Spring Dance Recital

Macie had her spring dance recital this week at MHS.  They danced to a song called "I'm Cute" and it was a very cute dance!  She did very well and took the cutest little bow after she was done!  She has absolutely ZERO stage fright which is awesome!  She has loved dance this year and has done so well!  She loves her teacher Erika...we're hoping to get her again when she starts up again in August.  A whole bunch of family came to watch Macie at the recital and she was most excited to receive flowers from Grandma Thelma!

Macie is the 3rd from the right (or fifth from the left)

Macie LOVED her flowers from Grandma Thelma...she wouldn't put them down and wanted everyone to see them.  On the way home we stopped at McDonalds for dinner and she wanted me to tell the guy at the window that she got flowers!  She is so funny!  She said they were the "most beautifulist flowers she's ever seen!"  We put them in a vase when we got home and she loves to just smell them randomly throughout the day.  So cute!

Love this little princess!

T-Ball

Macie had her first t-ball game last week and she'll play twice a week through the month of June.  Since dance and school are done for the summer I wanted to keep her busy.  I was a little worried that she wouldn't be into it, but she LOVED it!  She couldn't hit the ball right at first but the coach helped her and she got the hang of it...but she didn't get discouraged at all.  And she was so aggressive in the outfield, running for every ball hit!  I thought she would just stand there and not know what to do, but she surprised me!  I am so proud of her!  They get their shirts and hats next week so I'll post more pics of that.

Macie's cousin Lexi is on her team

My mom gave Paxton a sucker to keep him busy so he'd sit for 10 seconds....it turned out pretty messy...thanks Grandma Thelma!

Just gettin' a drink of water to get ready for the game!

Preschool Graduation

Macie had her Preschool graduation last week.  I had to work but Tony went and got the whole thing on video so I felt like I was there.  It was kind of a cold day (big surprise!) but they still did it outside so there would be enough room.  The kids all sang a few songs that they'd learned over the year, and then 2 of them were assigned to each poem that they have learned over the year.  Macie and Ethan did "The Chubby Little Snowman"....we practiced it quite a bit and Macie did the whole thing by herself (Ethan chimed in couple of times softly)....I was so proud of her!  She has no fear of an audience! 

They each got their little "diplomas" and that was it.  Macie got to sit by her boyfriend Dallas (she is not ashamed to tell anyone, including him and his mom, that she is going to marry him!)...he is the one in the brown sweater vest...he's darling!  She tells me they kiss everyday...oh boy, and she's only 4! 

I can't believe she is already done with her first year of preschool.  I am so amazed at everything she has learned this year.  We're learning reading, mostly at home, and she can spell and recognize a whole bunch of 3 letter words.  She'll go to one more year at this preschool then on to Kindergarten (I'm getting tears in my eyes just thinking about it!)  When did my little girl get so big?!?

Macie & Dallas...they "love" each other!  :)

The class with Mrs. Lorie
(Their teacher helper, Lorie's dad Avery was on the side...Tony was supposed to get a picture of them with Macie but he "forgot!"  They call him "Grandpa Avery" and they all love him!)

Dallas & Macie checking out their "diplomas"

14 Months

This is one of the funnest yet challenging stages for me.  Paxton has me laughing all day because of the funny things he does and says...but at the same time he is CRAZY!  He is into EVERYTHING!  He has to open every cupboard & drawer and take everything out, he loves to turn the TV on and off, and given the opportunity to be in the bathroom he heads straight for the toilet, toilet brush & the plunger!  Nice!  His little smile melts my heart, though, so it's really hard to get mad at him. 

 He is saying new words all the time and can even count, which I know sounds crazy because he's way too little, but if you say "one" he'll say "two", then I'll say "two" and he'll say "tee" (3) then "or" (4) "eye" (5) "sih" (6) and "sehen" (7).....it's too cute...and pretty impressive!  I think it's because he hears me count several times a day when I'm trying to get Macie to do something (which is often!)  Macie loves to sing her ABC's a lot too, and sometimes he'll say letters (not in order) but he thinks he's big like her!  He also loves to "sing" and "dance" anytime he hears music.  His favorite thing to do is play basketball with his little hoop- he likes to hand me or Tony the ball and we'll shoot it then he'll clap and say "yay" then do it himself.   

I've been trying to teach him animal sounds...and he thinks it's funny to say "mmmm" for EVERY animal!  When I say "what does a dog say" he'll say "mmmm" and when I say no he laughs so hard!  He does actually do a monkey sound good, but I have to do it first, otherwise it say's "mmmm" too!  And lately he's into growling...maybe that's his impression of a bear or something?  Not really sure! 

We are glad the weather is getting warmer (kind of) because he LOVES being outside!  He ate his first handful of dirt a couple weeks ago!

Pax Man goes to bed around 8pm and wakes up around 8am and usually takes about a 2-3 hour nap.  He is so fun!  We love him!  And even though he has learned how to tease Macie (he thinks it's hilarious to take things she's playing with and run) they are buddies!

Race For The Cure

On Mothers Day weekend we did Race for the Cure like we do every year.  This year was extra special because my cousin Dillon came with us.  His mom, my aunt Pennie, is the one we race for.  It will be 12 years this September since she passed away from breast cancer at the age of 33, leaving behind her 4 boys.  Dillon's girlfriend Kourtney has a grandma who has also battled cancer so she and some of her family came as well.  It's always an emotional event, but as we walked through the starting line and the music was playing and Dillon had his arms around my mom and aunt Charli I stood behind them and thought about Pennie and how proud she would be of him and her other boys.  We were ALL crying!

