Utah Continued

The rest of our time in Utah was mostly spent seeing family.

Grandma & Grandpa Allsop

Michael's Brother & Family:My Grandma Wright (Dad's Mom)

Cousins seriously are the best! The older girly cousins were all over Rylee I loved to hear them ooh and ahh over her cuteness, to which I agreed. Or hearing their cute little voices saying her name "Lly-lee" (spoken with her tongue hanging out.) They were always eager to help - be it pushing her in the swing . . . .reading stories . . .

or trying to figure out what food/snacks she'd like to eat.She especially liked to get into Grandpa's church bag. . . . she knew that's where the bishop kept his treats :) She was sure to keep into trouble, opening every cupboard within reach. The cupboards containing games were her favorite (she'll fit in swell in our family) Little did she know her favorite game would send her the shock of her life if she could figure out how to turn it on. (what kind of game is that anyway?) She seriously screamed when I tried to take it away. silly girl.

She was however slightly frightened of Buster (my nephew's wiener dog). She didn't mind looking at him but the second he'd move, namely move toward her, she freaked. We pushed Buster in her direction a couple times just to watch her reaction. Don't worry, he was always leashed and never 'got' her. Furthermore there were some family members she was more frightened of than the dog and I forced her to spend time with them too. :)

Another common occurrence was the amount of people who told me how much I looked, spoke and acted like my Mother. I must say, that's the best compliment I could receive, so thank you very much! :)

Grandma Huff

It seems the hardest things for me to blog about are those that are most precious to me. But here goes:

A few weeks ago I received a phone call from my Mom. My Grandmother had been basically living with my parents for a while since she was advised to not be home alone. My Mom was calling to tell me that her health was failing and fast. They had set up hospice to come and help make things easier. That week was very difficult for me. It was hard to be so far away and every time the phone rang I had to take a deep breath. After what seemed forever, "the call" came. I so glad we were able to fly to Utah for the funeral.

My Mom kept referring to this as her 'graduation' - that its a happy time, she lived a great life, she'll be with Grandpa again (who she'd been separated from for some 14 years) and her sight and mobility will improve. There were some very special moments shared. As hard as dealing with the death of a loved one is, I must say that in this case the good out-weighs the difficult. I was able to be with my entire family for a few days and my testimony (namely that of the Plan of Happiness) has grown so much -she really is in a better place- it seems selfish to want otherwise. It was fun to reminisce on many stories both personal and collective that we each had with my Grandma.

A few things in the video I want to point out are the honorary pallbearers. The Great-Grandsons were all to follow (later lead) the pallbearers, and they had ribbons attached to the casket for them to hold on to. I thought it was so sweet! Another thing about Grandma is she was well known for having her freezer stocked with Schwan's ice cream. You couldn't visit grandma without having ice-cream (often that was the initiating reason for the stop). When the topic of lunch after the services was discussed of course the dessert had to be ice cream. My dad called the Schwan man to arrange for delivery ready with coolers and dry ice whereto the man said "no no no, I'll just bring the truck and park at the church." awesome.

I wish I could type the funeral service right here because it was perfect. I had a great time helping my sister with the display table {that turned into 5}. I have learned so much from my Grandma and know I will continue to learn from her wonderful example. She lived life with such spunk, and will truly be missed.

I am so grateful the last time I was in Utah, we had 4-generation pictures taken. I will cherish them always. As she would say "see you in church" . . . . . .

JBJ

So, what seems like months ago, we saw Bon Jovi. I must admit I was slightly hesitant, but after all the concerts I've "drug" Michael to, I thought I'd best go to one of his top choices. I'll also admit: it. was. awesome. Seriously one of the best concerts I've ever seen. Granted our seats were bad (quantity over quality for this concert goer) as we were seated behind the stage, but there were plenty of screens to watch from and he turned around often :) I'm not sure if it was the pluthera of sweet dance moves:

as seen here

the fact that he kissy-faced the audience to scream louder, or that after he took off his jacket he said "Is it hot in here, or is it just me?" -He's one funny entertainer, and we had a blast rocking out. I also loved that even the nose-bleeders like us didn't sit through the whole concert. He played all our favorites and he giggled when the crowd would sing an entire verse and chorus without him. When we found out we both would be in Utah only a short 5 days later we contemplated round 2, sadly, it didn't work out.

at 12 months:

