Memorial Day 2009

We had a lovely weekend. Most of it was spent at the AVP tournament watching Casey and Ty rock the AVP - they placed 5th on Sunday morning and we couldn't be more proud of them. 

Sunday night - we (me, Sara, Corey, Baker, Darren, Jenny, Lexi, Casey) had a pasta party to prepare for our half marathon. A pasta party and sugar cookies - thank you Jenny!

Memorial Day morning we got up at 5:30am (on a holiday I might add), and prepared for our race. It was. So. Much. Fun. I saw my cousin Tiffany Brown at the race - we have cousin's everywhere! I found out from her Facebook status that she was running a half marathon in CA over the weekend, and it was the same race - what are the odds? Probably high - there are a lot of us :) It was so fun to see her and all of her cute friends. Thanks Facebook for the connection!

I didn't have a great time, so that won't be posted, but I will post Darren's. He did the half marathon in 1:35. He is so awesome. He was aiming for his previous time of 1:28, but maybe next time? 

After the race, we went to a ward picnic and then to Terminator Salvation - which I really liked.  But I like Christian Bale and the Terminator movies - so it was a great combination.  By about 7pm, the early morning was starting to catch up with me, so I was out by 9pm. Sad but true. 

Today I am a little sore (not bad) but glad we did the race.

Here is a picture of me and my cousin Tiffany - I stole it from Facebook. Luckily she is more organized than me and was taking pictures - I had no photographic proof I was even in the race! Thanks for the picture Tiffany!

To our Half Marathoners - Darren Harris, Corey Cooper, Baker Morphy, Adam Koch, Tiffany Brown and Co., Me, and Sara Spilsbury - thanks everyone for such a fun race - it was a great Memorial Day!

AVP

The AVP is fun for a few reasons. It is a good reminder to lay off carbs - as we watch tall bikini clad women diving in the sand. And it reminds me that I really am not that tall. BUT the most important part has been watching my brother in law Casey play with his partner Ty. We spent the day at the beach - watching games and cheering. Lexi is literally getting a blister on her hand from all of the clapping. 

This weekend was the AVP tournament in Huntington Beach and it has been so much fun to watch. Casey and Ty have been playing so well.  This morning Casey and Ty beat Mayer/Nygaard which is the 3rd overall ranked team. It was a huge win. Casey and Ty are currently ranked 5th place in the HB tournament and will be playing for 3rd place tomorrow morning. If they win, they will have a place in the semi-finals! They had one loss today (it is a double elimination tournament) and it was against Dalhausser/Rogers -the gold medalists. That was a fun match to watch. Very exciting. 

All I can say is this - I am related to him!!!! Good luck tomorrow Casey!

Actually forgot my good camera today - this is a shot of Casey's jump serve at the Riverside tournament. 

Except for Deveraux....

This little one was not smiling. At least not around my camera. 

First she seemed bored.

Then she ignored my efforts to get a smile.

After about an hour, she started to warm up.

And FINALLY, she smiled. Just a little. But enough.

 

Second Wave

Our second wave of visitors was Misha, Dad, Arden, Seville, Bethany and Ryan. Since Lexi and I live right across from each other we plenty of room for everyone. The first day was spent at Disneyland. Part of the crowd left early and I brought Dad after I was done with work. Dad really wanted to watch Casey practice with the National Volleyball Team. 

I think Disneyland can be summed up in smiles:

The Girls on the teacups

Seville and Skylar 

Arden (with new toy)

Kiki (minus one tooth)

Tim

Lexi

Misha

Dad

First Wave - Wed. and Thurs.

Our visitors came in 2 sets. The first set arrived at the beginning of the week in the form of Lesli, Nan, Morgan and Jack. They were at the Marriott in Newport Coast. We were lucky to spend time with them, getting food and playing in the wonderful hot tub. Chief and Rod joined them later in the week and Lesli and I spent an evening showing me some basic camera settings and playing with her fancy new camera lens. 

The macro lens is incredible! It can capture such detail. Naturally, I used it to take a picture of my wedding ring. 

Here is a beautiful shot of me. Notice the confused look on my face? Lesli is teaching me how to use the timer and I accidently took a picture. Lesli - I cropped you out of the photo.  You're welcome ;) 

And here two of my favorite guys just hanging out. 

It was so much fun to have family down in our neck of the woods. Come back anytime!

Changes for Lexi

Lexi - you get your own post about how I finally connected you to my blog.  I regularly check her blog through bloglines, but she pointed out that there was no direct link to her blog.

This has been fixed. A nice new feature is the family section.  (Lexi - being a sister - you are in the family section).  Let me say how happy I am to have a sister live so close. But since I am older, there is this nagging feeling that I should do all within my power to tease her! Thus the title :) 

I would like to give a shout out to a few newcomers in the blogging world. Welcome Nellie and Angela! You may notice that I typically list all couples with the girl's name first. This is for a few reasons.

1) The girls are typically the ones who actually post on the blog (excepting a few like Kent, Tim, Ryan). 

Okay I lied. That is the only reason. 

