Visit from Dad and Mom Griffin and Nana

Back in late October to mid November (yes, I'm that far behind on my blogging) my parents and grandma came to visit. We had a blast, of coarse, and here are some pics of the highlights....
*We went on a fun triple date to the movies and dinner* (Scott & Kyle were the camera-men here)
*This is Mom with Peyton wearing a dress that she had made Sarah when Sarah was a toddler. Cute! *

*The girls loved having my parents "accessories" around*. :)

*They were so happy to get an early Christmas present!*

*Lots of needed cuddling!*

*LOVE*

*The girls love having Grandma take them to school*

*Dad would bundle up and go rock on the rocking chair outside while reading and would end up falling asleep*

*Shayla and Grandma napping*

*Restaurants!*

*We discovered that Kaleigh inherited a couple of Dad's traits....his ice-cream-tunnel-building and his abnormally long tongue! LOL*

*I love this girl!!!*

*We enjoyed a gorgeous drive up the mountains*

*Dad, Mom and Nana following us up the canyon*

*Beautiful!*

*Mom, Me, Dad and Sarah ♥*

*Mom, Me, Scott, Dad, Kyle, Sarah and Nan were able to make a couple trips to the temple and it was a beautiful thing to be together there.*

*It was cute watching Mom "doll" Nan up a few times.*

*Sexy French Woman!!!* :)

*We had lots of dinners together*

*The girls had a reading-themed Super Hero day at school and they were supposed to come up with their own character and draw a costume they'd wear. Well, Kaleigh picked the name "Wonder Reader" and asked my talented Mom to make her a cape. Grandma, of coarse, couldn't resist. Kaleigh LOVED it!*

*Wonder Reader! (amazing job, Mom!) *

*Mom is so talented. She even made a vest, complete with a name plate that opened up to reveal a book. Amazing!** Dad also took the girls to school a few times.*

*Peyton and Nana have a special bond and it's adorable!*

*Peyton would get up on her "platform" and literally tell Nan story after story. I'm not quite sure who enjoyed that more. *

*Nana left after a couple weeks. It was hard to see her go again*

All in all, we had a wonderful time having them here. As most of you know now they ended up buying a house while they were here! I don't think anyone could have been more surprised than US. People would always say, "Do you think your parents will ever move to Utah?" and I would simply say, "No way!". I knew they LOVED it here, but I didn't ever think that they would leave what they had in California. It was shocking, but SO exciting. They bought a house 1 block away from us and it has been quite the adventure. I will post about that later. I guess I should have named this post, "The last VISIT from Dad, Mom and Nana". Wow. :)

MM

As most of you know, my amazing Dad has been battling cancer for the past 3 years. He was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. It has been a really hard fight. A really sad one too. It's hard to watch someone you love SO much have to endure so much pain. It's hard to watch their life be stolen from them. My Dad is INCREDIBLE! He suffers a lot and you can tell, but he never complains. I wish there was something I could do to help him. Please just pray for him!

Oddly, I just found out that a friends Mom was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. You don't hear of that too often. My heart breaks for her and her family, especially her Mom. I pray that her Mom's battle will be easier than my Dad's. CANCER SUCKS!!!!!

To: Jesus and Mike

I was sitting in church on Sunday when Kaleigh tapped my arm and handed me this picture she had just drawn. She said she wanted to "send it to Heaven". I cried. All I have to say is that I feel so blessed that the girls were old enough to know Mike. They will always have memories of him. That's priceless. Also, I am SO extremely grateful that Mike was such an AWESOME Uncle to them! There was NEVER any doubt, in my mind, or the girls, that Mike loved and adored them. That is even more priceless. I would give anything to have that back!!! :(

A Real Big Deal

Kaleigh has been really slow to lose her teeth. She's almost 9 and has only lost two. Her two front teeth have been loose for almost a year. Scott, my Mom, Kaleigh and I have tried to pull them lately but would stop because Kay would cry because it "hurt". Suzie, who is a dental assistant, kept telling us that she could pull them easily. She does it all the time. Well, on Wednesday night Suz took the girls out to dinner and to her house to watch a movie. When we came to pick them up, I told her I finally would take her up on her offer to pull them. I knew it would hurt Kaleigh and the thought of watching her in pain was unbearable, so I stayed upstairs with Shayla and Peyton while Scott held her hand and comforted her. There was lots of screaming and crying, so I knew I was best upstairs. Here's the start.... Thank goodness for Aunt Suzie!

And the after...

Once the teeth were out, Kaleigh was SO excited! She talked about it the whole way home. She couldn't wait for the tooth fairy to come. The next night we celebrated by having Grandpa and Grandma Griffin, Nana and Aunt Suzie over for a celebration dinner and dessert. We also took the girls to see Tangled, again.

Kaleigh seems to have a low pain tolerance, so I know that having them pulled was extra hard for her. I'm proud of her and she looks so gosh darn cute! It's times like these that I'm so grateful to have a d.a. in the family who also happens to be an amazing Aunt. Thanks so much Suz! We sure do love and appreciate ya!

P.S., did I mention that something about having a child with 2 missing front teeth makes me feel old? Weird!

Blogging BUM

OK, so I have SUCKED lately and guess what? A return to faithful blogging is one of my New Years Resolutions. Stay tuned.... :)