Carl Reuben Peterson

Saturday August 1st, 2009 was my grandpa's funeral. We drove up Friday morning and had a nice evening with family. Jared, my cousin, cooked hot dogs for everyone. Instead of getting a hotel room Monty had the great idea of having the kids sleep under the stars. The boys LOVED it. When my grandpa was a little boy he spent the summer sleeping under the stars. After one night my boys are ready to keep the tradition alive!

While Monty and the boys slept in Saturday morning Trey and I enjoyed some good old Captin' Crunch Berries--Grandpa's favorite cereal. Growing up we knew when we went to Grandma and Grandpa's we could count on having Captin' Crunch. To this day it's my favorite too. I loved having it for breakfast. After breakfast we got dressed and headed for the chapel. We had a family viewing and grandpa looked so good. Upon arriving to the chapel I was full of emotion. I knew walking into that room would confirm that it was all really happening. Walking into that room had to have been one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. However, looking at grandpa in that state I had a feeling of peace. He looked so peaceful and it was the moment for me when I realized he was no longer in his body. He was in a happier place. The funeral service was wonderful. Full of emotion, but wonderful. My dad and uncle spoke about grandpa and I was filled with a greater love for him as I heard more about his life. Eddie Peterson, a cousin of my dad's sang 'How Great Thou Art' and did a wonderful job. I know my grandpa loved it. After the Funeral we all drove to the cemetery and participated in the final ceremony. Erik, Jared, Ryan, Andy, Dustin, Craig, and Monty were the casket bearers. It was neat to watch my brothers, cousins and husband preform this service for my grandpa. My grandpa spent a majority of his life in the Army serving in both WWII and the Korean Conflict, so he was honored with full military honors. The 21 gun salute, the playing of taps, and the presentation of the flag. This was an amazing thing to behold and one that my grandpa deserved. I was so thankful my boys were able to witness it. I thought my grandpa's final resting place was beautiful and my cousin did a wonderful job dedicating the grave.Grandma was such a trooper the whole day. The night before I watched her roll her hair and thought of her courage rolling her hair for the funeral of her husband of 65 years(66 next week). She is a true hero. She's taken such great care of grandpa while he's aged. She nursed him in their home up until 6 months ago when he became too weak to live at home. Then she faithfully went to the hospital everyday to talk to him and feed him. I admire her for her hard work, dedication and love to her eternal companion.We had to leave shortly after the funeral because of some church obligations on Sunday, but I'm so thankful for the chance to have been there. It was truly a blessing. Just before leaving I wanted to get a picture of my family with Grandma! This was her first time meeting Trey! She loves kids and is so good and kind to them.
This was the most emotional weekend of my entire life. My first great loss, but I can honestly say the Holy Ghost was with us. We all felt it's comforting influence. I love you grandpa and can't wait to see you again.

Baby #5!!

We had our ultrasound this morning for baby #5 and it's a BOY!! Our boys are never shy...it took the tech. about half a second to tell us! We don't have a name, but were very excited to see the baby looking healthy. It was the best ultrasound we've ever had. First off I didn't have to have a full bladder making it much more pleasant for me. Second, the machine had a 3-D image so we really got to see him. The cord is wrapped around his neck which was a little scary to see, but the doctor didn't seem to be worried and said he'll most likely get himself out of it just like he got himself into it.(when Kory was born the cord was wrapped about his neck 3 times) However, they probably will order another ultrasound when he's a little bigger just to see. He measures about a week older than we thought, but they kept my due date the same. We totally LOVED the ultrasound. It made it seem so real. One day soon baby #5 will have a name... Stay tooned!;)

Grandpa Peterson

Last night I got the called from my mom telling me that my grandpa had passed away. I've come to the conclusion that this is something you can never be prepared for. My grandpa was 86yrs old and living in the hospital. We all knew that we could never return home and yet when I got the call I was thrown into another dimension. I don't know how else to put it. One just has to morn--so many emotions, most to personal and special to be expressed in words. Needless to say I had a pretty sleepless night recalling wonderful memories of times spent with grandpa. I love this man. I'm so thankful for the trip I took in January to see him and shall never forget his smile as we rang in the new year. I'm so thankful for eternal families. I'm thankful that we are bound together forever. I know I'll see him again and I can't wait to hear all he has to say. He hasn't been able to speak for many years. I've missed talking with him, but am sure he's on the other side expressing himself verbally and smiling. He lived a great life and I'm thankful for his example and love. I know he loved me as much as I loved him. He always expressed it. He couldn't speak much, but what he was sure of every time I saw him was that he told me how much he loved and approved of me. He would always say, "Kristin, very good. Love you, Love you, Love you!" I guess that's what I'd have to tell him today, " Great job Grandpa. Love you, love you, LOVE YOU!"

