1st Communion

Quinn made her first communion on Saturday, April 30, 2011 at the 5:30 mass. She had her whole family there. Grammy and Papa, even though Grammy was sick she was able to come. Aunt Kamber and Uncle Jamie (her godparents), Kade and Landon. Aunt Katie and Uncle Matt and Louk. And also our good friends Scott and Jenny Lester and Rachel and Annie.

Quinn was absolutely beautiful! She looked so grown up and it made me think back to her baptism. I can't believe it has been 8 years already! She was excited about going through the whole night, and I know the really big deal will be next Sunday when we go to church and she can join us at communion time.

Grammy had even gotten Gwen (her American Girl Doll) a 1st communion outfit, so Quinn had fun with that. She loved getting dressed up and she looked like a little princess.

I am so proud of the little girl she has become. She has such an awesome personality. So fun and funny! She makes me laugh every day. I love that she has great manners. Every day I hear her tell someone thank you for holding a door for her without a prompt and when she smiles she lights up the room. She loves her little brother Maclain with her whole heart, and she does so many nice things for him.

This was her day and I hope she enjoyed it! I LOVE YOU BABY GIRL!!!!!!!

Easter 2011

We went to Minnesota for our annual Easter with the Stanton clan. Karen planned a great egg hunt, the food was great and we had nice weather! Maclain enjoyed all his Easter treats including bubbles. Quinn loved that she got some basketball time in with her Daddy on the court he planned on as a kid.

We had a VERY fun and busy weekend! On Friday night, Mark and I had to grown up parties, so Kamber kept our kids over night. We had tons of fun at both parties and enjoyed hanging out with adults.
Saturday we had the Christmas for kids at Yellowbook, and I our kids got some great gifts! We met our friends Brian and Serena there and Quinn was thrilled to get to hang out Maddie for a while.
It was my dad's 65th birthday on Saturday night and we surprised him with a limo ride to look at lights. It was so much fun and everyone loved it! My poor nephew Louk (who is 1) ended up getting sick as the limo was pulling up, so Matt and Louk didn't go with us. We were sad they weren't there, and Jamie who had to work.
Sunday we had Cookies with Santa at school . It was so much fun to see all the staff kids and they had fun seeing Santa.
So much fun but I found myself crying Saturday night on the way home after the Limo. This is such a hard time of year when someone who was such a huge part of your life is missing. Every time I hear "Grandma got run over by a reindeer" I sob. It use to be Grams song, the one we all teased her with. Maybe some day I will be able to hear it and smile...but not this year.
Love ya Gram.

It's been a long time....

It's been so long since I have posted to this blog. Since the last blog I had spent lots of time with my Grandma. It's hard for me to even type this now, because she lost her battle with cancer a few weeks ago. She loved this blog and I know I need to keep up on it. Her last few months of her life were filled with us getting as many memories and loved squeezed in. She was such a huge part of my life and she is now gone. It feels like a big hole in my heart. It will fill as time goes on, but right now is hard. The holidays will be extremely hard. I don't know the last time I didn't spend a Thanksgiving or Christmas with her. I am sure in my whole life I may have only not been with her for one or two....and that is because we were on a family trip. She was always here, always supportive, and always ready to help out.
Her funeral was beautiful and just like she would have wanted it. My sisters both gave amazing talks. My sweet Quinn got up and talked about the Gigi she loved. Quinn continues to struggle with it on a daily basis, and her fuse is very short these days. My uncle wrote a song for her that was very fitting, and the best part for me, was we all sang "You are my sunshine". This was her favorite song and we sang it to her every day in hospice. She loved the sunshine and every sunny day I will now smile thinking of my Gram. She will always be "grandma groovy" "our gigi" and a person that I love. She faced the cancer in the end with such amazing strength and belief in God and the knowledge she would be soon joining her parents in heaven. I know she is happy and in a better place now, but I will miss her for a long, long time. Here are some photos taken only 3 weeks before she passed away. She looks beautiful and I am so grateful for these last pictures together. LOVE YOU GRAM!!!!

Quinn's first day of 2nd grade and our Camping adventure!

Katie Gram, and Kamber hanging by the fire
cooking hotdogs over the fire
Grandma and my mom hanging out
Papa took all the Grandkids for a cruise in the convertible
Kids after sleeping in the tent all night...
Enjoying the air mattress for a few more minutes
Bella was an awesome camper..who knew?!?
Enjoying the fire the next morning.


We had a great time camping! The Boeckmann Family and our family actually pitched the tents to camp out at Palo, but everyone else came out to enjoy it with us. We all had hot dogs, brats and hamburgers over the fire. We sat around talking and watching the kids play. It was so nice Grandma felt up to coming out with us. It made it so much more special, and I will always remember that night.
Summer is getting close to its end...got to enjoy it while it lasts!