Memorial Day

 

Parker made this awesome video for me! He filmed it while we were visiting my mom and grandparents graves. 

I took some flowers from my snowball bush to put on their graves. My mom had her birthday on May 26th.  She would have been 63 years old. I miss her everyday! I'm grateful that I have this peaceful place to remember her and my grandparents. 

On Monday May 30th we went to all the family graves in Taylorsville, Salt Lake, and Sandy.  It rained all day long. I love this picture of Parker and Brady! They are both looking so grown up now. 

I'm grateful to my Dad for carrying on this family tradition that my grandma started. It was our first memorial day not having her with us. 

We took a family picture by where she is buried a the Larkin Cemetery in Salt Lake. 

Her gravestone was not finished yet. My Uncle Wright and Aunt Janett brought a beautiful flower lei to remember her. We took turns sharing some memories. 

The kids hung out under this big tree by Great Grandma and Grandpa Jenkins grave. 

We were all happy to continue our tradition of having lunch at Olive Garden.  It was nice of Dad and Loni to pay for our family. Addy had fun sitting next to cousin Allie. We also got to meet my cousin Emily's new baby Tanner. 

Kenna got to call us after lunch.  We talked with her as we drove to the cemetery where Grandpa and Grandma Grant are buried. I took this screenshot of Kev, the kids and her. She is holding up her picture of the Queen of England. All of England just had a jubilee to celebrate the queens 70 year reign on the throne. We had a good memorial day in spite of all the rain. I'm thankful for all our family members we were able to remember. 

Celebrating our anniversary

 

Kev and I celebrated our 21st anniversary on Wednesday May 18th! Kev gave me these beautiful flowers. We smoked some pizzas and had them for dinner. We watched our wedding video together that night. 

On Friday May 20th we went on a little getaway to Park City. I made reservations at a restaurant on Main Street called Grappa. 

They gave us this cozy table by the fireplace.  I loved the rustic charm of the place.  The food was delicious too! I got lobster with shrimp, clams, and calamari. Kev got the Cornish game hen meal.  The waiter told Kev that he has never seen anyone get the bones that clean before. 

When I asked the waiter to see the dessert menu he swooped in with this dessert and told us happy anniversary.  It was a chocolate mousse dome with gold leaf on it.  

It was snowing when we left the restaurant. I was surprised to see snow in May!  I guess Park City's seasons are a little delayed. We walked down the main street and looked at some of the art galleries. I really love Park City and have many fun memories from there. 

We stayed the night at the Hyatt Centric hotel by The Canyons Ski resort. We had this giant hot tub to ourselves. The next day we went and got breakfast and then saw a movie before we went home. The latest Downton Abbey movie had come out and Kev said he was good with going to see it. I was shocked when he said that because he has never watched one episode of the show or even the other movie. It was really sweet of him to offer to watch it with me. He didn't enjoy the movie but was entertained by the old ladies next to us that were laughing and crying during the show. I'm glad we had the chance to spend some time with just the two of us!

Band Concert

 

Hayden had his end of the year band concert on Tuesday May 10th. It was great that he got to perform with his best friends Mason and Brody.  They have all been friends since they were babies. We have a picture just like this of Parker, Dylan, and Ryker. 

Halle was happy she got sit next to her friends Nayla and Paige at the concert . 

It was a fun concert to listen to with music from The Hunger Games and The Jurassic Park theme. 

My favorite song they played was from the movie Harry Potter. 

Mother's Day

 

I had a really good Mother's Day this year! I'm thankful to the kids and Kev for making it memorable for me. 

The day started with being served breakfast in bed. It made me happy to see they put it on the TV tray that belonged to my grandma. I love her and miss her so much! Addy sang with the primary during Sacrament Meeting. We had a spiritual 2nd hour with all the women in our ward. Our bishop gave a sweet lesson about the powerful influence of women. I'm blessed for the example my own sweet mother set for me! I miss her everyday!

I was really happy to get a phone call from my favorite missionary, Sister Foster! It was so good to get to talk with her and see her beautiful face. She did a post on Facebook for me, it said, "Today in America is Mother's Day! We celebrate it on a different day than England does, but it doesn't mean I love my mom any less! I love and miss her tons! xoxo" 

We had our families over for Mother's Day dinner that night.  

Kev smoked us some delicious ribs! We also had my favorite Crumbl cookies for dessert. 

