Missing you

For my dad's birthday 2 years before he passed away. Kollette and I made him a scrapbook of him and the grand kids. On one side of the page were pictures of them with him taken through out the year and on the other side they wrote him a letter. Here are the pages with their pictures. You can see that they all loved him very much and I know as much as I am missing him today, and everyday, that they are all missing him too.

If Tomorrow Starts without me.

Has really been two years? I have found myself thinking about this over the last few weeks as the event leading up to my dads passing are replayed over and over in my head. Those memories are so vivid that it seems impossible to have been two years ago. However today does mark the 2nd anniversary of my dad's passing. A day that I am likely to always remember as if it just happened. It's all still unreal and at times I feel I will open my eyes and it will all have been a dream and he is still be here with us. Making us laugh with is funny stories and recollection of his life. I am so grateful for the all of time we had together and the wonderful memories we were able to create. I know he watches over us and helps us when the road seems long and we feel that we cannot go on.

I 1st came across the following poem after my grandma passed away a few years ago. It has been on my mind these last few days as it seemed appropriate, like something my dad might want to tell us if he had that one last chance:

When Tomorrow Starts Without Me

When tomorrow starts without me, And I'm not there to see;

If the sun should rise and find your eyes All filled with tears for me;

I wish so much you wouldn't cry the way you did today,

While thinking of the many things, We didn't get to say.

I know how much you love me, As much as I love you,

And each time that you think of me, I know you'll miss me too;

But when tomorrow starts without me, Please try to understand,

That an angel came and called my name, And took me by the hand,

And said my place was ready, In heaven far above,

And that I'd have to leave behind all those I dearly love.

But as I turned to walk away, A tear fell from my eye,

For all my life, I'd always thought,I didn't want to die.

I had so much to live for, So much yet to do,

It seemed almost impossible,That I was leaving you.

I thought of all the yesterdays, The good ones and the bad,

I thought of all the love we shared,And all the fun we had.

If I could relive yesterday, Just even for awhile,

I'd say goodbye and kiss you and maybe see you smile.

But then I fully realized,That this could never be,

For emptiness and memories,Would take the place of me.

And when I thought of worldly things,I might miss come tomorrow,

I thought of you, and when I did, My heart was filled with sorrow.

But when I walked through heaven's gates, I felt so much at home.

When God looked down and smiled at me, From His great golden throne,

He said "This is eternity,And all I've promised you.

"Today for life on earth is past,But here it starts anew.

I promise no tomorrow, But today will always last,

And since each day's the same day there's no longing for the past.

But you have been so faithful, So trusting and so true.

Though there were times you did some things, You knew you shouldn't do.

But you have been forgiven And now at last you're free.

So won't you take my hand and share my life with me?

So when tomorrow starts without me, Don't think we're far apart,

For every time you think of me, I'm right here, in your heart.

I love you Dad so much and I hurt so much inside, I know you are free from pain and illness though so I would never wish you back here to go through all that again. I am so grateful for the many years we had together and for all that you have taught me. We are all doing as well as can be expected down here and I know you will continue to watch over us.

Viva Las Vegas

The last weekend in April my mom and I decided to take a trip to Vegas. One because she had never been and two because Jared had been working down there for a few weeks and I wanted to go see him.

We started planning this the Saturday before we went. I found a hotel online near where Jared was working and we found a babysitter for the dogs. My mother in law with her dog came out to the house and stayed with my two dogs and my mom's dog. The Tuesday before we were to leave Jared came home and wasn't sure he was going back. Oh well we are going anyway. No way was I going to cancel this trip. Through the week I always thought there was a possibility Jared would be going, until Wednesday when he was sent to New Mexico. We are still going. We decided to leave Friday morning and my mom came out to drop the dog off and pick me up. We got close to Spanish Fork an Jared called and said if we waited until one he could go with us. I had packed some clothes just in case. Well around 12:30 he called and said he wasn't go so we left. It rained all the way down and we even got into some snow. My mom was a little nervous cause we were both unsure where we were going but with Google maps and my IPhone we made it to the hotel. (which by the way was out by the air force base and speedway) We decided to go to Chili's for dinner which was clear on the other side of Vegas. Being unsure of which direction to go we checked Google and decided to go right down Vegas Boulevard which was right by the hotel. So off we went. My mom drove down the strip sure we were lost (that comes later) We found Chili's and had a nice dinner. Then we decided to go to Fremont Street so we could see the light show and we knew how to get there. We got there and there were all these characters walking around so we decided to take pictures. Well they work for tips so we had to pay them, but the memory is priceless

We hung around for a while watching the crazy people and the lights. We also found a very pregnant cocktail waitress. Too funny. We laughed and really had a great time. Both of us are early risers so that means early to bed. Well it wasn't that early when we got back to the hotel and then we sat in the hot tub to relax.

