Just had to add this one because it gives me a little giggle. Can't quite figure out what the photographer was trying to get out of us - am I dazed, frightened, what? Steve looks like he wants to ask if this is all a big joke. I do still adore his crooked smile but I have yet to forgive him for keeping my Keith Sweat cassette too long in high school. 
Steve calls me at work last week and first thing he says is, "You're not going to believe what your son's done now." Great, this is the phone call I've been waiting for. Let's see - I don't hear sirens so he hasn't lit Grandpa's house on fire. I can hear Tug barking in the background so our dog's still alive. Steven's not panicked so possibly a shattered window? Lightsaber practice on Emma's snow globe collection? Placed a nice chocolate frosting coating on new couches? So I give up and ask him if I really want to know. "Only if you want to know that he removed his own training wheels and rides a two-wheeler now," he says. 
Of course, Emma's 9 now so she realizes this is a camera moment that mom will cry over if we don't have record of it and she grabs the video and still cameras. What happened to my babies? It's no surprise that Brooks was turning around and slicing corners by the time I returned from work. For a few days after he would yell, "Mommmmmm!" So I would open the door and ask him what he needed. He'd reply, "Does this bike I'm riding have training wheels?" I smile and answer "No Brooks, it doesn't, you're the best Bud!" The most thrilling thing about this is no serious accidents or new scar probabilities. Thank you E.J. for remembering the cameras and lending Brooks your helmet. Thank you Babes for not telling him he's too little and will crack his head open, like I would have. Lastly, thank you Brooks for being Brooks and always bypassing the average just because you believe you can. 
I haven't totally cleared my kitchen since the big Twilight book club last night so I sit here at my computer and wonder if I should really be blogging instead of cleaning, but I always make the funner choice, so here I am...again. These are my Book Bums and we realize that we are a little late in the whole Vampire frenzy, but most of us weren't too sold on the whole bloodsucker thing. We all read the books separately and at different times but found that we loved them, so naturally, we clubbed about them. 
In case I haven't told you, ok I know I've told you, but I have the best book club EVER! I know you all think you do, but that's impossible, because the Bums are the greatest. We are the bums because we decided long ago that we wouldn't dress up for club. We usually arrive in sweats, bring our self-sewn blankies (which we did together also), and we talk about everything woman talk about including a book. Each Bum is different and similar in her own way. It's so nice to share such diverse yet tolerant opinions. I truly miss being away from these gals in between meetings. We have alot of fun together and last night was not unsimilar. So here we are with our affliated parties. CAMP JACOB 
Leslie and Amanda showing their allegiances with werewolf necklaces. You can see that Les hates to be cold, but she had other reasons for favoring Jacob, believe you me. They are genuinely two of the sweetest friends I have. I know I could turn to either of them for anything plus their literary insight is profoundly impressive. Les, your smile's just as beautiful with braces and thanks for the purse-sized Lysol, you know me too well. Amanda brought all of us key chains from her recent trip to Hawaii so thank you dear, they are sooo cute.
CAMP EDWARD
Bren, Lyn, Me, and Tug. See even Tug likes vampires. Bren is the ever-enduring reader of the group. She has completed two of the worst books chosen and lives to tell us about them since we'd rather drink arsenic than finish them, but also want to know the ending. Thanks Bren! I love your little inputs, your chicken tacos, and especially when you forward our emails to long forgotten friends.
And Of course, Lyn and I are both Cullenists as well. It's rare when we don't like something the same. She is truthfully the quintessential sister! She always shows up to my house 30 minutes early because she knows I will, no doubt, be running behind and need help with the salads, breads, last-minute cleaning, etcetera AND etcetera. I do not know what I would do without her in my life. She supports me in everything I do including taking crazy trips to Matchbox concerts when it's a horrible time for her, protesting the circus, driving the getaway car for dognapping, watching my children for marathon hours, and hundreds of other things that would take hours to write. She also made each of us dazzling Edward and Jacob bookmarks. I love you 3rd Sister! Yes, we have names from previously read books. I am 2nd Sister.
