My Grandpa Springer

Glen M. Springer

May 15th, 1923 - October 30, 2013 

"I know we're all feeling a little bit sad,

That we've lost our Grandpa, our friend and our dad...

Together we have cried an ocean of tears

As we feel so empty and hold many fears...

But Grandpa would want us to know he's in a good place
And that he watching us all with a smile on his face...

As we have made him so proud, as proud as can be
That he has raised such a beautiful and special family...

For me I am glad my little baby he got to meet
And for all of us, be grateful, his life is now complete...

To each one of us he has loved and cared
As a family we're thankful for the good times we shared...

Although he has gone we will always be together
And his spirit will live on in each one of us forever...

When you look to the sky, look for the brightest star
As that will be Grandpa looking down on us from afar."

[Ilona Blake]

Grandpa, 

Thank you for teaching me the great game of golf...
Thank you for setting us on your lap when we were little to read us the "funnies"...
Thank you for being an incredible example of unconditional love...
Thank you for taking us on walks in the woods of Wisconsin and helping us come up with a name for every single hill we went over...
Thank you for loving your wife the way a husband should...
Thank you for raising three sons in that love... your baby boy now extends that amazing love to me as my father...
Thank you for coming to support me at my basketball games, track meets, and golf tournaments...
Thank you for introducing me to the delicious combination that is peanut butter & syrup on bread...
Thank you for your humor, your laugh, your smile...
Thank you for trying so hard to remember Bennett's name but always calling him "Dennis" instead :)

Thank you for loving us all so deeply...

...We miss you deeply.


"We always thank God when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven"
Colossians 1:3-5

Grandma Lori and Auntie Emily's visit!

The boys and I ended up having to to burn some time near the Spokane airport, since Grandma Lori and Auntie Emily's flight was DIVERTED TO MISSOULA because of heavy fog in Spokane!!!  Grrr!

The boys didn't seem to mind one bit though, lol! 

We played in the back of the car...

...went to Quizno's and got some snacks...

... and then finally we got to go back to the airport to pick them up!!!

It was only a two hour delay all said and done, but still, a bummer!

The boys were so happy to see them, especially since Grandma administered a little bag of Halloween candy to Bennett right off the bat ;)

We hit up Babies-R-Us on the way back to Chewelah and the boys got a little spoiled by their Wisconsin relatives!!!

Grandma Lori's shirt says, "Grandmas never run out of Kisses or Candy"  :)

Aunt Emily went right to work taking care of the boys.  She is a natural, that's for sure!

She also snapped some awesome pictures of Bennett when they were playing at the softball field in our backyard:

They came on a Friday, I worked 8 hour shifts on Saturday and Sunday (they were a huge babysitting help by the way!!!), and then after work on Sunday it was..... GAME TIME!!!!!!!!!!

Packers @ Vikings

Grandma snuggling with her grandsons, and entertaining with technology ;)

Did I already mention, she's a natural...??!!!!!

WOW it was good to have them here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More random pics

The Life of a Pilot's Wife

Erik had training in Seattle and was going to be away from home for five days and four nights... so....

I decided to take an adventure and attempt my first solo-trip with the boys so we wouldn't have to be away from Daddy for that long!!!

Bennett knew something exciting was about to happen when the traveling stroller came out on Saturday morning... :)

On our way!  

Momma getting some coffee at one of the local coffee shacks in Chewelah on the way out of town.

Bennett's first boarding pass :)

Bennett had been on so many flights before age two that I actually stopped keeping track... it was probably nearing the 40 mark... but this was his first flight where he got to have his own seat (and his own boarding pass) because he is a big two-year-old now :) :) :)

Things went so smoothly that we got to the gate 40 minutes prior to boarding... luckily Bennett was perfectly content munching on his bag of cheeto's and doing some good people-watching and airplane-watching while we walked around waiting to board our flight from Spokane to Seattle.  Sawyer was content in the ErgoBaby carrier too, of course :)

There were around 60 open seats on this flight, so I knew we would be able to get two seats next to eachother, which was the main reason I decided it would be ok to take this adventure in the first place... oh the joys of stand-by travel!  

The flight ended up being an Alaska flight, so we actually ended up having a row of three seats to ourselves... that was awesome!!!

Another self-portrait of the three of us, Sawyer feeling sleepy, and Bennett wouldn't peel his eyes away from the excitement of what was happening outside the window.  He LOVES airplanes!!!!

This was a great trial-run for me, to see how it goes traveling alone with the two boys.  Granted this was a little bit of an "easy" trip, since the flight from Spokane to Seattle is only 40 minutes long, and we didn't have to worry about transporting car seats (since the hotel was within walking distance from the airport), and Erik was there to help in Seattle... but overall it did go well, and now I know I can do it!

The four of us had a great afternoon and evening hanging out together in Daddy's hotel room in Seattle... We got pizza delivery... watched some cute shows about puppies and kitties on Animal Planet... made a general mess in the hotel room (because that's what little boys do best!)... Mommy and Daddy drank some wine :)... and then we all went to bed earlier than usual and slept GREAT because we were tired from traveling!

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of Daddy or of the fun in the hotel room... darn it!

We headed back home Sunday morning before Daddy had to go back to class.  The boys were so well behaved, I never expected this little adventure to go so smoothly!  

A foggy morning in Seattle, flying a Horizon flight on the way home, the airplane that Daddy flies!!!

We ended up only being away from home for exactly 24 hours, left at 10:30 a.m. Saturday and arrived back home at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday.  So added together with our trip to Wisconsin on Monday through Wednesday, that made for SIX FLIGHTS in SEVEN DAYS for Baby Sawyer!!! What a trooper!

Here is the summary of our trip on our boarding passes:

We always got a kick out of my name being Amy "Inf" Knutson ;)

And now we have Bennett "Chd" Knutson!!!

Should be a fun life ahead for the boys and I, traveling to visit Daddy when he is working.  

We love him so much!!!!

Wisconsin Trip

Sawyer and I left our home in Chewelah at 2:45 a.m. on Monday morning, flew from Spokane to Seattle, Seattle to Minneapolis, spent a whirlwind couple days in Wisconsin, and after the two return flights back through Seattle and Spokane, we arrived back home in Chewelah at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday evening.  I don't know where this saying comes from, but as the saying goes, "It wasn't for a long time, just for a good time."

The beautiful drive from MSP to Barron.

Thanks Auntie Shelby for picking us up!!!

We stopped at Great-Aunt Jeanne's house in Hudson on the way to Barron to say hi to her, Matt, Great-Aunt Teresa, and Danielle.  Sawyer loved this little chair she has there :)

Our next stop was to Monroe Manor in Barron, the reason why I took Sawyer on this last minute trip, to see my Grandpa Springer :) :) :)

He is on hospice care now, 90 years old, what a GREAT MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He smiled when he met his Great-Grandson Sawyer for the first time, and said, "He's so sweet"  :)

Group shot with my Grandma & Grandpa Springer.

We got to spend some quality time with Sawyer's Great-Grandpa Haas too!!!

Sawyer was so playful with him!

Getting love love love from Grandma Lori and Great-Aunt Claudia... who is also about to become a Grandma soon!!!!

It's fun hanging out at Grandma Lori and Grandpa Dean's house :)

Sawyer relaxing with our cousin Taylor.

Can't get enough Auntie Shelby love!!!!

He loved standing at the window and looking outside at the blowing leaves, and the occasional kitty to walk by :)