Category: family

14 Hours, 1400 Miles


On Saturday N and I left the house at 6 am at flew to Seattle. It felt so strange to be flying without any luggage or carry-ons. From the airport we headed straight to the funeral. It was a really lovely service and afterwards there was a lot of catching up with family and swapping funny stories about Grandpa.

After the graveside service and a quick family lunch we headed back to the airport and few back to Salt Lake. Incredibly enough we were back home in time to put E to bed.

It was a surreal day in a lot of ways but I’m so glad we went. It was very comforting to be able to pay our respects to Grandpa.

Hearing people talk about him was really inspiring. He had a lot of good qualities that I want to emulate, especially the ability to find the funny aspect of any situation. Things that would bother most people didn’t annoy him; they amused him. Whomever he spent time with left feeling better about things than they did before.

How awesome would life be if more of us were like that?

Goodbye, Grandpa

Grandpa and E, August 2008

We just found out that N’s grandpa passed away last night.

He was a wonderful man. Until his health went downhill we would see him once or twice a year when he stayed with us to attend local genealogy conferences. We loved having him around.

My own grandfathers died before I was born so he was the only grandpa I really knew and I loved spending time with him. He was a Grandpa straight out of central casting–funny and caring but with an ornery streak and the tendency to say slightly scandalous things and the self-awareness to enjoy saying them. Every once in a great while he would drop an outdated racial epithet in a conversation but I think he mostly did it to get a rise out of us and so we would chide him, “Grandpa, you can’t say that anymore!”

Being in his company was like being plunged into an ocean of Grandpa-y-ness. It was awesome.

He was always unfailingly kind to me and went out of his way to make me feel welcome as a member of the family. I will miss his humor, his wit, his kindness, and the example he set as a man devoted to his family and the Lord. We will miss him but I know that he’s with his wife and other loved ones now. I believe that families can be forever and that I’ll see him again.

Grandpa, we love you.

Ocean Shores iPhone Photos







There have been a few hiccups (mostly due to a teething baby) but so far this vacation has been wonderful. I can’t download the photos from my camera until I get home but here are a few I took with my iPhone using the Hipstmatic app.

Top to bottom: my brother David and his son, E waking up from a nap at our hotel, E tearing around on the beach.

In-law-palooza 2011

This weekend is going to be fun. N’s parents are returning home tomorrow after having spent the last THREE YEARS serving a mission for our church in Pusan, Korea. The last time we saw them was back in October when N and E and I went to Korea for a visit and since then we’ve been counting down the days until they came home (and started babysitting for us).

N’s sister Gwyn and his brother Ken are both coming into town with their families to see their parents so except for one missing sister this weekend will be a dress rehearsal of the family reunion we have planned for August. Gwyn and her family are going to crash at our house and I’ve been looking forward to seeing them for months.

For us this weekend is going to have lots of little cousins running around, probably a barbeque (or two) and possibly even some fireworks (fingers crossed). I hope you have a wonderful weekend and a great Forth of July!

Tracy Aviary

Thank you for all the supportive comments here and on Facebook! You guys are seriously the best. I’m out of my slump and feeling more upbeat about the whole food-allergy thing.

I wanted to post these pictures from when I took the kids to the Tracy Aviary a couple of weeks ago. We went with N’s sister Miranda and my cousin Youngshin and her daughter who are visiting from Korea.

The highlight of the visit was feeding the conures. You can buy tickets ($3) and go right into the birds’ cage and feed them apples from your hand.

E was very excited about the prospect of feeding the birds but, predictably, once we were inside it was a little much for him.

The aviary was doing a lot of construction when we were there in preparation for the summer crowds which was a bit of a hassle to deal with. But all of the exhibits were open and it was nice seeing the birds. Hand-feeding the conures was definitely my favorite part. If you want to feed the birds you need to purchase tickets at the front gate when you come in.

Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day to my wonderful mother and to my lovely mother-in-law!

My mom and me.

(I recently found out that my grandmother was thirty when she had my mom just like my mom was thirty when she had me and I was thirty when I had Mimi. Neat, no?)

I know that sometimes Mother’s day can be a bit rough on people for various reasons but I hope you have a lovely day today.

Wrapped in (Meemaw’s) love

Several family members and friends graciously gave us beautiful handmade baby blankets for Mimi, and I thought it would be fun to take her photo with each of them.

This lovely quilt was made by my mom. It is all-the-more special since her health has been poor lately and it took quite a bit of effort for her to make it.


Lately I’ve been tempted to try my hand at quilting. I definitely do not need any more hobbies (N will agree wholeheartedly with that statement) but I love browsing fabrics and putting together combinations I like. We shall see.

Fun with Cousins

We had a great weekend. N and I had fun catching up with Ken and Mindy and E had a blast hanging out with cousins Dylan and Caitlin. This was the first time he was old enough to (mostly) keep up with them.

He was pretty bummed to see them head home and begged to go to the airport with them. I seriously considered it (without telling Mindy) but ultimately declined (last minute plane tickets are pricey!)

Seeing how quickly the kids are growing up makes me feel old. (See this photo of Dylan and E for comparison.)

And now that I’ve had my fun I’m finally going to stop procrastinating and finish my taxes (blarg.)