It's been two years...

Family and friends got together at Nimbus Dam to remember the date Darren left us. We had a great time and I am so glad we drove out for the quick trip. The weather was warm but the wind was out of control. Hot dogs and cake were flying everywhere. We rented kayaks and sort of swam in the cold water. Some of us were able to scatter some of his ashes which was nice. A great way to honor a great brother.

Friends and family.

Sending messages, love, and balloons to Darren.

"Tats" to honor Darren.

David, Dad, and Darryl wearing their "Darren shoes".

National Junior Honors Society

So proud of Jackson! He was inducted into the National Junior Honors Society tonight with a bunch of other super smart kids in his middle school. To be nominated into the Society, a student must have at least a 3.8 and high marks in citizenship. He is such a great kid and I love having him in our family. He is smart, kind, outgoing, confident, and happy. He wishes he was a few inches taller but that will come soon enough. Congratulations Jackson!!

(Not the best pictures because I only had my phone. Oh well.)

Is it Winter again??

This is what we woke up to today! It wasn't a lot and it didn't stick but it was cold and miserable. When I headed out to school, there was a major blizzard going on and I could barely see as I was driving on the freeway. It lightened up as I got away from the mountains but, good grief, it's supposed to be SPRING!

End of the semester!!

Woo hoo! It's my last big semester and it is almost over. I have two finals on Saturday and then I get a break for a week. I have been super stressed this semester and I know I am not going to get the highest grades I could but I have done pretty well considering the circumstances and challenges of the last few months. I have had a great time at BYU over the last two years. But, I must admit, I am ready to graduate and move on. Only three more classes and one internship and I am out of there! August 13th is when I graduate-yeah! I like to say that I have been on the 20 year plan. I started in the fall of 1990 and I will graduate exactly 20 years later. Better late than never, I suppose. The light is getting brighter, I can hardly wait.

Easter 2010

For Easter, the kids headed down to the sunshine in St. George and spent their long weekend with the Burton's. The all had a great time and came home tonight still on a their sugar highs. They had way too much candy. But I guess that is the fun of Easter Egg hunts. I took these pictures off Ashley's blog (thanks Ashley) since I wasn't there to participate in all the festivities.

Jalyn and Bentley decorating sugar cookies.

We have a fun family tradition we have done for the last 12 years with the kids. On the Saturday night before Easter we plant jelly beans in the dirt. Overnight, they grow into lollipops. It has been a fun tradition and I just found out that one of my mission companions and a family from my mission who I had shared the tradition with has also continued doing it with their families. I love that the tradition has spread. My kids have loved it and we will continue the tradition until they get tired of waking up to a lollipop garden. This was the first time for the cousins too and I hear they had a great time with it too.

Enjoying the harvest!

The lollipop garden.

Pictures of Darren's Memorial

Family picture with Dad. Darren is represented in the picture frame.
We wrote messages on the balloons and let them go. I love Matt's pose.
Brothers will be brothers. Always picking on their sister.
This is the quilt we made out of Darren's shirts and boxers. David is demonstrating how the boxers work.
Family picture with Mom.
Trying to get the balloons separated so we could let them go. They kept popping on us. It was an awesome day and a great way to celebrate Darren's birthday. He would have been 30. We miss you Darren!

Catching up...

I have been wanting to find the time to post some updates on this blog. One of the things that I have wanted to add are pictures from Darren's memorial that we had last August. It was such a great day and it was fun to have family together, Darren's friends, and even an old friend from high school that Don and I hadn't seen in many years. The reason for getting together is sad and we miss Darren very much. The memorial was a perfect activity in his honor. We released almost 30 balloons with messages written on them. We started with 30 but balloons kept popping so I think by the time we released them there were only 25 or so. The number doesn't matter, it was the messages to Darren. We played frisbee golf too which was his favorite activity. My friend Lauri, mom, and I made a quilt out of Darren's shirts (and even a pair of boxers)which turned out great.

Pictures will be added later- I have run out of time! It's the story of my life.

While out in California for Chris' shindig, I took the kids on a field trip to Sutter's Fort. I had to do a presentation on a heritage tourist site and I chose to do it on the Fort. We got there on a living history day so it was actually pretty cool. Mariah was with us as well but she was the official photo taker so she isn't in any of the pictures. We had a great time.

Chris came home!

We headed to California for a quick weekend to welcome Chris home from his mission. He has been serving the last two years in the Bilbao Spain mission. He hasn't changed a bit! He looks exactly the same, didn't gain a pound. I am sure the changes he has made have been on the inside and not on the outside.

 

Jalyn enjoying the ride to California.

 

Mountain Man Danny. What's with the beard?

 

Me and Dennis!
Chris- looks exactly the same!

 

I shouldn't complain...

