A Second Quick Trip

I did not exactly expect to be traveling again during this year. (In fact, I pretty much imposed a self restriction on travel for the rest of my pregnancy after our Easter trip to Utah.) But when my Grandma Brown passed away last Friday, I knew I needed to go and be there for my mom. To be honest, I was a little nervous about traveling, since I had already begun to have some swelling issues in my feet, and I knew flying would only make it worse. Surprisingly, my feet fared pretty well. And the trip was totally worth it.This is my mom, two of her sisters, and their daughters. (Maybe it's the angle, but I don't look very pregnant!)My mom did so much- she even had to speak at the funeral. She did a wonderful job. I know it was a stressful week (really, a stressful year!) and she was so gracious to everyone who came.

We took some of the flowers from the funeral over to my Grandma Jensen's grave. She still doesn't have her headstone, but it was nice to put these flowers by her marker.And I was really glad my brothers, sister-in-law, and I were able to go over and see my Grandpa Jensen. He had a bad fall not too long ago, and has had a tough time recovering. I was fully aware that this may be my last chance to see him, and was so glad we remembered to take a picture with him. It was so nice to see my parents and a couple of my brothers again. (It seems so strange that I've seen Mark and Emily 3 times this year- a really rare occurrence!) I think I should take vacations by myself more often… as much as I missed my boys, it was kinda nice not to have to do 30 things before 9 am!

Today

Today was a unique day. We gained a new member of the family. My little brother and his wife had their second little munchkin this afternoon. I know my sister-in-law is excited not to be pregnant anymore! Congratulations to them on little Cohen- can't wait to see him for ourselves.
We also lost a member of the family. My grandma Brown passed away early this morning. We're so happy that she's been able to return home and especially to be reunited with her sweetheart. Her last season here in mortality was challenging in many ways, and although there is a sense of sadness, there is also overwhelming joy and gratitude.

My grandma was born a premie. A difficult obstacle even today, but considering that she came to earth over 80 years ago, it truly is a testament that she was meant to come to earth, and she had a special mission. I always loved that my grandma was little (due to being born prematurely, she was a rather petite woman). We loved going to Arizona to visit her and Granddad. I can still remember their home, and even the toys we loved to play with! Grandma Brown was always very sweet and she and Granddad always sent us 2 dollar bills on our birthdays. My favorite story about her is how she and my Granddad met on their 1st missions (and even got engaged while still missionaries!)

I feel badly that our last couple of visits to St. George, I neglected to take any pictures with Grandma. But I do have some from a visit I took in the summer of 2008. Doesn't she look lovely?I'm also cracking up at these pictures, because, well, Jensen is a baby and Carson looks so little! And this picture makes me laugh every time I see it! I love these people!Goodbye Grandma, we love you!

I'm Pretty Much a Genius

Don't you find that the longer you live in one place, the more stuff you acquire? Then, because of all the stuff, you find all of your space becoming more and more cramped. Then, if you're like me, you begin to realize how all of your space is so very poorly organized.

When we moved into this house I pretty much tripled my kitchen cabinet space. I had cabinets with nothing in them. It was great. Then that strange phenomenon of "stuff" began encroaching on my kitchen. Now, most of my lower cabinets look like this jumbled mess: (So that's where I put the napkins!)Because we have builder basic everything in this house, the cabinet interiors are just that. Basic. So we weren't getting maximum storage space out of anything.

Until I discovered my new favorite store. The Container Store. I have always wanted to check this place out, and this past weekend, my dream came true. Inside I found all sorts of great storage/organizational tools. I decided to get just a few. One was a little 3 tiered shelf for all my spices. I love it. It was $7.99 and totally worth every penny. The other two were a bit more, and required quite a bit more work. But now I have this:Or this:But most importantly, THIS:Now, I did these all by myself (the measuring, drilling, rearranging, bending over with a baby in the way…) and hence, feeling like "I'm Pretty Much a Genius."

Mama Mia

It's been a wonderful Mother's Day. I got my very first "school" made Mother's Day gift from Carson. So cute! Here I am opening it (Carson took the picture.)It is a very cute (and very glittery, I might add) votive holder. The little tag says, "Mom, you light up my life!" I, of course, love it. :)
We also used "Mother's Day" as an excuse to get a new vacuum cleaner. Our old one (which is the ONLY vacuum we've owned) finally gave up a week or two ago, so after much online research I decided on this. It's a Miele canister vac. I'll admit, I'm still getting used to not having an upright vacuum, but so far I like it. It cleans, it's quiet, light weight, and it even works well on my hard floors!
Lastly, I asked Dustin to make me a special present- Cinnamon Rolls. So I made some dough for him last night, and this morning, he (and some little helpers) made some delicious cinnamon rolls for me.I will not freely admit how many I have already eaten, but I WILL attest to how yummy they are! Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mother's I know (my own, most of all!)

So, We Went Camping

This is not something we do a lot. In fact, only once a year. I actually think it would be fun to do more often, but Dustin doesn't like to camp. He was highly bugged by the fact that he couldn't get any reception on his phone or his laptop…. :)

But the kids and I had fun. We went for a little hike with some friends.We got to stay in our awesome tent.We also played some fun games with friends this morning before packing up and leaving.It was pretty hot when we set up camp yesterday, and it took some time for our tent to cool down enough to sleep in, but the weather wasn't as bad as it could have been. We only got rained on for a bit in the night, and this morning was quite pleasant. We got to have fun camp food, hang out with friends, and no one got hurt.
….That is except for the car… but that was my fault. I'll save that story for another post.