Yes, they played their first soccer games.
No, I have not written in a while.
Last weekend my uncle passed away after a long battle with cancer. And after much schedule shuffling, phone calling and family emergency leave clearance for Michael to watch the kids, I made the flight (alone . . . it's been so long!) to be with my family for the funeral to mourn the loss of the man who colored Snow-White's hair blue in my Disney coloring books. He bounced my brothers and I higher than was deemed safe by my parents on the trampoline. He took me for rides in his sports car. He taught me to knee-board and then, when I was older, to water-ski. He helped us kids build a dam out of rocks in the river next to my Grandma's house. He chased us with garter snakes from the lawn, and didn't get mad when we ate the treats that the pep club made for him before his high school basketball game. I remember watching him play in the state tournament on TV, and yelling like he could actually hear me through the screen (at the time we lived too far away to attend in person). The first time I remember going to an airport was to welcome him home from his mission. He snuck us ding-dongs and twinkies from Grandma's treat cupboard and taught me to play air-hockey. Later, I baby sat his kids as my summer job and he teased me about my boyfriends (or lack thereof).
More recently, he patiently watched my daughter from his recliner as she performed a ten minute song and dance routine in his living room. He clapped and cheered when appropriate, and probably would have treated her to a standing ovation if it hadn't been so much work for him to stand. He was a great family man, and will be remembered for his remarkable sense of humor. I won't be surprised if his gravesite is decorated with fake Billy Bob teeth instead of flowers on Memorial Day.
I don't have any pictures to add . . . the most recent ones are not how I like to remember him. When I think of my Uncle Deloy, the picture I have in my head will be from a long ago sunny summer afternoon. He's pushing me on the homemade rope swing in Grandma's back yard and pretending that he's going to make me fall off so I'll scream. I'm thankful he's free of pain now, and in a happier place . . . until we meet again, when I'm totally going to get him back for the garter snakes.
While I was in Utah, I got to see my newest niece Grace. She's my brother's baby, but Brianna was hogging her the whole time we were there.
I could just dip her in chocolate and eat her. She's that sweet.
