Cheesy Grin!

Kaitlyn has started doing this smile all the time.  It's so adorable!  Also, Jared and I think it makes her look just like her namesake, my Grandma.

Goodbye Grandma Webb

Yesterday at about 2:30 in the afternoon I received a phone call from my dad that my grandmother had passed away. This wasn't a surprise, we've all been expecting it and preparing for it since she first moved in with my parents about 18 months ago. Grandma was amazing and had been struggling since last Thursday; but she refused to ruin Jennie's wedding or mother's day, so she hung around the few extra days. She always was stubborn.
My grandmother was a beautiful woman who taught me many things about life. Grandma had a huge backyard full of flowers, but my favorite was the blackberry bush. I remember dragging her stool outside to pick all of the blackberries I could reach. I would come in with my mouth stained black and my arms all scratched up from the thorns. Every afternoon we'd watch Sesame Street, Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, and then Perry Mason together. Whatever craft Mr. Roger made on his show, Grandma would gather the supplies and we'd do it that afternoon. We'd go on field trips to the horse swings at the park, or walk through the international flower gardens. Grandma loved to pack picnics, and her favorite sandwich was a BLT. Jennie loved peanut butter, but I never did so Grandma would pack her picky granddaughter a B sandwich - just the bacon since I didn't like the L or the T either. On hot summer days we'd run through the sprinklers until our lips were blue and we were shivering with cold. Then Grandma would call us in and wrap us in a quilt and give us hot chocolate. I remember one sunny afternoon when I'd learned to jump rope I expressed some doubts as to whether she could do it too. Grandma jump roped just fine - in her kitchen to prove she could. Grandma taught me to sew and made beautiful sweaters, quilts, and afghans. When the doctor told her she couldn't crochet anymore because of her arthritis, she went home and made three tableclothes for me, my sister, and my cousin Becca for our weddings. I am so excited that I am having a little girl who can wear all of the sweaters that Grandma made for me over the years. When I was little I even asked her to make a sweater for my Ernie doll, and she did - without a pattern. I loved nothing more than cuddling in the queen sized pink quilt she made for me when I was 8. When I was sick, I'd ask my grandma if I could sleep with her Wendy doll. This was a porcelain doll with beautiful blonde ringlets, and yes she let a sick 5 year old sleep with her. Wendy is currently in my front room on a top shelf where she can watch over us all.
I am so grateful for the beautiful influence this woman has had in my life, and I am even more grateful for the gospel and the knowledge that I will get to see her again. I am glad that she was sealed in the temple for time and all eternity to my grandpa and my mom, making us an eternal family. I am a little jealous that she gets to hug our Savior, kiss my grandfather, and play with my brother and my Kaity. I know now that Kaitlyn will be a stubborn little girl, cause my grandmother will definitely teach her how. I am so happy that my little girl will be named after a strong woman, and have a wonderful role model to look up to.
I will miss my grandma, Vera Lenore Pearson Webb, but I know that she is not far away, and she is out of pain and finally happy and reunited with her husband. She raised nine kids, and has numerous grandkids and great-grandkids to continue living on the lessons and love that she taught us. I hope that I can always remember her generous attitude, fun spirit, and beautiful example.

Prehistoric Peas and Shot Guns

Every year for Easter Sunday my family goes to the Lakefront Gun Club. By every year, I mean every year since my grandmother was a little girl. It's fun to go see everyone, but I wish we'd do it at a park or something. You see, when you read Gun Club, you're probably thinking of a nice building with a target range and lots of nice couches in a comfortable posh looking atmosphere. No. This is the view from the car:And another one of the clubhouse up close:There is an outhouse that hasn't been moved in a while, so thank heavens Kaity didn't need to pee while we were there (although there was a scramble for the bathrooms when we got back to my parents house). Why do we keep going out there, do you ask? Because it's important to Grandma and it's fun to spend time talking with family members. Dad & Jared like shooting ( I also have a shotgun that my grandpa gave me, but he says that I can't shoot with the baby because it's not good for her). I thought that was cute. I didn't want to shoot, though. My gun is a 14 gage and very old, it belonged to my great-grandfather. This means that the kick is quite something and I don't have very good balance right now. I shoot a 14 instead of a 12 because my arms aren't long enough to support the barrel of a 12 and aim properly. Anyway here are the boys:And here's the girls in front of the clubhouse talking. Aunt Linda is either trying not to be in the picture or her granddaughter just told her that she has to go potty again - Lex had to go 5 times! Sean dislocated his shoulder a few months ago and didn't want to re-dislocate it shooting, so he hung out with us. I suppose I shouldn't call it the girls out front then. Oh well.
So, when we returned from the gun club, we had a birthday dinner of pork roast, mashed potatoes, and creamed peas and onions. My other grandma (my mom's mom) turns 85 tomorrow and we had a little birthday party for her. She was very out of it, we think she had another small stroke Saturday night (she has 2-3 a month), but she appreciated having her family around. Anyway, my mom HATES peas. Flat out doesn't like them. Consequently, Jennie and I aren't too fond of them either, mainly because we never ate them growing up. My grandmother, however, likes peas and pearl onions in a creamy cheese sauce. So, my mom made them and Jared and Sean both said they were pretty good. Well, we asked my grandma how they were and she said that the peas were old and didn't taste good. Not sure what old peas means, but we all had a good laugh and teased Mom. Luckily, Mom thought it was funny, too. We told Grandma that when our neighbor Scott's peas come up in his garden we'd go get some from him and make her peas again. She can't think they're old if we pulled them off the vine the same day we made them, can she? After dinner we asked her if we could name Kaitlyn after her, and she seemed pleased (still a little out of it, we'll ask her again on a better day). My grandma's name is Vera Lenore, by the way, so Kaitlyn Elenore is now official. Dad, Jared and Sean gave her a blessing that she would regain some strength and enjoy her family and be able to accomplish the things she has left in this world. I am so grateful for the wonderful presence of the priesthood in our lives and the calming, peaceful effect of blessings. It was a great Easter Sunday. (We did go to church in the morning, by the way, but nothing really amazing happened there except that the first speaker spoke for 45 minutes and we were sitting by this guy who hadn't showered in three days and tried to cover it up with cologne. Needless to say, we weren't paying too much attention)

Happy in Love Day!!!

