Grandpa Simmons

Sometimes I forget I have a blog to update but when life changing things happen I remember and want to write it down.
Last Wednesday night (the night before Thanksgiving) Jeremy's dad called to tell us Grandpa Simmons had just passed away. He had been suffering from congestive heart failure and diabetes so we knew it was coming but it was much harder than expected. We had the opportunity to go over to Grandma and Grandpa's house that night where we met many family and friends and were able to say goodbye. It brought such a peace and made the viewing last night (meaning Monday night) much easier for both of us. It was neat to be with family and friends and feel so much love. This is Jeremy's side of the family so althoug I may recognize a face, I don't necessarily have a strong relationship and neat relationships formed that night. His cute (great) Aunt Jerri took me in her arms and comforted me. His wonderful Aunt Tressa was a absolute joy as always. His cute little cousins loved visiting and saying hi. And his sweet Grandma was amazing through it all. It's amazing how a loss of a loved one reminds us of how important family is and can bring a family even closer together.
This morning was the funeral and many feelings were brought back up to the surface. We know that he is so much happier and has a feeling of freedom now that he doesn't have the mortal pains of his failing body. We know that we will see him again and feel blessed that we have a special reminder of what to be thankful for every year as we celebrate Thanksgiving. We are so grateful for the gospel and plan of salvation. But even with all of this, every time I look at our sweet Grandma, my heart breaks for her loss. He was her sweet heart and best friend and I couldn't imagine being in her shoes. She has been amazing through all of this and all of our testimonies have grown stronger. It's neat to see someone rely on the Lord through the hardest of times.
We will miss him so much. We are so grateful for his life and his example. It seems that we had mourned so many loved one's since we've been married but I guess that means there will be more loving faces when it's our turn to go to the other side.

We had such a fun halloween. Jaidynn is only 18 months old but totally got the hang of trick or treating down to the knock, the "trick or treat" and the candy. She even took the time to shut everyone's screen doors and say "bye." It was so much fun! We went and saw grandparents, had yummy Halloween soup and Brooke's parents, did the trick or treating and ended up at a very fun friends party!

October was SO much fun!

Here at Nana's 50's themed birthday party!

Enjoying witches night with the girls at Gardener Village

We (meaning mom) raked and raked ALL the leaves in our back yard and there were a lot! I couldn't fit them all in bags or the garbage can so they ended up in our trampoline hole where Jaidynn had a blast playing in them! She was so dang cute...who knew leaves could be so fun!

Such a fun weekend!

We had such a great weekend while Curtis and Karen were here from Texas! Friday morning the girls and I got the 4 grandkids together to do pictures for the birthday present I was making Karen. They were hard to get but turned out so cute! Then Friday night the women dressed up as witches and went to Witches Night at Gardner Village. It was so fun, we had dinner, shopped, danced and hung out. Everyone kept stopping us to admire Jaidynn's outfit and thought she was so cute. She walked around saying "Hi" and "Bye" and blowing kisses. People kept asking where we got her outfit (which I had made so it was a huge compliment) and she was just darling!
Then Saturday we had Karen's surprise 50th birthday party which was a 50's theme. Everyone dressed up and looked so great! We had hamburgers, french fries and shakes for dinner and got lots of great pictures! She was so surprised and had such a great time. The kids were all so cute together playing...we loved it!
Sunday and Monday we hung out as a family and had a great time soaking up as much of Curtis and Karen as we could. Overall, it was a great weekend!

I am on a cooking experimenting frenzie! It's been so fun! Jeremy and I talked a few weeks ago and decided we wanted to try to get our grocery budget down to $100/month...huge difference from what we were before. So I decided I was going to start coming up with meals from what we had in our food storage and try to make things from scratch. So far I've made wheat thins, graham crackers, wheat bread, pizza dough, and bread bowls and for the month of September we made our budget! It's been awesome, I feel so accomplished after preparing a healthy, home made dinner from scratch and it really has saved us money! And I have to give myself a big pat on the back because these are things I've wanted to try but never had the guts to, and the best part is they have all turned out and been way yummy! I'm excited to keep trying recipes and hopefully my good luck will continue!

I just have to say, I hate it when our basement floods! It's so annoying. We have this tiny, tiny, gross basement and having it all wet doesn't make for a very nice situation. Fortunately, J seemed to be able to fix it himself vs calling a $200 plummer to fix it. We did loose a few Christmas decorations and boxes but it encouraged Jeremy to get our other shed cleaned out so that we can use it as additional storage which I am very excited about because the shed doesn't flood! Although we didn't get to accomplish out Saturday to do list, at least we got a little fall cleaning forced on us haha.

Baby J is so dang funny! Yesterday I was cleaning and she walked over to wear I was dusting and in her own, sweet way of communicating, demanded the rag so that she could dust. I could see the delight and pleasure on her face as she wiped along the furniture, dusting for mommy. Funniest thing is she's didn't do a half bad job! Next I was scrubbing the oven glass and she wanted to scrub with me. So I got her her own scrubber and that was ok for all of 10 seconds when again she "demanded" mine and wanted to do the work herself. I didn't give into that one but thought it was so cute that she's so thrilled with cleaning.
Today I was talking to my mom and she brought up that when Baby J was over at their house Wednesday night, she was obsessed with cleaning and had to help my mom clean everything! She also became very curious about face lotion and was so excited when Gramma put lotion on her face and taught her how to rub lotion into her hands. She's such a girlie girl...I love it.
The funniest thing that she's doing lately is covering her eyes when she gets "in trouble." As you all know, "If she can't see me, then I must not be able to see her!" :0) Now she's progressed to just closing her eyes, it's hilarious!
And lastly, the sweetest thing and most endearing to me is how cuddly she is. This is the baby that wouldn't lay on your shoulder or snuggle or fall asleep in your arms. Now she's started walking up to us when she's ready for bed and sitting contently in our laps until she falls asleep. It's like one minute she's sitting there happily and the next she's zonked out. We love it because it makes going to bed possible ANYWHERE and so easy! Plus we get to cuddle our baby and make up for those months she wouldn't snuggle. It's so sweet and cute!

Had an awesome time at my Slumber Party tonight! It was my first bachelorette party, we had a blast and I met very fun girls! Craziest thing is when I pulled up to the house, I knew I had been there before. Well, this house is 45 minutes away from home and not a neighborhood that seemed familiar. It took a little while to figure it out but then the bride-to-be and I realized I had gone out with her cousin and hung out at their house back in 2006! It was so funny and what a small world!
I love that I get to meet fun, new people every time I do a party! I can't wait for the girls I met tonight to host parties so I can hang out with them again. :0)
And my awesome friend Rachel was so good to come even with it being such a late night! Thanks Rachel!