Stonegate Carnival

Had lots of fun at the Stonegate carnival with Ben, Grace, Marin and Papa.  Grace threw pies at Mr. Machesky and Miss Hager.  She also tried "shooting" targets.  She played every game, won prizes and had fun.  Ben mostly played laser tag and had fun with his friends. He did get to throw whipped cream pies at Mr. Mai and Mr. Peters.

 Young Womanhood Recognition Night

I was so proud of Amber to finally earn her YW medallion.  She never ended up having a formal end interview with the Bishop with all the funerals, etc going on, but he was good with her going forward. It was a really nice night.  Amber bore her testimony talking a lot about a mission.  A choir of sister missionaries from the Irvine mission sang. And the slide show was sweet.  I had actually included a pic of Amber and Grandma without even remembering (it was weeks before she passed away), so when that particular slide came up, it was very touching. 

Amber hasn't had best friends that were Mormon really, but she has had fabulous leaders and teachers!!!  Bishop Henderson was her favorite seminary teacher for 3 years in super early morning seminary.  

Amber and Sister Dougherty have always had a special bond.  They love and appreciate each other.  Amber has been blessed to have Sister Dougherty as her Stake YW president for almost 6 years.  What a great lady!

Sister Muir has been another great leader and teacher. The Muirs have always been cheerleaders for Amber. Amber has been blessed beyond measure to have Sister Simkins and Sister Silva as YW Presidents.  She has loved being taught by Sister Valdivia as well. Sister Weaver ranks up there with one of the best women in the Church.  She is fun, kind and most of all she LOVES her YW- especially my girls.  They love her too!

So proud of my beautiful, spiritual, faithful daughter!

Grandma's Funeral

I really don't know what to say about my mom dying.  I have kept from updating my blog since it happened so that I didn't have to write about it.  It was a relief to know that she was no longer in pain and that my Dad didn't have to spend every waking moment trying to help her- although he did so valiantly! I am so glad that we had a few weeks there at the end where she actually talked to me on the phone and could carry a conversation. It was like having her back, since she really hadn't been a part of our lives verbally since Christmas.

Adam, Daniel and Uncle Tom flew to texas right away and helped my dad.  A viewing was held in Texas a few days later.  Then the boys flew back to California for the viewing and funeral here.  The funeral was really well attended and it was wonderful to be surrounded by friends and family and to remember Mom in such a sweet way.  I miss her all the time and wish she was here and healthy.  I know she is watching over us and keeping tabs on all the comings and goings.  Here are pictures from the funeral day in Irvine.

We then had the casket flown to Utah were Mom was buried a few days later.  She is buried right next to Grandpa Paul and Grandma Jeanne in the Lehi cemetery.  Many family and friends that could not make it to Irvine, met up with us there.  Papa had Janet and Justin say a few words and then he dedicated the grave.  It was a beautiful day, although a hard one.

I had to throw in a few pictures of the flowers since Mom would have loved them all.  There were so many beautiful arrangements from friends and family.

Goodbye Grandpa Paul

The day Gavin was born was also the day we lost Grandpa Paul.  We joked that they high- fived as they passed each other from the spirit world to Earth.  I flew up to Utah to attend the service.  I really wanted to take all the kids, but there wasn't time for us to drive there and back and flying on short notice was far too expensive. We had a really nice time at the viewing Sunday night.  The whole First Presidency came as well as half the Quorum of the 12, many of the 70s and other church leaders to support Uncle Todd and the family.  Lots of old ward members that Grandpa and Grandma knew from various wards in which they have lived, old friends from New Jersey, lots of my dad's cousins, and many more. I heard lots of stories about my dad and his brothers.  It was wonderful to all be together.  

The service was held at the church building where Grandma and Grandpa last attended in Draper.  So many people came and we had such a wonderful service.  I have the program in my journal so I won't write it all out here. Each of the brothers spoke and they were amazing.  Talks worthy of General Conference truly and beautiful tributes to their wonderful father.  After the service we headed to the cemetery in Lehi where Grandma is buried as well. Because Grandpa had served in the army in WWII he was given a soldier's burial with the flag folding, the 21 gun salute and Aunt Julie played "Taps"which was very moving.  

We took tons of pictures with family, cousins, and friends.  It was truly wonderful to be together to honor Grandpa.

After the graveside service we went to a local church building where Uncle Tom had arranged for a caterer to  serve food for us all.  Ryan, Justin and I headed to Janet's quickly to get Justin signed up for his classes for fall and then went to eat. I loved being with Ryan and Justin since I miss seeing them so much!

We love you Grandpa Paul! I hope that we can live our lives in such a way to make you proud.  I pray that we will be about to laugh and enjoy life and mostly be faithful servants of the Lord as you have been.

Quilting Club From Summer 2013

We finally had our quilting club party for the quilts the girls made last year. The girls had lots of food and a pool party at Hoppers, then gathered around the table to watch this year's music video.  After the video "This Quilt is on Fire"- which included Grace at the end, the girls each got their quilts.  This year Marin's group each made their own squares and then shared one with each girl in the group.  We called them friendship quilts. What a great tradition this has been each summer thanks to Lisa Hopper!

He's HERE!

 Welcome Gavin Gregory Redford!!! We have been waiting and waiting to meet you!!!

Had to take a pic of his cute little wrinkled feet! You can still see the prick mark on his heel from when the nurses tested his blood. I had saved a few baby blankets my mom had made and so I grabbed the two boy blankets and Marin wrapped them to take with us.  We also stopped at Carter's and had way too much fun picking out clothes for Gavin.  Laura loved all the clothes, the stuffed dinosaur picked out by Grace and cried when she opened the Grandma blankets.  We had to lay Gavin on one and take a picture right away. 

We love this little guy!