Grandpa Cal

One of the perks of marrying Ben was inheriting 4 wonderful grandparents.  All my grandparents passed away by the time I was 10.  I've really appreciated having his grandparents in my life.  Ben's maternal grandpa passed away and his sweet grandma married Cal 17 years ago.  Grandpa Cal recently passed away.  We first visited this set of grandparents when we were dating and just before we got engaged.  I overheard him telling Ben that I was "the one".  We visited them several times a year when we lived in UT before.  Grandpa Cal was always very good to me and treated me just like one of his own.  Together he and Ben's grandma have 88 grandchildren, 133 great-grandchildren, and 7 great-grandchildren.  Each grandchild, grandchild's spouse, and great-grandchild gets a call and a card on his/her birthday.   I think that is amazing and so impressive.

 Cal served in the Marines.  His funeral was very neat and I'm grateful we were able to be here for it.

Ben's lovely Grandma Helen, who Elizabeth Helen was named after.  We hope Lizzie inherits her goodness. 

We also got to see Grandpa Bikman, which is always a treat!

Colorado

Ben had a work conference in beautiful Snowmass, Colorado.  Since he had the hotel and car paid for he invited us to tag along.  A nomad by nature, I never turn down a chance to go somewhere.

 

He was busy most of the week, but did get to join us for a hike one afternoon.  Ben uninvited us on future trips until Lizzie sleeps better in the room with us.  He had a hard time staying awake sitting in all those meetings.

 Colorado is lovely.  The food was so good--local and fresh meats and produce.  Snowmass is near Aspen.  This was my second time visiting Aspen and I have to say I'm not that impressed.  It doesn't hold a candle to Park City.

Can't get enough of this sweet little munchkin. 

 Samara's favorite activity of the trip.  She was apprehensive about trying it but was so glad she did.

 

And she's becoming quite the photographer.   I love seeing the look on passerby's faces as she hoists the big camera and lens, squints to look through the viewfinder and very confidently/bossily directs the shot.

Maroon Bells was my favorite destination.  We went there the last day and definitely would have returned again if we would have had more time.  It was gorgeous.

The little break was just what I needed.  Life has been so hectic the last few months that I haven't been able to come up for air.  It was so nice to have some time solely with these two little hikers.

Visitors

We've been able to see all our siblings and their families and so many of our close friends since moving back.  Utah is a great hub for catching up and we already know that will be a big perk of living here.  Did I get pictures of everyone? No, but I did at least get a few with our visitors from farthest away.

 Ellie and Juju, along with their family, came to Singapore for a couple months after the earthquake in Japan.  Samara connected so easily with them and they quickly became best friends.  Their mom also became a dear friend to me.  They were a blessing for us and came at a time when Samara really needed some playmates.  I've never seen Samara so genuinely sad as when they were leaving to go back to Japan.  We parted ways during rush hour at a crowded train interchange.  Samara was crying almost uncontrollably.  We had to wait a while for our train and she settled down once it came.  We squeezed ourselves onto our no-room-to-breathe train and Lizzie started crying.  Samara cried out, "See.  Lizzie is upset too.  She didn't want them to leave either!"

And how cute is little brother Noah?!  We love this awesome family!  We are so glad we got to see them and hope we can visit them in Japan someday.

Pioneer Day

My cute niece loves all things "pioneer".  My sister is the music chorister for the primary kids at church.  She was able to rent some great covered wagons so the kids could do a primary pioneer parade.

The babies and all the older kids loved playing in the covered wagon and going for rides.

Samara's Olive doll.  Olive is my maternal grandma.  My mom gave her granddaughters the doll to go along with the personal history she is writing. 

We dressed up in pioneer clothes and did a little caroling parade around the neighborhood.  After about an hour we passed my sister's house and I opted to sneak into the A/C with my fussy baby.  I left amazed that people trekked that way for months and months--not only through heat, but trough the winter.    Taking 24 hours to fly home suddenly seemed like a breeze.

