My Grandpa

Those of you who read my blog might have been wondering about my lack of posts lately. On June 5, my grandpa passed away and my family and I traveled to California to participate in his services and to be with family and friends. I've been back for about a week now but have been struggling as to how to approach this on my blog. I think, more than anything, I've been too sad to want to write about it.

It was a good weekend but also very hard. It was good to share my grief with my family and for us to be together to share fond memories of a great man. It is always hard to say goodbye to a special family member but I think it was made all the more difficult by the unexpectedness of his passing. Yes, he was very sick and we all knew his time on earth was growing shorter but I don't think anyone knew it would be this soon. I wish I could have seen him one more time and told him how much I love him. I'm so grateful for the plan of happiness that will allow me to see him again. I take comfort in knowing he is now at peace.

Isn't he a handsome man? He was such a special grandpa - so present in my life at all the little and big moments. Ballet recitals, family birthday parties, Halloween, Christmas day, our temple sealing...the list could go on and on because he was always there. It's been harder since we moved to Arizona but we tried to see each other when we could. Grandpa and Marilyn even took a fun trip here in 2004 and we got a chance to go to the Grand Canyon together. I really treasured that alone time with my grandparents.

One of my grandpa's greatest qualities was his kindness. He loved his family so much and always had us in mind. He loved other people too and went out of his way to treat everyone kindly. My dad told a story at his funeral about taking the clothes he was to be buried in to the cleaners and how the owners of the store were so saddened to hear of his passing. They said every time he came in he talked to them for a half hour! That was just my grandpa. He did this at work too. He was a dentist for 51 years and loved his job and the people he helped. There wasn't one day that he was ever on schedule because he spent so much time with each of his patients. Every time he worked on my teeth, he would always call that night to see how I was doing. He loved life and was a happy person and he always making jokes and making us laugh. I miss you, Grandpa and hope you know how much I love you.

On left: Patrick, my brother Scott, cousin John, cousin Kevin On right: Cousin Sean, my brother Chris, BIL Ryan, cousin Matthew

My Grandpa's "tooth" flowers - from the Kiwanis Club he was active in.

Kindergarten...here we come!!

It's official! Dylan has graduated from preschool and we had a cute evening "ceremony" to celebrate it. Here's Dylan and Miss Mechelle. She is just the best preschool teacher and Dylan has had a great 2 years with her. She declared these boys most definitely ready for kindergarten!That's right - just boys! These four boys are the first graduating class for Serendipity Preschool. Mia and Mandy, the other students in their class, have another year before they head off to kindergarten. We presented this photo to Mechelle so she can hang it up at school. It's so adorable! Will, Dylan, Tyler and Adam
This is the cute backdrop Lisa made that the boys sat in front of during the program. Lisa McGee, Tyler's mom, hosted the ceremony at her home, and of course she did it up "Lisa-style" as only she can! I love the serious picture followed by the crazy one. Could he be any cuter, holy cow! Dylan is waiting to lead the processional.
Such serious boys. Mechelle said she was worried they would be crazy because she said they were so silly when they practiced the program at school. Dylan didn't even crack a smile - he takes this graduation stuff seriously!
Miss Mechelle had a lot of really great things to say about our kids and I loved how you could tell how much she enjoyed teaching these boys. She said their finest quality was that they all really knew how to be true friends and were so good to each other. What more could a parent ask for? She presented them with a diploma, their classes' favorite book, and a slide show DVD of pictures from the past 2 years. Priceless! I couldn't help missing Cole Monsen, Dylan's good buddy who moved just a couple of months ago. I wish he could have been there but it was so fun to see all the sweet pictures of these good friends. Donette and Tyler - we'll have to burn you a copy!
Dylan, Adam and Tyler - such good buddies.

Lisa's cake talents! She also put together a gift bag for the boys that had kindergarten school supplies, a sweet treat and this awesome shirt!Needless to say, they loved it and put it on right away for a really nice picture.

And...then a picture that captures their true selves!!

Thanks for a great party, Lisa!

Thanks so much for a great 2 years, Miss Mechelle! We're so happy you were able to help Dylan learn so many things and he loved preschool so much. Thanks for helping to instill in him what is hopefully a lifetime of loving to learn!