Remembering Mom

Well, the one year anniversary of my mom's death has come and gone. As a family we all went to the Ogden Temple. My dad, my brothers and their wives, my grandma, and my mom's brother and sisters were all there. It was so nice to be there with everyone. When I first got to the temple it was a very sad experience. I just couldn't stop thinking about how much I miss her, but as the session went on I began to feel better and better. By the end, I was still emotional, but the sadness wasn't as strong. By being there I was reminded that I will see her once again. She's happy and I need to continue to live my life worthily so that I'll be able to be with her again. After the temple everyone gathered at my dad's house and visited with each other. That's the first time in a long time that I've been at my parent's house with my family without kids there driving us crazy. It was delightfully nice.
During this past week I have thought a lot about my mom. One of my worst fears is that I'll forget her little quirky ways. There were so many small little things that made her the person she was. Like how she would send back her french fries at every fast food restaurant if they weren't warm enough. Or she would have to get the seat (no matter where we were) that faced the crowd of people so she could stare at them. I don't want to forget all these funny little things and I want my kids to know her for who she really was. If anyone has any memories like these please share them with me in the comments. I would love to read them & be reminded of my dear mom.

Ivory

So my good friend Jaclyn asked me the other day why my blog is titled "Ivory." I was then secretly a little bit hurt because I thought she knew me better than that. (Just joking girl). But, she then proceeded to list a number of reasons why she thought it's called Ivory. Surprisingly one of her three ideas were right. Lets see if my other readers know the answer. Is it....

a. Ivory is the color of my skin.
b. Ivory is my middle name.
c. I like to tickle the Ivories. (Play the piano for the musically challenged).

And the answer is......
b. Ivory is my middle name. Sort of. The story behind that is this... My dear sweet dad didn't think it was a good idea for a girl to have a middle name since she got one when she got married. Well, as I was growing up I yearned for a middle name. And naturally Ivory is as good of a middle name as any, right? Actually I think I came up with that name because I had two dolls. One named Ebony and one named Ivory. Obviously a black baby doll and a white baby doll. And obviously we all know which one I would resemble. So there you go. My middle name is Ivory. My blog title was a toss up between Ivory and Theresa (my imaginary friend as a kid). I chose Ivory because that name holds a special place in my heart. Now all of you can stop your endless sleepless nights wondering why my blog is titled "Ivory."

Maya's 1st Birthday!!!

Maya's first birthday was yesterday. Out of all three kids, this one has been the weirdest. She's still my baby girl. She's not old enough to be celebrating her birthday yet.
We celebrated by having family come over for dinner and cake & ice cream. Grandma & Grandpa Merrill, Girl (Monica), and Melanie came. Grandpa Poll was going to come, but then got asked to go to the Jazz Game. And of course, if you give my dad a choice out of a birthday party and a ballgame, we all know which one he is going to choose.

Here's a few highlights from the big party.

Maya's cake

Maya loved her cake! I think that's the fastest I've ever seen a baby eat a cupcake.

Maya and her gifts. And in keeping true to being a girl she got pure clothes! I love it!
(I did buy her a really cute rug-on eBay of course- but it hasn't arrived yet)
(She also got a baby doll from Aunt Melanie, but it was MIA when I took these pics.)Notice the cute eBay out fit in the left corner

Maya and her mommy

Maya and her daddy

I made some barrettes for Maya for her birthday. I think this was her most favorite gift. Not because she likes to wear barrettes, but because she liked to take them out of the bag and then put them back in. That was the funnest game in the world.

Let's Get Started!

So I'm going to give blogging a shot. Matt's at work, Isaac's at school, Luke's playing Lego Star Wars, and Maya is taking a nap; so, I guess you could say it's one of those happy moments for me. I have quiet time to do what I want before my YW's meeting! (That's a rarity).

So something that I've really been into lately is eBay. I have been searching & searching for brown tights for Maya (which by-the-way, if anyone knows where I can get some PLEASE let me know), and Matt suggested in a "why didn't you think of this before" tone of voice that I look on eBay. The little light bulb then went off in my head and I said to myself, "why does Matt always have the solution to EVERYTHING!!!" Well, I then proceeded to search on eBay for brown tights, unfortunately with no luck. But, I did hit the jack pot with so many other things. I usually go straight to eBay whenever I'm searching for something, but for some reason I never thought of going there for children's clothes. There were so many cute name brand baby clothes for Maya. Most of them were even brand new with the tags still. And since it's Maya's birthday in a couple of days, I gave my self permission to go crazy and bid on whatever I wanted. Which if you know me well you'd know that is so unlike me. I advise everyone to give this a shot. You'll be surprised at how many cute and cheap clothing items there are. Plus you'll feel victorious just like the people in the eBay commercials after you've won your item. At least I did. I even pumped my fist up in there air and said "YES" after I eagerly bid & won on this cute outfit.


Well, my quiet time was short lived. Luke is done playing Star Wars Legos.