May Part C, June and July

I really need to catch up so I can stop nagging myself! My pictures from May to July are on an external hard drive in our safe on the third floor...not gonna happen right now (I'm in the basement). So here are a couple more highlights from summer...

Caught a snake at White Lake (not me personally, heck no). Uncle Aaron shot it with a shot gun. It was quite a sight. I was recording the capture on my phone, but the sound of the shot gun scared the sh... scared me so badly, I missed the most exciting part.

We had a huge celebration at the lakehouse for (Great) Aunt Bettie's birthday. Love that woman.

We took a trip to Myrtle Beach and had so much fun hanging out with Aaron and Caroline and their four girls, going to the Grand Dunes Ocean Club, and riding bikes at Huntington Beach State Park. Here's the only picture from that still on my phone..

The end of May we found out we were pregnant. We are expecting baby #2, a boy, in January 2014!!

May Part B

While we were out of the country, my Grandpa Brock passed away. We were so glad we got to see him and visit with him the day before we left, four days before his passing. I even have a video from that day of him and Reese exchanging kisses. He was alert and looked really good. He told me at one point that he would be going home soon, but he was looking pretty good, so I didn't think much of it. Reflecting on our conversation, I think sometimes people really do know when it's their time.

Here is his obituary.

Edward Earl Brock, Sr., age 82, passed this mortal life peacefully in his home on May 16th 2013 after an 18 year battle with cancer. Born July 14, 1930 in Mount Olive, NC, Earl Brock was the son of  William Carson and Effie Wise Brock of Grantham NC.  At the age of 19, Earl served a mission for the LDS church in the central Atlantic states. His mission molded him into a service-oriented christian of the highest caliber. Besides being a missionary as a young man, Earl also served for our freedoms in the Korean War. Afterwards, he attended Brigham Young University and majored in Biochemistry. He later attended NC State University graduate program in Animal Husbandry.
Earl married Joan Elizabeth Lockhart on Oct. 17, 1959 in Goldsboro NC and was sealed for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake City Temple on June 9, 1960. Together they raised six children. Earl considered his role as a father and husband to be the most important and rewarding endeavor of his life. In the summer of 1960, he took a summer job in Raleigh to sell kitchen cabinets for Marsh Furniture Company.  He later founded Marsh Kitchens of Fayetteville which is now Brock Cabinets. Through his efforts, Brock Cabinets is now a thriving business serving four cities in North and South Carolina.  Earl was an exceptional human being.  All who knew him have been inspired by his grace, his kindness, and his boundless generosity. Earl was the type of person who lived life to its fullest--enjoying work, loving his family and friends, serving his Church and community, and giving himself to those in need.  He loved the Lord and was a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Earl's wish would be that all who read this would know the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ, lives.
Earl Brock is survived by his wife, Joan Elizabeth Lockhart Brock, two daughters and sons in law, Donna Kaye and Ricky D. John, Jane Elizabeth and Jerry S. Draper, four sons and daughters in law, Edward Earl Brock, Jr. and Marnell Dustin, Nephi William Brock and Wendy Wilson, Ammon Ray Brock and Jamie Bingham,  Aaron Helaman Brock and Caroline Crockett , his sister Betty Faye and brother in law David E. Dale, 30 grandchildren, 2 great grandchildren.

The funeral will be held Monday at 11am at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints 3200 Scotty Hill Rd in Fayetteville.  Burial will be following services at Lafayette Memorial Park.
The family will receive friends from 6 -8pm this Sunday @ Rogers & Breece Funeral Home in Fayetteville. 
In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate your donations to be made to LDS Charities (Humanitarian Services) and/or Perpetual Education Fund.

Reese and Lillie played and fed each other snacks at the viewing. It was really incredible to see all the many people that knew my Grandpa and those whose lives he had touched. It went on for about four hours! (5/19/13)

 My Grandma picked out these bright yellow and pink dresses with fish on them for the funeral. (5/20/13)

 Devon, Reese, Me, William, Mom, Riley, Dad, Cammie, James, Hayley

Grandpa left behind a great legacy... 'Til We Meet Again!

 Thirty-two roses from each of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren 

We love talking about our memories of Grandpa, like how he would sit in his chair at the end of the dock to watch us out on the lake and as we'd come in to park the boat and the wave runners. He would holler at us..."You're comin' in too fast" or "You're comin' in too slow!" "To the right!" "To the left!" "Don't hit the dock!" It's difficult to park perfectly under such pressure! :) 

When James, Teresa, and I were younger Grandpa was the boat driver. He would take us out all day long if we wanted. We would ski, kneeboard, tube, slalom. And then we got a trick board and a wakeboard, and he would take us to do all that too.

