C'est la vie

I know that sometimes Heavenly Father throws things at you in life for multiple reasons. For one reason, to show you how much he believes in you. Two, to strenghten you. Three, to show you who and how people really are.

I have learned some superb qualities about my husband as of late. When we were in Lake Powell with my family we had terrible weather with a capitol errible. It was nice to see that in those circumstances, he does what needs to be done, is smart enough to see what needs to be done, and helps anyone in an emergency. It was a side of him I had never seen and I was pleasantly pleased by him.

More recently and I think my most favorite is his heart of pure integrity. He is willing to risk it all, do anything for what he knows to be right. I love that about him. He has a pure heart and I never realized how pure it was until this last week. For events I don't feel appropriate to mention on this blog I am happy to say I married Mitchell Greaves.

Its amazing to me how peoples true selves come out in a time of trial, emergency, or desperation. Sometimes we may be suprised, pleased and most tragically disappointed by how people handle situations. I am happy to know my husband has a good heart no matter the consequence.

I love you with all my heart Mitchell Jon!

p.s. Thanks to my sisters too for helping in the gathering of the The Wardrobe. Too bad we couldn't get the Lion and the Witch.

HMMM...

Sorry this is nothing exciting. In fact no one will read this because Im sure everyone is getting used to not seeing anything new on my blog and who wants to read a sad story again? I got on my blog the other day to see what my friends have put on their blogs, but my blog is blank. Just a white page saying "nothing to see here....." Very sad it feels like blogger has shut me out. Ha ha but I have looked at other blogs that haven't updated in over a year and theirs still come up. Not sure what is going on, however this blog is merely to see if my blog will reappear. Its basically selfish intent because I just want to use it to see when my friends are updating. I would like to say I will blog more often but we all know I have said that thousands of times and yet nothing has happened. Maybe someday I will get the inspiration to blog, just not today.

To the Best Dog a girl could ask for!

This is about a month late, but in true Autumn fashion it should come to no surprise to any of you. This little sweet face below was the love of my life, my best friend, my kid, and the thing that loved me no matter what. We went through some tough times together he and I and just as our life settled as a real family, he left. I guess he was just there to make sure I go what I really deserved in life and when that was final he was safe to go. My nephew took these pictures of him his very first Christmas. I bought him for my ex-boyfriends kids but somehow my brother Josh knew he would eventually be mine. He told me yeah right we all know whos dog he really is. The poor boy was deserted by his first mom when she followed her boyfriend to vegas and took his sisters with him. He was left in my care and eventually his first dad was kicked out of his life. (Brodie never really like his first dad, funny thing is no one really did, I guess dogs really can judge character).

Brodie loved ropes even as a baby. However give him a rope with anything on it and he would chew it off until it was just a rope.

Brodie started getting sick at the beginning of December, vomiting and diarhea was an everyday occurance. I eventually called the vet when it continued on for several days. Thinking he had some virus, and with a little magic pill it would clear up, unfortunately that was not the case. The night before I was petting him underneath his chin and felt some lumps on each side. The next day at the doctor I pointed them out to the doctor and he felt around some more and found six more lumps. Telling me what no pet lover ever expects to hear when their dog is only four. He had lymphatic cancer which is a form of leukemia. They could do Chemo however they consider six months a success. I couldn't bear to put my dog through that. I left there sad but thinking I had a couple of weeks. So I asked my nephew to take some pictures of our family ( I know its cheesy to say family, but I treated like my kid).

I decided I would take a picture of him everyday of his life after that, not knowing that would be one week and a day.

He was such a funny dog about his food. He wanted it in its correct spot. Sometimes he would put himself on the starvation diet and not eat for a few days. He was so funny. This reminds me of when he was a puppy when their ears are so big they dangle in the water.

He always had to be next to me. If I was cooking in the kitchen there he was laying in the room. Even when he was so sick.

One of my favorite things about Brodie was when he would lay at my feet when I was sewing. He didn't like anything else to have my attention sometimes he would lay right on the pedal. I was busy working on his Uncle Josh's blanket while he was sick but at least he got to have me around all the time.