I am in awe of and grateful for the sacrifices the pioneers went through to get to Utah so they could  enjoy religious freedom.  During our time in Asia, we were able to visit several places where people were also made refugees.  My heart goes out to them.

Pioneer Day is a great reminder for me that I should be grateful for the freedoms and comforts I enjoy.  I hope someday that I can be of service in some way to those who are not as fortunate.

Pioneer Day also happens to fall on the birthday of one of my favorite people.  (You know who you are!)

One year old

Elizabeth is one year old!  We can't believe it.  I must be in denial or at least I'll use that as my excuse for it taking a month to make a post about it.  We are delighted she is part of our family.

We loved being able to celebrate with cousins and Grandma. 

 Contrary to how it looks it this picture, Samara was actually very happy to celebrate with her.  Or was it that Elizabeth was rubbing it in her face..."I got presents and you didn't!"

Lizzie is a love bug.  She gets so excited when she sees any of us.   She especially loves when Papa Ben gets home from work.  It's a mad crawl towards him if she's on the ground.  Or if she's eating dinner, it's an abrupt end to eating and a mad squeal until he takes her out of the chair.  She has powerful lungs and we've been told by several people that she'll be a singer.   

Her favorite things to eat are rocks, dirt, sand, sticks, paper, coins, and ice cream.   Everything goes in her mouth, especially anything that shouldn't.

Lizzie is friendly but still very pensive when it comes to new people.  She has a sweet and calm demeanor and is very tenacious.

We thought she'd be an early walker because she has been on the verge of walking for months.  But she's been more apprehensive than we expected (perhaps because of all the changes).  Poor kid doesn't know where she will be sleeping from week to week.  She recently started taking more steps.

I dread the day when she forms an opinion about all the kisses we give these sweet cheeks.

We love you Elizabeth Helen Bikman!

Packing up but not upacking for a long long time

We have been back in the states for a month.  It's been a long jet-lagged and exhausting month.  I just got on to make a post/update and saw these photos in my drafts so thought I'd post them.  Packing up and getting rid of most our stuff was not an easy task, but we did it.  We must love the feeling of living out of suitcases because we decided to build a house, which means we won't be settled and unpacked for a while.  We hope to close and start building in a couple of weeks.  I have a ton of photos to go through from our last couple months in Singapore.   Now that Elizabeth sleeps more than once in a fortnight, I have some time and hope to catch up on everything eventually.

We had a month to consolidate, get rid of, and pack up our stuff.  It was hectic.  The girls were a tremendous help.  We built forts, dog houses, packed, un-packed, and re-packed.  Samara promoted herself to foreman of our packing team and had an opinion on what should be packed where and when.  Lizzie, though young, is an expert at unpacking everything.  She left me wondering how much paper an infant can safely consume.   And I'm pleased to say that Samara and I survived the month with a mother-daughter relationship still intact!

We are adjusting to life in the states.  We wonder where all the people are, marvel at how cold it gets (we sleep with space heaters), and are amazed at how cheap things are and how easy it is to communicate with people.  My sister is generously letting us stay with them so we are back in the basement where married life for us began.  Lizzie spent the first two weeks screaming like mad for the entire duration of any and every car ride.  But I am very happy to report that she does awesome in her car seat now.  Samara is loving the lack of attention and manhandling from strangers.  She also started pre-school at BYU and loves it.  She begs to go every day and tells people that her dad got a job at BYU because she goes to school there.  Ben is busy getting his lab up and running and putting together the curriculum for his course.   I love the beautiful mountains, but am still mourning the loss of adventure, culture and travel.   There is so much we will miss about Singapore, but it is nice to be "home".

4th of July

 It was wonderful to be back in the states celebrating the nation's birthday, especially because we spent the time with family.

UT county does a great job of celebrating the 4th, hosting a variety of fun and educational activities.  I needed a reminder that my country too has a history and is an interesting place.  :)

And what is the 4th of July without a parade and 

Fireworks?!

A very happy Independence Day from my adorable 'lil Betsy Ross and her cute-as-a-button cousin.