Memorial Day

For Memorial Day this year, we went on our last road trip for the summer to visit my family. We have always done a picnic after decorating relatives graves on Monday, and this tradition expanded to include a larger group of family four years ago. With my Dad's cousin coming into town from Tennessee and my Grandma's fragile health, we decided this would be a great opportunity to spend some time with family.

As always, Natalie enjoyed a lot of time with cousins. From baby Henley who thought Natalie was pretty cool to the oldest cousin Anna (13 yrs.) She spent mostly every day all day out in the sun soaking in the fresh air of the country. Her sun tan was a testament to this and her tiredness on the trip home.

It was a nice treat to see not only my family, but Justin's parents came as well since that is a good half way point between us and them. Jamie brought us a huge box of baby and little girl clothes that have stocked our dressers well for the summer and coming Fall.

This particular afternoon we were at my sister's home in Middleton and Natalie loved running around in her swim suit all afternoon. She also loved getting dried off in the big beach towels.We had a wonderful time and are excited to see them all again when our baby comes.

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

Pregnancy Update

30 Weeks this week.

It is surreal that we are this far along, but my body assures me that we are. 

I often get the question as any pregnant woman does, "How are you feeling?"

I never know the right answer for this.

There are so many emotions, thoughts and experiences that go into pregnancy. 

Being the honest person I am, I want people to know really how I am feeling,

 but then again I don't want to complain. 

I could easily spout off a list of the discomforts that my stretching and growing body goes through each day.

However, if I am looking for truth, that is truthfully only a part of how I am feeling.

I can also easily say pregnancy is an incredible mortal experience. 

 Creating a baby, feeling her moving inside of me, and dreaming of meeting her soon is a tender time that I do not want to soon forget.

 It is a blessing that I am trying to savor even in the moments I don't feel the best. 

I know this will be such a short chapter in my life, but I would guess it is one of the most special times as well. 

So today, I am feeling grateful and tired because it is time for bed and I am growing human being inside of me. 

10 more weeks little girl and we are excited to meet you!

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

April Random Memories

 I am trying my hand at some container gardening this year since our back yard is still in construction mode. I am excited to see how it goes. So far I have planted a tomato plant, lemon thyme, radishes, and lettuce. I found several more pots at a yard sale for a couple of dollars and need to get them filled up. I am having a hard time deciding what else to plant. Definitely going to try some more herbs, maybe some more lettuce, and carrots?

 This is a really cute book about a duck who rides a bike on a farm. It is only blog worthy because Natalie has become obsessed with it. So much so that we returned it and had to recheck it out. I do love her saying "Duck on Bike," short and quick. We read it over and over again while potty training. I am getting pretty good at memorizing children's books these days. It is so great to have a library system that we can check these books out from. 

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

Good Morning Monday

Sunday's can be a long day for Natalie. 

Yesterday was especially so as she woke up at 6:30 a.m. and didn't go to bed until 9:30 p.m. 

She slept until 9:30 this morning.

 Justin made pancakes for us, but had to leave before she woke up.

 This was her saying good morning for a picture we sent him. 

I love that she mostly wakes up with a big smile on her face.

 
Justin and Ruth Blazzard

My Man

A couple of weeks ago Justin began the project of digging out a tree stump in our back yard. We need it out to help with landscaping the dirt patch. It was a far larger stump then I think either of us realized. He started one night after work, but didn't get much further than that couple of hours of work because it rained the rest of the week.

With all of the soil he had stirred up a robin came hunting for worms. This poor robin also started seeing his reflection in my windows. This caused him to repeatedly run into my windows day after day. They became filthy and he became known as the "naughty" bird by Natalie. I was annoyed.

Thankfully Justin was able to take care of the "naughty" bird, and my windows are once again clean. He also spent 3 hours on Saturday finishing up the removal of the huge tree stump.

He is such a hard worker and doesn't stop until the job gets done. He was also kind enough to put off digging out the tree stump to go and help some people move, and humor me by going with me to some yard sales. He does so much for others and is an example to me.

I listened to Sis. Burton's talk from General Conference this weekend and hope that Justin and I too can follow the proverb she shared, “Thee lift me and I’ll lift thee, and we’ll ascend together." Justin truly does lift me by the way he lives and show love to me, Natalie and others.


Justin and Ruth Blazzard

This Week

-  My husband has been home the past two nights! It has been amazing and almost as good as vacation.

- I hit the third trimester and am feeling pretty good with the pregnancy. I have to do my glucose test on Thursday and am looking forward to getting it over with.

- Natalie is talking up a storm. She loves to copy cat and is a very agreeable child. We ran errands all morning and she was very content to sit in her stroller or cart and wait patiently for me. We will see if that lasts.

- Got the fourth book in "The Walk" series by Richard Paul Evans from the library today. My goal is to finish this series before the baby gets here. I need some good reading time.

- Have been working diligently on a wheat order for our Stake and doing lots of food storage research. I forgot how much time and effort it takes to learn, but it is always worth it.

-  I planted seeds in some pots on my porch last Thursday. They are beginning to sprout through. Last week at a Relief Society Activity the speaker described her seeds sprouting as "magical." I agree, it is amazing what something so tiny can do with proper care.

- Spring is here with warm weather.

- Natalie goes to her first dentist visit Thursday, it will be interesting to see how it goes.

- Looking forward to an impromptu Stake Conference this Sunday with a visiting General Authority.

- Made a delicious BBQ Chicken Salad for dinner tonight. It had black beans, corn, avocado, tomato, lime juice, cilantro and ranch mixed together, on lettuce with chicken as a topping. Justin had his in a tortilla as he never eats lettuce.

-My bathrooms got cleaned today and the floor mopped, which means I can check this off my to do list and rest peacefully tonight. Hope you are having a great week!

Justin and Ruth Blazzard

81 Years

It was this amazing ladies birthday today. She is 81 years old and still has a radiating smile.
A couple of weeks ago I got news that she was in the hospital with pneumonia. Things were not looking very good for her. I packed mine and Natalie's suitcases and was out the door a couple of hours later. We made the 6.5 hour drive to Ontario and got there at about 8:30 that night. Grandma was doing a bit better than she had been that morning.

Over the period of her week long hospital stay she improved a lot. However, it had become apparent that she could no longer live at home by herself. The hard decision was made and I helped move her into an assisted living facility. It is a nice new facility, with a large room and she seems to be doing well.

 It is so hard to go through changes in life. Our brains so easily get to a point where we feel that things will stay the same forever, people will always be there for us and never age. However, the opposite is quite true. A lot of life changes come in such tiny increments that we don't recognize what is happening until it brings about a reality that is totally different than what you have always thought it would be.

I love my Grandma very much and look up to her. I am glad things are going as well as they can be in her new place. I am especially grateful I was able to spend a week helping her and my parents with the transitions life has brought.

Happy Birthday Grandma Corn! You have been such an example to me of positive thinking, living life with a smile, creating strong family traditions, and always learning. We miss you and wish we could have been there to sing Happy Birthday and to eat an ice cream bar with you!


Justin and Ruth Blazzard