Probably the longest recap in the history of recaps

Well, I slacked off on the blog for a while & now you're all paying for it. (All 2 of you).

Recap-athon
Nephew Max & Nichole's wedding. Roommate ugly Christmas sweater party. (I wasn't kidding. I'm REALLY way behind.) Beza stocking foot. Happy Birthday to Mike. Christmas Eve Nativity with 2 Mary's. Christmas morning. Another niece! Happy little Caden. Snowmobiling - Lots of snowmobiling. McKenzie baby. My stud of a brother (he's single, by the way). Mom rockin' at guitar hero. New Year's Eve w/ Mel & Doug. Skiing the Beav. (Actually...me watching Beza while the others ski the Beav, which was more fun for me!) Tending Livi. The beginning of the paint job that never ends. Ogden rodeo (in WINTER! I know!) More snowmobiling. Aggie champs.

Done.

Whew. That only took me about 2 hours to finish. Ridiculous.

I AM one-eighth Irish, you know.

Top o' the morning to ya!

Now, excuse me, while I go listen to "Danny Boy" and think about my Irish roots.

I'm a Winner! I Win!

I won $10 to The Corner Station in good ol' Fairview, UT.

Granted, I was going for the Disney On Ice tickets...

And, it's true, I don't actually live in Fairview anymore...

And, yes, I will probably be sharing my winnings with my brother Ken, whose mad coloring skills may or may not have gotten me into the random drawing...

But, hey! Let's stick to what matters here. I'm a Winner!

The Funeral

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

The funeral service was beautiful. Really. I don't know what more I can say.

Everything was amazing. And sad. But also good.

I've posted the KSL story, but, really, it does not do justice to what actually occurred. Some of the neatest parts were not mentioned.

Such as:

-The Patriot Guard Riders
-The inspired words spoken by Michael's family & friends
-The men in uniform standing guard over his body
-The local law enforcement standing in front of their fire trucks, police cars,& ambulances with hands on their hearts, honoring their comrade
-The multitude of children lining the street, holding little flags, hands on their hearts as the procession rolled by. Honoring their teacher.

I wish everyone could have seen those last two, especially. Seriously. As we followed along, part of the procession, and came around the corner to see all those kids lining both sides of the street, both Mike & I couldn't hold back the tears. (Yes, it's true. Mike cried.)

Spc. Alleman - Thank you for serving your country. We know you'll be with your awesome "babydoll" Amy and your 2 beautiful boys again.

For Amy Alleman

Mike has this awesome friend from the college days that we keep in touch with through Christmas cards and blogging. Her name is Amy. And she is amazing. Last night, we found out that her husband, Michael, was killed in combat in Iraq on Monday.

This news has slammed me.

I'm sure Amy, her 2 beautiful little boys, and Michael's family could use some prayers right now.

Here is the news story KSL did. As good as it is, believe me, it doesn't come close to doing justice to the sweet, emotional letter Amy has written to Michael on her blog. Amy - You are one strong mama.

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Here's another one that showed up tonight (2/25). It's really sweet.

Video Courtesy of KSL.com