Kate is 2!!!!!!

Yes, it's true! My baby is 2!!!!!!!

I can't believe it has been two years since we were scared to death with her in an incubator at 4 lbs 14 oz. It has gone by so fast! She is such a sweetheart and such a stinker.....great combo right??? In the NICU they called her feisty, and she still is. She loves to cuddle and hug but then she'll turn around and through a huge fit with arms and legs flying everywhere and screaming at the top of her lungs. But, she's my baby.....We love her so much!

Kate loves dogs, so for her party I made a dog cake. I actually impressed myself...usually my ideas turn into flops, but this one turned out so cute, I think! And she loved it!! She kept pointing to it and saying, "Doggy!"

She really got into the spirit of opening presents, she kept asking for more!

You know she's happy when she tries to smile! =)

And how many lucky girls get to have fireworks on their birthdays??? Her first real firework show...she was hesitant at first but then loved it! We had Brenden and Mercedes' birthdays as well and we did fireworks for the 4th! We had a great time!!!

Tommy put on a great show for us! Thanks Tommy! And thanks everyone for coming to help us celebrate Kate's birthday!!!!

Happy Birthday Kate, we love you!!!!!

Good Bye Sweet Grandma

My sweet Grams passed away this morning. Gramps passed away last Christmas and Grams just didn't want to be here without him. I was able to visit her a few times this week and I am very glad.

I have such fun memories with Grams. She sometimes called herself LaLa and she used to set up LaLa's salon while we were camping. She'd paint our fingernails and toenails. Which reminds me, she always used to paint her toenails red. One year up in Jackson, WY a "whistle pig" (ground squirrel) bit her big toe. She was always the one with the jump rope or something fun to do while we were camping. Grams had a contagious smile. She and Gramps did line-dancing in Yuma, AZ where they went for the winter. I remember writing her many letters while they were in Yuma and she'd always write back and would sometimes send me fun little trinkets from there. Grams loved to play the piano and we all loved to listen to her. Every Christmas she would play carol after carol and we would sing and sing. I loved hearing her play. She also wrote roadshows and piano music. Grams also loved to read, which I definitely inherited. Grams was a wonderful chef. Everyone loved her cooking. Her roast beef, mashed potato dinner was always a favorite. And as a child I always loved her freezer because there were always dreamsicles (the orange ones with the cream inside) and fudgesicles inside. She loved to spoil us. One thing I will really miss will be her birthday/anniversary/Christmas cards. She couldn't just give you a card with her name signed at the bottom. She underlined words and wrote special notes, and even though we joke about it, it always made me feel special.

After four grandparent deaths in a little over a year, we've had our share....but it makes me so grateful for my faith and my knowledge that I will see them again.  She was such a good Grandma, and I hope someday I will be as good as she was to my grandchildren. Grams is happy now. Hopefully her spirit will rest now that she is back with Gramps. Good bye sweet Grams.....I love you so much! I miss you already. Give Gramps a big hug for me!