I gave Spence and Megan the package that Kenna had sent them.  A sweet friend of hers in England had crocheted a yellow sweater for baby Ayla. 

Halle was so happy to hold her cute cousin Ayla again. I need to give a shout out to Kev for transferring our home videos for me as a gift. I loved watching some of them with my kids today! They are growing up so fast and it's fun to remember when they were little. I love being a mom!!

A Night to Dance

 

Halle had her last ballroom performance of the year on Friday May 6th. 

This was one of their new dances that they learned for this performance. 

We love watching her perform! 

Some of these dances they have been competing with since September. It was remarkable to see the improvement since the beginning of the year. 

Halle has loved being on the Freshman team this year! She was sad to see it come to an end.  We are grateful for the many new friendships she has made. 

I'm glad her siblings were able to come watch her perform. I know she wishes Kenna could have been there too. 

It was the first time that her grandparents were able to watch her ballroom performance. 

Grandma Sue also came to support Halle. Grandpa was sick and wasn't able to make it. 

It was sweet of Halle's friends Maddie and Sienna to come.  They are such a cute group of girls!

We are proud of Halle and how hard she has worked this year. Parker told us that he is happy she has found her "Niche". Halle tried out again and made the Varsity team! We are excited to see her compete and perform again in the Fall!

Awards night

 

Parker had his FCCLA awards night on Thursday May 5th. He was the Secretary of his chapter this year.  

They also recognized him for getting 2nd place a the State Competition. He competed in Hospitality Management. He created his own Airbnb. I also used to be a member of FCCLA when I was in high school. It is fun that Parker and I have this in common now!

They had a delicious BBQ dinner afterwards. It was a memorable night celebrating with Parker! We can't wait to see what he accomplishes his Senior year!

Tender Mercies

 

We received a phone call on Thursday April 28th from Kenna. Her p-day is on Monday's so I immediately knew something must be wrong. She told us that her mission president had given her special permission to call us. She told me that she had found a lump in her right breast and had been to see a doctor. The doctor thought that it might be a cyst but recommended that she see a specialist. I told Kenna that I was glad that she told the mission nurse and that it was important to get it checked out. I was an emotional mess when I got off the phone with her. My anxiety was at an all time high. I was extra worried because my mom had died from Breast Cancer at the young age of 37.  On Sunday May 1st we had a family fast for Mckenna. It brought me peace to know that so many were fasting and praying for her! Our bishop talked with us and told us that he was also fasting and praying for her. On Monday May 2nd we got to talk with her again because it was her p-day.  She told us that her appointment with the specialist would be on Wednesday May 4th. We asked how she was feeling about everything. She told us at times she was really worried and then other times she felt fine. I assured her that what she was feeling was normal. 

That night Kev got a phone call from the United Kingdom. He immediately answered and it was President and Sister Green.  He put them on speaker phone so we could both hear them. They told us how much they admire Mckenna. They said she is a hard working missionary and that they knew that they could put her in any companionship because they can count on her. It made us really happy to hear that. He told us that they would make arrangements so that she could be driven to her doctors appointment. He said they would see her for interviews the next day and he would give her a priesthood blessing. He also asked if he could say a prayer with us. It was a beautiful and spiritual experience for both Kev and I. It was amazing to think that it was 12:30 a.m. in England and 5:30 p.m. in Utah and we were having a prayer together. He prayed for Sister Foster and he also prayed for us. It was reconfirmed to me in a powerful way that President and Sister Green are called of God. It brought me great peace to know that they were there looking out for our daughter when we couldn't be. I also received the sweetest message from Parker's seminary teacher.  She said that in seminary they write down the names of people to pray for. Parker had written down Kenna's name. She said that when he said the prayer in seminary it brought her to tears. She said she could feel the faith and love that Parker had for his sister. She also assured me that Heavenly Father was very aware of our daughter. Mckenna was able to Facetime us while she was waiting to see the doctor. It was really hard for me to not be there with her! She called us right after she saw the doctor. She said that what she has is called a Fibroadenoma and it is not cancerous. The specialist said that she didn't need to get it removed. We were all so relieved and happy! I know that there is great power that comes from fasting and prayer. We have received many tender mercies this week from our loving Heavenly Father. We know he loves our daughter and has made it possible for her to continue serving on her mission.