Bitter Sweet

(My Grandmother and I when I was a baby)

My sweet grandmother Carolyn Grimaud passed away Wednesday, June 25, 2008 at 7:37 pm. She was only 72 years old. This is a bitter sweet time for all in our family because for the past seven years my grandmother has suffered from Alzheimer's disease. She was an amazing lady who loved everyone she met. She is an angel and I am so sad that she has left this earthly life. However, I am comforted to know that she is in Heaven without pain and with a sound mind. I know that she will be with us always and that someday I will get to see her smiling face again. I love you Grandma and I will miss you very much!

Work Work Work

In May Dru just graduated from ISU with his Bachelor's degree in Finance. I am so proud of him! To make things even better a couple of weeks ago he started a job with Westmark Credit Union and LOVES it. I am so excited for him to be done with school and enjoy the workin life. It will also be nice to have some extra income. As for me I am still working as a PSR worker and trying to keep a clean house (it is much harder than it seems). I planted flowers in my yard for the very first time a week before Memorial Day and I haven't killed them yet. They are actually looking really good and I am proud of my efforts. So as you can see we have had a lot going on lately but it's always good to stay busy.

Blessings

I have just recently had a sweet manifestation of my Heavenly Father's love for each of us and I wanted to share how greatful I am for such spiritual experiences. Despite our shortcomings and faults Heavenly Father loves us unconditionally and will help us through everything if we first turn to him and ask for help. Sometimes things can be difficult to endure and we want them to come to pass on our time. We must remember that things happen on the Lord's time and that he can see the bigger picture. This has been the hardest lesson for me to learn, especially recently, but I am coming to grips with it and am beginning to understand that there are reasons for everything. We must continue to have faith in the Lord and endure to the end and someday the things we have been praying so hard for will happen. Just wanted to put that out there!

A new addition

While we were engaged we decided that we wanted a dog. Dru hates dogs with a passion but for some reason he really wanted a boxer. I also love boxers and am an avid dog lover so I was all for getting a dog. We kept our eye on the newspaper for a good price, and about a month before we got married we found our good deal. We called the number, but all of their puppies were spoken for. I was crushed. About 10 minutes later I got a phone call saying that one of their puppies was going to be available after all. We could come look at her that night and decide. I did not get my hopes up because I was very specific about what I wanted. I wanted a fawn boxer with a black face, and white paws. When we went to look at her she was exactly what we wanted and she would not be ready to go with us until we were back from our honeymoon, so the deal was even more perfect. We were going to get our puppy after all. We went to visit her once a week so that she could get to know us before we took her home and on August 13th, 2007 we welcomed Madison into our family!!

She wasn't even as long as my forearm when we first took her home and now she's almost 50 lbs and around 2 ft tall (on all fours). What a growth spurt!

I know it sounds like we just had a child, but in a lot of ways we did. Dogs are so much work. We have finally through the potty training and the anxiety of leaving her home alone. Maddie is such a sweet good dog. She loves people, especially children. She knows many tricks and is very smart. She loves to play with her ball and with my mom's new beagle puppy Tugger. The only struggle with Maddie is that she refuses to sleep in her doggie bed and has to be cuddled up to us. I guess this is our fault because when she was small we let her.

This is Maddie cuddling with her Dad!

A home to call our own

While Dru and I were engaged we purchased a town home that was in construction. We were brave and decided to do much of the work ourselves to save some money. We painted the entire house, and put in all of the trim pieces (ie moldings and doors), did all of the tile in our bathrooms (floors and showers), and Dru put hardwood floors in our kitchen and dining room. We did not realize what we were getting ourselves into, especially while trying to plan a wedding. We finished our home and were able to close on it 3 days before we got married. We had most of our belongings moved in before we did, so although it was very stressful, it paid off in the end.

Honeymoon

This is a picture of the swimming pool at our hotel.
The day after we were married, we were lucky enough to spend a week in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, which is just an hour away from Cancun, but not as wild. We stayed in a hotel right on the ocean. We spent time snorkeling off the coast of Cozumel, touring the ancient Mayan Ruins Tulum and Chichen Itza (one of the 7 Wonders of the World), and at an amazing conservation park called Xcaret. Xcaret had a great night show and many wild animals to see. You could even swim with the dolphins for a small fee, but we opted not to do that. They also had a cenote that you could snorkel (an underground river). We enjoyed our trip very much and would love to go back again someday.

The beginning

Well I finally decided to take the time and start blogging. I love to read what my friends are up to, so I thought that maybe you would like the same courtesy. I guess the only place to start is at the beginning of our life together.

Dru and I met officially on our first date. It technically was not a blind date because Dru already knew who I was. We grew up around the corner from eachother and attended the same church. We hit it off immediately and the rest is history. Dru and I were married in the Idaho Falls Temple on August 4th, 2007.