4th of July at Dan's Parents

We went to Grandpa and Grandma Astin's house for badmitton, hot dogs and fire works! Jake has a lot of cousins to play with when we get together with Dan's side of the family. Here he is with cousin Brayden. They where watching their Dad's play badminton.
Before dinner Adam and Alex decided to take on Dan and Noreen. Alex and Adam thought it was going to be an easy win until they saw this sweet move from Noreen! With her speed and Dan's agility it was a tough game!
Here Jake is trying to roast a hot dog. The process of him cooking the hot dog wasn't going so well,. So I dusted the ash off and threw it in the grill until it was well cooked. He has issues eating a hot dog to begin with, let alone one that is cold in the middle.
Then there where marshmallows!
And then fireworks! It always amazes me how a few 'radiant flying phoenix' fireworks can Mesmerize kids. The names are pretty cool too.

Water fight!

A few weeks ago my parents watched the kids for us so Dan and I could have a date. Little did I know the fun that they would be having at Grandma's. They had a full on water fight and the kids loved it. Derek loves the water and getting wet. He had tons of fun running around in the sprinkler and getting sprayed.
They where still in the " get everyone wet" mentality when we got back. Richie got Dan wet, Heather and Jake tried to get Dan wet. Dan won the fight against heather, then Richie came out with this super soaker gun and totally won.

My Birthday

My birthday was last week, and in Glassford style it was celebrated with good food and great company. This birthday has been interesting to say the least. But despite all the stuff happening Dan and my wonderful parents gave me a great birthday. I was asked what I wanted for my birthday dinner and I said Dad's bbq chicken. So I got BBQ chicken and at least four different cuts of steak. No one can accuse my parents of not celebrating our births! Here is Dad out at the smoker while holding Derek. Little Derek is terrified of many people, but not Grandpa!
Here is what happens when I give Derek punch for dinner. Here I am getting prepped to blow out my candle while everyone sings to me. Richie and Dad pretended to blow out the candle right as I was about to blow. This made me laugh and I had to blow 5 times before the candle went out. Lame boys. Here is Jake and Great Grandma. I had planned on him simply having a small piece of cake. But the Grandma's had different plans. Grandma gave him a huge piece of cake and Great Grandma gave him several different ice-creams to try. Oh the sugar rush! Jake loves cake! he ate that entire piece.... yes he was wired.
Thanks to everyone who helped celebrate me and gave me birthday wishes! We had a lot of fun on my birthday which included badminton and a water fight, I will write about it soon.

Grandma

My Grandma passed away today. Two weeks ago I lost my Grandma Hawkins, which was sudden but oddly peaceful. Grandma Hawkins was truly loved by her family but felt lonely and I believe is much happier where she is now than she was for the majority of the past few years. Grandma Glassford’s passing has been different. She leaves behind a grieving husband, whose pain is so palpable it causes me pain to hear him cry. She died today in the hospital surrounded by her family. She lost her fight with the massive stroke that happened this past Thursday. I know that she is with her parents, and is happy. Though I know where she is, that Heavenly Father has a plan, I feel cheated. No one should have to lose two beloved family members so close together, especially since both deaths where unexpected. She leaves behind a true legacy of love, devotion and faith. She was my second Mom, as was she to many. I was blessed to have her live with us while I was growing up, and because of that we formed a bond closer than a Grandma and Granddaughter. We were friends bonded by memories and love. Her service will be held on Friday, July 15th at the church at 1051 E. 200 S. in Lindon, beginning with the viewing starting 9:30 and the funeral at 11:00.
Yesterday I had the opportunity to hold her shoulder and talk to her as she was passing. I told her that I loved her, and promised that we would remember her and every thing she taught us. It was then that she flat lined. Grandma was free of her crippling stroke and with Jesus. I will keep my promise. I will make sure my kids never forget their beloved Grandma and her wonderful legacy, us.

In loving Memory

Last Sunday I got one of the most devastating phone calls I have ever received. My Grandma, who I dearly loved, passed away unexpectedly. I thought that she was invincible and never thought she was going to die. I realize how childish this sounds, but she was so full of life and love that I didn’t think death would ever happen to her. After I got the call, I could barely speak. Dan didn’t know what was going on at first. After the shock and immediate pain wore off, I realized that I was devastated at my own loss, and not Grandma’s. In that moment I was so thankful for the church. I didn’t even have a moment that I thought I wouldn’t see her again or that she isn’t happy. Grandma might have died earlier than any of us wanted, but her life was full. She had super highs and big lows, but she was always there for her family no matter what. For the funeral we had all of us Grandkids stand up and say one of our favorite memories, which was the part where I cried the most. There were two things that really stood out to me. One - Grandma made everyone of us feel special and loved; two – it was hard for each of us to narrow all of our wonderful memories down to simply one.

