In loving memory

Over the weekend we lost one of the dearest people I know. My cousin Janey passed away on Saturday night after a long battle with lung cancer. It is with great sadness and sorrow that I post this entry. She was too young and had too much to give still. Janey was the life of the party at our family get-togethers. She was a blast to hang out with at our All Girl's Weekends we have every year or so in Vegas. She was my dear, sweet and crazy Janey. I love her and will miss her. It gives me comfort knowing where she is now and knowing she is with her mom and dad. I'm sure that was quite a reunion. I feel blessed to have the knowledge I have of our purpose here on earth and what happens to us after this life. I just can't imagine how hard death would be to those without that understanding. If my scanner were working I could post better pictures, but it isn't so I will make do with the one did post. It was taken in 2004 at our Christmas get-together with her husband Kenny K. It was 2 years before she got sick. Our family gatherings won't be the same, but we have our memories and boy, there are lots of fun times to remember!

Spring Fling 2009

It's been a pretty full few days. It started out on Saturday with our annual family spring fling held in Yucaipa, followed by Kirk's birthday on Sunday and Kirk's dad's surgery for his stomach cancer on Monday. So, let me back up a little. Saturday. I have mixed feelings about that day. We had a great time at Avery's game in the morning and then having the opportunity to hang out with my family is always a treat. The kids had a great time playing with cousins and we adults had a great time catching up and playing around a bit too! After a bit my mom, Jean and I went over with Kenny K to see Janey. Janey is my cousin that has been stricken with lung cancer. She has been putting up a good fight for 2 1/2 years now, but now the disease is winning. It was heartbreaking to go over there knowing it will be my last time here on earth to see her, hug her and give her my love. I love her so much. But I am grateful I had that opportunity. We stayed with her for only about 20 minutes as she just couldn't fight the sleep and couldn't come around to full consciousness. Then we went back over to the family get together to resume our gathering and take our traditional family picture. It just felt wrong without Janey being with us. But it was great being with my family and seeing everyone! I am so blessed to have such an awesome family!

Devin playing with one of his favorite things...a sliding door!

So, then came Sunday and it was Happy Birthday to Kirk! We had gone out to celebrate, just the two of us, on Friday night. He got a Verizon Dare phone for his birthday and a couple of little items. On Sunday morning we went over to his parents house so that he could administer a blessing for his dad before his surgery. Kirk always gives such wonderful blessings! The spirit was very strong and I think his parents were touched by their sons words and expression of love. His wonderful friend, Todd Crump, came to help too. What a great friend to do that. Thanks Todd! After a couple of hours we were off to church. That night Kirk took Justin and Avery to a baptism that was happening in our ward. I stayed home with Devin because he doesn't sit still and it wouldn't help with the reverence. :-)

Monday morning was Kirk's dads surgery. Kirk went before me. I got the kids to school and took Devin over to my friend, Natalie's (thanks a million, girl!) and then I joined them at the hospital. I stayed for as long as I could and left a few hours later with Tom still in surgery. I only missed the doctor by 1/2 hour. He did well in surgery and is now recuperating at the hospital for the next 6-10 days. Ugh. Very painful. As far as the cancer is concerned, we won't know if it's spread or any more details for a few days. Thank you for all your prayers and phone calls of concern. We appreciate it very much!

Sorry for the long entry, but it's been busy and I needed to get it all in here before there was even more to add! :-)

Play School

Yesterday Play School was hosted by Ms. Rebekah and she did a theme around Spring. Devin wasn't the most cooperative again, but he did enjoy preparing the dirt to plant some tomatoes, decorating cupcakes and finally playing in the sprinklers with his friends. Thank heavens it was held yesterday and not today b/c it was a nice day and today has been chilly. The weather has been so weird! For those of you from out of state, we had over 100 degree temps Sunday thru Tuesday and today I'm not sure if we've made it out of the 60's. You never know what it's going to be like when you get up in the morning. Anyway, these pictures show Devin enjoying himself to the fullest. (oh, and notice...no more tighty whitey's. Ha!)

Beating the heat

It's been about 100 degrees yesterday and today. Pant, pant. The kids have been biting at the bit to go over to the pool, but we compromised with sprinklers today after school. Didn't realize Devin grew out of his trunks from last year. Tighty whitey's will work just fine! :-) So weird to think my sister in CO is knee deep in snow right now!

Go Avery, Go!

Avery had an excellent game yesterday. She was on fire! Her defense was right on in every inning and her offense was equally as good. Her coaches all said she deserved the game ball and would have gotten it, but one of her teammates dad was there and he normally can't come, so he received the game ball. She was a good sport about it and cheered him on even though she knew she was the star of the game today. Way to go, Avery! We only had Kirk's phone with us, so look for the speck of red in the photo below. Guess it's better than nothing.

Spa day

When my friend, Jolene, called on Friday to invite me to go to Glen Ivy Spa with her for her birthday yesterday, I wanted to, but wasn't sure if I could get it arranged, but I was motivated! After arranging for carpools and my mom to come and take care of Devin it was a go. We left at about 10:30 and didn't get home until almost 6:00. Ahhh, the life! Neither of us had been there before so we took some time to explore before deciding on the first thing to do. We did the mud baths, mineral hot tubs, lunch, lounge pool, relaxed by the pool and jacuzzi. It was absolutely the perfect day...not too hot and not too cold. It was beautiful out! We ended the day with another trip to Club Mud and lathered up again and left with our skin feeling very soft and smooth. Thank you, Jolene, for inviting me. I had a great time! Happy birthday!

Happy Easter!

We had a nice Easter weekend. We went to spend it with my parents for the first time since we've been married! From the time we got older and my sister moved with her family, Easter wasn't such a huge thing in our house and we did church together and just hung out while my sister and her family had their Easter celebration in whatever state they were living in at the time. Once I had a family of my own, we went to Kirk's parents to celebrate because they always got together for the whole Easter dinner thing and when we had kids it turned into egg hunts over there as well. It never really occurred to us that we actually could do Easter with my family sometimes too, so this year we made it a point. Yes, we're all a little slow with these things. Ha. So, we packed up our suitcases (which looked like we were going away for a week rather than a weekend) and away we went. This year Justin became more of an adult (if you get my meaning...little eyes will also be reading this, so I can't say too much about that). So sad to see his innocence slipping away, but he's been a great example to his siblings and keeping it all alive.

Sunday we woke up and enjoyed the excitement of seeing what the Easter Bunny brought.

Then it was time to get ready for church. It was great to go back to not only the ward I grew up in, but also the ward that we spent the first year of our married life. So much fun to see such great friends! When we got home the kids headed straight outside (no time for changing clothes!) for the egg hunt. They had fun finding all 57 hidden eggs. My mom prepared a really good roast dinner and then we enjoyed the traditional bunny cakes that I make every year. Soon it was time to pack up and head on home. I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of my parents or Kirk or me. Well, it is all about the kids, right? Thank you, Mom and Dad, for hosting a great Easter! Love you!

A visitor

On Thursday we had the enjoyment of having one of Devin's old therapists come over for a visit. It was too precious - Devin was soooo excited to see her! He wanted her to go upstairs right away so they could get to work, but in his mind it is play. I'm so glad he has good memories of that experience. Kim visited with us for a couple of hours and played games and read to Devin. He was in heaven. Even though it's against her company's policy (go figure...Devin isn't receiving services from them anymore) she's going to keep in touch and will be coming back soon for another visit. Yay! (The little "hat" on Devin's head is from his Easter party at preschool earlier)