she got her wish...

Yesterday after a very long and full life my "other grandma" went home to be with her sweetheart.

(this was taken when cole was 2 weeks old)

the term "other grandma" although odd sounding to outsiders, was a term my grandma loved and encouraged. she signed all notes, letters, and referred to herself as other grandma. it was not a definition just a term she heard her tiny grand kid say and decided to make it stick.

she was born in 1917 and was 92 when she quietly slipped away at my parents home, in her bed. to those of you who knew her, you know that she has wanted this for a long time. in fact each time I would go visit and tell her she had to stick around for another grand baby or something like that, she would put her hand up over her face and say "oh heather, don't wish that on me!" she had had a long life with plenty of experiences and was so ready to be reunited with my grandpa. my grandpa died when I was 11 months old, and all she wanted was to be with him again. so, yesterday afternoon she finally got her wish.

I was lucky enough to get to spend time with her just a few weeks ago when my parents brought her up with them to visit the grand kids. she loved just watching my oh so entertaining children. and then the day before she passed I was able to speak to her on the phone and say goodbye. and when I told her to say hi to other grandpa for me I am told she got a huge grin across her face. there is no doubt in any of our minds that other grandma is happy and that other grandpa is too.

just a few thoughts...

juicy fruit, her big red-ish car with cushion so she could see over the steering wheel, hiding her keys, 7 up, broccoli and avocado dip, the brown bowl chair, the way her bedroom smelled like her, neapolitan ice cream, drum sticks, baseball games, clapping her hands together once when she was so happy about something, broaches, tough, being the audience when david and I put on award shows with categories like "best other grandma" and where the awards were forks wrapped in tin foil, being our customer when david and I made up restaurants with menu items like "piece of bread", visiting her at her ward and in the church library, the house in vista, passing the landmark of the big guy and knowing we were almost there, the bag, how much she approved of and loved justin, her watching my kids, the pictures of her grand kids all over her house, how proud she got when she talked about my dad, stories about when she met my grandpa and stories like how her pictures were on public transportation as adds for the photo studio, how strong she was, how much she loved us.
xoxoxo

here piggy piggy

ok, since I still can't find the silly cord, I will update what I can of the non-picture required posts. aside from computer drama the other reason posts have been non existant is the craziness of this:

while we are not 100 % sure (due to the fact that St. George has seen so many cases they stopped swabbing to confirm) it appears that justin was hit with the swine flu. he had all the symptoms on the page and they told him not to bother coming in unless he had respiratory problems because they are only giving medication if you are under 5 or over 65. so he was quarantined to our room and I lathered everything he touched with hand sanitizer. After 3 days all that remained was a sore throat and we seemed to be in the clear.

then a week later I developed symptoms (minus the fever) and we thought we were in for it...but I was better by day 2 and sore throat free by day 3. so we don't know what I had because justin looked like he had been hit by a truck for 3 days and I bounced back in 1.

then a week later after I had stopped freaking out that the kids were going to be afflicted cole said "I feel sick...in there" (pointing down his throat). after it was clear he felt yucky we took him in and I have never been so glad to get a diagnosis of strep in my life!

so while they still insist that it sounds like justin had it, cole only had strep. and thanks to apparently fast acting antibiotics he has not complained once today of any soreness...hallelujah!

technical difficulties

Our internet finally decided to start working again...now if I can just find that camera cord amongst the packed boxes we will be in business!

out from under the knife

we are officially crazy.

in less than a week: drove to st.george. found a place to move. drove back. packed our life. moved. (thank you to all of those who helped us). drove back again from st. george. and now to complete the list: ACL sugery. that list looks small as I type, but I am too tired to recall the million other things we had to get done to accomplish those things. the good news is that we are at the tail end of this insanity and that justins surgery went really well. the surgeon said his knee didn't look like an old worn out football knee, which is great news for a man who wants to be active the rest of his life. so now we begin reab. stay in provo for a few days. and then head back to continue rehab in our new hometown. like I said we are officially crazy. thank you to all of our wonderful friends who have helped us in a million ways and allowed us to accomplish our huge checklist. I don't know what we would have done without your help. we are more grateful than you will ever know for your willingness to help.

there's no place like home

we are back from our whirl wind trip down to St. George to find a place to call home. and we are so happy to report that it was a success! thank goodness. we were actually surprised at the number of good places we saw. we really liked the area that this town home is in and it was a good deal with all the things that are included in our rent. so after some craziness we finally decided to go with it and are happy to show pictures of our soon to be home!
(I am also equally excited that there is a Tai pan in S.G. so I can cutify the place for cheap!)

so here is the kitchen

and dining area

we are SO excited to have not one but TWO bathtubs! (it's a 2 1/2 bath) Although we loved our current place, the 1 bathroom, shower only got a little tough 2 kids later. Cole is going to be in HEAVEN.

there is a family room off to the side of the kitchen.

this picture was taken from the living room, we didn't really get a good picture of the living room itself. that hallway you see leads to a bathroom, and then on through to the kitchen and family room.

this is one of my favorite little details. I love that little nook in the wall where the stairs turn. I can't wait to accessorize it.

there are 3 bedrooms and a laundry room upstairs. it is a cute place and we are excited to have that big obstacle checked off our never ending to do list. the development also has a pool and gym and places for kids to play.

Justin and I were lucky enough to have Justin's mom stay in town and watch the kids so we could go down and run around like crazy looking at places. his company set us up in a nice hotel and it was really great to spend time together even if it was filled with time crunches and such! I have to admit though I BAWLED when we left the kids and could not have been more happy to see Cole waiting outside when we returned. he ran so fast to the car and I could not have been happier to see him! Ali was equally as adorable and did a little dance upon our arrival. we missed them and are happy to be home with them.

so now onto loading up the truck monday and heading out! ah! this is craziness!

leavin' on a jet plane...or I guess a car will get us there

and where are we leaving to?

our new home...

St. George Utah

yes, it's official. we are actually leaving provo. Justin was promoted to the St. George office. which means a commute is out of the question and a move is in order. we are excited about it, but to tell you the truth, it all happened so quickly that it is a little surreal...wait I mean a lot surreal. I can't even begin to think about how much I will miss fabulous friends or I will start to bawl. so maybe it's a good thing this move is happening so fast that I don't really have time to fully process any of this. if you know me, you know I hate change. I struggle with it in general and so I was surprised when I was able to "calmly" (okay maybe not completely freak-out-less) consider this proposal. not to mention that I think I shocked my husband pretty thoroughly as well.

when things fall into place easily, it makes you feel a bit more peace that it is what is supposed to happen. even if you do hate change, and you don't know a soul, and...okay, stopping myself now. so it's off on a new adventure a few hours closer to family, and although it's chaos now, it feels right.
and on a side note, I am so proud of Justin and all of his hard work. he amazes me and I know I am one lucky gal.

one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish

sometimes you just need to be a man

and catch things with your bare hands

and get dirty

with dad

in nature

and then eat your spoils

yeah, being manly is great.