goodbye came.  

Hubby was rather nice, and made sure that I was able to fly out for the funeral.  It was in April, so I had to take a bit of time off school.  But my professors were very accommodating, and I worked really hard both before I left and when I got back to make sure everything was up to date.  On the way I, I would say I was able to get some rather nice pictures of the SLC area.

Grandpa was able to pick me up at the airport and deliver me to wherever I needed to go.  This was a proof of life sort of thing :)

I stayed with the Websters.  And was able to tag along on a few "regular" family things between family functions and the funeral itself.  This is the picture Beffy drew.  Of me.  Isn't it great?!?!  She did this while we watched Anna do gymnastics :)

 And, while I would have preferred a nicer reason for the visit, I was able to meet my newest niece Alice!

 She is a sweet, cheeky sort of baby.  And thankfully, Beffy was willing to share her with me.

 We got to know each other a little bit :)

It is always fun to hang out with my cute nieces and nephew!

 While I was out there, I also made sure to go and visit my only living Grandparent left, Grandma Pat.  She is fabulous at sending birthday cards, valentines, and Christmas gifts.  Seriously, he never misses a single one!  And she was more than happy to take a turn holding baby Alice.

 Isn't it funny how babies have such noodle necks?  I spent a whole car trip just holding Alice's head up...  she didn't seem to care that her head kept flopping all over the place, but it bothered me!

 The funeral was lovely.  The talks were great.  The remembrances were somewhat sad, but also lovely in a way.  And I walked in with the family during the procession, which always makes me feel like a bit of a farce, because I live so far away and visit so infrequently, I feel like I don't quite qualify.  While I was able to go to the graveside with Grandpa Dave and Grandpa Paul, I had to leave right after the service this time.  So we took a few pictures in the parking lot before I had to be dropped off at the airport.

 Again, sad reason to come together, but cute family nonetheless!

 This is the group that was able to go graveside.  It really looks like such a beautiful day outside!

 Ben was quite pleased with himself that he was able to secure the carnations with the seat belt.  He is a pretty smart kid!

Because all the kids were in school, hubby was able to hand them by himself.  And they were all safe and sound when I got home.  Travelling by yourself really is quite a luxury.  Now, doing homework on the plane....  not the best.  But you do what you gotta do man!

Pinewood Derby 2018

Remember when hubby made the ward a pinewood derby track?  It still looks fabulous!  And it usually means that we get to be the ones that set it up.  Its a fun family activity :)  And, of course, part of setting up the track is testing it with whatever cars we happen to have lying around.

 Last year, Kaitlyn and Dylan were both able to compete.  Dylan chose to make a minecraft car.

 And, possibly because hubby did some heavy research into where the best placement for the weights is, Dylan's car actually did really well!

 And, while unfortunately, I can't be sure because it was soooo long ago, and all the kids are in bed, so I can't ask them either, I believe it came down to Dylan's car vs Kaitlyn's car.  Last year, Kaitlyn chose to make a Descendants themed car!

 There she is, seated next to her bestie Lauren.

 Go car go!  Be super fast!

So I guess you will just have to take my word, and my faulty memory on the fact that it was probably Dylan vs Kaitlyn, and Kaitlyn won.  

Spring General Conference 2018

A lot of the time, when we hunt for Easter Eggs, we are already in our Sunday clothes.  Because we have to go to church shortly thereafter.  However, the Spring Conference in 2018 fell on Easter weekend.  Which was nice.  It also happened to be the Conference after President Monson had passed away, and where we would be sustaining the President Nelson.  This kind of thing doesn't happen very often, so I made sure that we stopped doing whatever else we were doing to participate in and listen to this historic even.  I thought it was pretty cool that they called out groups individually, by age and/or sex, so that everyone felt individually accountable.  It was a pretty moving experience for me, and I think the kids felt it too.

 During that weekend, between sessions, I helped hubby install a new attic door, so that he had access to storage, and to be able to run wires and antenna's when necessary.

 We also did some small yardwork outside.  It was a pretty gorgeous spring day.

 I didn't make the kids sit down and do nothing but listen.  But I did have conference playing in the background so that we could listen to the talks while we were doing other things.

 And while I wouldn't promise they heard everything, I do know that they stopped to listen every once in a while.

Easter 2018

Easter came and went like any other holiday that you get to hide candy and then get hopped up on all the sugar after you eat it.  I usually make the kids all wait at the top of the stairs to get a picture.  And to make sure it is somewhat fair when they start hunting.

 And that is it!  I didn't take any pictures of them actually hunting eggs.  Just the fabulous followup picture of Kelsey sporting a holiday shirt from the wrong holiday.

 I did take a picture of the aftermath.  The kids usually like to play with the eggs for a few days...  You know.  Do things like re-hide them, throw them at each other, carry them around for a bit before I make them pack them up all back up for next year.

And Mollie didn't seem to mind the lumps when she laid down on the floor....  

 Poor old dog.

