Where to begin?

The last week and a half has been a complete blur. Let's start from the beginning.

Jocie:
On Saturday, March 22, 2008, my 15 year old cousin, Jocelyn "Jocie" Garlick died in a skiing accident at Beaver Ski Resort in Logan. She was an excellent skier and has been participating in the sport since she was a very small child. She was skiing down an intermediate hill, turned to say something to a friend, went off the run and hit a tree. She was wearing a helmet and contrary to what the news reports have said, it did not split in two. It was barely scratched. It did break her neck and crush her nose. She was a vivacious red head with a spunky personality and a beautiful smile. Jocie and Kelly were always up to something. It is a very sad time for our family. Here are some sites with information about the accident.

Kris Monson's Blog - a friend of Dean and Lisa who were at Beaver at the time of the accident.
Deseret Morning News
ABC 4 News Report - with video
Obituary from The Logan Herald Journal

The viewing was on Wednesday. Annette, Camille, John and I rode up together and Annette and I ended up staying the night in Logan with my Mom, Ray, Unni & Gramps and Kelly. The viewing was a very solemn event. There were so many photos and mementos of Jocie's life on display. Her death hadn't really sunk in until this point. It was heart breaking to see the pain Dean and Lisa were going through. They did an open casket for the family for the first few minutes, then closed it for the rest of the evening. Dean said it well, it wasn't Jocie, just her body. It didn't look like her at all. The next day was the funeral. It was extremely emotional before the funeral, where the whole family gathered and said goodbye to Jocie. There was not a dry eye in that room. This is what my Aunt Kathie said about it:
"The really wrenching part was the family viewing just before the funeral. They opened the casket, and Dean reminded everyone that Jocelyn had been in a terrible accident, that there was a lot of bruising, and it didn't look like her. He was right... I wouldn't have known it was Jocie except for the red hair. There was, of course, a lot of weeping. After everyone in the room had filed by the casket and was standing or sitting a the room, Dean, Lisa and family said their final goodbyes, and the casket was closed for the final time. They were just beside themselves as the casket was closed, but pulled themselves together, as Dione, Cassandra, Chet and Dean all spoke during the service."
The funeral was very nice. There were so many fun stories told and they focused on the good and happiness in her life. Jocie's friends sang "For Good" from Wicked, which was really nice. There was a snowman at the cemetery that her friends had built and she was buried with her skis. The day ended with a really nice luncheon that the Relief Society put on. It was a very nice, appropriate day. We will miss Jocie!

Easter:
Easter was a really good day. The adults were feeling the effects of the news of Jocie, but the babies kept the day light and fun. We didn't color eggs this year (sad), no one had time. But we still did an egg hunt for the kids and had a good bbq with most of the cousins and grandparents. It was good to remember and celebrate the atonement and resurrection so close to Jocie's death. I'm so grateful we have the babies. They make the family gatherings so fun and never dull! P.S. Cadbury Creme Eggs are a gift from the heavens.

New Calling:
Last week I was called to be the Primary Secretary. It came as a surprise, but I'm really enjoying it. I get to do the organizing and clerical side of Primary, without the anxiety of teaching the little kids, who to me, are scarier than adults. It's so much more laid back than I thought and the whole presidency has been so wonderful and welcoming. We spoke in Sacrament meeting on Sunday. I think it went fairly well. I spoke on different kinds of service. I told my Mother and Father-in-law's conversion story, which I love and had so many people come up to me after and comment on that story. Thanks for sharing it with us, Mom! I forgot that having a calling makes church more enriching and uplifting.

I'm married to a quarter of a century:
Happy Birthday, Nathan! It was Nate's birthday on Monday, he is now 25, or as he so adoringly refers to it as, a quarter of a century. I surprised him on Monday by bringing him an embarrassingly large bouquet of green, black and silver balloons, a large easter candy tree (from my Dad and Jerolyn) to sit on his desk and lunch (sticky fingers from Wingers). It was nice to eat lunch with Nate. Even nicer to embarrass him and bring much attention to his birthday.

For his present, I gave Nate tickets to Video Games Live, which we attended at Abravenal Hall on Friday. It was an awesome night. I picked him up from work and we went straight to dinner at Macaroni Grill, I am in love with that place.
After dinner we had some time to walk around Salt Lake City, looking for a scrapbook store that didn't exist. We then went to Abravenal Hall and saw Video Games Live with the Utah Symphony. It was amazing. It's "an immersive event created by the game industry featuring the best game music performed by top orchestras and choirs combined with synchronized lighting, video, live action and audience interactivity. The first and most successful video game concert tour in the world." Check out the website. I'm not even a gamer and I loved it. My favorites were the Zelda, Mario and Ms. Pac Man segments. They also had times where they actually got people out of the audience and had them play video games live on stage and the symphony played the music as they played. It was crazy. We will definitely be going again next year. I have never seen so many nerds in one room at a time.

Pounce Saturday:
On Saturday I had a few errands to run, an appointment and had to go to work to do one facial. When I came home, the house was immaculate. My fabulous husband cleaned the house and its now sparkling. He is the best. He even put a new air freshener in the family room and I now never want to leave. It smells wonderful. Later that night we had a Pounce party here at the house. It was lots of fun. We haven't played in such a long time. We are going to try to play once a month and rotate who plays so everyone can play. This time it was Nick and Heather, Jared, Kirsten, Brandon and Rachel, Jill, Kelly and Nate and I. It was a lot of fun. Those guys are out of control.

Birthday Sunday:
Yesterday we had a massive birthday party for Nate, Jill, Jann and Heather. Yummy dinner, Lasagna! Lots of presents, I think Nate was most excited about his Indiana Jones Lego sets and lots of other good stuff.