It's been a year

Sometimes I wonder where the time goes.  It's been a year since my brother, Craig, passed away.  I still remember what I was wearing, where I was standing, and my plans for the evening when I got that phone call from my dad that changed my life forever.  This past year has not been easy.  There were mornings over the summer where I would lay in bed and cry; Izzy would come lay with me and say, "What's wrong Mommy? I love you."  I remember going to Disney World a few weeks after and all the workers saying, "have a magical day."  I wanted to yell and scream at them that nothing was magical about my life or my day.  I hated the question at the grocery store or gym, "How's your day?"  I just wanted to say terrible, thanks for asking.  But somehow you manage to get through those days.  I often hear the saying time heals all wounds.  I disagree.  I think that with time I have learned that I can be happy again and that life will be good again.  But I don't think time simply passing makes things better.  I think it takes work and effort to better understand yourself, your situation, and so much more. I will always miss my brother.  There are days when I think everything is going great and then something reminds me of him and I start to cry and I'm ok with that.  I have learned a lot about myself over the past year, I have learned a lot about the gospel, the Atonement, and so much more.  I am grateful for the things which I have learned and the person I am becoming. 

Dennis and Craig in Hawaii.  A few years ago my family took a cruise to Hawaii for Christmas.  It was so fun to all be together.

Craig, Dennis, Mike, and I went mudbugging in Kauai.  I love this picture of Craig and I.  I have it in my room on my dresser.

When I was pregnant with Izzy my whole family went to our cabin in Montana.  Rarely do we all go there together.  This was right before Craig started med school and I think he was only there for 36 hours because he had to get back for school, but he still made the effort to be with the family.  He always took any opportunity to be with the fam.

Craig holding Izzy at Christmas.  I always teased him that he should not be a pediatrician because babies were not his speciality.  I love his fiance, Lindsey, sitting beside him.  She is the best person ever-so caring and kind.  

I miss him so much and think about him everyday!  I love you Craig!!

Gymnastics

A few months ago Izzy started taking gymnastics at the fitness center.  She loves it so much (and that's an understatement).  She wants to wear her leotard and skirt everyday.  She walks along the back of the couch and calls it the balance beam.  She does forward rolls and hand stands in the living room every day all day.  Everyday when I finish working out she runs straight to the gymnastics room, even though she only has class once per week.  Seriously her eyes light up when she is in class.  I love watching her enjoy something so much!!

Practicing her handstand on the wall.

Balancing on this ball thing-you can't really see it.

Walking the balance beam.

Practicing her hand stand.

Swinging-this is her favorite part! I love that smile!!

More hand stands.

Swinging on the bar with her friend Gwen.  She has two friends from our ward in the class which makes it even more fun!

Practicing with the teacher

This is the vault, she likes to ride it like a horse...can't imagine why.

Another shot of the horsie riding as Izzy calls it.

Doing a backwards roll.

My dad was there watching and Izzy went over to him and said, "Watch me Papa."  I guess she didn't like that he was reading the paper and not paying attention to her. 

So happy that she loves something so much!  

Mom's Visit

My Mom came to visit for a week; it was not long enough!!  She flew in Friday night and Mike was in Phoenix with my dad, Dennis, and brother in laws so we had some girl time!!  

 On Monday we went to the animal farm.  Izzy loved riding the horse.  I wasn't sure we would get her off.

 The weather was beautiful.  Of course she wanted to pet the horses.

 We went on a carriage ride.

 She had to tell the horse bye.

 On Tuesday I went grocery shopping and my mom took Izzy to McDonalds; she had a blast.  Growing up we went to McDonalds every Friday because my dad didn't come home for lunch on Fridays; I loved it!!

 Playing on the animals.

 On Thursday Izzy had gymnastics.  She had quite the audience-Celeste and Brandon flew in Wed night from NYC, my dad was here and my mom.  Izzy loves gymnastics, I'll make a post about it now that I have pictures.

 Walking the balance beam.

