Aunt Donna and a fraction of her Precious Moments collection (she's holding the first one she got here).
4-Wheeling in the Mountains in Park City, Utah
Hayden & Dad on the 4 wheeler.
4-Wheeling in the Mountains in Park City, Utah
Hayden & Dad on the 4 wheeler.
Kevin's dad talking to his sister.
Selena and I went on a loooong hike where we ran into some porcupines that scared us and we could hear a woodpecker pecking on a tree...
Dee & Donna's Cabin in Park City
Papa Moose not ten yards from the cabin.
Mama, Sister, and Baby Moose
Rowan in the hospital on the baby blanket that Donna made.
I am very grateful we were able to go to Utah in July to visit Kevin's side of the family. We were able to visit with both his mom and dad's family. Shortly after we left Utah, Kevin's aunt Donna (his dad's sister) passed away. Kevin's parents flew back up for the funeral. I first met Aunt Donna when she and her husband Dee surprised us by showing up at my wedding reception in Austin. They were both such a sweet couple. They visited a few times after that in their RV that they drove around the country to visit loved ones in. Dee loved to eat at Chuy's and tried to talk the waiter into shipping some back home to him in Utah, but it couldn't be done. Donna took great care of Dee who was wheel-chair bound and needed extra Oxygen. On one visit, Donna took me to Barnes and Noble and bought some nursery rhyme books for my boys. Donna also made the baby blanket that Kevin was taken home from the hospital in, and I took weekly photos of my boys on and now yearly ones. Dee passed a way a few years ago, and shortly after Donna's health began to deteriorate. When we visited with her she said that she had spent 150 out of the last 365 days in the hospital. I was able to see her famous Precious Moments Collection (4th or 5th largest) while in Utah. Then, we went up to her cabin on Forgotten Lane in Park City with her daughter LeaDawn and her daughter Selena, where we rode 4 wheelers and saw a family of Moose. Donna tried to stay positive during her health battles and even joked that she was the skinniest she'd been in a long time. Due to health problems, she couldn't eat any solid food, and she said she missed steak and lobster the most. She seemed to collect recipes and still fixed a few for us while we were in the cabin. She often talked of her late husband Dee and proudly told Hayden about the story of the moose on the wall and how Dee brought it to be there. A member of the Seventy spoke at her funeral and said that he knew that Dee and Donna were together again, and I have a feeling that Donna is enjoying steak and lobster while Dee is eating some Chuy's. Dee and his precious Donna will not be forgotten.