Random thoughts

Do you ever just get sick of the way things look around your house/apartment and can't stand it anymore? This morning I had that experience with the front flower bed at our house. The previous owners planted these huge plants that don't flower. I can't for the life of me remember what they are called. They also planted different kinds of grass in there as well. Call me crazy... but I like flowers in my flower bed! To top it all off, the plants are planted all scattered and not organized so it looks like a bunch of weeds are growing since it's all green and no color. I have found a new good stress reliever!! All the grass is gone now and there are some holes where plants were but it looks WAY better than it did before. Things like that have just been bugging me recently for some reason.

My parents are coming over this weekend to see us and I'm very excited. I love having them 4 1/2 hours away. Emma keeps saying "papa, papa, papa" (that's what we call my dad) and keeps looking out the window for him.

Last night Emma and I went swimming at some peoples house in the ward. It was a lot of fun. Emma enjoys jumping off the edge into the pool. I put her in a little floating turtle and swam out to the deep end with her and we played basketball. Her little friend Niev was there too with her parents and Emma and Niev jumped on the trampoline together. It's nice to have a friend for Emma that is so close in age. Niev is 18 months old and Emma is 20 months.

Tribute to my Grandma

My Grandma passed away on March 9th of this year. I was living in Colorado at the time in the process of moving up to Washington. That day I had just gotten back to Colorado from going up and visiting her and my Grandpa for their 50th wedding anniversary which was on the 1st. The news came as a shock although I knew it wouldn't be long until it happened. You never know when the last time you will see your loved ones will be. I am so thankful that I listened to the promptings of the spirit to go up to Washington and visit with them.

Some of the things I will always remember about my Grandma are:
she taught me how to play baseball

she watched Tyler and me when my mom was at work over the summers

she was always at my softball games, basketball games(both church and city league), volleyball(both church and school) games, band concerts, sign choir concerts, and swimming lessons

she was truly interested in what I was learning and always quizzed me on times tables and other things I was working on in school

her love of family and the importance of family traditions

I knew she loved me and supported me even when I made stupid choices

she would always send me letters and care packages when I was going to school at least twice a month

Now that she is gone, I miss her dearly. I am so grateful for my knowledge of the Plan of Salvation and that I will see her again. I am a much better person today because of her (and my parents too but this is about Grandma). You were a wonderful woman Grandma and I love you!

Update on Emma

I've been looking at other people's blogs and love how they have things that their kids enjoy doing so I'm going to make my own list. Emma is so active!

Her favorite things to do are: read, play the piano, dance/listen to music, help cook, throw a ball, play with our dog, take a bath, go for a walk and clean (yes she actually enjoys this).

Emma does not enjoy: being told no (but who does really?), having her diaper changed, and coming inside before she's ready.

Recent words she has picked up: Uncle Tyler, flag, goose, outside, read, car seat, raining, and oops!

New activities: She now does most of the actions to "popcorn popping", drinks from a big girl cup without spilling (we started her kinda late on drinking from a cup), puts her crocs on the right feet, and jumps off the couch onto the floor (thank you Jacob).

Today we cleaned up the house and played with Emma's Little People Farm. We also played catch and Emma caught two tosses out of probably ten but that's a good starting point. We are starting to work on color recognition starting with Red. Emma would prefer to run around outside then learn her colors at the moment though.

We hope things are going well for everyone and miss you all!

To Jump...or not to Jump?

We just got back from camping at Salmon La Sac for the weekend. We went with our friends Scott and Brittanie. Emma enjoyed walking down to the river and throwing rocks into it. There is a bridge that you can jump off of into the river. It's a pretty far jump and looks intimidating. Jacob decided that he was going to do it. He took his shirt off and went and sat up on the railing. Little did we know that the Northern Exposure reunion was happening so all of a sudden the bridge was full of people and cameras waiting for Jacob to jump. Jacob, not liking to be in the spotlight, didn't budge. Everyone had their cameras on Jacob waiting for him to jump. There were a bunch of little kids that started chanting "Jump, Jump, Jump, Jump!" It was really funny. I started taking pictures thinking he was going to do it and I started realizing that after each picture there were less and less people on the bridge with him. Finally the only people that remained were Sccott and Brittanie. Poor Jacob decided after all that work that he would save it for another day. It was so nice to be out doors and with friends.

Today Emma put on her shorts all by herself!! She was very proud and all smiles. We are getting ready to go camping this weekend with some close friends from our old singles ward. Jacob is now the Adventure Scout leader in our ward and is excited about that. It's the PERFECT calling for him and I must say I'm jealous.

Well, things at the Throolin house have been pretty uneventful. We are just living life and loving it. Jacob is working at the Hanford area and for the most part likes it (who ever loves their job fully?). Emma is saying two and three word sentences now and is so sweet. I am loving being a mom and being back in Washington. The Lord has truly blessed us!