In Loving Memory . . .

We just got back from a quick trip to Utah. My cousin, Austin, was in a bad skating accident and passed away Sunday, January 27, 2008. He has three kids and an awesome wife. I have lots of memories about Austin because we used to play together when we were kids. One of my favorites was when I was about 5 years old. I was being babysat by my other cousin, Marchell. There was this boy in our neighborhood that I was completely scared of and somehow he got in our house. I remember sitting on a chair in our kitchen and he was leaning over the chair trying to talk to me. I remember yelling at him to go away and he wouldn't. Remember those wooden shoes, clogs I think they were called? I had some and I was wearing them. I remember kicking my shoes at him and he wouldn't go away. Then I saw in the doorway of our kitchen Austin was standing there with a big grin on his face. I started to smile the kid noticed, turned around, saw Austin and I remember very distinctly the kid yelling, "oh crap!" as he bolted out of our house. Austin chased him away, we laughed and everything was good. He was always watching out for me. We soon moved out of Utah and I really only got to see him at family get togethers but he was always fun and always had a ton of cousins following him around. His funeral was really good. He was in the National Guard and very respected so he got a helicopter fly over at his burial site. That was awesome! There were a lot of people there. You can look at some of the other people who were blessed enough to know Austin and read what they say here, here, and here. He was a great guy, very fun and we will definately miss him.

We did try to make the best of our trip though. Isabel got to see snow for the very first time. She wasn't a big fan. I think it was a little too cold for her.

Alexandria got to build a snowman with Aunt Whitney and a little help from me. That was a big highlight for her. Whitney and Juan were super nice to let us stay with them in Provo while we were there. (I hope we didn't trash your place too much Whit.) My kids loved staying with them. DJ is even asking to drive back to Aunt Whitney's.

We were planning on coming home on Sunday but it was snowing pretty bad so we decided to stay. Instead we drove up to Salt Lake and went to the Visitor's Center and saw the Temple. It's Alexandria's favorite so I was glad we were able to stay longer. Plus, we got to spend more time with Adam, Fabiane, Carter and Whitney.

And this picture I had to post because Adam thought it was a little girly to wear his baby in a sling but I think he looks great! What a good dad!

We got home late Monday night. The kids did awesome on the drive. It was long but they watched a lot of movies and we made it with no big disasters. It's good to be home but I really miss the snow.