One of my other favorite things was our routines. I would wake up in the morning and he would be there waiting and then walk to the door to be let out. Then he would walk to the cupboard where his food was and sit patiently waiting for his food. The other routine was the bathroom. Anytime I went pee or showered he wanted to be involved. He would always lay on my clothes while I showered.

Man oh man did my brodie love the snow. Its one of the things that is the hardest to see. Everytime there is fresh snow I will think of him. He would always get so excited, it is a schmorgeshborg to him. He loved eating snow and ice. Anytime you would get out ice from the freezer he would come running to get ice, but he would never eat it in the kitchen he always took it back to a specific spot in the living room.

This was Brodies favorite spot to sleep right on the couch. It was the perfect place to lay his head in his mind.

This is my favorite. He would always come to the edge of the couch when he needed something. Food, treats water, or to be let out. He would rest his head, look up and you and shake his tail. Or if you were busy doing something and he felt he needed attention. It became Jason's (Mitchs little brother) favorite thing about Brodie. This picture was a little forced so it doesn't have the sweet begging tenderness to it.

Just another sweet picture of Brodie.

Brodie loved riding in the car. He never layed down he always sat just like a person most of the time he would sit in the middle so he could look out the windshield.

I loved loved his little (or big) paws. They have always smelled like Corn chips, gross I know but they were his paws and a love petting the hair between his toes and foot pad.

His ears are one of my very favorite things. They were soft almost like velvet. When I would cry and he would come to console me like always I would grab his hears and pet them over and over again. Mitch loved his ears as well, he wanted to keep them. Ha ha.

Just another picture of my sweet boy!

Loved this picture he had a little life in him this day. Most days he just layed around like the picture above.

This was his favorite spot in the car. I swear you could have seat belted him in.

Sometimes he would lay down. When he was a puppy he always layed his head down on my hand. You can tell he doesn't feel good, he needed some love from his mom.

Another favorite thing was his scar. It was sad, but it was what made him Brodie. Before I had him he was with his first Grandma and she was carrying a pot of boiled potatoes and she tripped over him at her feet. The water spilled on his head and body. Well his first mom didn't take him to the vet for over a week until I threatened to take him in myself. Poor guy had to go everyday to get his burn treated. They were surprised actually at how well it healed, but it would have healed better had he been taken in earlier. Everytime we went out to dog parks, or anywhere in public people would always ask. I got tired of it so I just started saying he was a rescue dog.

This was the last day of his life. He was no longer eating anything (the cancer was all over inside his body). All he would eat was the snow. I walked outside to Mitch digging into the hard snow (crying), to give it to Brodie. It was so sad.

I had been telling Brodie all week that I didn't want to make the decision when to put him down. I didn't want to give up his fight for him. Well on sunday he came in to our room and told me he was done. We called and made an appointment for the next day. We took him with us in the car, we had some errands and family pictures. I didn't want to leave him alone when he was so sick.

We had to go say goodbye to Aunt Shyla and his best friend and girlfriend Tacoma. He loved these two and they were his babysitters when we were out of town. He was always so excited at the mention of either or their names. Tacoma knew something was wrong and she didn't like it, so she avoided him.

He fell into the car as we left Shyla's house and when we got home he wouldn't get out of the car. I carried him into the house and layed him on the couch. Eventually he climbed off and layed on the floor. A few minutes after that my sewing machine just stopped working. I laid by him but he wouldn't look at me. I grabbed his face in my hands and realized he was having a hard time leaving me. That he would miss me, so I told him it was okay to go. He started breathing really heavy, but waited for Mitch his dad to say goodbye. Then he slowly passed away at home, like his mom asked him to do. The days that followed were so hard, you forget they are gone. I would wake up and expect to see him peer around the corner only to be reminded again he was gone. Or coming home from work expecting to be greeted by a happy dog, again reminded. Its like waking up and having water taken away. He was something constant in my life and suddenly he was gone. I still miss him, and even writing this makes my cry. I had him for exactly four years. I got him the week before Christmas and he died at midnight the monday before Christmas. He was an amazing dog who won over the hearts of many non dog lovers. I hope to see him again if we get our dogs back in heaven.

Time Travel Thursday!