 We met up with my mom's sister and her husband in Midvale for dinner.  I love Olive Garden, until I look at my restaurant app on my phone and see all the calories I ate.  Gym here I come....

 On Friday we went to eat at Tucanos; it's my dad's favorite.  My mom didn't want to go because it's too much food so she took Izzy to the Provo Beach Resort.  I love this picture because it shows the super cute outfit my Mom bought Izzy.

She had a great time on the playground.

She rode the carousel 7 times in a row and I'm not exaggerating.

She would kick the horse and say, "ya, ya, come on boy," just like she did in Costa Rica.  The workers were all laughing.

She even got to play arcade games.  I'm pretty sure my mom didn't let me do that when I was a kid.

My parents bought her dress up shoes along with some pretty dresses and outfits.  Izzy always gets spoiled when the grandparents come to visit.

Modeling her shoes.

All of the girls hanging out, if only Suzette was here!!

Sunday morning before they left.  We had such a great week and of course it went by too fast.  I am so lucky to have such great parents and family.  I love being with them!!

More Costa Rica

Friday night we ate at the Taco Bar in Jaco, which was a favorite from last year.  They have swings and a bar you can eat at.

Izzy loved the swing and her smoothie.

Izzy loved having Mami and Papi around.  I love her curly hair in this picture.  It was so curly while we were in Costa Rica-little ringlets; I loved it.

On Saturday we drove about an hour south near Quepos where Manuel Antonio is.  It's a national park with wildlife and beautiful beaches.

The monkeys are my favorite.  I love watching them play in the trees.  They are little thieves though, they'll jump right down and steal food out of your bag.

Loved the beaches, so pretty.

Having fun with our good friends, the Myers.

You can't really see the beautiful view behind us, but it was nice.

The whole gang.  Izzy was sleeping peacefully away in her stroller.

On Sunday we laid low in the morning and then took a tour with a local, Franklin, who we met at the crocodile bridge.  He showed us to the local beaches and local homes, we were searching for macaws.  We weren't having much luck so we went in the back entrance of a park and there they were.

You can't really see the colors here, but these birds are beautiful and so so colorful.  There were six of them hanging out--we loved watching them. 

We went walking through the park because Franklin spotted a sloth.  He said to stay together because there are snakes, but not to worry because he had carefully scanned the area and didn't see any.

The sloth.  This one was unique because of it's color, usually they are black.

Izzy checking out the sloth.

Izzy was trying to take pictures.  She has a princess camera at home so she thinks she is a pro.

After the tour we went to a local tico.  Mike, Louise, and Richard split this seafood platter.  They said it was awesome, I'll take their word for it. 

Monday we hung around the pool, went to the beach, and did some shopping in Jaco.  Izzy was loving her pool time with her shades and hat. 

Time to swim!

Family picture

Headed to go horseback riding.  Izzy's favorite day!!

Tuesday we went horseback riding on the beach.  It was an hour ride so we figured Izzy would ride for 15 min and then play with Mike on the beach.  Izzy had a different plan--she was not getting of the horse.  She rode for the whole hour and loved every minute of it.  She would kick the horse and say, "Come on boy, go faster," and off we went trotting along the beach.  She LOVED it and that's an understatement. 

Izzy giving a wave.

On our way back. Notice I'm not holding the reigns?! Izzy kept telling me to get off and not touch the reigns.  She wanted to do it all by herself!!

We had a few minutes left so Louise let Mike ride her horse.  Mike was entertained by Izzy's enthusiasm; it was pretty funny!

That night we went to a hotel at the top of the mountain to see the sunset; it was gorgeous!

Beautiful; I think I'm moving!!

Really?  Does it get any prettier??

Wednesday we went to see the volcanoes at Paos.  We got there 10 minutes before the clouds rolled in and then you couldn't see anything.  Glad we barely made it.  We stayed in a hotel in San Jose and flew out at 7 AM Thursday morning.  It was such a fun and relaxing trip.  Can't wait to go back!!