In Loving Memory

Well, this is going to be a long post. I know it's going to seem sad, but after her funeral this week I have an overwhelming desire to share her story because it's uplifting and empowering. If you can hang in there and get through this post, I guarantee you'll feel like going out and being a better person and doing better in the world because that epitomizes  my sweet Aunt Mickey. I also want to write down for my children who she was to me and to so many others so they will be able to know her like I did. 

 "Aunt" really doesn't even come close to covering what Mickey was to me. When I was growing up and my sister Ashley was in the hospital either Mickey or my Grandma would come and take care of me. Since Ash was in the hospital every 3 weeks for almost 8 years, they took care of me a lot. I have always felt like I have been blessed to have 3 amazing women to be my mothers and examples in my life. Every summer we would spend weeks at her home and it was a refuge for me from the stress and worry at home with my sister being sick. Mickey always made me feel like I mattered, even into adulthood. She was always proud of me no matter what I did. She encouraged me, uplifted me, and loved me. She never missed a birthday or note just to tell me she was thinking about me. The amazing thing about her is that I was one of so many people she was all of those things to. I'll direct you to the picture below:

L-R: Kurt, Ben, Carl, Geoff, Kevin, Nick, Tyler, Kreg, Alex, and Mike

All of these guys lived in Mickey's home at one time or another during their teenage years/early twenties. I remember at one point they had a triple bunk bed in their garage made out of those shelves you put food storage on with mats on top. Three of those boys are her biological sons and the rest are men she treated as sons. Most of them were on my cousin Kurt's lacrosse team in High School. Some of them had long hair, tattoos, and came from difficult homes. Mickey always said, "You just need a little structure in your life." She provided that along with love for these boys. Two brothers, Ben and Alex, weren't members of our faith at the time. They later joined the church and Mickey and Jon funded their missions (along with many others). In this group of guys there are two firemen, a policemen, a professor, a member of the foreign service, several IT guys, and I believe a Bishop. She forever changed the lives of these men and their future families because of her example. She was the most non-judgemental person I have ever known. These guys were also our cousins by extension. When we went there in the summer they took us mini-golfing, to amusement parks, to the beach, and just had a lot of fun teasing us. One of the blessings of Mickey's funeral was getting everyone back together again. We knew she was so happy to see all of us together. I went through my pictures and found some of us with these guys when I was little. Mickey used to love reading my blog and I know she would like seeing these pictures and reminiscing as I have. 

This is me and Tyler (I'm about 9 I think?)

Ash and I with our cousin Carl

Geoff is one of my favorites. The story goes they asked him to house sit for them one time while they went on vacation and he just never left. He lived at their home for 8 years. Geoff started with his GED from High School and worked his way all the way to finishing his PhD in Accounting. He has a beautiful wife and 5 children, the youngest of whom is named Reagan Mickey. I actually have a hard time remembering he's not my real cousin! We love you Geoff!

Mr. Alex who remarkably looks exactly the same as he did way back then.

Alex and his brother Ben are the two firemen in the group. Mickey was really proud of them and asked them to wear their uniforms for her funeral. I thought it was pretty neat!

Okay, so the next picture is not the best picture I've ever taken. Sorry Parker, but there are many awkward years in your future since you look just like me. I have a better one of us but I can't find it anywhere! Anyway, this is Ben and I:

Kimra was a girl who lived at Mickey and Jon's for quite some time. She is a beautiful person that needed some extra love and attention. I remember very vividly having lots of porch swing talks about life with Kimra. I'm so grateful we got to see her again also! 

In addition to taking care of all of her "extra" children, she also took care of her nieces. There are 6 of us that are all around the same age. I am the oldest and then every year after me there was another girl born. Mickey had several "nieces retreats" where we came to her house in the summer and she did all sorts of fun things with us. We all had different challenges in one way or another and it was so fun for us to get to foster those relationships and just have fun being kids! Andrea, Ash, and I were 3 of the nieces that got to attend those nieces retreats. The 3 of us and our two older sisters sang "Every Life that Touches Ours for Good" at Mickey's funeral. One of the guys made the comment that it was like our final nieces retreat. It made me cry but it was also reminded me to reflect and be grateful for those opportunities she gave us. 

My sister Ashley, me, and Andrea when we were wee ones (this is the same Andie I just ran my race with....we've all been buddies a LONG time!)

