Speaking of Grass...see last post

We definitely have not stood still the past few days. I guess you could say "the grass is not growing under our feet!" Too bad though, I wish it would because I'm getting tired of watering our polka dotted front lawn!

Nevertheless, I digress.

On Friday, Sam and I dropped the boys off at my parents house for the entire day (thank you sooooo much Mom and Dad!) and headed to Moroni, Utah. Sam's Uncle Jack passed away and we were heading to his funeral. Every time I attend a funeral I'm always in awe that we can summarize somebody's life into just a few hours. I love to hear stories from loved ones that are so important to them, that they made the cut into the funeral talk. Uncle Jack was quite the character...always telling stories and making others laugh. He was a hard worker, living in Jerusalem Utah (did you even know there was a Jerusalem Utah??) in the summers, working the land and taking care of horses, cattle, and being a turkey farmer. He was the last of his siblings to pass away. It was very somber to watch Sam's older brothers and sisters mourn over the passing of Uncle Jack. Sam's parents divorced when Sam was a toddler, so Uncle Jack was like a father to many of the Sweet kiddos. Jack's last name is Bailey. In Sam's childhood, the Bailey cousins were to Sam what the Oram cousins are to me. They were tight, yo.

Uncle Jack with my nephew, Nick. April 2001


When we walked into the church we saw a gorgeous display that Jack's kids had created:


I've known Jack for 13 years and I've never seen him wear anything except those striped bib overalls. In one hand or pocket he usually had his pliers and the other hand was a Mountain Dew. Yeah, Jack was a cool dude!

Jack was married to Enid. Enid and Sam's mom are sisters. Enid passed away in 1988 so I never knew her but I hear she was the FAVORITE Aunt. Everybody loved Enid!


Here's Belva and Fontella.....or FonBelva as we like to call them! The last two Jackson sistas! Sam's mom is Fontella. :) When we were trying to think of what to name Carson, Sam's brother tried desperately to get us to name him FonBelva. ha ha! These two are thick as thieves. They are always good for a hug and a laugh.


This is the house that Jack built. I don't know if he actually built it, but I think that was the title of a book I used to read when I was a young 'un. Fern told me that they first just had the basement and then later on they added the top portion. I'm not a gambling woman, but I'd venture to bet that the satellite dish was a recent addition. :)


Jack served in WWII and the Korean War so we had the 21 gun salute at the cemetery.


My favorite picture that Sam took: Jack's only son J.L. (Sam's cousin) suffered a brain aneurysm almost 6 years ago. He has made steady improvement in his health since that day. He was presented with the flag from Jack's casket. It was a very touching moment, especially when J.L. saluted the presenter.


Jack's kids. I love these guys!! Maureen, Cindy, J.L., Joann, and Jeanene.


One of my first impressions meeting Cindy: We were at Jack's cabin in Jerusalem and Cindy was helping her dad vaccinate, brand, and castrate some cows. Cindy was doing the bulk of the work and tossing those, **I'm blushing**, testicles across the field! It was like a car accident, I seriously could not look away! She earned my respect that very day because I can't even touch raw meat, let alone doing something like THAT!! ha ha! Seriousy though, the Bailey children are the most kind, caring, and wonderful people. Enid and Jack did a great job raising them!!

On Saturday, we celebrated the Easter Bunny side of Easter.

The kids woke us up too early to find their baskets. They were pretty eager.


They were pleased with their haul.





Okay, who's going to tell Cameron his fake smile needs some work? NOT IT!


Hyped up on sugar makes kids do weird things.


Yesterday happened to be my dad's birthday too! As he was cooking his own birthday dinner to feed us (his choice, don't be hatin'!) we decided to have an Easter Egg hunt. Sam and I filled the eggs. Do you think we filled them all nice with regular candy?

Fugghetaboutit!

We just used whatever we could find around the house: crushed leaves, hair mousse, pennies, crystal light, old marshmallows, gum....it was fun!





The best was when Dexter opened up the egg packed full of brown sugar. He wasn't quite sure about it.


My dad's birthday dinner was WONDERFUL! Tri Tip Steak grilled to perfection! Happy Birthday Dad, we love your guts!!


You know what else we love? This cake!!! It's called "Put the Lime in the Coconut Cake". It's Uh-MAZE-ing! My mom did a great job because none of us could keep our hands off of it! Pure dangerous. That cake should be called "danger cake". For realsies.


The festivities continue in a few hours because we're heading back to my parents house and having a traditional Easter Dinner. Have I mentioned how much I love living this close to my parents? Happy Easter everybody!!