Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Series of Unfortunate Events

December has been a rough one for us.  I needed to share about the baptism before I shared about our two funerals, so I could remember that little Ray of Sunshine in our Month.  Shane's Grandpa Farr passed away at the beginning of December.  My children cried and cried.  You would have to be there to believe how much they cried, but it went on for hours.  Cameron cried out loud, Dakota stood right by the casket and cried the entire viewing.  They were heartbroken.  Cameron told us he did not want them to put Grandpa in the ground--in between his sobs.  It was so hard for them.  They loved him so so much.  He told the best stories and he and Dakota had become pen pals this last year. Grandpa drew pictures and sent them to Dakota and Dakota wrote him letters back.  In fact, a letter was in transit and arrived at Grandpa's house the day after he died.  Dakota was sad he never received it.

We did make it to see the lights in Ogden and had a great, freezing evening.  I love family selfies :)


Then 8 days later my Grandma Facer passed away.  When I was a kid we called her Grandma Facer, but since the Great grandkids came along it changed to Grandma Jo.  She has been in a rest home for over 3 years now and her body has not been working for a long time, but let me tell you that does not make it any easier.  It just plain old stinks.  The memories come back so fast and the smells, the fun times and all it makes me do is cry.  I loved her so much.  In the past 13 years since I have been home with my children I have spend countless hours and days with her.  Me and Braxton drove her to doctors appointments, dentist appointments, and went to lunch at her favorite grocery store, Wansguards, all the time.  When Shane got called into the Cub scouts I went over there every Tuesday night to visit with her while he was at scouts.  I miss her being in Plain City so bad, I didn't make it up to the rest home nearly enough.  I had the scary honor of saying one of the hardest prayers I ever said and it was a bit rough.  I blubbered through the entire thing, but said what I felt I needed to and felt much peace after.

The boys cried and cried through this one also, but due to the fact they were very close together, it was as if their tears were dry.  Braxton cried the entire time, he was the closest to her for sure.  Cam cried out loud again, but seemed to control the noise level a bit more this time.  Dakota was sad, but no tears.  My sweet other family, Bella's, fed us after the viewing on Friday night and it was so nice to relax and enjoy each others company and feed our hungry bellies.  Her ward that her house was in fed us after the funeral and it was so nice and yummy.  What a long couple of weeks we have had.  Now Christmas is in 3 days and hopefully we can enjoy it and feel the spirit.
Grandma's 4 kids Russell, DeAnn, Loren, Shanna
My entire family minus Kiley and Family (they were in California)
10 of the 11 grandkids

We always take on of the flowers off of the casket for the boys to bring home to dry.  They are getting quite the collection unfortunately.


Shane and I (mostly Shane) had the privilege of doing the movie for the viewing and it turned out so nice.  This is one of the best pictures in it I think.  It was a lot of work, but very good for the grieving process.
A couple of the beautiful flowers people sent that I got to bring home.


On the same day as Grandma Jo's funeral we had a piano recital for Cameron and Dakota.  It was their first one and they did so good.  They practiced so hard and I was so proud of both of them.

Monday, December 21, 2015

Cameron's Baptism

 Our youngest son got baptized On Saturday December 12, 2015.  It was a beautiful day.  He was so excited.  He asked both of his brothers to do a talk.  Braxton on Baptism and Dakota on Holy Ghost.  We teased him that Shane was going to have to dunk him really far down to keep that hair from raising out of the water.  It was a success.  We had everyone over at our house for a luncheon after.  It was a great day to celebrate our whole little family becoming members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

 Grandma Rebecca, Grandpa Brent, and Great Grandma Weston
 Alisha and Michael, and Tim (asleep)
 Grandpa Russ and Grandma Becky
 Aunt Tara
 Grandma Julie and Grandpa Russ

 Troy and Eliza
 Ridge, Dalton, Gunnar, Kara, Alayna, Jake
 Tyler, Kiley, James, Carrera
 Visiting and enjoying lunch at our house afterward.
The "candy bar" that we had set up in the kitchen.  It was a hit filled with M&Ms, Sweedish fish, Dum Dums and bubble gum.

Cameron's #8





















I nearly forgot to post about my eight things that I love about Cameron before moving into December.


#1-That smile and that hair, I mean what is there not to love about both of those.
#2-He is my best little buddy, he loves me so much and we pal around together all the time.
#3-He has a lot of fire.  He wants something and he makes sure we all know about it, and gets it most of the time.
#4-He is such a great reader.  He does so well in school and learns so much everyday through his books and loves to give me a detailed play by play of what is going on in the books.
#5-When Shane gets home, he stops what he is doing, runs and gives him a hug and says "Daddy's Home!"
#6-He was so excited to be a member of the church by getting baptized he could hardly wait.  It was a beautiful day with lots of family who loves him so much also.
#7-He started using my toothpaste a couple of months ago, and he still asked 2 times everyday "Mom, can I use your toothpaste?" Everyday!
#8-He loves to play cards.  I love playing with my children and they are getting so big right before my eyes, but he loves to sit and play cards with me every time I ask him.

I love you Cameron and you are such a sweet, happy little boy and Me and Dad are proud to call you ours!

Cam's Birthday Party

With having a baptism when our boys turn eight, we sometimes forget about the party. Cameron did not let this happen, because last year Shane and I were in Hawaii, so he made sure to have his grandparents over for cake and also to have a friend party.  Shane made a treasure map party, and they had a blast!  He only invited a couple of friends and it was a good number of people for treasure hunting.



Cameron, Ridge, Landon, Owen, and Quincy

Shane took Cameron's baptism pictures for his invitation.  He looks so handsome in his suit with his scriptures.  I love his hair, it is just so much a part of what makes Cam who he is.  He flips it and wears a sweat band when he plays sports.  I am sure its distracting at school, but I really like it.








Thanksgiving 2015

 Dakota did the reflections contest at school and got a blue ribbon.  Good Job Jelly!
 Traditional dress up day at Plain City Elementary.  All 3 boys have worn this same outfit, and I think it may be needing to be passed to another deserving family.  Getting a bit small.
 This year for Thanksgiving I decided that we should leave town.  I wasn't feeling like the same old for the holiday, so we went to Lehi to go to the Museum of Natural Curiosity.  It was an amazing museum that we all enjoyed.  We got a hotel for 2 nights in Draper and drove down to Lehi on the last day.  On thanksgiving we stayed in the hotel all day.  We swam, made gingerbread houses, did boondoggle, crafted with beads and art projects.  Mostly we just enjoyed being together.  When we finally left the hotel to find dinner, there was NOTHING open, so we ate at Little Caesars, which we happen to love anyway, and did a little shopping in the KMart that Little Ceasers was in.  The next morning we hit the museum for most of the day.  It will be a Thanksgiving we always remember.










 When we got home we came home to SNOW and the boys had hardly unpacked before they went straight out playing in it.  Kids love snow, and I love all the joy it brings with it.  I do however usually resent the piles of wet clothes by the end of winter, but for now it is just so much fun.
Cam built a schoolhouse that he got from the Home Depot with Shane.  I love how in the pic you can tell how he sticks out his tongue when he concentrates.