Twenty-six

So these past couple of weeks... ok so the past month or so has been very stressful and emotional {ugh}. But because of this I feel like I have a new perceptive on things. I clearer vision on what is important and what doesn't really matter as much as I think. And because of my new found perspective this birthday has been a different one. It has been one of the greatest ones.

I'm not going to pretend that I longer love birthdays or presents or junk food. Lets be honest I will always love presents and junk food and I'm pretty sure I will always love birthdays. But this year I feel more gratitude for all those people in my life. Those people who love me and wanted me to have a good birthday. I'm so blessed.

My birthday celebrating began the Sunday before aka Fathers Day. We went over to Nicks moms for dinner. She had surprised me with a cake and Butterfinger ice cream. I love Butterfinger ice cream! I opened the card Nicks grandparents gave me. They are so sweet and so giving. His grandma always stresses what to give everyone for gifts. They got me a gift card so I can go shopping. I love shopping.

Then Monday I got birthday wishes from my two favorite missionaries. Monday night after work Nick and I headed to Ephraim. We were surprised to see the Coxes visiting my parents. So we spent Monday night just hanging out with the Coxes and my parents. I love the Cox family so much. Jill and Jer gave me a free Spit It for my birthday. I have said it before and I will say it agian. I love watching Will and Nick together. They are best buds and I love it.

The next morning was June 17th my birthday. I woke up to Steve yelling Happy Birthday! And my parents singing happy birthday to me. I got up and saw the best birthday sign yet! Steve made it for me. And I am so grateful for him making it for me! I loved it! It was so perfect. My parents got me a card and money. You can't go wrong with money. Nick and I went and dropped off our Honda to get expected. We get it done in Ephraim so we don't have to pay emissions. Then we went and ran a bunch of other errands. Yes, I ran errands for my birthday... and it was awesome. 1. I love getting things done and not having to stress about my "to do list". So it was a birthday present being able to get all this stuff done that we needed to get done. 2. I got to spend the day with Nick. So yeah it was pretty great. We ate lunch at Das Cafe. I love that place! I love German food!

After lunch we ran more errands. Then went back to my moms. Andys family came down to help my parents put up a fence. So we got to hangout with them a little too. We also went to Steves house and visited them for a while. Then back up north we went. On our way back we stopped at The Nest on Main to do a little shopping with Stacie. She got me a couple of cupcakes from The Sweet Tooth Fairy. After hanging out with the Durrance family we went to dinner.

Of course we went to Tepanyaki! I love that place! And on a Tuesday night there is no wait. After dinner we went home. And had Nutella cake from Das Cafe. And opened gifts. Nick got me scrapbook stuff... yes, I still scrapbook. A few pairs of cute earrings that I love. And a freakin cute watch. We spent the rest of the night on Netflix. It was pretty perfect.

Well the birthday celebrating didn't end there. Nicks mom and I went shopping tonight for my birthday. She is the worst at keeping secrets. We always know what we are getting for Christmas from her. She just gets too excited she has to tell us. ha. So for birthdays most the time she just takes me shopping and buys me a shirt or two. Its nice because it gives us both something to do. And this way I get what I want in the right size. I am so lucky I married into the family I did. Nicks mom is so great to us. I also got a card in the mail today from my Grandma Cragun. I just love her so much. Ever since I was little one of my favorite things about my birthday was getting a card from her and my grandpa. That hasn't changed. She is so sweet. She doesn't just sign her name and give you money. She writes a message and I love that. It made my day. I can't explain it, I am just so grateful for her. And I am so glad I still have her around.

I just feel like my heart is going to burst! Between my family and friends I truly feel so loved. And I am so happy and so blessed. I feel frustrated because I wish I could put into words how I feel. But I can't ha.  I don't even care that I am now closer to 30 then 20... ok maybe I care a little.

Ok rant over... until next year June 17th... its been real.

The cake Nicks mom made

New Watch

Birthday Fun

Email from Kiersten

My birthday sign 

My birthday sign 

Nutella Cake

More Birthday Fun

Card from my sweet grandma

Confessions of a girl

Confession.... I love getting flowers!! I know thats such a typical girl thing. But I love them. I love getting them for birthdays, anniversaries, valentines, when I am sad, and for no reason at all. I just love them. I will never forget when Nick and I were dating and he was living in Ephraim and I was living in Provo. I hated living so far away from him. I came home one day from work and school and there was this beautiful bouquet of flowers on the kitchen table. And they were for me!! It made me so happy knowing that he was thinking of me all the way in Ephraim. 

