How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By Blake: Saying Goodbye Is Never Easy.....

Last Sunday night we went to Orem to have dinner at the Swensons (Jamyn's family). Her mom served a mission in Switzerland and made us an authentic Eurpean dinner, raquelette. She didn't skip a single detail and the meal was to die for! No wonder where Jamyn gets her craftiness and cooking skills from!!! It was such a fun night!

Monday it was back to work finally and it went pretty well. That night Mike and Alisha came over for dinner. Their new baby will be coming any minute and I can't wait to meet him, but he's got some steep competition in the cuteness department from his big sister Savannah. We made milkshakes and she was in heaven!

Kids have a way of making everything look even yummier!

We love hanging out with them so much!

Tuesday I worked at Dr. Johansens and it was a little rough after working the day before. After work we met the Miller fam, Grammy Bird and Pops (Grammy's sister and husband) at the temple. We took family names and one was Grammy's brother and his wife. What an amazing experience to be in the temple with your family doing family names.

We grabbed dinner after at Cafe Rio with everyone. It was a perfect night but long for my poor knees. I had one of the rougher nights I had in a while with lots of pain pills and very little sleep.

Wednesday morning I woke up and was extremely nauseous from the pain pills and could barely stand up straight. Getting ready was a major struggle but I wasn't about to miss another day of work. I had physical therapy first and struggled through the whole thing. Work was rough all morning until sweet Michelle ran to the gas station to get me a soda and finally my stomach started to settle. It was a long day to say the least. That night I went to Provo with Ashlee and Christie for a continuing ed course at Old Spaghetti Factory. It was a pretty fun course actually. Blake was at a flag football game that night.

Thursday I worked at Focus and then went to the gym for the first time in forever. I could only ride a bike on zero resistance for about 20 minutes but it was heaven! Kelsi was in town from Kentucky and she came over to visit. I've missed her sooo much and it was so fun to hang out again! We grabbed dinner at Cous Cous and then went to Leslie's house for the night. A bunch of Africa friends all got together and it was a perfect night, love those ladies!! Blake had another football game that night.

Friday morning I went to piano. On my way home I got a text that Grandpa had passed away at 9:21. I was driving right past the care center so I went in to see him one last time. It was just me, my mom, and Sandy for a while. It was really emotional and hard. It felt so weird to hold his hand and not feel him squeeze it back. What an amazing legacy of love and laughter he's left. I don't know of many people that you can honestly say live with more intergrity. He never spoke an unkind word. He lived for his wife and family. He love to talk about how many kids came from just 2 people. Everyone thought they were grandpa's favorite, but really I was:) He never missed a dance/singing/piano ever! In the winter when he and Grandma would go to St. George mom, Whit and I LOVED to drive down and stay in their "park model", haha it was a trailer but he refused to call it that. We'd cram in and sleep on an airmatress stuffed half in the kitchen half half in the dining area and half in the tv room. We loved every minute of it. I always loved sleeping over at their house when I was little, especially when my cousin Leslie was in town. We'd play in their trailer out back all day with our mom's old dolls and eat top ramen, it was heaven. Grandpa was always up for games and I'd make him play Pandamonium and Aggrevation with me for hours on end. I feel lucky to have had him in my life as long as I did but it does break my heart a little to think my kids will never know him. It does bring a little comfort to think that's he's up in heaven with them taking care of them until I get to meet them. I will make sure my kids know all about Grandpa D and what an amazing man he was! Here's a few cute shoots of Nick and Kesha's kids with Grandpa before he passed away....

Making sure he's ok :)

I will never eat a potato chip without thinking about grandpa, they were his favorite. He always wanted to make sure we ate our "veggies"

The Davis ladies are what this man lived for....

I don't think there are 2 people on this Earth that have loved more than these 2

She was a daddy's girl her whole life

Never to old to hold daddy's hand

Even when he's was basically unresponsive this sweet lady got a smile and perfect eye-contact

Letting go is incredibly hard but knowing I can see his sweet smiling face again is the only thing that makes it bearable. Thank heavens families can be together forever! While we were all saying our goodbyes crying I looked over at the door and my sweet husband walked in. I hadn't even told him I was going to see Grandpa but he just knew. I can't even say the feelings that rushed into my heart, one of those moments you fall even more in love with your sweetheart. I thought about the love my grandparents had for each other and how much I hope Blake and I can be like them. I gave him the biggest hug ever, it was just what I needed. The funeral director came to get Grandpa so we all said our last goodbye and then Blake gave us a family prayer. How lucky I am to have a worthy priesthood holder who can bring such a comforting spirit to such a difficult situation! After Blake and I left we met up with Whit, Kesh and the kids so we could give all the details of what had just happened. The kids were a perfect distraction. Sadie asked Whit if Grandpa was watching TV with Jesus. Boston told Easton not to be sad because Grandpa D was with Grandpa Scott in heaven and he'd be ok Gosh kids are the cutest! We were both exhausted that night so we made grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup and watched White House Down, which was surprisingly good.

Saturday morning we did stuff around the house and then went to Blake's parents to go to the U game. We went to lunch before at Market Street and it was super yummy! We played ASU and it wasn't the best game but we had SO much fun. I love going to the games so much, we're so lucky Pres and Sandy share their tickets with us!

After we got home we went to hang out with my parents. We grabbed dinner at Geppettos and then yogurt at Top It. It was a fun little date night and we remembered fun memories with Grandpa.

This morning we went our ward. We're getting to know more and more people every week. After work my amazing mother-in-law made dinner for our entire family, aunt, uncle and cousins too. It was gourmet and TO DIE FOR. She is the nicest and such an amazing friend to my family, how lucky we are to have them in our lives.

Baby Payten helping grandma smile