Logan at 2 1/2 Years

He still loves to play boxing on the Wii

Logan's vocabulary is expanding all the time! More recently, he has started making up his own exclamations, and their pretty funny! One of his favorites is "Oh pump." Also, instead of saying "Oopsie daisy," he says "Oopsie da daisy doors." It's pretty hilarious!

Making a silly face

He loves to sing. Sometimes he sings real songs, but sometimes he just says nonsense words. He is also constantly talking. And like with singing, sometimes he just says nonsense words. He always expects me to respond as well. If I don't say anything, then he keeps saying the same thing over and over again. I've decided that that might be one reason why I get so tired by the end of the day because I am an introvert and the constant talking wears me down. I need some quiet sometimes! But it's also really cute.

Logan is finally learning his colors. He knows black (that was the first one he learned), pink, and blue.

He is rarely taking naps anymore. It happens once or twice a week. But I always put him down since I need that time to myself to either get things done or to relax. He still likes me to play with him, so I can't get much done unless it is something he can help me with. He is getting better at entertaining himself, but if I leave the room, or I open my computer, or use the sewing machine, he stops what he is doing and comes over to me and starts pushing buttons making it impossible to do anything! I think having a little sibling to entertain will help with that hopefully. Obviously not right away, but once Kylie is responsive and can play too then I might get some time to do more.

He likes to play with his stuffed animals and change their diapers. Logan likes to play with Little People, dinosaurs, cars, blocks, and balls. He especially likes to play catch. But really, he just doesn't like to play the same things every day. He plays with all of his toys at different times.

Logan finally likes to color and the things he brings home from nursery are actually colored now instead of just one little line! And he is starting to understand that he needs to color the object on the paper and not just all over the paper, so he will try to concentrate on certain parts of the picture to color. Of course, he doesn't stay in the lines, but I think he does really good.

Mickey had to have some cereal too

His favorite show is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He could watch that every day.

Logan loves to play with cousins and, in particular, to bug the older girls like a little brother would. He still loves to make people laugh and say and do funny things. He is also becoming a little gentlemen. He likes to help me take groceries in and tells me he likes my shirt and things. So cute! Love this boy!

 First snowfall of the winter, we had to go outside and build a snowman. It was pretty good packing snow so it wasn't too hard.

Grandma's Funeral

My grandma passed away on December 2, 2014 and her funeral was that weekend. The 5th was the viewing and the 6th was the funeral. All of her children and spouses were there along with all but 2 of her grandchildren. We all had an enjoyable time catching up with each other at both the viewing and the luncheon after the funeral. Before the funeral, Angie set up a Facebook page where we could write about our favorite memories of Grandma and that also helped me feel connected to my cousins and it helped with the grieving process. We were given a book with pictures of my grandma and all of our comments. We also received a video with pictures from Grandma's life.

The funeral was more of a celebration of the life of a wonderful woman who went about doing good in her quiet way. She never wanted to be the center of attention, but spent time serving others, especially her family, and doing tons and tons of family history. Of course we were grieving, but even more we were happy that she isn't suffering anymore and can be with her husband now. I'm going to copy and paste the Obituary here.

Barbara Nielsen Davis

1924 - 2014 | Obituary |  Condolences

Barbara Nielsen Davis
1924 ~2014
Salt Lake City, Utah-Our beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, and aunt, Barbara Nielsen Davis passed away on December 2, 2014 at the age of 90. She was loved and cherished by family, friends, and neighbors.
She was born August 1, 1924 in Spanish Fork, Utah to Harvey Alexander Nielsen and Blanche Holt. Blessed to grow up in a home filled with love and music, she was the third daughter of a family of five daughters and one son.
A faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she served in many callings and was an avid genealogist, inspiring family and friends in family history and temple work.
During her school years, she played the violin in her family string trio, a quartet with friends, and in school and church orchestras. After graduating from Spanish Fork High School in 1942, she attended Brigham Young University for three years and worked as a secretary. She enjoyed friendships made during these years that continued throughout her life and married her High School sweetheart, Leland James Davis on February 21, 1943 in the Salt Lake Temple before he left to go overseas during WWII.
After the war, five children were born to Leland and Barbara, four daughters and one son. She excelled as a mother and homemaker blessing her family and all who knew her with her strong faith in Christ, sweet smile, listening ear, and kind and generous nature. Her 27 grandchildren and 71 great-grandchildren adored her leaving a legacy of Christ like love and service.
Barbara is survived by five children, Janice (Lynn Child) Quincy, WA; Marilyn (Carl Smith) Las Vegas, NV; James (Sandra Stout Davis) Tooele, UT; Terrie (Kent Ryan) Allen, TX; Sharon (Roland Weinle) Sandy, UT; sisters: Janet Hansen, Fair Oaks, CA; Gladys Hibbert, La Grande, OR; Marlene McBeth, Provo, UT; brother, Holt Nielsen, Idaho Falls, ID. Preceded in death by husband, Leland, parents, Harvey and Blanche, sister, Olive Marie Gonzalez, and grandson, Nathan Ryan.
Funeral services will be held Sat. Dec. 6, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. in the Holladay 2nd Ward Stake Center chapel, 4568 So. Holladay Blvd, SLC, Ut. under the direction of Wasatch Lawn Mortuary of SLC Ut. Friends and family may call Fri. Dec. 5, 2014 at 6-8 p.m. and 9:00 to 9:30 a.m. Sat. prior to the service. Burial will be in the Wasatch Lawn Memorial Cemetery, 3401 So. Highland Dr. SLC, Ut.

