Jay

My grandpa passed away on Saturday. 

An absolutely amazing man, 92 years old and one of the most sincerely kind persons you will ever meet. 

I was fortunate enough that a couple weeks before he died I called to catch up, he was the only one home so he and I chatted for awhile. He and my grandma live in Wenatchee, WA so I don't see them often. We had a nice conversation but I could tell something was a miss. No quite his laid back cheerful self.

We both knew his time here was coming to a close, more likely sooner than later. Although we skirted around the topic I wanted to ask him if he was ready to die. But that sounded so, I don't know, accusatory? 

So I avoided the question. 

But now I wonder if people who know that their time in mortality is swiftly coming to a close want to talk about it? Or do they want to maybe pretend that nothing is changing? I suppose it depends on the person. 

Again, we didn't talk about death, but I could tell there was some fear in him. Not necessarily the fear of the act of dying, I honestly think he was welcoming that transition, but he was afraid to leave his beloved wife. They have been together for 67 years. 

But he truly was a wonderful man and the best grandpa. He was the strong silent type. He didn't always say a lot but when he did you listened. 

And such a tease, if you ever complained about something hurting he would quietly pull out his pocket knife and start trimming his nails, after a few minutes he would say "I can cut it off for you, so it will stop hurting."

And did you know that a creature lived in the cleft of his chin? If you touched it it would snap at you. Except for Sundays, the creature always slept on Sundays.

About 5 days before he died I was talking with my parents and I told them about my conversation with Grandpa, I told them that I didn't think he was doing very well. At that point I had the thought that he wouldn't make it through the week. Two days later he was in the hospital quickly declining. My parents got in the car the next day and made it there early Saturday morning, my sisters drove from California to go say goodbye as well. He passed 15 minutes after they arrived. 

He so sweetly waited for everyone who was coming and then his spirit peacefully left his mortal body with many many of his loved ones around him. 

I wasn't able to be there but I have since felt a confirmation that he is happy where he is, free of his pain and deteriorating body. 

I know that he still exists, his spirit lives on and that I will be reunited with him again when my time here is complete. 

So I say to my dear sweet Grandpa Jay, 'till we meet again.

Read Jay's obituary HERE 

It's My Birthday

This year Trevor has been traveling a lot for work and I have been missing him. So when our friends the Markus' invited us to go to Hawaii with them we jumped on it. 

Trev and I have never vacationed together. We pretty much keep our trips strictly to Utah and Idaho.  I actually really do love Utah and Idaho but a change of scenery is very much welcomed.

We have a great excuse too,  I am turning 27 and Trevor will be 29! (It will also be our 4th anniversary) So yeah, it's kind of a big year full of major landmark celebrations.

We leave tomorrow! I am so excited I can't stand it, I have never been to Hawaii.

This is the first time Bridget will be without both of us and surprisingly I am taking it really well. Sure I'll miss her, but I am really looking forward to a whole weeks worth of nights sleep with no baby in the next room. when I can wake up whenever I want to. My current attitude may be a direct result of taking care of my sisters 6 kids this week and waking up everyday at 6am. Just a hunch.

So I leave you with this: aloha, ma halo, pineapple, Oahu, Tegucigalpa, ... and other Hawaiian words. 

See you in a week! 

 Picture of Trevor on his mission in Fiji. 

Hawaii is the same just with indoor plumbing, right? 

Merry ValenPat Easter.

So I have kind of missed posting about a few holidays.

Holidays are so much fun with kids, yes I agree, but at the same time as the mom of a kid I feel so much pressure on holidays.

I way did not realize how much time thought and energy my mom put into every holiday. She never went over the top but she always made them special and nice.

Valentine's Day

I love these "Little Miss..."  books! I have made it a tradition to get one for Bridget every gift holiday. I am sure I love them more than she does right now, but I have forced them on her enough that I am confident they will be her favorite books.

St. Patrick's Day

(We actually didn't do anything for St. Patrick's Day but I took this picture that day so it kind of counts.)

Easter

As a mom I am finding I just want to raise grateful children. 

I want them to be happy with simple holidays. 

I want us to remember the reason why we celebrate holidays anyway. 

And mostly, I want us to fill our house with memories instead of things on holidays. 

The whole thing is a balancing act and I am learning with each subsequent festivity.

One of my favorites

You may have notices the Shabby Apple button I have on the side of my blog.