Beta Convention 2018

Coming to Smiths Station Schools gave the kids some fun, new opportunities.  2018 was the first year that Kaitlyn and Kari were able to go to the Beta Convention.  As luck would have it, it fell on my spring break, so I was able to go with Kaitlyn.  This was pretty nice, because she was pretty nervous, and had never been on an overnight field trip before.  Kari was also able to go with the middle school.  She wasn't in my room, but I was able to see her while we were there.  Because the schools around here are dumb, parents are not allowed to ride the school bus to the field trip, even if they are chaperoning.  So I had to drive myself all the way to Birmingham.  And the buses left really early in the morning!!

 Unfortunately, the teacher who was in charge of the trip didn't have a ton of knowledge of the convention.  Or if she did, she wasn't particularly effective in getting it out to the chaperones.  So I had no idea what to expect.  When we first got there, we weren't able to check into our rooms.  So we left our luggage in one of the ballrooms downstairs.  Kaitlyn had been invited to be on the quiz bowl team, because they were a member short.  The first thing they had to do was qualify by taking a written test.  The test was graded for accuracy and for time.

 Needed to let off a little bit of steam :)

 Once the test was over, we went into the big conference room where the big "everyone is together" sessions were held.  Kari had gone up the day before, but we were finally able to find her in the conference room.  

 Both girls were super excited to take tons of pictures for me...  Not.  But they were nice enough to do it anyway.

 For lunch that day, we didn't want to pay a gazillion dollars for crappy conference food.  So we walked a good couple blocks for some Chick-Fil-A.  There were some pretty churches along the way.

 After lunch, we waited for results, to see if the girls would make it to compete in the academic bowl.  While waiting, we got the results of the artistic competitions.  Neither Emmarie (friend from church below) nor Kari won.  Which was sad.  

  And, if you aren't competing, there isn't a lot of extra curricular stuff to do.  Once we had walked through the hall with the art stuff displayed, we mostly just hung out in the big room.

 Then it was time!  We heard that the girls made it!  They went in to compete in the semi finals (which I was not allowed to watch).  And then they made it all the way to the finals (which I did come in and observe)!

 Guess what?!?!  They WON!!!  Kaitlyn did not answer a ton of questions, but there was one question that she did know the answer to.  It was a question about "This is the Place" monument out in Utah which Kaitlyn had just gone to!

 That night we played around a little bit on our way to our room.  First, we had to walk alllllll the way across the Conference center to get our luggage.  Then we had to walk it allllllll the way back up to our room.  I was pretty lucky because in our room, it was just Me, Kaitlyn and Emmarie.  I got a bed to myself, and Kaitlyn and Emmarie shared the other one.

 That night there was a dance.  Kari went (which is slightly uncharacteristic for her)...  at least for a little while.  But both the girls in my room didn't want to go.  And when they decided to search for something to watch on TV, we strangely ended up watching Peppa Pig for a little while.

 In the morning, I was afraid that I had lost Emmarie under all the blankets.  Thankfully, we were able to find her :)

 The next morning was one of the big, general sessions.  They were going to announce the winners of the different categories, so the students were asked to dress in their Sunday best.

 And there they are!!!  Our Champions!

 Here are our two sets of sisters.  Emmarie and Jaelee are also in our ward.  And, I believe that it was Jaelee that convinced Kari to go.  She told Kari that there were a few categories that no one had signed up for, and so Kari decided to try the visual arts.  

 This is not her finished product, but the rough draft.  Kari made a wolf out of wire.

Later in the year, there was a banquet for all of Beta Club.  Kaitlyn was recognized again for winning in the Academic Bowl.  Because her team won first place, they got these Championship rings.  For tiny Kaitlyn, it is too big and will never actually fit her.  But it was a nice thought.

 It was nice to be there for Kaitlyn, and fun to be able to see Kari in the process!

Service Project

The day after Dylan's birthday was a church kinda Saturday.  I had some sort of training at the stake center.  And hubby was able to go help his good friend Josephine (who was serving in the Elder's Quorum presidency) to help build a ramp at a member's home.  I stopped by later in the afternoon to bring some pizzas and gatorades, and to visit with the member.  Her name is Bonnie, and she has had a bit of a rough life.  She hasn't ever had anyone do anything genuinely nice for her before, without expecting something in return, and it was a little bit difficult for her to deal with.  I am glad I was able to visit with her, and hopefully make her feel a little bit more comfortable.

 It was very nice to have to Clark family there to help out!  They are such good workers!

 While hubby and Josephine did most of the planning before hand, it is difficult to make all the measurements and plans when you don't have the exact slope of the ground there in front of you.  So there was a small bit of planning taking place right on site.

 What do you do when you don't have saw horses?!?!  You stand on it of course!

 Almost done!

 I had to go back to the kids, but I took a group picture.  Bonnie was so excited to have the freedom to get in and out of her house that she went up and down the ramp several times.  So many times, in fact, that the next day, she was too sore to come to church.

Many hands make light work!  I was so glad hubby could help!