Our Utah Trip and other Recent Snap Shots

We had an eventful October, highlighted mostly by our trip to Utah for my grandpa's funeral. In the last 7 years that we have lived away from Utah, Ryan and I have lost 4 grandparents. My grandpa is the fifth. When we learned of his death we decided we didn't want to miss anymore funerals. so we quickly got to work on travel arrangements. Miraculously we were able to find dirt cheap flights with only four days notice (a tender mercy for sure), so we all headed north. As I sat and listened to the funeral service, I felt so grateful to be a part of it. To be there in person was such a blessing, and even more so to be a part of the posterity of such a wonderful grandfather. I love my family so much.

My parents and all five of my siblings (in order from oldest to youngest, starting with my brother) at my grandpa's funeral last month.

Fischer and Isaac, twin cousins.

Davis at the grave site. 

My mom with her sister at the casket.

The weekend of the funeral happened to fall on the same weekend that my parents throw their epic Halloween bash each year. My children have never been able to attend so it was pretty sweet that we were able to be there this year.

Nathan and Luke. Two chubby cousins, a bee and a monster.

Siblings Ryan and Shannon, showing some of their ever-present rivalry. Shannon brings her kids to this party every year. She is an honorary Roundy. Her son even refers to my dad is his "third grandpa."

Ryan's dad and my dad, shooting the breeze. There's a little bit of a bromance going on here, as long as politics aren't the subject of conversation.

I dressed up as Minnie Mouse for the party and Allie is a zombie nurse from Walking Dead. All of my sisters as well as my parents helped so much to make our trip possible, letting us borrow clothes and costumes and cars and carting my kids everywhere. We couldn't have done it without them.  

My neice, Natalee. My kids want to be just like her when they grow up. I'm totally ok with that. She and her brother, Carson, are the cream of the crop. 

My CT sister, Becca (who now lives in SLC) stopped by with her kids to attend the big Halloween bash. I am so thankful I got to see her. I have missed her more than I can say since we both moved from the east coast. She helped me through three of the craziest years of my life. I don't know how I would have done it without her.

Maddie with baby Carter, hanging out under grandpa's backyard trees before the party.

On Sunday afternoon we got to spend time with Ryan's family and even meet our new neice, Tess while she and Krystal were visiting.

Krystal and Baby Tessly. She is so mellow and sweet. 

Anyone who has ever met Ryan's dad tells me that Nathan looks exactly like him. I'm so glad Nater warmed up to him (he's a hard sell with unfamiliar people these days). We love, love. loved our visit with family

Two Ninja Turtles, a toothless dragon, and Tink on Halloween night. 

Is this what your kitchen table looked like on November 1st? 

Thank you Dum Dums and Nerds for making it possible for me to mop my floor on Saturday morning. 

Maddie's selfie. She is pretty proud of her newly toothless grin. 

So many treats, so little time. Living it up at Ryan's company picnic this weekend.

Maddie loved the face paint almost as much as the balloon animals. 

Welcome November!

Grandpa Bond

My Grandpa at his 90th birthday party a couple of years ago. 

My maternal grandfather passed away this past Saturday. While there is always some sadness that accompanies death, his passing mostly brings me feelings of happiness and peace. I know that is a product of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The sting of death really is swallowed up in His atonement because I know I will see my grandpa again one day, and I know that he is now reunited with my grandma. Thinking of them together makes me really happy.

This weekend we will get to celebrate his life, and I will see cousins that I haven't spent time with in years. From what I understand, almost all of them will be there. What a great way to honor a great man. My grandpa was kind, charitable, soft spoken, and hard working. And he was a great teacher. Anyone who knows my mom can vouch for fact that he must have taught his children well and been a pretty great father, because she is one of the best people I know. He also had a great sense of humor. I remember the code to a lock that he had on his suitcase when I was a kid was 007. 

I am proud to be counted among his posterity.

From the Mouth of My Babe

We did the math and because our family has been slowly reading the Book of Mormon (very slowly), we have spent approximately 7 months plowing through the book of Alma. We finished it on Sunday and celebrated with an ice cream party. Maddie announced that she wants to go to Disney Land when we finish the entire BOM. 

A few thoughts by Davis, all voiced in the past day or two:

"It's like I always say, there's no such thing as too much bacon."

"Mom, when you sneeze, it kind of freaks me out."

"Mom, you know what would be really disgusting? Drinking water that's full of rotten lemons! That would be totally loathsome."

After both Isaac and Maddie complained about dinner: "Mom," Davis replied, "Dis dinner is so dewicious. I weally weally wuv it." (he is a brown-noser extraordinaire)

From the Mouth of My Babe

Brotherly love on the carousel at the Railroad Park.

Part girl, part monkey.

Just waking up from his afternoon nap.

Scented Markers. The best conference idea I've ever had. It actually occupied the kiddos for almost an entire session. That's a record for us., and a new tradition. 

Tonight at dinner Davis gave me a compliment (I think?) about my cooking: "Mom! Fanks for dinner! I weally fought it was going to be disgusting, but it turned out to be dewicious."

Some Conference Thoughts and a Few Pictures

Every once in awhile I like to reminisce by going through old posts on this little blog of ours. Looking back on some of the things about our life that I've recorded always makes me happy and grateful for my life. It's something that I really want to keep up on because I know it will be more meaningful as the years pass by and my memories of these times start to fade. Plus, my kids LOVE go back and reminisce with me, which is really fun and reminds me that to me it's worth the time and effort it takes to write these memories down. So here are a few snapshots and thoughts of our current life. 

If Nathan isn't on my hip, he can often be found right here, at my feet, pleading to be held. My biceps are getting stronger and stronger everyday while upholding these 27 lbs of chub. 

He loves a good post-nap snuggle. With three older siblings that also need attention, moments like this don't happen as frequently as we would like. 

The Gilbert Temple at sunrise. I completely underestimated how much I would love being so so close to a temple. We lived for 7 years being a 2+ hour drive and now we are literally minutes. I love it. The kids love to point it out as we are driving around town. 

Davis and his puffer fish mask. This guy is my constant sidekick during the day and I must confess that I spoil him more that I ever did with his older siblings. He is a master negotiator and will try to sweet talk his way into getting what he wants. It usually works. 

This girl! I am so thankful for her. She and I have to stick together, being in a house full of boys and all. Her happy disposition brings so much fun into our family. 

This kid and his selfies. He is growing up so fast. I spend more time worrying about whether or not I'm raising him right than all the other kids combined. 

Ah, Nater, our anguished toddler. This is his signature angry face. He wears it a lot lately and can change moods at record speed.  

General Conference this past weekend was stellar. As per usual, Elder Holland's message was one of the most memorable for me. I particularly loved how he said "we obtain a remission of our sins by pleading to God who compassionately responds. But we retain a remission of our sins by compassionately responding to the poor who plead to us." Such powerful words and so much to think about. I also really liked Elder Jorg Klebingat's talk. Did he lay down the law or what? I appreciate straightforward messages like his. This morning I listened to President Uchtdorf's message from the Priesthood session and I was blown away---quite possibly one of my favorite conference talks of all time. His comparing Christ's apostles at the last supper to us as Christ's disciples is so powerful. So much food for thought to ponder for the next six months. I am so thankful for living prophets to help us navigate this life.