Around the state in 16 hours

At the last minute, I decided to accompany my mother on quite the Saturday adventure: drive to Payson for a funeral, drive from Payson to Yuma for an all-in-one party and then drive back to Mesa. The drive to Payson was quick. It's obvious all of my siblings inherited driving from my mom. If you've driven with us, or if you are us, you know what I mean. :) Before the funeral, we went to the airport in Payson to pick up my Aunt Jana, Uncle Danny and Dave. While we were waiting for them to land, I wanted a picture of all of us. So I hung my camera on the tree.And I took pictures of them landing (come on, it's not like having a cousin with his own plane is common, this was exciting to me).
The "celebration of life" was for my great Aunt Emma, my mother's, mother's sister. She would have been 94 in August (I learned she shared a birthday with my mom). I hadn't seen her in a while, but the two things I remembered about her were rocks and smiles. She loved rocks (as did my grandma, her sister) and she always had a smile on her face. They had already buried her so the service was a little more casual. They had upbeat music playing and a slideshow of pictures (which I must have a copy of) running. The pastor said a few things then let whoever wanted to stand and say what they remembered about Emma. Everyone commented on her happy, positive personality and several people mentioned her rock collecting. Then we all sang "Little Brown Jug" together which is a silly drinking song with a very catchy tune. Clara was singing "ha ha ha" throughout the day and at one point said, "That's my favorite song." It was funny.

Anyway, back to Emma... Two of my favorite stories that were shared: 1.) When she was 83, she locked herself out of her house. So she climbed the cherry tree to get over the fence and get in another way. Then at 89, she found a snake getting a bird in a nest with baby birds. She got a cherry picker, knocked the snake from the tree, retrieved an ax from the shed and chopped the snake in half. I hope I am that brave at 89. During the funeral I thought a lot about rocks and smiles. Like I said, my grandma loved rocks too. They were very poor growing up and I realized this probably has something to do with their love and appreciation for rocks. I think nature can bring us more happiness than man made anyday, but an emphasis on the grandeur of nature seems to be going by the wayside. I left with a renewed desire to find happiness in the things around us and appreciate the things God has given us for free. It seems like a win-win situation, right?

After stopping by the airport to drop our live cargo off, we headed to Yuma, well, Dome Valley to be exact. My cousin Suzy has four children. Her youngest graduated from 8th grade, the next graduated from high school, the next got engaged and brought his fiance home and the oldest's wife graduated from hygiene school. So Suzy threw a party to celebrate. I love going to Suzy's house. They live on a farm. They are farmers and have 100's of acres of farmland. They live a simple, yet comfortable, life and I decided someday I'm going to go to their house for vacation and just sit and enjoy being surrounded by NOTHING but fields. Besides the house, I love Suzy. She's fun, she's real (she's very frank, but in a completely unoffensive way) and she is simple. Not boring, but simple and relaxed and just goes with the flow (I could definitely learn a thing or two from her). She tells everyone "this is my baby" when she introduces me. I was six months old when she came to live with us when her parents died. She always tells me how she'd take me everywhere and hold me while she drove around (see, I survived, are all those carseat laws and regulations really necessary??). They are genuine and such a pleasant family to be around.

We helped get some of the food ready for the party, then just partied and enjoyed the company, the atmosphere and the food.

{ How cool are these? I had to ask Mark what they were: onions going to seed.}

{ After being in the car for all that time and only getting about a 30 minute nap, I can't blame Clara for not being thrilled about taking a picture with the tractor. But I'm certain if we do go visit, she'd run around barefoot in the dirt behind their house and dig all day long.}

{Jill (Jimmy's wife, Jimmy is Suzy's sister), me and Suzy... I told them I always feel out of place around them with my light skin and blond hair. That's okay though, because they sure are fun to visit with.}

PS Monday I started my first month of "discipline". First up, dishes done every night. So far, I'm 3/3. Jason did them last night, but I promise I would have done them if he hadn't. I'm on a roll and it feels great.