One of my dear friends is the one who gave me the kick I need to post again…I hope you enjoy the pics, R! I have been meaning to do this forever, so I can print an up-to-date blog!
Family pictures in the USA. I don't know why they're blurry...
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| This is my Grandpa V. during his military service in the navy. He was 16 when he was a sailor! |
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| Family reunion at the lake. |
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| With cousin, Thomas. |
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| family reunion in Eden |
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| This is in front of the house where David O. McKay grew up. Taylor with his siblings, and parents. |
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| Tony Grove. This is one of the many reasons I love Utah. |
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June with my Grandma. I'm so glad we took the opportunity to see her and say our last goodbyes. This was the last time we saw her. She was very concerned about June and wanted to make sure she was happy playing games in the other room while we chatted. I'm thankful I had this time to sit with her alone, and just remember all the things we've done. I read to her, we reminisced about 'Grandma Saturday's', Lunch at the Tiffin Room, skating in front of her house, practicing shorthand, marching around the house with instruments, making cookies…and then as I grew older we'd watch her old favorite movies, and talk about the classics we had read, play board games, and eat her crock pot pea soup. I miss her. Yet thankful she is pain free with her husband in heaven. I love you, Grandma.
I told her I had to go back home, overseas, the following week, and she cried as she said, "I wish I could go with you." She always liked to travel, and it broke my heart she was bedridden. Yet here I am, healthy and free, able to take care of my kids, love my family, feel water on my face, hike in the mountains, run through my day, and just taste the experiences of everyday life. Just like she once did. And now, her beautiful earthly life was ending, like mine, one day, will too. I have so many memories of this young, healthy grandma who loved to dance, and loved to be with her kids, and grandkids.
I asked her why she was crying and she said, "Because I know it will be a long time before I get to see you again."
When she was healthy, she would always put on a Christmas at Grandmas every December. We'd have the same German food year after year-her specialties, like pickled beets, and hot potato salad, rolls with yummy cheeses, her carrot and cranberry jello salad, and her apple strudel. And we'd play the same games like 'Ring-O, Ring-O', and she would sing these songs in German. All the Brusch's would get together, joking, and laughing, enjoying it all.
For Easter she would give all her grandkids a small Easter basket with chocolate eggs, hard boiled eggs, and the best ever sugar cookies. For birthdays there would ALWAYS be a card with a special note inside, and 5 dollars.
It's funny that I've never really had such a deep desire to hold onto traditions as I do now. Now I understand a little more. I want to continue these traditions, every detail, even with her gone, so that I can remember her and all she did for her family. Even though she is gone, she will continue to live on. |
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| We celebrated my cousins wedding. I didn't actually get a picture with her, but she was beautiful. |
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And new life. I would love to kiss these cheeks of my new nephew. He looks just like his Dad did when he was that age. I remember that face. I would try and sneak kisses on his cheeks before my mom would put him to bed, and my mom would say, 'kiss him on the forehead.'
Congrats Ben! |
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| With T. in town we were able to sneak in a little PC mini vacation without the kids for a night. Thanks Grandma P.! We visited RMCF more than a few times. I think we were on a chocolate high at that moment, or maybe it was a sugar high…or just giddy being without kids. |
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| T and I competed in the Spudman Triathlon. As you can see we both got awards. Which was good because the kids were expecting trophies. With 2 kids you need 2 trophies so they could each have one. Again, thanks for watching the kids, Grandma P. |
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| This is what I came home to one morning. The cutest dinosaur, and hatted gorilla ever. |
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| Is there anything cuter than this koala? I didn't think so. |
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| Spudman Tri |
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| TP is an amazing athlete. Of course, you all knew that already. |
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| This was an epic trip. Traveling with TP's best friend, and his family, and in-laws. We had such a great time. We even spent the night in a haunted bed and breakfast. Never to be forgotten! We hope to do this again next year. |
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| I'm trying to chase down TP. We had a bet. I lost. But I did run faster! |
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| He just biked a heck of a lot faster than me. |
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| forever friends. We worked together in CV. These are some truly great friends. I'm glad they were able to take the time to meet with me for dinner, and catch up on old times. Great food, with even better people! |
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| this is why this kid loves the USA. |
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| cousin fun |
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| When I first got into town this is my visit with my sweet Grandma. Thanks to my aunt M. My Grandma got the best care ever. I don't know how I can ever thank her for all she's done for my Grandma. 2 days after I left for home my grandma passed. Feelings of guilt for leaving too early swept over me. How could I have known though? The funeral was beautiful, and everyone was happy to celebrate her life. |
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| Thanks to my mom we were able to all go to the aquarium. (Me and my kids, and my sister and her fam). We had such a great time here. We loved the penguins, and June became friends with the sea otter. |
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| My little penguin |
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| This little boy is shorter than their anaconda. (I think it was the anaconda). |
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| This is the wonderful mother who made it all possible. We had a blast together running back into the movie theater twice for the 4D shows. We were like kids in a candy store! dragging my kids back in for more. They were like, "let's go do something else!" and my mom and I were like "c'mon kids there's another show!" |
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| What would a trip to the US be without the Red Barn. A nice elderly man asked me if I wanted to be in the picture. I said, "Why yes, thank you", and gave him my phone. He turned to his cute wife and said, "Honey, look what this lady just gave me! Let's run!" |
