PT 2

Just when one item of business completes the next one begins. 4th of July Camping. I personally was super excited for this specific campout because it was my favorite place to go. Mainly because it has a pool, and for those that don't know, pools are what gets me through the summer heat. What used to be called the KOA in Nephi, now Big Mountain, is where our story begins. The Young/Thomas clan was getting ready to head down and of course nothing could go smoothly. Summer was worried she was forgetting things because Greg was the one that packed all of the supplies while she packed the clothes. It was raining, so it made us all contemplate what we had packed for warmth. We left a little later than planned but were still making good time. We had a couple of stops on the way then we would arrive for dinner at camp. Because I love to be the center of attention and all(NOT!), you can understand that getting stung by a bee was not in my plan. I had never been stung before so you can imagine how I felt when this evil insect flies in from the front of the car, goes to me in the back of the car, hits my arm and stings me. I have a very low tolerance for pain so the tears started instantly. Summer pulled over, her and Jordan immediately went for the Benadryl itch cream. Looking back on the situation I may have over reacted a tad, but it hurt and it didn't help that Lilly started crying cause we were pulled over and she wanted to get out. Once that trial was over we were back on the road. We arrived just in time to eat spaghetti and garlic bread(my favorite). After we were done eating we decided to start getting our tent ready. While Jordan and Summer worked on the tent I was working on getting the air mattresses blown up. Greg was always the one who set up the tent. Summer knew the general idea but they were basically going off the instructions again. Then the rain began again. It became a fight of hurry and get it up before it rains harder. I stopped my bed task and went to help with the tent. SNAP!! One of the tent poles broke. Jordan was trying to get it attached to the tent and the bungee inside broke and well as the metal between the poles bent. Summer joked by saying she didn't know she brought HULK 2.0 with her. We tried what we could to mend the tent but it was no use. While I was standing under a tree with metal tent post in my hand, watching the lightening get closer and closer, I realized I will be of no help if I get struck by lightening. I dropped the poles and went and sat in the car. Once the rain let up we were trying to figure out where we were going to sleep. Luckily when the rain came down, my aunt Heather bolted because he tent collapsed. So our uncles put the tent back up and we enjoyed a nice evening in the Bakker tent. Then next morning my mom arrived and we were able to get all cozy and share their tent. If you looked inside it was basically beds with little walking room. The rest of camp was great! Jordan went on a hike with Von, Brenda, Brendan & Carson. Those were the only pictures that were taken. While I painted toes, braided hair and spent time at the pool. As always when a river buddy passes on, a chair is left open. Greg was with us the whole time, I know it.

Trying to Stay Busy and Succeeding PT 1

Well here it is September and I'm writing about the Summer. Since Greg's passing Jordan & I took it upon ourselves to be Summer's go to peeps. We now call our selves the Sister Wife Family. Even though it probably isn't the greatest name, we figured that's what people think when they see us. So we might as well embrace it. Our first item of business was of course the funeral. Not something that anyone wants to do but it needed to be. Summer did a great job organizing everything that was Greg. Our family went to a funeral for our Aunt LaRue, my grandma's twin sister. So while they were in Wells, Nevada, Summer and I had to go pick flowers. She chose Superman colors, a guitar, and Lillis for Lilly. They turned out beautiful. We wore grey instead of black, we celebrated him, we were grateful that we were the blessed ones to be apart of his life. Here are a few pictures of the flowers and Summer with river rafting friend Joe Pa.

The Summer Begins with Sadness

As most of you know we lost our super hero, Greg Young, on June 19. This was definitely not a fun way to kick off the season. Even though we didn't want to go through all of we needed to do, we did it in honor of him. Making sure to keep his fun loving spirit involved every step of the way. Here are a couple of pictures that we took of the set up at the viewing.

Summer did a great job in collecting "Greg" items that represented the man he was. Greg's brother, Brian, made a great video of all of the great memories we had of him. For those of you that knew him, knew that he loved music and especially loved playing the guitar. When I went with Summer to do the flowers we asked if there was anyway that we could have a guitar made of flowers. Needless to say it turned out great. The other arrangements included; lilies for Lilly, and a beautiful casket arrangement with reds, yellows, and blues. The colors of Superman. They also made a silk Superman symbol, but instead of a "S" it had a "G". Summer gets to keep that. I don't have a picture of that because I felt a little awkward getting that close to Greg with a camera. Trust me when I say it was beautiful. This is going to be 2 post in 1. This second part is a much happier portion. Summer and Greg were planning on going to see the Counting Crows on August 4. Summer still really wanted to go. I felt that with all of the other expenses she had that buying a ticket to see them was unnecessary. So I emailed some radio stations to see what they could do to help her out. A nice gettleman at My 99.5 responded quickly, expressing his condolences he gave me 2 tickets and said he would try to get the word out about the memorial fund. So needless to say Summer & I will be jamming in honor of Greg on August 4. As I end this post I want to let you know that if you have any extra funds and would like to help out Summer. There is a memorial fund set up at America First Credit Union under Greg Young Memorial Fund.

