dear Easter...

IT WAS A GREAT ONE!!

Emma on an Easter egg hunt with our ward in 38 degree weather..still had fun though.

Came home and snuggled and watched wonderful General Conference. Emma coloring a picture of Pres. Monson.

Colored Easter eggs between sessions..she LOVED it. Wish we had more to do. I think we'll be doing more this week.

Daddy's mad egg coloring skills

Emma woke up with Christ's Resurrection picture on her bedroom wall. Here she is telling us what's going on in the picture.

Here's Emma's little Easter basket.

Daddy and Emma going through their Easter baskets. Yes, Derek still gets an Easter basket from when we were first married. I got him a 'hot wheels' one. Emma asks, "where Mommy's Easter basket?" then I reply, "uuhhh...I don't need one sweetie."

Here's Emma's first clue to her hidden treasure. :)

She had SO much fun on her little scavenger hunt.

She's getting closer

TADA!! She LOVES her new tricycle. It is quite the big present for Easter but she's been into them SO much lately and wanting to learn to ride one and her birthday isn't until September so we splurged.

Loving it..

hopping around the house in her bunny ears

We had a lesson on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We've been talking about it quite a bit the last couple weeks.

Went to Grandma and Grandpa Phair's house for Easter dinner. Emma playing the piano with her great Uncle Scott.

Emma in 35 degree weather enjoying the bubble wand that Grandma Phair got her. :)

37 weeks.....

And bustin' out of my skin!!

arts and crafts

Emma has been into painting and other arts and crafts lately. Here are a few that she's been doing since January.

She put a few hearts on the letter "H" that we talked about. She's knows her abc's really well..now she's been learning the sound of the letters.
Below she painted her feet and hands.

Here she is in action. She was concentrating very hard :)

Here's what our valentines looked like. Emma and I made a big card for Derek that said "I love you from head to toe" for her Daddy and we painted her feet and hands on it. She put the letters for "LOVE" on the card also.

Last week we made a little caterpillar out of an egg carton. It took some time for her to paint it, we had to do it in increments. :) We got the idea from a childrens craft website.

Here's the little guy

The art pieces were starting to add up on the kitchen wall. I finally had to take a photo and let them go. I am so sentimental, it was hard for me to throw them away :)

And here she was caught prettying up her face with some mascara.

Potty Training

The time has come. The time in which I have been procrastinating for as long as I can because frankly, it's scared me half to death. That time is Potty training!!

What a great adventure it has been the last month and a half or so. But I have to say, Emma is the one that showed the interest so I quickly jumped on it. Bought the potty charts (from Smith's), a friend told me about these charts. They were so great. They came in a pack of like 6 and had little stickers. Emma is still using them, gotta keep the fire rollin'. Ive branched off to getting other types of stickers, that keeps it exciting. And of course, the rewards have been fun. The first 5 or so rewards have been places she's wanted to go like Jump on It, Chuckee Cheese, Ice Cream, Chuckee Cheese again, and Pirate Island. Now, we are at the stage of letting her just choose a prize at the dollar store or a little cheap doodad that she enjoys.

She's done pretty good over all. Going poop in a public big potty is still kind of scary for her. We've had and still have plenty of accidents but I am learning to just be patient with it hoping that one day it will stick and will be consistent. It would be so great if it was steady by the time this little baby boy comes.

going out for ice cream..mmmmm

Jump on It

Chuckee Cheese

Pirate Island. She wasn't a fan of our pirate waiter or the big ship right next to us that would make booming noises here and there.
But she did enjoy the games and rides after dinner. Bless her heart, she's trying to lift this gun to play along with the girl next to her.

Grandpappy Mills

APRIL 7, 1920- JANUARY 25th, 2010

Eternal Companion

Hero

Father (that's my mom in the helmet)

Best Grandpappy

My sweet Grandpa Mills' beautiful viewing and funeral were held this week. It's been a time of many emotions: love, comfort, gratitude, heart ache, mourning, laughter, etc...
Here are some pictures of both the viewing and the funeral. There are a lot of pictures, but I just had to post them to capture the beautiful moments.

Here is a display table in recognition of my Grandpappy. He was an INCREDIBLE athlete.

He was a WWII veteran and served so honorably. I will hold his many war stories close to my heart. What a hero!

I felt pretty strong during the viewing. That was until the crowds starting dying down and I could here my sweet Grandpa's music playing over the speakers and seeing his brother, my great uncle, Bill, show up from California. It was a miracle he was able to make it, then I lost it.

One of the display tables had a book I made for my Grandparents for their 68th wedding anniversary last year.

My sisters and I with our Grandpappy.

Here is my brother Mike and my Dad with my great Uncle Bill (Grandpa's brother). He is the last one of the siblings still here. It was a very emotional time.

Grandma Mills was SO thrilled to see him, as were all of us.

Here we all are before the family prayer and funeral services. What a beautiful and amazing day. The great grand children were so reverent. The spirit was so strong.

Here is Emma explaining to me what she'd been learning all week about where Grandpa Mills is now. She said,"Grandpa Mills sleeping. Not sick, so happy. With Jesus in heaven."

My sweet Grandma. I can only imagine how she must have been feeling.

The funeral services were amazing. Not one dry eye in the family while we ALL sang some of my Grandpa's favorite songs, " You are my Sunshine" and "Till we meet again"

Everyone in reverence watching the pall bearers put Grandpappy in the vehicle.

Emma was so sweet and could feel the reverence along with her cousins. Here she is holding her cousin Coleman's hand as she watches.

The family at the Provo Cemetery. Here's my sweet niece and nephews, Lucy, Nick, and Ben.

The handsome pall bearers

Military tribute

My brother Greg had the privilege to play taps at the cemetery. That was emotional not only to us listening but also to him. He said it was a hard one to get through.

My Aunt Charlene, Uncle Scott, Grandma, Mom, and Uncle LeRoy.

A few of my nieces were getting pretty emotional. It was so sweet.

My whole side of the family. It was so amazing being all together. I didn't want it to end.

Emma wanted to sit by Grandpa while people were leaving.

After the services we had a wonderful luncheon and celebration of Grandpa's music. Uncle Scott played some of Grandpa's music while we all sang and danced the day away. Uncle Bill and Grandma had a grand ole' time.

Emma having fun with her cousins. Here she is with Matthew.

My handsome husband and nephews. :)

This was SO awesome. Growing up, my brothers Greg and Mike always sang 'Hello my baby' and would do a little dance while Grandpa played the piano. Well, they did it for all of us and it was the NEATEST thing. No doubt Grandpa was watching and smiling. It brought tears to our eyes.

My sister Kim and cousin Amy Jo doing the Charleston dance while Uncle Scott played "Goochy goo"

Some of my siblings and me singin' the ole' tunes like 'Old Black Joe'

This was a day that will be remembered and cherished forever. It was a day of celebration of my Grandpa's life. It strengthened my testimony even more of the gospel principle of how real and true eternal families are. I am so grateful for the eternal perspective. It has been hard this week as it sinks in more that my Grandpappy has departed from us but we will see him again. He has left behind an amazing legacy. I get excited talking about him to Emma and love that she recognizes his music right away every time I play his cd.
I love you Grandpa. Thank you for all the amazing memories.