Grandpa Starkey's Funeral, July 2011

Andy's sweet, caring, thoughtful, hard-working, compassionate, friendly, always wanting to do something for someone else, Grandpa Starkey, passed away the first week of July. We were so grateful that he didn't experience a lot of pain and slipped away peacefully. We were also grateful that everyone was able to make it to his funeral. The picture below is of Grandpa's posterity. (Nathan is asleep in the car seat in front - normally I would have woken him up, but he was absolutely exhausted) The funeral was beautiful with beautiful talks by both children (Andy's Mom and her brother Ken as well as Andy's Dad, several musical numbers, and a wonderful tribute for his service in World War II. We wish Grandma lived closer so that we could visit her often, knowing that she is struggling without her sweet companion by her side. I do know that although our loved ones pass on and their bodies are laid to rest for a time, that their spirits are very close by and we can be comforted in our loss, but I also know that mourning is REAL and it is extremely hard to lose someone you love so dearly, even if it is just for a short time in the eternities. I can not imagine how that must be multiplied when it is your spouse - your other half - the one you share all of life's joys and sorrows with. Grandpa lived a wonderful life filled with heart-felt service to his country, his family, and his friends and neighbors. We will miss him deeply and we will try to carry on his legacy of service and kindness to all we come in contact with!

Andy's Mother must have earned her halo and wings for all the lack of sleep and work she did in the midst of her great loss. She was amazing, as always, getting things arranged for the funeral, caring for her grieving mother and family, preparing and delivering a talk (public speaking being bad enough, but adding in the emotions of the time), and all the other work that she is ALWAYS doing to make things run smoothly for all, usually behind the scenes instead of from the pulpit. Grandpa Starkey isn't the only angel around these parts!

We sure love Grandma Starkey. She loves her family dearly and always makes us feel loved and accepted. She must have loaded us up with 20 pounds of canned goods, apples and even her Nutella (which I told her she would probably need more than us as stress = NEED for chocolate in my book), claiming that she couldn't eat it all herself as we left and headed back home. She must have seen how these boys are starting to eat us out of house and home :). She is so thoughtful and we just love the individual attention she gives each of her children and grandchildren. I had to take a picture of this sweet moment when Drew just walked over to Grandma, who was sitting by herself and put his arm around her. He always knows when someone needs a little encouragement and love. He comes up to you and says, "How are you doing?" and sometimes will even give you a little back rub! I'm sure he'd love us to just send him on over to Grandma's house to keep her company for a while!

Andy wanted us each to get a picture with Grandpa's favorite hat. Grandpa always wore it cocked to one side - must have been the style in his younger years, so that was always one of his trade marks!

It looks like Kassi is doing a little "How do ya do?" in this picture, but she is actually stealing the hat from Jesi, which caused a few tears. Maybe I shouldn't write that down because she sure looks sweet, doesn't she? It looks like she probably stole a ball from her baby brother as well - heaven forbid :)!

Andy trying to find out if he can get away with the cocked hat look. I think it looks pretty cool myself. I think I would have looked a little more natural with a baby in my arms, but Andy insisted.

We stayed at a hotel and enjoyed the pool one day. Actually, Andy and I got the kiddos lathered up and just as Nathan and I were stepping into the pool, he broke out in a horrible rash from the sunscreen and rubbed it into his eyes as well, so I rushed him back to the room and spent a couple hours getting the suncreen OFF of him and getting him comfortable enough to take a nap. Then we joined the party animals later. Nathan is our most comfortable baby in the water. He was practically doing a back float by himself on this trip. The girls had a blast with their cousins in the pool and hot tub and everywhere else. We wish they all lived closer!!!

Grandma was telling Nathan in the above picture that he wouldn't remember Grandpa Starkey, since he is so young. You can see how tender hearted Jesi is by looking at her sweet face. She just cuddled here with Grandma and gave her loves for a long time before we left to head home. She would have been happy to spend the whole day there!

I think Nathan would have been happy staying in Grandma's arms too - much happier than in that darn car seat for another seemingly endless drive! The drive is always so much easier on the way TO see Grandmas and Grandpas than it is to LEAVE Grandmas and Grandpas!!! We sure feel blessed to have had Grandpa Starkey in our lives and we are so very blessed to continue to have Grandma Starkey and all of our other Grandmas and Grandpas and relatives and friends who help make life's losses more bearable and help us make so many wonderful memories together!!!

