may. 2013

may. what a life changing month. i'll get to that later. 

we had a couple really cranky days. 

we had fun at the zoo. 

from a distance these guys are adorable, but up close... this dudes a lil intimidating! 

we went to family camp at friendly pines in prescott with finn's school. 

it was a good way to get to know the other families, but, we missed kace :(

maya loves being on daddy's shoulders & throwing his hat on the ground. bryan's got a pretty good record of catching it & we all love her half evil giggle. 

 :)

bryan couldn't get them to pose with him like normal. so this is his frustrated face. 

& then it turns into this look. 

maya LOVES smores. 

the dining hall. 

finn's friend tia. 

we stopped in prescott for some lunch. love that lil town.

we had a major bath, because we were DIRTY. we stayed in cabins, but it was still pretty "rough."

reading to baby & getting her ready for her nap. maya is so in to her dolls.
finn never really was, but he's definitely taking an interest in it now
(as of august, loves playing mommy & daddy w maya). 

i got an iphone. some of you know that i've been attempting this feat for over a year now. so this was pretty exciting! & this was the very first picture i took with my new beauty.  

maya at trader joe's getting food for my dad's house. 

the two of us flew home last minute. my dad's very best friend in the whole wide world had been diagnosed with cancer. it had spread & was very aggressive & we knew it meant he didn't have long. we all hoped for years & we got only 6 months. much too short. it still doesn't feel real.  we'd found out on the drive home from friendly pines that he was in the hospital & was coming home with hospice. 

time passed. 2.5 weeks dragged slowly on & again i was in the state of dreading the phone call. just like the summer my grandparents passed away. dad called me & said it would probably be within 12 hours. the painful conversations we'd had the past 6 months... hearing my strong, grown father cry & not being able to go to him, help him deal with this pain, that he's already had much to much of... was really hard.  they've been best friends since they were 15. sophmores in high school. the same year tim met mary ann, his amazing wife.
 the three of them have been a force to reckon with since. 

my mom was amazing & secured a standby ticket for me. but i was too worried about not making it in time... those flights are always full. my uncle paul had an expired ticket & he was awesome & paid the fee to have it reissued & we left the next morning at 6am.
 i landed in colorado & got a very short message from my father. 

he was gone. 

he'd left behind a beautiful wife, three wonderful children & four really adorable grandchildren. 

the funeral was hard. lil timmy, tim's son, gave the eulogy & he did an AMAZING job. it made us laugh, it made us sob & it honored the really great man he was. the really great husband, father & friend. he was just one of those guys you were lucky to know. 

love you tim. so very much.

they are true irish people & so a wake was to be held. no tears, by god.

we would drink, in tim's man cave, in honor of him!

well, max wanted to drink too. so he threw his passy in dad's beer. perfect shot. 

i love this picture. 

i didn't take many- i really wanted to just be there. 

their friendship will help them survive this. 

i need to send a huge shout out to my in laws. 

they were so great & kept maya essentially two straight days while i was at the visitation & funeral. thank you all so much! i am so grateful. 

i'm also grateful for my sweet daughter. 

i think she was just the distraction my dad needed that weekend. 

max was super helpful too! 

these two. oh man. 

well, hello there. 

we had a resch family cookout at dad's place. it was a really great night. 

you can see the pride in my dad's eyes that he's hosting such a great party. 

and the sadness. 

my uncle paul 

aunt khaki (kathy). have i ever told you my favorite story of her?  khaki was playing hide & seek with us & it was my brother's (who was maybe 6 or 7) turn to find us so we hid in the shower. a few minutes later john came into the bathroom, sat on the toilet & started pooping! we started screaming & ran out of the shower. poor kid was mortified. 

i love these two pictures of maya. those boots are my dad's from when he was a kid. 

they fit her perfectly & she loved them. 

maxwell. he's so handsome. 

the louisville girls. love this picture.

aunt lissa stopped by.

it was finn's first last day of school. that's ms. e. the school's director. they adore her. 

one of the families threw a party that was off the charts. 

they had an ice cream truck, photo booth & the balloon guy. even the parents had a blast. 

i requested an invitation to their daughter's high school party ;)

do you remember him from emma's party? he's so great. 

:)

he kept trying to get the hero to kiss the rescued princess. 

this is the face i get quite a bit when it's time to leave. 

we went on our first really long bike ride with finn on his own bike. so cool. 

i don't know what it is about watching him write & draw? i'm so excited for everything he's about to learn. and i hope he keeps that passion he has now for discovering things. 

picnic with a movie in the park. fun stuff. bryan had practice & so we planned on just seeing him at home afterwards, but he surprised us & came & scared the living shit out of me. i screamed! 

good surprise :)