The 3 of us on Mickey's trampoline at one of the nieces retreats

I just love this picture of Mickey. This was one of the great games Mickey came up with where you put on as many clothes as you can in a short amount of time. The combinations were quite funny and I just love that she joined us!

The girls: L-R Andrea's older sister and our cousin Kara, Andrea, me, Ashley, Mickey's daughter in-law Erica, and Kimra. 

I'm adding this picture just because it always gave Mickey (and everyone else for that matter) a good laugh. This is my Mom (pregnant with Ash) and her siblings L-R: Lana, Lori, Mom, Mickey, Gma, Gpa, and Murray. If you'll notice there is a little head peeking in between my grandparents legs. I apparently wanted my picture to be taken to! Does that look like a child of mine to anyone else?! :) 

Mickey and I when I was about 14. Now to preface this memory I should tell you that Ashley and I are 19 months apart and have been very close our whole lives. When Ashley was sick and going through treatments I would struggle a lot. I had a tough time focusing at school, would get headaches, not sleep, etc. Well, Ashley went through her bone marrow transplant when I was a freshman. Mickey couldn't do much to help Ashley at the time, but she and Jon took me to Europe to help me. The time I spent with them in Europe is a memory I will always treasure. In typical Mickey fashion she found someone in need and did what she could to help them out.

Mickey always made an effort to be there when we had big things going on in our lives. This is my High School graduation: (I also just like cute little Chey down there in the corner)

One of my favorite pictures:

This was actually taken at my graduation from BYU. Jared and I's first apartment as a married couple was a condo that Mickey and Jon owned. This was taken there of Mickey and my Mom (her little sister):

At my wedding with my Grandpa (who is also deceased) and my Grandmother who can't go anywhere for another 20 years. That's what we keep telling her anyway. :) 

A few more pictures from the funeral before I get into a couple other stories:

L-R: Nick, Geoff, Mike, Kurt, Kevin, and Alex

Mickey has 13 grandchildren. I'm very close to her daughter Christy as I lived with them while she was pregnant and have taken care of them on multiple other occasions. This is her sweet son Kelton who I have known since he was a baby. I took a very sweet picture of him hugging Mickey's casket that I don't want to put here but I think it shows how much she meant to her grandkids also. Mickey was most sad that she wasn't going to be able to watch her grandkids grow up. She made all the girls lockets inscribed with "No Empty Chairs" on the back. I forget right now what she did for the boys but it was along those lines also. It's a good reminder for all of us to live our lives in such a way that we get to join her someday.

With my cousins Kurt and Christy (Mickey's two youngest children). Mickey gave me the job before she died of transcribing years of journals from when her kids were little. Every day she wrote a little something about what they did. They are going to take me a long time to finish because there are so many, but I'm learning how to be a better mother by reading what and how she wrote about her children. 

Ash and I with Mike:

In my adult years/married life, Mickey continued to be a huge part of my life. Jared and I lived with them for 14 months while I was pregnant with Brody and then about 8 months after that. Since Jared was traveling during the majority of that time Mickey was my best friend. She was there at the hospital shortly after he was born. She was there when I needed advice on my screaming newborn and gave me encouragement as I needed it. She always scooted out of pictures so I have very few of her during that time. I did find one of her with Brody when he was little. She used to love playing with Brody and "exercising" his arms and legs, which really meant just wiggling them around. He loved Mickey to!

These two pictures lead in to my final stories about Mickey that I want to remember. Mickey and Jon left in May of 2009 to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Washington D.C. South mission. When they put in their papers they just sort of thought they'd get called on a foreign mission. When their call came to D.C. South my Uncle Jon wasn't very happy about it and thought there was a mistake. Why? Because 3 of their 4 children and 9 of their 13 grandchildren live in the D.C. south mission. They actually ended up all being in the same ward with Christy's husband as their Bishop. He said statistically the odds of that happening are crazy small. I think he just thought he wasn't going to have that normal mission experience where you're away from your family, etc. When the Stake President set them apart they were told that they would soon find out why they were being sent to D.C. Mickey told my Mom before she left that she just had this feeling that she wasn't coming back. Of course we all told her not to talk that way but it was a feeling she couldn't kick. Well, 5 months after they got to D.C. Mickey started having some health problems. She was diagnosed with Stage 3 Ovarian Cancer. Mickey had two major surgeries and went through chemotherapy treatments. Mickey found her joy in life in serving others and that was exactly what she did on her mission. It was a blessing they were in D.C. as she was able to spend the last two years of her life with her children and grandchildren. This past May, Mickey and Jon reached their 23 months and were released from their mission. Mickey didn't stop being a missionary, though. One example was an Ethiopian family she had been working with that she continued to serve until the week she passed away. Jon delivered diapers to them after Mickey had passed away that she had ordered for them the day before she died. She taught Relief Society two weeks before she passed away. She is an amazing example of what it means to live a consecrated life and serve others. 

