Sorrow and joy

This last week has been filled with a mixture of emotions.  My Grandma, who has been suffering with dementia for years now, passed away on Tuesday.  There were a lot of tears to cry, even though I know she is no longer in pain, and that she will always be my Grandma.

I know my sisters will die when they see this picture, but it was the best picture I could find of Grandma.  I’m the one sitting on Grandpa’s lap in the bright pink pants.

 

 

 

Scott, Lily & I drove over to Idaho with my dad for the funeral.  Grandpa, Mom, and her siblings put a lot of thought in to how to best honor Grandma.  It was a beautiful service.  I’m so glad we were able to attend and honor my grandma.

We then immediately returned to Washington for my youngest brother’s mission farewell.  It was a long drive, but it was worth it.  We had fun at the BBQ, and were then edified by Blake’s talk in church the next day.  (Blake looked really sharp in his suit.  I wish I had got a decent picture of him.)  Naturally, I cried when Blake was set apart as a full-time missionary.  I’m so pleased and impressed with him that I can’t help but cry.

 

Here is Papa with Mickayla and the three grandkids.  Lily didn’t like sharing Papa’s lap with the others.  She was much happier once they got off and she had Papa all to herself.

 

This was my attempt at one final picture of Lily with Blake.  Lily had had enough of pictures and relatives, so this is what I got.  Thanks Lil.

Happy 4th of July

Lily was so cute watching the fireworks this year. We tried to get her excited to see them by telling her they were sparkles in the sky. We had pretty good seats at the local park, and were surprisingly not crowded. When the fireworks show finally started, Lily yelled, “Sparkles! Time Out!” (Lately she’s been putting everything in time out: her doll stroller, her teddy bear, me, etc.)

The next day, we went to the harbor to take some photos. Lily was less than cooperative:

Scott took this picture of Lily. I love it!

Yes, I realize I’m being a dork in this picture. I was trying to get Lily to run back to Scott. The only way she would head in his direction is if we acted like monsters and “scared Daddy.”

Ellen Guy Sings Since You've Been Gone

This video is hilarious! The sad thing is that this poor guy was actually trying his best to sing.

Be sure to turn up the sound on your computer.

Pancakes & Funny Faces

In an attempt to make breakfast time more fun (and to encourage Lily to eat more food) I decided to make pancakes shaped like animal heads.  Lily gobbles them up and isn’t too picky if all the animal pancakes look a like.  (I only can make bears, cats, mice, and dogs.  Any other animal requests end up looking like a bear, cat, mouse, or dog.)

Another satisfied customer!

The next two pictures are a few weeks old (hint: not the new haircut).  I have reading glasses now, and Lily wanted to look like her mommy.  We popped the lenses out of one of her pairs of sunglasses and did some modeling for the camera.  (And before any of you complain, I’ll post pictures of my new glasses when I post pictures of my haircut.)

 

 

 

 

 

I think Lily did a good job taking my picture.  I just wish I wasn’t making such a goofy face. 

Ice Cream Vans

So I’m used to the friendly Jeep Ice Cream Truck, driven by a poor college student, perusing the neighborhood while playing the Entertainer on it’s loud speaker.

Our neighborhood has it’s own take on Ice Cream Trucks, and quite honestly, it freaks me out.

 

You can’t tell from the picture, but the paint is actually chipping off the van.  To make it worse, there are two of them that tour our neighborhood playing the most obnoxious music ever (it has a popping and honking noise).  My favorite part is that the menu is attached with packing tape to the van.  Doesn’t this just scream, “I’m a child molester that will lure your children into the back of my van.”

Lily just thinks these vans go around playing music for fun.  We hold her up to look at them through the window, but we never let her near them.

Russian Roulette

Every time I go to get my hair cut, I feel like I’m playing Russian Roulette.  I come prepared with a picture of what I want.  I know not to talk while the hairstylist works so that she can concentrate on my hair . . . but it seems like I get a bad hair cut at least once a year!

Thursday, I went in for a haircut.  I sat in the lobby trying to predict which stylist I would get (that’s the problem with moving, you don’t have connects so you get what you get), and praying I wouldn’t get the frumpy looking lady.  But you guessed it . . . I got the frumpy lady.  Ugh.  I knew the cut would be bad, I knew she would do it wrong and I was right.

