Pittman Trip 2010

We are so lucky to have had some great friends since we were first married. The Pittman's have been with us through all of our ups and downs and we love them. They just came for a visit with their 4 adorable kids and we had a blast!

The trip started with a journey to Niagara Falls. The kids had a great time swimming and getting wet in the falls.

We stayed at our favorite hotel that has the yummiest breakfast and an amazing view of the falls.

We had a date night at the gardens. It is so much fun how young and care free we feel when we are together. I don't know if it is because our friendship started before we had kids but when we are together we are silly and in love just like we are newlyweds again.

This is me and my beautiful Cher. What an inspiring and amazing friend she is to me.

Here are the boys bowling. We had so much fun.

Here is Charlie teaching Kira how to eat like a piggy. They laughed so hard and made quite a mess.

It has been so much fun to have our kids grow up together. Here is Abby and Leah when they were still little girls.

Here are our big girls today.

Ethan and Luke were born just a few days apart.

Here are our cute boys now!

The kids had lots of time to just play outside and get to know each other again. We love how much they love being together and how well they play. We can only hope they are college roomies someday.

Here was our last group shot with all of us before they headed back home. We are quite the group.

It was a crazy few days but I would not trade it for anything. Mike and Cher thank you for being our friends and thank you for making the trip out here. We love you and your kids and can't wait to see you again!

Catching Up

The last few weeks of insanity seems to have come to an end and now it is time for me to do some catch up blogging. I was gone for the last day of school so I did not get any pictures but here is one of the kids that I love. I wish we could have gotten Logan in there but I don't think it would have been very safe.

I somehow managed to not get a single cute picture of Sam on his 2nd birthday so this next shot will have to suffice as a cute birthday picture. We had a little family party and he loved blowing out his candles and opening presents.



Abby had her 9th birthday and had a big celebration. She had a friend party which is a rare event at our house and she was allowed to have her first ever slumber party. The girls were all super cute and stayed up late and had a great time. I can't believe I have a 9 year old!


I left the next day for Utah to attend my Grandmother's funeral. It was a special few days and I was so glad that I was able to go. The first day I got there we were going through a ton of old photos. I had flipped through many books when all of a sudden I came across this.....


The sight of the pink oven brought me to tears. If you read my last post you will know the significance of the pink oven. It was the only picture they had of their old kitchen and it was in a random book and no one else had seen that picture. My Grandpa kindly allowed me to take it and I will cherish it forever.
Another sweet moment out of the many we had was seeing this cute corsage my Grandpa got for my Grandma. He always got her a gardenia for every dance they went to together and so he got her a gardenia for this last special occasion. It smelled beautiful and out of all the flowers in the room I think you could smell that one the most and my grandma would have LOVED it.

It was wonderful to see family even if it was not under the best of circumstances. We shared a lot of tears, laughs, and great stories. It is always a special time to have my family all together and always difficult to say goodbye.

I am so thankful to have been there to say goodbye to my sweet grandma. It was no suprise that the moment I felt her the closest was during the family prayer right before the funeral. She loved nothing more than being surrounded by family and in that moment all of her family that loved her so dearly were gathered around her all in one room. I am thankful of my testimony of the gospel and thankful to know that I will see her again one day. It was a beautiful celebration of a beautiful life!

Grandma Bev

Last night I got the news that my sweet grandmother passed away. Since I use my blog as a journal I thought there would be no better place for me to share some of my thoughts and memories that I have of this dear woman. I spent most of the night last night wide awake thinking of her life and her legacy. If I had been there last night to say goodbye these may be some of the things I would have quietly spoken to her.

Dear Grandma Bev,

I wish I had been among the family surrounding you with love last night as you went back home. Please know that I feel it an honor to call you my grandmother. You were a strong example in my life and are part of the reason I am the woman I am today.

When I think of you many memories and feelings flood my mind. I thank you for passing your love of family history and genealogy work on to me. I have no doubt that you were greeted last night by many of your ancestors that you may have never met but you knew their stories and loved them. I now as well know them and love them.

You made your house a home. I always felt at home walking through your door. I remember as a child playing in your yard. I remember many family meals around your table by the piano. I remember LOVING cleaning your pink oven with brillo pads. I wish you were still here so I could ask you how you convinced a young child that cleaning an oven was a fun task.

I will always remember how you loved to feel pretty. Even as you aged it was still important for you and I love that. I will remember your hands, especially your beautiful nails that always looked so nice. I love that you loved getting your hair done and having your "face put on". You were a beautiful woman in many ways.

I will remember your smile. It lit up your face and made others around you want to smile.

I am so thankful that you were able to visit me in my home that I love so much. I am glad you were able to be within these 4 walls and experience some of the beauty I experience each day. I loved sitting around the fire with you singing with my mother and my daughter. That will be a night I always cherish.


I will remember your beautiful singing voice. I can hear the song too-ra-loo-ra-lo-ral being gently sung by you in my mind as I write. There was always something so comforting about your sweet voice singing that song.

I will remember that you were there at my baptism, the day I married my sweet husband, and the day we blessed our first child. You were there for so many of my life shaping events.

Most of all I am grateful that you were a strong and faithful woman in the gospel. I am thankful to know where you are. I am thankful to know that this is not goodbye, it is just see you in a little while. The world already feels a little more empty with you gone but I feel blessed to know you will be looking over our family.

Thank you for the amazing woman you were and the blessing you were in my life. I will miss you. Until we meet again!

Your Grandaughter,
Brook