This is a little update mostly for family that doesn't get to see what she's doing daily.
Rylee at 12 months:

She has 4 teeth (two top/two bottom)
We're getting rid of the bink. It takes her a few more minutes to fall asleep and she kindof chews her blanket but other than that, she's adjusted pretty good.
Takes 2 naps and sleeps about 12ish hrs at night.
She is often found carrying toys or shoes around the house:She'll move her legs faster atemping to 'run' when I 'chase' her
She's still sporting the mullet. I'm dying to get some longer hair on that head and made my first attempt at pigtails:

she gets excited for baths and goes strait to the tub when the water is running. Although, she doesn't care much for bubble baths:

She's a pretty good eater her favorites are alfredo/wheat noodles (seriously 3 helpings!), fish, and limes :)

not so favorite: chicken

she's starting to 'sortof' use a spoon.

when its quiet and I haven't seen her roaming around - 99% of the time she's in her room at the book shelf . After all the books are on the ground she "reads" them. Brown Bear, Brown Bear is still her favorite.

she doesn't really like being on the grass, but if we stick her in the swing or her stroller she'll chill outside while we work in the yard.

Her favorite toys are stuffed animals, books, and our cell phones.

She's banned from the kitchen while we load/unload the dishwasher.

She gives the sweetest kisses (open mouth or she'll turn her face so you'll kiss her cheek)

She's starting to give real hugs and wrap her hands around our neck

She'll throw a little tantrum and refuse to stand up when she wants you to carry her.

She has the funniest gruntish giggle - (think bevus and butthead) she makes this sound about 100 times a day.

She's only had ONE sick baby appointment and it was for allergies!! (the Dr couldn't believe that after being congested for a week she didn't even have an ear infection!)

She could play peek-a-boo for hours

She loves to twirl around and dance with you.

That pretty much sums her up! We just love her to pieces!

numero dos

We thought it was a little selfish to celebrate Rylee's birthday alone so we had a few friends over to grill on Saturday. It was pretty low-key and I (like many others) can openly admit that "1st" birthday parties are more for the Mother than anyone else. It was fun to get together, decorate and marvel at the fact that we kept our little cutie alive for a whole year!! The Banner:

The tissue paper pom-poms:


the photo time-line garland:

It was fun for us to see how much she's changed in a short time - and remember funny things she did {namely how much she's thinned, and how she slept with her hands covering her eyes}

I was a little bummed at the wind speed on Saturday. We'd planned to be outside {imagine lots more pom-poms hanging from the trees and the banner and photos drapped on the fence} alas all was well.

I will say that the decor was planned to be re-used and/or moved to Rylee's room.

{I'll hang the pom poms above the rocking chair and change out pics of cousins etc hanging on the garland}

AND, butterfly cupcakes: a miniature/crowd version of her other cake.

We had a great time, chowing, chatting and chilling.

All in all there was a party but we left out the elephant rides - there's always next year.

her big day

Rylee in her 'photo-appropriate' Birthday suit!

{I chose this picture because you can really see her top teeth. I like to call them 'daggers'}

When she first woke up we showed her the Birthday banner I made. She thought it was pretty cool. The rest of the day was just like any other. . . . . . until Daddy came home!!! We had a special dinner of fish and sweet potatos.

{I've been trying to be brave and cook fish more - Rylee loves it!}

her cake:

She had a hard time getting past the frosting (it was cream cheese baby, can you blame her?) She gave Michael the stink eye when he poked and revealed the actual 'cake'.

Then she got real mad when he tried to give her part of the twinkie (the butterfly's body)

After we got all cleaned up it was present time.

She's one lucky little lady!

I'm probably most excited for the swing for the tree in our back yard.

We {SHE} is so loved!

Thank you everyone for being a part of our lives and making us feel special.

What the One?

Yep, its been an whol year! I can hardly believe it. Excuse me while I get a little sentimental.

(I'll spare you her "first" photo . . . I think its cool but others may not want to see my internal organs)

Rylee has been such a joy to have in our lives and in our family. Being a parent is both harder and easier than I imagined it would be. She holds our world in her finger tips. You know the phrase if Momma aint happy, aint nobody happy? I'd say its the oppossite. Her smiles and giggles are nothing if not contagious. Its been one wild ride watching her grow in just this short year. We couldn't feel more lucky to have her.

We love you Rylee! Thanks for making our life wonderful.

Happy Birthday!