Grandpa

 

 

The world lost a great man today.  Grandpa died tonight from pancreatic cancer that he found out he had in February. It is so sad and I still can't believe he is gone.  When we saw him at Christmas he looked so healthy and was feeling pretty good, he said.  I am so glad that we went back for Christmas and had that last little time with him even though we didn't know it was the last time we would see him on earth.

We love you grandpa and will miss you very much.

Brenda

 

(June 2011)

Brenda passed away this afternoon surrounded by many of her loved ones. She was a wonderful woman, who loved my grandpa very much and took great care of him. We are grateful for everything she has done for our family the last 20 years.  We will miss her!

She had ALS which slowly took over her body.  It was a very sad thing to see.  When we went back to Utah for Christmas, we went and visited her knowing it would be the last time we would see her.  It was a very sad thing at the time because both her and grandpa were still denying anything was wrong so we said good-bye like we would see her again but really knew we would not.

My mom and Annie really were the ones who were there for her and my grandpa from the beginning to the end and we are grateful for them and all their service.  Even though it is hard that for the family that she is gone it is a blessing and we are so glad that she is free from her immovable body.

The BIG 40th!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!  WE LOVE YOU!!! You make 40 look good!!!

 

(add pictures of the kids cards)

Last Day of School!



 

Today was the last day of school for the 2015-2016 school year and also the last day the kids will be going to CC Lee.  Next year they will be going to a new school so it was kind of sad that they won't be back to see those teachers again. 

They all had a great school year.  It wasn't easy being the new kids but they all made friends and once they learned the new grading system and the way things were taught they all ended up having a good year. 

There teachers were great as always.  It never fails that every year the kids have teachers that just end up fitting with their personalities and what they need.

 

On the last day of school the kids put on a talent show.  All four of them and one friend decided to do a little skit in front of the school so they tried out and go in.  It was really cute and fun that they did something together since they will never all be in the same school at the same time again.

 



 

 

It was also Savannah last day of elementary school.  She is very excited to be moving onto Middle School.  But really enjoyed her last year.

birds

We had a mommy bird make her nest on the wreath on our front door.  We noticed all the mud and sticks around the door but it wasn't until a friend came over and asked if the nest was real that we saw were it was.

For about a month we watched watched the mommy bird sit on the eggs and then eventually feed them after they hatched and then watch them fly away.  One did end up in the window well but Savannah helped it out and it was fine.

Jack James

Jack James Spjut born May 18, 2016.  What a sweet, big boy!

Cherry Tree

A neighbor came up to me the other day and asked if Austin said anything about her getting mad at him, her daughter and another little girl in the neighborhood (all in kindergarten together).  I told her no.

She went on to tell me that they had cut all the branches off her new, little cherry tree.  She understood that they just liked the beautiful blossoms but she was still very upset with them because now cherries won't grow. 

When I asked Austin about it he told me they were already doing it when he got there, which I believed because he wasn't there long before he had to come back home and the other two had been playing a long time together. But I still explained why you can't do that and to tell our friends not to do it.  Then at the end of our conversation he said, "but you can buy cherries at the store,"  trying not to laugh I said "Yes you can" but then explained why she still wanted to grow them on her own tree. :)

St. John US Virgin Island

 

For Jason's 40 birthday we went on a little get away to St John Island.   It was so nice!  We had such a great time, snorkeling, reading our books on the beach, kayaking, touring the island, and eating good food.  It is a beautiful island and we will definitely go back one day.

Sunday, May 8th, after church we drove down to Sioux Falls spent the night and flew out early the next morning.  Spent May 9-13 on the island.  Flew back to Sioux Falls on the 13th spent the night again and drove home on the 14th.

 

 

leaving St Thomas on a ferry to St John

 

approaching the Caneel Bay Resort on St John

 

 

They told us there would be wild donkey, deer and iguanas.  This is the first thing we say when we got off the ferry and started going to our room. 

 

 

 

 View from our room

 

 

Old Sugar Mill that has been turned into a restaurant.  We ate there our last night.  The food was amazing!

 

 

 

The water was so warm, it was wonderful!

 

We hiked up to this old Sugar Mill the day we toured the island

 

the roads were so narrow and steep

 

Our room for the week

 

"Our Beach"

turtle popping his head out of the water

  We saw so many turtles while we were snorkeling.  We also saw a reef shark one day.

 

 

 

 

 

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Our Welcome Home sign on the driveway :)

We had the Hollan's in our ward come live at our house for the week and watch our kids.  The kids had a great time without us and really weren't ready for us to come home, they were having such a great time.  We are glad they were willing to come watch our kids and take them to school etc, so that we could go relax and enjoy the beautiful island.