Life Lately

Life has been a little busy over here lately, and it seems like I haven't had time to do much of anything except the everyday stuff. I am finally having a bit of spare time, and it feels so good to be able to write down some of the things that have happened to our family lately.

My little sister got engaged! It is so weird to think of my little sister as an engaged lady, but - that's what she is! She's engaged to a guy she's known for awhile, and we really like him! He is so sweet and kind to her and he fits in great with our family. She is getting married mid-July, and my mom and I have been busy planning wedding stuff with her. I loved planning my own wedding, so it has been so much fun to plan one again with my little sister. I'm so excited for her to get married!!

The happy couple. :)

Dave got a new job! He still works at the same building, he just works in a different section. He used to be the administrator for the Assisted Living side, and now he is the administrator over the Transitional Rehabilitation side - a place for older folks who need to learn how to function after a knee replacement, or a hip replacement, etc. The rehab side is a skilled nursing facility, and so in order for Dave to get the right licensing he had to pass this crazy hard test. You know, one of those hoops you have to jump through whenever you want to move up anywhere. The questions were all really hard, and Dave studied for months before he took the test. He took about 6 practice tests and failed every single one! He was so nervous when the day of the test came, because he thought for sure he would fail, like he had done with all his previous tests. He studied as hard as he could, and did  as much studying at home as time would allow. Then he said some heartfelt prayers for help, and guess what? He passed!! The first time!! He was so excited and relieved. There are some things he misses about his old job, but overall he is really happy with the transition and is loving his new position.

We celebrated Easter! Lydia was at a fun age for Easter this year. She went to her first Easter egg hunt at Dave's work and had a blast picking up all of the eggs. I was a little worried she wasn't going to understand to pick them up and put them in the bag, but she caught on quickly and got a lot of eggs.

When we got home from the Easter egg hunt, I made some homemade cinnamon rolls while we started watching General Conference. I LOVE general conference. I get so excited for it every single time! I'm so glad that it happens twice a year, because I so look forward to those two Sundays a year. Anyway, we tried to entertain Lydia while we watched, and then we had her find her Easter basket. Somehow, the Easter bunny knew just what she liked. He filled her Easter eggs with bunny grahams, and brought her some yogurt melts, some squeezy applesauce foods, some things for her hair, a new book and some bubble bath and lotion. 

Sharing some bunny grahams with Dad.

Don't mind general conference in the background. We were doing all we could to keep her entertained so we could TRY to focus. It is harder than it sounds!

The Easter bunny brought baskets to Dave and I too, but it was such a crazy day that we didn't even take any pictures of them! My basket had a dress and some books in it, and Dave's was all British themed - getting us ready for our trip to England! British movies, a Hogwarts T-Shirt, luggage tags, and British candy. Thanks Easter bunny!

My brother Jeff was in town from Baltimore, so we spent the night at my mom's so we could spend some time with him. We stayed up late playing Pandemic. He loves that game and is way good at it, so it's really fun to play it with him. 

The next morning we all helped make a yummy Easter breakfast. We watched conference and then we all went on an Easter egg hunt put on by my mom and dad. It was awesome. They hid all the eggs outside, some in the front yard and some in the back. There were 175 eggs, half were duds (not filled with anything) and the others had candy or money or keva juice gift cards in them. So there was some pretty steep competition going on. Me, Dave, Jeff, Stephanie, and Colton (her fiancee) were running around like crazy trying to scour the yard and find all the eggs we could. We all did pretty good, and Jeff did AMAZING. I came away with a lot of Reese's eggs and about 1.50 in cash. Dave got some eggs and about 2.50. Stephanie got 2 of the gift cards and few dollars. Colton got some candy and a few dollars. And Jeff? He got a ton of candy, a gift card, and 40 DOLLARS!! My parents hid one twenty dollar bill, one ten, one 5, and a handful of ones. Jeff got the 20, the 10, 5, and a bunch of ones. He totally made out like a bandit! We all had a good laugh about it. My other brother Preston and his family got into town later that evening, and we had a great Easter dinner all together and enjoyed being with with everyone. It was a great Easter weekend.

My grandpa passed away. That is the reason that all of my family came into town for the weekend. He had a bit of dementia, and after 89 years of life, he was just ready to go home. He missed my grandma so much. She has been gone for 14 years now, and he was ready to see her. I was actually in his room with him when he passed away, and he couldn't have gone more peacefully. He didn't fight it at all and he wasn't in any pain. He was sleeping and then he just stopped breathing and was gone. So peaceful. He was truly the best grandpa ever. I remember him being at everything that was ever important to me. Anything and everything. He was at every choir concert, every school musical, both of my graduations, my wedding, Lydia's baby blessing, and every birthday I can remember. When he got to the point where he couldn't drive anymore, he moved into Dave's facility. Dave's work is only about 10 minutes from our house, so I went to have lunch with grandpa once a week. Those are memories that I will now cherish forever. I'm so grateful I was able to spend so much time with him. I also got to go to the evening entertainment with him once in awhile. Just a few weeks before he passed away, I went to watch the performance with him. It was cowboy poetry and guitar country music - some of his favorite. He wasn't doing too well, and so he didn't stay awake for much of anything. So I just sat next to him and let him sleep and I held his hand. I won't ever forget that night. 

High School Graduation

My wedding day

BYU Graduation

One of our lunch dates at Dave's work

Grandpa and Dave at one of the fun days they had at his work. Egypt day, where everyone could dress up as Pharoah.

We had a really nice service for my grandpa. Me and my little sister were able to sing a duet together. My grandpa loved music, and I was happy that I could contribute and pay tribute that way to my sweet grandpa. He was born and raised and spent most of his life in Vernal, and so he was buried at the cemetery out there. We had the funeral in Bountiful, then drove out to Vernal for the interment, and then back home that evening. It was a long, emotional day, but the service was beautiful and all of us were more than happy to drive out to Vernal one more time for our gramps. 

Grandpa passed away just before Easter this year, which made it a special one for me. I was (and still am) sad because I will miss him so much. I will miss him being a part of everything my family did. But I'm so grateful and happy that he is with my grandma again and with Heavenly Father, free from his cares and struggles of those last few weeks of his life. It made the real meaning of Easter especially clear to me. I know I will never fully understand the atonement as long I'm here on earth, but that doesn't make me any less grateful for it. I am so grateful I know that I can see my grandpa again, and that I can take comfort knowing that he is happy and with his loved ones again. I don't think there is a more peaceful or beautiful part of our gospel than that. So, although this Easter was kind of a sad one for our family, it was also a happy one and a beautiful one - to celebrate the life of our Grandpa Wardle and to feel a little more fully the wonder and majesty of our Savior, Jesus Christ and to appreciate just a little bit more the matchless gift of His atoning sacrifice. Because of Him, my family is forever.

That's all for now. Thanks for listening!