These pictures were taken as Mickey and Jon were leaving to drive to D.C. for their mission. Mickey never came back home until her funeral. 

Jared reminded me when we were looking at these tonight that he remembers her holding on to this little guy for a long time. She loved him to. 

I had the blessing of going out to see Mickey this past December with Parker. I wanted Parker to meet her and vice versa and get to see her myself. After she got sick she stopped scooting out of pictures and I'm so grateful because we have more of her in the last 2 years than in the last 20! 

Mickey's memorial service in Virginia was last Monday. It was Preparation day for the missionaries there. The mission president gave permission for the missionaries to come to Mickey's memorial service. There were about 100 missionaries there and they all got up and sang "Called to Serve". The Mission President spoke and my mom said there was such an outpouring of the spirit and was truly special. Mickey was then brought back to California where we attended her funeral along with the many people she had impacted. She was buried in her missionary tag. 

I will be forever grateful for the example this wonderful woman was in my life. Thank you Mickey for teaching me how to love everyone and be a good friend. Thank you for teaching me how to serve the Lord without complaining. Thank you for making me feel like I mattered. Thank you for always being proud of me. Thank you for being my second mother. I'm still trying to adjust to the void in my life of not being able to call you and tell you things or just ask for advice, but I'm grateful that I know where you are. Last December when I was in D.C. Christy said, "If there's anyone Christ-like and ready to meet the Savior, it's my Mom." I couldn't agree more. I know you're doing great work up there and while I miss you now I know I'll see you again. I look forward to that day. I love you. 

Pinatas, Twin Falls, Pre-school, and Uncle Sammy

Remember how in the last post I said I'd have a few more posts for you? Well, I'm just going to combine it into one mostly as I need to catch up before I go out of town again. I'll start off with a little catch-up with some pinatas my sister and I made for a ward party. We tried to get Brody involved but seeing as he still hates gooey-ness on his hands he wasn't having it. He just kept saying, "I do NOT like the project. I do NOT like this project." It was pretty funny actually! 

 Ashley did most of the paper mache-ing as I was in charge of the ward party, trying to plan a sharing time, and was busy celebrating Brody's birthday. It was one crazy week, but it ended up being lots of fun! 

After some brainstorming we decided we'd make our pinatas into Angry Birds. Brody LOVES playing on Uncle Jordan and Grammy's Ipads so we thought it'd be a lot of fun for him. He was so excited when we were all done! We just wish we would've had a slingshot for the ward party. That really would've been fun!

The kids loved hitting the pinatas at the party. They each took a turn and got some good hits on it!

Have I mentioned yet that Brody kind of confuses us with his rights and lefts? He writes righty but bats and golfs lefty. He's either confused himself or he's going to make a great switch hitter!

 Now onto the rest of our trip home from Idaho Falls. We took a detour and stopped in Twin Falls, Idaho on the way home. Oh wow was it beautiful! We actually came at the worst time of year as the water is at some of it's lowest levels in the late summer/early fall, but it was still gorgeous! The boys loved the huge waterfalls. 

These are the Shoshone Falls which are actually known as the "Niagara of the West". Who knew?

 The only way Ash got Parker to take this picture was by telling him she'd put him down if he smiled. haha! 

 This next picture absolutely cracks us up. The boys were running up the hill and I told Parker to go hold Brody's hand so he could help him up the hill. I guess they thought I meant to take a picture because they stopped, held hands, and turned around. We call this their prom picture because this could so easily be Jared and I's wedding picture. The likeness of our mini-mes is scary sometimes. 

