My Dear Grandpa

My Grandpa always had a big smile on his face

My grandpa always had his guitar in hand...he taught my dad how to play the guitar


My very sweet grandparents!

June 15 started out like any other day....I got up and got ready for work, drove my 45 minute commute to work, and started my work day. As I was sitting at my desk filing papers and typing away on the computer, around 12:45, my dad came up to my desk and his voice and look worried me and it was not his usual cheerful smiley self. I jumped up from my chair and said "whats wrong" and all he could say was "grandpa" "grandpa" and made the hand signal of GONE! I didn't believe him at first. I kept saying "Grandpa Bingham?" "Your dad" "my grandpa is gone!" I seriously could not believe it! I instantly bursted into tears and my anxiety was starting to go in overdrive. I went and called Bear and told him what had happened. Bear's Grandpa passed away 4 days earlier on June 11Th so it was something I didn't want to tell him but had to...I needed his support and he has been a great support to me!

I just saw my grandpa 2 weeks earlier for our monthly family fast Sunday dinner and he was so happy and healthy and we had nothing to worry about. He walked 5 miles a day and his doctor said he was healthy for his age so NO ONE saw this coming at all! We sat and talked and laughed about the past, present and the future. We said our good-bye's, gave him a hug and a kiss and that was that. He whispered something to me that I will never forget and he could not of said it at a better time and he sealed it with a kiss on my forehead...

So after my Dad told me what had happened I called my boss to let him know what had happened and he let me leave work so I could be with the family. As I was driving to my grandparents house and I was in the car all alone, thats when I let it all out! Good thing I had a plastic bag in there as well :] I don't handle this stuff very well!

As I pulled up to my grandparents house there was a Cop SUV there and a response team vehicle from the Fire dept. I called my brother Joey(he was already there) and told him to come outside and walk with me up to the house because I just couldn't do it by myself. My mom, my dad, brother Joey, Aunt Wendy, Uncle Matt were all there when I got there. As I walked into my grandparents room he was there laying his bed, looked like he was sleeping. That was the hardest thing to see...I was just standing there staring at him thinking he was gonna wake up but he never did. More family came and we all hugged and cried together and had a family prayer right there!

It still does not seem real and I don't want to accept it that he is really gone! He had at least another 20 years! Right now I do not know why he was taken but someday we will all know and have a better understanding as to why it happened the way it did! I know he is in a good place with his family and is happy!

I love my grandpa very much and will always cherish all the memories! His family was so important to him and we all knew he loved each of us the same! He was supportive of all us, would go to all the functions we were involved in, he would always tell us he loved us, he was always there if we needed someone to talk to, and soooo much more! He was the nicest man ever and if you didn't like him then there was something wrong with you :] I admire his strength and knowledge he had of the Gospel. He knew so much and had such a strong passion for it and he loved it!

I love you grandpa and miss you so much! But I know we will see each other again and I am so grateful for my knowledge of the Plan of Salvation! Thank you for everything you did for me and for the whole family!

xoxoxoxoxoxox

Bike Night

This past week we went to bike night out at Westgate with our good friends Dusty and Stacy...It was a lot of fun and there were a TON of bikes there to look at that were really unique and cool looking. Since Bear is a good sport and does a lot of things with me that he doesn't really "want to do", I decided I should return the favor and in the end I had a great time and I am sure we will be going again....Thanks Dusty and Stacy for showing us a good time :]

one of the very unique bikes that we saw...

Gleek

I am a GLEEK! There I admit it :] Every Tues at 8 you can find me sitting on the couch watching Glee! I love the music and the drama of it...it makes my heart happy! So a few months a go I read they were coming to 3 cities and Phoenix was their first stop and I knew I would be going! When my friend Criselda found out we decided to make it our "birthday" outing since we both our birthdays were around the date of the concert! Let me tell you it was the best concert! I think I had a smile on my face the whole time! I rank it up there with the Rascal Flatts concert I went to when I had front row! LOVED LOVED LOVED it!

Pottery

Well here are the after pics of the pottery we did LAST month on our anniversary! I love the way they turned out and can't wait to go back again...

I am turning into a horrible blogger cause I feel like I have nothing to blog about since its just me and bear around here...hopefully that will change soon :)

5 Years

On Thursday we celebrated our 5th anniversary! Look at how much we have aged :) It has been a fun 5 years so far together and its been a great learning experience! Sure some things have not gone particularly the way we have wanted...having kids.....but it will happen when the time is right! And we can't wait till that day comes! But lots of things have been right and for that I am greatful! I love Bear and feel lucky to have him in my life!


