~a sad day~

June 20th will be a day that I will never forget and it will forever change our family. We got a phone call around 11pm and you know that can never be good news - Nick handed me the phone and my aunt Marianne was on the other end. I could tell something was wrong, really wrong - she was very quiet and she told me that she had lost her Rex tonight. I was like, what are you talking about?? She just said he was in a boating accident and didn't survive and she was trying to get a hold of my mom. I was in tears at that point and didn't know what to say to give her comfort. I told her to hang up and I'd have my mom call her right back. I had called my dad and could barely talk - I told him Rex was in a boating accident and didn't make it and that Marianne needed to talk to mom.
My dad had called back later that night and I was just sick. I guess Rex had been out fishing with 2 other guys and a wave had come into the 20ft skiff they were in - eventually the boat capsized and the 3 struggled to stay on top of the boat for about 2 hours. At that point the 2 with lifejackets, my cousin and another man decided to swim for the shore which was about 200 yards away. The water was freezing and the 2 didn't make it to shore. The man who stayed with the boat did survive and had to be flown to the hospital.
This has been a tough few weeks for our family. My aunt and Quinn were supposed to leave the next day for Utah for a 3 week visit.
Obviously not all of our family could head to Yakutat, Alaska to comfort my aunt, uncle and cousin at this difficult time. We decided to go ahead with Grandpa's party and just have it with our immediate family and have a memorial for our Rex! We went around and told memories we had with Rex and I had recorded them so we could share them with the Newlun's. We also wrote messages on red balloons to send up to heaven so Rex could read them. Tracy had pictures blown up and displayed, I did a collage of pictures and Sharley put together a dvd with pictures of Rex's life.
Rex was an amazing young man - in his 17 years of life he had probably experienced what most grown men dream of. Living in Alaska he had fished, shot a bear, moose, lynx and many little creatures!  Although I didn't know him all too well, he was always so great with my kids and very polite and genuine.
We will miss you Rex and you'll forever be in our hearts...

brooklin and zach

jeff, bart, kylee, ansley and april

sharley and kirstin

little addi bug

HaPpY 80th GrAnDpA GeNe!

The weekend of June 25th we had a birthday celebration for Grandpa Gene's 80th birthday. We had it at Bart and Tracy's house and the weather was perfect to party in the backyard! We ate Papa Murphy's pizza, homemade ice cream and yummy brownies and cookies.
Poor grandpa got bombarded with pictures but he was a good sport. Sharley saved the day by bringing the bounce house for the kiddos to play on! We watched the dvd I had put together for grandpa - that thing had given me fits but everyone enjoyed it eventhough the music was messed up.
I'm so thankful to have such a wonderful grandpa! He has been such an example of a hardworking, dedicated, loving man. I have fond memories growing up and living so close to him - after Grandma Dolores passed away I remember having sleepovers with grandpa to keep him company. We loved going swimming at Saratoga and going down the big white slide. Family bbq's, homemade ice cream, horses, easter egg hunts, christmas parties, old boxing stories, and the list could go on... I love you Grandpa!

the great grandkiddos

grandpa and grandma

whatta crew!

jacks was thirsty

what a cute little grandpa

all the girl cousins

the 2 boy cousins

the kids

happy FaTheR's day

We went to church and the kids sang and had made these cute foam ties for all the dads. We came home and rested for a little bit then headed to St. George for a bbq. We celebrated Father's day and my dad's 57th birthday!
My mom had found a little game that we all got a kick out of... she asked the kids questions and if the dad's didn't answer right then we cut a piece of their tie off! Kirst and I kicked butt on answering my dad's questions Brooklin and Mason weren't so lucky.
We ate yummy steak, potatoe salad, fruit, and rolls then had frozen pies for dessert!

mason all tied up!

off to the circus...

My mom had this brillant idea for my dad's birthday they would take the kids to the circus! My dad loved that present and I'm sure he'll remember that gift forever.. Well the kids were super excited when they got the invite! They went down early for the pre-show and Mason was ready to go home once he got there (he's going through that little phase when he's ready to go - he's ready to go)! My parents let the kids pick one treat so they both got $12 sno cones in a cup and got some popcorn to share.
Afterwards my mom asked the kids what their favorite part was and this is how they answered:
Mason - popcorn
Brooklin - when the clowns were juggling and got hit in the croch (my kids are weirdo's)!
They ate dinner at Chili's and then stopped to see Aunt Becky and Jim. Both of them were out like a light once they got home. Thanks mom and dad for a fun little outing - I'm sure they'll always remember it and I'm sure dad can't wait to go back next year!

even grandpa got in on the fun dressing up!

this is mason's excited face!

their awesome balloons from chili's

swim meet #1

We signed Brooklin up for swim team this year not really planning on doing any swim meets... Well that changed the first week (6/18/2011)! We had asked her if she wanted to and said she would wait until the next one but come to find out her name was on the list so she competed.
She did AWESOME!!! Her first race was the back stroke and she placed 1st with a time of 37.09, she was super excited and I was so proud of her. The next race was the free style which she also took 1st with a time of 28.71.
Brooklin, you have always been a little fish and the summers with 6 weeks of lessons have paid off! She loves swimming and has really enjoyed being on the team this year. Keep up the Great Work Brooklin :)

getting ready for the backstroke

ready for the freestyle