Norman Douglas Price, my Grandpa

I was out of town Wednesday am-Sunday pm (I'll post about that next). When I landed, I turned on my phone and saw a message from Kylee. I was afraid of what it was, and I was right. My grandpa, Poppy Cream, as we called him, had passed away at 5:30pm. I was sitting on a plane full of strangers and couldn't stop the tears from flowing.
He was called Poppy Cream for a very special reason. Starting when I was one year old, every Tuesday he would come and take me down the street for ice cream. Just he and I, our own little date. So when I finally started talking, that's what I called him, Poppy Cream. He was a quiet man, with a gravely voice. He always had a bushy mustache and I loved it on him. He was an amazing photographer, and being the first grandchild, I was his favorite subject. He was kind and gentle and loving.

I was lucky enough to see him last February, when I was pregnant with Rachel. He lived in Apple Valley, California, so we stopped and saw him on our way home from Disneyland. He was much older and more fragile than I had ever remembered him. He had had heart problems since I was very young, but he had battled cancer the last year. He was doing well, but the last few months were harder. He took a turn for the worse this last week. My mom flew down to be with him on Thursday. I thought I had a few more days, to get home from my trip and make that phone call. I never got to talk to him, to say a final good-bye. I know he knew how much I loved him, though. He will be missed more than I can say.

Summertime

Picnic

We went on a picnic today with my friends Debbie, Christie and Tawnya, and their kids. It was really relaxed and great to hang out with some grown-ups for a little while. We went to Wines Park here in Lehi and the kids had a great time playing with their new friends, especially Elise. She is such the social butterfly! I have loved making new friends this past year and the last-minute picnic was just what I needed.

Celebrating Ethan

Greg has been in CA for training this week, so I've been a little busy, to say the least. He gets home tomorrow night and I can't wait. I miss my husband!
I haven't posted about my weekend getaway last Saturday and Sunday. I also went to So Cal, but mine was for a much more fun reason. Kevin blessed his little Ethan on Sunday!
I took an 8 am flight on Saturday and got into Long Beach for my weekend of fun. I flew with Kristopher and Jeremy and we headed straight to Kev's house to see our little nephew. Man, is he cute! And such a good baby. He rarely cries and almost always has this gorgeous smile on his face.

Shawn looked fabulous, as I knew she would. That woman is amazing. She has more talent in her pinkie than I do in my entire being. She has created the cutest surfer room for Ethan, sewing all of it herself. We spent the afternoon at Redondo Beach, with a quick stop at the Trump National Golf Course for some pictures. While we were at the beach I got some much needed sun and loved being near the water. I love the ocean. Nothing soothes me or makes me more reflective than the sound of the waves crashing. That night we had dinner at the 22nd Street Landing Grill. The food was wonderful and we had a great time eating on the pier.

Sunday morning we all headed over to the church for the blessing. Their ward meets in a very old and beautiful building. I wish I had taken a photo of it, there is nothing even close to it here in Utah. Kevin gave Ethan a wonderful blessing and we were all wiping our eyes when he was done. After church we had a fabulous lunch and celebrated the special day. I headed home that night. It was so fun to be together, even for that short while. It was a perfect trip.

Independence Day

As I mentioned in the previous post, Trent's b-day is on the 4th, so we try to balance celebrating our nation's birthday and his. The morning of the 4th started out like it does every year here in Lehi: with the shooting of the cannon. Yes, you read that right. The fire department shoots a cannon off every ten minutes between 6-7 AM. Greg thinks it's a nice tradition. I think it's an idiotic way to wake up the entire city on a holiday. Apparently there have been several attempts to get the city to stop doing it, but since it's Lehi and change isn't something they do here, they wouldn't even consider doing what the majoity of citizens want done. Anyway, we were a little nervous as we opened Trent's presents because we couldn't find Suzie, our dog. We thought the cannon might have made her hop the fence into the field next door. I get a call around 8 am, asking if I own a dog named Suzie. Apparently she was in the garage of someone almost a mile and a half away! She is extremely scared of loud noises, and I can only imagine that as each cannon shot was fired, she ran further and further away. Poor thing. Next year we will close the garage door the night before. I hate that cannon.

After our BBQ that afternoon with Greg's parents, we came here and the incessant, "Is it time to do fireworks yet?" began. When it was finally 9:30 and dark enough, Greg took all but Rachel around the corner to the neighborhood fireworks show. Every year about 10 families get together and shoot our fireworks off together, so it's a huge show. I stayed here with Rachel, who surprisingly slept through the entire thing. Maybe it's because I turned her white-noise machine up. (But if we walk down the hall and make the floor creek, she's sure to wake up.) Anyway, the kids had a great time. When they came home, we stood on our porch and watched the big fireworks from Thanksgiving Point over the rooftops of our neighbors. It was a fun day!
Check out Seth's cool outfit. Muscle shirt, stripped pj pants and cowboy boots. Does that boy have fashion sense or what?!

Yankee Doodle Boy

Trent turned 8 on Friday! It is very appropriate that our boy was born on the 4th of July. He certainly is a firecracker! He chose chocolate chip pancakes this year for breakfast, and after opening his presents, he was more than happy to dig into them. Hailey made all of his b-day signs this year and wrapped his presents, too. He got a Speed Racer transforming car, a portable CD player and headphones, a model remote control car to build with Greg, tennis balls, a giant Hershey's bar, and most importantly, Monster Jam for the Wii. We spent the afternoon having a barbeque at Greg's parents, where the kids ran through the sprinklers and went in the hot tub. We then came home to wait until dark for the fireworks. But that's another post.
This post is to tell everyone how lucky we are to have Trent in our family. He is so smart and clever. He loves his family, especially spending time with his dad. Like any red blooded-boy, he enjoys tormenting his siblings, yet he is also quick to help them if they need it. He loves cars, space, video games, and Star Wars. He makes us laugh and we are very proud of his choice to be baptized next month. We love you, Trent!

It feels like a new house

Happy Birthday Kevin!

As I was walking around my house tonight, I realized how much better it looks now than it did even three months ago. The new carpet and kitchen floor have made such a difference in the feel of our home, and the outside looks better than it ever has.
The people that built this house never installed a sprinkler system (?!) and so Greg has been working on that since we've moved in. We've also put down sod in the front and back portions of the yard that needed it. The trampoline is now in the pit Greg dug last year, and there is more bark in the swing area. It's far from done, but it's definitely an improvement.
As we were packing and getting the house ready to sell, we thought of so many things we would have liked to do in the five years we've been here. Now we have that chance! We've made lists and once we get everything moved back in, we'll start on all of these new projects. We are so excited about it!