Happy Memorial Day!

My family has a tradition every Memorial Day. We go to Westminster Memorial Park where they have a program to honor those who served our country. It's a great program with speakers, patriotic musical numbers, etc.

Our whole family goes and we have lots of fun.


The Boy Scouts place American flags on the graves of all the veterans, and everyone dresses in red, white and blue.

Afterward, we visit the graves of our family members. We have a kit we bring every year that includes: a water pitcher and paper towels to clean dirt off, digging tools to clear weeds, and lots of flowers.

My grandma's mother's name was Iris, so she placed an iris on her grave. She also told her parents, "You'd better be taking care of my sweetheart!" This year was a little different since my grandpa, who comes with us every year, passed away a few weeks ago. We not only got to visit his grave this time, but the Marines were waiting at my grandpa's grave for us. Since my grandpa joined the Marines when he was 18, they were there to salute him and his family.



They opened an American flag and held it open over my grandpa's grave while the soldiers gave a 21 gun salute (which Grandpa would've loved, since he was an avid gunman).
After, they folded it back up, and another soldier played Taps.
Then, they presented the flag to my grandma, on behalf of the President of the United States, and the Marine Corps.


It was a wonderful ceremony and very touching to be a part of. I'm so thankful to be a part of this country and for all the men and women who work so hard for our country to be what it is. We will forever be in their debt.

Of course, Memorial Day just isn't complete without a pool party and barbeque. So we all headed over to the Dimicks' for some food and fun. Scott and I had our underwater camera, so that added to the fun.

Memorial Day is a great time to have fun, spend time with family and just take a break. I am so grateful for this holiday because it also reminds me to give tribute to those who have gone before us, and to be thankful for this country we live in. It truly is the greatest country in the world. God bless America!

Our Kitchen

When we got engaged and started gathering things for our first home, we decided (or I decided and Scott went along with it) that our kitchen would be ladybug-themed. We've been lucky that ladybugs are somewhat in right now and so there are lots of ladybug things available, and that our friends and family members have been very generous and helped it come together. We just wanted to share some of our treasures!

Our salt and pepper shakers and matching cookie jar, compliments of Nancy/Mom.

Scrubber holder (or whatever you call those things), complements of sister Sarah.

Ladybug mixing bowl set, a shower gift from a family friend back in the home ward.
One of my favorites, an apron that my Grandma Fraser made for me. One of the best things about it is she made the pocket on the left side since I'm left-handed!

Another homemade favorite: my sister Melissa made these red and black "Home" blocks for our house last Christmas. She knows we don't have much room in our apartment so...

They double as Christmas decorations if you flip them around! They're so awesome.

Last but not least, this cute little ladybug picture frame that I got at Michael's for 3 bucks.

We can't wait to get a bigger place (even though we are no rush to leave our little "cottage" that we love) so we can get more ladybug stuff! Thanks to everyone for the gifts!

It's a bird, it's a plane...

It's a graduate! That's right, folks, after nearly 8 years of procrastination, tomfoolery and indecisiveness the time has finally come! I'm (Scott) getting my Associate's Degree! The day of celebration is this Wednesday at 6pm at Cypress College. All are welcome to come!

Dedicated to John David Fraser

On Thursday my grandpa went back into the hospital. Of course we were all worried about him but checking into the hospital was nothing new for him. Friday morning my grandma told us she had received a strong impression that we should all visit with him sometime that day. An hour or so later his doctor informed us he didn't expect him to make it through the weekend. So we all got out of work and went to visit with him. At noon he was given a priesthood blessing that said, "You've endured to the end and we give you a blessing of peace." We visited with him throughout the day, during which he understood us and would nod or shake his head, but was too weak to speak to us. We could tell he didn't have much longer. Between seven and eight the critical care unit doesn't allow visitors, but they made an exception for us and allowed my grandma, mother and aunt to stay with him. Scott and I figured this was a good time to do our laundry before going back. We were in the laundromat when we received word he had passed on. We were glad that he would no longer be in pain but knew we would miss him so much. There was nothing to do about it immediately so we sat in the laundromat, folding our laundry and crying. I'm sure we looked insane.

My grandpa lived a great life. He received multiple college degrees and was an avid hunter, photographer and biker (both bicycles and motorcycles).

He was a professional photographer, and at one point worked as the Director of Photography for CBS.

In 1957 he was married to my grandmother and started the Fraser family, having 4 children who all married in the temple.


My grandparents have always been an inspiration and an example to me of being good spouses, parents and servants of the Lord. I will always be grateful to them and try to follow their examples. I am so grateful for temples and look forward to being reunited with my grandpa, and the rest of our family, in paradise.

Bon Voyage!

One month from today we'll be on this ship:

Celebrating that this happened 11 months ago from today:

And finally enjoying our honeymoon!

Wishing we were Blue

We hereby proclaim: Avatar= Best Movie Ever! We saw it in theaters four times (3D of course). And we didn't stop because we were sick of it. We stopped because all of our movie tickets we had gotten for Christmas ran out. Well, when I say "we" I mean "I". Scott loves it too but not like I do. He is very understanding and supportive of my addiction though.
So, after the fourth and final time, like the wonderful husband he is, he reserved the BluRay on Amazon. And ever since then, we have been counting down to the day it will arrive, April 22nd... which just so happens to be today!



That's right, we are now proud owners of Avatar. And the best part, for our twenty bucks, we not only got the BluRay, but it came with a DVD! Soooooooooooo, if you happen to be one of the few people who still haven't seen it, then it's your lucky day! Because we not only happen to have it on both kinds of discs (for whichever kind of player you have, but hopefully you do have BluRay because seriously, it is so much better), but we would love to watch it with you!

Almost worth getting sick

My Grandma and Grandpa Fraser are some of the best people I know. They are a great example of a good marriage and being strong members of the church. My grandma is so selfless and hard-working. My grandpa is so smart and funny and he knows so many things. They both care so much about their family. Last July we had a party for my mom's 50th birthday. The theme was "Things that happened in 1959." My grandparents represented Alaska being admitted to the Union.
Aren't they cute? My grandpa has some of the best stories, but we don't always take the time to listen to them. We are so busy sometimes we miss out on the stories about when he was 15 and he would take his dog and gun and hitchhike to go hunting. Or when he was a kid and traded his grandpa's sword (a real 4 foot sword from a war) and traded it to another kid for a horse. Or about the time when he opposed a bishop in stake conference. Or a billion others!

My grandpa has always had health problems and a few weeks ago he ended up in the hospital. He was transferred to a nursing home, which he was released from today. We all tried to visit him as much as possible. Scott and I were able to go visit him last night. We listened to his stories and were looking for an exit a little after ten, since we both had to work in the morning. Of course, none came. Grandpa is really good at keeping his stories going. We finally managed to sneak out about 10:45. When we were saying goodbye, he thanked us for coming. And then he said, "It is almost worth getting sick to be able to have so many good talks with my grandkids."

In the last couple of years when I have thought about the time when he will no longer be with us, I thought that I will probably regret not listening to him more. But I didn't think about what he has been missing out on by not being able to share his knowledge and experience. So remember, life is short!