I realize I was blessed to have her live so close and to be such a big part of my life. When a few of my cousin’s and I where trying to figure out what memory we where going to pick, it dawned on me – we ( her family) where the center of her world.

Here are a few of our fond memories –

*Easter egg hunts of legendary portions

*4^th of July with glowing necklaces and her ornate and decorative shirts

*feeding the goldfish in her backyard ponds

* going to her house and getting a twizzler or dove chocolate from her hand towel drawer

*playing with all her old metal wind-up toys

*Having her tell the stories about the plate from Napoleon to her spoon collection

* true love of birds. She even had an egg warmer in case she found eggs that where orphaned.

*Christmas – oh Grandma and her Christmas. This should have its own list . The pj’s, the balloons stuffed with hand rolled dollar bills, helping hand string cranberries and popcorn for the trees. Her house would magically turn into her own version of a winter wonderland. Every Christmas we would look forward to her extravagantly wrapped and thoughtful gifts. She truly loved this holiday.

*Grandma teaching me how to play slots

*Using heirloom tea sets to have teatime

*Her teaching us how to press flowers and how to shape and dry them in salt.

*Her taking us for walks around the cabin; looking for anything of beauty, be it an animal, sunset, drift wood, or fossils.

*Being willing to drop whatever she was doing, walk over to my apartment and dispose of a spider.

*Holding my children and softly stroking their cheeks as they all asleep.

She was an amazing woman and I am honored to call her my Grandma. I will miss her and look forward to seeing her in the next life.

I love you Grandma.

Fun on the Farm

The farm is one of the kids favorite places to go. I grab allergy medicine and the kids grab some fruit snacks....Jake's favorite animals to feed are the goats. Derek was even was willing to feed them. The minute the sheep and lamas would come over to get a snack Jake would move to another pen. Those lama's are feisty!Derek's favorite animal is the cow. I think it boils down to three reasons. 1 - they move slowly or not at all 2- they are big 3- he can say OOO which is his word for cow.
Jake loves riding on the horses.
It is the season for baby animals! They had quite a few babies and had people there helping us pet them and talking about the animals. Jake has learned that if you feed chickens from above, they don't peck your fingers. I asked him why he wanted to feed the chickens if he didn't want to have them get close or eat it from his hand. He said that all animals where hungry and that chickens need their space. Derek got grumpy while we where there. We even took a snack break. That didn't even help, he was determined to stay upset. But his grumpy face is so cute!

The rest of Ogden

Here is the fun from the rest of our spring vacation to Ogden.The biggest reason we went to Ogden was the Dinosaur Museum. Jake and Derek had so much fun. Jake was quick to inform us that they where not real, but he seemed so fascinated by the large models of the dinosaurs. This is Jake's impersonation of a t-rex. Short little arms, two fingers, and don't forget the scrunched up grumpy face!It is almost like Jake is saying " Yea, I am touching a real dinosaur skull". He had a fun time at the museum.Derek was hilarious, He was fascinated by the sculptures. Even when Dan lifted him up, as if he was feeding him to this ferocious creature. It seemed as though he was content in simply getting a close look at his teeth.
It is a super scary creature, it looks so ferocious! grrrrr! :)

Random Steakhouse -
When my Sister-in-Law Julie found out we where going to Ogden she said we had to go to this steakhouse. She said Quin absolutely loves it and tries to come up with reasons to go to Ogden to eat there. What she didn't tell us is about the weird decor. Their where four fabulous bathtubs filled with PEZ candy dispensers and other little gadgets, stuffed and mounted game animals, creepy old manican people and mining tools. Oh yea, a man-made river with waterfall was in the middle . The sad/nice part was Jake was SO tired from the museum that he was completely asleep. Derek on the other hand was full of energy!

Ogden Train Museum -We also went to the train museum in Ogden. I think this was a highlight for Jake. He isn't a huge fan of Thomas the Train or Chuggington but boy does he like trains
He was determined to make this train move, it was super cute to watch him try, after he got tired of trying we went and played with the little trains.Jake had Dan hold him up all the way through the model train exhibit. He wanted the best view possible.

Jake really wanted to have a smashed penny with a train on it, so I said sure. The only catch was that he had to use his strength to squish it. One of the best parts of the museum.