I love Shabby Apple! Their dresses are absolutely beautiful and the quality is awesome. Even their swimming suits are super cute.

They have a new line out called Fete des Fleurs, Party of Flowers, doesn't that just get you so stinking excited for Spring?

Go check them out, see if they have that dress you have been searching for. I bet they do!

Time out with My Girls

So I may have just sat here for a solid minute trying to decide if that title could be taken inappropriately.
Conclusion: most likely. 

But I'm going to keep it, only because anything can be taken inappropriately now-a-days. Get your mind out of the gutter people, I refuse to conform.

I'm a pretty lucky lady, throughout my life I have always had amazing girl friends. 
College was no exception, my kindred spirits I tell you.
It has been years since we have been roommates; we have all grown up (sort of when we aren't together), married (despite your resistance I know you are working on it, Brianna), and doing our part to multiply and replenish the earth (12 babies so far between us).

Every year we get together, it makes me so happy!

This year we actually went back to Rexburg, Idaho. It had been five years for me, longer for some of the others.
Holy smokes has it changed! (All y'all that attend BYU-Idaho now or in the future, spoiled I tell you. You don't even have to plan your route to class, hightailing it through as many buildings as possible to thaw out your nose hairs. They have built you sky bridges, you don't even know what cold is anymore.)


We had so much fun, this year Meagan turns 30, so we planned a little scavenger hunt for her down memory lane. We visited a lot of the places with the most precious memories.
(I would like to point out here, please notice Meagan's squinty eyes in every picture. Those crystal blue eyes and sun don't mesh. Glad some things never change)

The Smith Building the location of a lot of her classes.
Meags, do you remember when we took that French choir class for extra credit and practiced in that room right there at the top? I can't sing.... or speak French so we just watched people out the window slip on the ice? Prime location for people watching.

The dorms. Ironically Meagan was the only one of us who ever lived in the dorms.
Lizzy is 26 weeks pregnant (you would never be able to tell) thus her belly has a mustache.

Meagan, to put it kindly, is a bit accident prone. She may or may not have been a frequent visitor to the health center.

 The David O. McKay Library. Can you believe that we went to school before every student had a laptop? So we had to go to the library... regularly, not just the third floor. In fact if I remember correctly Meagan was the only one who actually had a computer in our apartment. And for the first few years we didn't have cell phones, we had a land line.
(Am I doing a good job describing how old we are? Or am I just making others feel really old?)

The Hart.
Gone are the days of a free gym membership. Speaking of, their new gym is amazing.

Birchwood Apartments. Where our group fused together.

 The Ravishing Club and Spy Tech will live forever in our hearts. Thanks Porter Park for providing the setting.

  It was at Baronnessa that these ladies were first roommates, so happy that happened.

This was the apartment where we were all finally roommates.
The Ridge 104.

Oh yes, and the church where we were played an intense game of dodgeball.
At exactly the same time I dove for a ball hurling it to my opponents, Meagan ran forward tripping over my large obstacle-esque body. Down she went, catching herself with her chin. Blood everywhere her first words were, "dangit, my dad is going to kill me, I have already been to the ER too many times this semester."

I propose that we all move to Spanish Fork.
Please?

Bridget's Room

I keep getting asked to post pictures of our new house. I decided I would take it one room at a time. Since Bridget's room is my favorite right now, I will start with hers.

 She loves the big open space in the middle. Her favorite is to run around in circles while I sing "If you're happy and you know it"

You can see her toy area. Trevor put up a shelf just high enough for her larger toys to fit under but then she has boxes of toys on top. It's easily accessible to her, easy to clean up, and the room still feels neat and organized.

 Of course there is a box of books right next to the chair. Bridget loves books.

I thoroughly believe a nice comfy chair is a necessity in any kids room especially a nursery. Doesn't matter what you get as long as it's comfy, the arm rests are padded and the back is high enough that you can lean your head back.

 I got my degree in Art History so I love all things art. I got this (Calder-esque) mobile and printed out some of my favorite works. It is always gently swaying and turning, I love it!

The picture on the wall is The Lady of Shalot by John William Waterhouse. 

Waterhouse is my all time favorite artist.

Our house was built in 1955 and these are the original hardwood floors.

Rug from Costco. Sooo comfy.

