Family Photo

We all ended up wearing argyle to church today,

so we figured it was a good time to take a family photo.

Grandma & Grandpa Hadfield

Most people grow up knowing both sets of grandparents. They have fun listening to their stories about how they grew up in the old days and had to walk a mile to school in the snow, uphill both ways. They partake of their wisdom and enjoy being spoiled by them. I, on the other hand, had only one set of grandparents. My father's parents passed away long before I was ever born so I never knew them. My mom's parents, Elden and Sarah Hadfield, were the only grandparents I ever had. They lived in Salt Lake City, UT, a four hour drive from my home town of Twin Falls, ID. We would go there for nearly every family vacation I can remember. I didn't really mind because their house was a blast to visit. It was huge, with a flat roof overlooking the city. There was a city park literally right next door with rocks to climb and lizards to be found. It was "the big city" to me and I loved visiting my grandma and grandpa there.

As do all grandparents, mine decided to get old on me although it seemed they never would. My grandpa owned his own drapery business until he was 86 years old. He ran it like a well oiled machine. My grandma was just as spry. She would do yard work and clean the house with ease.

After my grandpa retired I remember him looking for employment elsewhere. He got his CDL (commercial drivers license) because he was going to "drive truck". That didn't really work out, so he applied for a security guard position. Mmm...that didn't really pan out either so another thought he had was to break horses (apparently he did that a lot when he was young, so he thought he could do it again). Needless to say, the man was a stallion. He refused to allow himself to grow old. Unfortunately he couldn't stop father time from doing his thing. Dementia finally got hold of him and he started going downhill from there.

My grandma took care of him. She was very independent and able to take on the load for both of them. She had her ups and downs where her health was concerned, but it was obvious to us grandkids that grandpa was going to pass away before grandma.

But life is a mystery sometimes. On May 3, 2010 my grandma passed away. It was very unexpected and a little difficult to swallow at first. Julie, Truman and I went up to Utah for the funeral. This is a picture taken just after the funeral ceremony.

Shortly thereafter my cousin Liz Johnson Hall had a daughter and named her Sarah (my grandma's maiden name was Hall too). So Liz's parents, my aunt Susan and uncle Gary, invited grandpa to come to their house to spend some time with them and see the new baby. One of Liz's other daughters approached grandpa and said: "Did you know mommy is bringing Sarah over today?"

My grandpa misunderstood, because later that night when he went to bed and aunt Susan and uncle Gary were helping him into bed he looked up at them and asked: "Sarah's not coming is she?" After my aunt and uncle told them that she wasn't and that she was gone, they said he let out a groan, rolled over and went to sleep. They said the next day he refused to get out of bed and noticed over the next week that he was quickly approaching his final days.

Grandpa died on August 11, 2010, just a little over three months after grandma. They were my grandparents. They were all I had in that category of family. I loved them dearly. They were amazing people, wonderful examples of how to love and put family first. I will miss them dearly.
Posted by Rick at 7:37 PM

Race Weekend & Some More

Truman's Grandpa & Grandma Berry were in town for the weekend. We hung out on Thursday evening and then on Friday we took a little walking tour of NAU.

There was a big event for us on Saturday. The Go Big for Parkinson's Run/Walk is an event that the 2nd year NAU PT students put on in Flagstaff. It raises money for Parkinson's patients who cannot afford their treatments. This was especially fun and meaningful for us because Rick's dad has Parkinson's disease. We invited some of our family members to join us for the walk and Rick and I walked with everyone for the first part and then jogged the 5k course.

Looking the part with our race numbers on!

Grandpa Jack & Truman with Louie the Lumberjack along the 2k walk course.

Our family of racers. Thanks for coming!!

Brannon getting stretched out after a very strenuous 2k walk.

Rick and Joe found this guy in our front courtyard and then Rick saw him again later and relocated him to the golf course. Truman and I had seen one earlier in the week on a jog. I guess it's time to get out the Halloween decorations!

Joe, Cindy, Rick and I headed out to see some local sights after the race. Here is Sunset Crater.

Those are cinder hills behind Joe and Cindy. I guess almost all of the mountains in Flagstaff are of volcanic origin. There were some black dunes that were pretty cool too.

Our final destination was the Wupatki National Monument.

It was a pretty impressive Indian ruin.

The stone work reminded me of the stacked stone facades that are popular on the exterior of people's homes right now. It is very organized and geometrical.

The Berry's looking like Indians.

Truman in his new high chair. He started to get all kitchen rodeo on me in his Bumbo seat the week before we got this. He was basically trying to buck himself out of the seat and off of the little table it was on. So now he is much more secure at meal time.

Grandpa Berry and Truman.

Grandma Berry and Truman on their last night with us.

T and I took Joe and Cindy down to the airport on Monday and stayed the night in Scottsdale. We were able to stop by and see Great Grandma and Grandpa Singleton.

Wild boys!

On Tuesday I took Truman for one last outside swim. It was a little chilly, but we survived and splashed a little. Then, Maya came over and we were ready to head back to Flagstaff.

Truman slept almost the whole way home and Maya helped out when he was awake. Maya came up for part of her fall break. We got to go to a high school volleyball game Tuesday night. Wednesday we went to the Flagstaff Aquaplex and played volleyball for a couple of hours and then headed back there later that night to swim.

Thursday we just hung out around the house. Here's Maya and Truman reading.

T was also lucky enough to get his hair styled on Thursday. We decided his hair was too long in front for the mo-hawk...

... so he got a more professional look.

All in all, a great weekend/week. Very busy and lots of wonderful visitors. Truman was spoiled with lots of attention as well as Rick and I, so now we have to adjust back to everyday life! Also, a BIG THANK YOU to everyone that participated and donated to the Go Big for Parkinson's event we really really appreciate it!

Road Trip Part 8 Ferries and Victoria

We drove onto a ferryboat and headed to Victoria from Vancouver. It was the first time either of us had taken a car onto a ferry, so that was pretty exciting.

The captain of our lives.

Out on deck. We ended up napping on the boat and listening to our ipods. This was nice, however, we think we missed an announcement about being able to see whales off to one side. We couldn't hear what they said because we had our ipods in and then most of the passengers went to one side. We were too lazy and comfortable to get up, but Karen told us they saw killer whales on their ferry ride later that day. I wish we would have followed the crowd on that one!

We hit the Butchart Gardens when we got into Victoria while we waited for Karen and the others to get to Victoria. We took a lot of pictures and below are some of our favorites.

Even the trash cans had flowers on them!

This is the Sunken Garden, I think it may have been my favorite.

This was in the Rose Garden.

This is at the entry of the Japanese Garden.

There was a "window" in this bush that looked out to the ocean.

I really liked these stepping stones in the pond of the Japanese Garden.

I think this was the Italian Garden. Rick loved the back wall made completely out of a hedge.

Truman's first horse ride.

This was by our parking spot.

Truman spent a lot of the trip in this position.

After the gardens we met up with Karen and a few of her friends and wandered around Victoria. Here is a baby seal sleeping under a bridge in the harbor. So cute and fuzzy! I hope it was ok.

In front of the Parliament building.

The boys were much more subdued and sophisticated.

Wandering in the tourist shops.

Our last Canadian meal was had at Tim Horton's, a Canadian fast food joint.

Victoria Harbor

On our 2nd ferryboat that day, headed back to the good ole US, and A.

What a cute kid.

No, the sun isn't in our eyes, that's just how we smile sometimes.

Random floating houses on our way out of Victoria.

No whales on this ride, but we did get to see the sunset.

Land that I love.