Some sweet words about my Grandma.

At the funeral, my Great Aunt Edna spoke about my Grandma.  She had some of the sweetest things to say about Grandma and I asked her if I could get a copy of her talk because it really touched me.  I'm going to share it here:

"My name is Edna Vargas Morales.  I am the youngest sister of Albert Vargas- Anja's first husband.

I felt compelled to give my perspective about Anja since I am the only one surviving of my sisters and brother.

I never referred to Anja as my ex-sister-in-law since she continued to be a big part of our lives after the separation from my brother.  On the day my brother passed away, it was Anja that called me with such love and concern.  She was the one who told me my brother was asking for me the day before he passed and she knew that because she was with him at the end.

But I will tell you where the letter "x" is appropriate to describe her.  She was an extremely hard worker, she was extraordinary, she was an exceptional mother, and she exemplified all the characteristics we value today.

Her hard work was demonstrated in working the night shift so she could be with her family during the day.  When she was going to leave the bank for Yamaha, she hadn't given the bank proper notice so she continued working for them at night and Yamaha during the day for the time required to leave on good terms.

She was also extraordinary in her resilience and strength.  Diane will tell you the full meaning of the Finnish word "sisu."  That was Anja; resilient, strong, and with extraordinary character.  Her past life in Finland and her story was so incredible, I am happy that Diane recorded it in the book she wrote about her mother.  Anja never talked about it or let that part of her life hinder her in reaching her goals.  She was also extraordinary in that she never spoke badly about my brother.  She realized his good qualities and kept the focus on his special talents which I believe helped the children to grow up well adjusted.  It was always amazing to me how she brought in Norman (my brother's son by another marriage) as part of her family when his mother passed when he was 17.  To this day, all the children have remained close as one family.

Anja was also an exceptional mother.  All her life, her main focus was on the best interests of her children and what would help them to grow into responsible, hard working, and caring adults.  Her love of her children gave her an insight into what they needed.  She never kept the children from their Grandma, Grandpa, cousins, uncles, and aunts on the Vargas side.  I will be eternally grateful to her for keeping us close to her and her family.  As you can see, she raised exceptional children who continue to love and remain close to all their family, to lead responsible lives, and to have faith.

Now that I am the only mother left to all my nieces and nephews, I feel a need to continue the legacy that each of their parents left.  For Anja's children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, I will remind you what Anja left you: her example of striving to be the best person you can be, working hard to achieve your goals, her belief that when life gets hard- realize that difficulty develops strong character, her actions of always being kind to those who have less than you and may need a helping hand, and lastly, the way she put a priority in staying close to her family.  As you learn about her life, you will discover many more lessons she left, too numerous to mention here.

Thanks, Anja, for the legacy you left us.  May God bless you."

Our Silly Family

We got our family pictures back during the busy Christmas season and I'm so glad to finally take a second and blog them.  Here's a bunch of our crazy family.  I saved the "prettiest" ones for another post.  I loved those beyond words, but these silly ones just make my day!  A true glimpse at real life...

I love this family of mine.

Baby Shower

My mom threw me a cute little baby shower a couple weeks ago that had a story book theme.  I didn't get a picture of the paper lantern she made out of story book pages, but I did get pictures of the food!  It was all very yummy.

She printed up the menu on these book covers... which I thought was a darling detail.

Our sweet baby sure got spoiled!  I had actually been careful about how many people I invited because I didn't want all the attention... and not everyone was able to make it, but man alive!  She got a ton of darling little clothes.  And blankets!  And shoes!  It was fun to open up all that tiny stuff and have it be so girly.  I sent Colby this picture on his phone with a caption that said something like "our little girl is so spoiled" and he totally forgot my baby shower was that day and he thought I had gone and bought all this!  Haha.  I can only imagine how upset he was initially... haha.  Now it it true that I have bought some fun stuff for her, but nothing like this! 

Huge thanks go out to my mom for all her efforts... she did way more than I expected.

Many thanks to the angels that protect my family.

Colby is my MOST favorite!

This guy's amazing! I love how rough and tough he is. Very few know this, but he's also kind of a softy. I think I love that most about him. That, and his toughness. :) I can't make up my mind. "...Grape! No, Cherry! They're both favorites." I'm really not sure which is my "most favorite." I think its his toughness that makes his softness so endearing. Anyway.... I just wanted to let Colby know how much I love him.

Yesterday we were galavanting around St. George checking out the Parade of Homes and I thanked my lucky stars a million times that Colby likes going with me to stuff like that. It's so fun to share this interest with each other and compare our insights. In the last house of the day Colby was carrying sleeping Marshall and I had Tyler and my camera. I was doing fine until my arm started to go dead. Tyler's getting too big. Well, I mentioned to Colby that my arm was killing me and he just took Tyler off my hands and proceeded to get countless stares and compliments. I just called him Super Dad. He is a super dad and a super husband. I love him so much.

Happy Lovers Day, babe.

FINALLY!

We have finally closed on our house and are mostly moved in! Can't wait to show you some pics but you'll have to wait, sorry. It's kind of a disaster right now with boxes scattered throughout the house in the process of being unloaded.