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| Our Nono. |
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| HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! This day was great! Jaime made cafe rio pork burritos, with the green cilantro sauce, and I made salsa and the tres leches cake for my mom's birthday, and Ambree made the key lime pie. It's one of my most favorite pies. |
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| I had to make this pic big because these two are 2 peas in a pod, 2 troublesome troublemakers, partners in crime, best of friends, and even better cousins. Call it whatever you want. However, we did find out that they will throw the other one under the bus if it will save their own skins. "Coley did it!" |
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| picnic at the playground! |
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| this is one reason I LOVE UT. Just look what mountains I get to climb. This is up Payson Canyon, and this ride was a gift to me that evening. Often I'm reminded of my divine nature when out in nature. Ironic? This picture cannot capture sufficiently the moment. I was rocking it up this climb and 2 men behind couldn't keep up. |
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| this is at the wedding. They had these little party favors that we let off as the bride and groom passed. This wedding was great because of the food. They served a crepe bar with chocolate, strawberry, raspberry sauce, and lots of other beautiful toppings. Their cake was marzipan cake. I think the groom is Scandinavian? Not sure. |
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| My brother built this new part of the deck for my mom and dad. I was very impressed since he's never built anything of this nature before. He has always been talented in creating art, so that didn't surprise me, but the magnitude of it did. It was good to see my brother. He left for trucking school back East before I could even say goodbye. |
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| Echo Triathlon. It was good to get my feet wet again. |
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| My sis and I had one morning to ourselves, free of kids, and training, so we took advantage of this and treated ourselves to the new Payson Temple. We've watched them build this temple from the ground up, and it was amazing to see the final result. It's more beautiful that you can imagine. |
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| The girls had fun dressing June in all kinds of princess dress-ups. They even threw a coronation party for her and Cole that was just hilarious. They took it very seriously. |
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| My handsome little man. |
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| Our faces, and the sign behind, says it all. Perfect hike for the kids, with a waterfall to end. |
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| Ah, the joys of mountain living! |
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| He LOVED-the library!Yes, that's a whole bag of books he's carrying. He insisted on it. He couldn't believe he could choose as many books as he wanted. I let him indulge. Included are all the other kids indulgences too. |
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| Look who we found at the airport on our way to UT. One of our best friends! |
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| She wanted me to include this photo. New pajamas are fun. Especially when they're on sale, and it's a princess dress! |
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| And finally this is why I love where we live. We took a mini vacation to the mountains and I went on a run one morning with my friend. We each chose our own paths on the golf course, and would meet up every now and then. It's nice to be alone when all you can hear is the morning heat, taste the humidity, and all you can hear is solitude. |
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| This is the view on my run. |
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| We all brought our bikes including the kids. |
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| This is a favorite thing to do-every summer we are there when the cherry picking trucks come through and rumble the neighborhood. It's fun to watch. |
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| school pictures |
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| W. did a triathlon in May. He loved it on his new bike. His one complaint: Too short! |
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| In May we relayed in the Moganshan Tri. I swam, T biked, and our friend ran. T had the fastest bike of the day. No surprise. |
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| Happy birthday little miss. This was a rainbow cake, and a labour of love on my part. It sure tasted good! |
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| She's a pro. |
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| School friends. The boys outnumbered the girls in the class, so the girls absolutely adored W. They are great friends. |
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| ready for our tri! |
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| school friends. |
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| We bought a small keyboard, and it's a favorite! |
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| Moganshan Tri with friends. |
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| This was one of the longest rides I've ever done! |
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| They are 'getting married' in this picture, wearing mine and T's boots. Acting grownup is fun. |
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| My sis and her hubby visited in April. I love it when she visits! |
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| Party at the circus! |
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| Need I say more? |
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| T. did a bike race last week. This picture is not from then, but all the pictures I took are exactly like this. T. in front. He knows how to pull the load. I don't know how he does it. Superhuman. The kids and I went to watch him race. They had to do like 8 laps. The kids wanted to go to the playground mid race, until W. heard over the loudspeaker- "3 laps left!" and W. was like, "Baba's in front! He's going to win. We have to stay and watch!" T. was motivated by his kids cheering him on, and pushed himself as hard as he could possibly go in the breakaway of 3. Upon crossing the finish line he had about 3 seconds before he couldn't hold in whatever was in his stomach. That is a true fighter for ya. |
We are waiting for T., his sister, and sister's daughter to get home from the airport. The kids are so excited! In W.'s prayer he said, "Bless that I can get the hulk recipe just right for me and Ethan (his friend)."
J's prayer went on and on: She was thankful for her 'good brother who always plays with me', for her mom and dad. That Will likes her friend, Bobo, (as W. nods in agreement), for all her clothes, and books, and prayed that 'mom's foot won't hurt her when she runs and bikes, and that she can be healed.'
