My Grandma Lewis left one heck of a legacy!

My lovely Grandma was called home yesterday. She was so loved and left one heck of legacy!! I am thrilled and get chills just thinking about her reuniting with three of her four boys that had past on before her (one being my Dad, he is the handsome man on the far left!)  I am heartbroken for my Grandpa. I took this quote off of my cousin Billy Pauls facebook page and found it so tender and beautiful.

"The most fulfilling part of my life has been taking care of her. Its hard to find meaning in what you do, everything we have done we have done together, planted a little garden, ain't gonna be no fun without her. When you get a good companion its more luck than skill and a lot of hard work in between."

Grandpa Lewis

What I will  remember about my Grandma Lewis is how she always seemed to  have butterscotch candies in her purse and was more then happy to share :)  Grandma told the very best stories as a child I would beg to hear them any time I visited with her. We all loved them.

 How her old house was always so clean and she always seemed to have a loaf of bread on the counter and in the "yellow guest room" she had puzzles and a key board that we loved to play with. The only thing she asked is that we didn't jump on the bed.....I remember not being able to resist and jumping a bit to high and all but completely shattered the flush mount light over head...with my head..She came in and I was sobbing. She smiled sweetly comforting me saying "You did a pretty good job you only missed one small piece!"  HA

She was such a talented artist and writer! She truly is an amazing person. 

When Kylers Grandma Johnson passed away a few weeks ago we sat at the services listening to the incredible life she lived. Kyler made the comment "She was such a good person and lived such a good life,.... she definitely doesn't have anything to worry about!"  

And I definitely could say the same about my sweet Grandma Lewis. I am flying out to vegas tomorrow and look forward to celebrating her life...because friends it was a good one! 

4

lady fall

Almost overnight lady fall has made her way in. But since soup and sweaters and anything that starts with pumpkin {rolls,cookie,cakes, casserole} gets my heart beating a bit faster..I am happy she is here..So without any further adieu

I would like to say...

On behalf of the great Spud State, Idaho wholeheartedly welcomes you!
Good to see you Autumn.

Even if my bathroom scale isn't quite as thrilled with her arrival I am taking comfort that my yoga pants, oversized cable knit sweaters and the most exciting of them all overalls?!?Are happy she is here. {pinterest as my source those endless array of pocket bibs are BACK)

There is something magical about Autumn that makes me want to drink cider, with a good book in hand and eat pie with reckless abandonment.

I personally am just thrilled to trade in my swim suit in for big sweaters....sweaters  don't seem to judge you for indulging in a meal that start now and ends just in time for New Years....No, sweaters speak logic...well, pumpkins are good for you, have another....chocolate does come from trees....kinda like a salad...Somebody baked those cookies for you, eating anything less then all of them would be impolite...offensive really..That has to be what I love most, she understands in a way summer clothes possibly couldn't....I think it is safe to say my love affair with Fall food is preventing Summer and I from ever really becoming BFF...Summer brings on a classic case of sessional depression ;) all coming back to swimsuits or sweaters....

Summer doesn't lend quite as well to another one of my fall wardrobe favorites:

Stretchy pants.....You no longer have to be under 5 or over 95 to wear those babies....Did she just get back from the gym....or did she just roll out of bed??....they will never know.

While I truly  look forward to all the wonderful "comforts" fall has to offer,  I am still not convinced enough to embrace the " bib overall" trend...as thrilling as it is....{I am confident my Madre is just beaming with the news...actually I called and related the memo and she totally was}

In my heart I feel that overalls were the sole reason that I was so boy-friendless in my youth.... Okay maybe bib overalls were just one of the reasons why...or possibly not to blame at all;) But I do vividly remember "sneaking" embroidered snowman overalls out of my Moms closet...I never understood why she didn't want her middle school daugters to borrow her clothes.. And you may think that they were really just in style at the time...maybe in junior high they were but quite honestly I really can't recall anyone but Candi and I wearing them all the way into our high school years....So either we were a decade ahead of our time or......


I truly have a whole arsenal of memories of why this "phenomenon" could've been.....what stands in the forefront but most definitely was not the worse contributers/offender in myrelationship status is what I like to remember  as the.."pumpkin patch incident"

My senior year my twin sister and I dressed up as pumpkins for halloween.
we were a "pumpkin patch"..Aren't teenage boys supposed to go crazy for cute things like that?!? Nope....what?

Speaking of cute things....Below are some pretty dang cute kids...just ask their Dad ;)

quotes

“Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.”  -Helen Keller

“You rock a sobbing child without wondering if today’s world is passing you by, because you know you hold tomorrow tightly in your arms.”
Author: Neal A.         

Be Creative. Creative expression can also represent the celebration of our gratitude to God for our gifts and talents. -Neal A. Maxwell

when are you going to have another baby?

 

The most bewildering thing happened.

I swear when I laid Winnie down for "night night" a few weeks ago she was my baby... yet the very next morning  there was a toddler in her place! Why do my children keep doing that to me? HA She is curious, wild and so incredibly sweet. Everything a toddler should be ;)

The world must have taken notice! Out of  curosity or for conversation sake the question keeps arising of.....when we are planning on having another baby. (drum roll please)
My answer...

well...

I always look down at my feet and with a closed mouth smile....I shake my head....with a forced laugh. I will honestly say
"I am not quite sure." (with out ever uttering the reasons.)

Not quite sure because often times my head barely feels like it is above the water folks! And to think I was always the girl growing up that happily had her head in the clouds!

Now I am holding my breath treading water......watching and waiting to see if my sweet, lively little girl will keep developing at a natural pace. I love her more then air. I wasn't worried until I called her name and she didn't look.....I yelled it, then I screamed it....she never looked up. I could feel my heart sinking clear down to my toes.

But she seems SO with it?!? Then I watched a clip of Jett at her age....and so did he.

It is heart breaking to think about and even harder to talk about....so I am not even sure why  I am here writing this...when all I should be doing at this hour is eating chocolate ;)

"What if." starts creeping into my mind. What if she is like her beautiful older brother and the light in her eyes suddenly turns off for a time.....and she loses the skills that she earned that are rightfully hers?

If that were to be the case I could wear my knees out in prayer, I would  be her advocate her voice. I could be determined to be positive and upbeat....I would continue to read books and research and try to figure out why the perfect storm of genetics and environment hit our family not only once but twice?

Most of all I think I would simply miss her.....

Unlike a family that has a child with an acute illness neighbors and friends would most likely not be at our door with casseroles and well wishes. Nope we would simply be expected to "accept it" and move on....with a "it is what it is attitude." And a smile on our faces....when truthfully in my heart it feels awfully similar to a child with an acute illness in that ....the long enjoyable life you imagined for your child is in jeopardy! With not a promise that it will get better (An undetermined prognosis....)
 just that it will all be okay.

This is most definitely a very sensitive topic..
luckily

I found this well compiled list of 10 things you can do for a family with extras (and don't we all have extras in some shape of form!!) I loved every last idea!

Kyler was lying on the couch this evening and off handedly mentioned that one thing he is really grateful for is how Jetts eyes light up and he smiles so big when he sees him! I can't help but hope that is what other people notice too when they meet him and his compassionate soul! Not to brag or anything ( I totally am;)but my little Jett Johnson was named student of the week for being so compassionate to a little girl who was crying..His teacher said.he was hushing her and rubbing her back until she calmed down. :) I melted...

If your still not sure what to do prayers work friends! and that is a promise :)
We have felt them. Thank you! And yes I am soliciting for more of them....especially for my sweet little Winnie.

"Our most difficult task as a friend is to offer understanding when we don't understand." ~Robert Brault