Mark's Funeral

Our good friend, Mark McBride, passed away.  He is my best friend's husband and passed away from a short, intense battle with stage 4 melanoma.  Mark and Jen were one of the first friends we made here in WA during Randy's residency. They actually moved into our rental house when we moved to Rhode Island. We've been friends for years, our kids are friends, and Mark's death and their move to Utah has left a huge gaping hole in our lives.  Mark was the bishop who called me to be the Relief Society President but he had to be released soon after I was called because of his diagnosis.  I felt like part of the reason I was called was so I could help the ward support this wonderful family.  It was both inspiring and heart wrenching to watch the love and service that was extended to this family while they experienced the terrible journey of losing the battle with cancer.  

One of my most treasured memories was when we gathered outside their house to cheer Mark and Jen on as they drove to the hospital for his first cancer treatment.  We had signs and banners and cheered with all our hearts as we sent them off, praying for miracles.  I sobbed as I filmed this video.  Heaven was close that day.

Randy and I flew down for the funeral and I loved being surrounded by so many good friends as we celebrated the great man that Mark was.  I actually like funerals now.  Heaven feels so close and being surrounded by so much love is so healing.  Marcus was especially close with Mark and really struggled being in Brazil during all this so I took a few photos at the funeral to send to him.

Marcus's friends (some who drove from Cali) 

That's me with Barb and Jana (Jana is Jen's aunt and she owned my home before we bought it so we are tight)

Mark was super fit and loved to workout in the wee hours of the morning so on the morning of the funeral there was a 6am workout in UT in Mark's honor.  I was sad to miss it!  We worked out together a few times a week for years.  The last text I sent to Mark was telling him I missed working out with him and that "he was in my prayers and my burpees" :)

This is Marcus lifting his homemade weights in honor of Mark

This is some of our ward family after the funeral luncheon.  Once you move into the Pine Lake Ward, you're always a member, even if you move away.

Here's just one picture of the funeral broadcast that we arranged back in WA.  So many people couldn't attend the funeral in Utah so we felt like gathering to watch it would help support those aching hearts.  This picture is of people watching the slideshow and eating Mark's famous chocolate chip cookies.  So much love in this photo!

Mark was a friend to all and just like Linz, everyone felt like they were his best friend because they were.  I'm beginning to realize that most people who pass before their time truly are some of the best.  Heaven is definitely full of incredible souls who have passed on but I know they support us from the other side because I've witnessed it time and time again since Mom and Linz died.  I am so thankful to know that Mark is now healthy, free from pain, and reunited with his son Maxwell.  God has a beautiful plan for us, even if it includes heartache.  

Still Going

I've got a lot to say and no time to say it. 
Starting up our own dental practice is kind of a nightmare and incredibly time consuming.  Randy could easily quit his job and spend all this time getting his practice going but we can't afford that luxury.  The stress level is through the roof for both Randy and me, but mostly Randy.  Throw in an already busy life and a newborn baby and we are in survival mode for sure.  Here's proof:  I bought Parker and Landon their own Wii remotes so all four boys could play Minecraft {their favorite video game} simultaneously.  I'm embarrassed to admit how many hours they've logged in front of the TV but they're happy and so I've accepted it.
Now here are some random pictures of all the things documenting our summer activities...

Randy took 17 boys and a few dads on a 3-day backpacking trip on the Olympic Peninsula.  Randy also had shingles, which he diagnosed right away so it didn't get too bad.  {Shingles is stress induced and because Henry doesn't have all his immunizations Randy wasn't allowed near Henry for 2 weeks.  That's a long time in the life of a newborn!}

Ethan played flag football with all his best buddies this summer.  I only made it to his first and his last game.  Flag football is seriously the best.  Every boy feels like a super star. 

 While Randy and Marcus were camping I let the other 3 boys sleep in the tent in the backyard.  They stayed out their the whole night which is pretty miraculous.  I think it was all the food they smuggled out there which they thought I didn't know about.

 I took all 5 boys school shopping.   #icandohardthings

Here's Marcus having Henry try on the new shoes.

The Smith's {our best friends from RI} came to town!  This had to be one of the highlights of my summer.   Alysa was my running buddy in RI.  We ran almost every Saturday morning together, ran 2 Ragnars together, and solved all our problems as we talked the miles away.  I didn't know how much I missed her until she came.  Of course we had to go for a run.  Let's just say my still-healing uterus will never be the same but we had to run together so I took one for the team.

 We were happy to show them Pine Lake and now they know why we moved here

 After the lake it was time to warm up in the hot tub.  And then we made Alysa go on the rope swing.  She was nervous so naturally we spent an hour prior to her mandatory swing watching epic rope swing fails on YouTube because that's the kind of friends we are.

Here is Matt, holding down the fort while we went running and admiring his beautiful fruit bowl

I signed Marcus, Ethan, and Landon up for a kids mud run/obstacle course.  Landon was so excited he actually trained by going running so he could rock the 2-mile course.  He did awesome!

 Here's Marcus flying through the course.  I told him it wasn't a race but that didn't stop him. 

