Remembering My Sweet Aunt Mary

Kathryn, Aunt Mary, Me, and my Mom



My Aunt Mary - for those of you that knew her, you know that there just aren't words to describe how wonderful she was. For those of you who didn't know her - you really missed out! Aunt Mary is my mom's sister and has always had a way of making each person feel extremely special and important. Even though she lived in Texas, over the past few years she has been amazing at planning vacations and bringing her family not only all over the country, but specifically here to Utah to visit us. Because of these visits, Mike and the kids have been able to form a bond with my side of the family and enjoy an amazing part of my heritage. I love that she has brought different grandkids with her each time, so that when we do have those way-too-infrequent-visits with my extended family, they already know each other and absolutely love hanging out together. This is all because of my Aunt Mary. She was all about family, and refused to let miles separate us.


When Aunt Mary had a stroke last month, it shocked and saddened everyone that knew and loved her. We all knew that she didn't want a traditional funeral. In fact, just last summer she sat and had a talk with several of us explaining that when she died, she did NOT want a funeral at all - but she wanted everyone she loved to get together and have a PARTY... in her words, "I mean, not necessarily balloons and everything celebrating that I finally died (hahaha), but I want everyone just to be together." So that's what we did. My uncle rented a beach house on an island in Galveston and we all gathered together there. It was the biggest slumber party I've ever been to! And guess what? It was the first time that the entire family was together (minus my Mike, and my sister's husband Doug, and our kids). It was really awesome and wonderful, since I don't see all of my cousins near enough. We talked and caught up, we laughed, we cried, we walked the beach, went through old pictures, and enjoyed childhood memories - and we even let the kids get their hands dirty making my mom's famous enchiladas. And the beach house? It had Aunt Mary's name written all over it - it couldn't have been more perfect! The dolphins were out in full force, which was especially healing for us, since the dolphin was Aunt Mary's very favorite animal. Overall, a beautiful and wonderful weekend remembering Aunt Mary and enjoying the very short time we had together. Once again, thank you, Aunt Mary for such a great time!

Cheater Fishin'

Have you ever taken your kids Cheater Fishin'? There's a great STOCKED POND in south Utah County that my sister knew about and decided to take the kids to a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't pass the opportunity to go take pictures. This little family owned and operated pond is complete with fishing poles, worms, guaranteed catch... and they even CLEAN the fish for you! We had so much fun and my kids are already begging to go back again!

We started by petting the dog (of course):

Then we picked poles:
And got them baited with worms:
Cast the lines:
And put on our fishin' faces:

Katy had the first catch of the day. She was super excited about because she's competitive like her mother:
Tessa kept seeing the fish jumping:

And was trying so hard to be patient (she even found a rock to stand on for a better view of the lake):

So I tried to give her some help:

And so did her Aunt Kathryn:
But her patience started to wan when Katy caught another fish:
But I had to laugh when she refused to touch it, and the little boy that worked there had to take it off the hook for her:
This is her telling me, 'WHAT? You can't expect me touch it, it's GROSS!':
So Tessa and Aunt Kathryn got a new worm on her line:

And her patience finally paid off:
But she wouldn't touch hers either, so a cute little pregnant gal that was there with her cute family took it off for her (what? did you expect me to put my camera down?)
This is my nephew Josh. He caught a couple of fish too, only he didn't yell and tell me, so I never got a photo of it. I told him that was against the rules....
Trevor was being more patient than I'd ever seen him before:
He cast his line over and over again:
He even got excited several times when he felt the nibbles, but they kept getting away:
We had to re-worm several times:
But they kept getting away, and so this cool guy (pregnant gal's husband) gave him a few pointers, seeing that we were teaching him girlie fishin' - he was the picture of patience and I was really glad for a man being there to help Trevor:
And finally a good tug on the line:
He was THOROUGHLY EXCITED:
Because even though it was the LAST fish of the day (of about a dozen), it was also the BIGGEST (which is all a boy cares about apparently):
And he wasn't afraid to touch it, because he is ALL BOY:

And while we were waiting to get them cleaned, Tessa decided to have some lemonade and hold a cow:
Everyone thought it was cool to watch them get cleaned, even my animal-loving Tessa. I didn't take any gory pictures, but here was the dinner that I couldn't eat, because I hate fish:
We had a ton of fun... if you get a chance, you should take your kids... just ask Tessa! *Ü*

A Great Halloween!

It was so fun to hang out with Hannah Montana, Batman, Tinkerbell, and more! I even had fun making those witch finger cookies, which were super easy and the kids loved them. I'm surprised how many people asked how I talked Mike into being a guy cheerleader... well, if you've seen Saturday Night Live with Will Ferrel, you'd understand... "R-O-W-D-I-E, that's how we spell rowdy!"... it's way more fun to watch them do it on t.v. though... and our kids were terrified we were going to embarrass them, so we played it chill. We were way more fun at home when no one was watching... "Who's that peeking outta my teepee?" "It's me!"..... so funny!