Grandma's send off

 My mom was recently called to serve a full time mission  for our church, serving in the Church history and family history mission. She will be helping those who come to Salt Lake City to research their genealogy, as well as learn more about the history of the church. She will serve for 18 months.

18 months without Grandma!!!!! How will we survive????? But we're really happy that she is doing this, and the great example that she is setting for her children and grandchildren.

We took her to the airport last week to send her off to Salt Lake, and had a little bit of extra time before she had to go through security. As expected, there was a lot of whining and fighting, especially over who got to pull the suitcase. But we sent her off, and I think that she was still sad to see us go despite the crazy she was leaving behind!:)

We got a few pictures. Olivia was not at all interested in a group shot.

 Nate and Grandma.

 Graham sitting on the coveted suitcase.

 Graham and Grandma. (both kind of making funny faces.)

 Liv is finally smiley! And the kind of sad thing is that Olivia has just started to say "Grandma" in the past few weeks.

We'll miss you Grandma, and are so glad that we can email and call you as often as we want!!!

Ode to Olivia

So I thought that I'd start blogging again. Right after I posted that awesome video which at the end announced the coming arrival of number 4, I went in for my 13 week check up, and found out that the baby had died a few weeks earlier. So August was not the funnest month for me. Anyway, but here I am back. The good news is that I'm not too far behind on the journaling of our lives. I was caught up before vacation, and we didn't do anything in August, so really, it's just vacation and current events. But I was looking through the few pictures that we have, and I thought that there were a bunch of randoms about Olivia, so here is an Olivia post! :)

 First of all, say goodbye to paci face! Olivia must be teething right now, and she started to chew through all of her pacis, so when she chewed on the last one, we were done. It's been since Saturday that she has not had one, and she seems to be doing well. When we took Graham's away, we just stopped giving it to him, and he never asked for it, and that was that. Olivia seems to be doing much the same. She is a little fussy going to bed, but she is not crying for her paci. I think she knows it's gone. But now that paci face is gone, we can make room for cute Olivia face!

 Here she is in the cute dress that Grandma made for her before she left on her mission.
And below, well, here she is channeling her inner Olivia Newton John. In the middle of Wegmans. With the paci.

 Graham started preschool, and Olivia had gone to the open house and now equates the room with Disney World (not that she knows anything about Disney World or anything) She cries so much when we have to drop him off, and she can't stay. Just 2 more years and it's your turn little one!

We read the Olivia books regularly in this house, and it makes it so that constantly I am thinking, you know, you really wear me out, but I love you anyway. She is a highly busy child, but so sweet 90% of the time, so we keep her.