Playing with the Pitchers

Just the last few random pictures from my phone and camera of our time hanging out with the Pitcher family.

^Man, this girl loves music (I think I've mentioned that twenty times)! Capri wandered in the piano room multiply times a day to play the piano and dance to the orchestrated music. She liked it better when "Grammy" would come watch and clap to the beat while she danced.  Capri would see Linda first thing in the morning and say "DANCE" running to the piano room looking to see if grandma was following.^

^Uncle Mike has the touch to calm this wild child.^

^Lots of fun shopping with "Grammy" this trip!^

^Dinner at the Spaghetti Factory with a big portion of the Pitchers.^

^Hey, we are all kind of smiling and looking at the camera... rare family photo!^

^Jackson and Kiley sure knew how to make Capri smile.  It feels so nice to know she has cousins that love her like crazy and take such good care of her.  We love them just as much!^

^So glad we could meet up with Landon's Uncle Chad, Audrey, Candice, baby Raelynn, and Carly.  My super jealous Capri is practicing sharing Mama's lap one baby at a time.  It was cute, my 18 month smartie pants would go point out all the letter "C's on the wall.  She used to just see letters and say it was a C, but she recognizes the letters in her name a little better now.  Nielson's 2X in Utah still wasn't enough to go back to Houston on.^

^Fun lunch at the Bun Basket and visit to the Rock Loft in Fruit Heights.  Grammy spoiled us with all kinds of good food and treats on this trip.  Capri picked out her own Owl cookie.^

^Jackson's Saturday Football game.  This stud played great and had a winning team! Lehi is serious about little league football.  I'm nervous to find out what our local Texas football is like! ^

^I forgot my sunglasses, but luckily Capri and I found some in the dollar bins at Target- you love right? :) Can't wait until the day I'm sitting on the sidelines with a cold drink being the crazy parent cheering on my own kids.^

^The night before we headed home Linda took us to Farmington Station for Mexican and a fun night by the fountains.  This place was really something and I have to say I'm impressed Farmington!  Between the fountains, playground, and ice cream, Capri could have stayed and danced all night.^

^I think this is the last pregnancy photo before baby. The bigness is only getting bigger; my only complaint about being pregnant and I still have a little less than three months to go!^

^This picture is my favorite.  Seeing these two reunite almost made up for the time being apart because it was so sweet!  I have to mention how special Landon made coming home.  He made a "Welcome Home Girls" sign on the door and laid out presents on the couch for us.  He bought Capri a new outfit and me a hat and my favorite treats. I did clean the house spotless before we left, but it was even cleaner when we got home.  It feels good to be loved and missed.  We sure love our man.^ 

Welcome Little Babes!

How did we get so lucky to welcome two new nieces while we were in Utah?!  Landon had to go back to work, but was nice enough let Capri and I stay and wait for the babies.  Baby Bentley was born on August 19th.  Unfortunately Capri and I both had some sort of cold/cough and didn't dare go visit right away.  There was a big fire in the canyon where my parents live and I wonder if that had anything to do with it, but we didn't want to chance it!  By Thursday I was just dying to see Bentley!  I stopped by and made Adam hold her up from the stairs while I stood at the front door to admire her cuteness from a far.  Bella and Callie were delighted to have a new sister.  Bentley has two family names, so sweet.   

^We got to play with Bella and Callie one of they days while Corie had some Bentley time and registered her car. Capri had a blast and loves these girls.  I went outside for a minute to put away my paint but when I came back in I couldn't find the girls.  "Shoot, they were just cuddled up watching a movie less than three minutes ago, where could they be?" Linda was teaching piano so I didn't want to bother her, but peaked in her piano room to see these cute girls silently eating cheese puffs under one of Grandma's pianos.  They know they can't be noisy when grandma is teaching so they snuck in and didn't make a peep!  Too funny.

We already had plans to go visit Val for some girls time Friday afternoon when we found out Val was on her way to the hospital with contractions.  Grandma Linda, Capri, and I ended up meeting the kids after school and waited with them to hear news of baby Ashley.  They were so excited to show us everything in her nursery.  I did Kiley's hair and the kids put on clean clothes so they were ready to meet their sister. Then we passed the time shopping at the outlets until we received the phone call the kids were waiting for (documented below).  Those excited faces! 

 ^Kiley was so anxious to meet Ashley, but the little sweetie ran into the room, took a quick peek at Ashley and wanted to check on her mama before going back to the baby.^

^Val was nice enough to share her ice chips with Capri and I don't know that she got any back.  My little Capri sure loves her "ICE!"^

 ^Here is the little jar of quarters is again.  It's been my sit still life saver.^

 I can't believe how beautiful both of my sister in-laws look after having babies.  They are such great mamas and I love watching and learning from the best.  Welcome to the family Bentley and Ashley!  Now our little girl will be #3 this year.

Great Grandparents are Great

Grandpa Bud is Landon's only living grandparent and he keeps himself busy driving around Cache Valley doing locksmith favors.  The first photo is him holding every key to Smithfield city, his sharp mind can tell you which key goes to what all the way down to the electrical box on the baseball field.  Grandpa Bud showed Capri where the toys were and Landon loved finding all the same toys he played with when he was young.  "Glad you got to see me!" is how we leave our visits with this jokester. 