 Landon finishing strong

So glad they did this so they can have some good memories of this very lame summer

Even with all the stress we still managed to go to 7-11 on "Bring your own cup day".  These huge slurpees cost $1.50

I spend all my spare time shopping for office furniture

 

 Here are the boys enjoying donuts on the hammock that I gave to Randy for his birthday.  He's never sat in it once.

 My Aunt Barbara and Uncle John came to visit.  We had a great time showing them around and they treated us to lunch which was extra nice since taking my boys to eat in public ranks in my top things to avoid at all costs. They brought their dogs and Landon said, "Now we have dogs like every other family in the neighborhood!" Poor kid.  He can have a dog when he gets married.

And now Ethan is back to playing tackle football which means fall is here.  I'm really looking forward to spending my Saturdays sitting in the rain with a newborn while I watch him play.  It's going to be great fun.

And now I'm off to feed Henry.....

Utah!

I finally got to be with my family again and it was great!  The week flew by, cramming in as much fun as possible.  For me, the highlight of the trip was going out to lunch with my three best friends from high school and seeing some of my Spjute family relatives that I rarely get to see.
I drove with the boys down to UT and stopped near Boise on the way there.  Most of my relatives were meeting at a pond to swim and it was like a mini family reunion.  The pond was in the middle of nowhere and a ton of fun with no lifeguards which meant no rules (hooray!) so the water slide, zip line, and high dive were fun for all.  I was too busy talking to take many pictures but trust me, it was epic.

Marcus and Bean about to go down the zip line together

My Grandma is the Best!  Seriously such an amazing woman.

This is what I drove past to get to the pond....seriously in the middle of nothing but fields

We arrived in UT safe and sound and somehow the stars aligned and I met my 3 friends for lunch.  It's been years since I've seen them so this gathering was long overdue.  We couldn't talk fast enough!  We discussed everything under the sun and I learned so much from them as we shared our struggles and successes.  I had no idea when I met these 3 girls my junior year of high school that our bond would be so strong all these years later or what amazing women they would all grow up to be but I am truly grateful.

Emily, me, Mollie, and Sarah

OK, so back to the vacation stuff...My sisters and I took our kids to Lagoon on a blistering hot day.  It was almost 100 degrees!  The tweens did their own thing, going on as many big rides as possible while my sisters and I hung out on the kiddie rides with the littles.  After baking in the sun all day we went to Swig's where I finally got to eat my first Swig cookie.  The soda was good too but that much sugar was a major insulin rush and just thinking about it makes my stomach groan.  Oh, and let's not forget about Ethan's awesome Lagoon experience.  He rode the giant, scary roller coaster Cannibal two times and then went on little, wimpy Tilt-a-Whirl and got sick.  His face was literally green.  He laid down on a bench for a good hour drinking a little bit of water and trying to get his stomach back to normal so he could go on rides.  While we were waiting in a line he suddenly started throwing up.  Poor kid and poor people in line around him!  It was embarrassing to say the least and I'm sure I'll be teasing him about this for years to come.

Sunday dinner at Grandpa's

Reunited with the Johnson's once again.  These boys are too cute when they're together

We were finally able to be there in person for the monthly FHE instead of calling in on conference call like we usually do

Lagoon!

Parker riding his first roller coaster.  He loved it!  Landon was a puddle of tears and drama the whole time. 

Cooling off on Rattle Snake Rapids

Swig!

The Cannibal coaster (my boys are pretending to be cannibals)

These boys are Nerf gun obsessed

We squeezed in a visit to the cemetery before camping

 A couple days later we headed up Little Cottonwood Canyon to camp for three days with my family and Randy was able to join us for that.  It was a beautiful campground with lots of trees and a big stream running through it which made for heavenly sleeping at night.  Camping so close to home meant the husbands could come and go as work required and we could still all be together which was the first time the entire family has been together in almost five years.  Five years!  That's a long time.  We hiked, ate good food, relaxed, ate good food, played games and made countless friendship bracelets, ate good food, and went to the aquarium where we ate good food.

decorating cupcakes for Sage's birthday

Campfire fun each night ended with glow sticks but those pics never turn out.  The adults have as much fun watching the kids run around with them as the kids do wearing them

The aquarium

Sharks!

The playground was fun for all

Nerds going to the 4-D movie

Someone woke up extra early to catch a flight to Utah

These huge rocks at our campsite were a favorite pastime for the boys

Falling asleep to the sound of this water each night was heavenly

Another pirate adventure in the books!

Hiking to Cecret Lake

hiking with hungry kids is soooo fun...

Max is a hula hooping machine

An epic water balloon fight with colored water balloons

We rock climbed at Lisa Falls.  Our kids climbed all over it and luckily none were hurt.  The following morning a little boy fell and died here.

Randy hiked up to the top with the boys

We came home dirty and tired but pulled ourselves together for a quick swim in the Farmington pool so Landon could show Randy his new accomplishment of jumping off the high dive.  We made it home in record time the next day, not stopping for anything but gas and food per Randy's request and now we are back to the busy end-of-summer schedules with sports starting up, and school preparations.  Life is good!