He would work out in the lake for hours and hours days and days, cutting out tree stumps and scraping out the lake weed so we had a nice white sandy area to swim in with clean clear water.

His preferred daily attire included cargo shorts from Walmart, a white short-sleeved button down dress shirt, white socks, and dress shoes...and his straw hat if he was out in the sun.

He made the best blueberry pancakes and banana pudding!

At the point where he had to stay on his hospital bed out in the family room area (it was a special air mattress that helped prevent bed sores), he would talk about how hard he'd worked all his life so he could get a nice comfortable king-size bed, and Grandma wouldn't even let him sleep in it. He said. "She's got me sleepin' on wires!" Then, he looked at her and said, "Why are you so mean to me?" 

Grandma tells the story the best and gets us all cracking up. I could go on and on with funny stories!

May Part A

We loved going to Riley's baseball games to watch him pitch and hit home runs!

 For Mother's Day we got my mom a bunch of Pampered Chef pot protectors.

 My mom was so kind to watch Reese for a week so we could go on a cruise to the Bahamas. It was way last second and we missed Reese sooooo much, but it was so nice and so relaxing. We had such a good time! Happy Mother's Day and Father's Day to us! The cruise life is one of luxury. My favorite thing about them has to be meals and snacking. Tons of food options and you don't have to prepare or clean up anything!

 I think these were the alligator fritters Devon tried (disgusting to even think about if you ask me). He had all sorts of weird food and it's been so long we can't remember everything but some were frog legs, duck, and shark. I think it drove him crazy that I wouldn't try any of it, but that is just not my thing. Sorry dude (you know what I was when you picked me up--a little seminary video reference)!

Our favorite thing on the ship by far was their warm chocolate melting cake. Incredible. I can't really say anything else about it, but it's puts Chili's molten chocolate cake to shame. We ordered it every single night after dinner and one night I ate two!!

 The first port was Nassau and we did the day excursion at the Atlantis water park. We loved it. My favorite was the lazy river. It was a lazy river with fun rides mixed in. We loved the beaches too!

 No editing or filters on this one!

 Devon's exercise for the day, a nice open water swim.

 So hot right now. 

 I just love this guy!

 The second port was Freeport. We decided to head for the beach and then do a little shopping.

Race day and moving

Hayley flew in to help us move to North Carolina for the summer for Devon's internship, which we were so grateful for! Devon finished his finals and we started getting packed up.

 The neighborhood swing

May 4th was the Columbus half-marathon (a.k.a. race day) and also moving day.
I ended up having some knee problems and went to physical therapy for rehab. I got a free ticket out of the the longer runs per doctor's orders, so that was nice, but I also wasn't as ready for the race as I was for the Akron half last September. My goal for this race was to pace my friend and help her run it in under two hours! I got teary hugging Angie at the finish line. It was quite an accomplishment! Our friend, Kelli, ran it six months pregnant--also quite the accomplishment!
While I ran, Hayley and Devon packed both cars to the brim and were ready to leave. I got home, showered, said goodbye to our neighbors and our dear friends, The Parkers, and hopped in the car. We were off.

March - April

Time for some journal blog catching up...

Here are a few things in the long almost-forgotten past that I want to document (like March-April 2013).

I made my first batch of homemade bread. Thanks to Becca for the bomb recipe. Moist and delicious, especially with cinnamon and sugar!

 We had a little Easter egg hunt. (3/30)

 Reese caught on quickly, as you can see.

 baby squat!

   The Easter Bunny brought Reese a few presents. (3/31)

April 2nd was Devon's 29th birthday! Reese and her friend Madison helped open presents. Devon celebrated with his buddies and watched some NCAA Bball. I served up some ice cream and specialty drinks (IBC Rootbeers, Cream Sodas, Roy Rogers, Shirley Temples, etc.). We got him some stuff from Jack Threads and some candy. I also put together a funny card his friends helped with. It was a bucket list of sorts for this next year--a list of things you're too old to do or say when you turn 30.

At the end of April Grandpop Glassman passed away and we headed to California. It was good to be able to see family, but sad to see them on these terms. I don't know where my pictures are, but we attended a beautiful service and ceremony--it was our first traditional Jewish funeral. My favorite part was the shivah, where we gathered to reminisce and talk about memories of Grandpop. 

