Happy 9th!

Today is our oldest son's birthday. Dallas turns 9 at officially 9 p.m. Washington time. We love our little Utah baby. Dallas was our first and now he is the older brother of 3. 9 lbs. 2 oz. and lots of dark hair. We love Dallas so much and can't believe how awesome he is. Last night we went to Sports Authority to buy him cleats for flag football that he will be playing this fall. Dallas loves music, playing the drums, singing (more like Big Poppa rapping I should say), guitar hero, skateboarding, reading, playing with his cousins, and pretty much anything that keeps him busy. Dallas is a go getter, a good listener, and fun to be around. His teacher last year would always comment to us how he has a good sense of humor and she could kid around with him more than the other kids because of his maturity. Dallas is so special to us and we are so glad to be his parents. It's truly exciting to see how he changes, good and bad, and to see how he is different from even a year ago. We love you Dallas-happy 9th birthday!!

Hood to Coast

Mike participated in the Hood to Coast Relay this year. He had a real good team which ended up placing 10th out of 1000 teams! We were super excited to drive up to
Seaside to see him. The boys and I had actually been in Salem visiting my parents as a last mini vacation before school started. We were able to pick him up from the train stations the night before and then took him to Sandy to meet up with his team before his leg. Mike had 3 legs that he ran in the course of the 197 mile relay and his first leg didn't start until almost 1 a.m. After we picked him up we were able to walk around a bit, eat some elephant ears and enjoy some time at the beach. We had lots of fun!

Catching Up

I was sitting down in the office this morning and was finally able to take breath and relax. It's been a while since I have been able to sit and not have to worry about where I have to be going. Yesterday was the finish of my many travels-hopefully for awhile- as we drove over to Portland to meet my family at the Portland airport to welcome my brother Derek home from his mission. We were all so excited!

We kept looking for him



And finally we saw him!!







After all the hugs we went to a park to eat, play and have fun. My dad was able to get a key to this park that is owned by the church at a chapel near the airport. We had lots of fun! We took off around 6 to head home since Dallas and Cody had school the next day. The boys are already asking when they get to see uncle Derek again:)

A Peaceful Passing

I received a call from my mom this morning letting me know that my grandma Cooper passed away last night. Grandma would've been 88 this month. My grandma, commonly called Granny Franny, was an awesome woman. I have so many fond memories of my grandma from when I was very young. Some of my very earliest memories are of getting letters in the mail from my grandma (she has been my longest penpal), going on walks with her before breakfast, learning to make zuchhini casserole, camping, baking, going to dinner at her home, her ability to make beautiful porcelin dolls, playing Uno... then as I grew older and was at BYU driving down with my roommates to visit her on the weekend. My friends always thought she was so sweet.
Later as I got married and had our first son, Dallas, she was there. Grandma loved Dallas. I am so grateful that we lived so close for a couple of years so we were able to spend so much time with her. Everytime we went over to visit grandma we would have to take a walk around all of her neighbors so she could show him off. Shortly before we moved up here to Washington grandma slipped on some ice and broke her hip and eventually had to move to a long term care facility. The pictures I posted were from our visit with her 2 years ago August when we took our family to Utah on vacation and to see my brother Derek off into the MTC.
My sweet grandma will be greatly missed by all those that knew her and loved her. Grandma had a huge heart and my heart aches for her today. I am grateful for the many lessons I learned from her and especially that my husband was able to know her and get a glimpse of what a neat lady she was. I like to imagine who was there waiting for her in heaven. I think my grandpa Cecil was there and her parents and her grandparents-what a happy reunion!