- See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/deseretnews/obituary.aspx?pid=173357596#sthash.jCadL8h6.dpuf

November

Our biggest news for November is that Nate got a full-time job! Finally something consistent and with benefits. With great benefits, in fact, since he works for the State of Utah. He works in Securities. The hourly wage is about the same as it was at Orange, but the awesome benefits is totally saving us money and we are finally able to start saving for a down payment on a house. He started working the Monday before Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving was really good. My grandma's health has been going downhill over the past year and she has been moving around from retirement homes and care centers and during this time, she was at a care center near her home and the nurses were saying that she really didn't have much time left. So my mom decided that instead of doing Thanksgiving at her house like they had planned, they would do it at my grandma's house so people could easily come and go to visit my grandma at the care center. Most of the Weinle's were there as well as Tiffany, Missy, and my families. And of course my parents. It was bitter sweet spending our last Thanksgiving there.

After the actual meal, Missy, Tiffany, and I went with my mom to visit my grandma. I had actually visited her the week before and she was doing quite well. She had remembered that I was pregnant and was fairly alert so I expected her to be about the same. Well, she wasn't. Her coloring was gone, she was rarely awake and couldn't talk very much. Seeing her like that, I knew that the end was near. So as we left, we each took turns saying our good byes and telling her that we love her, She was able to tell Tiffany that she loved her too, but obviously I know that she feels the same way about me, she just couldn't say it. We each were doing good when we were in Grandma's room, but as soon as we left, we started crying. We didn't say anything to each other, but I'm sure we were all thinking the same thing, that this was most likely the last time we would see her. It was good, but hard to see her like that. And it turns out that she did pass away soon after. She lived a full life and wanted to be with Grandpa again, so it was good.

 These were from the week before when Grandma was feeling better. This is more of the way I would like to remember her. And the way she was when she was healthy.

Halloween Week

The week before Halloween, we went to a Fall Festival at a nearby park in Kaysville. We didn't actually dress up for this, but we were counting all the little Elsa's there and I think there were at least 20. Logan painted a pumpkin, we ate some World's Best Corndogs, and Logan did some other little games and got little prizes. He also played on the playground a bit. That playground is more for older kids so we always have to watch him carefully and help him out a lot when he plays there. There are lots of climbing things that are best for like 6 and up. There was some entertainment going on from local dancing and singing groups, but we never went over in that direction. And there were some races which we didn't get involved in. I'm sure there were fees for that.

There was a ward party during the week that we all dressed up for. Since Logan was Superman, I thought it would be fun for Nate to dress up as Clark Kent and me to be the Telephone booth. We had a huge box, so I just bought some spray paint and went at it. It wasn't the most comfortable thing to wear, but it was fun! And I think it was pretty creative! At the party, there were some little crafts for the kids to do and food.

The day before Halloween, we finally carved our pumpkin. We actually had to do it without Nate. I can't remember what was going on, but we couldn't seem to find an evening when both of us were home that week. Logan helped a little with getting the gunk out, but I don't think he enjoyed the messiness of it too much. But it's ok, because that's my favorite part:) Then I asked him what kind of face he wanted on the pumpkin and he said a sad face. I did my best!

Finally, Halloween was here! I just love Halloween and how people come out of their houses to roam the streets and neighbors knock on doors and everyone is happy and having fun. I really feel like it's a great community holiday. The Gees came over and we all went together to do our street and one street over. Logan loved it! He did great at saying Trick-or-Treat and Thank you and I was proud of him. When he was able to choose a candy and it was available, he chose M&Ms.

Steven was dressed up as Darth Vader and got in Logan's face one time and totally freaked him out! He cried for a bit after that even though we kept explaining that it was just Steven. Steven even took off the mask to show him, but Logan was a little leery of him after that. But he had so much fun and since then, he will sometimes ask if he can go Trick-or-Treating. But we have to explain that we only do it one night a year and that it is a long time away.