My heart hurt a little bit visiting my Grandpa Stuart.  He was recently moved to a rest home because he was just too much for my Grandma to take care of and the family can't keep up with his accidents.  Right now it's a temporary home while the family decides what to do.  My poor Grandpa just wants to go home and I don't blame him.  I hope I'm never in this position with my parents or myself. My Grandpa doesn't remember me anymore, but still gave me the sweetest hug and kiss like he knew exactly who I was.   Capri and I were able to go back and attend sacrament meeting with him one of the Sundays.  I'm telling you, one hour of church is perfect with Capri, and the Seniors enjoyed seeing a little one running around waving and blowing kisses at them!  This picture of my Dad, Capri, and Grandpa shows that Capri's love for ice cream was passed down through the generations.  My Grandpa and Grandma Stuart had a bowl almost every night (and Landon's late Grandpa Boyce sometimes 2X day) so loving ice cream is inevitable! I hate leaving him to go back to Houston feeling like it could be the last time I see him, but then again he could surprise me and go for another seven years. 

^I snapped this at Jackie's wedding and think these two were happy to be together that day^

^My Grandma Stuart hasn't been feeling well herself, but managed to find the energy for Jackie's wedding and have us visit. She got that cute rocking horse and dog right out for Capri because she knew she it would make her smile as much as it did the last time.  It was fun watching Capri figure out that the life size poster in Grandpa's Senior home was the same Grandma standing in front of her.  I need more of my Grandma Stuart's creativity to keep Capri busy, she always had a fun project or experiment when I was young and knows how to make learning fun.  Wish Capri could have to opportunity to know my Grandma like I do.

Isn't my Grandma Garrett lovely?  I think she is such a pretty grandma and hope I age like she does.  Capri always likes to see what Grandma Garrett has in her closet to play with and this time discovered her organ!  My Grandma Garrett was so patient with Capri and played at her request, over and over again! I love my Grandma's energy.  My Grandpa Garrett passed last December and she has been finding all kinds of ways to stay busy. My Mom and Grandma met me to say goodbye before we flew back to Houston. My Mom found Capri a dancing slip for her dress ups and we had her try it out right away.  Not very many little girls get to dance the Polka in the parking lot with their great grandma.  These videos with my Grandma Garrett and Capri will be treasured for years to come.

I am so grateful Capri has been able to spend some time with her Great Grandparents, I know not everyone is that fortunate.  Capri would have loved playing in Grandma Neva's makeup and beautiful jewelry, eating ice cream with Grandpa Boyce, watching basketball with Grandma Rhea, and being sung "My Baby Bunting" by my wonderful Grandpa Garrett.  I guess she'll get to know those grandparents better later, but for now be comforted knowing she has them cheering her on in this mortal life from the other side.  We have a heritage of service, hard work, generosity, and love for the gospel of Jesus Christ passed down by my incredible grandparents.  I am inspired by their examples and hope Capri is too.

Furniture Makeover

Landon's parent's basement flooded a few weeks before Monica's wedding.  I don't know how they survived it all, but they did it wonderfully!  Capri and I were around to help put things back together once wedding activities settled down.  This bed was given to Monica by one of her sweet friends from work and I thought it would look darling painted to match this bedding Linda found. Before "life as a mother" this would have been a Saturday project starting with a trip to the store for supplies and ending the day with it put together in the bedroom.  I forget that's not the case anymore!

This adventure started out with a Walmart trip the night before.  I took the bed throw so I could match the color perfect.  The guy in the paint department had a hard time figuring out the matching scanner so it took an extra long time.  Meanwhile Capri pulled out every paint card on display.  Instead of putting them all back I kept them to put on a ring so she can practice her colors, hope they don't mind that 50 or so cards are missing :/   I put the half gallon of paint on the bottom of the cart because the paint dot on the top of the can was still wet and I didn't want Capri to touch it.  We were strolling along the cheese isle and SPLAT!  The can rolled off the cart and all over the floor, my feet, and bottom of my maxi dress.  Tears welled up and I almost started to cry.  I quickly started to go find help, but it took me 5 steps to realize my cart and shoes were tracking turquoise paint all over, duh!  So I stood there and waved down a store associate while directing traffic around the paint covered cheese isle.  At first I felt so bad and pulled out my pack of wet wipes trying to clean and apologized over and over again.  As I attempted to clean my dress and shoes, my pregnant hormones took over and I began to get mad at the guy in the paint department that didn't put the lid on tight.  It only rolled 12 inches from the floor, the lid shouldn't have popped off.   The manager asked if everything was okay and by that time my head was filled with my angry thoughts instead of apologetic thoughts.  I took no responsibility and said "The lid wasn't on very tight. I'm sorry this happened in your store, but I'm glad it was here and not in my car on the way home."  He then asked what he could do to help me and I said "New shoes on Walmart?"  He responded with an okay, walked me over to the shoes and told me I could pick out any pair I'd like.  I was so embarrassed at my comment and sense of entitlement that when he so kindly agreed to replace my shoes I started to cry!  Oh boy, I was definitely having a pregnancy hormone kind of day!  Then I had to explain to him that I was pregnant and my emotions got the best of me that day and how sorry I really was that paint was all over the floor. He still insisted that I pick out a pair of shoes. There was no way after all that I was going to go back and get the paint all over again so I went home empty handed. Well, not entirely, thanks for the new sandals Walmart.

The next morning I went to Home Depot for the paint and had a much better experience. Capri is my best helper and I sure do love my little sidekick most of the time!  I thought giving her a painting project of her own would keep her out of my paint for a little while, so I filled some cups of water with food coloring and gave her a brush to go to town.  She wrote her name on the cement a few times (meaning she made brush strokes while she said C-A-P, C-A-P, C-AP) which was adorable, but then a few minutes later the cups of water were emptied on the driveway and she was helping me prime.  As dramatic as my story sounds, this really was a simple project. It just ended up taking three days of short intervals instead of one day.  I think it turned out pretty cute to say the least!