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!

I Hope They Call Me on a Mission...

Our nephew, Stephen, got his mission call this week... to Macieo, Brazil. Congratulations, Stephen! We are so excited for you! The bottom pic is of his mother having heart failure... and I had to post it because I thought it was so funny and cute - and so Randie!



And Stephen... I have news for ya... SOCCER on P-day in Brazil (wink)... you just wait... those kids will be begging you to play with them! Trevor was very excited for you... he says the only place he wants to go on his mission more than Brazil... is Portugal. I told him he shouldn't pick where he wants to go on his mission based on a sport, but like I said in my last post... that's next week's lesson.

Sorry, Rich, I had to steal the pics from your blog... thanks for sharing!

Second Sucks

That's all Chris had to say about it when we were all done.

But you should have seen how hard these boys played. I knew how completely exhausted they were... I desperately needed a nap and I hadn't played 6 games in 4 days.

The semifinal on Thursday morning was very well played - we could tell that Colorado Storm really wanted the win, but we were still able to take it with a final score of 4-2.

The final match was on Thursday afternoon against the Pride Predators out of Colorado. We took the first goal, ending the first half at 1-0 - but they came back late in the 2nd half and tied it 1-1. In the last minutes of play, the Predators were able to score again off of a corner kick, ending in a heartbreaking 2-1. Our boys played with so much heart and hustle it was AMAZING - I'm so proud of each and every one of them!






This is a B-52 Bomber and those two super cute little things underneath are Mike and Trevor.

Meanwhile, the girls had so much fun playing at Uncle Rich and Aunt Randie's house with Sarah... and the gerbils... and Jake. They were able to go swimming in their neighborhood pool and enjoy hanging out, which was way better than being tortured into watching another soccer game. We all had a great time relaxing with them when all was said and done... and spent who-knows-how-long sitting around the table doing a puzzle and laughing our heads off... a really great end to our trip!

But the drive home? Ugh. I don't even have any funny conversations to tell you (although I'm sure there were some, I just wasn't laughing.) Oh wait, here's one:

Mike: I'm sorry, Officer, we're just on our way home from Colorado and these kids are arguing in my ear, so I know I was going way too fast.

Officer Friendly: Yes, sir, I clocked you at 86. How fast do you think you were going?

Mike: Well, right before I saw you, I was closer to 90. (Yes, he really said that!)

Officer Friendly: (after taking our license, registration and insurance) Well, sir, I appreciate your honesty, so I'm just going to give you a warning this time (woo-hoo!), but remember that arriving home safe is more important than arriving home fast.

We really liked Officer Friendly.

Thanks for the pics, Rich - super cute!
And all I have left to say is, ahhhhhhhhhh, my bed, my very own, wonderful bed.