The one thing about flowers is they don't last long enough. It makes me so sad when they start dying. I hate to throw them away! I want them forever. That is why every time I get flowers I have to take a picture of them so I have them forever. 

A little over a week ago Nick got me this beautiful bouquet. He surprised me with them the day my grandma passed away. I love them so much!! The flowers are now starting to die and I'm sad. I don't want to throw them away. They represent something to me. I can't explain. Sadly soon all I will have of those flowers is the picture I took. I think they are my favorite ones he has given me. I know this post is random and dumb. But I am writing this as I am looking at my flowers wishing they would live forever. 

Grandma Heslop

Where do I begin....

The past month or so has been a difficult one to say the least. My Grandma Heslop got sick and went down hill fast. Easter weekend Nick and I went up and had lunch with her and my Grandpa and just hung out. The next Monday she was in the hospital. Even though she got released pretty quick she never really recovered. I was able to go up and visit her again last Thursday morning. She couldn't talk or anything. But I will always treasure my last few visits with her. This Tuesday (June 3rd) late afternoon she passed away at almost 92 years old.

Looking back at her and her life I am in awe of her. She is the perfect example of a Christ centered life. And I had forgotten that. I had forgotten some of her most wonderful qualities as she got older because she was unable to be her true self.

She wanted her grandchildren to be happy and healthy. And she loved spending time with them. Growing up I thought her and my Grandpa were so mean. Because they made me, Kiersten, and Levi eat our vegetables when they babysat us. I hated squash and zucchini and they always cooked it! I remember hiding it in my napkin so they thought I ate it. ha. But I also remember them babysitting us and taking us to McDonald's and letting us play in the play ground. And buying us happy meals. That was always such a treat. Every time we had to leave she would say stuff like, "Can't you stay longer?" and "Come back and see us soon."

She was also very domestic. I remember going to visit and she always had homemade bread. It was so good. We ate that bread like it was going out of style. We would go through a couple of loaves in a weekend. I remember her washing the dishes and all the girls taking turns drying them. I used to hate taking time out of playing to help my grandma dry the dishes. But now I am so grateful for those moments I got to spend with her. Every Thanksgiving she would make two or three pies from scratch. Crust and all. As she got older she was unable to bake and I remember it killed her to have to buy pies for Thanksgiving.

She was a hard worker and and always wanted to be helpful. My grandparents still have a garden. They plant about 200 tomato plants each year. I remember there was always beans and raspberries out there too. She loved working in the garden. She couldn't stand just sitting around and not being helpful. If my dad was in the kitchen cooking she would say, "Well what can I do?" and my dads response would be, "Just sit there and look pretty." And her response was always, " Well you have given me a hard job. " ha. She hated being waited on.

She had one the strongest testimonies I have ever witnessed. My grandparents going on a mission is something I will never forget. I remember being at the MTC and the workers giving their talks or whatever. And I remember this lady saying raise your hand if you are excited for your grandparents to go. And I yelled, " I'm not!" ha. I loved getting letters and postcards from them. And I loved writing them too. Not going to church wasn't an option for my grandma. If she was going to be late she would say to my grandpa, "Speed Ervin we are going to be late!" Her and my grandpa were temple workers for YEARS until she was unable to do it anymore for health reasons. The gospel was everything to her. She had her fair share of trails. But she didn't let them bring her down.

There is so much more I could say about my grandma... I have already said a lot. But I just feel like these words just don't give her justice. She was able to live a pretty awesome life. She saw a lot of things like the Great Depression, wars, a man walk on the moon, black and white t.v. to colored, etc. And she was able to experience a lot with my Grandpa by her side. I think she is pretty lucky ha. I told Nick earlier this week. I want a life my grandparents. I don't want to forget again how amazing my grandma was. I want to remember her example and try and live more like her. Sadly, I find myself falling short of her example everyday. But I want to do better. And I am so glad that one day I will be able to see my Grandma Heslop and my Grandpa Cragun again. I am so glad families are forever because I just love mine way too much so ever say good bye.

Disneyland 2009

August 2010

May 2011

April 2014