Kai Turns 7

Today is Kai's 7th birthday.  It is hard to imagine that 7 whole years have passed since we brought him home from the hospital.  Kai has brought us so much joy.  He is sweet and kind and sensitive to the needs of others.  He loves to learn and is constantly seeking out new things to understand.  He remembers everything.  He loves his family and will still ask to cuddle.  He has wisdom well beyond his 7 years of life.  He loves sports, games, building things, science experiments, crafts, using his imagination, reading and writing, all things related to Space, Phineas and Ferb, old school Batman, and going on adventures.  We love this little guy so much.

We started off the celebrations today with some balloons and mini powdered sugar donuts and fresh raspberries- his choice for his birthday breakfast.  After some TV and playing we headed out to the Multigen for some fun in the activity pool.  We got there right when it opened which was great because we had it mostly to ourselves for awhile.  Kai must have gone down the huge water slide 10 times.  Grandpa Utah drove down from SLC and made it to us in time to see a few runs down the slide and some swimming.  We came back to the house and opened up a few presents.  Kai had been really wanting the spaceship thing in the picture so he was pretty excited when he opened it.  It has provided great entertainment for most of the rest of the day.  Grandpa Utah also had a gift for Kai.  It was extra special because we had found it (and a gift for Rori) wrapped up in a closet in SLC.  Grandma Utah was so organized that she already had gotten gifts for both of them.  Kai's gift was this cool Alien themed Shrinky Dink thing.  Grandma was obviously tuned in to his space and craft interests as well. 

 After some rests we headed to Lucille's for some yummy dinner. They brought out their birthday ice cream sundae for Kai which he was excited about. Rori and Zuri were also excited about it and in the end were the ones who really ate the most of it as a little sweets is all Kai usually really cares for. The girls on the other hand love their sweets. After dinner the kids played and danced outside Lucille's to some live music before we snuck back to the air conditioning to escape the heat. Kai got to stay up a little later that usual to watch the Olympics and play with his spaceship gift before bed. I think he had a nice birthday. As birthdays go in the lives of our children this was just day 1 of more celebrations to come. After our last few weeks we are reminded even more to enjoy all the good moments. 

 

Back Again

The last few weeks have been such a blur.  We came back to Las Vegas on the Sunday after Lance's Mom's funeral.  It was hard to leave.  It was hard to be away.  It was hard to return to "normal" life with time going on.  Wednesday morning Lance got the phone call from Kirsten that Great Grandpa had passed away that morning.  Kirsten had been planning to start her drive back to Seattle that day so it was good that she was still there.  It was such a different call and feeling.  There was sadness, but we had all known that it was coming and that there was peace in a hard struggle ending.  So Friday we packed up all over again and hit the road back up to SLC again.  *All pictures in this post are cell phone quality. 

We weren't looking forward to loading the kids up in the car again for the same long drive, but we were glad to be going back.  Our first stop as we got in to town was gradndma's park where Kir met us.  Her kids and ours hugged, and skipped and played happy to be reunited again.  The sun was shining and I thought grandma would like it with the kids happy and playing all around. 

Over the next few days we stayed close to each other.  We watched lots of Olympics which has been a great distraction and ate way to many chocolate Dunford Donuts.  We got up early on Saturday and met up with the Wilkinson's at the Zoo.  We had been there twice earlier in the summer, but this time Lance and Kir and kids also got to join us.  It was awesome as all the animals were out and super active. 

That night our little family and Brice headed up the canyon for some dinner and smores. It was great to be up in the mountains and enjoy some time together and be able to talk a bit. Kai and Rori had a blast getting filthy climbing this huge dirt hill and having grandpa all to themselves.  Brice has been so strong and so good about talking with all of us.  Our hearts are very much with him every second. 

  

On Sunday Lance, Brice, and Tyler got up early and drove to the Cabin to make sure things were taken care of there. I know it was a very difficult trip for all of them. Kirsten and I stayed back at the house with the kids and tried to get some more things done around there.  We are very fortunate in that Colleen was so organized, but it is still a bit overwhelming to look around and see all that will need to be done over time.  That night we headed to Tyler and Kimberley's for a waffle dinner and then back to Grandma's park to put up some pinwheels. A sudden rain and wind storm quickly passed through.