Anyway, Tony lost us in the beginning because he went to the bathroom and we didn't find him until the finish line (he had to borrow someone's cell phone to call us)...I was sad he didn't race with us!  It was a good day, though!

Macie and Halle trying to keep up with us...Macie insisted on wearing that ginormous shirt so she could match all of ours! 

Grandpa Orvel

Last Tuesday, April 26th, Tony's grandfather Orvel passed away at the age of 81.  He has battled many different kinds of cancers and has survived several heart attacks. Some of Tony's family went down to visit on Easter and he wasn't feeling good but wanted to wait for them to leave before he would go to the hospital.  They admitted him later that night and on Tuesday morning (almost everyone I know that has died has died on a Tuesday) we got the call that he would not make it through the day.  I was working that day so I felt bad that I couldn't be there to comfort Tony, but he and his brothers drove down to Gunnison where Orvel was at and were with him when he passed away. 

I had to explain to Macie that Grandpa Orvel had died.  We've already kind of been through the death talk when we lost Bear (our dog) last year, but it's different when it's a person.  On Easter I had a neat conversation with her about the death of Christ as well as the resurrection & I used a glove to show her that when people die their spirits leave their body and even though the body is dead they are still alive in spirit.  When I told her what happened she said she was sad and missed him, but said he is in Heaven with Bear and Pennie (my aunt). We loved Grandpa Orvel and will miss him very much.  No matter how old a person is or how "prepared" you are for them to die sooner than later, it's still never easy to say goodbye.  I am so thankful for the knowledge that we have of Eternal Life, otherwise I'm not sure how we would ever get through difficult times like these.

Grandpa Orvel & Grandma Joyce with Pax...we went down there in January for the day...that was the last time we saw him.

One of Grandpa's greatest joys was fishing...we went down there the end of last summer and were able to go fishing with him one last time.

Grandma & Grandpa's 60th wedding anniversary...they made it to their 61st anniversary last summer.



Grandpa & Grandma meeting Pax for the first time last August.



Grandpa with Macie & Savannah on his 4-wheeler, another thing he loved!

Tony, Me & Bear with Grandpa & Grandma (our first year of marriage)

Grandpa with our nephew Kaden

Grandpa & Grandma with Macie on her blessing day.



Yesterday, Saturday April 30th, we drove down to Emery (3 hrs both ways) for the viewing and funeral.  I always struggle with viewings...I think I want a closed casket personally.  I tried to get Macie's feelings about it and explain that it was just grandpa's body "sleeping" but that his spirit was in Heaven.  She didn't really question that at all and seemed to understand.  She had drawn a picture of Grandpa Orvel in Heaven with Bear & Pennie...she and all of the kids each put a rose and their letter/drawing in the casket with him.  She was really excited to give it to him.  I think closing the casket and saying goodbye to him (his body) for the last time was one of the hardest moments. 
The funeral was really nice.  After the obituary reading Dixie (Tony's mom) gave a nice talk.  I had to walk out of the chapel with Paxton because he was being crazy and loud, so I listened to the rest of the funeral from there.  I did go back in after her talk because all of the grandkids and great-grandkids sang "I Am a Child of God" but then I walked out again.  Tony's uncle Var gave his talk which I unfortunately didn't hear much of (Tony told me some of the stories that he told later on), then a few people sang "Love Me" (a great Collin Raye song).  We all went to the graveside and had a prayer there.  Paxton was so exhausted that he fell asleep in the 1 minute drive to the cemetary so we rolled the windows down and left him in there for that service which was a nice break (and don't worry, we were parked just feet away from the graveside so we could hear/see him!) Then we went back to the church and ate some lunch and talked to everyone.  It was a long, emotional day and by the time we got home (and stopped by one of my best friend's 30th surprise party) we were exhausted!

A song that I really love that is by Toby Keith says "I'm not crying 'cause I feel so sorry for ya, I'm crying for me"  I think it really sums up the way people feel at funerals.  We all know that Grandpa is okay and finally healthy in Heaven.  We aren't crying because we're worried about him...we're crying because we miss him.  Looking at Grandma's face in that picture absolutely breaks my heart.  She married Orvel when she was only 17 years old and went straight from living at home with her parents to being with him.  She's never had to live alone in her whole life and she had such a hard time saying goodbye to her "sweetheart".  I can't imagine going home and sleeping in the room that you've shared with your spouse for that long and being able to sleep without them or living in an empty house with no one to take care of and no one to take care of you.  She's the one I am most worried about and I will pray for her everyday. 

We love you Grandpa Orvel...goodbye for now...until we meet again.

Macie's 4 Year Check-up

Macie went in for her 4 year check-up last week.  Dr. B said she is growing great and is super smart!  She had Macie hop on one leg to test her coordination and she was able to do it just fine.  I didn't think that was such a big deal but apparently a lot of kids can't do it, especially boys until about age 5!  I kind of thought she was uncoordinated all this time (she falls all the time and runs into stuff all the time...but maybe because she never looks the direction she's walking/running!), but she said she looks great!  She weighs 34 lbs and I can't remember the exact height...but both are right at the average mark which is typical for Macie.  Her weight has always been right at average...unlike her brother who is always much bigger than average.

Anyway, Macie had to get 3 immunizations...we did the Kindergarten ones early so she could avoid getting one later on.  I had prepared her before we went so she was as ready as she could be.  She kind of did a worried whine while they gave the injections but as soon as they were done she was fine and she got her popsicle.  She was so brave...I was so proud of her!  I still can't believe she is 4 years old.