I know that a lot of people hate Valentine's day, and I think that a big part of that is because (especially at BYU) there is a lot of pressure to be dating and married and in love. However, my mom has always been wonderful at celebrating all of the little holidays with us. For Valentines we usually had a nice dinner at home, got new pink or red shirts to wear to school, and came home to our beds made and chocolate or candy of some sort. Sometimes she even bought each of us a rose. My mom worked full time when I was growing up, so her being able to take the time to make our beds when we weren't at home was a big deal, at least to me.
Now that I have Jared, Valentines day is still wonderful. Jared dreads the holiday and doesn't like cards or gifts, so this year when we got a flyer in the mail for Hale Centre Theatre and I mentioned that I liked the play that was there at the time, he jumped on the idea. On Valentines day we slept in (as far as my parent's dog would let us, that is). Then we went to Hale and saw Cash On Delivery, a funny British comedy about a man who is cheating the Social Security Department of Britain and is trying to get out of it but can't. Of course, everything is crazy and just gets worse from there - hilarious. Afterwards, we went to the mall to pick up a few random items. While there, Jared bought me a chocolate covered strawberry from Godiva. One is about the size of my fist and very yummy - and all of the chocolate that Phred will currently let me eat in one day:) Then we decided to go to McGrath's Fish House for dinner and that was very delicious, too. It was a great day, Phred and I were feeling good, and I got to spend it with just me and my honey.
Speaking of Phred, our next doctor's appointment is next Wednesday. I'm not entirely sure that I like the office, although I do like the dr that I go to. It's almost impossible to get ahold of them since they don't monitor their answering machine and they are closed from noon on Thursdays until Monday morning. I don't feel right calling the on call dr about a simple question, but I'm also not a fan of having to wait four days to talk to someone if I have a concern. Also, I never received a call back about my blood tests, and I got a few more done than just the standard slew because the dr had a few extra concerns about my thyroid. I guess that means that everything is okay....? Oh, well. Phred and I are doing well. I am finally to the point where I'm not exhausted all the time. Phred still makes me nauseous if I haven't eaten much, but that's understandable. I have stopped expanding for a little bit, which is good because Phred popped out so fast in the beginning that I've been in maternity clothes since the 8 week mark. We still have no ideas as to Phred's gender, but we hope that he/she won't be shy at the end of March and we'll be able to share with everyone Phred's real name :)
Anyway, we are back in town and getting caught up on housework that we've not done since we were gone so much. This Sunday is my grandpa's birthday party, though, so we'll make it to Sacrament then we'll have to leave and head up to Salt Lake again. A whole month without going to our Relief Society....sigh. Hopefully March will be less eventful.

We did not fall of the face of the planet...

So, my parents are currently celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary. We are very excited for them and love the example that they have set for us. They are in Disney World, for ten days, by the way. Anyone who knows my parents would expect no less. Anyway, my 84 year old grandmother lives with my parents and can't be left alone. She isn't well enough to pack up and move to another person's house. Although there are 8 of 9 children in the county and at least 25 of 32 gradchildren (of whom I am the fourth youngest) live in the county, nobody can come spend a few weeks at my parents' house to take care of grandma. Two of my aunts are checking in on grandma by phone every day and are bringing her meals two of the nights my parents are away. The rest of the time is divided between me and Jennie staying in West Jordan to take care of grandma. Last Thursday night Jared and I went up and started our first shift. We came home Sunday evening. Jennie has had the wonderful pleasure of waking up early enough to commute from West Jordan to Spanish Fork every day for her student teaching. She is also engaged and planning a wedding and probably missing her finace quite a lot since she doesn't have a bunch of time to see him this week. Friday night Jared and I get to go back up and stay until Sunday evening when we pick my parents up from the airport. So, we didn't disappear, we just aren't in Provo at the moment.
I am very excited, no matter how this post sounds, that my mom and dad are able to take some much needed vacation time. They need a break and it's got to be nice to spend some just them time together without work and grandma demands. I also love my grandma, but she is 84 and has had several strokes which have made her a bit (a lot) on the cranky side of life. Oh, well, I get to sit and talk to her and as long as I don't bring up Obama she's pretty pleasant with me. :)
On a wonderful and unrelated side note; Jared and I have bought our first large baby item. Obviously I have already purchased some clothes, and other little things (not that much) but we decided that we weren't going to get any of the big items (stroller, crib, carseat, etc) until after we move. We aren't sure when or where we're going, but we do know that it is most likely going to be May or June, and we don't want to pack anything more than we have to. But, we were at Target last Saturday and saw this cute stroller on sale for $35! I know that the big travel combinations that come with car seats seem more exciting, but I couldn't fit one of those strollers in my trunk without Jared's help. Also, I can't push one with a baby older than 3 months in it because it's too tall for me. So, I thought a compact stroller would be better and we'll just buy the carseat separately. The picture is of a newer model, since ours was on clearance. Ours is way cuter, though. It's at an color, not the lime green/yellow that the picture shows. The background has a cream, light blue, and brown patterns. I really like it, and it can fold and unfold really easily, which was the important part to us.