6 Months~

It's been six months today that Tucker passed away. In some ways I don't want to forget the pain of that day...somehow it validates our connection in my mind. However unhealthy that may seem, it is part of this crazy mourning process for me. I have to admit that time does dull the pain, and I have had a pretty good month. I use to cry every day, and since his birthday in January I have felt an amazing peace. I am so happy that peace has come. We will never forget what a special person Tucker was, and is, or how hard it was to say good-bye. We love you Tucker!

We

President's Weekend

We had a relaxing long weekend with the kids out of school on Friday and Monday.  Dallin had soccer on Saturday, we had church on Sunday and Monday we went to the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge with our friends.  After the refuge we went to pizza and Cabela's, every man's dream store.  Dallin is our outdoor man and loves fishing and the idea of hunting, he has been begging me to take him to this store for years.  It was close to the refuge so he got lucky.  I was actually happily surprised at the store, it is so cool.  They have displays inside the store that are set up like a museum.  We saw every kind of wild animal and they even had an aquarium. 

Having a sense of humor, I found it quite funny that the first place we went to was to protect and preserve wildlife, and the second place we went to was all about the hunt.  Opposite ends of the spectrum on our all inclusive nature day.  :)

Dawn P. taking my picture

while I take hers :)

the group

Dawn P. walking with the girls

Faith getting a peek at nature up close

Dallin enjoying the experience

Picture by Dawn P.

This guy found an owl's nest with the owl...we got to see it through his camera...so cool!

Found some treasures

Faith

Lucy

Kylee and Lucy

overexposed picture, the boys are not as white as this, but close:)

another opportunity to get the umbrella out ( we get alot of those)

leaves and mossy tree

Playing with my focus, wanted to have the front branch blurry and focus behind it...

fuzzy trees

Loved the barns, had some fun editing this pic.

Love the water and the barn reflection

Washington or England?

We know one taxidermist is staying busy...

grrrr

Display in the center of the store

Airplane in the middle of the store

And we even got to shop, she is a trendsetter!

Mother ~ Daughter Vacation Time !

Kylee and I have planned our second Mother ~ Daughter trip!  Last year we went together to see Wicked in Oregon. We had so much fun!  This year we are going to fly to Orlando and do Disneyworld and Universal !  We leave in two weeks!  Whoot! Whoot! 

I am so excited to try real Butter Beer at the Harry Potter exhibit!

Kylee told me we are going to dress up and hit the town each night...I might need a supply of energy drinks to keep up with her :)

Jeff is so sweet, he is going to work from home and watch Faith so Kylee and I can go play.  I am so lucky to have such a supportive husband!

Happy Valentine's DaY!

 Banner on our front door

Had this waiting for Husband when he woke up this morning

Decorating dinning room for Family Dinner tonight

Hearts & Kisses

Found a box of chocolates that says, " Sweetie Pie"  perfect for Faith

She makes some silly faces that make me happy!

She is having fun with balloons and her reflection today!

College Pic of Spencer ~ this boy makes me happy!

He might be attending BYUI but his heart belongs to the UTES! 

Going Someplace!

We have our first trip planned for 2012 and I am so excited! It's our 20th anniversary!  I can't wait to get away with my sweetie pie Jeff!

We will get to visit here

From a little boat ride on this...


And sleep in this fancy place or should I say Palace...hmmm?

(The Palace Hotel)

and sight see in this little yellow ride...have you guessed where?

~ In Loving Memory~

There are some beautiful traditions from the East.  Since we don't live close to where Gary was laid to rest I decided we needed a way to honor and show our respect to him.  Fortunately last year when we were in Hawaii they were having their annual Lantern Floating Hawaii Ceremony.  This is where we learned about a beautiful tradition where family members light and place a lantern in the water in  rememberance of their loved ones, healing their grief, and praying for a harmonious future.  Many write notes to their loved ones and place them on the floating lanterns. 

Our first annual floating lantern ceremony... 

This year I had the idea with no real concept of how to make the lantern.  As soon as Faith was in school today I started on my little project.  I am really proud of how it turned out and even worked!  I used rice paper from our local Asian store and just loved how it looked out on the water.  We love you and miss you dad!