Reality Check....

We got home a few days ago from a sudden and very unexpected trip to Utah. Matt's sister, Julie, passed away very unexpectedly at the age of 48 (a week shy of 49) due to a heart attack. We wanted to get home before life support was withdrawn so we were on a plane within about, I dunno...18 hours of deciding to go. (which by the way, flags you for 'extra security' checks by the airline, i.e., go through your things, test for explosives and pat you down. And this is on the trip home, too, my friend. One ticket guys said, "there's that shifty looking Evans family"when he saw the secret code that must mean 'strip search if needed' stamped on our ticket. The boys backpack actually tested positive for explosives on the way back home so they had to unload each item...so picture them removing a box of half eaten candy, a Bionicle guy, another Bionicle guy, 2 more boxes of candy, some chocolate munchy stuff, gameboy, paper, pens, peanut butter crackers...on and on. Then Cooper, as the owner of the offending backpack, had to be patted down....by the deer in headlights look on his face, I'm guessing a career in crime is not in his future.) Anyway, we made it home in time to say good-bye to Julie. And she passed quickly and quietly once everything was withdrawn. She was goofy and funny and said whatever she wanted with no censor. She didn't take crap from her 3 younger brothers either. It just seems so unfair that she should have been here for 30 more years and now she's gone. I felt so badly for Matt's mother. A mother shouldn't have to bury her daughter or son. Just shouldn't. We'll miss her as will many others. I am just so grateful that we were all together last Thanksgiving for the first time in about 9 years.

The kids had a great time playing with their cousins. They had fun although there were definite moments of sadness. All the nieces and nephews sang a primary song at Julie's funeral. Walker just sobbed through it. Which got Cooper going a bit. Which all got me going. Which made it worse. Walker is such a tender-hearted little guy. He'd cried during the song practices, so we knew he was going to have a difficult time. But he managed to get through it.

The kids got to go to a farm nearby and take a tour and milk a cow (pictures on the camera....still don't have the skillz). They got to jump and play in great big piles of cottonseed and flaked corn (cow food). They were all going to get horse rides, but the dumb horse bucked two of our little cousins off so no more rides. It made for some very scary moments, but in the end, they were physically ok....though Elsie will take awhile to recover mentally.

It was a fun trip despite the sadness. It's not fun to be back home and back in the grind of things. Was life really meant to be this busy? I kind of think not.

Gotta go put the baby to bed.