CAMP DIFFICULT
If these two weren't so damn funny, they'd be pains in the old rumpster. Sorry Carrie and Dani, but can't you just decide? How hard can it be already? They are the Wayward Jawards because they like Jacob and Edward. The fence behind them was made and hung by my very own husband. Steven was also very helpful in the vampire preparations. Thanks Babes! You are my real life Edward. I've had a few people ask about my connection to Hooksie (Carrie) since they know she's Mandy's sibling. Explanation: Carrie is indeed Mandy's sister. I hired her myself to work in our dental office approx 8 years ago. Carrie and I worked together for 6 years, went to New York together, Book Club together, and last but not least, laugh together. She is honestly one of the funniest friends I have. I'm still laughing about her baking pies comment to 5th Cousin last night. We have a tendency to feed off each other which begins to drive some people crazy when they're around us too long, but we do not care, cuz we think we're funny and thats all that matters. I'm convinced that the real reason our boss, Matt, insists on working one saturday a month is so we can work with Carrie. We keep her around mostly for the humor, but she is also a very compassionate and caring person. I might add that if I were ever asked what I'd want for my last meal, it would be a sheet of Carrie's peanut butter bars and a gallon of milk only.
And then there's 5th Cousin who is, in fact, my first cousin Danielle (born 5th in line.) She is a soldier since she is the only one who hadn't read the books and was intensely pressured to finish in 2 weeks with out-of-state inlaws staying with her, family reunions, new work position, and other important goings on. Thank you Prima. She is also very funny and is the mastermind behind Blankie night, blankie catwalk, our name, and my MB20 intervention thats never going to happen. I love you more than I let on 5th Cousin! You are so fun to give crap to and are a real treasure to our club. Nobody else could've remotely swayed me toward La Push except you. 
So there we are, in a nutshell really. We are much more interesting and fascinating than anyone knows. Those are probably extreme adjectives for simple ladies like ourselves, but the bums and the twilight books are definitely two of my very favorite things!!!!!! St.George or bust girls :)
Every summer we do a special family trip together, but this year we decided to keep it simple and hit the Aquatic Royale. Our 5 star accomodations consisted of tents in Reed's backyard, and yes, I plan on sending a negative "How was your stay survey." Not that I really slept in the tent when my comfy king bed was only several feet away, but Steven brought Brooks in at 2am and said he'd been crying all night. Well no crap. I'd be cryin' too if I was 4, sleeping on the hard earth, my tent door didn't zip an inch and the wind was blowing my only shelter to Timbuktu. Come to think of it, I'd cry at 35 which is precisely why I chose brown brick instead of damaged blue canvas.
The night before Emma said, "Mom, I'm gonna face my fear and go on that straight and high slide." I gave her her the thumbs up with a sincere, "You go girl!" So she faced it head on and then we couldn't get her off it. She slid and slid and slid. Best part was that she didn't ask me to slide with her this year. I was going to give them my I'm-not-going-to-slide-this-year lecture and I didn't even have to. Thats what a large set of cousins will do for ya. Thank you inlaws.
T and Grandpa got to chill under the umbrella. We are loving the new hat that Reed lives in lately. It just doesn't fit him so every time we see him in it we can't help but laugh. He's the ballcap kind of guy but he's informed us that the ol' cap doesn't cover as much area as a senior needs, so he's progressed to the tourist lid. 
Apparently, it doesn't matter if you're 6 or almost 36, OR if your brother's just recovering from a straining round of chemo, the towel whip game never goes off limits. It was a competition, as usual, as to who's whip would hurt the most.
Neither admitted to pain so I guess we'll never know. These are the customary traditions we hold blue and true to our heart.
Of course, Brooks also carried on his own tradition by tramatizing several body parts. I didn't take a picture of his right big toe that no longer has an epithelial layer because I didn't think of it until now, but the upper lip was reinjured. The gum tissue underneath was also severly severed with this bout. I'm no longer questioning if this will be a scar, I'm just curious as to how red or raised it will be. I've given up my fight against fate - he will have scads of scars no matter what I do.
So I told the others that I was going to start taking more pictures of the cousins together since I went through my Grandma's old photos and saw how many she had of my cousins and I. What's posted is what I took. No pizza, no campout, no coyote search (Steven was the coyote), nothing more. I'm a loser but at least I have a blog right?
It wasn't easy for him. We had to haul out the old basement couches and move these sage green nightmares down the 1975 staircase. I am definitely the weakest link so much of the transitioning was done by himself. I asked him if he wanted me to call a neighbor for help but he convinced me I was strong enough so we did it alone. Thanks for believing in me Neph! My arms hurt like hell today but I feel like the bionic woman because I contributed enough to get the job done.