 We may have a little hiker on our hands. Brody kept running to the tops of all the hills and wanting to go explore down the trails. I think this semester while Jared is so busy I'm going to have to find some little day hikes to take the kids on. 

 Not sure what this bridge is called, but it goes over the Snake River a little way down from the waterfalls. 

 We also just so happened to come across a familiar sight. Twin Falls has a beautiful temple!

 I'm not going to lie, I think Idaho is a pretty beautiful place. I love that my friend Katrena was born in Twin Falls! A beautiful person from a beautiful place!

Brody also started his first day of pre-school this week! His teacher came over the week before to introduce herself, buddy bear, etc. and gave him a work book and a laminated thing with his name on it. Brody did all of the work book and practiced his name over and over for about an hour the very first day. He's very enthusiastic about school and has been loving every minute of it. He especially likes that he gets to go to school "like Daddy". His first day when I drove up to his teacher's house I asked if he wanted me to come in with him or if he just wanted to go by himself. He said, "Oh no Mom, Moms don't go to preschool!" He gave me kisses and ran to the door. I hope he keeps his enthusiasm for learning going! He's getting to be a pretty big boy!

 Brody and Blake after their first day of school. Brody was the first one out the door with a huge smile on his face and his shoes on the wrong feet. It was adorable. Brody and Blake both came out with hand puppets so excited to show their moms. Brody had put his back in his backpack by this time, but the excited fists say it all:

 Lastly we had an extra visitor this week! Uncle Sammy was on his way through to go back to school and stopped at our house for a few days. It was so nice to have him and he's like a celebrity around here. Parker had a hard time saying "Sammy" so he called him "Funny" the whole time he was here. haha! Brody had to get shots this week and wanted Sam to come to his Dr. appt. with him. Sam was such a good sport and made funny faces at him while he got his shots and then carried out my crying little boy. We sure love you Sam and you're welcome back any time!

 Brody and Parker's favorite spot. Notice Parker's lounging little leg. It cracked me up! 

Between my last post and this post that was quite a few pictures! If you got through all of that, I'm pretty impressed. I am actually heading back to California tomorrow for my Aunt Mickey's funeral so I will probably be absent for a bit. That deserves a blog post all on it's own but I need some time before I write it. This week is going to be tough. Hug your family members for me today! 

Half-marathon and some of my favorites!

First of all, I just want to add a quick picture in here of Mr. Brody. I took this last week for Jared's Gramma Harley's birthday. It includes a couple things Gramma made and/or bought with Brody that have meaning to him (including the couch he's sitting on). I just thought it was an adorable picture and gives you a little preview for Halloween. He has a hard time taking his costume off and refers to himself when he's "Captain America" in 3rd person. Captain America even made a trip to the grocery store with hat and shield. It's hilarious and I love it!

Now on to the half-marathon my cousin and I ran last weekend. I have had a couple family members waiting for pictures, so sorry it's taken me a bit! We had so much fun running this race and I'm so glad we did. I can't wait to run another one!  I accomplished my goal of running the whole thing, finishing, and still being able to walk the next day. haha! I actually beat my last time running a half marathon by 12 minutes officially. I say officially because I spent 5 minutes waiting at a port-a-potty at about mile 5, this race was 2,000 feet higher than where I've been training, and there was more time running uphill than down! My cousin, Andrea, said I should be able to shave some time off for those factors. So, officially my time was 2 hours 16 minutes, but I'd like to think it was more like 2 hours and 10 or so (I literally waited at the port-a-potty for 5 minutes....don't drink too much water before racing!) I have a whole philosophy on times and how I don't usually look at them, but I'll just give you the short version. I did not time myself once during my training so I have no idea how fast/slow I run. For me running is a stress reliever and I feel like if I start timing myself it'll become a stressor instead.  That being said, I think I will start paying a little more attention as I'd like to figure out how to not run quite so slow! I still had juice at the end which makes me think I can run a faster pace than I was. Anyway, I guess we'll see next time!

 Andrea did amazing and was a great inspiration! I'm grateful to have a cousin with the same interests as me as it definitely is more fun to do with someone else! It's funny because when Andie and I were little we actually fought quite a bit. That's funny because as adults we are eerily similar! I love it and am grateful to have her for a friend also. Love you Andie and thanks so much for everything! You are amazing. :) My sweet sister Ashley came with me to help me with my boys since Jared couldn't get away from school/work. She was the hero of the day because my kids were both SO cranky. Sleeping on vacation is tough for them apparently and poor Ash was such a trooper. I'm in this group coming up this hill somewhere, but I just like this picture because you can see a little bit of the scenery and Brody anxiously waiting for me (with street sweeper and monster truck in hand). 

