Memorial Weekend

As always we went to Vernal and stayed in hotel Erickson, and as always we had a good time. We got up there Friday afternoon, but no one was in sight so we went bowling. We thought it was closed at first because there was no one there either, but I guess that is just a typical Friday afternoon in Vernal. Bryce's grandpa use to own the bowling ally. Bryce said that it pretty much looked exactly the same from when his grandpa use to run the place. I don't know if was the dents in the bowling lanes or what, but I had some pretty good bowls. I averaged about 130 and I kicked Bryces butt! Later that night we were up pretty late playing 31. Basically the person who is farthest away from the number 31 has to put a dollar in the bucket. I totally thought I was going to win. I came close. Final three, but Megan ended up taking the cake on that one. Saturday we went to grandma pinky's house and cleaned then we saw the movie Shrek 4. Then we went to Nicki's house to see her baby. He is so freaking cute! We ended up rocking out on her rock band. There were pants ripping kids jumping off couches. It was pretty serious. That night we saw the rest of the fam at aunt Anita's and then went bowling again. Bryce needed a rematch plus on Saturday nights they do something called pot bowling. No Penney it's not smoking pot while you bowl. You put tickets in a pot and then they call one out and give you a scenario. Leif got his ticket called out and he had to knock down at least eight pins in eight different lanes. He made it to lane six. They also randomly put you in teams and the 4 highest scores get money. I got put with Jeff, Heidi's husband, one of the times and we both won two bucks. If your score is the lowest then you win a free drink. I loved it!!!! Bryce and I both agreed that they needed to do that in SLC. Sunday we went to church and had a big dinner. Late that night we played Ninja. The kids and the adults on ambien were hilarious, but the game soonly ended when Bryce got ninjaed in the nuts. Monday morning we went to the graves. First we visited grandpa Erickson. I wish I could have known the guy. He sounds like he was a pretty great man. Bryce said that when he was young. He would watch his grandpa shave his chin with an electric shaver and then he then he could shave Bryce's little chin. Next we had to visit MarShell. I feel really lucky that I got to meet her. She had this aura about her. You knew if she was around then it was going to be a good time. I remember one time we were playing American Idol. Nobody wanted to be the first to get up and sing, but MarShell didn't care she sang the song Alone by Heart, and when she busted out the last Alone everyone stopped what they were doing and just watched her. MarShell had a way to make everything look fun! We left Vernal around noon. I always need a vacation day after a vacation so we wanted to get home early and rest from our fun filled weekend, but first we had to visit someone. My dad. He has been gone for 5 years now, but sometimes it feels like he has always been gone. I am not sure what I miss most about him. I miss when he would try to make a funny joke, and his face would turn red from holding in his own laughter because he didn't want to be the first one to laugh at his own joke. I miss playing cards with him on Sunday afternoons and kicking his butt, but mostly I just missed being daddy's little girl. I could always turn to him for anything and he was always there to support me. My dad always made a BBQ for us on Memorial Day so Bryce and I decided instead of grilling a hamburger we would buy one. Bryce took me to in and out. I have never been there before I have only seen the t-shirts, so I was way excited, and to top it off we rented the movie avatar. I have heard mixed reviews about it so Bryce and I had to check it out for ourselves, and I liked it! It kept me entertained even though we did have to have an intermission. I thought it was the perfect way to end a great holiday weekend, making memories with people we love and remembering the memories of the ones we have lost. I heard this poem and I thought it fit.

I thought of you today, but that is nothing new. I thought about you yesterday, and days before that too. I think of you in silence, and I often speak your name; All I have are memories and a picture in a frame. Your memory is a keepsake, from which I'll never part. God has you in His arms right now; I have you in my heart!