Not Such A Long Road After All

Holy crap it's been a long couple of weeks. I waited to write a post last week, because I only had a few pictures; then I was worried my weekend extravaganza would be way too many pictures! No worries, though, I really didn't take many pictures. Hardly any, sadly.

Anwho, these first pictures are just going to be thrown in with a short explanation of each. I don't have the energy at the moment. :/

Trista and I blew our guts out, trying to blow this thing up. Thankfully Russ came home in time to save us haha.

Brooklyn has been listening while Trista reads the first Harry Potter, and they just finished it a couple of weeks ago! They've also began the second. Too bad the movie gave her nightmares; no more movies ):

Oh, and about the previous movie-watching picture: my favorite part was the fact that every time a new character came onto screen, Sam would ask, "Is that Harry Potter?!"..."No, Sam. Not yet..." The best one of all? Trista asks Brooklyn, "Hey Dut, do you remember who that is? Tall wizard with a long, grey beard?" And, of course, Sam excitedly asks, "Is THAT Harry Potter?!?!"..."No Sam...That's Dumbledore."

Sam: "Oh."

:D

So maybe some of you think this is gross, but we were all pretty enthralled! In the polliwog habitats, "baby mosquitoes" were found, so they were immediately placed under a microscope with a few drops of water. SO FREAKING COOL! Granted I freaked a couple time when it randomly squirmed (hey now, I thought it was dead!), but it was incredible to see the heart and lungs all actively working.

The solar eclipse! Almost completely forgot about it!!

So the week before going to Rexburg, Austin, Nick, and I had had a pretty awesome day. Methinks I need to explain that Monday, the 21st of May. (: It had been a fairly regular morning, with Austin waking up a tad grumpy, as always. We continued to work on being nicer and more patient with one another throughout the morning. It slowly began to turn around. I had asked him,as usual, what kind of day he had wanted to have earlier that morning. He was pretty tired and said he didn't know and that he would tell me when he knew. Hm. That was an odd answer, honestly. Anywho, we were just sort of playing and watching some cartoons when Austin started cuddling with me as he played on my iTouch. He first sat next to me, but as we kept taking pictures and laughing and having fun, the next thing I know, he's full-out on my lap, cuddling. Very rare. Like I've said before, he's a deep kid but extremely closed off. He gets up to find a pen and decides he wants to draw--on himself. Haha this is one of those times where immediately my first action is to ask him not to do so. But I have to ask myself, "Why not?" What does it hurt to draw on ourselves a little? It's washable. So I learned to let that worry go. But of course, one can't grab a pen and not draw on Lanny, too!! (;

He starts giggling, and the next thing I know, he's jumping on me and giving me the BEST hugs in the world. All the time. Randomly throughout the day. He realizes he has to go to the bathroom and rushes that way. Next thing I hear, "Hey Lanny! Can you come here? I need to tell you something." I call out from the living room as I slowly make my way to the bathroom, "What is it, bud?" "Well you have to come here, I can't just tell EVERYONE."..."Okayyy..." I get to the door and lean against the frame. "What's up, Love?"

"Lanny, I love you."

Oh my word. My heart melts. It was the first time he has ever told me that, and it reassured me that I was hopefully making a good impression on him. Granted he was sitting on the toilet with this pants pulled down when he told me, but what the heck?! I don't care! It made me happy. (: The day was full of hugs, kisses, and giggles. He'd attack me with a hug, and I'd attack him with kisses. We both giggled. Nick would want in on the fun, so he'd get his turn, as well! Austin and I were then just sitting on the couch, taking pictures again, and out of nowhere he says, "Hey Lanny, you know what kind of day today is?"

"What kind, bud?"

"The bestest day ever."

I must agree. It had been a pretty great day. (: I had gone home and relaxed a bit while looking for some extra jobs and such. I finally decided to take a shower before FHE. Well, while I was in the shower, I got to thinking about seeing West and family for his homecoming talk. All the flights and trips had been on my mind a lot, as well as wanting to see some Rexburg friends. As I was thinking in the shower, I decided to not turn down the offer of seeing all my family (except for Trista, Russ and kids ): ...) in Idaho, visiting friends, turning down a talk, etc. You can call it a "spur of the moment" decision, but I got out of the shower, got dressed, and started looking for tickets for that weekend! I found tickets...but I needed to talk to Stephanie about possibly getting Friday off. It was just one more thing I was asking for, and I was stressing out big time. Ask Trista haha. I could've been facing less pay, more hours, no job, and no Friday off. (LONG STORY). No Rexburg surprise. I pray before heading off to Stephanie's and anxiously/nervously take off haha. But no worries! All went well, obviously. (; I rushed home, bought those tickets, and arrived to FHE late! But I didn't care! I was so freaking stoked. (: While driving on the way there, I simply couldn't hold in my excitement. I screamed excitedly in the van haha. Yes...That was definitely a great day. (:

Okay, now for some more random pictures/videos! The kids love the Dollar Store and spend their money there quite frequently. This was on of those echo microphones, and we asked Sam-O to sing for us. (;

That week felt as though it went by pretty slow, but I didn't particularly care. I was way too excited to go and surprise everyone! :D I had only told one of my FHE brothers from Winter semester that I was flying in, so that I could be picked up from the airport. Once I saw this sight coming from out of the clouds, I knew I was back in Idaho. (; Hahaha.

But I was able to surprise just about everyone else. It was absolutely incredible. I missed (and currently miss) everyone and am so glad I got to see all. (: 

What  happens when we get together again with West?? Super Nintendo, of course! (:

And yes, we did play some Quelf. (; This is the fabulous Dene' performing her "rap", featuring Chris-Dawg.

I give major props to Christian and Audrey for hosting ALL of us in their apartment. I felt pretty bad with all of us sleeping wall to wall one night, so I did stay with a friend another night...But this is basically what it all looked like haha. Mom and Dad are on the blow-up mattress in the bottom left corner. West is on the couch. Dene' and Kenny are in the far blow-up mattress under the table. I was sleeping on the smaller couch, where I took the picture haha. Pretty intense! Jackson was the only one fortunate to have his own room. :P

Duck Ponds with Jackson. (:

So this just kind of amazed me haha. Mom and Dad had to hit up the Super Savers store or whatever in Rexburg. They went on Memorial Day, and they also happened to be having a sale!! Dad loves gum, and they were able to get ALL of this for...What? Five or six bucks? Pretty insane haha.

Phew...Quite the couple weeks, indeed. Great vacation and break...Now comes the part I'm a little hesitant to write about.

We drove home Tuesday afternoon and drove into Quincy about 10:30 pm. I got up the next morning hoping to get as much done in a few hours (visit friends, teachers, bank, etc.) before heading back to Spokane and fly out. Story cut short, I goofed in planning my flight and had to buy a new ticket for the next morning at 6 am. So I had a tad more time than I thought...I did most of the things I wanted to do other than visit Aaron in East Wenatchee and see Keesha, because she was in Ellensburg. Too far...Well I was watching some House while at home when I get a call from Keesha. We don't talk on the phone much, so it was a little surprising, but I answered...She told me of some bad news.

Ben was an incredible guy, and I know he continues to be...Just somewhere else, with other people, not currently here on Earth with the rest of us. I've met very few people in my life who have a work ethic, a heart, a desire, and a passion for all they do in life. But Ben did. He was one of the few. He was a runner, wrestler, athlete. His big goals after graduation just a year ago were to run from Quincy to George, Quincy to Ephrata, and then Ephrata to Moses Lake. He'd completed the first two. Thursday afternoon, about 11:45, he was three miles short of his goal when he was hit by a motorhome while crossing the freeway. Killed instantly. The poor couple who were driving is from Ephrata, and they are hurting just as badly as the rest of us who miss Ben so much...I'd been lucky enough to know Ben decently well. We had dated briefly during wrestling season, he was my "first dance", and I still have the monkey he gave me for Valentine's Day a couple years ago. It sat on my bed in Livermore, as I found out about the news...Not much else I can say, because I can rarely express how deeply I feel. But simply...I miss him. I remember all the joking and hugs. I remember that true smile of his. I remember wrestling with him and the others on the mats. I remember sleeping in the bleachers on road trips and stealing his pillow. I remember that match at Regionals that he barely lost; him and I sat next to each other in the hall crying. I remember the excitement of finding all the puzzle pieces throughout school, which ultimately spelled out, "Will U go 2 homecoming with me? Ben". I remember lying to him, saying I couldn't go, and then filling his tiny room with balloons that said I was joking...I miss him.

I found the puzzle pieces;

You popped all the balloons.

You lost that vital match;

I cried on the mat next to you.

Fallen flowers on these stones,

This is not where you belong.

Lush green grass upon just bones.

This is all so wrong.

One long, healthy road

Cut cruelly short.

We bid our farewells

And wish to say more.

Life was so short-lived,

Yet you lived it full.

Engraved on mere rock,

But eternally in our hearts.