I came home and tried to style it to see if maybe it wasn’t as bad as I thought . . . but it was.  She barely trimmed the back of my hair, but cut the sides.  Hello?!  I thought that maybe I was being dramatic, but then Scott commented that the haircut wasn’t that great and I should go back in and have someone fix it.  Ugh!

When I went back in on Friday, a more experienced stylist fixed my hair.  She did a great job!  Now I know who to ask for when I need my hair cut.

The Best in the NBA! (Twice?) And perhaps in a league of their own.

If you’re not interested in NBA basketball, don’t bother reading this blog post because it is forever long if you’re not interested. It is just a collection of thoughts that I’ve been waiting to share until after a Lakers championship victory. So here it is:

The L.A. Lakers repeat trip to the NBA Finals this year was a success as the Lakers captured the championship easily over the Orlando Magic after dominating them on both the offensive as well as the defensive ends of floor. The ease in which it took for them to defeat the Magic, a team which beat both the defending champion Celtics and Cavaliers (two teams that the Lakers swept in the regular season) begs the question of whether or not the Lakers are just an Andrew Bynum and a Trevor Ariza away from back-to-back championships. Last year the Boston Celtics won the title in a 4 games to 2 series in which many have credited the Celtics for blowing out the Lakers. The Celtics did win the final game by a huge margin, but aside from that, the rest of the games were very competitive and hard fought and could have gone either way. To say that the Celtics blew out the Lakers would be to ignore the previous 5 games of the series. Though I do not deny that the Celtics did play better and were the better team in the finals last year, I do have to put a asterisk beside their victory, as the Lakers competed soundly without two of their best players, Bynum and Ariza. It would not be impossible to say that by having both of them in the game, the series last year could have been much different.

Most Celtics fans, of course, will want to place an asterisk by this year’s victory for the Lakers since Kevin Garnett was out with an injury during the post season and was not able to defend his title. But I think it would not be a fair comparison since the Lakers dominated the Celtics in the regular season, even with Garnett, and also since the Celtics struggled against every playoff opponent this year and didn’t even come close to defending their championship in the finals. If the Celtics could have gotten to the finals without Garnett the way that the Lakers did last year without Bynum and Ariza, then I think they would have a case to put an asterisk by this year’s loss. As it stands, the Lakers were just one or two games and a Bynum and Ariza away from possible back-to-back championships.

As is apparent in my message here, I have obvious anti-Celtic and pro-Lakers bias, but I really don’t think the two teams compare. Especially considering the Lakers are among the youngest teams in the NBA and are getting better, whereas the Celtics are past their prime and aging quickly. Without a serious mix-up in lineups next year, I doubt the Celtics, even with Garnett, stand much of a chance against the Lakers.

Obviously, I’ve been holding onto my sentiments for a long time now, which explains my long-winded posting now. But I finally feel that I can talk because the Lakers were able to secure a victory that validates my points. Barring a serious mix-up in the Lakers personnel or possible injuries next year, I expect the Lakers to repeat again next year (or is it 3-peat?). Go Lakers!

Lily’s first movie

Now that Scott is done with his first year of grad school (Wahoo!), we wanted to do fun things together this summer.  The first thing we wanted to do was take Lily to her first movie: UP.  I thought a matinee would be a good time to go (less people for Lily to bother and she should be awake for the movie).   There were only a handful of people (most of them senior citizens).

Lily didn’t like how her seat folded in half when she sat on it.  The poor kid doesn’t weigh enough to keep the seat down, so I held her on my lap.  (I didn’t realize until after the movie that they have booster seats for kids.)  Lily was a little restless after watching so many previews, so Scott went to the concession stand and bought her some treats.  She then sat on my lap happily snacking on Reese’s Pieces.

Naturally, Lily provided comedic relief.  At one point in the movie, it was quiet and you watch the house with all the balloons float away.  Lily chose that moment to say, “House Come Back.”  “Balloons Come Back.”  We heard a few snickers in the audience and a few people repeat what Lily said.  Oh well.  She’s 2, what can you expect?

Survival of the Fittest

Scott and I had been feeling very guilty that we have never taken Lily down to Arizona to meet his grandmother.   (Lily has already met all of her other grandparents.)  We decided to risk our sanity and drive down to Arizona for Scott’s uncle’s funeral and let Lily meet her great-grandma.

