The Circle of Life...

We have had a very interesting, thought provoking, emotional week. We have experienced a death, a birth, a "birthday", and some other wonderful "living life" experiences. (this could be a really long post. Feel free to skim..)

For the first year of Maverick's life I took a picture of him laying on this blanket (that I made for him) every month on his birthday to note his growth. To the left you see the very 1st picture... Mav at 1 month old! So tiny so precious!


To the right here you see the picture I took last week on the 13th. His 18 month birthday! So huge so handsome! I can't believe how much he has grown. He is our little man now, and we love him soooo much.

Above we have Maverick giving kisses to his beloved stuffed dinosour, "Dino". He loves this thing with his whole little boy heart, and on Tuesday we tragically lost Dino after Bri's soccer game. I had unhooked Dino from his regular spot on the diaper bag to give Mav some crackers in the car. When we got home to put Mav in bed, Dino was nowhere to be found. After searching our whole condo we rushed to the parking lot, and to the car. NO DINO!!! We put a sad Maverick to bed without his best friend, all the while hearing requests for "dino" coming from his bedroom. He finally fell asleep without him. Bri and I continued our search. After crawling around the parking lot on hands and knees we decided it was a lost cause and resorted to ebay to help us search for a replacement Dino. Much to our dismay we could not find a dino anywhere.

Bri and I were amazed at how sad we were about the whole ordeal. It is just a toy I kept telling myself... But it's our special "Dino". He isn't just a toy, he is part of our family!!! Thoughts of dino out in the freezing cold all alone kept creeping in. What if he had gotten ran over? What if he got thrown in the dumpster? Poor Dino! Why didn't we take better care of him?!? (I have seen "Toy Story" way too much) We HAD to find him.

I sent Bri out again. Almost an hour later, flashlight in hand, Brian came in WITH DINO!!!! Someone had picked him up and had put him by the 2nd floor door to our building. So it was just by happenstance that Brian even saw him up there. Yeah!!! Tears were shed. It was a wonderful reunion. And now we take much better care of precious "Dino"

For Valentine's Day Brian gave me a "Sunset Dinner Cruise". We took a cruise out on the Great Salt Lake right as the sun was setting. We were served dinner, and desert, and got to watch a beautiful sunset on the water. Above is the boat.

Here we are at our table.

This is us on the top of the boat as the sun was beginning to go down.

And this is us on the bow of the boat after the sun was set. It was gorgeous!!! And we had a great time. Thanks to Ben and Tara for so kindly watching Mav for us. And thank you Brian for being so creative and thinking outside the norm. It was an awesome surprise. You are a sweetheart.

If you have read Brian's sister Melanie's Blog this week you know that our sweet Grandma Stratford passed away on Wednesday. She was such an amazing lady and it was sad to see her go. But we are so grateful for our knowledge of eternal life. We know we will see her again. We know where she is, and who she is with, and we know that she is no longer in pain.

The Funeral was on Saturday. It all went very well. Brian had been asked to give the Family Prayer. A big responsiblity, but he did a wonderful job. The comforting spirit of the Lord was there. We Love you so much Grandma! Your kindness, generosity, and sweet spirit will be greatly missed.

On the opposite end of the spectrum... Today Melanie gave birth to a perfect baby boy.

Welcome Kevin Tyler Wangsgard!!!

7lbs 4 oz. 20 inches long. So Cute! Congrats May and Ty!!!

All in all it has been an amazing week. I am grateful not every week is this emotional, but I am grateful for the spirit I have felt and the thoughts I have had about my turn on earth.