Where does the time go, seriously? I can remember him crying when the delivery nurse flicked his feet so hard that I wanted to kill her. I can remember picking out this green outfit with my mom at Sears. We didn't even have a Wal-Mart when Zak was born. 
This was an outfit that all the boys in our large and extended family wore when they were 3 years old. They stopped the tradition after Zak. I think it's probably because they could see the white boy path progressing to something ridiculous. He still looks devishly handsome in it.
Zak's always had a big heart. I remember one time when he was five, and I must've been feeling overly brave, I took him, Ash, and Krystle to McDonald's (mind you, I was in college and had no idea what it was like to tow 3 kids around.) Anyway, I ordered and paid for all the food but as I was passing out everybody's meals, I realized they had shorted me my own box of McNuggets. I went to the counter to tell the worker and when I came back, there was a full box of McNuggets sitting on my plate. I was confused for a minute until I saw Zak's plate only had fries. He felt so bad they had forgotten to give me nuggets that he secretly gave his to me. I tried to give them back and convince him that mine were on the way but he wouldn't take them. I still get teary to think of it. 
Today like many other special days, we miss her the most. She would've loved me posting to her on her birthday, and all of Aleesha's posts about her too. She would've asked several times how she could start a blog and it probably would've been about Grouse Creek. All the shoulda, woulda, couldas, and it STILL doesn't seem right. But if you're reading this from heaven Lana, Happy Birthday! I hope your enjoying time with Grandma and Grandpa Kimber and your Dad.
I'm sure everyone will be out today to be with "The Dad" (Reed), and the cousins will be running around as usual, sneaking drinks from the fridge and snacks from the pantry. We will still reminisce about old times but it won't be the same without her. Lana loved get togethers, especially with her mom, sisters, and brothers. And she loved being with her best friend Diane, whom I'm sure will not stop thinking about her today. Diane and I can't talk about Lana very much because we always start to cry, but I'm going to try and not make this sad because Lana was such a fun person and she would've wanted us to remember the happy things about her.
She would've been happy to see Steven and Travis get their Masters degrees last year. She would've been anxiously waiting for Leesh's new baby and planning what she was going to do with Maya and the boys when Leesh needed her help. When I had Brooks they wouldn't let even the sibling children visit us, but Lana found a way. It's been said that there was the law and then there was Lana's law. If she wanted something, she generally found a way to get it. She loved a good deal too. Finding a treasure at the vintage stores or garage sales was her "happy place." People still covet the heavy pots and pans she found me when Steve and I got engaged.
Here's a pic of Lana and Reed holding Brooks and Skyla on their blessing day. She loved to watch Brooks run and to have tea parties with Matilda (Lana's nickname for Emma.) I can only pray that Emma will remember their little shopping trips together and the days when Lana would teach her to sew. Every once in awhile Emma will bring up a story about her Grandma Lana and I tell her to remember all that she can and write it down. I don't want Emma to forget how much Lana loved her. Everyone always told me how Lana would brag about Emma, constantly saying what a good, sweet girl she is. I really can't bear to think about all the things Emma will miss out on now that she's gone. She had the most creative, yet crazy, mind of anyone I know. Lana loved to do things that had never been done before. She loved thinking of new games for the grandkids and she is the reason our city days are as big as they are. She started the parade and much of the activities that go on. She was a true go-getter.
Her last years were not the easiest for her. She had two brain surgeries that left alot of her days spinning with dizziness and hurting with headaches, but she pressed on as much as she could. Doing things simple just wasn't her way, so when a holiday would arrive, it was do all you can while you can stand and pay for it later in bed. She wasn't about the let somebody else be the Mom or Grandma for her, and I love her for that. I love her because she always used to tell me how skinny I was, and we all know I've never been skinny. I love her because she raised the most loving, funny, and giving son...my husband Steven, whom I know misses her more than anything and my heart aches when I see him thinking about her. I love her because she always helped me take compassinate service meals to people. She loved to help others and her love was contagious. I could probably fill up pages and pages of everything Lana accomplished in her life, but I need to stop crying now, so I will save my thoughts for another post. I think of her every time I hear this song, so go rest high up on that mountain Lana, we'll be thinking of you down here.