what's on my mind

-I made strawberry jam today! My grandma and Angie helped me get it done since Aaron and I are leaving town tomorrow. I bought some freshly picked strawberries from my aunt's neighbor and they are so delicious. It's going to be a good batch. I love strawberry jam...now all I need to do is learn how to make my grandma's homemade bread.

-Elsie had another UTI over the weekend. This is really not good because the prophylactic antibiotic she's been on for the last couple months is supposed to stop that from happening. We'll have to see what this means, but for the time being she's doing fine. We caught it very early (thanks to her daddy!) so she got on medication right away.

-I keep having little moments where I think to myself "Oh, I've gotta tell mom that" or "Mom is gonna love that" but then I remember that she's gone and it freaks me out. I just feel like it's all so weird still. Who knows if it will ever seem normal?!

-Elsie's been doing swim lesson since last week. Well, they aren't really lessons...we basically just play around in the kiddie area of the aquatic center. But she loves it! Angie came one day to watch and Aaron has also been able to come. Today after lessons, we stayed to play for a couple more hours. It was a lot of fun. I was able to keep Elsie from getting a sunburn...not so lucky myself! She definitely got her daddy's skin. Lucky girl!

-I was trippin' out big time for a few days last week and over the weekend. I'm feeling a little more like myself now. Aaron was very patient and helped me sort things out in my head. I just feel like there's so much going on and so many stresses right now. Not to sit and complain, really! I just felt like I couldn't handle ANYTHING. I'm glad I'm feeling better now.

-We are heading down out of town for about a week. When we get back, Jared/Lindsay/kids will be coming up for the 4th. Then I'm going to go to girl's camp with our stake. (They needed some more adult leaders. Lori asked me if I would go, and I thought why not?!) I'm excited to have things to look forward to for the next couple weeks. I need some fun and distraction.

-Elsie is the cutest, sweetest thing in the world! She brightens up my day.

I'm back

I finally made it into the office this afternoon to post a bunch of pictures from this last month. I normally like to write a little bit more, but I was trying to hurry. Hope you enjoy!

A Dip in the Pool!

My Grandma's pool isn't up and running yet, so Elsie swam with cousins in the little pool. It was the perfect combination of water, being outside, getting tons of attention from the girls, and sun! She loved it!
She kept licking the water bottle and going crazy with her tongue. Angie and I couldn't help but laugh. It was so funny!
Angie played with Elsie by giving her pieces of ice and then she would put them in the waterbottle and then do her licking thing. She did this over and over again!

Holy Guacamole!

She has been loving guacamole lately. She loves to dip the chip and eat it. In fact, she's loving dipping anything into guacamole, ketchup, soup...whatever! Anyway, I swear I stepped away for just a second to change a load of laundry and Elsie got a little crazy!

Memorial Day Weekend

This is just a note to myself to link this to Angie's blog.

Hammer Time!

Aaron and I were putting together a set of shelves for my mom and Elsie wanted to help so badly. I found this little plastic hammer and she was pounding away. Then she saw Aaron using a screwdriver and tried to take over his job. She was getting so frustrated that she couldn't get the tool into the screw to turn it. Too cute!

Park Time!

Elsie and I went to the park with our friends Camery and Natalie. It was nice to get out of the house and hang out with another Mommy/Daughter combo. More than anything, Elsie loved the swing. We'll have to do it again now that things have settled down.

Aaron's Birthday

Our friends Pete and Courtney planned a surprise birthday party for Aaron while we were in UT. We all got together up in Midway at his sister's home. We tricked Aaron into thinking nobody was available to get together and just the four of us were going to go to dinner in Midway. He was really confused as to why no one was around to hang out and didn't really want to go up to Midway just to eat. We pulled it off so well, though. The only problem came right when we got to the house and Boogie was out walking around. Aaron looked over and said, "Is that Boogie?" (He still claims he didn't have it figured out...he was just really confused as to why Boogie happened to be in Midway.) Anyway, we had a great time visiting with friends and eating good food. It was so fun!

Trip to UT

A walk up Provo Canyon with Grandma and Grandpa. Elsie kept her hands up in the air for the longest time...don't know why?!

Elsie's new walk. I think this might be a step in the right direction. Hopefully she'll be walking by her 18 month mark.

Elsie was loving it when I would flutter/vibrate (I'm not even sure how to describe it) in her mouth. She kept opening her mouth wanting me to do it over and over again. Always up for a game of croquet!
It took a couple of days, but she finally warmed up to Jeff. She seems to have stranger issues with males more than females. Well, except my brother Jared. What does that mean?

a very bad dream

I'm still here! I'm the slacker that still hasn't written a post because, frankly, I haven't wanted to. (Maybe blogging just isn't for me?!) I still feel like I'm having a bad dream and can't wake up! It's not like I'm in a deep depression or anything, I just don't feel happy. I'm sure it will get better.

I know most everyone that reads my blog also reads Angie's and Lindsay's. If you haven't read theirs recently, they both wrote really wonderful posts about my mom. Here's the link to Angie's and Lindsay's blogs.

I am so grateful for all the love and support I've received from family and friends. It's amazing how many people there are that care about me. I appreciate everyone that was able to come to the funeral. It was nice to be able to share that with everyone.

I have a lot of things to blog about (and a lot of past blogging to catch up on), so check back later this week. I'll be here with a smiling face!! Not that anyone can see it...but I promise!