Sneak Peak...

Will opening birthday presents. He loves the little piano Uncle Tim gave him!

A fun birthday at Disneyland.

Mommy and William in Utah. We got a delicious taste of fall while we were there!

More to come soon...

A Tag Post With a Really Awesome Picture

Oh. Yeah. You better believe it.

I have so many things I want to blog about from my family's visit and from my time in Utah. But, I'm too lazy to go through the pictures right now.

So, instead, a tag. Christie tagged me a a couple of weeks ago. Ready, go.

Answer the questions with one word (or a little more) and then tag three people.

1. Where is your cellphone? desk
2. Your significant other? soulmate
3. Your hair? brack
4. Your mother? nice
5. Your father? spaz
6. Your favorite thing? johnandwilliam
7. Your dream last night? I don't think I even ever entered the REM cycle
8. Your favorite drink? water
9. Your dream goal? financial independence
10. The room you’re in? dining
11. Your hobby? sewing
12. Your fear? pain
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Portland
14. What you’re not? thin
15. Muffins? pumpkin
16. One of your wishlist items? house
17. Where you grew up? Logan/North Logan
18. Last thing you did? eat
19. What are you wearing? pants
20. Favorite gadget? iPhone
21. Your pets? none
22. Your computer? good
23. Your mood? exhausted
24. Missing someone? yes
25. Your car? good
26. Something you’re not wearing? shorts
27. Favorite store? Anthro
28. Like someone? many
29. Favorite color? right now -- orange
30. When was the last time you laughed? um...probably Friday
31.When was the last time you cried? last Saturday

I tag Aurora, Mandy, and Trevor.

One of the Good Guys

Grandpa with my dad.

Hi Kids. Well, you may have noticed that I kind of went missing for a couple of weeks. It's been pretty eventful -- in both a good way (which I'll speak of in future posts) and a sad way.

***

I mentioned in my post from earlier in the month that my parents and a couple of siblings were coming down to visit for William's birthday. Well, on Saturday, Oct 11th, the day that they flew down, an unexpected event happened. My grandfather passed away early that morning.

This was kind of strange situation. My grandparents actually happened to be in town when it happened -- not in UT, where they live. My grandma was down here on business and didn't want to leave Grandpa home alone as she was going to be away for a couple of weeks.


Grandpa with my dad.

So, as planned, my family flew down later that day. My dad was able to get together with one of his brothers, and later his mother, to figure out the situation and decide what was going to be done.

It actually ended up being kind of neat that Grandpa passed away here in Southern California; he had lived and worked here for most of his adult life and knew and had the respect of many people in the area. A memorial was held a few days after he passed away so that people who knew and loved him were able to pay their respects to my grandmother and to share some memories of him. It was very nice and unexpected, though not surprising, that so many people showed up -- even though he hadn't lived here for many years.

My favorite story told at the memorial was something my mom shared. When my parents were first married they were young and poor. My grandpa would send them letters often, written on United Airlines stationary during his lunch break. He would include a five dollar bill with a note that the money was for my mom, because a girl should have money to spend.

I never knew that story before that night, but it really encompasses what Grandpa was about. He was the most generous and giving person I've ever met. He loved helping and serving others. At his memorial and his funeral the following week, I heard countless stories of how he had helped others and influenced everyone around him for the better. He really was a gentleman and one of the few really good men.


My grandparents with me as a baby.

A few things I remember about Grandpa

*He always had a crisp dollar bill for each of his grand kids every time we saw him.
*He built an incredible log cabin in his back yard, with his own two hands. It was beautiful -- I'll never forget the smell of that cabin while spending the night in it or the sound and feel of the wood door opening.
*He also built a koi pond with a water wheel in the back yard. I thought that koi pond was amazing and one of my favorite memories is of feeding those fish with him.
*Grandpa always wore these cool wool driving caps -- I can hardly picture him now without one of them.
*He always spoke gently and kindly.
*I loved listening to him tell stories about how things were when he was growing up.
*I loved his quiet laugh and his sweet smile.
*He had a great sense of humor -- but you had to be paying attention to catch his subtle little jokes and teasing.
*Every winter he would carefully package up a box of oranges from his orange tress and ship them to us in Utah. That was one of the highlights of the winter for me -- getting those delicious fruits in the dead of winter!
*He always had Sour Cream & Onion potato chips and Brown Sugar & Cinnamon PopTarts on hand.
*He taught me how to cook tuna fish casserole one summer that I spent with my grandparents when I was 9 years old.
*He was a masterful woodworker and it was always fun to watch him work in his wood shop.



William with his Great-Grandpa and Mommy.

I could go on and on. He was truly a sweet man. He will be so missed. I'm very glad that he and William were able to spend a bit of time together and that we were able to get photos of them together. I will speak of him often to William and hope that he will follow in his great-grandfather's footsteps of being giving of himself, being willing to help those in need and of speaking kindly, always.


John & I with Grandpa during Christmas 2004.

I love you, Grandpa.

***

Despite the sad beginning to my family's visit here, we had a really fun time with William's birthday party, Disneyland and just hanging out. I flew back to Utah with everyone on Friday to spend a week with the rest of my family and to attend the funeral. It turned out to be a really nice, special time. More of all of that to come...

Just Because...

I just found this picture of John and I at Lake Geneva (not sure if we're on the Swiss side or the French side here) and had to share. I came across it randomly and it made me really happy. :)

A Tale of Two Coats (Well, One is a Coat Dress)

Oh my. This is probably the single most glorious item of clothing I've ever seen. Emily found this coat dress on ebay and I am extrodinarily jealous. I want it so badly. The color! The details! The shape! The petticoat underneath! Perfection.







However, I did just purchase this fantastic coat from Anthropologie with my birthday money so I'm pretty stoked. It makes me so happy when I find things that make me feel like ME. Now if only I could wear it...


I risked heat stroke just to get this picture. Dang it was hot today.

Birthday Prep

Hello, October 8th. Why must you be 96 degrees? Why?

So it's been quite awhile since I wrote and it's because I have been super busy! Two very exciting things are happening next week. William's 1st birthday is on the 14th and we're having a party, and also, half of my family is coming to visit. They fly in on Saturday and will be staying for 7 whole days! We can't wait!!

Here, take a look at what I've been working on...



Invitations. Beautiful papers and envelopes from Paper Source -- my paper nirvana.




Olive and Archie dolls made from a Wee Wonderfuls pattern. These were way fun to make and super easy. I loved designing their outfits. I will totally be making more of these dolls. I also want to get the pattern for the Space Boy & Robot. Maybe that'll be Christmas. :)




Some favorite books from my childhood (does anyone else remember Santa Mouse? I had totally forgotten about it until I saw it at B&N -- I love the illustrations! Like, in an obsessive way).




A 'Happy Birthday' bunting to be hung on the special day.

I always have thought that birthday parties for kids under 3 were silly. I swore I would just do a low-key dinner with family only for my kids' first couple birthdays. Yeah. Then I got too excited about the possibilities of an acorn theme (see invite, more to come) and it just got a little out of hand. Now I'm thinking about party favors and stuff. I must be stopped. :)

Anyway, can't wait to show you more pics from the actual party -- it's going to be very acorn-y and autumnal. I just hope the weather cooperates. Please? Can I at least get something in the 70s??

"Cool weather, please!"