Since we last spoke...

Valentine's Day. 

Always a party at the Atwood home.

The Valentine's Fairy made her annual stop.

However, this year she referred to herself as the V.F.

You know, she's in survival mode & writing Valentine's Fairy so many times was just WAY too much work.

Lunch was colored pink.

We held the 5th Annual Atwood Valentine's Day Party.

Food:

Lindsay made these hand stamped cookies.

This one says, "Happy Birthday Suit."

Avy ate one the next day that read, "You Sexy Beast."

No worries, she can't read yet.

Guests who drive hours to attend:

Some of the White Elephant Gifts:

Breastfeeding How-to Book

Giant Oversized Dora

(future post to come soon)

Hillbilly Briefcase

Urinal

Superman Underoos

(The Galbraith's somehow ALWAYS end up with creepy Superhero gear.  Weird.)

& last but not least,

My Valentine.

So Romantic.

And really last, but really not least,

 my pint-sized Valentine.

Fun in the So Cal sun.

Tyler miraculously (really, it's a miracle) was able to escape from work for a couple days.

We loaded up the car.

We drove down to So Cal.

The trip should have taken us 6.5 hours.

It took what seemed like 15 hours.

Nursing baby needing food.

Toddler with the runs.

Car battery died after we made a stop.

You know, the usual.

Eventually, we pulled up to what seemed like Heaven.......toilets & beds.

We had a blast. 

Well, besides the never-ending drive down & the time Avy threw up, the trip was a success.

We're time-share suckers.

We own.

(Correction...we are not suckers.  Years ago we went to a presentation, thought it sounded like something good for our family, went home, jumped on Ebay, bought it for 1/4 of the asking price.  Boo-yeah.  I never say boo-yeah in real life.)

This one is right across the street from the beach.

We had some good dirty times at the beach.

We had a whale of a good time at Sea World.

(just seeing if anyone really reads my dialogue)

Did the Shamu splash.

And by the way...I don't care who you are, if the killer whale show doesn't make you tear up & think about how magical creatures of the sea are, then you've got issues.

Rode Elmo's Flying Fish ride enough times to make me lose my mind.

I met up with some old roommates who both happen to live down there now.

(No picture of us though.  Sorry.  They're really cute gals.  Take my word for it.)

Pretty much lived it up by laying around naked and eating ice-cream for our quick trip.

And for the record, the ride home was beauty at its best.

We left around bed time & didn't hear a peep from the youngins' in the back until we pulled up in our driveway.

We will definitely be red-eye road-trippers from now on.

A few thoughts:

So as I sit here & type, my heart is aching & my eyes are soaked. 

I debated where to get all my thoughts out:

Should I write them in my old-school leather bound journal?

Should I post them on my private blog for my eyes only?

Or should I post them where others can read, reflect, & share?

I chose the latter.

Some dear friends of ours lost their darling boy this past Friday.  It was totally unexpected & as anyone can even try to imagine, very devastating.

This weekend has been one with constant tears in our home.

As I had a quiet moment this morning, I tried to make some sense out of why this has impacted me so much.

Here's what I've discovered:

1-We cry because Tyler & I love our friends dearly & are heart-broken for them.

We're sad for them.  We know they're hurting.

If what I'm feeling is only a small taste of what they're feeling, then they have the strength of a hero.

We have always thought the world of our dear friends.  We met them in the singles ward years ago & can attest that they have both always had a light around them.

A couple weeks ago Tyler was at their house watching a football game & came home & said,

"I just really, really like those 2. 

People don't get any better than that."

2- I've been crying because I'm going to miss the sweet little guy. 

What a tender, big spirit, & not to mention the most gorgeous dark eyes.

When he was over here earlier in the week, Avy insisted on feeding him goldfish.  He kept looking at her like she was crazy, but went along with her demands.

He kept wanting me to turn on Lincoln's bouncy seat music so he & Avy could dance.

& I think the best part of their playdate was when he kept trying to coax me into putting him in Avy's doll stroller.

I know Avy will miss her handsome little buddy too.

3- I've been crying because I have been noticing the other side of the Veil is so real and it's so close.  The tears for reason #3 aren't tears of sadness, but are my way of expressing how strongly I have noticed the Holy Ghost & the reality of our Heavenly Father in the past 2 days.

It's real.

This tragic experience has solidified my knowledge that Heavenly Father has big plans for us all.  It's a bummer we don't know what they are & also that we may not like them so much at first, but they're big & they'll be better than we could have imagined.

I've always been grateful for that knowledge, but the comfort that comes from it at times like this is so reassuring that things will be okay.

As my friend and I were talking yesterday, we discussed how incredibly short our time is here on Earth.

Seriously, whether it's 19 months like her perfect little son, or 90+ years like my sweet Grandma Bird, that is such a short amount of time in the grand scheme of things.

What we choose to do with that time is so important.

We hope you know the love & care that has been felt for your sweet, choice family these past few days.

You guys are truly, truly amazing.