Scripture time

This year we've been trying really hard as a family to read the entire Book Of Mormon. Right now we are in the middle of Alma. Each night we have a routine. Trey's job is to pass out the book of Mormons and we figured that's about all he gets out of it, but last night he proved otherwise. After passing out the Book of Mormon he said, "And it came to pass the cow says MOO." We were shocked and got a good laugh.

Beach Day

Friday we took the kids to the beach. Monty has a pretty rough summer schedule, but he has Friday's off so we try to take advantage of them. Monty set up a day at the beach with some of his cousins and we also took a family from our ward whose kids have never been to the beach. My favorite part of the day was watching Tyler and Kyle go crazy in the water and building sand castles with Trey and Kory. Kory would get so excited if I got two 'shapes' to stand on top of each other and then Trey would knock them over. We had fun time. About 4 o'clock Tyler and Kyle got out of the water and we went up and had something to eat. Since it was getting a little cold in my opinion I had Tyler and Kyle go shower and told them not to get back into the water.(this was mostly so that they wouldn't get cold) Well. after dinner Monty wanted to go back into the water. Kyle and Tyler begged to go with him, so I told them they could, but not to get in the water. Jokingly I said, "If you get in the water you're walking home!" About 5 minutes later Kyle came back up to where I was and sweetly said, "Mom, you told me I couldn't get in the water, but dad said it would be okay and I don't know who to listen to." I told Kyle that if he really wanted to get back in he could, but if he was cold when he got out he couldn't whine to me about it! Then he asked, "Mom, will I have to walk home?" I laughed and told him no. So, he ran back down to the water and jumped in. When he got out he was so cold, but he didn't complain one bit! He's such a water boy, but still obedient!!;) We had a great day.

New smile!

A few weeks ago I noticed Kyle's smile started to look a little different. Turns out he had a loose top tooth! This is always hard for me because it means my little boy is growing up! So, I took one last picture of our little Kyle!!Now just a few weeks later... Kyle is so funny! His teeth were loose forever! I wanted to pull them so bad, but he wouldn't have it!! My mom offered him $2 or chocolate chip cookies if she could pull it...he said no. Ryan offered him a gold coin...he said no! He patiently just let them fall out when they were good and ready! Here is our new Kyle!!:)

Catch up!

Since I haven't been feeling well my blog has gone to pot. Now I'm trying to play catch up on a few things. Kyle is an official Kindergarten graduate. He did great in Kindergarten. A few weeks ago he came home with a metal around his neck for an award on an art project he did. He got 3rd place. He also got 4th place in some writing assignment and student of the month. Great job Kyle!! His teacher, Mrs. Perkins, said something nice about each kid. She started off saying, "This kid is going to be a Pulitzer prize award winning writer. He writes stories better than any kindergartner I've ever had. Kyle Salanoa." I couldn't believe what I heard because I thought that was the area he needed the most work on. Anyway, it was sweet. I have to admit I cried! I saw one other mom crying and another mom say to her, it gets easier with your second and I wanted to say..."Says who!" We are so proud of you Kyle!! Great job!! After the awards there was a little BBQ. Monty got asked to cook for it and they brought him the smallest little grill to cook for over 100 people! He did a great job anyway! While he was cooking Kory and Trey had a great time playing on the kindergarten playground. Trey--showing off his muscles!!
Tyler also did great this year!! We are so proud of him! At his end of the year awards ceremony he received the Presidential Fitness award, the Presidential Academic Award, and Honor Roll for third trimester. He also received student of the month for his class. At the end of the day we went out of Ice cream to celebrate the boys good work. Now it's time to enjoy the summer.