Moving Forward But Not Moving On

I struggle with posting on my blog in general but this post was hard to make for so many different reasons. The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. From the accident, the ensuing sorrow, to the planning the service - everything came in a steady stream and it culminated with a beautiful service. The service was truly beautiful, Jon, Stephanie and their bishop were the only speakers and seeing how they were the two people who knew Camille best, it was perfect. It was brief (just over 30 minutes) but I came away in awe of Jon and Stephanie. Their faith throughout this trial has been a huge example to all of us. As far as Camille is concerned, I have no doubt as to her place in heaven. In Stephanie's talk she said that, "Camille will watch over her sisters throughout their lives to make sure they return to live with her again." I believe that our loved ones that pass on before us are a huge part of our lives and Camille will be no exception.

Let's talk about the title. In the aftermath of the memorial service, we have all had to return to our lives. I didn't really want to leave. I couldn't live in Vegas forever (although that would be great) because I have a life in California. But getting back in the swing of things has been difficult for me, I can't even wrap my mind around how hard it is for Stephanie and Jon. I didn't want to return to everything with the attitude of moving on. Because I am not. There is still a little ache. Although Camille was so young and little, her absence is huge. And there will always be an absence, until she is reunited with her family in the eternities. So because I can't keep things the way they were, I have to move forward. Things are happening all around that force my life to move forward. So I am moving forward but not moving on. Not forgetting but remembering. Reminding myself that is okay to cry sometimes and to take things at my own speed.

I find that more often than not, I am grateful. Grateful for sisters, especially Buffy (seriously Buff - thank you!) for dropping everything in her life to ensure that Stephanie had Camille's baby book completed by the funeral. I am grateful to all of my sisters who watched Buffy's kids so she could work and those who worked with her (I have a LOT of sisters). I am grateful to the Harris sisters and all of the work they did to make the service beautiful. Grateful for the Harris and Waite families. I have felt so much closer to my Harris family throughout this ordeal. Grateful to my husband for teaching me about faith. Grateful to the example he is to me. Grateful that Stephanie so eloquently posts everyday on her blog. Grateful to the friends and family that have expressed their condolences and shared similar experiences of loss. And mostly I am grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is through Him that we are sealed together as a family and through His Atonement we will see Camille again.

Sweet Camille

This is our sweet niece Camille Kathleen Waite. She drowned in a tragic accident on Friday afternoon. She was in a coma for 2 days. 

After two days of prayers, priesthood blessings, and fasting on Camille's and her family's behalf, her parents made the difficult decision to turn off her respirator this afternoon after her body began to decline.  Camille passed away peacefully in her parents arms. 

We will miss our sweet Camille and her happy smile. We are grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ and the ability we have to be with our families forever. 

Please include Stephanie and Jon and their little family in your prayers at this difficult time. If you would like to leave them a message of comfort, you can on the Waite family blog. They appreciate your words and support, even if you haven't had a chance to know their beautiful Camille. 

Uncle Brent

When I think about Uncle Brent a few things come to mind - ASU sports, Easter breakfast, cowboy hats, cowboy boots, glasses and lots and lots of newspapers. He was and still is such a good man. My heart ached to find out that after being in the hospital for 7 weeks and countless complications, he passed away at the age of 66.

Uncle Brent, March 2008

Let me tell you a little bit about Uncle Brent. He was my Dad's closest brother. Brent and Phil (my Dad) were the two youngest children of Joseph and Elda Brown. They reminded me of two peas in a pod. We were lucky enough to live a few miles away from Uncle Brent and Aunt Marilyn and their 6 children. His youngest 3 daughters -Angela, Mandy and Bethany - are some of my closest cousins. It would be safe to say I practically lived at their home and I probably spent days of my life begging my mother to let me play with Mandy.

One of my favorite memories of Uncle Brent was when I was a freshman in college. He had taken a sabbatical to research for a book and had moved to D.C. for a year with Aunt Marilyn, Mandy and Bethany. I went to visit him with a few of my sisters. One night we were up late and by we, I mean - Mandy, Bethany, Misha and Nikki, all of the older people were asleep. At the time, we were in a very young and immature stage where we would make fun of wedding invitations. Okay - that hasn't stopped but at the time there was a particular invitation that had arrived at my parents house. I hadn't recognized the name but I had found the layout and pictures to be humorous. As I was describing the invitation, Mandy disappeared into the kitchen and returned with the very invitation I was describing!!!!! At this point we start screaming and laughing hysterically. At 2 o'clock in the morning. In a townhouse full of sleeping people.

That's when we heard the footsteps. They were the heavy footsteps of a Dad who had been pulled from sleep by a room full of giggling girls. We heard him coming down the stairs and I seriously fought the urge to run and hide like a 6 year old. WE WERE SO BUSTED. Uncle Brent appeared in a robe with his hair crazy messed up and his glasses on crooked. On another person it would have looked silly but Uncle Brent was not a person who looked foolish. He didn't have to holler to get his point across that we were being loud. He just reminded us that we were being loud and to quiet down. I can't remember what he said but it might be something my Dad often said, "What's the matter with you?"

Why do I love this story? Because he felt comfortable enough to discipline me like one of his kids. And because that is not the first time I was busted by Uncle Brent or my Dad. :)

I love him and his sweet family. I am grateful to have known him. I am grateful my husband had the chance to meet him and I am grateful he is no longer in pain. I am sure he is having a grand ole time with Grandma and Grandpa Brown and my Mom and I can't wait to see him again.

Brown Boys - my Dad, brother Johnny, cousin Morgan and Uncle Brent