ACTIONS

My new favorite picture of Kylie Erik happened to snap last week. Only, now I can't figure out which action I like the most on it. I secretly love the vintage, but then you lose out on the awesome colors. Ahhhh, decisions! Any opinions out there?

MARCH

March brought Spring Break & what better activity to do during Spring Break than go camping?! Well, at least for Erik & the girls. I had to work, so I enjoyed an evening alone. They had quite the eventful night. Apparently, Jay got sick multiple times in the afternoon upon arriving where she ended up going through all of her extra clothes & had to go "commando" the rest of the trip. Then, Kylie woke up in the night throwing up all over everything. I'm so glad I wasn't their & wasn't aware of it until well after it happened. They still had a lot of fun though.

BIEBER FEVER

So, February brought this little gem...

We took the girls to go see this movie & Erik & I were hooked. Sad to say, but totally true. We have Bieber Fever now. Cute kid, cute story & made me cry. Although, so did THIS. I loved the shots of his parents & grandparents crying - those get me every time. Dang movie! Now I like Justin Bieber! UGH!!!

LINDA

The lovely lady in the blue is Linda Shelley. The other is Amy Paun - one of my amazing counselors.

Linda was diagnosed with colon cancer in November. She went from walking 6 miles a day & working full time one day to finding out this news the next & never being able to return to work. She went downhill fast & I still can't believe how quickly it all happened. She passed away on January 16th. (The day after Lane's funeral) And this was a funeral neither I, or my counselors, wanted to handle. Yet, how could we not for someone we loved so dearly.

She was a true example of faith. She felt it was her time & she came to terms with it to the point that she was ok with everything. It was amazing! Linda was from England & was extremely organized! She started slowly stockpiling toiletries about a year before her diagnosis & had them overly organized in a closet. Just preparing for whatever may come. Once she knew what was happening she wanted to donate everything. She worked with Amy to gather everything & invited all the sisters to donate items at our Relief Society Christmas party . The response was overwhelming. Everything was donated to a local women's shelter.
During one of my lessons in RS I noticed Linda was wearing a beautiful giant pearl necklace. I stopped my lesson & commented on how much I loved her necklace. She came to church a couple of weeks before her passing. Barely able to move & needing a lot of help to get around with that necklace in her hands to give to me. I was very touched. Having that experience during my presidency is one I'll never forget.

RUBY

My little sister's getting married - WHAT?!?! That's right - only now that this is so late - she is married! As of February 2nd! And we couldn't be more excited. Well, I could be more excited if I would have been able to go. She was married in Sydney & that was way to far for my wallet, unfortunately. Sad, sad for me! ;)

However, Since she was able to come home for Lane's funeral we decided to throw her an impromptu bridal shower. Worked out lovely since she had a lot of family in town that were able to come celebrate! Now we just need to get Ruby & Tane home! Love you Ruby & Congrats!!!

LANE

LANE DALE HALLOWS
February 18, 1949 - January 5, 2011

OK - this post is WAY overdue. Yet, I'm still at a loss for words. It's still completely surreal that this even happened. When my brother passed - that was hard, but we always expected it. (Not that that fact made it ANY easier!) This was completely out of the blue!

I'll try to explain it easy as possible. Lane was my step-siblings father & an amazing man! Because my family is completely AWESOME he was like an extended dad to me. My girls even called him grandpa. He & his new bride of almost a year were always at our family gatherings & that's just the way we work. One big, happy family - just the way it should be! (I only say that because some find it extremely odd that we all get along the way we do. I think it's perfect.)

Anyhow, he always went out of his way to make my little family feel like we were a part of his - even if we technically weren't & that was huge to me for so many reasons. There's just no one like Lane. He was always smiling, happy & could tell you a story at the drop of a hat! You can see HERE what happened. I can't bear to even write it. My brothers were awesome remembering their dad.

I have to give a huge thank you to my SIL Rennie - I stole half of these photos directly from her blog without asking. Thanks Ren! ;) At our Christmas family party we had a special visit from "Santa" (aka Lane). It was hilarious & he was dying to be done & get out of his costume! It will now be one of our favorite memories!


The funeral was beautiful! We were so grateful that Robin was able to get a flight from Sydney to be their! All 5 of his kids stood & said a few words. It was perfect. They are all so amazing! I feel so blessed to have them in my family - they're wonderful examples to me of strength!

I was talking to Lane's brother at one point (whom we lovingly call Uncle) & he was saying how this has been hard on his kids. Most of them grown with families of their own. yet, they've never had anyone close to them pass before. I couldn't help but think of my own kids & how this has almost become a way of life for us lately. My girls have known death all to well & that breaks my heart. They've really struggled this past year with it. Thank heavens for the Plan of Salvation! We'd never make it through without that knowledge & I'm so grateful to have it!!