The days since then have seemed sort of surreal. We're all happy because we know this was best for Grandpa Ford and he is happy, but there's also a mix of tears because we miss him.
It's been so strange being so young and planning a burial, submitting an obitutary, and figuring out Grandpd Ford's estate. He didn't want a funeral, just a small graveside ceremony with just the grandkids. He wanted us to say a prayer dedicating the grave and then he wanted the song "Peace in the Valley" (which none of us had heard of even though everyone from Elvis to Faith Hill seems to have their own version). We did our best to honor his wishes.
After the service we stopped at the Provo cemetery to put some of the flowers on Larry's dad's grave, then it was off to Chuckarama in honor of Grandpa Ford, because it would have been just want he would have wanted.
There's so much left to do and we've been busy cleaning out Grandpa's house because keeping busy is a good distraction. It's much easier to focus on the task at hand than to think about what is missing.
I just restocked Creed's bookshelf with new titles and wanted to say that so far this bookshelf has been a big success. Before Creed only wanted to read the same two or three titles over and over again, but since this went up in his room, he regularly picks new titles to read and he even sneaks into his room to look through them by himself. He definitely is my child. (and yes, I still have not committed to a paint color)
Sycamore Street Press is moving to Utah! I can't wait to have Eva and Kirk close enough to hang out with again! And you get to benefit too because they are having a huge sale to lighten the load before they move. From now until Monday, June 15th at 5:00 p.m. just enter the code GOODBYECOLUMBUS at checkout to get 35% off your entire order. After that they will be closing up shop until they move and then they'll have lots of new products to sell.
Creed was thrilled. He spent an hour and a half just playing in it once we put it together.
That night he jumped into bed and pretended to be sleeping so we knew we could go. Now I just need to buy him a new pillowcase because Larry says the one I stole from our guest bedding is pretty girly.
they had a lot of fun together playing in the backyard
Doesn't she look like such a fashionista in that bathing suit?
The same week Liz and Ellie invited us along to Red Butte Gardens. Creed and Ellie had so much fun.
They loved the children;s garden, especially the water fountains and the red sand (seriously, red sand? Any mom could have told you that was not a good idea even if you do have a hose nearby.)
We were there on a beautiful day and it was fun just to watch Creed and Ellie run around and explore.
I think their favorite part of the day was feeding the fish and ducks
Now every day Creed tells me that he wants our friends to come play.
The trailer and mascot alone are lovely enough to make me love this place
But the snowcones themselves are beautiful and made with all natural ingredients
Who could resist flavors like lemon prickly pear
and blackberry lavender
It's so inspiring to come across people who make a business out of something they love and create a work of art while they do it.
I immediately fell in love due to the Nikki McClure illustrations on the wall (you might recognize her work from the picture book All In a Day by Cynthia Rylant)
Since we were there on their opening day, the menu was still being developed and I overheard the owners telling the staff about noodle dishes they will be adding in the next week. The menu is split into Dumplings (served gyoza style), Noodles, and snacks with a separate boba drink menu (Dew was known for their extensive Boba menu and it's the only item you'll see from Dew's menu). We ordered one item from each section and loved it all (Creed especially liked the strawberry boba smoothie, although we ordered it minus the black tapioca pearls for him). After chatting with the owner, I'm going to try the french toast next time because she highly recommends it and it's served with a condensed milk topping, which I'm curious to try.
Afterward we stumbled into this old school photobooth two doors down at Muse. I didn't think they had any old photobooths in Provo and it made me so happy. The best part was that it's only $1.00. 
The employees had to turn it on for us and then we went to town. My favorite is Creed's kissy face! So cute!
The way he sneaks into his room and closes the door for a little secret time with his binky (binkies are only for bedtime now and they are kept in his bed.) Now he likes to stay in his crib when he wakes up and asks you to sit in the rocking chair and read to him while he lays in his crib for a little more binky time then too.
The way he calls bad-guys "mad-guys" (he heard some boys playing in the park pretending to chase bad-guys and misunderstood what they said and now he's sure it's mad-guys, not bad-guys)
The way he LOVES his new scooter. Our neighbors have scooters and he has been so envious of them so we surprised him with a scooter of his own. He is so proud of himself when he rides it around. He recently watched Bolt and loved that Penny rode a scooter and now when he rides his scooter he tells me, "I Penny, Mamma! I Super Fast! I Penny!"
The way he adds "A" before most words. "Ahtrains" "Ahfood" etc.
I seriously can't get enough of this sweet little guy.
I just can't decide. I think the elephant matches the look of the other animals better, but the monkey sound fits a little better with the others. Thoughts?
They only take about 60 seconds to draw.
My friends probably thought that I was crazy, but it would make me so happy to open up a package to see this.
Don't worry, Creed is not on fire in this photo, he's a couple feet away.
I can't believe that we've almost lived here for a year and that was our first time going to Big Cottonwood Canyon. It made us realize that we need to explore outside of Salt Lake City a lot more, and Larry and I kept saying that we need to get some of our friends out here to visit because we think they will fall in love with the canyon too.
