Thursday, June 10, 2010

Tigers Game and Red Bull Air show

We finally got to go to a Detroit Tigers baseball game! We took the whole family and it was so much fun! We have been trying to go to one since we moved here six years ago. I am so glad we finally went.
Estee didn't really sit still the entire game, but it worked out fine because we had these amazing seats with tons room to walk around--she could just wander amongst the other 5 of us.
Paws the Detroit Tigers Mascot gave Estee some personal attention and she liked it, but it kind of scared her too :)
I love these handsome boys!!
There was girl who kept coming and checking on us to see if we needed anything, and Jake finally talked us into letting him get some nachos from her (we went to dinner before the game) and he thought he was pretty hot stuff as he got his nachos delivered to him! He loved them! Gross pasteurized nacho cheese and all. Before the night was through we had all gotten drinks, cotton candy for the kids, and bumpy cake for me! Yum!
When Estee was really needing a break from baseball, we went to find something else to do and look what we found! Right in the stadium, right by our seats--a tiger carousel! Jake almost thought he was too old for this, but he is a HUGE fan of tigers so he couldn't resist! Abby just loved going on this with Estee, she is such a great big sister.


Estee is giving me the look that Abby gives me all the time! Mini scowl! I think I told her I was going to take that cotton candy away if she didn't stop getting so sticky!

We stayed after the game for fireworks, there was a really good show of fireworks, but it was kind of loud and Estee kept her ears covered the whole time--but she LOVED the fireworks!
***I just have to put a note here and say thanks to Dan's patient for giving us these amazing tickets! The seats were so good and that was so nice. I have to thanks to Dan too for being such a kind, and loving doctor. His patients love him and he comes home all the time (sometimes daily) with things his patients have given him! Usually not as nice as these tickets but still just very thoughtful and nice. Thanks Dan for being such a good doctor, husband, dad and person!



The next weekend our good friends invited us to the Red Bull Air show/race. The race was on the Detroit River so we decided to go over into Canada and watch from the Windsor side of the river. Our passports came in handy!Chris and Dan (Abby playing on my ipad--love my ipad--thanks Dan) and Michelle who would NOT turn around for the picture!
The kids got a little grumpy and all wanted to use the ipad (see Abby above) to play games. How annoying! Watch the airshow kids!!!
Zack and Michelle
Playing on the big rocks right on the Detroit River. It was kind of a hot muggy day and it was about 10 degrees cooler right by the river.
This was about the only time all day the kids were looking cute and being nice!
See the yellow airplane? It just flew through those cones and flipped around and is going back through the cones. So cool. It was fun to see it. At one point one of the planes wings hit the water. So cool. Thanks for inviting us Sadlers!! Sorry the kids were grumps!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

We will miss you dearly...

Our dear Grandma and mom passed away suddenly on May 4th. We have all been so saddened by this and we will miss her so, so much.

Dan flew out to Utah next day to be with his family and help his dad with all the arrangements. The kids and I decided to drive out to Utah for the funeral. We had a great time driving and everything went really well. Dan skipped his flight home and drove home with us so the drive home went really well too, and we finally tried Culvers on our way back--really yummy shakes and burgers.

The funeral for Grandma went so well, it was a beautiful service and Dan spoke and did an excellent job. Abby played the piano, Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring, and she did a great job. Grandma had been to our house just a couple months earlier and heard Abby play that song and said she wanted Abby to play that at her funeral. None of us knew it would be so soon, but it was very special to have Abby play it. On our drive out the kids talked about Grandma and wrote down some things they will miss about her:

  • she sent me emails about things she thought were cool.
  • loved to hear me play the piano and never noticed the mistakes.
  • Always played Barbies, coloring, and reading with Estee. Always happy to watch Estee for us.
  • miss her easy laughter
  • she loved to be with us
  • Abby remembers her perfume
  • she loved to talk to any of us, very interested in our lives.
  • she bought us fast food.
  • She would make delicious breakfast for us.
  • she let me suck my thumb
  • we loved sitting around the dining room table and talking with Grandma
  • She told us if you put butter and cinnamon and sugar on toast it taste good, it was.
  • I remember when we went and stayed with her, and it was so much fun, loved how when we got ready for bed she would talk to us for hours in our beds.
  • she would try and give us the shivers
  • I remember how we went camping with her in the desert, that was fun.
  • when Grandma came to Michigan once the girls went and got pedicures, Grandma's first, and she talked the whole time to the guy who barely spoke English. She asked him "do you like your job?" he said "no, but the money is good" it was funny.
  • I remember how she was so nice to me when I was little.
  • Grandma loved chickens and held them like babies.
  • She taught us how to play strawberry point rummy and played it with us.
  • she would blow on you and say she wasn't touching you.
  • she loved babies especially her grand kids!
  • if you told her she could do anything in the world for a day--she would spend the day with us.
We had a nice visit with family while we were out in Utah, we saw a lot of relatives we haven't seen in years and it was so great to see them all. The kids had fun seeing cousins they have either never met or haven't seen in ages. It really made us all excited to move back to Utah. We wish Grandma was still there and we could spend time with her. We are glad she is not suffering any more and is peacefully watching over us here on earth. We love you Grandma and will miss you always.


Janine Holmstead Ward (1954 - 2010)
HYDE PARK - Janine Holmstead Ward, 55, of Hyde Park, Utah, passed away suddenly on May 4, 2010, after an extended battle with cancer.
Janine was born on Aug. 27, 1954, six minutes before her twin sister, Jalaine, to Earl Guy "Hap" and Leah Holmstead. She was the fifth of nine children and loved to talk about her childhood spent with her siblings and cousins in Logan. She was proud of her heritage and enjoyed the opportunity to share a room with her twin sister and immigrant Swiss grandmother, whom she loved dearly. She graduated from Logan High School in 1972, and while working at Utah State University she met Preston Beales Ward, whom she married on Sept. 12, 1973, in the Logan LDS Temple.
Janine's life was spent serving those around her. She was a devoted and active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served in numerous callings, including Relief Society president, Cub Scout leader and Young Women's leader. Her favorite place was in the Primary with the children. She loved meeting her former Scouts and primary children and took great joy seeing them years later and hearing their kind words of appreciation. She loved music and although often reluctant to share her talents, her family enjoyed her frequent piano playing and singing.
Janine loved life and the people in it. She was a friend to all and strived to make the lives of all around her better and happier. All who knew her were brightened by her smile, her kind words, and her listening and patient ears. She was incapable of condemning or judging others; instead she radiated optimism, compassion, and charity to all around her. To know her was to love her.
The last few years of her life were difficult as she endured multiple surgeries, hospitalizations, and treatments for her cancer, all without complaint. She suffered much during this time and her family takes comfort that her pain is now over. The family thanks the physicians, nurses, and medical personnel who compassionately provided her care over the past few years.
She is survived by her husband, Preston; and children, Preston Daniel Ward (Janie) of Ann Arbor, Mich.; Bradley Beales Ward; Lindsay Brooke Ward; and Amalia Marie Mouritsen (Cody). She is also survived by her twin sister, Jalaine, her parents, her siblings, and five grandchildren. Her grandchildren were her greatest joy in life and she was looking forward to living near them again. She was preceded in death by her father in law, Karl E. Ward
Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, May 11, 2010, at noon in the Hyde Park Center Street church. A viewing will be held on Monday, May 10, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Allen Mortuary of North Logan, 420 E. 1800 North in North Logan, and prior to services on Tuesday at the church from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Interment will be at the Smithfield Cemetery.