Christmas fun

My beauty in her Christmas dress

Christmas morning opening presents

New mittens!

And new jeans! She looks so grown up!

Cute new apron

Claire's presents

My dad got a donut tie. Awesome.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

In loving memory

My Grandpa (my dad's dad) and Claire's Opa passed away last Sunday. His health had been deteriorating these last few years and he was hospitalized last month due to a heart attack. Unfortunately, he never went home. He spent about a week in the ICU and then was transferred to a nursing home where they called in hospice about a week before he died. 8 days before he died, I had a normal conversation with him. After that, he went downhill fast. He barely recognized us and slept 24/7. He kept calling out for his sister who passed away earlier this year. Since we all knew he was dying, all my aunts, uncle and cousins were in town (most of whom live in L.A.) and we all got to say goodbye to him (including Claire, who blew him kisses.) His last words to me were "I love you, too." It was difficult to see him in the condition he was in. He wanted to get up so bad, but couldn't. I was emotionally drained after spending every waking moment at the nursing home (in between students and concerts.) He died peacefully by taking my grandma's hand, looking directly at her and smiling. He knew it was his time. I felt great peace after he died knowing he isn't in any more pain and he can walk and run. He is having a sweet reunion with his sister, brother, son, parents and many others. "Sweet Is The Peace The Gospel Brings" means so much more to me now. I'm grateful to have spent 26 wonderful years with him and long for the day I get to see him again. I love you, Grandpa. You will always be in my heart.

Oct 13, 1925 - Dec 12, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!

We celebrated Thanksgiving with my family and my mom's cousin's family who just moved here from Michigan. It was such a fun day! Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving!

Helping Grandma make pies

"Let's eat!"

Claire and Penelope (my cousins' puppy)

Yummy food!


Mmmm... pies!

26

Today is my 26th birthday. I started the day with french toast and watching Monk. I don't get to do that very often. I just relaxed the whole day since it was my day off. (Sweet!) We had dinner at Filippi's Pizza with friends and family and I got spoiled! What a great day!

My little princess all ready to go to dinner (in her new tutu!)

Mmmm... lemon

Blurry, but you get an idea of her reaction

This is the cake my mom made me... chocolate fudge and peanut butter... to die for!

Halloween fun

We've had quite the Halloween celebration. Friday, we went to our ward's trunk-or-treat. Saturday, we went to another ward's trunk-or-treat since it was a medieval theme. In between, we watched various Halloween movies and shows. I'm not huge on scary movies, so I go for the wholesome and funny ones. Yesterday, we went over to our friends' house for dinner and trick-or-treating. While waiting for our friend to pick us up (since our car was being stupid again), I took Claire around the apartment complex and realized that it really is not a good place to trick-or-treat. There was not one kid outside and after going to about half a dozen doors, we gave up since only one person was home. We were picked up about 6:45 and had had one trick-or-treater by then. At our friends' house, I took Claire around the neighborhood. I dressed her up as a cow (I was a farmer) and she was a big hit. One house after another, people were just doting over her. At the first house, she walked right in when they opened the door. I decided to carry her the rest of the time. There were several people who just offered the bowl and Claire would pick out a piece of candy. After two houses with that option (and Claire with one piece of candy in each hand), we were offered it a third time. Without hesitation, Claire put both pieces of candy in one hand and picked out a box of milk duds. As we were walking away from the house, she shook the box at the guy and he just laughed. She repeated the box-shaking for several houses as we walked away. She cracks me up! After dinner, we had dessert (besides candy) and watched Hocus Pocus. Such a fun-filled weekend!

Our fancy jack-o-lantern (which lasted 2 days before it rotted)

Trunk-or-treat


The farmer and the cow


Like the shoes?


She loves goldfish


The costume has a box inside that moos. It's an old costume so it sounds more like a sick cow


Love this kid!


Medieval trunk-or-treat


Halloween feast (steak, mashed potatoes and dinner in a pumpkin), plus candy and pumpkin crunch for dessert


Our first attempt at dinner in a pumpkin (it was yummy!)


Trick-or-treating will really wear a cow out

Pumpkins!

We went to Nate's Butt Farm today and Claire had a blast climbing over all the pumpkins. She got herself a white pumpkin, which they call a "princess pumpkin." We also fed the animals. We had fun!

The princess and her pumpkin


As soon as I put her down, she laid down like a little model


She's in another tongue phase


She also loves to sit on things


Climbing through the pumpkins, trying to decide which one to choose


They call these the "big mac" pumpkins. Holy cow, are they huge!


Mama and daughter in the pumpkin patch


There were baby goats in the petting zoo. It was almost too much cute for me to handle. If I had wanted to spend $3 for Claire to pet the animals, that definitely would have been too much cute.


Feeding the goats. I could not for the life of me catch a picture of the goat eating corn out of Claire's hand. But, oh was she just squealing with delight!

10/10/10, 10:10

Yes, I am a nerd.

14 months

Today, Claire is 14 months old. She is so much fun! She has a great personality and is such a sweetheart. I sure do love my little ball of energy!

Jared's baptism

Today, my little brother was baptized. I am so happy and proud of him. It was a special day. I gave the talk on baptism, played the piano while my dad and Jared got dressed (my dad played the piano for the rest of the time, of course) and played special music with my mom and dad. When someone in the Gray family is baptized, we provide all the music. :) Afterward, we had a big dinner with family and friends to celebrate. Congratulations, Jared!

Dad and Jared

The whole kit and kaboodle