Creed has my heart. We have turned into those doting parents who think their child is the most adorable kid in the whole world. He's just so sweet. And he already tries so hard to get a laugh from you.
He copies everything he hears people say so we hear a lot of funny phrases like, "Rock and roll mommy!" His most common phrase is, "Oh, boy!" He says it when something exciting happens, but he also says it when something funny happens and he slaps his forehead while he says it.
These days he want's to do everything "I-self!" and he's so smart. He counts to twelve (usually forgetting seven), he knows the alphabet in capital letters, he knows shapes, and he knows colors (although we're fairly certain he is colorblind like my dad and can't tell red and green apart or purple and blue)
I am completely astounded at how much he's grown up since a year ago. Can you believe a year ago he was such a little chunky baby?
At least he's still cuddly. He loves to sit on our laps to read books and he loves to be rocked a little before bedtime. His favorite books of the moment are Freight Train by Donald Crews, Not a Box by Antoinette Portis, Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion and Margaret Bloy Graham, and Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems.
He's obsessed with typical little boy things; trains, diggers, robots, bugs, the movie Cars. He collects little Pixar cars. Sally is his favorite and he keeps telling me that he really wants Luigi. He doesn't like to play by himself which means hours of Larry and I on our tummies on the carpet driving cars and ages of driving one of his two trains around and around the same track, but it's worth it because it makes him so happy.
Even though he is only two, he is such a good little friend. He loves to hold hands and make his friends giggle. He really misses Jesse and tells me every day that Jesse went on an airplane to "A-York" We're thinking about putting him in preschool this falls just so he can make some new friends (I was totally surprised that most of the preschools in my neighborhood start accepting kids at 2 1/2, but I guess that Creed's ready, and I think he would really love it)
How can he possibly be so grownup? I still think of him looking this way.
And you really can't go wrong with raspberry lemonade, a giant fruit salad
and fresh peonies from Lisa and Tyler's new home at Grandpa Lewis's
Creed was especially happy because the porch is his favorite spot. He spends hours driving cars along the railing.
After dinner we went for a walk in the rain
And there might have been a little singing in the rain too.
Letter Prints by Paperfinger (first spotted on OhDeeDoh). I can't decide if I would get S is for Sunshine, L is for Library, M is for Monster or use the custom option and ask Christina to do an R is for Robot print for Creed.
Wouldn't a vintage Secret Love Letter locket with a tiny love note in it make a romantic gift? I would wear it all the time. I'm so tempted to buy it, but it's not quite as romantic coming from yourself.
I've been eyeing the felt camera cases made by Hine for a long time. It makes me want to buy a new little point and shoot camera just so I can carry it around all the time.
These baby shoes from frostingcouture are quite possibly the most adorable baby shoes ever made.
I already posted about this awesome superhero doll made by raplapla on my tumblr site, but I have to post it here too because I LOVE it. The description says, "Tim is a florist from Warsaw. He has an impressive collection of grains of sand and he eats a jar of berry jam every day (and he is a super hero too)."
Jesse has always called Creed, "Pew" and this week after playing with Jesse, Creed told me, "Mommy, me Pew!"
Today we got together one last time for a trip to the zoo. As we left Creed kept pointing to Jesse and saying, "Again! Again! Jesse Play!" and I explained that Jesse is getting on an airplane and going far away, he isn't going to live here anymore. Poor Creed broke down in tears. We are really going to miss this little guy.
This awesome modern dollhouse also on clearance from Land of Nod. Creed is drawn to dollhouses at friends' homes, and I was happy to find one so gender neutral. It was the biggest splurge but it is already worth it for the time Creed and his friends have spent with it.
This Charlie and Lola mini playset because we needed people to live in the house and the Plan Toys people are a little scary looking, plus Creed and I both heart Charlie and Lola (ok, I especially heart Charlie and Lola)
And last but not least, this parking garage made by Melissa and Doug. I knew this would be a big hit because a store in our neighborhood has one in a little play-corner for kids and Creed always has to be torn away from it. He loves to run cars down the ramp and move the elevator up and down.
Larry made me promise to post this closeup so you can see how awesome my outfit truly was.
And here are our hunters, ready to go!
The rules were simple. Everyone was assigned a color of egg to find (13 each) and there were four golden eggs that anyone could find and redeem for a bigger treat. This year was the best hunt so far because I found the coolest nesting eggs that stacked together in groups of four so I had a lot of different sizes to hide. 
Tyler ended up with most of the gold eggs, but he shared with everyone.
We spent the rest of the night talking and enjoying our spoils.
after the parade, they played princess pinball.
He cried when we made him take off the dress to head home. The next morning he found this bobbypin on the floor and asked me to put it in his hair, then he was off to accessorize.
We've been stocking up on dressup clothes after Halloween the last couple years, but we thought Creed wasn't ready for dressing up (most of them are superhero outfits, and he has no clue what a superhero is, but he also has no clue what a princess it now that I think about it). I guess we were wrong, and now I need to go scout around the basement.
