Sophie is Eight!

We had a Halloween Birthday party for Sophie with a Jack-O-Lantern pizza, costumes, games, movie and cake. Eight things I love about Sophie are: 1)her independence 2) ability to tell me what she really thinks 3) her nurturing personality 4) her soft heart for others less fortunate 5)her hard work at school 6)her friendliness and ease with which she speaks with adults 7) her willingness to try anything 8)her thoughtful prayers. We are so lucky to have Sophie a part of our family.

Grandma Eva

My sweet Grandmother Eva passed away this month. She was such a wonderful person! I am sad for all of us left behind to miss her but so happy for her now that she no longer has pain and is able to be with her family she loved so much. She had 2 children, 9 grandchildren and 20 1/2 grandchildren. I am so proud to be her granddaughter!

Here is my grandma and grandpa with my dad and Dodie.

She has always been so beautiful!

A young mom with her kids. My dad looks so mischievous!

We had a perfect service for her and the sun was even out when we went to the cemetery. There is something so sad about leaving the cemetery once the grave has been dedicated. It's like you don't want to leave your loved ones body, even though I realize she is somewhere else, it is still sad. It was nice to remember her and be with my parents, siblings and my cousins for the day. We never get to see them and their wives and kids. Great people.

Phoenix getaway!

Taylor and I planned on going to the Oregon coast for a few days but when grandma passed away, we had to rearrange the dates for the funeral. It worked out that my aunt had a week nobody was going to use in Phoenix so we stayed in a beautiful condo. The pictures don't do it justice and the warm weather was just what we needed after a sad week.

Our 2nd day there we drove to Sedona and saw Indian ruins and took a jeep tour. It was such a beautiful place.

Phoenix temple in Mesa, I had never seen it and it's almost 100 years old. It was very unique.


Dinner with Jen and Denny. She lives close to where we were staying and it was great to see her.  Although we are only 2 years apart and very different, she is so much fun to talk to, be with and I love her to death!

We had such a great time! We sat by the pool everyday and read and swam. We'll do you a favor and not post any of those pics:)

It was like we were teenagers dating we were so giddy. We decided we need to do this at least a couple days a year. Thanks to our great parents that watched our kids so we could get away. You are the best!