Somebody Turned 8 Around Here!

Enough of my last pity party post. Nothing is fixed but my attitude, and that HELPS! The rest will be taken care of this weekend. Oh and I must add, a number of friends have done kind and very helpful things for us so that helps a lot!

Now on to something marvelous!

Andrew got baptized! December 27.
It was lovely and he was so very excited.

Nani and Poppy

This is a classic picture of me procrastinating. This is about ten minutes before we get started. I am the one speaking on the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I am just now beginning to pull thoughts together. My mom on the other hand is the Queen of Preparation. She is sitting on the other side of my dad. She gave a talk on baptism that was stellar. Really brought the Spirit. Full of easily digestable teachings. There were a number of people there who were not familiar with all our church's teachings so I know it was helpful for them as well, to understand why Andrew is making the choice he is.

Lenore, Cara and Josh, the Bonners, the Porters. Lenore is known for her cooking skills. Andy requested that she make doggy cookies for the refreshments and so she did. A great friend.

Poppy and his little admirer. Well - I am going to call them co-admirers. If they were not related Amelia might find a way to marry him.  Oh, and beyond Millie is Uncle Kris talking with Jacob.  Jacob thinks the world of him and I am so grateful that Jake can have Kris in his life.

Goofing around.

The wonderful Martinez family

I'm so pleased to see Andrew choose to be baptized and to be so faithful in reading the new scriptures Grandma and Grandpa got him. He LOVES to read them. (Stays up late at night knowing full well that if he is reading those it will be harder for me to get upset and insist on lights out.) Anyway - he has a testimony of the truthfulness of the restored gospel. He shared it with us all as we did a lesson on testimonies the other night. He is a good boy. Persistent in all he deems important. I love him to pieces!

Conflicted

One of my dear grandmothers passed away a little bit ago. My family had moved away when I was 14, and then I grew up and moved even farther away and got swept up in my life and my little ones and what I was doing. And then she was gone. Quickly. I had a wake up call. Life really is short. I've had a lot of aching moments thinking of times that I would think of her and decide to call her to chat - and then something came up and that had to be done and we had to get there and then I had to go to bed.....whatever. And I never would call. I never would write. And I loved my Grandma.

So tonight I was looking through the mail and there was a letter from an attorney in Oregon. I was surprised and couldn't figure out what it could possibly be about. Then as I opened it and began reading my eyes passed over the phrase Last Will and Testament. I had this sinking in my stomach. I thought, "Please, oh please tell me you did not leave anything to me." It's such a weird feeling to even think about that kind of stuff after someone has died. And then the hardest thing of all was when I found, at the end of the document, a form I needed to fill out to basically lay claim to my portion. It felt wrong to even fill it out. It felt like I was coming forward and asking for something from my grandma whom I was feeling in debt to relationship-wise.

Anyway. My thoughts.

And I did decide to seize the day. I had a plane ticket to go see her when I found out she had Leukemia and then she died before I was scheduled to fly out. So I kept the same flight and went to see my other grandparents who also live in Oregon and had a lovely time. Visiting, catching up on what is going on in each others lives, looking through photo albums and hearing many stories of their growing up years. It was precious time. Time that I will be forever thankful for, and wish that I would've made happen earlier with my grandma.

I am so grateful for my family. All of them. Parents, siblings, aunts and uncles, cousins, grandparents, 2nd cousins, nieces, nephews, in-laws. They all have a special place in my heart and have played a part in my life experiences that have given me great memories and contributed to who I am today.

Now to figure out how to stay in touch with everyone.....the blog counts, right? Except that they don't all have one. And there's a difference between knowing what's going on and having conversations and getting a great hug. Okay - if you are family and you are reading this, please consider yourself hugged. You are all running through my mind right now. Yes, ALL of you.

Family Came to Town!

Some of my family came to town and it was so much fun to spend time with them. We took my sister and her husband and their sweet nine month old baby girl (who we met for the first time!) for a little "hike" and around town. They are wonderful to be with and it was fun to show them where we live. Their daughter is hilarious. Quite the personality. She and Amelia had a grand time together. Amelia loved being able to share her Weebleville town and to teach all she knows about Mr. Potato Head.

Then my parents and grandma came. We, of course, had to hit the pool. Doesn't Amelia look like she's thinking, "Yeah, little girl, you should be nervous." My dad and mom had lots of fun swimming with them.

Here Amelia is trying to be hot stuff. She looks so much like my mom did as a child! Same eyes definitely.

Here we are after Jake's baptism. This is the reason they all came out. It was a beautiful program and it meant so much that family came to show love and support to Jake. This certainly was the highlight of our summer. And we were so happy that Granny felt well enough to come! Look at her! She looks beautiful and always spreads happiness. We love you all, family!