So loved!

This morning two friends dropped off flowers for me then my mom just called and she received a letter from the Lincoln Shrine (my dad volunteered there for the last few years) and we had asked that in lieu of flowers to have donations sent there. Well they have received over 1,500.00 and its coming in daily. Then my moms school bought a plot and had it approved by the city to have a tree planted between the library (his family donated it to the city) and the shrine in my dads honor, with a plaque.
Her principal wanted a place for his grandchildren and future generations to see what an influence he had on the community.....

The good the bad and the ugly....

So I was planning on telling everyone how nice Billy's first fathers day was and that he had accomplished a WONDERFUL goal, he finished his masters! (With an A average I might add) and tell you all about Lia's new firsts, like: laughing, rolling over and eating applesauce.
First off my family bought Billy better presents than I did. (although I did carry and deliver his child) He said Erin's present is the sweetest gift he's ever received. And I have to agree, its a picture that was taken at my moms house of him and Lia. Erin's roommate is an artist and takes phenomenal pictures. Anyway it was taken during one of the many family gatherings we had a few weeks ago, and Tessa went around taking pictures with out people knowing, I think that's why its so good because its not posed. I can't describe it very well, but it truly is the sweetest picture I've ever seen. And I want her camera, but that's another blog in itself.
We had a nice little party on Sunday, Lia went swimming with my cousin Alan. She loved it! But when I went to change her diaper afterwards she had taken the biggest poop I've ever seen! We kept telling Alan he scared the crap out of her. We had a sing along too, it was funny to hear how off key my entire family was. We sang Neil Diamond, Monkey's and the Beatles. My personal favorite was Sweet Caroline.
Billy, Erin and I went to the cemetery to visit my dad. It was a little adventure getting to his plot, the sprinklers were on and the ground was extremely slippery. But in the end I was glad we made it there. I took him some roses from my garden.
Oh yeah, and I got my Modbe business up and rolling, it is off to a good start. I have a HUGE party on Monday. All of my moms rich friends will be there.
So those are the happy points I had to share, you can quit reading if you don't want to read happy things.
My Uncle David went in to LLUMC to have his pancreas removed yesterday, 9 hours into the surgery his started having internal bleeding. It was so bad they had to cancel the rest of the procedure and put him in an induced coma. 4 out of 5 people don't survive this. So yeah, not like loosing my dad was enough, now there is this crap! I cannot wait for June to end!
I swear all I thought was going to happen was Billy's Grandma's surgery. I was prepared for that. All I had to do was organize food, heck I was planning on visiting too.
But Jon Lin hit me with a low blow, so low that I've contacted an attorney. Then my dad and now this! Its just a little too much for me to handle. Its a good thing I have Billy and Lia because if I didn't I would be rolled up in a ball in the back corner of my closet for a LONG time.
So if you see me out and about and I'm not my usual self... I promise there is a really good reason for it.

A Loving Tribute

The past week can best be described as a whirwind or an emotional rollercoaster. I'm trying to be ok. The service was held on Tuesday morning, it was beautiful. I know he was smiling. My niece sang a beautiful song, then my Aunts gave a life sketch (I think they tried to be funny, but were unsucessful) then the Grandchildren sang "A Childs Prayer" that was very sweet. Then the 5 of us kids tried to speak. Geoff is supposed to be the strongest that is why he was nominated to speak for us, but he lost it 2 words into his talk. So it was down hill from there. We wanted everyone to see our dad the way we did and share some fun memories. I knew I couldn't say much so I had 6 lines to say and I TOTALLY screwed them up! We had our talk on a laptop because that way we could change it as much as possible up to the last second. Well half way through mine the screen went out! And infront of the 300 people that were there I said "Uh, oh... I've lost it" I'm glad I didn't cuss! I think my dad wanted me to laugh not cry so he did it on purpose. Then as we were getting down from the stage Geoff got stuck in the handicapped elevator, another joke from my dad. We thought it was classic.
After we spoke my dads friend (my dad was his scout master) sang the Battle Hymn of the Republic. We wanted that after we spoke because we totally lost it after that. It was our dads favorite song. Then Bob Cannon spoke, it was beautiful.
The internment was at Hillside Memorial Cemetery, as seen in the picture the San Bernardino County Sherrif's Serach and Rescue was our escort and presented my mom with the flag, while a friend played taps on the trumpet. This boy who played was named Mark, he and my dad sat next to eachother in the Stake Choir, he suffers from Bells Palsy and just returned from a mission in Argentina. He bawled the entire time he played. It was such a moving experience. I truly think it made my mom's family re-think their priorites and was a good missionary tool.

