Saying Goodbye

Can't get enough of Allie's Snapchats. 

  The girls love riding these little cars at Grandma Rigby's. 

  Trying on Daddy's socks!

  This is Lydia's trap she made to catch monsters. 

  Loren took the girls to drop something off at Chris's house the other night and found Grandma and Aaron there. They had fun snacking and playing. 

  Allie's right in there with the big kids at Refit. She can't stand to be left behind. 

  We went to Lindsay's high school graduation at USU. Can't believe she's done! It was a fun, but cold, night.

  The wind was blowing so hard in this picture that the girls were crying. That's Cache Valley weather for you, 90 degrees one day then 50 the next. Luckily they managed a quick, "cheese" then it was back to crying.

  I won a free ticket to a Refit party at the Rec Center last Friday night. Basically it was a 90 minute workout with strobe lights and disco balls. I almost felt like I was back at a stake dance. My cousin's Emily and Shalise, Aunt Karla and other Refit friends were there so it was really fun.

  In other exercise news, I'm right in the middle of training for the Freedom Run, a 15k race on the 4th of July. It's been really brutal to be honest. This week I'm moving up to 5 miles and I'm not looking forward to it. But we can do hard things, right?? That's what I keep telling myself.

  There's no beauty equal to our Sunday walks in Avon.

  Lydia finished her first week of swimming lessons. She's been a little more timid than I thought she'd be but she did manage to stick her head under and do bubbles so that's good. We'll see if she moves on to level 2.

  We've played in our pools almost everyday this week! It's been the best, we love summer!

  Love having Elizabeth over to play.

  Last Monday night we went and picked strawberries at Grandma Swan's. Well, we picked a few. Stacy and her girls had already picked a bunch for us because they knew our girls wouldn't last long. It was so sweet! Afterwards Grandma showed me how to make jam. I've never made it before and was amazed at how simple it really it. So I took the rest home and made a couple batches on my own. I'm really excited about it, I think they turned out great. Thanks so much, Grandma, for the delicious jam! We'll think of you every time we eat it.

  The neighbor kids come play a lot. Lydia definitely doesn't have a shortage of friends here.

  My cousin, Matt, came home from his mission in France last Thursday. All the Rigby's stood in the circle and greeted him as they drove in from picking him up at the airport. We were able to catch up with him and have a delicious dinner together. We're proud of the great work he did.

  My sweet Grandpa Joe passed away last week. We went up to Shelley, Idaho yesterday for his funeral. Grandpa had a stroke about a month or two ago and ever since then he's been declining in health. He passed away with my Grandma and his children by his side. My Grandma's first husband, Gerald, passed away when my mom was 11 years old. Grandma remarried Joey in 1993, just 3 years after I was born. Grandpa Joe's first wife died of cancer. They're both sealed to their first spouses and were married to each other for time here on earth. Grandpa had five kids from his first marriage but I never met them until the funeral. His daughters told some stories of his life that I'd never heard before during his life sketch.
  I love Grandpa so much. He always made me feel like the most special girl in the world. He always told me I was beautiful and had a beautiful smile. You could never get away from Grandpa's bear hugs. He was the most loving and kind man. Whenever we saw him he'd ask us all about our lives. He wasted to know everything and was genuinely interested in our triumphs and failures. I remember one trip to Idaho, I must have been 12 or 13, my Aunt Linda and I drew up some plans to remodel my room. We showed them to Grandpa and he immediately offered to make the wood shelves. He was really handy at woodworking. Well it turned out, to my mom's relief, we never got around to remodeling my room and Grandpa never got around to making those shelves. Every time I saw him since then, he always apologized for never making those shelves. He was so willing to serve and I always knew he'd do anything for me.
  I remember Grandpa's mashed potato snowman at Thanksgiving, his cheese balls at the Christmas party and yummy homemade tortillas. Grandpa had his favorite chair in the living room and in the evenings you could usually find him curled up in his chair, watching a good movie with Grandma.
  I couldn't imagine a better Grandpa. I will miss him dearly but am so grateful he's now out of pain.
  Most my Searle family was there and I was able to see cousin's that I hadn't seen in years. It's too bad it takes a funeral for us all to get together. I sure love all my family.

 Lydia and Greyson

  My mom with her sisters: Jenni, Shelli, Laura and Stacy. They're missing Linda.

  This picture hurts my heart a little. Although it was a beautiful day with a beautiful tribute, my Grandma was sad. She doesn't like to be alone. I love her so much and my heart truly yearns for her to be happy.

  Grandpa's first wife was Doris Nield.

  Because Nate and Kiana came home early from Connecticut, they were able to be there for the funeral, which was a blessing. Cam and Mary were able to go as well. It was so fun to be together but we were definitely missing our Emmy and Tyson. Kiana invited us to her uncle's home, which was in Idaho Falls to hang out for awhile. I don't know what we were expecting, but we definitely weren't expecting a million dollar castle! It was the most incredible home I've ever seen and been in. They had a pool but we didn't bring any swimsuits. In fact, we were all still in our Sunday clothes. But it was hot, so we thought we'd just stick our feet in.  Obviously from the pictures you can see that that plan didn't last long! The boys borrowed every pair of shorts Nate had and we striped the kids down to their underwear. It was way too nice a pool not to swim in!

The who-can-jump-the-farthest contest.

  Todd beat Nate by a hair!

  The girls absolutely love Kiana. She taught Allie how to kick and float! I didn't have a swim diaper so I was changing her regular one every ten minutes because it would get so full of water. I was impressed with Pampers quality, though.

  After an emotional day it was really nice to let loose and have a fun time together. A big thank you to Kiana's uncle who let us stay. You're home is one of dreams. 

  We're gearing up for another fun week of summer. Let the good times roll!