Catch-Up

While this month has had it's emotional times, we've tried to have fun as well.  I looked through some pictures on my camera the other day and realized I have a lot of pictures on there that I haven't shared yet.  Mostly of Patrick. 

These are pictures from the 4th of July.  In honor of my dad, we went out to breakfast since that was something he loved doing.  That afternoon we had lunch outside in the yard, played some croquet and ended with fireworks.  A nice, relaxing day.

Patrick's version of croquet

This is what Patrick thought of the fireworks.  He was curious at first but it quickly turned into terror

Patrick has also discovered that sprinklers are pretty much the greatest thing ever.

Patrick had his one year old doctor's appointment. He did well at the doctor's office but the worst part for him was having to hold still while they collected his blood.  Not the poking part, the holding still part.

This past month Patrick has perfected the whole walking thing.  He even tries running now but that usually ends with a face plant and some cuddling from his mom.  His vocabulary includes: mama, dada, baba, num(so cute-he says it when he likes what he's eating) and nama or ahma(depending on the day) which means grandma.  I can't guarantee he'll direct those words to the right person or object all the time but he tries.  And when we correct him, he thinks it's funny.  He gives kisses to everything, including tv remotes, dogs, people and sometimes the floor.  He blows kisses, waves hi and bye and prefers drinking from cups.  I think he just wants to do what the grown ups are doing but the cup thing usually ends up in a soaked shirt if he does it himself.  He loves anything that lights up and makes noises and he himself likes to make noise, constantly trying to talk all day long.  He really is the sweetest one year old I know, but I'm a little biased.

 His stats at one year are:
-Height 31 in.-86th percentile
-Weight 23.6 pounds, 63rd percentile
-Head 19 in. -92nd percentile

He's starting to become tall and skinny just like his dad.  Short legs, big feet, big head, long body.  Just like his dad. ;)

Anyway, that pretty much sums up our month of July.  We've just been staying busy chasing Patrick around and trying to make the best of everything.  Jon just finished up his summer semester at school and we greatly welcome this 7 week break.  It's nice to have him available to chase Patrick around after he gets home from work. ;)  One more year of this school stuff...

Nostalgic

"Don't cry because it's over.  Smile because it happened." -Dr. Seuss

I came across this quote the other day and they've been words I've had to live by lately.  What I want to do is cry over everything that's over.  Patrick being a newborn, seeing my dad light up every time Patrick walked through their front door, being young and catching "water skippers"(does anyone know their real name?) in the ditch behind our house, running/walking behind my parent's house with nothing but fields and trees, being involved in the Folk Dance Festival every summer, going to West Yellowstone as a family, joking about my parents being too "lovey" in public, and just having my biggest worry be about whether my frog was buried properly or not.  Yes, I did make my dad bury graves in the middle of winter for various little animals...

I came by being nostalgic honestly.  It's always been fun to hear my parents talk about the days when us kids were little and remembering things I'd forgotten.  The past always seems much better in memory than it probably was actually living through it but I know we had fun.  A lot of fun. I've been pretty blessed all my life and now I really do just need to smile because it happened.  I need to smile because there are things happening right now.  Jon and I have started our own little family and hopefully we'll be able to make a lot of memories that Patrick and our future kids will be able to remember back to with a little nostalgia someday.  And right now, I get to see how much my mom adores Patrick and how he's changed my whole family's life for the better.  I get to see Patrick chase around all of his cousins, on Jon's side, and it makes my heart melt with how much he loves kids and people.  This Saturday, we're celebrating Patrick's birthday and I'll get to start the same traditions of having fancy cakes(if I learn to be talented like my mom was) and fun parties with lots of family and friends. We are so blessed.  Life is hard, but we are still blessed.  Even though some phases of life end, new phases start and I'm so lucky to be able to constantly look back on life with feelings of happiness.

Today I'm nostalgic, yesterday I was tired, the day before I was angry and the day before that I was probably happy.    I hope as time goes on, the feelings of happiness will start to outweigh the other emotions for all of my family but for now, I just need to keep reminding myself to smile because it happened.

  


     

Life is fragile

A lot is going through my mind and this next blog post was going to be about 4th of July, Patrick, etc. and how life somehow goes on even if we don't want it to after a life changing trial in our lives.  But, that's for another day.  Right now I just want to say how grateful I am for the knowledge of eternal families.  Yesterday afternoon I got the news that my aunt Jani had passed away.  She's had heart problems for a long time and has been fighting for a lot of years but it was still unexpected.  Another blow to the family.  Neither her nor my dad were very old.  So, my heart goes out to all of my cousins but especially to my cousins in the Randall family.  The feelings of pain from losing a loved one are still raw and fresh and something I wish no one had to go through.  How nice it will be to finally have this trial of life over with and to feel like you've lived your life the best you could so that you can be with your families forever.  I hate these wake-up calls that are coming a lot lately, but I'm grateful that they make me really think about how I could be better.   

Julie(mom), Brett, Trent, Bart, Jani

Jani will be missed.  She was, as my mom put it, a spiritual, loving, kind-hearted person that had an endless amount of energy.  She had a zest for life and a fierce love for everyone she met.  I'm sure her and my dad are being great missionaries who are loving being free of physical ailments.  As hard as it is, I know they're doing great work on the other side.

I'm constantly being reminded how fragile this life is.  How naive we are thinking we have all the time in the world to be better when really there's no better time to try your hardest than the present.  I want the same thing my dad wanted when he wrote this in his journal(after talking about how his priorities are changing as he gets older).   

  

 "Well, I hope I haven’t been too morbid, talking about the inevitable passing to the other side as if it is in the near future.  I’m totally hoping and expecting to live to a ripe old age and having many years with my family.  But I want to be more prepared when it does happen.  I want my family to be with me, not just here but there also.  I want to take a strong and abiding testimony with me.  I want to be able to say I passed the test with an A-that I was as valiant in this life as we are told we were in the preexistence in order for us to be here in the first place.  In that life, we were all on the Lord’s side.  We loved Him and were willing to come to earth in order to gain a body so we could return to Him.  My age has hopefully made me wiser.  I hope to be even wiser in the future, so the Lord can welcome me with open arms and say, “Welcome home.  I’ve missed you.”  I know the Lord lives.  I know He loves me and my family.  I know He wants us to be with Him.  And I want it, too."

  So, to my dad and to Jani, if you're watching over us right now, I hope you know how much you are loved and missed.  And, I hope I can always remember what a blessing it is to be here, and that no matter how hard things are, this life is still a precious gift that passes faster than we realize.