One Year

Today, March 25th, marks the one year anniversary of the passing of my beloved Grandpa Stephens. As I sit here reflecting, so many memories are conjured up about my life with this man. I miss him terribly, but feel so thankful that I had so many years with him! I came up with a list of things that make me laugh, cry, smile and feel blessed on this anniversary...

• He had the BEST smile and laugh I have ever seen/heard. It was contagious!!! I loved how he sort of threw his head back when he laughed and turned red! I'll never forget that. He was so cute!
• He was probably the most competitive person I know. He took his card games and well... ANYTHING else he played very seriously, yet had the most fun at the same time!
• He was a kid at heart! Maybe that is why I always loved being around him!
• He antagonized me, but I always came back for more! I loved that he teased me. I can remember as a kid, he'd lock my head between his knees and I'd beg and cry for him to let me go. After my grandmother would command him to release me from his death grip, I'd run right back for him to do it again!
• I used to sit on his head when I was little. We have some of the funniest pictures of me and Scott sitting on top of his big, bald head! Who else does that?!?!?!
• He was an entrepreneur. He had no formal education, yet started his own business as a sales man and made a ridiculous amount of money in his lifetime. He gave a lot of it away, to missions and the church and he had FUN with it too!
• He was the most giving person, almost to a fault. He'd give you the shirt off of his back if that was all he had left in the world. I can remember him letting me and my brothers pick out a toy from his stock of selling merchandise every time we went over! We knew we could have pretty much whatever we wanted, even if he initially set limits! He was a pushover and LOVED spoiling his grandchildren.
• He helped to buy the first car for me and my brothers! The look on his face when he saw us in the car was priceless!
• He called me to just check in. I loved hearing his voice on the other end of the phone.
• He loved me unconditionally.
• He told me I was beautiful and touched my face softly just a couple weeks before he died. It was the most sincere compliment I think I have ever received.
• He loved and adored my girls and they reciprocated that affection and love. I will always remember the sweetness of their relationship.
• I'll never regret the time we spent with him. I am so thankful I made him a priority. You can ever get that time back. Of course, now I wish I had one more minute with him... one more hug and kiss, one more 'I love you and THANK you'.
• I am thankful I was by his side when he slipped into eternity.
• I am the most thankful knowing that he is spending eternity, whole and complete, in heaven with our Savior. I look forward to the day when I see him again. Thank you Grandpa for loving me for who I am, never wavering in your commitment to your Lord and family. You are missed and will never ever be forgotten!

Pinkalicious the Musical

Grammy invited us to go to see 'Pinkalicious' the musical last weekend put on by a local children's theatre. The girls really love their Pinkalicious books and were ecstatic to go see the play. They got to sit in the very front row and were completely enthralled with the production! It was really cute to witness their excitement!

Of course, when you go to see 'Pinkalicious', you have to wear as much pink as humanly possible!

My pinkeriffic girls!

Grammy loves her pink girls!

Waiting anxiously...

The musical was so cute!

They loved seeing the cast after the musical was over and getting their autographs!

Claire and Anna with Pinkalicious herself!

Grandma

I took the four little girls over to Grandma McDowell's house for our monthly lunch date! It was a fun (and loud) time and I know Grandma thoroughly enjoyed spending time with her little grandgirls!

Maple Syrup

Grammy & Papa took the girls to the Maple Syrup Festival recently. The girls were very interested in the process of making syrup. What a fun learning experience!

Grammy and the girls!

Listening to the steps taken to make maple syrup.

Boiling the sap to make maple syrup!

Claire taste testing maple syrups!

Tapping the maple tree for sap!

Rec Center

Grammy & Papa took the girls to the Rec center for some fun activities! Ben & I always appreciate getting some free time on the weekends and the girls love their time out with Grammy & Papa!

Fun times!

Update on Willow the Stray

Willow, the stray I picked up over three weeks ago, is now living with my sweet neighbors, Matt, Ally and their dog Belle! I knocked on their door at 9:30 at night on the day I found her. All the while, praying that they would fall in love with her and want to adopt her. I knew that they were contemplating adding another dog to their family, so I was hoping that maybe Willow could be that dog. My bets payed off... they loved her at first sight! They kept her a couple days as a trial run to see how she'd do with Belle and the great news... Willow and Belle got along wonderfully!!!

We decided together to take Willow to the Animal Resource Center for several reasons. 1.) To make sure someone wasn't out there searching for her. And 2.) The costs of adopting a dog from there is only $140. That includes personality testing, a complete Vet examination, all vaccinations, heart worm testing, spaying, and any other medical issues would be treated. That is significantly less than it would cost to just keep Willow and do it all out-of-pocket. So, Willow was taken to the Animal Resource Center with the thought she'd be there about a week. Her stay ended up being over two weeks because they were so behind on the spay/neuter surgeries. The good news is that Willow is now named Chloe and Chloe is living happily with Matt, Ally & Belle. She is only two houses away from us which is also a huge bonus for me. I got to visit with her for a bit and she gave me a bunch of sweet doggie kisses. I am sure she was thanking me for taking the time to stop and pick her up, no doubt saving her life. I hope anyone who reads this will be encouraged to take action when you witness anyone in need, be it two or four legged! The rewards are ten fold!

Jillian's 10th

March 1st was Jillian's 10th birthday! So hard to believe it has been a decade since her birth. I remember it so vividly. I was working that night in the NICU. Jillian was born at 36 weeks so the NICU response team was called to Kristen's room to assist with her birth (in case there was need for a resuscitation). I can remember telling the nurse, respiratory therapist, and nurse practitioner to take good care of my niece on their way out and PRAYING so hard that Jillian would be okay. The Lord heard our prayers and blessed our family with a sweet, spunky, healthy and FUNNY girl! We are so thankful for Jillian and the joy she adds to our family. Happy 10th Birthday, Jill Bug (you'll always be my Jill Bug!).

The big 10 year old!

Connor??? Not sure...

Claire could NOT wait to give Jilli the constellation turtle we got for her!

The girls love their big girl cousins!

We LOVE you, Jillian!

Bananas for Boonshoft

My girls really enjoy their time at Boonshoft! We renewed our membership and hope to continue to get lots of use out of it!!

Boonshoft has a new animal exhibit and one of the new animals they have on display is the Meerkat! Now, how cute is this face?!?!

Claire & Anna in "jail" with their friend Caleb!

Another new area at Boonshoft is the Pizza Parlor! Anna is making pizzas with the Seekins boys!

Dancin' with Miss Olivia!

Anna & Caleb loved playing in the animal hospital. Anna actually brought her own stethoscope because last time we were there, the stethoscope was MIA! That's my girl!!