There is nothing better than spending time with Jack's family, except maybe spending time with Jack's family in San Diego. I have looked forward to this trip for a year, and it was everything I dreamed. Beautiful weather enjoyed, beautiful memories made, and so much fun laughing, relaxing, swimming, sand castling, playing catch and Legolanding, that it only took the men about half a day to scrape themselves up off the ground after loosing to Belgium.
Maybe a full day, but still!
Special thank you to Kristin for capturing the happy moments below. To ensure proper credit, please note that the out of focus pictures were taken by me. The rest are hers.
Here he is meeting Eddie for the first time. I think he was asking him if he's going to be a Sun Devil.
Jack and I have special place in our hearts for Uncle Mike, with whom we shared loves for blogging, ASU football, and conservative politics.
We also shared a devotion to Jesus Christ. I always enjoyed Mike's blog posts about faith. Though we practiced different religions, we were united in our love for the Savior and gratitude for His sacrifice. Shortly after he was diagnosed with cancer, he wrote:
I might have asked myself the question, "Why Me" once or twice during this ordeal, but I immediately counter with "Why Not Me?" Scriptures tell us time and time again that we (followers of Christ) live in the world but are not of the world. In other words, we are not immune from all that affects our corrupted world in which we live. Where we ultimately put our trust, hope, and faith to overcome the obstacles becomes our challenge. Do we believe His promises or not? No trial we face is a surprise to Him. His promise to us is that we will not go through the fire alone and that when all is said and done, we will have eternal life with Him (our blessed hope). His funeral was held on Saturday, and I was grateful for the opportunity that Sunday brought to reflect on the promise that he will live again. I remember last year, when he blogged about Easter with his family, he didn't refer to it as "Easter," but rather "Resurrection Day." His weekend had been filled with the kind of happy traditions he loved to share with his beautiful wife Bonnie, two children, and granddaughter, but foremost in his description of them was his gratitude for the risen Christ.
As I read through other posts in reflection of his life, I also came across this: Early in my ordeal, while laying in bed and not sure of my future, I asked God if I were going to die. I wasn't fearful of death, but was more concerned about my family and their welfare if an early death were to occur. In his small, still voice He answered me with a definite "NO." Consequently, death never followed and haunted me. My prayer then became, "use this trial for the benefit of your Kingdom."
That death to Mike had no sting, reminded me of this video (below). I wish I could have posted it when Mike was still with us. I think he would have appreciated the message, and I'm certain I would have appreciated his response to it.
Uncle Mike, thank you for your kindness, and for your blog posts. I'm going to miss them. Thank you for your encouraging comments on this blog, and for all the emails over the years that you and Jack shared about sports and politics. Thank you for the Disney stuffed animals and blanket you and Bonnie gave our kids. Leah still sleeps with that blanket every night. Above all, thank you for example of faith in Jesus Christ.
I am a big football fan. The biggest. Huge, huge football fan. I don't know the difference between a tight end and a receiver, and I have no idea how many points a field goal is worth. Technically, I've never even sat through an entire game but seriously, there is nothing like football season.
Some of my favorite memories of my dad and brother are of the two of them glued to an ASU game and cheering so loud the neighbors could hear. Even better are memories of tagging along to Sun Devil Stadium. I was never too interested in what took place on the field, but I loved eating hamburgers at Chuckbox with them before the game, and jumping to my feet and cheering when they did.
My favorite memories of high school without a doubt revolve around Friday night football. I loved the stadium lights and the crash posters. I loved cheerleading and the marching band and had a crush on the quarterback. I loved hot dogs and the eagle and I love the United States of America and the Bill of Rights but maybe now I'm getting carried away.
In college, Jack and I spent many date nights in blue at LaVell Edwards Stadium. There is nothing like cheering from a student section. After we were married and moved to Santa Barbara, there was no local college team to support, which perhaps had something to do with his foray into fantasy football. For the last ten years, the draft parties, message board banter, and daily strategy discussions with his brother have provided much laughter and entertainment. I get such a kick out of it all in fact, that when I was in labor with Leah I insisted on sending him home from the hospital to draft his team. He didn't win the Super Bowl that year, but he did make it back in plenty time for the birth.
These days, football season means coming home from Church every Sunday and pulling two little Broncos jerseys out of the closet. Jack is a lifelong Denver fan, but the two years they won the Super Bowl ('98 & '99), he was serving his mission and didn't get to watch. Today, fifteen years - and two new fans - later, he'll finally get his chance.
Today was Eddie's birthday. I took a picture before he woke up, never wanting to forget the way he points his butt in the air when he sleeps, then had the thought to take a picture every hour on the day he turned two. If I can't slow down time, I can at least try to capture it.
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