THE PARK POST

I headed out to my Grandpa's funeral last week in Tabiona, Utah.  It was such a great experience to witness the legacy he has left for all of us. He died a happy man with a great posterity and literally had no regrets with his life.  I was so amazed at how loving all 8 of his children are towards one another.  I was able to be with them when they dressed Grandpa's body and watched them interact with the funeral proceedings. They all spoke at the funeral and gave great talks.  He and my grandma have done something right. My grandpa always considered himself a rich man, even though he had little money, and witnessing the funeral helped solidify why this is true.  Relationships are worth much more than money or things!    I was so happy to spend some time with Licia and Matt and my mom and dad.  We went to City Creek and out to eat at Little America.  The pics didn't turn out great, but the memorie...

Mike was asked by the bishop to organize a service project in the community for our ward to accomplish.  He found the organization House of Heroes which goes in to veteran's homes (or their widow's homes if they have passed) and does house projects for them like painting, landscape, etc. It was a really neat experience to help Mrs. Suggs with her home and honor her husband's service in the military. Mike put in a lot of hours of prep work buying supplies, delegating the work, and meeting with the family.  Memorial Day had more meaning for us this year because of our experience serving a veteran.

Last night my parents called to tell us that Grandpa passed away.  It wasn't a huge shock because he has been running on 25% heart capacity for years, so we knew it could happen anytime, but it still was hard to hear that the end was finally here.  Grandma found him on the ground by the treadmill while it was still running.  He literally was moving until his last breath.  He was one of the most hard working, disciplined, and gentle souls to grace the earth.  He and Grandma recently retired at age 84 (83).  He loved his routine and hated to break it, unless it involved going out to Tabiona to fish.  Most importantly, however, he was a stalwart man of faith, who not only believed in God, but acted upon that belief by serving others and always doing what was asked of him.  A few days before he died he spent the day home teaching his three families (they finally cut his list down from 6 or 8 as he started slowing down). His dad, who was Catholic, tol...

Last year, our garden we spent so much time planting, failed miserably. I'm talking not a single crop was harvested.  It was so depressing.  So this year we started small.  One tomato plant, kept on our back porch where we could see it every day.  We watered it and fertilized it and lo and behold we grew our first home grown tomato.  It was delicious!  With so many others on the way we started feeling like we could live off this plant all summer if there was a run on the stores. :)  And then the curse returned.  As I was walking over to water the plant a few days after this photo was taken, I tripped and knocked this beautiful plant with my elbow onto the ground below.  We'll see soon enough if plant resurrection really works!

We were planning on going to Destin over Memorial Day Weekend, but our little condo fell through and there were no other accomodations available, so we ended up taking a quick trip up to Atlanta instead.  We ate at Cheesecake Factory on my birthday. (The white chocolate caramel macadamia nut cheesecake is my favorite, and much better than cake).  We swam at the hotel, took the subway, went to a Braves game, and saw a Scotty McCreery concert after the game.  It was free with our ticket. Everyone got along great until the last morning when we tried to get the kids to go to the Bodies Exhibit.  Paige was the only one willing to go, but the others fought us and complained until Mike reached his breaking point.  He doesn't lose it with them very often, but when he does they know he means business.  Needless to say the ride home was very quiet with a few sniffles in the back seat.  Our new motto around our house is "keep your expectations low, that is the k...

Paige spent many hours rehearsing for this original ballet choreographed by her teacher, Maria Hirsch.  The international trumpet guild was holding their annual conference in Columbus and they contacted Paige's teacher and asked if she would be interested in choreographing this new piece of music they had written for ballet.  Paige got one of the two leading roles and got to do a lot of partner dancing which was new for her.  She didn't enjoy pretending she was in love with the two guys,  but she put on her best actress face and pulled it off. She really did an amazing job! She had a lot of pressure on her the last few weeks of school as she was taking AP tests, rehearsing for this ballet, running for student council, etc.  I was so happy for her when it all ended.  She really needed a break!

 McKell finished the year on the A/B Honor Roll.  She was a little nervous about a few grades, but pulled it out in the end.  She has a talent for saving herself at the last minute.  She also did some babysitting for free for her service requirement.  She is naturally good with kids and knows how to make things fun!    Jackson loves the end of school, especially field day where he can be as loud and rambunctious as he wants.  His teacher this year, Ms. Houston, is in our ward, so it was fun for him to have a Mormon teacher.  He also had 3 other kids in his class that were Mormon.  That's a lot for out here in Georgia. He teacher awarded him with the most likely to be a comedian award.  I think he loved it!   Sydney also had field day and loved the sponge game.  She enjoys getting wet!  She made a new friend this year, Hannah, who also moved into our neighborhood.  She's excited to be moving o...