My Goodbye to "Motorcycle Dave"

I am writing this post on my blog to say goodbye to my employer and friend of six years. My family and I left for vacation to Seaside Oregon to have fun on the beach for a week on Friday May 15th. I took in the payroll to Dave as we headed out of town, not knowing that it would be the last time I would see him. On Sunday, as we were looking at the beautiful Multnoma falls in Oregon, only an hour or so away from our destination, Josh, Dave's son called me and told me that his dad died Saturday night out at the Knolls while riding his ATV. Apparently, he was trying to go up an embankment too fast and rolled his Tyrex. The roll bar crushed in and according to the coroner, Dave died from "Extreme Whiplash" or I guess it is something just short of a broken neck. I was devastated. Dave made me crazy some days with his wacky finance strategies, but never failed to make me laugh. He told me things would be okay when I was stressing, and enjoyed seeing my girls twice a week. His shop was a huge part of my life for 6 years and I am having a hard time trying to come to the realization that my friend and my job are now gone. I am so grateful to have worked for Dave, he gave me the chance to stay at home to raise my girls while earning a paycheck. I missed his memorial service because we were in Oregon, and it was so hard for me, not being able to say goodbye. I had to pack up all of his files and take them to his son, sister and ex-wife for them to try to figure out what to do now. I see a lesson in this... be prepared. Dave had no life insurance, no co-signers on any of his bank accounts, no will or trust, no list of his debtors, he really left his family no clue where to start to close his business. Now it is going to take lawyers and time to get all of his things sorted out. If I can say anything to everyone out there it is: Please think of the future and your family and friends. Make sure that people know what you want and where your documents are. If you are not organized in any part of your life, make sure that you are in this one part. Nobody likes to think about their death, but it is so important that you do and prepare for it. I'll miss you Dave and I know that you went out the way you wanted to... having fun! Love ya!

Happy Birthday to my Big Girl!

My Emma was born 7 years ago today. I was kidding with her yesterday and told her that I was going to wake her up at 3:24 am to tell her happy birthday since that is the time that she was born. She did not like that idea very much. Funny thing is... Mia woke up at 3:30 this morning and had to come in to tell us that her diaper had leaked and she needed to be changed and her bed changed. Hilarious, we were all awake except Emma. I remember how long we had to wait to have this precious child come into our lives. I am grateful to her birthmother for making the decision to place Emma with us. We love her (stubborness and all) and are so happy to have her in our family. I can't believe how fast our kids grow. They always said that you blink and your children will be grown... but I never believed it, especially when you think that some days will never end, but it is the truth. I love you Emma and I am so happy that you are my daughter.

Emma's Learning to Ride a Big Bike

We have been trying to help Emma learn how to ride a big bike with no training wheels. Wow, I never knew how frustrating that could be! She is doing well though, she just has trouble getting started. Hopefully the whole family can go on some good bike rides this summer. Of course Mia will have to ride in the trunk.

Workin Hard in the Yard!

I have been working hard to make our yard look nice. I replaced our weed patch with some nice garden boxes and some bark. Hopefully there will be no more weeds, only yummy vegetables.

Scrap it!

I had a great weekend! I got to go up to Wolfcreek with my mom and grandma and spend Saturday and Sunday scrapbooking, watching chick flicks and just hangin' out. It was so nice to have that time to relax and just worry about me. I also have 15 new pages in my scrapbook, (I'm now up to Emma's first Halloween, she was 5 months old. Only 6 1/2 years left to catch up on. ) Miland took the girls to the zoo on Saturday. Emma has an animal report to do, so he calls the zoo visit "research". They said that they had a good time. Mia tells everyone that looks at her that they went to the zoo and saw the tigers.
I wanted to write a little about my cousin Philip. My aunt Peg (Philip's mom) was supposed to be with us this weekend, but had to go back to Alaska unexpectedly. My cousin Philip was having headaches and went to the Dr, and they found a brain tumor. He was flown down to Ancorage from Fairbanks and they put a shunt in his head to drain the fluid/swelling and relieve the pressure. He is back home in Fairbanks waiting for news from a Dr. in Seattle. They have some sort of Gamma Ray that can zap brain tumors with one treatment. I'm sure that the waiting is so hard. We think about Philip and his family alot and hope that he gets the very best treatment in Seattle. I also wanted to say congrats on the wedding! Our prayers are with him and all of his family.

Weekend in Idaho

We went up to Paul Idaho to visit my Grandma Renz (also known as Grandma Great). We took my niece Chloe with us, and we had a good time. We went to Twin Falls on Saturday. We watched the crazy guys base jump off of the bridge that takes you into town that goes over the Snake River Gorge. It is a beautiful canyon. It was windy, but fun to watch the dare-devils go nuts off of the bridge. We went shopping at the mall, had lunch at Applebees and then went to see the Shoshone Falls. (also known as the Niagra Falls of the West) They havn't opened the spillway, so the falls weren't all big and grand, but they were still pretty. I'm glad that we went to visist my grandma, this time is precious.

Oh so Wicked in San Francisco!

My sweet husband bought tickets for he and I to go to San Francisco and see Wicked. We went last weekend and saw it... and it was FABULOUS!! I had tears in my eyes nearly the whole 3 hours. If you ever get the chance to see a broadway show, with a broadway cast... you have to do it, there is no experience like it. We got to do a whole bunch of other fun things like go to fishermans warf, visit Alcatraz, go over the Golden Gate Bridge, visit China Town, walk (carefully) down Lomard Street, jump a ride on the Trolly Car and shop in the Famous Union Square area. We packed as much as we possibly could in our 3 days of bliss! We stayed at a nice local hotel called the Milano. It was on 5th and Jessie, right downtown in the thick of it. We were within walking distance to just about everything, and if we were not, we were only a block away from the transportation hub. It is a fun town, some very interesting people there... but fun! I enjoyed spending time with my husband, just being a couple. I am so lucky!