Life has been tough the last few weeks. I try to balance and do it all and usually I do it pretty good. I keep pushing forward. I don't have any other option.

Just needed to vent...

on another sad note...

Ok, this is getting to be too much for me. We had another tragedy in the family when my 13 year old cousin Kendall passed away in his sleep on January 16. His passing was caused by a seizure that he had in his sleep. It was a whirlwind week of family, planning, and mourning together. The funeral was on January 24th and it was beautiful. It was held in one of the first ward buildings that Brigham Young had built just a few years after entering the Salt Lake Valley. It's located at 300 East and 500 South. My Uncle Bob presided and Whit, Kenyon, and Ashlee all spoke. Each talk was fantastic and truly paid honor to Kendall and his life. I am grateful for my understanding and belief in the Atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that we are here on this earth to learn and grow and we will return to live with our Heavenly Father again. This testimony that I have gives me peace during these sad times but I think I have experienced enough for now. We will miss you, Kendall! Say hi to Grandma and Darren for me!

Donna May Winters Cook

My wonderful and sweet Grandma passed away on December 22, 2009 at the age of 85. She will truly be missed.

This is me and my Grandma when I was 8 or 9. She was a great lady. Just this week, before any of this happened, my mom and I relived some memories of Grandma by making her famous homemade Christmas treats. My mom made Grandma's fruitcake and divinity and I made her fudge. (Mom tried to make the fudge but she did it wrong- mine was better...) Mom got some reaction from Grandma in the hospital by wafting the fruitcake under her nose. :)
We will miss her but we are grateful she is home with our Heavenly Father and I know she was welcomed home by her grandson, Darren. Darren was just the right one to help her back. That was what Darren did best...help others. We love and miss you both!

Posts will come...

I know I have said it before but this time I REALLY mean it! I want to add so much to this blog but I just don't have the time. I have two weeks of school left in the semester and then I will finally do it. I want to share pictures and stories of the memorial we did in August for my brother Darren, I want to brag about the good grades I am getting in school, I want to post fun pictures of the kids and tell funny stories about them...and I will...in a couple of weeks...hopefully before Christmas...

See you then!

Fall Fun at the Pumpkin Patch...

We went to a pumpkin patch in Davis County and had a blast! We ran through the mazes, slid down the monster slide, shot paintball guns, competed for distance with a corn sling shot, lassoed some fake cows, ate yummy kabobs, and took the tractor ride out to the patch to pick our perfect pumpkins. The weather was perfect and it was a great family outing.

Pumpkin Carving...

The annual pumpkin carving event! Halloween started out a little disappointing when we found two of our pumpkins SMASHED and destroyed in the street. Apparently some fun loving hooligans made their way up and down the street spreading their Halloween cheer. Jalyn was devastated! It was her pumpkin that was smashed and she had worked really hard at the pumpkin patch to find the perfect one. It was so sad and after some consoling, she was willing to take Mom's pumpkin and work her carving magic. Shane went to the grocery store and got another pumpkin with the free coupon he got from school. Thankfully it all worked out and the carving was deemed successful!

Mariah missed out on the carving fun. She had been up in the night throwing up and didn't feel well all day. I washed and sanitized her bed, as well as Shane's, scrubbed the bathrooms, and wiped down every doorknob (we do NOT need sickness in our home). Hopefully we got it all. After a few hour nap, Mariah was up and ready to party. Poor thing. I am glad she felt better so she could go out with Thing 1. It just wouldn't have been the same if Thing 1 had to go by herself.

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween! This year has been so busy that I wasn't sure that we could pull it off. I originally talked Jackson out of dressing up and staying home with me instead to pass out candy (one less costume to worry about!) but 5 minutes before everyone was heading out, he threw together a vampire costume and headed out. Thankfully, Mariah's friend's mother stepped in to take care of Mariah and the two girls looked AWESOME! They had a great time and I am way impressed with the way the costumes turned out. Jalyn didn't want to go as anything "cute". "Halloween is scary Mom, I want to be something scary!" is what she said to me. So the skeleton is what she chose to be. Shane was more difficult. Since we were very last minute, he had to pick something that we could throw together with items on hand. This is the costume Mariah wore last year- The Rain Forest. It's a frog hat and then he was dressed as a tree. He was pretty disappointed that no one could tell what he was. I think he looked adorable.

This is our neighbor's house and it is always decorated for every holiday. The yard is COVERED in decorations. We always look forward to the new additions. It definitely makes for a festive street.

And this is why he costs us so much...

This kid is a maniac! He has broken his arm twice, his finger once, stitches in his chin, and too many bruises and cuts to count. He has cost us more money than the other three kids put together. He has not fear! I keep saying we need to get him in gymnastics or diving while he is still fearless.