This was our last family vacation TWO YEARS ago. We need to pull it together White Family. We went up to this cabin in Idaho that is like an hour away from Jackson Hole. We went there in 2001 for a Family Renunion on my dads side of the family. We had a lot of fun at this way nice cabin so we decided to go back. Lake Powell was always the Family Vacation but my sister-in-law couldn't be out in the sun, and my moms foot was having problems so we went back to this cabin.


On the way up to Idaho I rode with Tiffany's little family and we saw the coolest rainbows ever. They were two complete bright rainbows, unfortunately you can't take a picture of the whole rainbow without a camera with the proper lens. Maddie and I were just talking about these rainbows just the other day so I thought I would include this picture.

Anyways this was the Crew that went down to the Upper Mesa falls.

(L to R: Corbin, Jaimie, Me, Maddie, Andrew, Shawna, Olivia, Tiffany, Natalie, Baby Emmie, Hayden, Josh, Lila behind Tom, Tom, and Canyon.)

This is the waterfall, its very pretty.

I took this picture of Troys family and I love it. I think this is such a cute picture.
(L to R: Shawna, Andrew, Blanca, Augustus, Troy, Corbin, and Jaimie.)

You will see that I love these type of up close pictures when you scroll down through the rest of the pictures. This is Augustus and Canyon im surprised I actually got them to pose for a picture.

Ambers Kids at the time, Winter on back, Zarley and then little Owen.

Jaimie and I

This is Shawna and I.

Me and Maddie. She looks so little.

Maddie, Olivia and Me. Everyone always says Olivia looks like a Christenson, however I think she looks a lot like Tiffany in this picture for some reason. Something about her facial expression looks like Tiffany to me.

It's so funny to look back two years ago and see how much the kids have changed and grown. They all look so little to me. Its so weird to see myself because my face is so round and chubby. Thankfully I don't look like that now, ha!

Time Travel Thursday!

And this is why I love him! We went hiking last year with Mitch's brother and this girl. We went swimming in the lake and we were changing back into dry clothes. Mitch started struting around in just his speedo. We decided it would be hilarious for him to go walking past his brother and his date in just his speedo plus the socks look amazing. They were supposedly just waiting up the hill, however were not there. We started walking down as fast as we could to catch up to them. We fortunately for this family of like 15 people we caught up to them and not his brother. Nearly every single person that was holding a flash light turned around to see what was coming upon them and it was this beautiful sight. It was hilarious because the family was walking down the moutain in packs of three or four so it was several light flashes. He hiked down the entire mountain like this and his brothers date didn't even laugh. She was really lame.

He tried out his Calvin Klein underwear model face, "Blue Steel"! I think the socks make the outfit!

This was my view coming down the mountain behind him. I love this boy!

Time Travel Thursday!

So my sisters have certain days of the week they post an older picture. I thought it would be fun, since I have quite the boring life, plus I am a total copycat. I have been collecting wedding pictures of my ancestors for my wedding so I thought it would be the perfect start.



The first one is my grandparents. How cute are they? you can't tell in this picture but my Grandpa had a pinstripe suit on. My grandparents had the sweetest relationship ever. They were the best of friends and did everything together. If my grandpa was up fixing the roof my grandma was up there with him poor health and all. They loved each other so much, but they were equals. They both had their part but were always best friends. I hope the Mitchell and I can be like that.
This second picture is my cute parents. They look so little (cause they were) it makes me giggle a little bit. My parents are the best. They have seriously been put through the ringer throughout their whole lives together. The last three and a half years have been the hardest for them. My moms health has brought her close to death and much more beyond that. Watching my dad deal with that was so tough. I have never seen my oh so brave dad so scared. But I guess if you thought you might loose your best friend, love of your life, eternal companion you would be a little freaked out too. Thats a lot wrapped up into one person. No matter what though they have stuck it out together. The best part about it though is it has brought them closer together. I think that is when true love and strength comes out. When trials come in your life I believe that the way you deal with the trials show your true character. With that said I think my parents have amazing character. I know that Mitch and I will have challenges in our married life and I hope that we can approach them with the same tenacity, strength, and character as they have. I have learned so much from my parents and am so grateful to have them and their strength in my life.

