Busy Summer

Summer is officially over when school starts. It went by too darn fast, but we did some fun things as a family. We swam alot, went camping a few times, and enjoyed going to the summer movies each week. Lucy, Gracie, Annie, and Eliza all had their birthdays. We did some fun things to celebrate the wonderful, cute girls in our family.

Lucy's birthday was fun and she chose to go swimming and then to Chuck-a-rama.

Gracie's birthday was a hard day, but we made it fun as we spent some good times miniature golfing and time with family. We started and ended the day down at the cemetery. We wish she could have been here to celebrate her 2nd birthday.
Annie had an eventful birthday. She turned 10 and was able to get her ears pierced. She also got a new bike, very fun.
Eliza chose to take us all to Jungle Jims and then to McD's. We all had fun. We sure love our cute girls.
The Boy is due in about 4 weeks. We are very excited around here.

Gracie's Garden

We planted a little garden in our backyard for Gracie. As I was reading a book my Mom gave me for Mother's Day I came across this quote by President Brigham Young and I thought of Gracie's Garden, "...render the earth so pleasant that when you look upon your labors you may do so with pleasure, and that angels may delight to come and visit your beautiful locations." I hope that Grace will delight to visit her beautiful garden. We love you Gracie!

Valley of the Goblins

Last weekend we were able to go camping at Goblin Valley. It was really a lot of fun for our little family. We arrived around noon on Friday and came home the next day. Our campsite was Awesome! We were surrounded by rocks and cliffs and slot canyons to explore. The girls loved exploring and climbing. We went to the valley of the Goblins a couple of times and played tag with the football. It's so fun to play in the Goblins. The campfire was nice, but the favorite thing was the tent. The girls loved playing in the tent and sleeping in it. We really had a great time as a family and look forward to doing it again. We sure love our girls.

St George and the Figgins

This past week we were able to go down to St. George and be with Gary while he was going to a couple of conferences. It was fun to swim at the Hotel and play in the warm sun. I am so excited for warm weather here at home.
On Friday we went to Zions National Park. We stopped at a "Ghost Town" on the way. The girls were a little nervous about that, but soon realized that there were no ghosts. It was pretty cool.
We took the Shuttle in Zions and hiked to Weeping Rock. The girls loved it. Water drips from the side of the rock cliff and it feels like you are being rained on. Pretty cool. Livie wanted to pretend she was "weeping" at Weeping rock.



After our adventures at Zions we went to Orderville, Utah to meet Merlin and Stacy Figgins, the wonderful people who made and donated the casket for Gracie. It was the highlight of the whole trip. They made us dinner and showed us around their home and made us feel very comfortable. The girls loved playing with their dogs and enjoyed the animal cookies that Stacy bought just for the girls. They are some of the kindest people we have ever met. We felt as if we had known them forever.
They have been donating caskets for about 5 years now. They told us that they donate about 30 caskets a year. It takes them a day to build it and another day to finish it and then they meet the people half way to deliver it. That is about 2 full months of services a year that they do out of the goodness of their hearts. They said they will always donate because they recieve so many blessings from it. They truly lifted our burden when Gracie died. We will always have a special place in our hearts for these wonderful people we now call our friends. May the Lord always bless them.

Easter

I loved that Easter landed on the same weekend as General Conference. How wonderful to have a weekend to reflect on the words of the Prophets and be full of gratitude for all that our Savior has done for us. It was sweet to think that we will be with our sweet little Grace again because of our Savior's sacrifice. I am truly grateful for my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ.
The Girls had a great time coloring eggs, finding hidden Easter Eggs, and eating their Easter Candy. It was a good and tender weekend for our family. (I love Easter Candy)!!!!

Easter Dresses

I let the girls wear their Easter Dresses to Church today since next week is General Conference. They all got new dresses, new shoes, and new tights. They felt Beautiful. They looked Beautiful. As we sat in Church I looked over at my girls sitting on the bench, feeling pretty and being reverent, I couldn't help but think of how cute Gracie would have looked sitting with her sisters with her Easter Dress and shoes on. She would have felt so pretty, twirling around in her dress and admiring her shoes. Its times like these that make my eyes fill with tears as I ponder on how much I miss my little girl. I realize how grateful I am for our 4 wonderful girls here with us on earth and our sweet Angel in Heaven. Gary said that Gracie would have felt very pretty today with her sisters. She would have looked Beautiful, and felt special. She's a Beautiful Angel now.
And, Yes, Eliza wore pink and was very excited about it.

California

We were so excited to get on a plane and head to California. It was a great trip, and we are sad it's over. We had a great time staying at the Beach House, thanks to the Bakaleys. Disneyland was alot of fun. It was great to have Mom and Dad, Russ and Laura, and Brad and Jayme families there with us. The Ocean was Cold but alot of great fun.

Fun in the Rental Van.

Disneyland that first night was rainy. It was great because there were no lines
.

Sunday we had fun at the Beach House and on the Beach. Windy and cold, but fun.



Monday and Tuesday were spent at DL
Mom and I got a kick out of watching Dad puttering along with Livie Driving
Gary got to go on all the "Throw-uppy" rides, Thanks Hun.


We went to Goofy's Kitchen for Breakfast on Wednesday. And then we spent the rest of the day at the Beach



This is one of my favorite pictures. Dad and Baloo!.


Beach time. Gary, Russ, and Brad rented bodysuits and went boarding. Cameron, Carter, Abby, Annie, and Livie also got bodysuits and had a great time in the water.




Thursday and Friday we went to DL for a bit. On Friday evening we spent some time at the Beach and then we busted open the Hot Tub. This was one of the girls favorite things to do.


It was a great trip. We took this picture of Gracie with us. We know she would have had a great time. We figure she would have liked "Small World" and "Winnie the Pooh", and other fun rides with her sisters.

Annie loved all the rides, her favorite was "Screamin'". I love that ride too. Livie loved the rides that were flat and safe. "Winnie the Pooh" was her favorite ride. Lucy loved every rollercoaster she could go on. Her favorites were "Space Mountain", "Thunder Mountain Railroad" and "Star Tour" ranked #1. Eliza's favorite ride was "The Haunted Mansion". We had a wonderful time with our girls. Gary and I feel very blessed to have such a great family. I feel so blessed to have Gary to share it with.


Eliza was getting sick on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday she didn't feel real good. We gave her some medicine to keep her fever down so she could try and enjoy Disneyland. When we got home on Saturday from our trip, we took her to the doctors. She had pnamonia. We had Oxygen brought to our house for her to be on for a few days. Poor little girl. She is doing a lot better, but it was scary there for a minute. Thank goodness prayers are heard and answered. Our Little Darth Vader!!!