Thursday, July 28, 2011

chicago

my brother and his wife were going to be living in Chicago for the summer doing sales.
it didn't work out....
but we still went to "visit" anyways (even though they had already moved back to salt lake). My dad was really more excited about watching the cubbies play at Wrigley field and vising them was the perfect reason to do it!

the trip started out a little rough!
we flew out Saturday morning, but because of the bad rain storms at our destination our flight was delayed.... for 2 hours. once we got on the plane at 10:00 we sat on the plane for another 30 minutes still at the gate. not moving.



there was a family of 3 little babes all screaming and freaking out the entire 3 hour flight there. they FINALLY feel asleep when we landed. I am not ready to be a parent any time soon! also, we were on a little plane and guess what i learned... they don't have changing tables in the bathrooms. so if your baby drops a #2 bomb during the flight (3 times) you get to change them right there in your lap. lucky everyone else on the flight who gets to smell that bomb.
my poor darling sister was stuck sitting next to a boy that we refer to now as "stinky cheese man" {yes, you read that right} pretty sure it was a competition between this boy and poopy baby diaper who could stink up the plane the most. he had not showered for at least a month, or brushed his teeth. his pants were ripped apart on the back so his boxers were hanging out.  so much grease in his hair it could stick stand up on its own {think something about mary style} so we finally landed and got fresh non stink air and it took us an hour to get from the airport to our hotel downtown because of the traffic. 



by the time we checked in were were so pooped we decided just to shower and go to dinner. call it a day. our hotel sent us to a fab little Italian place called Trattoria No. 10 
best butternut and acorn squash ravioli. yum!






after dinner everyone else went to bed. catherine, whitney, and i went to da club and got crazy. apparently they don't get busy until 1am, so since it was 10pm we were the only ones there which made it fun. but by the time people started to show up we were so tired we came home and went to bed.




the next morning we woke up bright and early from the cubs game!
my dad is a huge fan so he wanted to go early and eat by the field and just be part of the pregame excitement. it was pouring rain so we got soaked on our walk to the train.


we had the best seats for the game, right behind home plate!








 cubs win!

That night for dinner we went to Harry Carays
 He was known for his giant black frames and singing "take me out to the ball game" during the 7th stretch.

 and randomly on our walk home we came across a giant statue of marilyn monroe in her famous pose. nice.

overall it ended up being a really fun trip. we didn't get to eat a Dikas with mike, dad was sad about that, go to the zoo or navy pier. but it was great and a very much needed vaca. we can do all that next time!

Thanks dad!

Thursday, July 21, 2011

dear summer...

I know your are not here yet (sad for me....)
and that you are only 3 short little weeks long..........

But this is what i have planned for us

lots and lots of reading.

cant wait!

Funeral

Saturday, June 11, 2011 at 12:00 noon
Murray Utah South Stake

Pallbearers
Jeffery Barton                    David Gatti
Brandon Shafizadeh               Josh Cushing
Jason Cushing              Kjarsten Christensen
James Johnson                         Sean Fowler
Zach Culverwell                     Josh Cameron

Services
Family Prayer...................David M Fox, grandfather

Opening Hymn.........................................................100
Nearer, My God to Thee

Invocation.........................................Matt Driggs, uncle
Euolgy........................................Jelissa Cameron, friend
Speaker................. .............Malorie Fowler, best friend
Musical Number...........................................Scott Foster
Time of Your Life
Tribute by Siblings.....................................Brooke Gatti
                                                             Emillee Shafizadeh
                                                                         Erin Barton
                                                                     Jeffery Barton
Harp Solo.............................................Kimberly Dunford
Be Still, My Soul
Speaker..................................................Jeff Barton, father
Closing Remarks..................................Bishop David Child
Closing Hymn................................................................. 293
Each Life That Touches Ours for Good
Benediction............................................Dave Barton, uncle

Grave Dedication..................................Jeff Barton, father

Interment
Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park


katie emma traci magen kari jelissa me brynne amanda








traci jelissa katie emma me kari brynne amanda


Sunday, July 10, 2011

brynnstrong

 a lot of cool things have happened to honor my dear bff (breast friend forever) after her death.
it has been really great to see how much she was loved by every single person she met and the impression she made in this life. 
i still miss and think about her every day.
i will always miss her.

he funeral packed the church. not just friends and family came to say goodbye, but people who heard her story and how amazing she was. everything was perfect. 
more on that later (i dont have any pictures of it yet. sad)

there have been 2 memorial bike rides in her name. 

jelissa, me, kari, emma, magen, katie

 the first was on june 17, 10 days after her accident.
first of all, the fact that everything worked out so perfectly. getting the permit to hold this large of an event usually takes a month, decals saying "brynnstrong" were donated, orange bracelets with "live to inspire" and "brynnstrong"were made, t-shirts were donated for the family and close friends to wear, and hundreds of people came out to show love and support for her family, a lot of money was donated to the charities the brynn had worked many times "choice" and "MS society". and lastly the free police escort for the route which i am pretty sure costs a lot of money for any normal event.

erin and zach
kjarsten (brynns boyfriend)

magen jelissa amy katie emma
kari me brynne
brynne frei

jelissa amy me

dave my support system 
(he has been so amazing helping me through this)

jeff (brynns dad)
 i am pretty sure that brynn was up there making sure everything worked out for her big event. its everything she always wanted, to be famous! 

nicki mike me whitney
 whitney made these shirts for us. all of theirs say" brynn strong" and mine says "right half" (brynn was the left half)
after the ride there was a candlelight vigil and we watched the movie that was played at her funeral. scott foster sang her requested song by green day "time of your life"

I have a video
but its not working
help?!

the second ride was on july 7, 1 month after her accident
( i still can not believe that it has been a month)

 jen, ashley, mike, emilee, whitney, brandon
 emilee
 whitney
 brandy pulling her babies
whit and mike

love you bran!