This third picture is my aunt Becky and her husband Mike. These guys are so much fun and so good with kids. I have always loved being around either of them at family parties growing up. They too have dealt with some tough things in life and handled loosing a son better then I ever could. My aunt gave me a letter right after my cousin died comforting me which was amazing to me at the time. That letter has always stuck with me and helped me through dealing with other hard times in my life. Becky is like my second mom and has always helped people around her that weren't her own kids. I hope to be like that to the youth that grow up around me. I met this girl once who knew Becky and said how much Becky had helped her through her teenage years. Becky was there for someone whos parents weren't and I hope to be intuned enough to be able to do the same. Can I just say look at how awesome my uncles suit is? Those blue paid pants are sexy. Ha ha becky you look absolutely beautiful though.

Two new posts!

So I am really going to try and keep up with this blog. That way people can get used to looking at my blog which in turn will help the comments that come. When you only blog every three months no one comments when you do blog, which is sad. I like comments because then it looks like people actually read my pointless blog.

Love you all.

April/ St. George

Well all we really did in April was St. George. This was actually our first vacation together, which was just a short little weekend. I go to St. George every year to support my sister and nieces as they battle it out in Dance Competitions. This year I drug Mitch along and he was so good about it all. He sat through solos, and hours upon hours of dances. He is very patient and I love it. We roomed with Corbin and Jaimie which was a lot of fun. They are always good for a laugh.

This is Mitch's attempt at getting a picture of Corbin and Jaimie.

Here we are! Whoa look at the Albino!

Jaimie and I, I think this is a really cute picture of Jaimie!

March!

I know that I was doing some silly thing I named backwards blogging. However, it has been so long and I just have more recent stuff to blog about. Besides the fact that most people really don't care about the stupid things I do anyways. We are moving on!

This is the significance of March in my life.

First my sisters birthday. She worked on her birthday (which I think there should be a law about not doing) and I felt bad so I decided to decorate the Beauty Shop door for her. The sign in the background said Happy Birthday if you were wondering.


Two I went Four Wheeling with Mitch's family. It was so much fun, Mitch taught me how to drive the four wheeler. I had only been four wheeling with my friend Shlya and she always drove. I was super excited to be able to drive it on my own. I got a little confident in my driving abilities and decided to follow Mitch and his dad up this steep hill at the Sand Dunes (no not the huge straight up one, but next to it). Well I got most of the way up when I realized I was going to have to make it down so I decided to turn around. That is not something for Novus drivers. Mitch's dad had to come rescue me cause I almost flipped the four wheeler over. I felt like an idiot, but he just said I was really brave. Needless to say I am hooked, its too much fun!

Christmas 2008!

We are to Christmas in our backwards blogging adventure. This year I spent Christmas morning with Mitch's family. I was worried I was going to feel weird intruding on their day, but it was nothing of the sorts. Mitch's mom made sure that I felt included in their family. My stocking had everything her kids' did. They also gave me too many gifts, it was a great Christmas. Mitch also gave me way too much but made sure to make it a special day and it was. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of either of our families for some reason. We had a good time with my family that night at our Traditional Christmas dinner with my moms side of the family. This is in front of my Christmas tree at my house Christmas night.

This was the Christmas tree at the Greaves house, I don't think you can even see all the presents.

Happy Birthday Annika Sue!

Little miss Sue has been coming to Sarah Daft since she was five weeks old. My sweet residents have watched her grow. Many of them come to the office looking for her every friday just to see her. They all ooh and ah about her cute outfits, or her new tricks she can do. These ladies truly love her, and having a baby around here has truly impacted their lives. Its like therapy, its so fun to see the ladies light up around her. My boss Marsha and I decided to throw her a Birthday Party for the residents to be able to celebrate her birthday with her. It was so cute the residents would leave one by one to their rooms coming back with various things to give to her. It was the sweetest thing. Some of her party guests.

Happy First Birthday! Those books Marsha bought those books for Annie. It was the gift from The Sarah Daft Home.

Cute Annie Sue in her birthday girl chair.

Me and my little Susan.

Uh oh mom my belly is too big for my pants.