Saying Goodbye

My Uncle Tim passed away...very suddenly. It has been a shock to everyone. He was the youngest of 17 brothers and sisters. Only 49 years old. He's the 3rd of his siblings to leave us. The 1st to be sudden and a shocker. Uncle Tim had a kind heart. Was always willing to help. Liked to have fun with his buddies. Was an amazing mechanic. Was single. Everyone loved him. Was always asking me to come to the family ranch to ride quads. I'm going to miss him!

This is the last known picture of him. I took it in January with my cell phone.

 My mom took these next 3 pics at the graveside service.

 My dad and 2 of his brothers

 My dad and uncle Leo

 My dad and his brothers

 All the siblings who were here for the funeral. 3 couldn't make it. The other 3 are gone forever. Sad!

 My dad and his brothers

 The beauty of children shows that even in grief life continues on.

Trip to Chicago

The first 2 weeks of May hubs and I took a road trip to Chicago. We drove there in 2 days! They were the longest 2 days of my life. Kinda fun though. I love seeing America first hand rather than flying over it. Here are a few pics and highlights from our trip.

This is somewhere in Utah at a potty stop.

 We went to the Chicago Botanical Gardens. I LOVED them. I know San Diego has it's own perks but I wish we could transplant their gardens in my city.

 The Midwest was still in winter sleep. But, while we were there we got to watch the plants and trees wake up. Very neat.

 I don't know what this is but these were hanging from a tree.

 Bumble Bee

 Hubs was hogging the tripod. I took this while holding the camera (pats self on back). To get the blurred water effect you have to have a very slow shutter speed.

 Chuck's mom took us to the Illinois State Beach Park. It was a windy, cold day. But lovely none the less.

 Chuck and I went downtown one day. I had never been to Navy Pier so that's what we did.

 Buckingham Fountain was running while we were there.

 Chuck's moms neighborhood was full of these flowers in the road islands. The trees above were still dormant though.

 Colorado on our drive home. A drive we did in 3 days this time. Learned our lesson!

 A bunch of kayakers were coming down the river. So much fun.

 Arizona

 While we were in Chicago Chuck's mom had a health scare. We thought it was a mild stroke. Thank goodness it wasn't. She ended up in the hospital for 2 days. During this time I got a call that my uncle passed away suddenly. It made for a stressful couple of days. Chuck's cousin drove in to see us from Indiana. We also got to have lunch with his brother Bob. We didn't get to see my friend Eddie due to the other stuff going on that last week. I stayed true to my diet and lost 6.5 Lbs in those 2 weeks. I went to Hobby Lobby twice! On our drive home we stopped in Primm, Nevada to ride the Buffalo Bills Casino roller coaster. No upside downsies and yet the most terrifying roller coaster I've ever been on. Anyhoodles, that sums up the first two weeks of May.