Here we go again...

Unfortunately, Joshua caught a cold from someone this past weekend. Too many loves and kisses with lots of family, I guess :) I hate that he's sick, poor little guy, but part of me is enjoying the break from trying to keep up with the busy, busy bee and enjoying the more cuddly, subdued version of my monkey. Does that make me a bad mom? I hope not... I'm giving him lots of loves and TLC, I promise!

A Weekend Full of Memories

My Grandpa Pratt's funeral was yesterday. I'm going to wait until I have more pictures to do a post about him, but in the mean time I can write about the weekend. (This picture is of my grandparents on their honeymoon at the Grand Canyon.)

My dad is the oldest of seven kids. Two of his siblings and their families live in the Puget Sound area, and the others and their families started arriving on Friday night and Saturday. All of my grandpa's seven children, 21 grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren were able to come, except for one of my cousins who was still taking finals at BYU. We all gathered at my parents' house for dinner on Saturday. Luckily, the weather cooperated all weekend and we had nice sunny days that allowed for all the cousins to play together outside. On Sunday morning, we all went to church at my grandpa's ward, and then spent the rest of the day at my grandpa's house (my aunt also lives there). The younger kids played while the adults talked about memories of Grandma and Grandpa and growing up. I love listening to those stories! On Sunday night there was a family viewing at the funeral home. My grandpa had nine sister, three of which have already passed on. Four of the remaining six sisters were able to come, along with a handful of my dad's cousins, which was very thoughtful. A few of my grandma's relatives were also able to come. We don't often see them, so it was nice to visit with them.

Monday morning was the funeral. There was a public viewing beforehand, followed by a family prayer, and then the funeral. It was very nice, with life histories by my Uncle Gary and my Aunt Catherine, then my Uncle Mark spoke, followed by a very beautiful musical number from my Uncle Ron and his family. Then the stake president spoke. A member of the Seventy was also there and said a few words at the end. It was a great way to honor the life of a wonderful and faithful servant of God. He was a diligent home teacher, missionary, bishop, stake presidency counselor, mission president, temple worker and sealer, and stake patriarch. He was trusted of the Lord and was given much responsibility. He always strove to live up to his heritage, and left a wonderful example for his posterity to follow.

After the funeral, there was a family lunch at the church (complete with funeral potatoes!), then we all went back to my grandpa's house for more visiting and playing with cousins. After dinner we sat in the living room and watched the Josh and Ryan show for a little while. They had had time to warm up to people and were running around from person to person like crazy monkeys giving hugs and kisses to everyone and each other. It was very adorable. We finished the night with a FHE filled with more memories of Grandpa and Grandma.

I love family reunions, and I had a ton of fun this weekend listening to stories and talking with my aunts, uncles and cousins. We miss Grandpa and Grandma, and that can be sad sometimes, but we know they are busy on the other side of the veil giving service just like they did while here on Earth. I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who has a plan for our happiness, and that plan includes being able to see our loved ones again who have passed on. Our life here on Earth is not the beginning, nor will it be the end of our existence. Our time here on Earth is a test, and I believe my grandpa passed that test. I hope I can, too.

Easter

We had a great Easter this year. We went to church and then went to my parents' house for dinner. My brother and his family were there, too.



We tried to get pictures before church. At first Joshua kept closing his eyes right when I would take the picture, and then he started getting really grumpy and we couldn't get many good pictures.





Joshua and Ryan sportin' their Easter vests that my mom made for them.

I'm grateful for Easter and the chance we have to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior and that He made it possible through His atonement for all of us to overcome spiritual and physical death and return to Him and Heavenly Father again. I am especially grateful for this gift this week as my Grandpa Pratt passed away yesterday after his battle with stomach cancer. I know his spirit is having a joyful reunion with his dear wife and family, and that someday his spirit can be reunited with his body in a perfected form, never to be separated again.

Happy Easter!

23 Months Old!

Joshua turned 23 months old this past weekend. Aside from a couple colds, he has had a good month. It amazes me how someone so cute and little can also be so infuriating and patience-trying at times. He loves to play with his toys and with his little friends. He is talking even more. His new favorite word is "mine!" He is also experimenting with his voice inflections with the word "no."

me: It's time for night-night.
Josh: No-oo-oo (with the inflection going up in the middle)

He is also really good at saying "cars." He also says "I got it!" which is the first time I've heard him string together more than one word at a time. He is starting to get into Blues Clues and brings us the remote saying "ba-baow" and doing his best imitation of Steve's jazz hands. It's kind of funny, actually. He also like to "talk" on his play phones. He'll hold the phone up to his ear and babble in hushed tones, then turn and talk to us in his regular voice, then turn back to his phone and babble on in hushed tones again, like he's telling secrets or something. He also loves doing somersaults. He will bend over and put his head and hands on the floor and try to raise one leg while waiting for Adam or I to pick up his legs and roll him over. He can do it over and over and over again.

We didn't take many pictures this month, but I did take this one. I went to get him up one morning and found him like this:


I have no idea how it happened, but he was pretty stuck. Otherwise, he is a normal almost-two-year-old, complete with tantrums, big hugs and everything in between. The adventure continues!

I thought something smelled stinky...

So it was my birthday at the beginning of the month, and my brother gave me this card.









He laughed for twenty minutes in the card aisle before buying it.