Rex Barrus Weber 5 May 1922 - 25 September 2010

Jerel's grandpa passed away this weekend after losing a battle with Parkinson's.  We were able to visit him with Isaiah when we were in Utah this summer and I'm glad we took the time to do that. 

Rex married Fern in 1947 and they spent most of their lives on their dairy farm in Freedom, Wyoming.  I have only been there once, but Jerel spent time there as a kid.  His grandparents would pay the grandkids for working on the farm, but Jerel confessed that he hated farm work so instead his grandma would pay him for cooking!  We were blessed to have Rex & Fern attend our wedding in 2006.  They shared a table at dinner with my grandparents and they got along so well--they had a lot in common and my grandma tells me by the end of the meal they were eating off each other's plates and just having a great time.

Rex and Fern recently moved from the farm in Freedom to a darling home in Preston, ID where one of their daughters live.  Rex was in an assisted living facility really close to the house and Fern spent all her time with him.  We'll be leaving Tuesday for Utah and will drive up to Freedom for memorial services. 

Last year I scanned a bunch of Jerel's old photos and in the pile was Rex's baby book.  You can see it all here.  There is one page with a poem by George Cooper that I liked:

Only beginning the journey,
Many a mile to go--
Little feet, how they patter,
Wandering to and fro!
Father of All, oh guide them,
The pattering little feet,
While they are treading the uphill road
Braving the dust and heat!
And then when they grow weary,
Keep them in pathways blest
And when the journey is ended,
Savior, oh, give them rest!

Quick trip to B-town

Zay and I headed up to B-town (where I grew up) for a quick day trip on Friday.  While we were there he got his birthday presents from Tab--here he is in his new sunglasses!  When we put them on him he thinks it's hilarious and laughs while he takes them off.  I'm going to work on getting him to keep them on because his stroller doesn't have a very big shade so he has the sun in his eyes a lot on our walks.  Tab also got him this t-ball set.  So far he likes that it makes noise and plays songs.  He swings the ball around with his hand instead of the bat, which is fine with me, I'm in no hurry to teach him how to hit things with a bat!  I plan on delaying giving him weapons for as long as possible!

We also had a birthday party for my dad while I was there.  Rick smoked some meat and everyone brought some food and we had a good time! 

This is my foster-nephew Caydon. I hadn't met him before and he's been with Theresa for a couple months now so it was fun to see him. He's barely older than her youngest (about 18 months) so she's definitely busy with her "twins"!

Nose meets floor

We don't have a true hearth in front of our fireplace, it's just like a marble slab that's about an inch higher than the rest of the floor. ZayZay fell down and instead of breaking his fall with his hands, he broke it with his nose right on the edge of the hearth thing. It was all bruised and swollen and there was definitely some screaming. I called the doctor because Jerel thought it might be broken and the doctor said that ya, it sounded like it might be, but even if it was they don't do anything about it anyway. Poor little guy, I feel his pain. My niece Elise broke my nose when she was only a year old. We went to the doctor because it was all crooked and the doctor said "Well sometimes you just think it's crooked when really it's always been that way." So he asked to see my drivers license picture to compare and he said "Hmm, yep it's definitely more crooked now, that's too bad." I even made mom take me to an ENT place to see if they'd fix it but they wouldn't. 12 years later it doesn't seem to matter much, there are several things on my list of cosmetic procedures I'd like to have done someday when I'm rich that rank higher than getting my nose straightened!