What Have You Been Up To? Part 1

I know I have been a very bad blogger lately. It seems I haven't been home long enough to keep caught up on anything. I had to seriously stop everything this last week & force myself to get the housework caught up & closets cleaned out. I couldn't handle the clutter & messes for another second. Here's a glimpse of what we have been up to. April 1st my Grandma Mildred passed away. She was 88. She is one of my absolute Fave people. She always did extra special thoughtful things for us. She made all my kids blankets that were extremely detailed & beautiful. She made them all Christmas stockings. When arthritis got the best of her she was discouraged that she could no longer do all the quilting & sewing she was so passionate about, she was very sad. I treasure all the keepsakes she's made over the years. She had the best sense of humor. We took all the kids up to Butte for her funeral. We stayed at the Copper King Inn. It's the same hotel Ryan & I stayed at on our Wedding night. We have had many memories staying there. The funeral was very nice. It was at St. Marks church. My Uncle Larry (dad's brother) has had the privilege of speaking at a lot of funerals lately. He did a wonderful job.

April April 22nd we headed to Provo for my brother Kyle's Law school graduation. Ryan was unable to get the time off from work. He was having to re-qualify for his job. He had extreme test that whole week. I was pretty bummed that he didn't get to go with us. We had been planning it for months. My brother Brandon helped me out by riding with the kids & I. He actually drove the whole way there & back. It was so fun hanging out with him. I worked half the day & then met my parents, Brandon & the kids at Smitty's. After a super yummy lunch we hit the road. We stopped in Layton & did some shopping. I love the Layton mall. Brandon & Marli got haircuts. Marli also got her fingernails painted. The Highlight was riding the escalators. I missed a pretty funny thing because I was getting my eyebrows waxed. Brandon told me there were two girls about 10 or 12 & they were running up the escalators the wrong way. Apparently one of the girls biffed it big time. I know it's probably not nice to think that's funny....But they sure did. The first night we stayed at the Crystal Inn in SLC. Brandon stayed in our room both nights. Uncle Brandon was watching Family Guy without me knowing while he was hanging out with Jakey. I was NOT happy about that. Jake kept begging me to let him watch it because he thought it was the funniest show ever. It is so not appropriate for kids. Brandon apologized. I had never seen the show. Jakey thought it was hilarious that the dog Ryan smoked, drank & swore. The Baby was so mean. It's totally messed up. Anyway we swam & had so much fun. The next morning we got ready & headed to Provo for the graduation. It was at the Tabernacle. It was a beautiful place & the stairs were magical. We got there a little over an hour early. I took Marli & Conor upstairs & showed them were Uncle Kyle was going to be sitting. We found his seat. It was so cool to see all the graduates names printed on paper where they were supposed to sit. Kyle was #39. The stairs were super steep & there were a lot of the. When we went back to our seats Jakey wanted to go see Uncle Kyle's seat so once again we went up those stairs. Lesley's (Kyle's wife) family got to the Tabernacle even earlier than us & saved us seats. We were so excited to be right up front in row 4. I was so emotional all day. Eight years of college...wow....I am so incredibly proud of my brother. He has inspired all of us so much. Sitting at that graduation was one of the neatest experiences. After we all went to GoodWood BBQ for dinner. Lesley made RSVP months ago for all of us. I got to sit next to both my brothers. Pretty fun time. Almost all of Lesley's family went to dinner with us. I had the best Rib eye steak. Jakey & Marli had ribs. We then went to Kyle & Lesley's place. Kyle opened all of his gifts. We left my parents there & headed back to our hotel. We took the kids swimming. We had some pool noodles we picked up earlier in the day. The kids were so excited. We couldn't get them out of the pool. Over Two hours went by & I was ready to go relax. It was pretty late & Brandon said he was hungry so Marli, Conor & I went to In & Out Burger & picked up some burgers & fries. I had never been to a In & Out before. The next day we went to K & L's & hung out for a while. I asked Les to take some pictures of the kids & I. So we headed to a fun park that had a duck pond. This is where these fun pictures were taken. After the photo's we went & ate with the whole family at the Brick oven. YUM! Les & I shared the BEST salad it had tons of yummy fruit & grilled chicken with the best raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Les & I went shopping at the Provo mall while Brandon & Kyle played some video games & the kids played. I have always wanted to go to a Archivers craft store. There was one at the mall. I was so excited. I got some really cool stuff to make my cards for card club. I also picked up the coolest clock. Then we were off to find Marli some fun bows & head bands. I got pretty excited at this hair booth & picked up ALOT of pretty hair do dads for Missy. It was time to pack up everyone & head home. I'm so grateful I was able to spend so much quality time with Brandon. The drive home we were all exhausted. It was pretty funny that my parents left a long time before us & we passed them. Hee*Haw!!! After that trip it took me all the next day to get caught up on Laundry & stuff around the house. I was wiped out & so a migraine came to visit. I hate that part. It seems like every time I go out of town I get one of those killer headaches. My boss has been able to help me with accupucture. I'm grateful for that.

Ok I'll stop here for now & pick up with some cute pics of the kids on part 2.