Angel George

Whenever we drive home along 12600 South and are close to being able to see the temple, I always tell Bailey to look for the temple and tell me when she sees it. When we were headed home tonight I told her to look for the temple and when she saw it she yelled "temple!" like she normally does. Then she said "Angel George is on top of the temple." I laughed and was awed at the things she comes up with. I corrected her and told her it was Angel Moroni on top of the temple and not George. Then she said "Heavenly Father loves you." I replied, "Yes, Heavenly Father loves us." Then she asked, "Are there toys in the temple?" I laughed again and had to unfortunately tell her no, there aren't toys in the temple.

I Love You

We took Bailey to the Riverton City parade tonight and had a really fun time. It took a while for the parade to start, but once it did, it kept going and going and going. There were lots of floats, vendors and groups from all over the valley. It took Bailey a while to warm up and start collecting the candy that was thrown at us, but once she got going, she collected quite the stash. We enjoyed snow cones (they said it was shaved ice, but it really wasn't--it was a bit disappointing), and I think my favorite were the roller skaters. I didn't even know people did that anymore. I thought the old school skates were history and roller blades had taken over the scene. No way. These roller skaters were awesome!! One did a trick where he rolled right in front of a moving car on his side. When I saw it happening, I was like, oh my gosh, that guy just got ran over by a car and his brains are going to be squished on the road. I guess it was all a big trick because he was totally fine (of course). Amazing!! One of the guys did a back flip for us too. Awesome!! I think I need to go to DI and find me a pair of roller skates--or maybe I'll just leave it to the experts.

When we arrived home, I got Bailey all showered up and ready for bed when we started to hear fireworks going off down the street. We could see just a little bit of them from my bedroom window so Bailey and I enjoyed the show for a while. Well, one of Bailey's new loves is having me pop her toes. I really just pull on each one individually and sometimes one of them pops. After we watched the fireworks, I took Bailey in her room to put her to bed and started popping her toes. She laughed and laughed. Then I asked her something like, "Is that fun getting your toes popped?" She replied, "popping like the fireworks!" Her eyes got really big when she said it. Oh, I just about died. How cute is she!?!

After I popped all her toes and fingers, I brushed her teeth while she laid in her bed--now that's the life isn't it!?! She reached over and kind of rubbed my tummy and said, "I Love You mom". She has never said that before without being prodded by one of us. It was the sweetest thing in the world and completely melted my heart.

Bedtime

Our naptime and bedtime negotiation is that I put Bailey down for her nap during the day and Omai puts her down at night. Our routine is that whoever has the most energy wrestles Bailey to get her jammies on, usually the other one wrestles with her to get her teeth brushed, we say prayers and then Omai tells her stories. These days it's almost always a story about Harry Potter who Bailey is a little obsessed with right now. I know, I know... a 2-year-old shouldn't be watching Harry Potter, but she does (we fast forward through the scary parts). They quiz each other on the character's names or the names of the pets or things that happen in the movie. Omai tries to trick her by mispronouncing a character's name or teases by saying that a bad guy is really a good guy or vise versa. It goes something like, "Harry Potter's a bad boy" and Bailey will reply very matter-of-factly, "No Dad!" "Harry Potter's a good boy!" And it goes on and on. It's really quite adorable. Omai lasts for about 5 minutes then I hear him snoring away while Bailey just lays in her bed probably thinking something like "wow, that's an annoying sound."

My Grandma

My grandma passed away today at the age of 87. I had taken Bailey to see her a couple weeks ago and she was doing pretty well. She had just had her friends over to play Bridge, which she did every Monday for probably the past 15 years. Her legs were giving her trouble though--they were all swollen and secreting fluid which meant her heart wasn't able to pump her fluids properly. My dad had said she probably wouldn't last until Christmas so I thought it would be quite a few months until she would pass away.

I got a call from my mom Friday night saying she was at Grandma's house and that she wasn't doing well. We were heading home from a wedding reception in the area so we stopped by to visit. About 48 hours before that, my grandma wasn't able to move on her own anymore so they had brought in a hospital bed where she could rest and be taken care of. When we walked in Friday she was asleep and looked very different from her perky self I had seen just a week or so before. She fell in and out of sleep and would doze off mid-sentence so we weren't able to talk to her much. We did say goodbye knowing that she wouldn't last too much longer.

We got updates from my mom or dad who went to visit her often the past couple days. Today we decided to go see her again knowing that she would probably pass away or tomorrow. We got there a little before 3 PM and she passed away soon after. My dad, Dan and Camille were all there to see her pass. It was sad and we all shed tears, but it was also a relief to know she wasn't suffering anymore--she could breath easy, walk and she probably looks like the hottie she was in her younger years (my grandma used to be a jewelry model back in the day). She is now with all those people who have gone before her and who have been waiting for her. My aunt Camille said she could almost feel what my grandma was feeling--she was at peace and she felt great! I think it was also a relief for her three children to know their mom wasn't suffering anymore and she could finally be at peace, physically and mentally.

The word that best describes my grandma is CLASS. She WAS a classy lady. I have never seen her without her hair done, her makeup on and dressed to the T. She was always proper and even held a manners class for us when we were little. She was also very proud and would tell people that if we ever did something bad to be sure we didn't tell anyone our last name. She and my grandpa had worked hard during their lives to be good people and to always do the right thing. They weren't perfect, but they lived good lives and did their best.

My grandma was a great cook and she would often invite us over for Sunday dinner with the whole family and I LOVED it. She usually made some kind of meat and always served mashed potatoes and gravy. And she always served dessert--usually some kind of cookie or cake she had made the previous week and icecream. Before each dinner she would say, "Take all you want...eat all you take." She wasn't a waster. She bought almost all her clothing at thrift stores and was quite a frugal shopper. We wondered at this because my grandma and grandpa were very well off--I guess that's why they always had money though.

In the past few years it was hard for her to have big groups of people over so we would go visit in small groups. When the great-grandkids came along we gave her the nickname GG so they wouldn't be confused with their other grandmas. She always tried to hold the babies and play with them even if it was a struggle. She would recite nursery rhymes with them and always did "Chin Chopper" to each little baby. She would even try to play catch with them or entertain them with the puppets she had downstairs in her toy box.

Conversations were pretty repetitive as her mind was slowly fading. She would ask about family members over and over and she would compliment me on Bailey saying, "You're never going to have a child as bright as her." I would just smile and say something like, "Yep, she's a good little kid." I was always surpised though at her amazing memory. She couldn't remember what you had just told her, but she could tell you what each of her children and grandchildren were up to. She also had an amazing talent for telling stories and reciting things she had learned. She had participated in bookclubs ever since I could remember and she really enjoyed learning new things. She was a smart lady!

Goodbye grandma. I love you very much and appreciate all your service to me and my family. You will never be forgotten.

Spray It Out

Bailey was helping me clean the tub today. When I said it was time to spray it out, she went and grabbed her purple spray bottle we use to do her hair and commenced "spraying out" the tub. What a good helper!