Haircut from Heck :0) & the magic of the Flowbee, July 2011

Andy's sweet boss, Roger, is always giving Andy tips on appearance (which is great because Andy's wife doesn't worry about it enough sometimes - I need to find myself an adviser). When we were first married, I thought I'd be frugal and learn how to cut my hubby's hair. So, I used these clippers for the first couple years of our marriage. It always scared me, but I felt pretty good about the end result - probably just because Andy is such a handsome fella, that I could get away with butchering his hair and still think he looked great :0). Well, whenever Andy would get a haircut from his frugal wife, he would go in to work the next day and Roger would kindly hint that he needed to get a Flowbee. Well, the Flowbee that we've been using for the past 8 years or so (thanks to Roger finally giving up and buying it for Andy as a birthday present) has finally gone dull and wasn't doing the job the last time or two. So, late at night the night before we are to head to Andy's grandpa's funeral (which I plan on posting about next), Andy brakes out this razor - the razor I've just been using to go around ears and back of necks, after the "Flowbee" cut. It really scared me!!! I begged him not to make me do it, but he kindly told me that he trusted me with his life ... or ... hair at least! Well, after lots of encouragement and begging, I finally gave in and told him I'd try. Keep in mind that we were headed to his Grandpa's funeral early the next morning - and would be driving ALL day, unable to get another haircut before the funeral - just a little pressure to not mess up, huh?!? I was cutting his hair and was going to switch the attachment. I think I was trying to multitask and probably did some dishes or cleaning or packing or something while Andy was checking how I had done so far. Well, apparently I had forgotten to put the other attachment on when he had me go for round two of the haircut.

Yep. I completely gave him a bald spot (a little lower would have been okay, but not right on the back of his head)!!! He was a really good sport (probably because he knew I really didn't want to do it in the first place and was trying to be helpful late at night when I really had no idea I'd be giving him a haircut and I had a million things to do before the trip). Anyway, he did end up going to a barber. We were a little later taking off than planned - which is typical anyway these days with 4 kiddos. And, the only one who asked him about his hair was one of the kids - I'm thinking it was Jesi or Kassi that asked him why he had a bald spot. So, that pretty much means everyone that ever was behind him noticed. But, we have some very kind people in the family, thank goodness. And, Andy has the good looks to pull it off anyway. Maybe it will become a trend?

The Flowbee still works a little on little Nathan's fine hair. Andy thought he looked tough with this band-aid on his shoulder :0). Here he is before his haircut checking out the Flowbee & vacuum combo - he was a little worried, not remembering that he had his first Flowbee cut months before. For anyone not familiar with the amazing Flowbee machine that Andy's boss got us, it actually hooks to your vacuum and sucks the hair up as it cuts - which makes it REALLY nice because I don't have to clean up all the hair afterwards! I think it will definitely be a wise purchase for us to replace that thing! It is a little less dangerous and better for my nerves (and Andy's)!

Nathan after his haircut. I really have a hard time cutting my kids hair - they have such beautiful hair and I just hate to see it go - (not that I don't like Andy's hair and that's why I had no problem shaving him bald - ha ha). But, looking back at Drew's baby pictures of his bald front and curls in the back, made me realize that maybe I shouldn't be overly protective of my kids losing some excess. Luckily Nathan's hair is still coming in like crazy and I'm so glad the color is the same, or maybe a tad more red. I think he has a little more strawberry in his hair than the other kiddos - which is amazing and I LOVE it! Right now he is trying to figure out how to get his walker around the door in the half bath so he can get to the toilet!!! He stays busy these days between unrolling t.p., going up and down stairs, getting into EVERYTHING, throwing things in the toilet, and giving lots of hugs and kisses and loves. I shouldn't dare write this down, but he is FINALLY STARTING TO SLEEP (through the night and actually take a nap)!!! I hardly know what to do with myself. Actually, I have LOTS of catching up to do from the last 11 months of his life and late pregnancy when I was trying to control my contractions. So, wish me luck - I will try to avoid the razor for a while. I think until we replace the Flowbee, I will send Andy to the barber - it will be much cheaper and easier than an emergency room visit for a heart attack or lost ear or something!!! It kind of reminded me of the old classic cartoon, "Frosty, the Snowman" when the barber takes off half of his client's HUGE mustache on accident when he sees a snowman walking down the road. Does anyone else remember that? Since I did this in July, I guess I can't really use the excuse of seeing a walking snowman?!? But, then again, Andy did start playing Christmas music the other day - it is traditional of him to start this time of year! What do you think?

