Two Years

How is it possible that in a matter of hours Hattie will be two years old?  She has learned and grown immensely in the past year.

Her speech has sky rocketed.  She learns new words and phrases everyday.  She's starting to speak in sentences.  She's learning numbers, foods, colors, even more animals and their noises, names for emotions, and lots of random things.  Hattie sings.  She knows most of the words to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and I Love to See the Temple as well as songs from her favorite cartoon Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  She's learning the alphabet too.  Some of my favorite things she says are "of course", "bless you" (when someone sneezes), "I'm so proud" (usually accompanied by a hug), "turn right/left Bucky" (she tells me or Kurt which way to turn in the car- Bucky is the name of the ship in Jake and the Neverland Pirates), and "I love you mommy".

Hattie's physical abilities continue to increase as well.  She runs all the time, jumps, spins, dances, and does seat drops.  She also loves to roll- we'll hold her in our arms and then throw her, rolling sideways, onto our bed.  She also loves to do somersaults on our bed.  She's grown physically as well- she's grown several inches and finally has hair!

I'm learning patience.  As we approach toddler years she's become more rambunctious.  She's very active and has taken up screaming recently.  I can't describe how much I dislike the screaming.  We're working on it.  Sometimes she's great at listening, but other times I might as well be talking to the wall.  But for all the difficulties, I wouldn't trade these past two years for anything!

Gosh I love this girl.  We spend a lot of time together and somehow I still think she's the cutest child ever to have existed and I love her more than ever.  I'm so amazed by the things she does, says, and how quickly she learns.  She makes my life better.

We did a photo shoot (same format as last year) and Hattie would not look at the camera!  Let alone smile.  Oh well, she's cute anyways!  Here are the many faces of Hattie!

I finally caught a small smile!

Some side by sides of this year and last year's photo shoots:

Happy Birthday Hattie!  You're loved more than you know!

Grandma

My Grandma is the first person to pass away in my life that I've been close to.  I knew the viewing and funeral were going to be difficult.

The viewing was definitely hard.  At first.  We signed the book, looked at the pictures, went through the receiving line (consisting of my mom, aunt, uncles, and Grandpa), and I was pretty much a wreck.  So was everyone else.  But after being there an hour, watching the slide show, and visiting with family, it wasn't so hard.  Still sad of course, but a little easier.  I was amazed how many people came to pay their respects.  There was a steady stream of people the entire evening.  

The only good thing about funerals is getting to see family.  This was the first time since my wedding that me and my 4 sisters were all together.  Gosh I love them!

The next morning was the funeral.  Mom, Megan, Ashley, and I sang Edelweiss and amazingly we got through the song without crying.  It really was a great service- Auntie Ann, my cousin Mike, and Uncle Todd all gave wonderful talks recalling my Grandma's life and the legacy she leaves behind.  There was laughter among the tears.  Before going in to the chapel, the family stayed behind for a prayer and the closing of the coffin.  My mom was holding Hattie, but I could hear her say "bye Great-Grandma!  Bye!" It was so sweet and sad.  I love my little lady.  

Afterwards we went to the cemetery for the burial and then back to the church for lunch.  The great-grandkids had a wonderful time!  They all just started playing together.  My cousin's two girls (ages 10 and 7) took to Hattie right away and ran around with her the whole time.  It was pretty cool to see.  All of my Grandma and Grandpa's posterity in one place.  We're quite the group :)

Most of the great-grandchildren were given flowers from one of the many bouquets.  I asked Hattie and Afton to show me their flowers, thinking they'd point them toward me for a picture.  Instead, they did this:

Which I love.  I think it looks like they're toasting or giving cheers to their great-grandma, celebrating her life.  

One more of the crazy girls:

Some of the cousins with their flowers:

And the whole group (of my family....minus Ani and Lili- whoops!)

I was in for one more surprise that weekend- Lena's baby blessing was the next day (Sunday) back in Ogden.  She received a new middle name, well two new middle names- Lena Ethel Ann Roth.  I definitely cried!  What a sweet tribute.  

Low Notes

While we did have an enjoyable trip, it was definitely difficult.  I had asthma, and then I got sick, and then Kurt and Hattie got sick too.  Hattie threw up in our bed to ring in the new year!