 

I am adding this picture I took of her room before we moved into it so you can see the actual size of the window. 

I love large statement things on walls; pictures, mirrors, windows, etc. The bigger the better. 

You can see that the window is actually not that big. 

But with the placement of the curtains it completely changes the window and the room. 

Sorry this picture is a little dark. But you get the idea.

And in case you were curious, here is the view of our backyard from Bridget's window. We have a half acre, we have a lot of plans for this yard! Starting with some nice thick grape vines along the back fence :)

Oh Spring you are such a tease

Even though it's forecasted to snow tomorrow it was beautiful today. 

We take advantage of days like today.

We also really like mullets.

aprilinwaiting.com

Is officially launched!!

I have been neglecting this blog because I have really been trying to get my doula / HypnoBirthing website up and running. 

I am happy to announce that aprilinwaiting.com  is ready for visitors. 

I would love it if you referred aprilinwaiting.com to all your pregnant friends looking for information and options for a positive birth experience.

Thank you so much for your support and patience with me. I am so excited.

Viva La APRILINWAITING.COM!!!!!!

Shout out to Rob Johnson for his help with my website. He is excellent to work with!

Home Sweet Home

I mentioned before, we bought our first home! We moved in a few weeks ago and are still getting settled. 

We are so happy. 

Our mugs/bottle say "Home Sweet Home" 

It didn't work out like I had envisioned.

But here we are...homeowners. 

We had such a pleasurable experience buying our home and I attribute that to our Mortgage Consultant and our Realtor.

I can't believe how well James Sly at Rocky Mountain Mortgage group took care of us.  He was incredible and got us an absolutely amazing deal! Check out his FB page Here.

If you are even thinking about buying a home or refinancing, do it now and call James. 

And our realtor was exactly what I would want my realtor to be. Amy Laster with Coldwell Banker is funny and personable. She was patient with us and never pressured us into anything. She made awesome suggestions and pointed out pros/cons of all the houses we saw explaining the risks/benefits that we wouldn't have known to look at. 

She responded quickly to any questions we had, and whenever we wanted to go see a house she got us there within a couple of days. 

I feel so blessed we had such an enjoyable experience. Thank you James and Amy!

Walking on Sunshine

It was around Bridget's birthday (September) Trevor and I were talking about how she wasn't walking yet and if we should be concerned.

Trev: She's getting close, I bet she'll be walking by Halloween.

Ape: I don't know, she's not even wanting to walk holding our hands, I bet it will be closer to Thanksgiving.

Naturally we are a betting family, so the stakes were set. We decided on the day exactly in between Halloween and Thanksgiving, November 12th. If Bridget walked before that day Trevor won, and any day after, I won. 

(Walking meaning it was her primary mode of transport).

Whomever lost had to plan a romantic date for the other.

Bridget started walking...November 13th!

Sorry Trevor, you always sometimes lose.

She is such a cute walker:

And if you are curious, the romantic date Trevor planned:

   James Bond movie and the shooting range.

 Sometimes Trevor, you win.

  

Do You Forgive Me?

I have had a few inquiries about why I have fallen off the bandwagon of blogging. 

Things got busy, and then I got lazy, and then it got busy again.

No excuses.

Do you forgive me?

 

Now do you forgive me?

Christmas Time is Here Again

I sent out Christmas cards this year. It was a first. 

I have a hard time paying for stamps, I probably need to join a support group or something.

But I sucked it up and sent them, mostly because our Christmas cards are so Incredible I needed to share it with the world.

Here you go, in case you didn't get one mailed to you personally.

Millar 2012 Highlights:

*We became debt free and called into the Dave Ramsey show for our debt free scream, paying off over $50,000 in three years.

*Bridget hit all the great milestones of the first year. She is now walking around on shaky legs, she is officially a toddler.

*Trevor hit his work goals and is continually progressing at Progress Mfg.

*April became a doula and HypnoBirthing instructor.

*We are currently under contract and closing on a home in Spanish Fork in a few weeks!

*Between Trevor and April we have had 9 callings in our ward in one year. I guess we aren't getting it right.

*We sold our 8th beater car and purchased our 9th since getting married. I guess we aren't getting it right.

*Trevor and April are now concealed firearm permit holders.

*We have been able to spend lots of time with family and friends this year; that has been our favorite part. There are so many wonderful people in our lives and we are grateful for every single one of you.