Kathleen

Kathleen Glauser is my mother-in-law of 6 1/2 years.

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But I've known and loved her since I was in high school.

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The weekend of my senior prom, my sister went into labor. My mom was in Utah to meet her first grandchild, so Kathleen came to help me get ready for Prom. (this was not the year I went to prom with her son)

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When we were engaged, she wrote me a letter telling me how much she loved me and was happy I was going to be apart of her family.

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When I was pregnant, she took me shopping for maternity clothes. She and I used to go out to lunch and get pedicures together.

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One time, we learned a duet on the piano and played it in church.

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Two years ago this last week, Kathleen passed away.

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I've been thinking about her a lot lately. I miss her.

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I miss the fun she and I would have had tonight painting our nails and eating ice cream while the men are all off to the Priesthood session of General Conference. I miss all the insight and wisdom she would have given me as my kids grow older, and the world grows darker. I miss her enthusiasm and her excitement for life. I miss the way she smothered my kids with love and attention.

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As much as I love and miss her, I know my heartache can't even come close to that of her husband and 6 sons. My heart breaks for them. They are an amazing family, and I got really lucky to be a part of it.

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they're here!

We've been on the ultimate countdown until Grandpa and the Uncles came to visit, and yesterday they finally arrived! Matt's Dad and two youngest brothers, Ryan and Nathan, are here spending their spring break with us. We're so excited to have them here and have all kinds of fun things planned for the next week!

More pictures to come, but for now here's Lydia warming up to Nathan:

more from our sunshiny day

the big brother:

all the funny faces

a little sunshine

my happy Ethan, enjoying the sun and high temperatures today:

It must have been in the low 80's today, and couldn't have been more enjoyable. After another March winter storm (I know I was making fun of it, but it really did end up being quite the storm) and two weeks of being practically homebound with the flu, we were so happy to be outside!

'tis the (FLU) season

I don't think I've ever really had the actual FLU, until now. I was down with it all last week, and this week the boys both have it.

I think Lydia's starting to run a fever today too. It's going to be another long week!

cancel that

So much for spring.

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It's 30 degrees today.

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It's rain/snow-ing.

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Garrett's school was cancelled (along with his field trip to the Dinosaur museum) because of the "snow".

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No, seriously- his school is cancelled. I just took this picture outside my front door 10 minutes ago. See that white stuff dusted over the grass? That's the snow.

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Did I mention that people tend to OVERREACT around here when it comes to winter weather?

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These happy pictures were taken on Wednesday.

Two days ago.

Matt took the kids to the park and Garrett dressed in shorts and flip flops.

It was 80 degrees.

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Please come back...

lil' charmer

Ethan picked up our Ocean's Twelve DVD this morning, pointed to Catherine Zeta-Jones and said,

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"That's you, Mommy!"

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Since I haven't showered for 3 days and have been laying on the couch in my pajamas with a fever for the last 2, I'll take a complement like that!

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What would you like to do today Ethan? Anything you want- you got it.

spring has sprung....almost

We've had a bit of a warm spell the last couple of days, and it's supposed to last all week. I'm sure it'll turn cold again next week, but we'll enjoy it while we can. I'm wearing flip flops all week.

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I'll post some pictures of the boys as soon as they slow down enough for me to actually take a picture! They were so happy to be outside on their bikes without hats, gloves or jackets!

I'm so anxious for winter to be OVER.

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I've had a few of my tulip and daffodil bulbs poke through. They make me happy every time I walk by.

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Maybe they'll bloom early enough for us to enjoy them before we move!

after the storm...

Our Relief Society Birthday Celebration Erichment Meeting was last night, and it's taking me a whole day to recuperate. It's nearly 4pm and I'm still in my pajamas and have been eating leftover grapes, strawberries, cherry tomatoes and brownies all day while I lay on the couch and let the kids do pretty much whatever they want.

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The night was a success, despite the snow yesterday. We had a "snowstorm" with a forecasted 1 inch of snow, and had to consider cancelling the whole event. (People tend to really overreact around here when it snows). We decided to go ahead with it and it all turned out just peachy.

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I wish I had some pictures to show for it- maybe of Dori's beautiful lemon/strawberry slice centerpieces, or the sparkly passion fruit punch with floating berries, or the homemade quilt decorations. I suppose I would have taken some pictures if I wasn't doing a million other things. It really was all very nice and I'm VERY happy it's over. Give me a couple more hours, and I'll be fully recovered.

sisters' weekend

Erin and Kerri, came to visit and we spent the weekend in New York. It was a fun weekend with just the girls!

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See more great pictures and hilarious commentary on the trip here.

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By the way, thanks for the Mint Milanos, girls. They were delicious.

Wymount lives on...

A friend, Christina Huling, from our student family housing days at BYU started a Wymount Terrace website. It's been quite a fun reunion of friends that we haven't seen or talked to in a few years!

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It almost makes me wish we were all sitting around the sandbox again...on second thought, those kitchens were tiny and horribly hot in the summertime. It's good to move on, but nice to keep in touch! I love you guys!