Grandparentless

So my final Grandpa died on Sunday. Poor guy. My Grandma Cannon died a little more than 4 years ago...and he has missed her terribly since that sad day. No one knows why he 'held' on for so long. He has been in a care center for over 3 years and we've been expecting him to go 'anytime'. Which finally happened Sunday. My dad is having hip replacement surgery on Monday and won't be able to do much for quite a while. He told me that he asked Heavenly Father to either take him now, or wait a little while longer, and he went the next day. I am crying writing this. I guess it's all part of life. I am so grateful for my grandparents...they each did so much for me and I am sad to not have them here on earth with me anymore. Anywho, enough of my pity party:)

I love this picture of my Grandpa...he looks so healthy and happy. I havn't seen him like this for a long time:(

This is my Grandma Hirst (my moms' mom). She died in August '08. I love this picture too. Look how happy she is to be with her great-grandchildren:) check out the cheeks on Elwyn, oh wait, she still has those cheeks!!!

So you are probably wondering why I posted a pic of Willow..well i totally don't have a picture of my Grandma Cannon, so this a pic of Willow on Christmas morning 2003, when we flew home for the first time to introduce her to the family. She met my grandparents for the first time that day. This was the first time i had seen any of my family (besides my parents) in almost 2 years.

RIP Sweetie 7/27/2008 - 4/13/2009

My brother Nick gave Willow a beta fish for her birthday last year. She was so excited to get a pet. For those of you who know me well, know that i HATE pets!!!! i'm fine with animals, but i do not like pets. Well a fish is okay, i can handle that. So she gets this fish and names it Sweetie. She took care of it for the first couple months, and then it was mainly my responsibility to feed and clean the tank...whatever, no big deal. So this fish was super active, always swimming, doing it's thing. Around October or so it starts just laying around being super lazy, and it stops eating (at least as far as i can tell). Good, maybe it will die soon. I keep feeding it and cleaning it's tank. January rolls around and this fish is laying on it's side floating on top of the water....what??? It's dead??? No this stupid fish just likes to lay on it's side, whatever. About a month and a half ago Willow is gone playing with a friend, so i decide to clean the tank. I'm pouring the water out into the sink with a cup underneath to catch the fish. Uh-oh, what just happened, where did the fish go??? Crap....It went down the disposal. What am i supposed to do now. So i stand there for a good 3 minutes thinking,...okay...at least it is finally dead....I can't just leave it in the disposal though....I can't TURN the disposal on...right??? So i turn the water on finally, hoping it will float back up, that didn't work!!! So i get a glove on and stick my hand in the disposal and pull everything out, there is no fish. WHERE DID THE FISH GO!!!! I turn the water back on and then stick my hand down the disposal. I find the fish and i'm certain it is dead. I reach to pick it up to throw it in the toilet and it starts flopping around...STUPID FISH!!!! Seriously 10 minutes without sufficient water and this thing is still alive. Well i get it back into its' tank and what not. That night the fish is looking really bad so i decide to take this opportunity to let Willow know that her fish might die soon (note....i did not tell her what i did, nor will i ever)!!!! So she cries FOREVER!!! i felt so bad. Needless to say, the fish FINALLY died on Monday. It was laying on the bottom of the tank so i thought for sure it was dead, but then it started flopping around and swimming really fast. WEIRD!!! I think it was possesed to tell you the truth.

I think it is dead in this picture, but no one can be certain!!!

We buried it in the backyard and now Willow asks me daily when we will get a new fish.

Easter

Willow decorating Easter eggs on Friday

Elwyn dying her Easter egg

Saturday we had friends over and had an Easter Egg hunt. The kids loved it and we got out there just before the rain started. Too bad Rich had to grill in the rain:)

Willow and her friend Tanner finding the eggs

Elwyn and Gage off to the races

Willow and Elwyn in their Easter dresses, all ready for church.

We went up to my parents to celebrate Easter. We also celebrated my mom's and my brother's birthdays. This is my mom with her 4 grandchildren (all girls). Elwyn, Lyla (in her arms), Willow and Izzy.

My mom, Willow and Izzy
Rich and me...ugly!!!

New baby...

No folks...it is not me, I AM NOT HAVING A BABY!!! i thought i would freak out the few of you that actually read my blog:) My sister had her baby about a month ago (she totally had it like three weeks early, and she weighed practically nothing, so i don't know if i consitute that as 'having a baby', but whatever!!!). Enjoy the pics:)

Elwyn was so good with 'baby Lyla' as Elwyn calls her. She also calls herself 'baby Lyla' frequently. She is so funny.

Elwyn loving 'baby Lyla'. She is named after my grandma who just passed away last August.

Willow was SO good with Lyla. She told me if everyone left and she were alone with Lyla she would take care of her. She is our little mommy:)

Willow, Lyla and my mom

Who are these two retards....oh wait, that's my dad and my daughter. How embarassing!!!

Elwyn and Mommy