More in April

Here's a few more odds and ends from April...

This girl loves to dress up. A couple of times when I went to pick her up from preschool, she was wearing the other girls' dresses and wanted a picture before she took it off to go home.

Boy, I thought Leah was bad about climbing. But Corbin has proved to be much worse. He's my little monkey boy. 

We were playing outside with chalk one day and Leah wanted me to draw a picture of her and one of her friends. Then she wanted to add another friend, and another. Soon we had several of her friends from the neighborhood and a few extended family members too, including her Grandpa Tucker. She was so sad when the sprinklers washed them away.

Corbin loves to flip through the pages of books. One night he looked through this little book of Leah's over and over and over until he was ready to fall asleep. He wouldn't let me take it from him at all until he was completely out.

For our monthly weeknight Relief Society meeting we decorated cookies. So before we left I got Leah from the nursery and let her decorate a cookie. By the time she was done, I think there was more frosting than cookie. But she had lots of fun doing it.

One afternoon I was playing ball with Corbin. He went to chase after the ball, but then he stopped and threw himself on the floor and started crying. I figured he was just throwing a fit and didn't think much of it until he wouldn't walk around anymore and cried whenever he put pressure on his left foot. We weren't really sure what to do about it, but after a while we called his doctor's office and they suggested bringing him in to get it checked out.

They took several x-rays but because his leg is so little and the bones are still so soft, they couldn't really see anything. So they had to treat it like it was broken just in case. Kids at this age heal so fast that the doctor said that even if it was broken that it would heal in 10-14 days. So they put him in a soft cast and sent us home. He told me that if we took the cast off for a bath and he takes off running then we would know he is better.

Corbin was a trooper while we were at the doctor's office. We had a long wait while they tried to figure out the paperwork and coding for the x-rays. He wanted to get down and walk around a few times, but would always fuss when he tried to stand up. He didn't like the x-ray machine and cried pretty hard when we held him still for the x-rays. But I think he cried the hardest when I took his sucker away for the car ride home (I didn't want him to bite the top off and choke on it while I was driving). Here he is enjoying the last of the sucker the nurse gave him after we got home.

Wearing a cast was pretty frustrating for a little boy who is used to being on the go. He had a hard time getting around. So when he squirmed out of his cast yet again the next day I decided to just let him crawl around while I was making dinner. But before long he was up and playing ball and chasing Leah around the house. So I took that to mean that his leg felt better. I still don't know exactly what happened. I'm guessing that he must have twisted his ankle while we were playing and sprained it real good. In any case, he was back to normal in about 24 hours.

Here's just a cute picture of Leah.

My two kids cuddling up to watch some Mickey Mouse cartoons together.

Leah has been going to the Tumbling Tots class lately and Corbin has been very frustrated that he couldn't get out there and play with the balls too. Then I remembered that we got this little Nerf basketball hoop right after we got married, but had never used it. So I got it out one night so see if Corbin would like playing with it. He was a natural. I didn't even have to show him what to do. He just walked right up and started putting the ball in the hoop over and over again. This kid is a little baller. He loves playing ball! 

Look how cute this little guy is! He melts my heart!

I taught my last preschool lesson at the end of April. Our themes for the day were triangles and farms. So here's Leah wearing her triangle shaped hat and showing off her "pig in the mud" that she finger-painted with chocolate pudding. Leah loved painting with pudding. Her pig was by far the muddiest of all the kids' pigs.

Easter 2014

Easter is such a fun time of year. It is even more fun now that our kids are getting big enough to enjoy it too. 

On the Monday before Easter, we had an FHE activity about the Easter Story. We opened eggs that each had little things that were part of Christ's final week here on earth with the last egg being empty to represent the empty tomb after Christ was resurrected. Leah loves talking about when Jesus Christ died, so this is a favorite activity for her each year. 

After our lesson, we let the kids hide and find eggs for an activity. Leah was especially excited for this, but even Corbin had a fun time putting eggs in the basket and carrying it around. 

Leah colored the eggs this year. She pretty much did it all on her own with my supervision. I got things set up for her and wrote on the eggs, but then I let her do all of the coloring. Fortunately Ross got home right before we started, so he was able to take Corbin and get him down for a much needed nap. That made for some nice mother-daughter time when we could do something crafty like this together. Leah loves to do crafty things with me.

On Saturday, we went to our Putnam family Easter Party. After lunch, we played a few games. Here's Leah and Makynlee playing the doughnut on a string game. They were having a hard time eating the doughnut without their hands, especially Leah. So we finally let them use their hands to hold the string. Ross and I participated too, but I don't have any pictures of us. The doughnuts were very yummy!!

This little guy couldn't get enough of playing with all the balls that were rolling around. He was getting very frustrated with us because we wouldn't let him play dodge ball and basketball with all the big kids. He just didn't understand that he's really little and that the big kids would just mow him right over. But that didn't stop him from chasing after a ball every chance he got.

The kids played a few other games like musical chairs and duck duck goose. Leah participated for a very short time. She was getting tired and had a very hard time dealing with the rules of the games. She doesn't do well when things aren't going the way she thinks they should.

I made sure we got a picture with my grandparents. I love that they are still both around to enjoy things like this with us. This party occurred just after my Grandma spent about 6 weeks in a rehabilitation center. She tripped over a phone cord back at the end of February and broke her hip and arm. She was go glad to be back at home and able to come to our family party. And we were so glad that she was on the mend and able to be there with us. 

We got a visit from the Easter Bunny late Saturday night. The kids were excited to wake up and see their Easter stuff on Sunday morning. 