But how do you survive 4-1/2 days in the car with not only your own 2 year old, but an additional 7 adults and 4 children?  (We caravanned/carpooled with Scott’s family.)  The answer is lots and lots and lots of bribery and a few stops to get the wiggles out.  I took

 

 

 

 

 

my mom’s advice and stocked up on a lot of snacks for the car trip, and then bought Lily a bunch of little presents from the local thrift and dollar stores.  Every time we got back in the car (which is normally when Lily throws a fit) I would give her a present.  She loved unwrapping all of her little presents.

Here we are with Scott’s grandma.  She’s such a sweetheart!  Lily was so excited to finally meet her “Gwamma Sanners”

 

 

    The house we rented had a swimming pool and pool table.  Lily was scared of the pool at first, but after we coaxed her in, we couldn’t get her out.  She even wanted to go off the diving board like her parents, but I was a mean Mom and wouldn’t let her.

On the way home, I had to stop and visit the local “Friendly Indians” and buy Lily a small memento from our trip.  Lily chose a hand carved turtle necklace.

We were all happy to be home again, and are still recovering from the quick trip.

Memorial Day

    I had to laugh when I came home from work on Memorial Day and was greeted by Lily running up to my car wearing this!  Apparently, Scott didn’t realize that those were her pajamas, not her day clothes.  And the helmet . . . well that’s just one of Lily’s favorite things to wear even when she isn’t riding her tricycle.

We had a nice BBQ, with way too much food.  (We originally were going to have Scott’s brother & his family over, but those plans fell through.)  We had enough food to feed at least 10 people.  The three of us barely made a dent in it.  I have to show off the lemon-raspberry cake I made from scratch.  Doesn’t it look so delicious?

In Loving Memory of my Uncle Tom

Today was a very sad day for my extended family. My Uncle Tom, my Dad’s oldest brother, passed away. He lived a wonderful, happy life, and was loved by many. We love him and miss him. He has now joined his father, my dad, and his baby brother in the Eternal Realm. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the whole family, especially his beloved wife, Kathy, beloved mother Reah, and his children and grandchildren.

Losing him so suddenly and unexpectedly, hits rather close to home for me. The passing of my father less than 2 years ago, was very similar and sudden. I comprehend the heartache and grief that Uncle Tom’s family is facing now, and my deepest sympathy goes out to them. Fortunately, at times like these we have each other and a loving Heavenly Father, who understands our heartaches. May He comfort those that mourn the loss of such a special man at this time. We are grateful for the knowledge that Tom has returned home to a loving Heavenly Father and home to be with his father and two brothers who preceded him in mortality.

As my Dad and Uncle Tom were business partners for many years before, I like to think they’ve renewed their business partnership in the spirit world, now doing God’s work in Heaven.

Happy Day Bake!

My brother Blake is turning 19 on Monday.  All weekend we’ve been listening to Lily say, “Happy Day Bake!”  We hope you have a Happy Birthday Blake.  You’re a great brother and uncle.  What other guy plays “Pretty Pretty Princess” and allows the event to be photographed?

May moments

Here are a few pictures of fun things we’ve been up to lately:

 

Lily and I had a picnic lunch at the park.  She thought it was fun to sit on a blanket and eat lunch.

When I came home from work tonight, Scott and Lily were dancing in the kitchen.  Lily was having so much fun dancing with her daddy!  For her next song, she decided we should do her version of the chicken dance.  I ran to grab a camera, but she kept turning around so fast that I could never get a picture of her face.

I have to admit that Scott tends to be more fun than I am.  He’s always taking her to the parks, playing outside, or dancing with her.  Lily loves it when Daddy is home!

The insanity of motherhood

I guess I never learned how to cook using just three dishes.  I love to cook, but I use almost every dish I own whenever I cook . . . and I own a lot of dishes.  I have to admit I get a little discouraged after spending an hour cooking a meal, just to look at my counter and be greeted with this unfriendly site:

Scott decided to issue a reprieve, and he volunteered to do all the dishes.  Isn’t he a sweetheart!  Scott followed this up by offering to watch Lily Thursday night while I went out with some friends.  What a guy!  I think he’s a keeper!

