Mabel Walks and Lilly Reads

One of my favorite things about Mabel is that she is obsessed with shoes. She seriously knows when we're gettting ready to leave because she heads straight for the shoes and tries to get them on. I finally got pictures of her doing this the other day. Yes she is still in her pajamas (no we were not getting ready to go somewhere. Don't worry, I do dress my kids (usually) when we go somewhere). She seriously tries and tries forever. I love how determined she is.Sometimes she gives up and she thinks that it's really best if you wear them on your hands. But then she tries, tries again.And for more Mabel, here's a little clip of her taking a few steps today! Where did my baby go?!


And here's a video of Lilly "reading". I had no idea she could do this until she showed me the other night. Sophia has been reading these books to her and night and has been determined "to teach Lilly how to read". She's so funny about it. Apparently Lilly's been listening though. Pretty funny kids.

Untitled from jmwilkins10 on Vimeo.

More Grandma Ivins Remembrances

Last Sunday we went with Doug's family to Grandma's House one last time to take a few pictures. We were coming from a baby blessing and weren't quite prepared so all of these are taken with my phone. His brother took a good long video of the house and hopefully we'll be able to get a copy of it (hint hint Brian. JK). Here's the front of her house (and Leda and David).

This is my cute niece Kaleen sitting on the rock where my father-in-law first kissed my mother-in-law. It was pretty cute to hear the story. My mother-in-law said that after that night her dad told her that she could have that rock someday. I thought that was cute and I hope she actually does get it!Here we are in front of her house.We went through the house and took a few last pictures of some of the treasures. This is her wedding dress. My mother-in-law said she bought it for $9. She also weighed less than 90 pounds when she wore it! We're pretty sure that Kaleen (pictured above) would be the only one who would fit in it now.This is her wedding dress and Doug's grandpa's army suit that he was married in. It was kind of fun to see these side by side.

This arrangement as from Doug's mom and her siblings. The birdhouse is one that she hung outside in her beautiful flower garden. I know it doesn't look like it but the beautiful Lilly in the middle (pink with white edges) was bigger than my opened hand. It was gorgeous!

This is one her curio cabinets with some fun treasures.

And this kids had fun playing with her awesome car track one more time. This was the definite toy of choice for any child that came to her house. I wish I would have taken a picture of this whole room because I have so many memories here. There were many showers, celebrations and parties held in this room.

Monday night we went to Doug's parents house for Family Home Evening. We talked a little bit about Grandma and Doug's dad asked us all what some of our favorite memories of her are. He encouraged us to go home and write them down as well. I thought this would be the perfect place to do that.

-Sophia remembered that she always had a piece of candy to share.

-she had beautiful flowers and took great care and pride in her beds and gardens. A few months ago we were up by her house and stopped by to see her flowers. It was so fun to walk around with her and have her identify everything. She was so proud of it and you could tell how happy it made her. This is part of the reason why Doug didn't want to say goodbye to her at the hospital. He wanted to remember her this way. I think that's great!

-I love all the bridal and baby showers that were held in her great room. It was so fun that even though I wasn't one of her "blood grandchildren" it was fun to still be included in this and to be honored at a few of these events.

-there were many Halloween, Christmas and Easter parties held at her house. I loved waiting for Santa to make his big entrance in the big room and egg hunts in the backyard.

-one of my favorite memories was seeing her dressed up as an AF cheerleader (I think) for Halloween. She was even complete with a pony tail hair piece. That woman loved to party! I loved how she got into each and every holiday and would do anything to make people smile.

-I also loved going to her house mid-morning on Christmas for finger foods and to see her beautiful tree! Of course the real reason why any of us went (aside from picking up our restaurant gift card) was to get a piece of her toffee! She made a mean toffee. No matter how many times I try I just can not replicate it! Apparently I'm not adding the right amount of love.

I know there are many more memories that I could share but I'll stop now. One of my brothers-in-law mentioned the time that he first met her. He said she was so impressed by how immediate her love was. Even though she just met you, you knew that she loved you and that you were welcome into her family. That's so true. Her door was always open for everyone and she definitely had not prejudices. She really was an amazing woman and set and incredible example for all of us. We love you grandma!

