All Together Again

 Can you tell it's been a bit of a whirlwind since Ellie got home in June?   I keep trying to get back into a good routine with blogging, but now the new school year has begun and our heads are spinning again!  Before I just throw in the towel on the neglected summer happenings, though,  I'm committed to do a little catch-up  before diving into the new life happenings.  After all, the main purpose of this blog is to capture the family memories.  

We had a very brief  window shortly after Ellie got home from her mission that all of our kiddos were able to gather here in Utah.   It wasn't long, but  it was magical.   

We went to the temple together...only missing Spence and the littles.  💕

We also got professional family photos taken (in the studio because the air quality was very poor at the time and we had a very short window everyone was in town).

In my happy place....

The professional photographer actually canceled our originally scheduled shoot for a ton of smoke in the air, after which we panicked that we wouldn't be able to find time to reschedule her in the brief window we were all together, so we had Heather do a quick photo shoot of us at a park near our home.  I actually really love both shoots for different reasons.... 

The girls (including Tia--Adam's girlfriend 💗)...

   

The boys...

Another shot with the kiddos...

A shot with Adam and Tia, whom we really like...

During this time, I also had all my sisters in town.  AnnaLisa lives in Virginia and Kristina lives in California, so it's not super often we all get to be together!   I loved having them all here, along with all of our kiddos, but it meant life was on turbocharge crazy for a while! 

We are really really happy to have our sweet girl back home again...

And I'm already looking forward to the next time we can all be together again.  

Stay tuned for more summer adventures coming soon (hopefully).

Making Memories in N.E.

“You can leave heirlooms, but the most precious things you can leave are memories. When you are gone, you won’t be gone in your grandchildren’s lives—they will remember you. Grandparents, you are memory makers.”  M. Russell Ballard

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While Adam was off gallivanting around eastern Europe, I left the homeland at the end of April to make memories with my New England peeps!  New England in the winter is treacherous (they got over 5 feet of snow this past year), but New England in the shoulder seasons is much more delightful.   

Even the rain was delightful, because rain in Utah is exceedingly scarce...especially this year.   We've barely had any more rain than a  few drizzle events all summer long, so watching the kiddos play in puddles brought back so many memories of my own childhood and....  

more memories from when our kids were little.  This cute one of Ellie and her friend Gavin (?) from when she was a similar age makes me smile! 

I think I may have been a bit more indulgent with their puddle escapades than their mom would have been, but, you know, that's what memories are made of.   😂

Cami was quite sick (possibly with pneumonia) when I arrived, so I did a lot of babysitting at the beginning.  We spent time at the library...

in the yard and at the park....

and at the zoo where Lucie was delighted to meet a goat named Lucy...

Oliver, however, was not so sure...

Cami ended up at urgent care one day after having been quite ill for about 2 weeks and was prescribed some antibiotics.  Thankfully that seemed to be the ticket and she was soon better enough that we took the whole fam downtown before I left for home.  

WE made sure to send this photo to Heather to let her know how scared we were of the swan mural... (IYKYK)  

It was a very pleasant day exploring beautiful Providence...

which, surprise, surprise, also included some ice cream...

I quite enjoyed this unique ice cream place downtown made with cereal milk. 

Another day, we  also enjoyed this fun ice cream spot one of our ward members from BYU had told me about.   It's not far from where she grew up and she had recommended it to us to try.  

We went on walks most evenings.  We let the kids walk, so they weren't fast or far treks, but it was nice to get outside together once everyone was home from work.  

I left there a little tired...

but with a happy Grandma heart for the memories we were able to make together. 

Stay tuned for more catch-up posts to come...

A Visit from My Favorites

Becoming a grandma was everything I dreamed it would be and I love the connection we are forging with Lucie and Oliver, despite them living across the country from us.   I have a goal to see my grandbabies at least quarterly and so far we've been able to stick pretty close to that, though we'll have to see if we can keep it up once we have a few more grandkids in the mix (someday).   We also strongly hope that one day they'll live a little closer to us...actually a lot closer!  

Usually we plan on visiting them, because it's easier and cheaper to get 1-2 of us out there than to fly 3-4 of them out here.   This year, we  thought they wouldn't come out here until Ellie gets home from her mission (in June!!!!), but Garrett's sister got married at the end of March, meaning we got a bonus visit from them this year!  HAPPY DAY!  

They came mostly for the wedding, so we had to share them, but I soaked in every moment I could with C, G, L, and O!   

Which meant we even volunteered to help watch kiddos (including some of their B cousins) outside the temple while the ceremony was happening.   We are good friends with Garrett's parents and are a bit jealous of the fact that despite them getting started on the marriage/grandparenting journey at the same time as us (with the marriage of Cami and Garrett and the birth of Lucie), they are now leaving us in the dust on the grandkid count.   That's okay though, because the two we have are pretty doggone amazing and adorable!  

Oliver had a toy car or truck in his hands almost the entire time he was here (sometimes even sleeping with one) and Lucie was as spunky and talkative as ever.   We told stories, read books, went on walks, played with Denali...

And went to the farm, so they could ride ponies and take a train ride.

We also went to visit Rosy-nanna and Heather.   They both were obsessed with the cats and with playing the piano.  It was very cute that whenever a low note was played on the piano, Oliver would get this slightly alarmed look on his face and say, "Scary," like it was a scary movie soundtrack or something.   We also spent a lot of time with Adam and his girlfriend, Tia, who quickly became a favorite of theirs too.   It was also very cute how concerned Lucie was with Heather's injury.   She asked her a lot of questions and responded with an empathy beyond her years.   It was very sweet.  

Their last night in town, we met Adam, Tia, and Spencer in Provo and had dinner and ice cream before dropping them off at the airport for their red-eye back home.  

In amongst all the heaviness of late, it was good for my soul to have them here and it was hard to say goodbye!   Thankfully it won't be too long before I see them again!    

A Mid-Winter Trek

Back in January, Glen and I took a little trek to Rhode Island to spend time with our peeps there.  It was just the mid-winter jolt I needed to help me get through the longest month of the year (January)... 

Glen had to work remotely, but otherwise we  had absolutely nothing on our agenda, so I just kept the kids out of daycare and played with them all day!  We read lots of books, went to the library, did some crafts, and just enjoyed being together!   Oliver was obsessed with cars and trucks, so we read books for hours on end (seriously) and he just practiced his talking.   It was amazing to notice what a difference that one-on-one time with him made for his vocabulary and   enunciation.  

Oliver and I definitely bonded while I was there and I was very happy that "Gigi" and "Papa" were among the vocabulary words he learned well while we were there.  

We went to the YSA branch with Emma on Sunday, which was an experience!  It meets in an office building and is a very small and diverse group.  She enjoys attending there and we enjoyed getting a little glimpse of YSA life away from Provo!     

In the middle of our week-long stay (shortly after church), they got about 20-inches of snow which was kind of exciting, since we are having the warmest /driest winter ever here in Utah.  Temps were bitterly cold though, so not fun to be outside in.  Oliver lasted about 2 minutes out there and Lucie about 10.   

We also got to accompany Lucie to her first ballet class, which was adorable.   It was fun looking at these old pics of her Mom at about the same age happily dancing away.  

It was good for my soul to be there with them and I loved every second I had doting on Lucie and Oliver.   They're both at fun ages and I  hope that someday they live a little closer than the 2000 miles away they currently live.  I also really enjoyed the time with Cam, Garrett, and Ems. 

Meanwhile I'm eagerly looking forward to March...