My brother Paul

On Sunday, April 13 my brother, Paul, passed away at his home in Idaho Falls, ID. He was 39 years old and severely autistic. I was able to spend the week with my mom and dad and my siblings to say goodbye and spend some time talking about our memories of him that we will cherish. Because of the limitations of his disabled body, his life was a challenge and I'm grateful that he is able to be free of those limitations and live with our Heavenly Father again. He is at peace and he is whole again. I will, however, really miss seeing him. Although he didn't say much, I always loved how he greeted me. He usually just said my name and shook my hand. In the last few years, he would allow me to give him a hug. It was always very interesting to see what he had written on the papers that he always carried around. He would write down the things that he wanted or the places that he wanted to go and show it to all of us. Some of his favorite places were West Yellowstone, Jackson, Tri-Cities. He loved rootbeer and candy bars. A lot of times, we didn't see much emotion from Paul, but when we saw him truly happy, it was really beautiful. He had his certain things that he would say to certain people and we knew that there were some people he truly connected with. I love him very much and look forward to the time when I can see him again and talk with him. He is truly a very special son of God.

I was especially touched by the people who cared for Paul while he was in the group home. They were so loving and had so many wonderful things to say about him. It was amazing to see their outpouring of love for him. I'm so grateful for those amazing people that were willing to be Paul's second family.

To my wonderful and amazing parents--There are no two people who could have been better parents to Paul than you have been. He loved you so much and he knew that you loved him. You showed him in everything that you sacrificed and did for him. You have an amazing strength that is such an example to me. Our entire family has been blessed by that strength. I love you both very much.

Carmichael Spirit Week, 80's Day

It's Spirit Week this week at Carmichael Middle School where Kenedy is in 6th grade. Today is 80's day. So, we had fun last night putting together a great 80's costume and this morning doing her hair up 80's style. The only thing that would have made her hair better would have been if she had a perm like all of us did in the 80's! :-) She looked great when she walked out the door this morning. We were looking through one of my High School year books last night and wow, there was some big hair back then! It's fun to look back! I thought I'd post a picture of myself when I was 15 in 1989, just for fun. I couldn't find the one I really wanted to show, but this will do. My bangs were famous back then. They didn't ever move! ;-)