Grandma's Funeral

After eight decades on this earth, we said goodbye to Grandma Gollaher. She's now reunited with all her siblings, parents and husband.

I'm so grateful I got to know my grandma and for the wonderful woman that she was. She was so generous, hardworking, organized, clean, a great cook, had a great sense of humor and loved her grandkids. We loved her meals (especially her breakfasts). I'm so grateful she got to spend so much time with Lauren in her first year while she was at Shaunie's often. She would sing "how much is that doggy in the window" to her and said it was Lauren's favorite.

My parents now have no living parents, which had me reflecting on how grateful I am to have mine not only living, but nearby and so involved in my children's lives. They are still young and healthy enough to enjoy the kids too. Fofa plays "row, row, row your boat" and does somersaults with Lauren. Grandpa takes her swimming, gives her anything sugary he can find and checks for bats. Lauren thinks we get ice cream every time we go to Costco because Grandpa took her to get some there once. Grandma Gollaher set a great example of how fun grandparents should be.

The funeral gathered our family together and Becca and Pick and their families stayed with us. The only one we missed was Ann-Marie and the kids. It was fun to have the three boy cousins together and also for Lauren to play with her cousins. She is still asking when they are coming over again. Pick did Lauren's hair so we could learn some new methods like the "topsy-turvy," which we have used numerous times since. Grandpa also enjoyed swimming with the kids - one of Lauren's favorite things to do as you can imagine with her love of water. She can splash in the pool, but not in the tub. We miss everyone already and wished you lived closer.

Quinn, Dahlin and Jared

Big Sister

Lauren LOVES Quinn! She always wants to be where he is and asks where he is. She wants to hold him, push him on the swing and gets distraught if we don't get him immediately when he cries. She reads him stories, takes his picture with her Elmo camera, pushes the buttons on his bed and swing to turn on the music and vibration, and always wants to entertain him. She wants to feed her sippy to him, plays "head, shoulders, knees and toes," kisses and pats his head and holds his hand. He;s a good little brother and endures the mauling well. We hope the love continues when they're teenagers, right?

Lauren's Hairdos

As Lauren's hair gets longer, it opens us up to be creative with doing it every day. Jay is such a great dad and likes to experiment. He buys her little clippies and barrettes too. This is what we start with and then some of the styles daddy has come up with:

Quinn's Newborn Photos

Just scanned in the newborn photos we had taken of Quinn when he was about two weeks old. Enjoy!

Lauren's Two-Year-Old Photos

Just getting to scan these photos we had taken of Lauren the weekend of her birthday. We are so blessed to have such a cutie in our family. She is so happy and smart. She grew up overnight when we brought Quinn home. We are sad to not have our baby Lauren anymore, but are having fun with her little girl personality.

Easter Fun

Aunt Ruth outdid herself with a fabulous Easter egg hunt this year - complete with games, prizes, crafts, cookie frosting and pot luck lunch. All the Long family cousins and kids were invited.

Lauren wanted to run around with all the extended cousins (who are getting so old) and thought she was so big! Her and Claire were run over by the kids during the actual Easter egg hunt, but they did get a few eggs. Lauren didn't care though. She was content with one egg at a time. She opened the egg and quickly shoved all the candy in her mouth so it couldn't be taken away. She knows too well how it works at the house. It was better than last year when we went to Thanksgiving Point's Easter Eggstreme and she got half a shell:).

She had never decorated cookies and had so much fun drowning the cookie with all sorts of sprinkles and goodies. Quinn was passed from one of my cousins and aunts to another. It was fun to introduce him at the party. He didn't even make it in any of the photos!

We look forward to next year. Thank you, Ruth!

Official Quinn Announcement