On Monday Lance took Jake, Kai, and Emme on a hike while Kirsten and I ran some errands at Target and Costco with Rori, Zuri, and Kate. That night and the next day were spent at the Viewing and Funeral. The kids were troopers and did fairly well making it through all of that.

On Tuesday night several of Colleen's family members headed to Tarahumara (one of Colleen's favorites) for some dinner. The kids had a blast with the face painter and the adults were happy to relax and fill up on the yummy food.   

On Wednesday morning we got up super early and hit the road to head back to Vegas. We are tired and emotionally drained, but grateful to have gotten to be there to honor great grandpa and spend more time with family.  

Great Grandpa Utah

Great Grandpa Flynn's viewing and funeral were at the start of this week.  We all attended the viewing on Monday night where the family began things by sitting in a huge circle and sharing favorite memories.  Attending another viewing and funeral so soon after Colleen's with all of her side of the family was a strange feeling.  It also felt so odd to not have her there leading, directing, and lending comfort as this is what she had been doing so much for her family in regards to Great Gradpa over the last few years.  Great Grandpa's health had been failing for some time now, so the contrast was quite strong.  There was great comfort in being together though and being surrounded by so many who loved Colleen so much.  I think we all struggled with processing more memories and another death, but there was also strength in happy thoughts about great grandpa's life.  One grandchild from each of the 5 children in Colleen's family spoke or sang and they all did such a beautiful job.  Kirsten represented Lance's family and was amazing- which was no surprise.  Lance posted the following on Facebook:
Thanks Grandpa, for golf lessons, airplane rides, boat trips, always having an open door and so much more. Say hi to Mom.

Richard Flynn, February 12, 1923 - August 1, 2012

The collector of hats wore the perfect color for the blessing of our redhead four years ago. (He might have thought it was his favorite green though, due to color blindness.) Farewell Grandpa, we know Mom has fixed the place up real nice for you.

Saying Goodbye

The days following were filled with activity.  Lance and his Dad and his siblings were amazing.  They were so strong and such a great team making decisions and arrangements.  At 34 years old you don't expect to be writing your Mom's obituary, calling and telling people the news, picking things out, and working on a talk and grave dedication.

Things started pouring in almost immediately- phone calls, emails, texts, messages, flowers, and tons of food.  There were tears but there was also sharing of happy memories.  The kids were pleased to be reunited with cousins and we even had a beautiful night watching fireworks as a family at Tyler's house on Pioneer Day. 

The line at the viewing wrapped around and around the building.  Michelle and Hattie Wadsworth even drove down from Idaho to be there which was so sweet.  There were hugs from the Wirthlin's and Wilkinson's there too who both also did much to support us throughout these days.  Lance was even able to grab a quick lunch one day with his good friends from growing up Wes Boyack and Joe Gardner.  And again the emails and calls and more from those who couldn't be around us in person were such encouragement as well.

Kimberley, Kirsten, and I had found matching Hawaii looking dresses for all the girl cousins to wear.  The little boys all had suits and boutonnieres and were honorary pallbearers.  Tyler, Lance, and Dave all spoke at the funeral and did a beautiful job.  Again, I'm not sure how Lance was able to have to composure to write and give such a touching talk.  I said the opening prayer.  Kirsten played the piano and Kimberley conducted the grandkids in "I Often Go Walking".  It was very sweet.  Grandma Whitney flew in the day of the funeral and helped with Zuri which was such a blessing- more on that in a later post.  The entire Chapel and overflow were full of people.

Lance dedicated the grave and then we all released balloons to Grandma up in Heaven.  The balloons headed straight for the Mountains which seemed fitting.  Some have said that they will pretend that one also made its way to the Big Island.  We've decided as a family that we will call the cemetery "Grandma's Park" from now on as it does seem more like a park with all of the flat markers.  After the dedication the Relief Society had a nice lunch set up for extended family back at the Church.  We felt much love that day as well.

The next day we all decided to go up to Silver Lake and walk, fish, and have a little picnic around the lake.  It was nice and peaceful to be all together up in the Mountains that Grandma loved.  We spent Saturday and Sunday morning going through some things and preparing to head back to Las Vegas.