His Obit.

Smiley family descendant Thomas Sanborn dies
REDLANDS - Thomas "Tim" Sanborn, a Redlands native and descendant of the Smiley family of early Redlands, died Thursday, June 1, at his home in Redlands. Sanborn, 67, was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson's disease about 30 years ago and had lived with the disease since then.
He was born May 30, 1939, in Redlands to Thomas and Hazel Sanborn. His paternal grandmother, Ruth Smiley Sanborn, was the daughter of Daniel Smiley, the half brother of early Redlands benefactors and "patron saints" Albert K. and Alfred H. Smiley who continued their philanthropic work.
Sanborn grew up on his family's ranch in San Timoteo Canyon before moving into Redlands proper. He attended McKinley Elementary School and Redlands Junior High School and was a 1957 graduate of Redlands High School.
During his senior year in high school he was the state of California's first-place winner of the Junior Chamber of Commerce-sponsored Teen-age Road-E-O driving competition. He competed for the national title in Washington, D.C., and came in third.
In May 1959 he married Rebecca Nielsen, and they had three children, Tamara, Geoffrey and Christopher.
He was an owner and partner of Sanborn's Heating and Air Conditioning in Redlands, a business started by his father. He retired several years ago, and the business, now Sanborn Westcoast Mechanical, is owned by his son Geoffrey.
Sanborn was a lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving in a variety of positions.
He was an original member of the San Gorgonio Search and Rescue Team, belonged to the Redlands Area Historical Society and served as a docent at the Lincoln Shrine.
He had many hobbies and interests. He loved the outdoors, photography, desert racing, camping, hunting, fishing, remote-controlled airplanes and cars and doing jigsaw puzzles.
He was also interested in history, especially the Civil War, and he enjoyed researching and tracing his family's heritage through genealogy.
His family said he loved visiting with neighbors and friends and that he was a "kind, kind man who will be missed by all."
Survivors include his wife of 28 years, Eileen A. Sanborn of Redlands; three daughters, Tam Pendleton of Springville, Utah, Katie McIntosh of Beaumont and Erin Sanborn of Redlands; two sons, Geoffrey Sanborn of Mentone and Christopher Sanborn of Spanish Fork, Utah; a brother, Bob Sanborn of San Antonio, Texas; three sisters, Karen Williams of Idaho Falls, Idaho, and Marty Henrie and Leslie Ventui, both of Escalante, Utah; and 13 grandchildren.
Visitation is scheduled 5 to 8 p.m. Monday, June 5, at Cortner Chapel, 221 Brookside Ave., Redlands. Services on Tuesday, June 6, will begin with visitation at 9 a.m. followed by a chapel service at 10 a.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Stake Center, 350 Wabash Ave., Redlands. Burial will follow at Hillside Memorial Park.
Memorial donations may be made to the Watchorn Lincoln Memorial Association, 125 E. Vine St., Redlands, CA 92373.

Be still and know that I am...

My sweet dad returned home yesterday. I am so happy that he is with his Heavenly Father, and no longer hurting or sick. But my heart aches. About every 10 to 15 minutes I have a little meltdown.
We had a good evening with friends and family last night. We told fun stories and tried to joke around as much as possible. It is times like these that validate how important Temple covenants are and to have a large circle of friends and family around you.
We are not really sure what happened. We are praying the it was a heart attack. There was another thought about how it happened, but its not nice and I don't want to write it. And he went out trying. My mom found him in the backyard, he had the hose in his hand. You could tell he had gotten out of his wheel chair and was going to water his trees. We are so grateful (it looks) like he went fast, the poor man has suffered enough for 26 years.
It was sweet to watch my mom with him, she she held his hand and rubbed his face, then when the funeral home came to take him she took his wallet, keys, watch and wedding ring. The treasures we'll keep close forever.
And I can't even begin to put into words how grateful I am for Billy and Lia. Billy has kept me so close, he is my rock! I'd be so lost without him right now. And our sweet Lia, she is the purest example of love! She was so sweet and happy, it was hard to be sad around her. I am glad we are going to be together forever!