Remembering Ben

June 23rd is a day to remember the sudden death of Ben,my best friend Kathleen's 16 yr. old son. He was so full of life and accomplished so many things in such a short time. I hope and pray Kathleen and her family will always know that our family remembers him on this day.

Parker and his friends

                                           Bobby, Parker and Oliver

I thought this was a nice picture of Parker and a couple of his friends from Silverado High School sitting on our pool table. They were on their way to the movie and so I asked if I could take a quick photo of them.  They will all be Seniors next year and I am sure are looking forward to graduating next year. 

This one of our last stops before heading to the bus back to Cartwright Elementary. My group had a great time!!

This was my crazy group of boys that I chaperoned on the field trip to the Lied's Museum.

Austin, Brendan, Ougen,Tyler, and Trevor. It's a really fun place for kids to experience, and adults too. We will probably go back again soon while the boys are on a little break.

Brendan & Austin who is his buddy,classmate, neighbor, and football teammate wanted to go inside the Hurricane blower. They waited in line for a while so they could go together. As you can see the air was blowing 70 something miles and hour! Another crazy exhibit.

Lied's Children's Museum Field Trip

Brendan thought this was a funny exhibit called the snot snot. Nose Picker!!!!!!!

Gibbons Family in the Desert

Time flies, eight years ago in Austin

Brendan was sitting in a high chair back when we visited Kelly and Kelly's family in Austin and celebrated Parker's 9th birthday. Brendan has since developed better table manners.

Here's Sean with Mike and Deanne's kids, and little Christopher and Brendan, just before singing "Happy Birthday" to Parker.

I had taken piano lessons a while and wanted to show off my new skills. This was before Kelly's living room walls had been painted dark, just a few months after they moved into their new house.

The birthday boy, making his wish. I wonder what he was wishing for back then.

We had such a nice visit with my sister's family and Sean's brother's family!

Brendan had an "owie" on his forehead, but still looked as cute as ever as a toddler.

Speaking of cute, here's my handsome little Parker too, loving hugs from his mom.

It's always fun to visit my sisters' homes!

Morgan,Julie,Tom,Nathaniel, Madison,Brinley,Thomas

On my last day in Utah my little sister Julie and her family were off to church and they looked so nice I had to take a quick picture. They are such a sweet and talented family. Aunt Valerie is so proud of all of them too. Little Thomas asked if he could come stay with us in Las Vegas for a month and I said sure that he could fit in my suitcase!

Blue Eyed Pony

After we left Gardner Village we were driving past Julie's neighbor and I made her stop so I could see this cute little white pony. As I walked up closer I couldn't believe the blue eyes he had!!! He stuck his head through the gate and let me pet him too. I forgot Julie told me that was her friends pet and she didn't know what his name was. He was soooooo cute!!!!!! His Mom was in the back.

Madison, Aunt Valerie and Morgan

This is my two of my six nieces Madison and Morgan. On my trip to Riverton, Utah is this place called Gardner Village that has little boutiques and this restaurant called Archibalds. Well, they have "Fried Green Tomatoes" and so it's definite request to go there while I am visiting. We tried the fried avocados which were pretty tasty too, but I prefer the tomatoes for sure!!! Oh by the way, my nieces went to an arts festival which my little sister Julie and I went to later. That's where they got the tattoos on their chests. 

"CAGO"

Cago is another one of Marc and Penni's additions to the family. She has the most beautiful auburn hair and is such a nice dog! Sorry the picture is sideways. 

I did not get a picture of their other little dog named Lucy who is a cute and spunky chunky beagle. What a personality she has too. I'll post Lucy the next time we visit.

Biscuit and Ruby

This is 2 of Marc and Penni's  family members. Biscuit let me pet her which is a little rare, because she is quite shy. And Ruby always looks like she is striking a pose. Great pets!

Marc and Penni

What a great couple. I love my brother and sister-in-law. It's fun to visit them and enjoy their company. Thanks again for letting me stay over for a night. It was fun as always!!! Great job by the way on the new paint on the house too.

I love my big brother!

Marc and I standing in front of more of their beautiful flowers.

Taylor the waiter in action!

Taylor in action at work adding some Parmesan cheese to our salad. I told him he did a fabulous job because he added a lot of cheese!! Keep up the good work Taylor.

My BFF

This is another picture of Kathleen and I while we were visiting Taylor at the Olive Garden. I wanted to post this picture because I thought it was cute with the top I gave her. While we were getting ready at her Mom and Dad's she put it on and just happened to have a cute pair of blue capri's that matched perfect. I bought the same top in a different pattern because I thought they were so pretty and colorful. Hers had  big Indian feathers on the front. Kathleen has always given me so much and I wanted to give her something nice for a change! I love my BFF, she is an amazing person in my life.

Penni and me

This is my awesome sister-in-law Penni who is married to my big brother Marc. She is such a great hostess and definitely knows how to entertain. Their home has beautiful flowers everywhere, which I absolutely love! The new paint job that they have been working on looks great too. Every time we visit she is always so thoughtful and goes out of her way to make sure you have a wonderful time.

me kathleen julie

My little sister Julie met Kathleen and I for lunch at this cute restaurant that had great soups, sandwiches and salads. In the front of the old place was this big tree and this bench in front of it. I asked our waitress if she minded taking our picture after we were finished. It was a little windy as you can tell by my lovely hair but an absolutely beautiful day. Thanks Julie for your suggestion, even though I can't remember the name of the place! You can tell we are sisters for sure!!

The Gnome and Me!

I couldn't resist posing by this gnome in front of my friends neighbors home. They had a TON of yard art, but this one was one I just had to take a photo with! The show called The Amazing Race features these little guys too. I have family members that are diehard fans of the show, so I thought whoever sees this would enjoy him.

Our old house in Kaysville, Utah

While I visited  Utah this week I wanted to stop by and see one of the houses that we used to live in when I was in 6th grade. Marc told me what street it was on, and once we met there to check it out realized that it had turned into Kathleen's Bridal Shop. It looked a lot nicer than it use to be, but all of the beautiful trees were cut down in the front side yard. When we left Oklahoma and moved to Utah this was the first place we had lived in. A trip down memory lane for sure.
This photo was taken at the Olive Garden where we had a delicious dinner and of course the best service ever! Taylor my nephew has been working for the company for a year now and did a great job as our server. We also were treated to a nice  dessert which was compliments of his manager. Kathleen enjoyed visiting with Marc and also meeting Taylor. 

BEST FRIENDS FOREVER

My best friend Kathleen  who lives in Echuca, Australia came to Utah for a visit. So we went out to the Olive Garden in Layton, Utah. My nephew Taylor  is a waiter there. We had a great dinner, and my big brother Marc joined us too. It was a nice evening!