Almost every day I ask Camilla, "Are you a baby or a monkey?!"

That's a worm she found on the sidewalk.  Thankfully she did not attempt to put it in her mouth.

Cardboard box fort with Dad.

Camilla is now 16 months and she loves to climb everything.  She has 2 new words,  "Uh huh" and "Yah" and 12 teeth (I don't really know why it's important to document how many teeth she has, but it seems noteworthy).  She claps her hands to the song "If you're happy and you know it".  Camilla likes to dress her baby doll in her own clothes and tries to feed her too.  She LOVES to wear shoes, all the time, even while wearing footed pajamas.

Our big news is that Ryan started his new job on Monday.  She was hired on at Pinnacle Consultants as a Medicare supplement plan broker.  We were thrilled when he passed his insurance test on the first try last month.  I'm so proud of him and we're really looking forward to what the future brings our little family.

Easter 2013

"He is not here; for he is risen" Matthew 28:6.  I know that my Savior lives!  I'm feeling especially grateful this Easter for the gift of a Savior, to suffer and die for my sins so that I may return to my Heavenly Father.  I know that Jesus Christ loves me, He knows me by name, He blesses me every day with the gift of my family and the knowledge of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I love celebrating Easter because it means remembering Jesus Christ's gift of the Atonement, spending time with family and feeling renewal of spring just around the corner.  Happy Easter!

Grandma Myrt

Ryan's maternal grandmother passed away Friday March 29th.  Last summer Grandma Myrt made the difficult decision to move away from her home of 50+ years and move into an assisted living apartment after a series of pretty serious falls in her home.  I thought about this decision a lot after she moved, I can't imagine how difficult it was for her to move away from the home she raised her 6 children, the home she worked sometimes 2 jobs to pay off her mortgage, the home where her 16 grandchildren looked forward to Christmas dinner every year and the annual visit from Santa Claus.  It must have been so difficult to walk away from the home that shared some many wonderful memories.  When we visited Grandma Myrt last August she had started walking with a cane, but she gave us a tour of her new apartment and was all smiles.  I guess Ryan and I just saw what we wanted to see, a happy Myrt that gushed over Camilla.  The truth was that Grandma Myrt had been recently cycled in and out of the hospital over the past year, battling diverticulitis and cirrhosis of the liver.  She was hospitalized again in late March for a ruptured diverticulum in her abdomen, got septic from peritonitis and she just couldn't do it anymore.

We last saw Grandma Myrt only 6 weeks before at Grandma Mullen's funeral.  Camilla was playing with her cane in the funeral home lobby.  Grandma was smiling and laughing at Camilla as she bobbed the cane up and down.  I'm so thankful that I had the one last moment with Grandma Myrt before we were back in that same funeral home, this time saying good bye to her.

Pappo and Grandma Myrt

Grandma Myrt about 6 months before she passed away.

The newspaper clipping that covered the Mejstrik family Christmas dinner tradition.  We always have an Iron Chef style Christmas dinner with a secret ingredient.  

 Mejstrik children mid 1960's and at Grandma Myrt's funeral luncheon.

Top:  Wendy 

Middle:  Randy, Bobby, Keith

Bottom: Renee and Tom

Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren of Grandma Myrt who were able to come to the funeral.

I guess if there is a bright side to funerals it's the family time.  It's like being at a family reunion.  I really enjoyed getting to know Pappo's brother and sisters.  Since I never had the chance to meet him, it the second best option I suppose.  Ryan's cousins are all fun, like really fun and we always enjoy our time with them.  

You'll be missed Grandma Myrt, we love you.