A day of unexpected blessings

Last night, I was whining about everything I had to do.  I didn’t know how I would get it all done.  I told Scott it would be nice if I could take the day off work just so I could catch up on things around the house and do some extra studying.  I never expected to actually have today off, but it happened.

Lily came down with the stomach flu at 1 am.  After she threw up for the fifth time and it was only 6 am, I was counting my blessings that I could just throw the clothes and bedding in the washer.  I think I would have lost it if I had to use a wash board all day. My nerves wouldn’t have been able to handle it.

Lily and I spent the day cuddling and nursing her back to health.  She slept a lot!  I was able to catch up on some housework and study a little while she slept.  She didn’t start drinking and eating again until 8 tonight.  As soon as she did, she started acting like herself again and her fever finally went down.  So life will continue as normal tomorrow.  It was nice to have the day off, even if it was at Lily’s expense.

A surprise package

I have a friend that loves to give gifts.  She doesn’t need a special occasion to give them either.  She had called to tell me that she was sending a few things for Lily.  She failed to mention the other items she included for Scott and me . . .

She knows that Scott and I have a love of Native crafts, so she bought a handmade Native drum for me, a very soft blanket with a native emblem embroidered on it for Scott, and a dream catcher for both of us.

What she didn’t know is that I had been secretly wanting a Native drum, but didn’t dare tell anyone (not even Scott).  I know how time consuming they are to make, and how expensive they are to buy.

Lily and I had a lot of fun trying out the drum.  They say that everyone has their own drumbeat in life, which is their heartbeat.  You should never correct how a child plays, instead, enjoy the music they create and realize that it will change as they grow.

As for my drumbeat, I’m hoping Scott’s mom or aunts can teach me some traditional songs to sing and play with my new drum.

Lily’s “Happy day”

We have had a lot of fun the last few weeks.  (I’ll try and give a brief overview of all the fun we’ve been up to.)

Lily loved decorating the Easter eggs.  She especially loved putting her fingers in the colored water and then licking them.  That drove me crazy!  I had to keep reminding myself that this was supposed to be a fun family event and not a Mom dictatorship event.  In the end, Lily had fun and the eggs were safely stowed away in the fridge.

Lily had a lot of fun at the Easter egg hunt at Eva & Cora’s house.  There were lots of little friends there to hunt eggs.  While most of the kids became distracted by the candy inside the eggs, Lily stayed focused on filling her basic.  After the egg hunt, we took turns photographing the kids in a large basket.  Lily ate up the attention of the photo shoot.

On Monday, Lily turned 2 years old!  Whenever we asked her how old she was, she held up her fingers like this: 

 

We said, “Happy Birthday” to her so much that she started saying, “Happy day!”  She really did have a happy day.  My friend, Tiffany, leant this pretty birthday dress to us – which Lily absolutely loved.  She loved twirling in it!  She also loved the tricycle we gave her, and the blocks Grandma & Papa gave her.  We had some friends over for cupcakes & ice cream, which made Lily’s day.  (Her cupcakes are little monsters, because she’s my little Lily Monster.)

The cutest part of the day for me, was when Lily talked to Grandma, Papa & Aunt Mickayla on the phone.  She was so good about holding the phone up to her ear, listening and responding to what was being said, pacing the floor just like her daddy, and saying bye right before she hung up on Grandma.  Scott tried to get the video camera in time, but Lily hung up too quick.

Not my cute girl, but still really cute. Must see!

Rude Awakening

So last night I woke up in the middle of the night and started to role over onto my side and go back to sleep. All of a sudden, I’m being attacked. Candice had just had a dream or something in her mind that the bed was breaking. It most certainly was not, but I was about to. She was sure convinced that it was and that she was going to rescue me from falling off the bed by hitting, grabbing, and pinching me. I quickly realized that this insane attack from my wife was not going to end unless I convinced her that everything was OK and that I was fine. I began shouting, “I’m fine, Candice. Nothing is happening. You can let go of me now. I’m fine!” And just like that she realized that I was. And without so much as an apology she rolled over and went back to sleep, leaving me bruised and beaten and full of terror! There’s nothing like the tender love of your darling wife at 4 in the morning . . . I guess you might say that she had her revenge from the exercise comment I made about her from the previous blog post.