Trip to AZ and Great Grandpa's Funeral

We love going down to Prescott, Arizona to see the Close cousins! I mean, the 10 hour drive with Jane is not my favorite but all the other girls did awesome. They have so much fun exploring and getting dirty and enjoying their awesome property. One of the funniest things was seeing Reese and Taft "herding" chickens for hours. They would get long sticks and make the chickens go where they wanted them to. Emma and Ashur's favorite memory was making a well near the stream. They dug and dug and used stones and rocks to make the wall of it. Great times on a great property!

We are glad we got to go down because Tara is expecting a baby the end of March and I am expecting the middle of July so we didn't know when the next time would be that we could visit them again. 

Grandpa Edward Jones passed away just a few days before we were planning on heading down to AZ to visit the family. Timing wise everything worked out better than planned. But the Sunday before he passed, we had a family fast that he could return home to God. He has suffered for a few years with dimensia but the last 3 months or so were becoming pretty rough. They think he maybe had a stroke that ultimately made him immobile for the last week and a half of life. 

Tammy and Dale took care of him until the end. They did everything they could to give him a comfortable home and life and we will forever be grateful for that. 

Grandpa Jones was a wonderful man. Pretty quiet, but still loved to tease and pinch and poke :). He was a hard worker and loved to garden and earlier on in life built homes and worked on construction. He ultimately was the person who really encouraged Cade to get a college degree and go into accounting and know how to deal with money and learn about businesses. We will miss him but are grateful he is in a better place with our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Cousin Casey and her two daughters Morgan and Cali. 

Lucy's 5th Birthday!

Out of Lucy's mouth...."Mom! Now that I am 5 I can do everything by myself! Like set the table, start the bath, make my own sandwich and play by myself!" She is growing up and doing so much by herself. We are so proud of the strides she has made in just the last year. 

Lucy has been making goals of things she wants to learn to do and is doing awesome! She is becoming a great swimmer and just this last week learned to swim the whole length of the pool without the assistance of her teacher. She gets so excited when I tell her she can make her own lunch. She usually makes a PB and jelly sandwich, veggies and hummus and fruit. Lucy is also learning to not need someone next to her playing with her every second which is definitely new for her. She also looks very much forward to preschool every single time. She is so social and loves being around people. Some of her friends right now are Sophie Bleak (of course), Sadie Swan, Alice Stonebreaker, Evie Folker and Olive Kingsford. 

We love our spunky, fun-loving, energetic Lucy! She adds so much excitement and patience learning in our home and we would't have it any other way. Lucy is growing into a beautiful, sweet girl. 

Lucy got her beloved play date with Sophie on her birthday. Nothing is better than playing with her best friend on her special day. They wore swimsuits and played in the bathtub, had a tea party for lunch and ended with ice cream cones. Fun day!