When Mom and Dad come to town

Once again it’s been far longer than I intended since I’ve written in here. I have ideas but just not always the time. And it’s not likely to change in the next week, but I’ll do my best. Don’t give up on me anybody who still reads my blog!

So a couple of weeks ago my parents came to visit. They don’t get to visit very often, so I always try my hardest to live it up when they do. This time was no exception. I took two days off work (one for my cousin’s wedding and the other to spend with my Mom and Dad), and we had a lovely time.

There were funny jokes

a fun nature walk, complete with bird nests, one of my dad’s favorite hobbies (not the nests are his hobbies, but he loves birds)

dinner with all my mom’s sisters (since she lives in Idaho and almost all of her sisters live here, she doesn’t often get to go to dinner with them, so it was a truly special occasion)

and of course, frozen yogurt.

What a lovely weekend! I’m just happy he didn’t sneak in my parents’ luggage and end up here with them.

A beautiful bride

Okay, I must apologize to anybody who actually checks my blog. I seem to have taken an unofficial hiatus in the last few months, and I apologize for that. I don’t have any excuse for it except I’ve been busy and my focus has been on other areas. But I’m trying to rectify it now by writing in my blog, so bear with me.

Last week I had the opportunity to attend my dear cousin’s wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony, and I enjoyed being there with my parents and extended family. I am so excited for my cousin and her new husband. She’s the youngest of the grandkids on my mom’s side of the family and it’s great to see her take this important step in her life.

Being me of course I documented the event with pictures. Here’s a few so you can see what a great experience it was.

While we were waiting for the happy couple to come out of the temple, we took a few pictures to keep ourselves busy.

This is my mom with all of her sisters. Pretty cool, huh? Okay, maybe in the second one they told me I should get in the picture too, so I did.

The bride and groom coming out of the temple. (They were married in the Draper LDS Temple, just as an FYI.) Yes, one of them is a kissing picture, but they just got married, so they’re allowed to kiss as much as they want to.

A few family photos. Looking through what I’ve got on my computer, it looks like I didn’t get as many as I thought I did. Oh well!

At the reception

Finally, my Papa-Daddy took a few glamour shots of me in the lovely wind outside the temple.

I took one of him too . . . and then both my parents, whom I was so excited to have come.

Aren’t weddings great? I sure think so. Congrats to my cousin and her wonderful new husband! So excited for both of you!

A Day of Remembering

Yesterday marked an important anniversary for our family: it was the second anniversary of our beautiful angel’s passing. Part of me can’t believe it’s been that long already while the other part feels like it’s been forever since I’ve seen her.

Because of time of year it is, my mind has been turned to that point two years ago when it first happened. When I got the call I was dreading so much, when I knew her suffering was over, when we gathered to say good-bye. It still hurts to think about it, but it also makes me happy to see that although I still have a hole in my heart for Miss Sassypants and always will that the wound is not so jagged and painful as it used to be. Thanks be to my Savior and the Atonement for that. I have learned it’s only through Him that true healing comes.

This year I once again commemorated this important day with my dear sister and her family. They made a trek down my direction to commemorate their daughter’s life.

First stop: Primary Children’s Medical Center. This wonderful hospital took great care of Ashley the whole time she was on this earth. It’s become a tradition for their family to donate toys to the hospital in her honor. Then we had lunch in the cafeteria.

I attempted for the next stop to be a visit to my building so we could ride to the top and view the soon-to-open City Creek Center from the top. What I didn’t know is there was an event going on up there, so it didn’t really work out. Oops!

Then we went to the Discovery Gateway. None of us had ever been and it sounded interesting. Suffice it to say, if the kids were smaller, say 8 or under, it would’ve been fascinating. Since they’re not, it was a bit disappointing. Their favorite activity was a replica of a Life Flight helicopter. They had to wait their turn to get in because it’s quite popular, but getting in was well worth the wait.

We wanted to kill some time before eating dinner since lunch was a little late. I think Fashion Place Mall is a pretty happening place so we went there. As the Build-A-Bear workshop came into site, my sister and I had the idea to make a bear in Ashley’s honor. So we did! In case you’re wondering, this was my favorite activity of the day.

Here is the bear we picked out. The pink was perfect to represent our girl.

Here she is stuffed and read to be dressed.

Hmm, try these on for size. See, we had to find the perfect Diva outfit because it was fitting to represent Ashley. She was always very girly.

Ta-Dah! Now for some bling . . .

The finished product. My brother-in-law suggested we name her Tabitha, so here she is, in honor of our beautiful angel. I was surprised and delighted when she got to come home with me. She now holds a place of honor in my room.

The whole gang with me.

Love this family! So glad I get to be close to my siblings and to their families.

I think we did a good job honoring our girl. I’m glad we had this day to get together and do activities that I know she would’ve enjoyed. She’s still watching us from above and although we miss her, we know where she is and that she’s doing great work. Love you angel girl! Can’t wait until we get to see you again!