Grandma Betty's Funeral

Seth always loved visiting grandma and the squirrel that lived in her bushes.

Mom's grandma passed away last week. She had been living in a care center for the last few years, and missed Grandpa Daniels so much, so while we were sad that she is gone, we are also so happy for her. She is reunited with Grandpa and she passed away peacefully in her sleep. We are so glad that she didn't suffer.

Grandma Daniels was Mom's last living grandparent and the boys' last living great-grandparent. They knew Grandma Betty, and we often visited her at her home and then took her to lunch. We ate at Dylan's (the train restaurant) or Jeremiah's. We loved asking Grandma Betty about her life growing up in Malad, and hearing about her latest Weber State adventures. She loved Weber State Basketball.

The boys knew all about Grandma Betty's love for Damian Lillard.

Mom didn't know her Grandma super well growing up because she lived in California and Grandma Betty lived in Utah. But Grandma and Grandpa Daniels always came for big events like baptisms and graduations, and they always sent cards and gifts. We have gotten to know Grandma Betty a lot better now that Mom lives in Utah and Dad loves to visit with old people. We are so glad that the boys had a chance to spend time with their great-grandma. She loved purple, traveling, reading, sports, and being with family.

Grandma & Grandpa Daniels always came to see Mom's family at least once a year. 

They made it to all of Mom's important events like high school graduation.

The funeral was on a Monday, so Dad took the day off so we could celebrate Grandma Betty. Mark was asked to play the opening and closing songs. It was his first time accompanying a congregation, and he did amazing. Everyone sang in the special musical number, Peace in Christ. It was a tough song to get through, but it sounded beautiful.

Mark played perfectly. 

Mom and her cousins and some of their kids!

We were worried about snowy weather for traveling, but the snow came through the night and didn't affect the funeral other than it was cold and snowy for the few minutes we were at the cemetery. After Grandpa dedicated the gravesite, we all headed to Jeremiah's in honor of Grandma and ate lunch together.

Dad was one of the pall bearers.

Grandpa Daniels and his two siblings: Tyler and Teresa.

It was definitely a bittersweet day!

Mom loves any chance she has to get together with her sisters!

Kate and Mark are best buddies.

We ate at Jeremiah's. Grandma would have loved it!

Melanie and Tiffany flew in without their families and stayed with us for a few days while we did all of the funeral things. We also got to do some fun things like go out for ice cream and play games. The boys loved having their aunts around. Mom drove to and from the airport four times, but she was also glad to have her sisters in town.

We took Mel and Tiff to our favorite ice cream shop!

Dax's Stitches

Dax waiting patiently to see the doctor. He is still hoping for no stitches.

Mom and Dad were sitting on the bed when we heard a blood-curdling scream. It was loud enough that we actually looked at each other, wondering if someone was injured, or if the boys were just arguing. Mom went out and immediately moved Dax off the carpet as blood was streaming down his leg. Dad set him up on the counter and grabbed the paper towels. By the time he'd soaked up most of the blood, he could see it was a pretty serious injury. A large V had been gashed into Dax's knee. It was wide, deep, and long. Mom got on the phone and called the doctor and we loaded up in the van. Though the bleeding stopped pretty quickly, the wound looked pretty nasty.  Dax was really brave, even as Dad was guessing that 16 stitches were needed. He was great with the pain, but fretted quite a bit about the actual process of getting stitches. (Sorry the pictures are Not Safe For Wusses.)

He was so sad!

We arrived at the doctor's office, and they took us right back. The doctor took one look at Dax's knee and guessed it would take ten stitches to close it up. She gave Dax a half dozen shots to numb the wound, which he took surprisingly well. Mom and Mark went to take Seth, who freaks out over blood, back to the lobby, but Dax wanted Mark to hold his hand. With Mark's help, Dax was much braver. The doctor put in nine stitches, and by the end, Dax was pretty excited that he had a bloody sock like Curt Schilling, and it hadn't even been very painful! The doctor was really nice, and Dax even told her thank you when she finished.

The doctor and nurse were so nice and patient with Dax.

Mark was such a great big brother and held Dax's hand the whole time.

Ouch!

Still ouch, but at least it's sewn back together.

Dax has to have the stitches in for 10 days, and then they will reevaluate the wound and see if they can come out, or if he needs to leave them in longer. The doctor told Dax to take it easy, and try to keep his leg straight. He has taken this very seriously, despite having a busy weekend with a funeral, and then a field trip at school. He limps around right now, and has Mom and Dad help him get his socks and shoes on. We can tell that it has been an emotionally draining injury, too. Dax never complains and does everything he is asked to do. We hope that it heals quickly and Dax can return to his normal speedy self!

We let Dax pick the dinner spot. He chose JCW's so he could eat cheese fries!

December Fun

December was full of fun! There are so many fun Christmas activities, so we had a full month. Here are some of the highlights.

Seth and I spent a few days together when he was sick.

Luckily, Seth doesn't stay down for too long.

We started off the Christmas season by going to a live Nativity here in Lehi.

And even better, they served square donuts at the end. 

Dax finished up Cub Scouts in December. He earned his Arrow of Light. We are so proud of Dax and how hard he worked in scouts. He had fun and learned a lot.

Dax got to lead one last cheer before Cub Scouts ends.

Dax was excited to participate in the pie eating contest.

He ate really fast.

Dax was victorious! 

Dax with his Arrow of Light. 

We also had a few new spots to visit in December. We went to a Pete the Cat play in Salt Lake, and tried a new ice cream shop that served Aggie and BYU ice cream. 

Enjoying our Christmas trees!

Pete the Cat was performed in this historic building. It was so neat!

We all enjoy the Pete the Cat books. 

We loved the cookies and seats at the Salt Lake Acting Company.

We always enjoy the theater. 

The new ice cream shop had a drive-thru, and delicious ice cream.

We went inside and played on the arcade games.

Mark and Dax tried a frozen Capri Sun for the first time. This was Mom's favorite treat as a kid!

There is a long story behind our Tiger on the Shelf.  

Our ward party was fun, and the boys visited with Santa. 

Seth had a First Grade Christmas program. He was a great singer and performed really well. Mom had so much fun watching him. And so did Dax, since he was home sick that day.

Mom sat right on the front row, so she had a great view of Seth.

He is such a cheeser!

Our favorite tradition is going to Candlelight Christmas at This is the Place Heritage Park. We love pioneer dancing, and visiting all the pioneer homes. We even spotted two owls: one barn owl on top of the social hall and a great horned owl in a tree. We had a wonderful evening!

Father Christmas was super nice to our family.

We love the pioneer buildings at This is the Place. 

Dad enjoys the pioneer dancing the most!

The great horned owl that we saw. Mom only had her phone for pictures.

On the wagon ride, we rode right underneath the owl.

We had to stop for some Brigham's mini donuts.

New Years Eve was a lot of fun in 2019. We went to Hogle Zoo for the Zoo Lights. We haven't been since Seth was a baby. The lions were really active, so that made it a great night. Seth got some great videos of them with his new camera. Then we came home and played a lot of games until midnight. It was the first year we let them all stay up until 12:00 AM!

Mom and Dad snuck away to see the new Star Wars movie.

Mark and Dad stopped by the "Zoo Fart" train.

The lions were prowling all over.

This lion was the calm one.

Dad was great at posing for pictures.

We liked these glowing animals. They were so cool!

Seth was excited for the bald eagle.

Watch out Mark!

No one is too old to ride the carousel. 

Seth was the most excited, though.

They were so excited to stay up late!