We love Grandma Ivins!

We've had a great last couple of days celebrating the life of an amazing woman! I feel so blessed to have known her and so lucky to have married into her family.
Doug's mom had the idea for this arrangement as a gift to Grandma from her family. She got a rose for each person in the family and then attached this cute seed packet with a picture of our family. The seed packet says "Grandma Ivins Planted the Seed" and there's a scripture from Doctrine and Covenants about reaping a good reward if you sow a good seed. She did a great job.Here's a few things from the display tables at the viewing. The little brown rectangle at the bottom of the picture is a quote she carried around in her wallet. They made lots of copies of it and had them out for people to take a the viewing. It was really neat. The quote says "I believe that only one person in a thousand knows the trick of really living in the present. Most of us spend 59 minutes of an hour living in the past with regret for lost joys, or shame for things badly done (both utterly useless and weakening) or in a future which we either long for or dread. The only way to live is to accept each minute as an unrepeatable miracle, which is exactly what it is - a miracle and unrepeatable" - Storm Jameson. Such sound advice.

This is a painting of her cabin up at Tibble Fork and the quote is a really cute thing that she really liked so she wrote it down. I love it. It says "Remember me with smiles and laughter, that is the way I'll remember you. and if you only remember me with tears, you must not remember me at all." So cute. I think that totally sums her up.

This was a cute picnic basket they had displayed with her dishes, silverware and flowers - her favorite.

After the funeral (which was amazing) we went to the graveside service.Here's Mabel with cute Aunt Leda.

Here's all the men leaving their boutonniers on the casket.

All of the girls were given a daisy when we got there.

They also got to place them on the casket.

After the dedication of the grave they gave each of the kids a balloon.

Then they gathered all the kids together and had them send their balloons to grandma in heaven.

I loved how the casket looked with all the daisies on it. So pretty. She would have loved it!

Here's Doug's parents with all their children.

And our little family. Don't mind the hair in my mouth and me giving Lilly the death grip so that she'd hold still. Doesn't Doug look nice though? I think this is the first time I've seen him in a suit since he had to wear one to the first day of the accounting program.

Afterward we went back to the church for a wonderful luncheon. I loved how they decorated the tables. It was so grandma. I think she would have definitely approved.

These were the beautiful flowers. Doug's mom told me they were donated from the yards of some of grandma's greatest friends.

Mabel had a good time but enjoyed putting this basket on her head the most.Here's Doug's mom with a few of her siblings. The sweet woman in the middle was my Grandma's housekeeper for the last 35+ years or so. She is a very sweet lady.

Finally I just wanted to post her Obituary so that I'll have it for a future blog book.Virginia Mae Woodhouse Ivins
1925 ~ 2011
Our mother, grandmother, sister and friend, Virginia Mae Woodhouse Ivins passed away, Monday, September 5, 2011 from a sudden illness. She was surrounded by many of her family and friends. Virginia was born February 24, 1925, in Huntington Beach, California. The 5th of 7 children born to Elliot and Mariam Almira Peel Woodhouse. She grew up in California and on July 15, 1943 she married her handsome soldier, Heber Grant Ivins, Jr. Their marriage was solemnized one month later in the Salt Lake City Temple. At the end of World War II they moved to Utah to raise their family and where Grant could attend Law School. She was the mother of six children. Cathleen (Stanley) Street, American Fork; Leslie (Leslie) Chapman, Taylorsville; Christine (Craig) Wilkins, American Fork; Jeffery Grant (Kathy Hansen) Ivins, Cedar Hills; Timothy Scott (Ingrid Lapinell) Ivins, Cedar Hills; and Anthony W. (Rebecca Stewart) Ivins, Highland. Grandmother of 29, Great Grandmother of 73, and Great-Great Grandmother of 9.
A few of her favorite things were ...Christmas parties, Group Lunch on Thursdays, gatherings at the Ivins house, St. George condo, trips to Coronado, the cabin, family reunions, her poke-a-dot robe, chocolate chip cookies, jelly bellies, Swedish fish, traditions, toffee making, watching the children play, bridge, Nelsons Frozen Custard, hugs, flowers, visits from friends and family, the Friday Night Gang, caring hairdressers, the temple, dressing up for Halloween parties, and traveling around the world with Grant.
Virginia was a humble, elect lady, who devoted her whole life to the service of her children and grandchildren. She made everyone feel as if they were the most important person in her life. Her arms and home were open to all who wanted to enter in. This is a true testament of a life well lived.
She is survived by her children, grandchildren, brother, Don Woodhouse, brother-in-law Guy (Norma) Ivins and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, 2 great grandchildren, 2 sisters and 3 brothers.
Funeral services will be held Saturday, September 10, 2011 at 11:00 AM in the American Fork North Stake Center, 13th Ward, 975 North 60 East. A viewing will be held Friday evening at Anderson & Sons Mortuary, 49 East 100 North, American Fork from 6-8 PM and at the church Saturday from 9:45 to 10:45 AM. Interment in American Fork Cemetery. Online condolences and memories may be shared at andersonmortuary.com

