Life and Death

Yesterday, we celebrated Cami's 1st birthday! I didn't want to have a full-on party, but I did want to do something special. So I ended up just inviting Melissa and the girls over for dinner. I had thrown a baby shower the day before for a friend who's having a girl, and I made these pink and brown butterfly decorations. I'm cheap, so I decided to keep those up for Cami's birthday.

The menu consisted of:

Crostini with Brie, Dates, and Toasted Walnuts
Baked Orzo with Shrimp, Lemon, and Feta
Green Beans with Tomatoes and Balsamic
and
Dark Chocolate Truffle Cupcakes for dessert

These were all new recipes for me, and everything turned out great, but for me, the stand out was the crostini. I even took a picture of them!



The cupcakes were also good. It was from my new "Simply Sweet" dessert cookbook from Pampered Chef, and it's a nice twist on a molten cake. The gooey middle comes from sticking a chocolate truffle inside the cupcake when they come out of the oven.

We had a good time. Kendall and Mookie were silly, as usual. And even though we didn't have family there, it really turned out to be a nice, memorable celebration. Although, we did Skype with a few family members, so that was nice.











Today, we're remembering the second anniversary of Ryan's death (Grant's younger brother). He would've been 19, and in his second year of college. I found these old pictures from when Grant's family visited us in Albuquerque in either 03 or 04, so Ryan was either 12 or 13.







And I don't know when this was written, but it's evident that Ryan really looked up to his big brothers. I think Grant's mom sent this to us after he died.



This sounds so cliche, but it's true - only God knows why Ryan died so young. We will never understand why, but we have to remember that it was part of God's plan. However, we can be comforted knowing that Ryan was a follower of Christ. 1 Thessalonian 4:13-18 says:

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Stuffed

Someone once told me that in case my kids ever do something drastic, like use the wall as their own artist's canvas, or put fingernail polish on their face, or other situations like that, to try to be the kind of mom that laughs at whatever it is and take a picture of it.

I had my first real opportunity to do that. This isn't nearly as drastic as those kinds of things, but Kendall was supposed to be taking a nap. I heard her open her door, and she was talking to herself in a really quiet voice. I asked her what she was doing, and just then, she appeared on the landing of the stairs, holding her pillow that was completely stuffed with random things. For one split second, I wanted to be upset that she wasn't taking her nap, but that person's voice ran through my head just in time, and I started cracking up! These aren't the best pictures, because I just grabbed my phone really quick, but it gives you an idea of the objects in there. Actually, it still doesn't give you a great idea, because there's easily 30 things stuffed in that pillow case. She was so proud of her accomplishment.