Here she is the next day, New Year's Day:

But all of this was nothing compared to the surprise of my Grandma's passing.  She went to the hospital and died within a week, two days after Christmas.  Along with her broken shoulder she had a blocked intestine (which eventually cleared), pneumonia, and gallstones.  Aside from her shoulder, I thought Grandma was relatively healthy, especially for her 89 years.  I was just shocked and so so sad.  I love my grandma so much.  We've become much closer over the past few years, especially after I became a mother.  We talked a lot about kids and family.  She was so proud of me and my sisters for choosing to be moms and doing it so well (her words).  I'll miss her humor, spunk, cooking, laughter, kindness, stories, generosity, and her!  I miss you already Grandma.

I'll always remember summers in Iona- picking peas, eating canned peaches, eating too much at every meal, card games, teasing Grandpa, swinging in the backyard, swimming in the horse trough, the cows, riding bikes, croquet, singing, taking drives, boating, and so much more.  Visiting G&G's was the best.  It was a refuge from the world and my second home.  Iona always will be.

I'm sad that my kids won't know Grandma.  But I'm so thankful that Hattie got to know her a little and loved her!  She would hold Great-Grandma's hand, play toys, build towers, and most importantly- they shared ice cream.  I'm also grateful for the past year we've lived in Utah.  We were able to visit G&G much more than we ever would have when living in Washington.  That time is invaluable.  

I'd like to thank three people who helped me through that very difficult week.  My good friend Tori recently lost her own grandma.  I'm so thankful for her insights and kind words, they helped more than she realized!  I'd also like to thank Kurt's grandma, Gram.  She was able to provide me with a much different outlook on my grandma's death- they were the same age and 'kindred-spirits', so talking with her was almost like getting my own grandma's thoughts.  When I told her, Gram's response was "I'm so sorry for you Charity, but I'm so happy for your Grandma".  In my mind, death is the worst thing that can happen.  But at some point, I don't know when, that changes.  Death becomes a release, a return home.  Grandma will be missed terribly, but I know I'll see her again in the life to come.  I'm thankful for the knowledge I have that this is true.

Finally, I'd like to thank Kurt.  Through my sadness and poor health, he was so kind and patient.  Not only was he my shoulder to cry on, but he picked up the slack!  He took care of Hattie, cleaned, packed our bags, made sure we ate, and more.  He never complained, his only worry was for me.  I'm incredibly grateful for the kind, thoughtful, selfless man I married.  He's the best!

After a long trip we were ready to head home to Utah.  We arrived after midnight and left the next day for Iona.

Ready and excited to fly!

Trying out her new headphones:

Fort Casey

We made the longer than expected drive out to Fort Casey one of our days up north.  I'm glad we did!  We had some family fun and I got to relive my 3rd grade field trip with Mr. Buchanan's class.  I remembered the dark, scary bunkers very well, but didn't recall the stunning views as clearly :)

View of Mt. Baker

Guns!

Kurt and Hattie are on lookout duty!

We also went over to the old lighthouse.  View from one of the windows:

At the top!

Washington Park

What's a trip home without going to Washington Park at least once?  It was freezing cold- the wind was terrible.  We stayed just long enough for me to snap a couple pictures.  

I swear there are always deer there!  And they're never afraid of humans.

Columbia Tower

In all my years in Western Washington I never once went to the Columbia Tower- the tallest building in downtown Seattle.  Jana now works there (her office moved locations) and was able to take us up to the observation deck.  The view was breathtaking.  Little compares to Seattle on a clear day!

Swanson's Nursery

The day after Christmas Kurt went golfing with Seth and Ammon so Hattie and I hung out with Jana and Luke.  We went to Swanson's Nursery and had a blast!  There were reindeer and camels (the camel was actually a horse if you ask Hattie).

I love Hattie's facial expressions in these next two photos:

We were able to feed the camel carrots on our way out!  Hattie was a little unsure, but with Mom's help did it.  She wanted to feed the camel another carrot, but they were all out!

There was also a koi pond and a model train going around in circles.  Every time the train disappeared Hattie yelled "oh no!" until she was reassured the train would come back.

We finally convinced Hattie the the 'horse' was actually called a camel by the end of our trip.  And she still remembers- she correctly said and pointed out a camel in one of her animal books to me the other day.  

Christmas Morning

We spent Christmas morning at Mom and Clarence's.  The Roths were there too which was fun- lots of people = lots of presents!  Which is lots of fun, especially with little ones.

Hattie received a bunch of Jake and the Neverland Pirates gear- she knows what a bandana, spyglass, and gold dubloons are.

Later that day we headed down to Seattle to spend the rest of Christmas day with the Biehl clan!