Bridal Veil Falls

We set a goal that we would do something fun as a family on at least one of Roy's days off each week, so this week we went to Bridal Veil Falls for a picnic and to hike to the bottom of the lower falls. I have lived in Utah practically my whole life and have never been there (just driven past). It was so fun! We should have gone earlier so that we could have spent more time, so we will have to do it again.

Lost and Found

...4 years later!
In July of 2006 I lost my keys. I was 8 months pregnant with Samuel, we were getting ready to move (our house sold in about 2 hours), and I was working part-time at Banta. One day I walked into the house after work, slumped down on the sofa for just a few minutes with my purse right next to me on the floor, and then when I got back up to go visiting teaching, the keys were gone. We searched everywhere, and when they didn't even turn up when we packed and moved everything out, we figured that Rebekah (who was only 19 months old) had somehow thrown them away.

A few days ago Roy found them! In his car in the track that the seat moves back and forth in. What's even funnier is that for the past year or so I have not been able to even drive Roy's car because the seat would not adjust. Now it adjusts just fine! :)

Memorial Day 2010

Sometimes I wonder how it is possible that we actually had a child die. Maybe it is because life keeps moving forward when it sort of seems like time should have stopped. It is very surreal. Yet, here is the proof, and we are thankful for the time we had with our little Samuel.

There are getting to be quite a lot of people we know who are buried in the Orem Cemetery. We were late getting flowers purchased, so there weren't a lot of options. (Note to self: don't wait to get flowers until you are on your way to the cemetery.) It was a beautiful day!

And it was made even more beautiful by the fact that our brother-in-law Nate was doing quite well following a very serious motorcycle accident two days before. We are thankful for miracles!

Last Day of School 5-28-10

Rebekah's Preschool Graduation

Rebekah was blessed to be in the preschool at Cherry Hill this school year, and she had a great time. The kids are all so cute! Thank you to Miss Ruth Ann and Miss Cecelia for being such great teachers. She really learned a lot, and it kept her busy since she was getting quite bored at home without her brother here to keep her company.


Elisabeth survived 3rd grade, even though she had sort of a rough start. Her teacher was Mrs. Threet, whom she really ended up liking in the end. I think Elisabeth grew up a lot this year. She is excited to know cursive and her times tables. She got 1st place for the third grade in the Arbor Day poster contest, and honorable mention on the state level. She is such a sweet girl.



At the end of the day (dinnertime) the girls were zonked!

Dance Festival

Elisabeth and Rebekah were awesome at the dance festival today. The weather was perfect too! It was extra fun for me now that I know more of the students. The first graders whom I have worked with the past couple months did really well on their dance too. Roy was planning to be there, but then his work schedule got changed and he had to miss it. But Roy's parents and my mom came to watch. I even participated in the teachers' dance, which was embarrassing but fun.


Bekah's Dance:

Lissa's Dance:

Canary Garden Balloon Launch

Tonight we went to the Canary Garden annual ballon launch. Canary Garden is a bereavement support group that we attended for a while after Samuel died. It is designed for children, but it helps the parents too. I wish we had kept attending. I need to see if we can possibly get back in because it would be good for the kids especially.

This is how Mount Timanogos looked tonight. It was a gorgeous evening.

We wrote notes to Samuel and tied them to the balloons. Bekah's said,

Dear Sammy,
I love you. When are you going to come back? I miss you. I want
you to come back.

:( Tugs at the heart strings big time!

Oops...Elisabeth let go too soon. :)

Then Bekah's wouldn't float, so we had to get another balloon. Hers went up all by itself but caught up to the others pretty quickly.

It's interesting how such a simple thing can mean so much to me sometimes. I sure do miss my sweet little guy.

Merry May 24th!

It's not really that unusual for Utah in the Spring, but we still complain about it every year like it's the first time it's ever happened. :)

Time to Water the Plants

I have this plant that we got when Samuel died, and it has this way of reminding me that I haven't watered my plants for a while...

Time to water the plants:



3 hours later:



I will be so mad at myself if I kill this plant or any of the plants from the funeral. They make me happy when I look at them (at least when they are watered and looking healthy). I probably need to start repotting some of them, but I am scared to.

Beautiful Elisabeth

Elisabeth went to a friend's "Oscar Night" birthday party last weekend, and I thought she looked beautiful!

Our new alarm clock...I mean neighbor

This is what I woke up to this morning. I've never actually seen a real live woodpecker, so it was sort of fun. I have heard him for the past few days, but today he was especially close (and annoying). I had to get up and close the window. (Sorry the video and photo quality are not that great. I was shaky for some reason.)