Saturday morning found us waking up bright and early to the bugle call at the airforce base. We had a nice breakfast at the hotel and off we went. We decided to go the cactus gardens.

It was early enough that it was still nice and cool as we walked around looking at all the plants and of course the chocolate factory. It was closed though but we still got free samples

After we left the Cactus Gardens we went to the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort. We had seen this on the map earlier during our pre-planning so we had to check it out. I got out my iPhone went to Google directions and it led us right to it. It was really nice seen neither one of us really knew what we were doing (again remember this)
The Mormon fort was pretty interesting and they do have people there to guide you through it. Nice piece of history

Then it was on to the strip to walk up and down through the hotels.
We parked the car at Treasure Island and I made sure to take pictures so we could find our way back. We had a blast walking though all the hotels discovering their little secrets. Like the wildlife habitat at the Flamingo

We watched them feed the fish at Caesars Palace.
There is so much to do on the strip and it surprised a lot of people to find out my mom and I spent very little money and stayed completely entertained the entire time
Of course we had to go to M&M World (secretly I think that is the only reason my mom wanted to go)

All sorts of colors

After we left the M&M world we walked down the strip a ways and I discovered my phone was missing. I knew exactly where I left it so off we ran to the Coke place. Running on the strip is not an easy thing. Especially when night is falling. I was so grateful when my mom got it from the cashier. I was worried some one would have kept it. I really would have been lost without it. It helped us out so much on our trip
Here are some random hotel pictures

After we had decided we had had enough we headed back to the car, which we had no trouble finding. We drove out of the parking garage and took a wrong turn. We were lost. Well not really lost but turned around and really wasn't sure where we were headed. I tried to look it up on Google maps but right as I clicked on it the phone rang. It was Jared! For those that don't know Jared as a gift for finding directions and helping me no matter where I am get unlost. He is my JPS as I really don't need a GPS with him around. Within minutes we were on the freeway and headed back to our hotel. We again sat in the hot tub to relax from a very tiring and adventurous day. Sunday we knew we would be driving home but there were a few hotels we missed on the strip so we went back and wondereded through the Venetian and then on to the Flamingo to find the penguins. We never did find the penguins but we had fun wondering around the wild life habitat. Then it was time to hit the road. I slpet most of the way home while my mom drove. We had a lot of fun and are looking forward to going back again in the fall.

If you would like to see all the pictures that I took click on the picture below:

As I look back on my life I find myself wondering...Did I remember to thank you
for all that you have done for me? For all of the times you were by my side
to help me celebrate my successes and accept my defeats?
Or for teaching me the value of hard work,good judgement, courage, and honesty?
I wonder if I've ever thanked you for the simple things...
The laughter, smiles, and quiet times we've shared?
If I have forgotten to express my gratitudeFor any of these things,
I am thanking you now...and I am hoping that you've known all along,
how very much you are loved and appreciated.

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

I love you

Dinner time!

After we have colored eggs and hunted them it's time to eat them!
Macaroni and Potato Salads plus ham rolls and fruit salad

Some yummy dessert too!

Egg hunt at Grandma's

Because it is almost May I am trying to catch up on posts.
After we colored eggs we all went outside to hunt some more.

The yearly group shot, minus Gage, Brianna and Dallas

1.. 2... 3.. Everyone look different directions

Ready.. Set.. Go!

Cheyenne was quick to find hers

4 little kids sitting in a tree.....

Now there are 5!

Peeking out from under a rock

Hiding in the grass

Turning in the plastic egg for a sack of goodies. Thanks Grandma

Colored Eggs

Afer the easter egg hunt we all head back to Grandma's for some Easter fun. First we color eggs:

Cheyenne prepared the dye baths

Lot's of colors

Austin and Ruby anxiously await the time for egg dying

Bringing out the eggs, all 9 dozen

Let the creativey commence

Jared watches as chaos ensues

Even Pixie got in on the action

Brian's pepper egg

Kaitlyn and Ruby. Both beautiful!