aunt marie

cousins with uncle mel and aunt jean (my dad's brother and sister)

austin, kerry and abby

marty and dee

julie

tom and cousin george

cousins...gayle and jane

tyler, melanie and dylan

polly and me

megan, katie, sarah, and kerry...in the hood!

when i was in salt lake last week, we found out that our aunt marie was very sick with pneumonia...i went to visit her on saturday...it was sweet...on tuesday before i left, i went again and she was out of it...she passed away on thursday evening...aunt marie was my dad's youngest sister...she was a talented singer...she was in the mormon tabernacle choir for many, many years..so, i flew back up to slc on saturday morning for the funeral..the one thing nice about funerals is that you get to see all of your family that you never see...saturday, we all met at polly's at talked about the funeral...my aunt jean, from canada had been there with all of her kids...my uncel mel from vegas and his daughter bobbi and her family were there...it was fun to visit and remember marie...on sunday we had the viewing...we got to see some friends of marie's...today was the funeral...it was a snowy, cold day...the service was really nice...the nephews, nieces, grand nephews and grand nieces sang as 'marie's choir'...polly was the chorister...we sang the opening song...i see my mother kneeling...we then sang a family song...'tell me why'...my cousin nancy bagley spoke for her family...then, my aunt jean spoke for the low family...and finally my brother tom spoke for our family...they all did a great job...the low brothers and sons then sang...we then sang a medley of christmas songs...the bishop spoke...and then a closing song and prayer...at the cemetery, my cousin george played the bagpipes...it was beautiful...we dedicated the grave...went back to the church for lunch...it was so wonderful to see all my cousins, and friends that love aunt marie...a bittersweet weekend...now, back home to finish christmas!

a bit of the winter

i've been in slc for the last few days...i came up to host our bagley family christmas party...since i was here at the right time i also was able to go to my mom's family christmas party...it was held at my cousin scott's house...it is so much fun to see all of my family...i rarely get to go to this party, so it's a real treat..i saw 3 of my aunt's and one uncle...they are what's left of the older generation...then, i saw many cousins...it's great to catch up on their lives...my aunt marie from my dad's side has been in a nursing home for a few years and she got pneumonia while i was up there...it is a blessing because i've been able to visit her...i don't think she will be with us much longer...it is so sad, but, she's been miserable for awhile, so it's a blessing for her...kerry, polly and i went to see her after the lundgren party...it was very special...polly started singing our old family songs...marie couldn't sing, but was mouthing the words...kerry and i were watching and crying...it was really a special moment...what a wonderful lady she has always been....i've also been able to visit with alot of friends and family while up here..kerry and austin spent the weekend up here with their little cat milton...what a funny cat he is...when they got to my house he was running around crazy...a heating vent was off the vent and he fell down the vent...it was a scary few moments, hoping that we could get him out...last night we had our party...dinner...a few songs and a surprise visit from SANTA!  the little kids eyes were so huge! they were really surprised...it was alot of fun...so back to california to try and get ready for christmas!!!