Charlie Turns One.....

One year ago...

......this little guy was born. 

What a joy he has been to our family.

We celebrated his first birthday with family, Taco Time, and cupcakes.

 At first he wasn't so sure about the cupcake.

 It didn't take him to long to figure things out nicely.

Oh, that toothy grin.

 He was so fun while he opened his presents.

 Even cousin Rudy wished him a baby birthday.

Just a few things about Charlie at this age:

-He loves hats, remote controls, stairs, and his little bike.

-He is starting to interact more with Lucy.  He laughs at her (when he's not screaming at her to let go of his head).

-He is starting to be a daddy's boy.

-He is eating everything I give him.

-He wakes up and screams until he has a bottle.  Then he's all smiles.

-Charlie is a great sleeper.

-He is not walking yet.

-He is a content, chill baby.

Life After the Funeral...

 In the week that followed Grandma's funeral, most of my family stayed with us in my parent's house (including my parents).  It was chaotic, noisy, and crazy fun.  We made the most of the time we had together.  One of the days we went to the zoo.  We were lucky to have my grandpa come with us.  Lucy thought he was her special pal.

 We took the babies on their first carousel ride.  Tyler loved it!

 Sarah did too!

Charlie cried both times I tried taking him off the animals.  He wanted to keep going.

 A not so great four-generation shot.

 The Hogle Zoo has a great new splash pad.  The kids had a great time playing in the water.  Even the babies were scooting around in nothing but their diapers.

 Maybe Charlie will be walking soon??  Hopefully not.

 This picture of Lucy was too cute not to post.  She got to go to her friend's fairy birthday party.

 The next day was the "big game".  That's right--the BYU vs. U of U football game.  We got all gussied up in our royal blue finery.  Kalli Jo made t-shirts for the baby boys and little dresses for the baby girls.  They turned out darling!

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 Once again, we couldn't seem to pull it together to beat the Utes.  Quite the bitter pill to swallow.  It's going to be a long three years until we play again.

The next day was Sunday.  All of the Colorado folk went home leaving just my parents and the locals.  After church we drove the Alpine Loop for our annual leaf peeping trip.

 Sunday was Charlie's actual birthday, but we decided to celebrate the next day considering all that was going on.  This is Charlie's first taste of brownies.  Pretty sure he liked them.

 Adelaide was not thrilled to be taking pictures.  How good is her face?!?

 Lucy has turned into quite the little poser.

The next day we had to say good bye to my parents all over again as they headed back to Scotland.  While it was a little easier the second time, it was still hard to say good bye knowing we won't see them for so long.  Now, I guess we try to pull together some semblance of "normal life".

Saying Good Bye to Grandma....

I have felt very fortunate to be 28 years old and still have all four grandparents still living.  Two weeks ago that changed.  I was facetiming with my parents in Scotland when my Uncle Bob called.  My Grandma had been experiencing complications from a back surgery the previous weekend.  Unfortunately, she had been bleeding into her spinal column and it was now too late.  Bob informed me that she had between 2 and 24 hours left to live before the blood clot in her spine cut off her respiratory system.  My parents quickly hung up with me and started packing hoping to make the earliest flight out of Scotland possible.  The rest of the family who lived in Utah began gathering at Ogden Regional Hospital to say good bye to Grandma.  When I got there, she was still awake but unable to speak.  I got to say good bye to her and she was able to mouth that she loved me too.  It was humbling to see her say goodbye to all 7 of her kids and their spouses, 40 grandkids, and many of her great grandchildren face to face, over the phone, and via facetime.  The outpouring of love was tremendous.  We sang hymns to calm her when she became anxious about her inability to breathe well.  The spirit was beautiful, and I decided that it was such a blessing to be able to have the time to say good bye to her.  She passed away the next morning at 6:50.

My grandpa was so sweet.  He took every opportunity he could to kiss my grandma good bye.

The night of the viewing, it was so good to see all of my cousins.  Thirty-nine of my forty cousins were able to come.  A large group of us decided to eat at Maddox after the viewing.  I couldn't believe that they were able to accommodate all thirty of us!  Janel and I had a great time catching up since our visit to Portland.  They always called us salt and pepper.

The funeral was the next day.  I loved hearing all the stories about my grandma--those that are legendary, and some that were new to me.  She was a remarkable woman and had so many qualities that I want to emulate.

 Me and my siblings at the internment.

 My cute grandpa.

 My grandpa and my dad.

Love you Grandma.

September....

The day after we came home from Canada, Lucy started preschool.  I had my first day of work, so Jordan took her.  Doesn't she look so cute?  I can't believe she is old enough to go to preschool.

Charlie bit me for the last time two weeks before his first birthday.  He is now weaned.  I was more sad about it than he was.  Weaning was a miserable experience for me.  I was in horrible pain for a solid two weeks.

We took advantage of Jordan's time off and hiked Donut Falls as a family.

Then came my favorite time of year.  BYU football season!  The first home game was against Texas.  We went down really early so we could tailgate with family.  While we were tailgating, the craziest storm I have ever seen in Utah blew in.  It reminded of the storms in Georgia that create tornados.  The game started two hours late because of the rain.  BYU ended up soundly beating Texas.  It was a great day!

Lucy had her first ballet class.  She was over the moon excited to get all dressed and be a ballerina.  It was so cute!

How about this guy?