Money Bra's, Motivational Poster's and Graduation

Dear Kacie,

We really did have a good time in AZ even though we missed your dad a lot and we were there for a bummer situation. But we got some really cute pictures at the hospital when we were visiting grandma!

We took grandma some yummy super red strawberries and you wanted to try one.

You liked it for the most part!

But you only ate a tiny bit of it.

Before grandma got to come home from the hospital we made some motivational posters. This was one of them!

Eating some chicken, I think!

Grandma downlaoded a fun game that Aunt Ang showed her. You loved to sit on her lap and play it. You also liked to watch Baby Einstein while sitting on her lap.

When grandma was in the hospital (the first one, right after the accident) they had to cut off all of her clothes because they couldn't pull them off over her arm. While they were cutting she kept thinking "I know this doesn't matter but this is my favorite, brand new $70 bra!" She was so sad that they were cutting it off and was trying to think of a way to keep it.

When I heard this I thought to myself "NOOOO!! NOT THE BRA!!"

And I just kept thinking about it because a good bra is hard to come by! So I came up with this idea:

**WARNING**

The following picture is inappropriate

But I have to put it because my dad was being so obnoxious. And also it just shows that even among the stress and overwhelming stuff, your grandma and grandpa were able to find moments of happiness. (I've been saying it a lot lately but they really are amazing people!) Plus, it's pretty funny...

Anyway, my very sweet cousin Desiree donated the 70 $1's to make this bra. I wish I had taken a picture of the first attempt at making the bra. In my defense, it was like 11:00pm when I tried so it came out terribly. Aunt Ang ended up constructing this beauty! And it was so awesome because it just made her so happy!

Uncle Jerm graduated HS while we were there too! He also turned in his mission papers while we were there! So for his graduation present he got suitcases.

He also got a certificate allowing him to take himself and 5 friends out to lunch. He looked pretty studly with his suitcases. He's going to be a wonderful missionary!

The best part was that you, me and grandma got to stay home and watch Graduation on Skype! I told grandma that she is going to get too comfortable Skypeing everything and she's never going to leave the house. But I guess for the next year she's not really supposed to leave anyway so it's ok.

This is the sunset during the graduation:

Then one night me and Aunt Aub had to run to WalMart so I let her drive. This is her first time driving through a drive-thru! It just had to be documented!

Grandma had this cool cup with a straw. You'd never really drank from a straw before but you quickly learned how and then the whole time we were there you would grab the cup from grandma and make her give you a drink.

This is you talking to daddy on the phone. I wish I had gotten a better picture but you started to fall when I took this

One night before bed you played with grandma and grandpa. They were having a great time making you laugh!

By this point we were really really missing your dad. but it was also good to be at home. You warmed up to everyone by then and were having a good time. I know your dad missed you too. Luckily he had work and school to keep him a tiny bit occupied!

Love,

Mom and Dad

Face Plants, Play Date, 1st Plane Ride.

Dear Kacie,

I guess this post should have technically gone before the last one. Oh well!

You were taking your nap (which you are really good at doing now!) and I checked the monitor and this is how you were asleep. A little part of me was worried you couldn't breathe but mostly I laughed and took a picture of it!

You woke up in a great mood the day we were leaving for AZ. You must have just known that we were going to visit family!

Sometimes (and by that I mean this one time) I get in your crib to see how you react.

You thought it was funny! But it took you a minute to get to me because there was a book on the floor that you just couldn't seem to step over!

This is before daddy left for school. He wasn't able to take off work or school to get us to the airport so we didn't get to see him all day. You can tell that he was actually sad to say goodbye but you just laughed and smiled cause dad was holding you!

My super sweet cousin Desiree came and watched you for a few hours while I packed. It was REALLY helpful because you tend to get clingy when I feel like I want to be productive.

You and Gus just followed each other around the apartment and had such a good time!

This was before we left for the airport. Gus and Dez came to say goodbye and bring grandma Sandra a present.

I can't believe he is 2 months younger than you! You need to grow girl, you're so tiny!

