Yeah for Grandma

We went up to Sandy this afternoon to visit Chris's mom. Actually, I left the boys with her and went shopping. It was great. The Osh Kosh Outlet had 50% off of their clearance items so I bought clothes for my boys and my sisters kids for next winter. The receipt says that I saved $474.11 off of the original price. I love getting good deals. Although I don't consider it that good of a deal because I almost never pay full price for clothes.

While I was shopping Grandma took the boys to the park. It is the first time they have been to the park since last fall which is really the first time for Isaac since all he could do before was swing in the baby swings. Apparently Isaac loves the slide. It doesn't surprise me. He loves to be thrown around and tossed in the air. Now that the snow is melting and the temperatures are bearable I'm sure we will be spending a lot more time at the park.

Sorry for the lack of pictures lately. I haven't taken any. I should get on that.

Chris' Sign

Here is another picture of Chris. This is a sign that he painted in his office. I am trying to get him to send me pictures of Camp Bucca so I can see what it's like. He doesn't have a lot of time off and when he does there isn't a lot of people to take pictures of him with stuff. Then the internet will only let him email one or two pictures at a time. So, I figured I will take what I can get. It's great to see him and know he is doing well.

Happy Valentine's Day

I am seeing more everyday how much my little boys have grown up. Eli had his first Valentine's party at preschool today. We bought some Dora and Diego Valentines a few weeks ago and he has been counting down everyday since then. He was so excited. This morning he wrote the names of all the kids in his class on the valentines and he loved it. The kid loves letters and writing so it was just his thing. And yesterday when I went to pick him up he wanted his friend Elijah to come home with us to play. (We thought Elijah was not too common of a name when we named Eli but there are only seven kids in his preschool class and there is another Elijah, a girl named Eliza and another girl named Ellie. Apparently we were wrong.) That hasn't ever happened before. There are just little things that make me realize that he is getting older. It's fun to have the new experiences.

The post below is my Grandpa's obituary. Isn't he so cute. I love that picture of him.

S. Glenn Smith

S. Glenn Smith 1920 ~ 2008

S. Glenn Smith, 87, died February 11, 2008.He was born October 26, 1920, in Salt Lake City, Utah to Glenn G. Smith and Christine Johnson; and married Vivian Poole, April 1, 1943, in the Salt Lake LDS Temple. He was an active member of the LDS Church, fulfilling a mission in the Eastern States from January 1941 to March 1943; served as MIA teacher training instructor, ward clerk, counselor in a BYU student ward bishopric, stake athletic director, and on the All-Church athletic and tournament committees. Glenn worked as business promotion director for Aetna Finance, advertising manager for The Improvement Era and BYU Today alumni newspaper, and at the Sears Call Center until he was 83. He was president of the Provo Boys and Girls Club twice, spent many years officiating ballgames, was an avid reader, gifted handyman, a faithful and enthusiastic BYU sports fan, and long time member of Cougar Club. Glenn was a member of the BYU freshman basketball team in 1938-39, and played basketball almost every day until his 75th birthday. He is survived by his children: Becky Mitchell (Ken), Logan, Utah; Dianne Smith (Harold), Granada Hill, California; Derrell Smith (LaNore), Anchorage, Alaska; Susan Montgomery (John), Aurora, Colorado; Craig Smith (Colleen), Payson, Utah; and Bradley Smith (DeAnn), Centennial, Colorado; 34 grand-children, 40 great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be on Saturday, Feb. 16th at 11 a.m. in the Edgewood Chapel, 3500 N. 180 E., Provo. Friends and family may visit on Friday, Feb. 15th from 6-8 p.m. at Walker Mortuary, 85 E. 300 S. Provo; and from 10-10:45 a.m. prior to services on Saturday. Donations in his memory may be made to the LDS Church Perpetual Education Fund or LDS Humanitarian Center. Published in the Salt Lake Tribune on 2/14/2008.

Gramps's mints

Tonight Eli was playing around and looking in the drawers of my Grandpa's desk. He opened a drawer that had a bunch of Certs mints in it. When he saw them he asked my sister "Since Gramps is almost dead, can I have all these mints?" It was pretty funny.

Best Gramps Ever

As many of you probably know we have been living with my Grandpa for the last year. He has needed help around the house and yard and we needed a place to live so it has worked out nice for all of us. It has been especially nice to be here since Chris left since there has been a lot of family around and a lot of people who are willing to help.

The last few months my grandpa's health has slowly declined. He would get pretty sick and then bounce back and be relatively healthy again. This last week he had another hard week where he didn't get out of bed for a few days and was needing more help than normal. My Aunt Becky came down as she often does and had decided that she would have to stay longer than she had planned. It is a good thing she did because on Friday night he had a stroke. We called the hospice nurse and my uncle and they came and helped us get him into his bed where he has been ever since.

We have had a lot of family gathering to say goodbye. It is always nice to have family around. My boys love their Gramps and are going to miss him dearly. Eli went out into the garage and chose some of his tools to keep. He chose the smallest wrench there was, a small "Eli sized" hammer and screwdriver. My grandpa loved working with his hands and building things so he wants to pass his tools along so that his family can continue the tradition. I had Eli go into Gramps's room and show him the tools. We told him that we loved him and he mumbled back that he loved us too. It was very special to me because the night before he was not able to say anything understandable but I did understand him tell me that he loves me.

Isaac especially loved his Gramps. Whenever he saw him he would crawl over and pull himself up on his leg and beg for him to pick him up. I would have to pick him up and put him in Gramps arms since he was not able to lift him anymore. Isaac would walk down the hall and into Gramps room and say hi to him. Grandpa called Isaac Big Ike. Big Ike would always have a smile for Gramps and loved to give him five. My grandpa is a big BYU fan about as big a fan as you can be. He has a BYU beanie type hat that he would wear in the winter and whenever Isaac saw it he would reach for it and go uh uh uh (which he always does when he wants something) until you put it on his head.

This morning when we were getting ready to go to church Gramps wasn't doing well and we didn't know if he would be alive when we got home. So, I brought Isaac in to say goodbye to him. I told Gramps that we were there and he opened his eyes and looked at us. I told him that we loved him and again he told me that he loved us too. I told him to tell Granny hi from me and then I told him goodbye. Isaac was just watching Gramps the whole time. I told Isaac to say goodbye to Gramps and Gramps started waving with his right hand which was previously paralized from the stroke. Isaac then waved back to him and continued waving until we had left the room. It was a very special moment shared between the oldest and youngest members of the family. They really have had a great relationship and I am very glad that we have been able to be here and that my boys have been able to spend time with Gramps. He is such a great man and a great example.

Gramps is still with us. He is on Morphine and sleeping in his bed. We are just waiting for him to go be with Granny again. He has missed her so and will be very grateful to be with her again. We will miss him and it will certainly be more lonely around here.

Happy Chinese New Year

My aunt who has spent a lot of time in China came over tonight and made us a Chinese dinner to celebrate the Chinese New Year tomorrow. She brought these clothes for my boys and had the table all set with dishes from China. We even had to use chop sticks. It was fun.