Easter!

Easter is one of my favorite holidays. I think it's because it always near my birthday, if not on my birthday. Plus it brings out the best candies. Oh yeah, and the it's the welcoming of Spring along with the celebration of Christ's Resurrection. This year Summer and I made the treats for the Liddiard get together. We decided to go with a themed bunny cupcake. They are in the background of the picture of our Easter baskets. Our baskets had the usual great candy along with a piece of clothing and a movie. I always loved getting Easter baskets when I was little so I hope to keep the tradition going.

City Creek Birthday

So my actual birthday is March 31. So when I heard the Disney Store was doing a Grand Opening that day at the new City Creek Center in downtown Salt Lake why would I want to be anywhere else. Summer, Lilly, and Summer's sister in law Kristen came with me to help celebrate a great birthday. Being part of the first 500 people we received Mouse Ears.

Whenever The Disney Store does an opening they always have characters there to welcome everyone to a piece of Disney. For this store we welcomed Mickey and Minnie Mouse. They had a little boy who was part of Make a Wish Foundation open the store using The Key to Imagination. We were part of the 1st group that was let in the store. Being that only 80 are allowed in per time. Once we were in there was a lot of great deals and cool things to see.

We first took Lilly into the Princess Castle. Inside you wave a princess' wand in front of the mirror and she will appear and talk to you. Lilly was in love. If suddenly she ran away from us we knew where she was headed. Next since it was my birthday, they put up a Happy Birthday image on their big screen, sang to me and gave me a pin. That was a pretty cool experience.

After the Disney Store we browsed all of the new mall shopping centers. Tiffany's, Coach, Sephora, H&M and many more that made it hard to believe we were in Utah. They even have a fountain show that was designed by the same people who did the Bellagio Fountains. Once we walked around, and took in all of the amazing stores that we can only afford in our dreams, we stopped in for a visit with Mickey Mouse. Amanda, my sister, got off work early and came at the right time to visit her favorite mouse. Thank heavens Lilly was asleep because she doesn't do well with oversized animals.

Overall it was a great girls day and I'm glad I got to spend it with great people. I also recommend anyone that has a chance to go to City Creek to definitely do it.

Happy Birthday to Me! and Greg!

Alright I pretty sure I left off my last post just right before my birthday so I am going to start there. This year I think my birthday went on for weeks, which I am completely ok with. My first celebration was on March 25 with my family. This was also a combined birthday with Greg since his is on the 13 and mine's the 31. We are each others dyslexic birthdays. We always wanted to have our birthdays together and I'm so grateful that we got to this year.

On April 1 Jared, my brother, came down to celebrate my birthday. So we made dinner and had Summer, Lilly, Megan & Josh come over for cake and ice cream. I made my own cake so it says "Happy Birthday to ME!"

Both of these birthday celebrations were great! I still have a hard time believing I'm 25. Especially cause that's the age my mom always tells everyone she is ;)

