I love the Pattersons and I love boating!

Friday I took the day off work to spend the day boating at Pineview Reservoir with John and Cindy. We had an absolute blast. As with skiing, and anything else I've ever done with them, they are tons of fun to be around. We met them at their house in Ogden at 12:30 sharp, changed into our suits and helped load the boat. With Cindy's organization and direction we were able to have the boat loaded and be on our way up the canyon in a few short minutes. When we got to the lake and had the boat in the water we stopped in a little cove to put on sunscreen, relax, and eat some lunch and after finishing our lunches it was time to hit the water!

Cindy went first displaying to us her seriously AWESOME wakeboarding skills. Then I went and it had been my first time since last summer so I was a bit rusty but got back in the groove pretty quickly. Jaymee of course was up to par since she's been doing lots of boating this summer with her family so she showed off her KILLER skills as well. Then John was up and he showed us how to wakeboard like a real man. We all had so much fun!



This picture is of John and Cindy in the boating shirts that we made for them. On Wednesday when I had been emailing Cindy to make arrangements for Friday in one of her emails she gave Jaymee and I names..."Brooke the Boating Beauty" and "Jaymee the Jazzy Water Jumper." Jaymee and I were completely in love with these names and thought John and Cindy would get a laugh if we showed up at their house with these names on our shirts. So Friday morning we got shirts and made one for each of us with our new names on them. We also got a shirt for John and Cindy and on the way to Ogden tried to come up with their boating names. For Cindy we decided on "Cindy the Stunt Mama". Our creative wheels weren't spinning too quickly so we hadn't come up with a name for John by the time we got there and we summoned Cindy for help. We ended up with "Johnny Jumper"...perfect. As we drove from Ogden to Pineview Jaymee and I finished John and Cindy's shirts and we all had fun shirts to remember our awesome boating day!



Jaymee tried wakesurfing for the first time and she did a fine job at it I might add:

Midwest Floods

On Sunday, July 6th, while still in Iowa, my parents and I went to Burlington to see what was left of the flood and it's aftermath. Though still high the water levels had receded significantly. You could still see on any object standing just how far it had been under water.
This is the bridge crossing the Mississippi River into Gulfport, Illinois.
I don't recall how high the water typically is on that marker but it's definitely not usually that high. By this time the waters were not considered to be at flood stage.
This picture was taken at the Welcome Center which sits right on the river. Just one week prior to my visit the water levels in this building had been nearly over my head. There were people working everywhere to restore historic buildings and bring them back to working order. I saw enough wet, moldy carpet to last me a lifetime.

Being in Utah I don't see any floods...or anything close to it, so it was cool to see it firsthand.

Going home again.

Two weeks ago today my grandmother passed away. Needless to say it turned my world upside down and lots of plans changed that week. In an hours time I went from planning a boating trip for the 4th of July weekend to buying tickets on a flight that left just 12 hours later. Monday evening I purchased a seat on a plane that left at 7am Tuesday morning and flew into Cedar Rapids. After several hours of laundry, packing and crying I was ready for my trip. I spent the rest of the evening with Bill and JoAnn. We shared some much needed fun, love, and ice cream. Tuesday morning Bill took me to the airport. From Salt Lake I flew to Minneapolis where I had 40 minutes to run the length of the entire airport to catch my departing flight to Cedar Rapids. When I arrived at my gate I learned that our plane was not ready to take off yet due to some "mechanical delays". Nobody ever likes to hear that! But my comfort level decreased even more when I sat down by the window and saw that the plane I would be riding not only had "mechanical delays" but it also had PROPELLERS!!!! Yeah, I suddenly wondered if I would ever make it to Iowa alive.

I did. My mom, Casey, and Matt picked me up in Cedar Rapids and after a good lunch at IHOP and a little bit of shopping at CoralRidge mall we made it to Winfield. The next few days were interesting, emotional, and busy with the visitation, funeral, and lots of family in town. I had lots of fun being able to spend time with my mom and my aunt Judy. There were lots of laughs and some really great conversations. My aunt Judy is still as cool as I remember her when I was little and she used to play with the ceramic bunnies with me at grandma's house.


On Friday my dad and I celebrated the Independence Day holiday with some bottle rockets and firecrackers. My dad also had this other crazy thing that was SOOO loud and it scared me bad.



Of course a trip to Iowa wasn't complete without a visit to Mosquito park...if you ever need directions DO NOT ask my mom to help you get there! She'll probably have you in Mediapolis an still swear it's just around the next corner!

Mormons in the family

In celebrating the life of my grandma we, of course, gathered as a family today. I got to see my Mormon cousin AGAIN! Since reuniting in January we have now seen each other every two months! I could never get enough though. She really is the best and her kids are so sweet and fun to be with. I am grateful to have been able to spend time with them the past two days.

Hey Julie, remember that time when I was little and I was sleeping in Jason's bed and I threw up so I came and climbed into bed with you and had vomit all over me...THAT was funny!

Doesn't she have the most precious children!? From left to right they are: Ethan, Emma, Evan, Myself, Eli, Austin, Cole, Jay, and Julie.

Franklin Family, I love you to pieces!!!

A Tribute to My Grandmother

The world lost a great woman on Monday, June 30th 2008. I am grateful to have had the example of my beautiful grandmother in my life for 24 years. Most, if not all, of my happy childhood memories are those of my grandma. She always took us out to do fun things and she made everything fun. She even tricked me into thinking that housework was fun by telling me I could "play" Cinderella! She also had a wonderful sense of humor. She'd take us to McDonalds to get happy meals for breakfast lunch and dinner if that was what we wanted. All my grandma ever wanted for those that she loved was for them to be happy...and she also wanted that for those she didn't even know as well. My grandmother is the perfect example of charity and selflessness. She would do anything for anyone at anytime never thinking of herself. Although I can never achieve what she has, her example has given me something to aspire to.

I love you Grandma, and I miss you!