Trips to NC anc CA...

I am so far behind. I am falling short on the blogging world. We have been very busy these last few weeks, so I appoligize for the lack of. To catch you up here is what we have been up to, sorry that it is a lot of writing and not many pictures.
I went out to NC to visit my sister Stacie. She ran the NC Marathon and Whit wanted me to be there for her. It was amazing. We totally suprized her, it could not have worked out better. I just happen to have those days off of work. She had no idea that I was coming. Thanks to my dad he played it out great. My mom and dad flew in around 3:30pm and Stacie picked them up at the airport but my flight didn't arrive until 5pm. My dad played that he left his wallet on the plane and the airlines were able to get it on another flight coming in around 5. So they just hung out near the airport at some outlets. Then we I landed i called Whit and he called my dad pretending to be the airline saying his wallet had arrived. They headed back and when they arrived I was waiting out on the curb for them. It took Stacie a minute to realize that it was me standing there! She was totally shocked. We embrassed both in tears. It could not have worked out better! Whit had it planned out perfectly! Stacie says that Whit can never suprize her, but he did it well this time. We had a lot of fun. Jaynie (my neice) birthday was the 30th so we had a big party with all of her friends and put on a play for the parents. It was very cute we had a lot to get ready but with all the help we pulled it off. Then on friday the 1st was my moms birthday so we went and got pedicures to celebrate Stacies big race and moms big birthday! It was great to just spend time with them. We do not get to do that often enough. We had a great pasta dinner that night and went to bed early d/t the fact that we had to be up at 0530 to get to the race. Saturday was the big Marathon. We got there just in time to see Stacie at the starting line. Then we drove around the met her periodically throughout the race. We saw and cheered at mile 6, 11, 17, 21, 23, and then mile 26 the end!! It was quite the event. I think everytime we saw her I got teary eyed and was in amazement that she was really doing this. You will have to here all the details from Stacie it was unreal. But she did it! She made it through the whole race. Talk about endurance and commitment. I was very proud of her she has quite the determination. That was very exciting. This picture below is her and her two friends at the finish line! They were able to cross together! The next day we took mom and dad to the airport and then I got to hang out with the girls. The next few days were a lot of fun just being able to hang out with the girls and Stac. I miss them a lot. It made me realize how much I wish we lived closer to spend more time together. Maybe someday! :)
The night before a flew out Seans grandpa Norman Rossell passed away. He has been suffering with cancer the last few years. It was something we all expected. Still very hard to accept, but all of his children were there with him when he passed and it was a good farwell. Sean headed down to California for the funeral. He actually flew down on saturday and took Spencer, Jeff and Kirsten's youngest son with him and Jeff and Kirsten drove with Carter and their other 5 children. Talk about mixed emotions. It was very hard for me to be away during all of this. I was mostly worried about Carter going potty and Sean flying with a one year old without me. It was hard for me to not be there with them during the funeral and everything. Luckily Sean had all of his family for support. I will have him post on everything that went on while he was there. Sounds like he had a great time seeing everyone- especially his mom and dad (they are serving a mission in New York right now) A fun thing was that Sean and I both flew home on Tuesday so we were able to meet up in Pheniox, AZ airport and fly the rest of the way home together. It was great to see him and spend that extra time together. We didn't get home until around 12:15am. But we made it and got right back into the grind of working- no fun.

We love you Grandpa Norm!!

For us a lot went on in a weeks period of time. It was pretty eventful. Carter had some set backs with the potty training while he was away. Thanks to everyones patience in California all helping out. But we are back to work now and he is doing really well since being back. Thank goodness. Things just don't seem to slow down around here. Our big project coming up is our yard. Stacie gave me some great ideas for plants and bushes now we just have to do the work to get it all finished.