We Will Miss Her Forever!!!

It is hard to write for the first time on our blog since Gracie passed away, but there have been alot of "firsts" and there will continue to be alot of "firsts". We have a Big whole in our home and hearts with Gracie being gone, but there is Not a big whole in our family. Thank goodness for the Gospel of Jesus Christ that teaches (and I believe it with all my heart), that we will be together forever. Grace is alive and happy in the presence of our Heavenly Father. She was too sweet and beautiful to be here on earth.
For Christmas this year we are writing down memories we have of Grace and putting them in her stocking. We look forward to reading them on Christmas Morning. The Girls miss their baby sister. They understand where she is and that she is watching over us. Gary and I feel so blessed to have these great, strong souls in our family. We have been grately overwhelmed (in a good way) with the love and support and comfort we have recieved from our family and friends. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!! We have such wonderful families, and our burdens have been lighter because of them.

Halloween

Halloween was kind of a Love/Hate thing this year. I am glad the girls had fun, but I am so glad it's OVER! We had 5 occasions to get into our costumes this year and I am done. The girls were cute and Gary and I were able to get into the action. Annie was a Fifty's Girl and a Vampiress, Livie was Cinderella, Lucy was a fairy, Eliza was a pumpkin, and Grace was a fish. Gary and I were invited to an adult Halloween Party so we needed to find a costume. We ended up being Publishers Clearing House. It was a lot of fun, and we won 1st prize for our costume(and Gary looked awesome in his wig). I always love the Candy. My favorite thing is dumping out the candy and sorting them into piles and seeing how much loot you got. Grace loved crawling from pile to pile and grabbing what she could. Lucy put her candy bag on her bed and said that it was great because whenever she wakes up she can get a piece of candy. I quickly put an end to that. My girls love candy - go fig.
Happy Halloween!!!














This is my hair after the curlers.

Livie

We love our cute Livie. She is now 7 going on 17. It's a good thing that her birthday falls around Halloween, She loves to dress up!!! The stores are full of any dress up you can imagine. I love being a mom of children who are so grateful and excited for what they get. Livie was full of excitement when she was opening up her presents and she was so grateful for the things she got. Livie has been through a lot in her little life and we are so grateful she is well and out of pain at this time. We love our Livie and we are so glad she is part of our family.

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Our Trip to Canada and New York

Gary had his annual ICMA conference in Montreal, Canada. I was fortunate to be able to go with him this year. It was wonderful. We stayed at the Marriot on the 24th floor. The view from our room was amazing especially at night. A few of our City Manager friends were there with their wives, it was fun to be with them. We saw the sights, did some shopping, and (my favorite) ate out. It was wonderful to be with Gary, hang out with friends and eat good food.
The conference was good and lasted until Wednesday. On Wednesday, a bit after noon, Gary and I rented a car and made the 5 1/2 hour drive down to Palmyra, New York, where his parents are serving on their mission.
We were in Awe at the beauty of the land in that part of the country. Upstate New York is beautiful!!! We drove into Palmyra and arrived at the Hill Cumorah right at sunset. We were able to climb the hill and look over the green, lush valley. There is a wonderful, powerful spirit there. It was great to be with Stick and Melba. They took us to see the Church sites and did an awesome job on the tours they gave us. We are so proud of them.
On Friday, Dan and Staci hooked up with us (so exciting). Stick and Melba took us all on a dinner cruise on the Erie Canal. Then we all stayed at Stick and Melba's wonderful apartment, which was across the street from the Sacred Grove.
Gary and I were able to go into the Sacred Grove a few times. Saturday morning before we left for home we spent a brief moment in the Grove. The peace and spirit is so beautiful, it makes you not want to leave.
Gary and I were so grateful for all those who made this trip possible for us. We missed our girls but we were so grateful to know they were in good hands. Thanks to Mom and Dad Elggren, Laura and Russ, April and Matt, Kirsten and Matt, and Joe and Tiff for spoiling our kids and taking good care of them. We love you all!!!

Long Legs, No Body

This is hillarious. Gary is all legs, and to prove this he and his sisters stood together and then sat together. You've got to love the difference. What fun it was to have his sisters here. I love his long legs.

Go, Fight, Win!!!!!!

Saturday, August 29, 2009 I ran a half marathon with April, Kirsten and Laura. My Summer long training paid off. It's something I've wanted to do for a while and when Ruth challenged us to get ready and run it with her, I took on the challenge. Ruth ended up not being able to run, but she was the one who got the ball rolling. Thanks Reese!!!! I loved the run. We ran down a beautiful canyon and through some beautiful countryside. Being with my sisters and sister-in-law was really fun. It was great to know we had our own cheering section at the end of the race. I loved seeing my sweet girls and cute husband waiting for me to cross the finishline. Mom took time out of her busy day to support and cheer.
Conquring our goal of running a half marathon was amazing. I look forward to doing it again. April, Laura, and Kirsten did Awesome and I am so proud of them. What a great feeling!!!!

California

My sister-in-law Jayme and I were able to go to California for a couple of days. Our main purpose in going was to see Wicked in San Diego. We arrived a day before the show and so to burn the time we decided to go to Disneyland. We had a great time. The Show was wonderful and DL was so fun. Gary and Brad and the kids all got together and played while we were gone. I am grateful for my wonderful Husband. When I got home the house was cleaner then it's been in a long time. I need to go away more often. It's always fun to get away, but it's great to be home. Jayme and I hope we can get all the sisters to go next time.

Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Tomatoes

With Mom and Dad Hill on their Mission, we have had the great oppertunity to use their wonderful garden. The Hills are famous for the many, many, many tomatoes they plant. These are some of the tomatoes that we were able to can this summer. Kirsten and Ruth and their boys came to help me can that day, and we just happened to get Big Ben into a little girls swimming suit. Ruth's boys always seem to end up in girly things at our house. Go figure!!!!

Summer Birthdays

Our Summer is always full of birthdays. Lucy, Gracie, Annie, and Eliza all turned a year older in the past 3 months. We loved celebrating with family. We let the girls choose a fun thing to do with the family for their birthday. Lucy chose to go to McDonalds to play and eat. Annie chose to go swimming and then to El Matador(which was alright by Mom and Dad). Eliza had her birthday while we were at the cabin, so we played and celebrated in the mountains. It's fun to have cute, sweet little girls.