Labor Day and the Latest

The other day I hadn't heard from this little cutie for awhile. I went to check on her and found her here. She had totally gotten some books and climbed up on the chaise in her room to read them. She's getting too big! I took this last week in the middle of the day. She had been begging me all afternoon to make popcorn and when I finally went to get her some I found her like this. I seriously don't know how she could sleep like that.Now onto the weekend. We had an okay weekend. We put up the fall decor (we'll wait on Halloween for a few weeks) which is always funAnd noticed that our flowers have been loving the cooler weather. I'm so happy to see them finally bloom! Too bad they'll probably freeze in a few weeks.
We also took advantage of a few Golden Onion Days festivities. Doug had to work on the holiday but the kids were begging me to go to the parade and the carnival so I got brave and took them by myself. Here we are waiting for the parade to start.
Here were a few of our favorite guys we always love to see in a parade.After the parade we headed to the carnival. I was totally disgusted by the price of tickets for 1 ride so I made them pick one ride they wanted to ride. I know I'm mean like that but I'm also cheap like that.
They picked this one and had a pretty good time. After that I let them play on the swings and slides in the park. It was free and like I said, I'm cheap like that. They had fun all the same.
After the fun in the park we came home to bottle some peaches. It was fun to have a few helpers this year!Today this little sweetie started preschool. She goes to one in our neighborhood and was so excited to start! In case you can see the beautiful shiners on her nose and forehead, no we don't beat our children. She fell twice on the way to church Sunday. I promise! We did have one sad thing this weekend. Yesterday we lost this sweet lady. Grandma Ivins was Doug's grandma.We're so happy for her that she's back with her husband after 21 years and with a brother who passed away the day before. Even though she'd been declining it happened kind of suddenly. Doug's parents were at our house for the game on Saturday when they got a call from one of his aunts saying that grandma wasn't feeling well and that they were going to get her checked out. We thought she'd be okay but knew that it was in the Lord's hands. She lived a great life and was an amazing woman. Last summer she went back to the temple after 67 years. She accomplished a lot in her life and left an amazing legacy. She will definitely be missed and as Doug's sister said "the world will never be the same without her." One of Doug's cousins (hope you don't mind that I share this Amy) said this about that sweet lady "Christmas Party, Thursdays, gatherings at the Ivins house, St. George, Coronado, the cabin, family reunions, polka dot robe, chocolate chip cookies, JellyBellys, mini rocking chair, tradition, Live-Love-Laugh, toy room, beauty, bridge, hair appointment, ice cream cones, hugs= Grandma." I couldn't agree more. Even though she wasn't my grandma by blood, I felt lucky to have married into this family and to claim her as my own grandma. We told our kids about it and Sophia said "She was a nice girl." Well spoken Sophia. We love you grandma and can't wait to see you again!