For our anniversary I took 2 days off of work so we could hang out and just relax at home together! On Thursday we went shopping and went to a place called color me mine. Its a pottery place where you can paint & decorate different types of pottery. I am definatley going to go back! We both painted mugs for eachother...I know Bear is NOT a firefighter yet but he will someday be one so I painted him a red mug with the Malteese Cross. And he painted mine zebra
print because I am into the zebra print right now and a big M on it! Then we painted a pie plate together! I had so much fun....We can't pick them up until Tuesday because they have to glaze them and put them in the Kiln? or whatever it is. So they will look 100 times better.

Hiking

Where we are living right now we are living on a mountain so last week we decided to go and climb the mountain right behind our house. The hike was probably a total of 2 miles and after a few steps I was done! It reminded me how much out of shape I am in! The view around us was awesome and to see the valley in that different view gives you a more appreciation for what we are given.

My favorite baby girl

How cute is she! These are just some of my favorite pics of my ADORABLE niece! I love her so much! Thanks Elaine and Shane for having her :) She sure does bring so much happiness to our family....!

A well enjoyed vacation

Last month we were able to go on a cruise. We got a really good deal on it and couldn't pass it up. We went on the Mexican Riviera Cruise; it went through Acapulco, Ixtapa, and Manzanillo. We went with our friends Matt and Krista. I was nervous to go for 2 reasons, the first was because I was going to be away from Toby for 9 days (sad I know) and the second was being in open water and thinking it was going to sink...and thankfully it didn't :) Dramamine really helps!!

We drove to San Diego and boarded the ship. I have never seen a ship as big as the one we were on! I think with the ship being as big as it was, it helped with the sea sickness;I could barely tell we were sailing the ocean. It was so nice and relaxing!

The ship we lived on for 9 days! The best part was 24/7 food! And we had the BEST room service! Another fun part was that the whole crew were from different parts of the world...

After a few hours of checking in and getting all the paperwork filled out, we finally boarded the ship!

Each night we got to go the "formal" diner and have YUMMY food! I was so happy that on this trip, I was able to keep all my food down and never got sick from eating! It was a miracle :) Bear said he has never seen me that much food-that means I did good right...

They had a lot of activites to do on the ship so there was never time to really get bored. Here we are golfing....if we were playing a high scoring game I would of dominated, but not in golf! I think I got 1 hole in one and my average was 4 hits to make it in....It was really windy that day so I am just going to blame the wind on that one :)

They also had a casino area...we usually just sat in the players room and played cards which was a lot of fun! That way you don't lose any money :)


My favorite days were the Formal nights at dinner! I usually don't get dressed up so I had fun with this one! Don't judge me....

Our first stop was Acapulco. We didn't really do anything on that excursion. We got off the ship for a few hours and walked the beaches and went to a few shops. It was nice to just relax with Bear and spend time with eachother...

Here we are entering Acapulco, and the only pic we took while there

The next day we stopped in Ixtapa. There we signed up for snorkeling. We had to ride on a catermaran to get to where we would be snorkeling. After we got to the area, everyone was putting on their gear and getting into the water except for me...I was a bit scared. But after 20 mins of sitting by myself and having Bear ask me to get in, I finally got brave and did it! I was sooooo scared but glad I got in and faced a fear of mine! It was so much fun and I finally got the hang of it!

Here we are waiting to go snorkeling

Riding on the catermaran...this was very relaxing!

Doesn't this look fit Bear well....hahaha! I didn't want to wear that face gear but obviously had to..it was worth it :D

Our last stop was Manzanillo, and that had to of been the worst port! There was nothing to do there so I was on the hunt for a fake purse but had no such luck...It was not a touristy city at all.

This was the "coolest" thing we saw while in Manzanillo. I am not quite sure of the significance but this sword fish looking thing was HUGE!

All in all we had a wonderful time and hope to do another cruise in the near future! It was nice being able to spend time with Bear without the worries of everyday life.




But here was our sign to show us that our vacation was really over! Right after we picked up our car from the lot and started heading towards home, not even 5 minutes later into our drive on the freeway we had a tire blow out! This pic just shows how happy Bear was! Yes it was crappy situation to be in but on the other hand it happened on a Saturday while a dealership was open and we were 2 minutes away from a Mazda dealership. So 2 hours and $$$ later, we were on our way home!