Gurney Reunion, June 2009

Good times as always, in Utah. Mom and Dad's new house in Lehi is gorgeous--right on the Jordan River with a walking trail and swimming pool across the street, not to mention the daring and contemporary decorating. It was fun to see all my crazy siblings and their cool spouses and for cousins to bond (Russell and Polly had an especially good time dressing up silly together). And as an added bonus, we got to see Aunt Kimmy and Uncle Scott who are growing a baby boy, and Grandma Funk who retains her spunk and "vision" despite her advancing years and near-blindness. Our Pulsipher cousins also came for a visit from Idaho for a day--so wonderful for all of us (minus Dave) to re-connect with our near-siblings. It's times like these I wonder why we don't move to Utah. But we like Texas too.

Just This Morning

IMG_6412, originally uploaded by merindarich.

While I was dragging myself and the kids out of the house to ride our bikes to the library, Mom woke up in Utah feeling breathless. After a shower and a trip to the store, Dad measured her pulse at 120. They rushed her to the hospital thinking she was having a heart attack. It's not a heart attack, they say, but four clots in her lungs. Clots that if they'd been in a larger artery could have taken her from this world.

As I was scrolling through my contacts on my cell phone to call Dad again today to see how Mom is doing, I scrolled past Claudia's number. I still can't delete her number after almost seven months. Losing two mothers in one year would just be more than I could handle. Life is too fragile and I live too far away from my mother. And all I can do for now is useless things like blog and do dishes and plan vacations and wait. It's a cold, hard world.

Scout Day Camp & Butterflies

We skipped swim team practice one morning to watch a butterfly emerge from his chrysalis and fly away. 

Amazing.

Isaac went to Cub Scout Day Camp for a week and I got to join him for one day. Hot, hot, hot!

Nathan, Joseph, Isaac, Kaleb & Keaton

Isaac made it to the top of the climbing wall the next day when he tried again!

"Lord of the Flies" came to mind as I was snapping this one . . .

Kaleb & Isaac have been friends since they were little guys.