Independence Day 2011

Slowly but surely, we're making progress here! We're only a couple months behind - which wouldn't be too bad if it hadn't been such a fun and crazy summer! Our 4th of July was pretty laid back. We had fun waking up early and going with our friends to see the hot air balloons. They had this HUGE Coke bottle hot air balloon that was supposedly the tallest hot air balloon in the world. They actually flew it - but stayed pretty close to the ground. Despite being woken up early after playing hard the night before, the kiddos actually did great, thanks to our friends bringing plenty of doughnuts to keep them happy!

We are so sad that our friends will most likely be moving in less than a year - we're hoping they dont' move too far away! We've learned so much from their sweet family.

Nathan and daddyKassi w/ two doughnuts and a whole lot of personality. Check out her doughnuts too - once you get over the face :0)!

Drew and his buddy with their favorite balloon - what boy wouldn't love a ginormous Darth Vader?!?Sweet Jesi with her favorite balloon (the one in the sky).Later that weekend we were invited to my mom and Kim's home. We had a bbq, a few fireworks, and roasted some mallows for smores. It was a super windy night, but we enjoyed ourselves and always enjoy getting together with family. Stacy and Ryan were kidless (the in-laws stole their girls for a week), so Stacy adopted Nathan during the fireworks - well, actually, we did get her to tell us that night that she was expecting, so they weren't really kidless afterall :0)!G-pa taught Drew his roasting techniques and the girls went for it as well. Oh, and I'm never one to pass on a hot, gooey smore either! I think Nathan even had his first taste of smore that weekend. I think all the kids fell asleep on the ride home that night. They got to see a few big fireworks on the drive home. We also enjoyed having Andy's older brother come over Sunday evening when his family was out of town. It was a fun weekend.

Easter 2011

I know this is pretty sad, that I'm so far behind, but I'm gaining hope with every post that I will someday be all caught up!!! We enjoyed Easter this year at home and invited some friends over to color Easter eggs and have a little hunt on Saturday. The girls lasted a whole lot longer than the boys when it came to decorating eggs, but they all enjoyed the hunt! We also were grateful to these friends for inviting us over for a delicious Easter feast Sunday evening. It was wonderful!

Jesi made a special egg for Nathan with his name on it. Nathan was more interested in eating his cute little friend than anything else. He has a good hold of her and is ready to give her a kiss (a.k.a. taste)!!! I think he did get his first taste of candy that weekend as well! He is quite the little scavenger. He has definitely been my most daring baby when it comes to putting things in his mouth. He has no fear!

Kassi had fun with her little friend too. They are in nursery together and are quite the pair :0)!

Checking out the loot!

Nathan tasting another new, fun item (new to him at least)!

The hunt!

I was able to go help Jesi's Kindergarten class during their Easter party where they made these cute paper bag bunny bags to collect their eggs and candy. I also got to help hide eggs in their play park. They had hundreds of eggs!!!

Nathan with his fun "da da"! We can't remember what on earth Andy was doing in the picture below. I think he was just being goofy and trying to get his face out of the picture - ha ha!!!

We were wondering if Kassi was changing into the incredible hulk or Elphaba (the green witch in the musical 'Wicked')?!? What do you think?

I love it when my kids stick their tongues out when they are concentrating. They get it from their adorable Daddy :0)!

You can see how long the decorating lasted for the boys as Kassi's little friend is already taking off his apron and Drew had to be begged to come back for one picture (probably 5 minutes or less into the festivities)! But the girls kept coming back for more and Kassi's hands were pretty good proof that it was all worth it! I wish I had taken a picture of all the decorated eggs, but we had fun!

I can't believe I'm documenting this, but I let the kids have generic ho-ho's for breakfast (from the Easter bunny of course), along with some of the Nesquick strawberry milk the bunny brought and some strawberries and bananas with peanut butter. They actually didn't eat it up very well, but they were pretty excited - well, maybe not Kassi who took a while to wake-up that morning. We let Nathan sleep as long as possible and sadly didn't get a picture of him with his basket. I know, sad, huh?!?

The boys got rash guards to wear with their swim shorts (probably less expensive than applying sunscreen all summer, I figure) and the girls got cute matching Easter dresses.

I was crazy and stayed up until 2 AM making little Easter books for the kids with some pictures of Jesus and words to one of my favorite primary songs, "On a Golden Spring time" and a personal note from Andy and I. Sadly, 2 or 3 of the bindings broke before we even made it to church! That's what I get for being cheap and using some little books I practically got for free. But, I think I'll transfer them or laminate them and add to them each year. It's the thought that counts, right?!? Anyway, I sure love Easter and hope that along with all the fun, we all remember that Christmas would not be celebrated if it weren't for the triumphant resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Happy belated Easter everyone!