Conference

My parents drove to our neck of the woods to attend the Saturday afternoon conference session 2 weeks ago.

It was mine and Sonny's first time, and it did not disappoint.

We were in awe with how ginormous that building is.

Seriously. It is HUGE, and so many people were packed in there.

Of course, I LOVED every single talk in all the sessions and honestly I just can't pick a favorite.

I do have to say that my favorite part of attending though is the second our beloved prophet walked in.

Thomas S. Monson.

Imagine being in a building that can hold over 24,000 people and not an empty seat anywhere.

A lot of us had been there for over 30 minutes. There were whisperings and talking everywhere. People introducing themselves to the stranger who they were going to touch shoulders with for the next 2+ hours, people recognizing their long lost neighbors, and friends and family chatting with excitement. It was pretty loud.

But when the prophet walked in without any warning there was complete and utter silence.

Like really, S-I-L-E-N-C-E.

We all stood as if it was orchestrated at the same time and whether you were ready for it or not,

The Spirit, I'm sure, pierced every heart in the building.

I will never forget that feeling.

Of course, I already knew before, but that moment it became even more real to me that all those men are truly the real deal. They are men of God.

And our sweet, kind, loving prophet really is just that.

A prophet.

I am so grateful to him and all the service those 12 other "papas" give to the church and to the world.

Loved the experience.

If you haven't gone to a live session yet....you gotta.

It's uh-mazing.

The Queen

Don't let this sweet little face fool you...

She can pack a punch, and she pretty much socked me in the gut a couple of weeks ago...

 Lulu, Miss Gigi, and I were at Ross.

I was looking at the dishcloth section debating on which microfiber set I wanted,

when Gigi toddled around the corner and started shrieking.

 I peeked around to see what she was hollering about and saw her little finger in the air

pointing at a hot pink diamond studded chair. aw cute, I thought.

 I lifted her on and lulu and I got a kick at seeing how excited and happy she was on her little throne.

We got over it, checked our watch, and realized it was time to pick up the Rockstar from preschool.

I reached for the baby to put her back in the cart, and she scrame at me while furiously shaking her head.

I picked her up anyway.

She arched her back and started shrieking, crying, squirming, reaching, screaming, and kicking.

No joke. She was kicking!

I was dumbfounded. 

Maybe, I have just been lucky, but I really haven't had a kid throw a fit like that in a store. 

What do I do?

I set her back on the chair....happiness.

I took her off again and tried to distract her with my towels in the cart.

No siree. She was even more determined.

F-R-E-A-K-I-N-G out!!

 Little Lulu did her best to try to play with gigi and calm her down.

nope.

I pulled out an emergency sucker from my purse.

nope again.

I was starting to sweat.

 I am pretty sure I blacked out at that point, because all I seem to remember is leaving Ross without my towels,

and instead a 30 dollar-hot pink-diamond studded chair riding passenger to Gigi's car seat
(no joke, she freaked out when I tried to put it in the trunk) all the way to pick up brother.

I got home a little dumbstruck...

What in the world just happened!?

Wasn't it just yesterday that I was walking in the stores with my well behaved 

only child wishing I could give all those other defeated moms advice on how to discipline,

how to enjoy shopping with your children, and how to stay in charge??

Um...right...realizing...I...am...that...mom.

and If I saw my old self right now, I'd laugh and tell her, her time will come...

when she won't be in charge anymore.

There's a new queen in the house.

We call her Gigi.

p.s. I'll be recording super nanny this weekend.

p.s.s. totally taking this throne back during nap time...one of these days.

Tillie's Funeral

{March 5}

::Gresham Oregon::

It was beautiful.

Just the way Grandma would want it.

Red roses and all.

And she walks...

{March 2}

Goodness Gracious! We had started to give up hope on this girl ever taking her first steps.

She started crawling at 5 1/2 months old, so naturally, we assumed walking was just around the corner.

wrongo.

She finally performed though on her 15 month birthday.

It was kind of ironic, because I took her to a well child check up that morning and the Doctor gave me a

telephone number to start her on some physical therapy sessions. I was like... what!? my baby don't need any therapy! 

Sure enough, Daddy got word of that and got her to take her first steps that very night. Yay!

We were so proud of her.

Ha! She was pretty proud of herself too! 

A face only a mother could love. :)

Side note: don't mind the terrible cell phone pics. Can you believe these were actually taken with my "upgraded" camera. I am definitely missing my old one.
 Serves me right for thinking Auto would be fine. I think I am getting it figured out now, but it bums me out these milestone pics turned out so bad. Darn. 

Grandma Dunn

Clara Matilda Dunn

"Tillie"

June 19, 1924 - February 21, 2011

My sweet Grandma left this life after a long battle of Alzheimer's Disease on February 21.

The day I got the text was a hard one. You know how you always think you are prepared for that day when you have seen your loved one suffer for so many years, but then it comes and smacks you upside the head? Totally happened to me.

My wise and talented grandma lost her memory about 11 years ago, and when my mom and I visited her back in August I am pretty sure she really didn't even know who we were. I left that trip thinking it really was time for her to go. My grandma would NEVER have wanted to leave that memory and I knew she was probably ready, but I got that text and, again, it hit home.
I cried a lot that day thinking about my precious memories of her.

Late night little Tillie Stories, UNO games, her constant testimony, her purse full of herbs for every ailment (Cayenne is the cure all btw), her bright red lipstick and fingernail polish, her fancy rings, apple juice on her cereal (disgusting, but she loved it), her love for cats, her love for the scriptures, her love for Nature, her love for everyone.

She was the greatest.

She could do anything. She built a cabin from scratch. Fed the homeless. Crocheted countless slippers and hats for her grandkids. Made porcelain dolls. Sewed wedding gowns and blessing dresses. Built a lamp out of recycled pop bottles. Baked bread. Knitted sweaters. Wrote poetry. Painted landscapes. Made wedding veils for department stores.

She was a master at just about everything and no one could tell her she couldn't do something.

My mom's childhood memories of school clothes shopping was going to the mall, picking out her favorite outfits, my grandma taking notes, and then going home to cut out patterns and sew.

It gives me a little hope I may be able to sew a straight line one day.

Waitin on those genes grams.

My Grandma's testimony of the gospel was permeating. She read it, talked it, exemplified it, and lived it. She bore her testimony of Jesus Christ to anyone and everyone she came in contact with.

She lived a very hard life and I believe it gave her the amazing ability to completely love unconditionally. She really loved everyone and when you were with her you kind of thought you were somethin special. Partly because you felt so loved and partly because she told you that you were about 5,000,000,321 times an hour. :)

She was the real deal.

I've missed her for many years, and I miss her even more now.

But I know without a doubt where that little 4'11" woman is at this very moment....
She's home.

My mom spoke at her funeral. She asked if there was anything I really wanted her to say.

I told her that Christ has always been very familiar to me throughout my life, because I knew Grandma.

It's the truth.

Hug him for me Grandma.

I love you.

Sweethearts

{February 15}

i know. i know. i'm so stinkin behind. Freak!

Never a dull moment with these three.

Sweet + Sass + a little goof.

Who could ask for more!?

I sure don't.

love em.

Valentines

we start em young :)