Goodbye to our Superhero...for now

I know that I haven't updated this blog in months and this isn't the happiest post to begin updates again but I have to put in writing about one of the greatest men I know. Monday, June 18, was a horrible day. My sweet cousin Summer called and told me Greg was in the hospital and had gone into cardiac arrest that morning. Complete shock came over me. I just saw him Wednesday, he was fine, sweet loveable Greg that we all fell in love with. I told Summer whatever she needed that I would be right by her side. Little did I know how much she was going to need me. I always feel that things in our lives happen for a reason. Even though I haven't enjoyed all of my time living in Ogden I know that I needed to be here. I just never thought that it would be to go through this. I know now that even though I was here to support Jordan through school that was the easy part. We are truly here for Summer, Greg and Lilly. On Tuesday I called Summer and the outcome wasn't looking good. The doctors were concerned that Greg wasn't getting any blood flow to his brain and if that were the case the other treatments and tests they were conducting wouldn't be enough. Summer said to go ahead with the test to find out about his brain. I had spent some of the morning with Lilly and my sister Amanda before I went to be with Summer at the hospital. All I can say is that Lilly is every ray of the sun! She can brighten up a room no matter how gloomy it can get. She has been our rock through this rough patch. When I got to the hospital, Summer had an outpouring of support from so many people who were all there for 100% of the way. About 4:15pm the came to get Summer to tell her the results. Her parents, my brother, visiting teachers, close friends, Jordan and myself waited in the waiting room for what seemed like hours. We all sat in silence looking at each other trying to hold back the tears for what we feared was the worst. Then we saw Summer rush down the hall to her dad's arms overwhelmed with grief. Greg had been declared brain dead. As I write this I can't help but fight back tears as I will never forget the look on my sweet cousins face. One that I hoped we wouldn't have to see. She had lost her lobster, superhero, sweetheart, husband and best friend. Nothing that an almost 30 year old should ever have to go through. As we all gathered around her we all were in a complete state of shock to really believe that our Greg would no longer be right by her side. We then stated the process of calling everyone to let them know that Greg didn't make it and that Summer would like as many people to come and say their goodbyes. The hospital soon flooded with family, friends, ward members and co-workers that wanted to be there for Summer. As people came in and out tears streaming from their eyes, you could truly see the impact that he had on everyone he knew. I always knew my cousin was an amazing person I just never realized it until that moment. Jordan was always very close with Greg and the bond only grew stronger this last year. He went back to spend time with him, who he didn't just consider a cousin, or friend, but a brother. Greg had told us the week before that he would always considered Jordan and I to be like siblings because of how close we all were. Later that evening he let me know what went on while he was back there. All I can say is Thank you Greg for the great impact that you had on my husband. He truly looked up to you and will miss you everyday. Even though we wish you could still be here with us, not a moment has gone by in the past week that Jordan and I haven't expressed how much we truly love each other and are grateful for the decision to marry for time and eternity. As I mentioned earlier I told Summer that Jordan and I were for whatever she needed. Once everyone started to leave, Summer asked if we would help her with the Organ Donation paperwork, being that Greg had registered for. So that night we stayed with her til 1am to answer all of their questions and listen to Summer's great stories tied with some of them. That night as we left, Summer broke down. The reality was sinking in that he wasn't coming home, that even though she told Lilly earlier that day that daddy wasn't coming home the reality was that he truly wasn't. Wednesday was the day that Summer had to do what she knew was right and let her sweet lobster be at peace. For those of you that know me, I don't do well at hospitals. So even though everyone had gone back to say their goodbyes I couldn't. It was far too hard for me to see anyone hooked up to machinery and I knew that the image of him in that room wasn't one that I needed to have. I opted to see him at the viewing instead. I didn't know at the time, but that was the best decision I made the whole week. As the week slowly pressed on, I called Summer everyday to make sure that she didn't need anything. She reached her milestone 30th birthday only 2 days after Greg's passing. We had a party for her and my cousin Cameron the following Saturday, where we were able to get a sneak peak at the great video that Greg's brother, Brian, has put together. Which reminds me. ALWAYS TAKE PICTURES!! We were so lucky to have so many of the great moments in Greg's life and it made for a great trip down memory lane. Since Jordan and I drove Summer to the party we opted to stay with her that night because she said that's when it gets hard. So we had one of what I'm sure will be many sleepovers. We stayed with her and the Young family throughout Sunday. We all had our great reminiscing stories of that great laugh that Greg has. Because my post is getting lengthy I will summarize the next days. Monday Summer and I went to pick out flowers, and enjoyed our girly time we were having for the non-enjoyable circumstance. Both of us felt the same way. This whole situation sucks. That is really the best way it can be described. But our relief is knowing that Greg is no longer in pain. He will never have to have another seizure, joint pain, TMJ problems, chronic pain through out his whole body. What a great peace that brings over us. He is the perfect man he always wanted to be. Even though he isn't with us we know his misses us too, and that he is happy. Summer has a broken heart and always will. Greg wanted her to one day find someone to love her and treat her and Lilly well. Summer told me that she probably will because she can't be alone. But nobody will ever be able to replace him or the spot he has in her heart. Wednesday and Thursday were the viewing and the funeral. We went early to help Summer set up a memorial table. Once we had that done I went to see my Greg. I don't think I can express how well he looked. He was peaceful with a slight smile on his face and instantly I knew, even though this was going to be hard, we were going to be okay. At the funeral we got to hear such great stories of a great man. He touched so many lives in a short time and it showed with how many people were there. As I begin to close this post I would like to start by saying that I'm so proud of Summer. She is one tough cookie and has had the guidance of the spirit through it all. She is my example. I also am so proud of Jordan and Jared(my brother). They were both pallbearers and they were so strong. Greg loves them both so much and they felt the same towards him. Even though both of them lost their extended brother in him they really stepped up to be there for him today. I couldn't have greater male examples than them. Greg you truly are a superhero. Which ever one you want to be. Even though your time was short I can't think of a person who has touched more lives that you. We will take your absence day by day. But we know that you are watching us and guiding us along the way. We couldn't ask for a more protective guardian angel. We know that we will feel your presence near us always. We will never forget the hugs you gave or the laugh you infused in all of us. Lilly truly has a great father and we will all let her know that. Even though with how smart she is, I know she already does. Summer will miss you everyday and will never stop. We will be here to comfort her on the hard days and laugh with her on the other days. You have left a Greg sized hole in all of our hearts that will never be filled by anyone. From now on, playing Rockband will be dedicated to you. We love you and thank you for helping us to be better people.