You love playing with other babies!

And we love playing with you!

Love,

Dad and Mom

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Dear Kacie,

On May 14th, we flew to AZ. It was my first time flying with a baby and I was doing it alone too! I was really nervous.

I was fortunate to sit next to a super nice lady. She said "My friends call me the baby whisperer" and let me tell you, she was awesome!

Now Kacie, you are basically a perfect human so you did really well on the flight anyway, but this lady loved you.

You even sat on her lap for about 30 minutes of the flight. You also fed her pretzels, put them down her shirt and smeared them on her clothes. And this lady didn't even mind at all!

I mean, it was perfect. It definitely relieved a lot of my feelings of stress!

When we got there it was too late to go see grandma. She was drugged and we were tired.

So the next night we got to go. 

This is her arm. It's so exciting isn't it?

You loved collecting everyone's visiting stickers every time we went!

Ready for bed

My caption for the next picture is:

"No mom, don't put clothes on me! It's sooo hot here!"

But, I put clothes on you anyway.

You love baby einstein!

Also you love chicken!

Bath time

This was at church on Sunday. Your grandpa, Aunt Aub and Uncle Jerm loved having you to entertain at church!

I never realized how much me and Aunt Aub look alike!

When I sent this picture to our families, your Aunt Mallory text back and said "There is clearly an 'M' being formed by her hair. Obviously she is stating that I am her favorite person."

Then we got to go to your Uncle Jerm's seminary graduation.

We would sneak a snack into grandpa's hand, then he would keep it closed. You would open his hand, take out the treat and close it again. We would sneak another treat into it and you would open the hand back up. It was incredibly smart of you! I was so impressed with how easily you learn things!

Me and Aunt Ang had to go run some errands. We found these hilarious hats! We didn't buy it for you because you hated it, but I snapped this picture just in time!

Grandpa's birthday was on the next day. Grandma was still in the hospital.

So we ordered Cafe Rio, made a banana pie, snuck it all into the ICU and partied!

The funny thing about the pie is that grandma told me to make the crust with Nilla Wafers. So I lined the pan with them and poured the pudding in!

Apparently Nilla Wafers float!

Here is the card we made for my dad.

It wasn't exactly the way anyone thought we would spend my dad's 50th birthday, but we were just really grateful to be together and alive!

Your grandpa is an incredible man. He has so much compassion and patience. I hope that you can see that in him and learn to be like him. You are very blessed to have so many family members (on both my side of the family and your dad's side) that love you so much. Not everyone has the opportunities to get to know their families the way you will. Your grandpa loves you a lot!

I saw this shirt at Ross and I really wanted to get it for Aubree… But I guess a picture will have to do!

I think one of the best things that came from this trip was learning how to lock the screen on my iPad! Whenever we Skype, you really like to play with the iPad but if you touch the screen, it would move or close the screen!

It is seriously the best that I can lock it!

I feel like the first couple of days that I was in AZ this is all I did!

Graduation announcements, thank you cards, thank you cards, thank you cards… We had so many wonderful people help us out. It was amazing to see how many people care for my parents. They are amazing people!

I had to walk them to the mailbox one night. It is always funny to make that walk because I walked to that mail box almost everyday waiting for letters from your dad when he was on his mission. Back then it seemed like the longest walk ever!

One day I was trying to get the dishes done. I loaded the dishwasher and grabbed the soap.

In my defense, I just grabbed the bottle closest to the dishwasher. I had no idea that they used packets or something now!

The good news is that your Uncle Jerm was mopping the floor anyway, so I didn't even have to clean it up!

We had to run to the store to get a new mop and you helped Uncle Jerm carry it out of the store. And by 'helped' I mean you actually carried it yourself!

You're so strong, just like Uncle Jerm!

We Skyped with your daddy every night. You would get very excited when I pulled out the iPad. And then when you saw him, you just talked and talked and talked and you'd wave your arms around. It was adorable to see you recognize that it was dad and then be excited about it!

We love you a lot!

Love,

Mom and dad