 So this is a pretty funny picture of me, but I'm going to put it up here anyway because I like how happy I look. This was the toughest part of my race as I gave my kids hugs as I went by.  Since my kids were both tired (and as it turns out Parker has yet ANOTHER double ear infection) they were excited to see me, but then SUPER sad when I ran by. They both started screaming. I could hear them for a mile after I passed them and it literally brought tears to my eyes. I felt horrible! They train with me a lot so they just don't understand why they can't run with me. I think next time I'll just have them wait at the finish line. They did the same thing when I ran a race last year but I was hoping since a year had passed they'd be okay. I guess not! Lesson learned. 

This picture is blurry, but I liked the scenery again and I guess it shows I really was running!

The boys waiting at the finish line...

 After the race. This really was such a well organized race. They had some great activities for the kids (free bounce houses, face paint, etc.) and food for the runners. Note to any runners out there, though. When they offer free Ruby Tuesday pulled pork sandwiches after the race, only eat them if you want to be sick the rest of the day. There was a really long line for them so Andie and I thought they must all know something we don't and it was free food, so we went and got one. We were both super sick and it put a little damper on the day! Not a good idea. This is Andie's cute family: Emily, Travis, Isaac, and Andrea. We love you guys!

 Brody man really was not cooperating for pictures so he wasn't in any of these. His feet are in the corner of this one, though! This little guy latched onto me and would've leave after I was done. He's a pretty cute little dude!

 When you crossed the finish line they put medals around your neck like you were an Olympian. I don't know why but I was thinking you only got those if you ran the full marathon so I was pretty surprised. It is a little bit of an emotional thing to accomplish a goal you've put many hours of hard work into. It was an amazing feeling and those medals were super cool! 

 With my heros Ash-a-bash and Andrea:

Parker loved the idea of my medal. They gave us these free lanyards and Parker wore it around the rest of the day calling it his "medal". Oh, and Brody likes to show off his muscles. :) 

Parker's new buddy, Emily. I'm going to dedicate a post to the rascalness of Parker with this sweet little girl. Isn't she beautiful?!

 They really were cute together. I thought my Grandma would like this picture. :) Are those leggings not the cutest things ever?!

 While we were at their house we did lots of fun things. One of them being a volcano. Brody and Isaac LOVED it! Thanks Travis for making it! 

 We also got a lesson on what happens when you put a Mento into a soda bottle. Somehow Ashley and I seem to be the only two people on the planet that didn't know it made the soda do this: 

 I'm not sure I'll ever eat another Mento. What in the world does it do to our stomach?! Brody had so much fun playing with Andrea's little guy Isaac. Isaac is about 4 months older than Brody and play so good together. He's a really good example for Brody and their personalities mesh super well. It was so cute to see them be such cute friends!

 Parker, Andrea, and little Emily who skinned her nose on some concrete steps. I just loved this picture!

Lastly, but certainly not least I got to see some of my favorite people while I was in Idaho Falls. I'm so sorry for those of you that I wasn't able to get to see. My time went by way too fast and then my kids got sick! Anyway, I got to see my beautiful friend Alli and her precious little Grant. I think some of you have followed Baby Grant's blog for a while and I can tell you that he is the sweetest little boy! I loved being his buddy and he is such a special little spirit. I can't believe I forgot to take a picture, Alli! It really was so nice to see you both. Thanks for hanging out with us! 

We also got to see one of my best friends, Elise! If you've followed my blog for a while you may remember her cute family making appearances when we lived in Colorado. Her twin girls Mya and Lydia were Brody's first best friends when they were all 1 year olds. I just love all of them and I'm so happy I got to see them! Can't wait to see you guys again! :) 

 My beautiful friend Elise. She really is one of the most thoughtful, caring, energetic people I know. I could literally hang out with her all day everyday and never get bored. I really am so blessed with wonderful friends! Love you Elise! 

Well, that's it for now. I actually have a bunch more pictures and things I need to blog about so expect to see some more posts here soon! Hope you're having a great week!