~EasTeR~

This year Easter was CRazY! We read lots of books about Easter and the bigger picture of why celebrate it, but the fact is she is 2 and fascinated with Easter Bunny. Almost to the point of obsession. I think we have found her favorite holiday now.

We started the madness out Thursday before Easter and visited the Easter Bunny at Walgreens and got a picture and a treat, and from there on out she was hooked :) We told the Bunny to stop by early on Saturday so we could keep things a little more quiet on Easter and try and keep the focus on the true meaning and impact in our lives.

The Bunny himself came and left a basket of goodies and a Buzz Lightyear fishing pole she has been eyeing for a while and a New Testament book. Although she was distracted by the Candy filled eggs that led the trail to her basket :) Then it was on to our first Egg hunt of the day at the Enoch City offices. Where we had another visit with a Easter Bunny and she loved grabbing eggs up. Then it was onto the next Egg Hunt, Jayme's Dads work was putting on. It was allot better hunt with tons of eggs and she was an expert at Egg grabbing. Then they served up breakfast and started the crafts. Leta got to decorate a foam Easter Egg and Egg shaped cookies, she loved it.

Sunday was church and dinner with family, the best part of any Holiday! And a small Egg hunt for the two little ones.

All in all a perfect Easter if I say so myself...

Easter Bunny??
Showing the cookies she decorated

Despite the face she LOVED the Easter Bunny
Taking a break to play
LOOK MOM!
Scouting for Eggs


Jayme got her a fishing pole and despite my best efforts I couldn't find a kids book on Jesus being the fisher of men so I got the New Testament for kids and a card sized picture :)

Until we meet again...

On April 7th the world lost a great man, Frank Hindle Cowley left this world of pain and went home again. As much as it hurts to have him gone from this world, I know that he is finally out of misery and pain free for the first time in a long time. He has spent the last 14 years alone and I can only imagine the joyous reunion that took place :)

A spur of the moment decision found me in the chapel with my Mom, Aunts and Cousin preparing to dress him for burial. I can imagine that this wouldn't be for everyone, but for me it was a very spiritual event and very healing experience. One I will treasure forever.

Before coming up for the funeral it came time to tell Leta why we where going and we explained simply that PopPop was now with Jesus and not here with us any longer. Short and simple remember she is 2 how much could she get? We found out a few days later when my mom had returned home from a visit at our place and Jayme asked Leta "Where did Grandma go?" which she replied "Home" And Jayme said "Where is home?" and she said "with PopPop" and Jayme said "Oh, PopPops at her home" and she said "NO, PopPop is with Jesus in the Temple!" Apparently our previous talks about how the Temple is the house of the Lord and an ideal place to feel Jesus had sunk in enough that when she was told he was with Jesus it had to be in the Temple :)

And at the funeral she said "PopPops my Angel now" It broke my heart!

So Until We Meet again PopPop we love you and will miss you everyday...

Our traditional shot :)
Jayme and his "girls" ;)


Group shot of the Cowley Clan
Pallbearers and Honorary Pallbearers
The Authentic Bagpiper :)
All five of PopPops kids...


Leta saying her Goodbyes :(

Glimpses into the life of an amazing man..

Cutting the Apron Strings..

I have always heard to be careful what you wish for, now I know why! Growing up I always envied the kids who could grab life by the horns with little thought to the consequences and let it play out whatever it may be. I am a planner I like organized, thoughtful and most of all safe. The only thing I love to do without much thought is road trips I am a gypsy at heart. And of course being a mom has only made me that much more manic on planning, schedules and above all safety. So of course life gave me a child with a wild spirit who aches to push the boundaries and test her limits. Now don't get me wrong she is a very tender sweet girl who obeys well and gives me little grief, but her eyes cry out for adventure I have a hard time denying her. I mean after all that's what always wanted for myself, right? So with butterflies in my stomach and my teeth and fists clenched I set her free to spread her wings and find herself, test her limits! Of course I think through every possibility and try to plan for everything that could go wrong, but I let her go non the less.

Up to this point the biggest thing I have let her do is tubing all on her own, I still think they are a little insane for allowing them to ride alone, but she survived and loved every minute of it. Next hurdle came this weekend(April 2nd) when we where at the Las Vegas flea market and came across pony rides. She LOVES horses and makes stick ponies out of everything. And being that Grandma Cindy has them makes it funner since she is used to the creatures, although she has never actually done more than sit on one. Once I found out it was only three bucks for a 15 min ride and she was captivated by them I caved. Then I found out the parents couldn't walk along :( But they assured me the little pony had the best harness to hold her and though one of the faster ones who liked to push its own limits I let her go with a confident smile and wouldn't you know it she rode like a champ and giggled with pure delight over it.

So baby girl I vow to never stop you from grabbing life my the horns and conquering everything in your path. Enjoy living out your dreams and I will be there to cheer you no matter how scared I may be :)

Another Trip :)

Dressing up as a bug at the Sportsmen's Expo :)

Trying her hand at Fishing..
Katie trying her hand at Wii

Sorry Grandma Cindy I had to post it :) To cute~

A quilt Great Grandma Allen help stitch when she was Seven!

Nerf Gun fights are a serious event in this family!!

I know it seems like we are constantly on the road on one adventure or another, oh wait that's because we are :) LOL. But with aiming to get to my Dad's place at least every few months or so to let them see Leta and catch up and with hunting trips, fertility trips (more to come in another post) and our little vacations we fit in. We definitely log the miles on!

Before going to my Dad's we stopped in SL to visit with some really good friends and we hit Hogal Zoo and enjoyed seeing all the animals. Leta stills talks about the baby elphant and the train ride she got to go on :) Thanks for the outing you guys, it was a blast :)

We kept our visit to my Dad's place pretty low key and helped around there place getting it cleaned up and helped my (Step)Brother and his little family to move. We hit my favorite antique store, I could spend some serious cash in that place, went to the petting zoo, and finally went to see Tangled. Which we loved! I love feel good movies with good morals :) We need a cheap theater here so we could actually go to a movie theater more than a handful of times in a year. My birthday also fell on this visit and I was a lucky girl and got to cakes! German chocolate and a strawberry ice cream cake, yummmm. So there is our last two big vacations in a nutshell, until next time....

Old News..

Okay so this is practically ancient news but for the sake off journaling it I will post it for your enjoyment ;) In February my Grandpa, PopPop as Leta affectionately calls him turned 90! And although he is in declining health he still his the cantankerous old man I have always known him to be. It was the first time in probably 12 or 13 years we had all his children and most of Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren together. And despite our family's history of being prone to Drama it was a fairly uneventful weekend. Filled with swimming, eating and best of all catching up with family :)