Ross was able to come home from bishopric meetings before church to join in some of the festivities and help get the kids ready for church. Such a blessing!

Each year the Easter Bunny leaves some eggs all over our townhouse neighborhood. So we let the kids go out and collect the eggs in front of our house. And then hurried to get ready for church. 

Here's some cute pictures I took of the kids on our porch right after church.

After Ross got home, we went to his mom's house for a yummy Easter dinner with our Leslie family. Afterwards, the kids went out back to hunt eggs and then his mom talked with the kids about the real Easter Story using things that were found in some of the eggs the kids found (kind of like the FHE activity we had earlier in the week).

I love Easter time. I especially like thinking and talking so much about Jesus Christ and His resurrection. And it is so fun being able to teach my children about such an important principle. I think it is great that Leah loves to hear about it so much.

Walt's Funeral

During spring break we got the sad news that this man, Walter Cummings, had passed away. Walt married my Grandma Tucker about 2 1/2 years ago and hadn't been doing well for the past month or so. Although we don't know the exact cause of his death, it was very likely that his worn out heart had just finally given up. He was a sweet and loving man and a great companion for my grandma during a time that she really needed someone. Despite his failing health, he was a spry guy. He performed in the "Senior Idol" competition at the senior center just hours before he passed away.

Looking back, I can also see how much of a blessing it was for Walt to have my grandma come into his life. At the time that he met my grandma, Walt was basically living out of his van. He was staying with some family, but as I understand, it wasn't a great situation. After meeting my grandma, he started taking the missionary discussions and going to church. He didn't have to get baptized because he was baptized as a child although he didn't remember it ever happening. After they got married, he was able receive the priesthood, go to the temple and was able to be sealed to his first wife (whom he was married to for over 40 years). 

When he died, his funeral was attended by lots of friends from the senior center, members from the ward, and our big family. Very few of his family from his first marriage were in attendance. He told my grandma that if she had not married him, he knew that he would have died much sooner. And I realize now that he likely would have died alone with few people to morn his passing. Instead, his life was celebrated by many and he peacefully died ready to return to his Heavenly Father. And because they had been sealed, he was able to be reunited with his beloved wife, Betty. 

Those few days after Walt passed away were rough for my grandma, I'm sure. This is the second time that my grandma has been left a widow. My dear grandpa had died 13 years ago (almost to the day). And he and Walt's passing were eerily similar. So I'm sure all the memories of losing my grandpa came rushing back to her too. But in all of the craziness, I made a lunch date with my grandma so that I could spend some one-on-one time with her. My cousin, Carli, came along too. It was great to be able to spend some time with her and be able to talk about some of the tender experiences she had during this hard time. 

We were at the funeral home for a while visiting with family. I would have liked to have done more visiting, but my kids were more interested in playing and running around at the funeral home. It was a little frustrating since it was neither the time or the place for things like that. But anyway, here's a picture of Corbin and Jackson (my cousin's son). They were born only about 6 days apart (Corbin is older), but there's about 10 pounds difference between these two. They are at opposite ends of the percentage charts, and I think it is so funny so see them next to each other.

Leah and Makynlee were SO restless. I finally made them go outside to keep them from running amok inside. In an attempt to get them to sit still for a while, I had them sit on this bench and make different faces for me. They loved hamming it up for me and it only lasted for about 3 minutes, but the enjoyment I will get from these pictures will last for years to come.

This one of Makynlee smashing her cheeks makes me smile every time! What a couple of goofy little girls!

The funeral service was really nice. Although I liked Walt just fine, I wasn't all that close to him. So I didn't plan on crying. But I certainly ended up needing more tissues. The spirit hit me so strong so many times. And it didn't help that they had us grandchildren and great-grandchildren sing "Families Can Be Together Forever" as part of the funeral service. That was a song that us grandchildren sang at my grandpa's funeral too, in that very same chapel even.

The burial took place a couple hours away in Emery County. Walt's first wife was cremated, so there wasn't a predetermined burial plot waiting for him as you would expect for a widower. So my grandma decided to put Betty's ashes in with Walt and bury them both next to my grandpa's grave. It had been years since I had been back to my grandpa's grave so I decided travel down with my parents for the burial service. Here is my grandpa's headstone as well as his parents' headstone that is located nearby.

Walt was a proud Veteran of the Korean War. So one of my dad's cousins arranged for a military service at the grave site. It was very touching.

I love my sweet grandma very much. It is hard to see her go through so many hard times, but she doesn't let it get her down. She is a woman of great faith and I know she will be greatly blessed for all the good she has done for my grandpa and then again for Walt.

Here is a picture of some of our family who were able to travel down for the grave site services. Not everyone could make the whirl wind journey there and back. The little woman sitting next to my grandma is Walt's little sister, Ellie. It was nice to meet her through all of this. She took losing her brother very hard. I hope that she is doing better now.

I guess my point in writing about all this is because things like this make me realize just how important the gospel is to me. I am so thankful to have a knowledge and testimony of the great plan of happiness and to know that there is life after death and that we can see our loved ones again. I'm grateful for our Savior, Jesus Christ, who made salvation possible and for a loving Heavenly Father who knows each of us by name. When my grandma met Walt, she wasn't looking for someone to marry. But our Heavenly Father knew Walt and knew that my grandma could help him. So He led him to her. I cannot deny the Divine intervention that occurred in this sweet man's life. And I'm sure I'll see him again someday. Thank you Walt. You were part of our family for a short time, but your memory and influence will continue to live on.