We were also lucky to be there long enough for two Knott's Berry Farm trips and a splash pad adventure. Shira and I were like the paparazzi trying to get pictures of Reese and Brekyn together. 

 Reese LOVED Snoopy and literally gave him like a minute-long hug!

Reese is 15 months!

Reese is getting so big! She is catching up in the height category. At her appointment she was 38% for height, 21 lbs 4 oz (49% weight), and head circumference 33%.

She has lots of fun tricks. She

signs please, thank you, more, all done, milk, water, horse, bird

says mama, dada, hi, boo, tickle, that, ya (all day long!), book... 

can drop her booty when she dances 

loves carrying her purse around in the crux of her arm

loves necklaces and bracelets
knows what a dog, cow, and an elephant says

loves the movie Tangled and her Signing Time DVDs

loves climbing stairs, being outside, standing on the driver's seat holding the steering wheel and dancing to the radio 

usually sleeps around 12 hours and takes 2- two hour naps

has ten teeth (I think--it's dangerous trying to count)

only drinks out of sippy cups and regular cups

loves being chased

copies me and shakes her finger at things she is not supposed to touch (blinds, DVD player, garbage can), and then proceeds to touch them

tries to clean her ears if I give her a Q-tip

can blow her nose into a tissue

likes brushing her own teeth but DOES NOT want help

wipes her own tray, face, and hands after she eats

said her first two word combo "hi daddy" and possibly three word combo (we think) "look at that"

Also, I forgot to document that she took her first steps on January 8 from Dad to Mom for a vanilla pirouette stick! It took a while for her to prefer walking over crawling, but around 14 months she really took off. She is still doing the drunk sailor walk a little bit. She has tried to run a few times and she ends up on the ground, but it's so cute watching those little legs go!
I feel like like I'm forgetting things. It seems like she learns something new everyday. We love this girl like crazy!

NC in January

My friend I worked with at the medical center was ready for a vacation, so we drove down to North Carolina together for a week vaca at my parents' house. It was super nice and relaxing. 

We were able to check out the Natural History Museum downtown and it was pretty sweet. I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I think my favorite part was the cafe. Amazing chocolate chocolate chip cookies! haha

Grandpa was only there for a day before flying to Utah, so we had to make the most of it. Reese loved playing "swingy" with Grandpa. (I have a video of it too long to post, but he holds the front of her pajamas and swings her back and forth. It's so funny because she loves it and gets really still and quiet at the beginning and then just starts giggling like crazy. 

We also made a trip to Fayetteville to visit Reese's great-grandparents. Reese got lots of attention and loved exploring! She definitely missed her Dad and was excited to see him waiting when we pulled in. Too cute.

A long time coming... Reese is one!

Reese turned one on 12-11-12 and the lovely, talented Amy Rex did her mini shoot. Let's just say I love how they turned out and can't believe I'm just now sharing them! 

Holidays in California

I'm a bit behind due to not having a computer for a few weeks. While we were on vaca in California we got news our house in Ohio had been broken into. Ugh. Filing an insurance claim... not fun. Losing pictures and videos of your first five years of marriage and your first child's first year of life... depressing.
Anyway, here goes my catch up. California was so fun. Reese loved playing with her cousins. We enjoyed relaxing and catching up with all our family there. Not to mention the lovely break from freezing Ohio weather... When we got there, I had to go to urgent care and get an antibiotic for strep. A couple days later we celebrated Reese's birthday and had a big family get together for it. Reese got lots of awesome toys and cute clothes! We were able to go to Tom's Farms in the Crown Town and visit friends. We also did some shopping (of course) and went to a sweet bounce house place called Sky High, I think. Christmas and Hanukkah celebrations with family were awesome. The break from school was great, and spending it with family was even better. We were sad to leave. Here's the picture overload...

Hanukkah at the Glassman's

Cute matching cousins

Happy First Hanukkah Reese!

Bounce place in Anaheim

 

 Delicious gourmet cupcakes courtesy of Danielle Irwin

Me and Lauren

Rach and me

Reese and my BFF's little boy Quincy

Brylee and Reeser playing together... kind of

Glassman family tradition - chocolate waffles Christmas morning

Devon got some dinero for a very special big boy toy...

Shira got Reese and me matching aprons from Anthro. LOVE them!

Colton got the coolest toy for Christmas. I think Shira might secretly like it more! ;)

Loves from Breky :)

Me Reese Jaime and Jill

Riding the train at Tom's Farms