Spittin' Image

My Mom recently showed me this picture of my Dad (seated on the right in picture of boys) and I couldn't believe how much it reminded me of Huntie! (see picture on top) I always thought Hunter looked like Robert, but maybe he has some Brinkman in him afterall!

Recent Pictures

What Will Your Legacy Be?

I ran across this obituary today and found it funny at first, but then very very sad. This is real--

Dolores Aguilar (1929-Aug. 7 2008)

" . . . Dolores had no hobbies, made no contribution to society and rarely shared a kind word or deed in her life. I speak for the majority of her family when I say her presence will not be missed by many, very few tears will be shed and there will be no lamenting over her passing.
Her family will remember Dolores and amongst ourselves we will remember her in our own way, which were mostly sad and troubling times throughout the years. We may have found some fond memories of her and perhaps we will think of those times too. But I truly believe at the end of the day ALL of us will really only miss what we never had, a good and kind mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. I hope she is finally at peace with herself. As for the rest of us left behind, I hope this is the beginning of a time of healing and learning to be a family again.
There will be no service, no prayers and no closure for the family she spent a lifetime tearing apart. We cannot come together in the end to see to it that her grandchildren and great-grandchildren can say their goodbyes. So I say here for all of us, GOOD BYE, MOM."

Wow. What a travesty!

I just HAD to laugh

I have always had a somewhat inappropriate sense of humor which I blame fully on my mother. When I say "inappropriate" I mean that I feel the uncontrollable urge to laugh when it is the absolute very worst time to do so. Let me give a few examples: I can remember two girls getting up to sing in sacrament meeting. When they opened their mouths to sing, it was hideous--like two foghorns simultaneously going off. The fact that their faces were soooo very sincere about what they must of thought was beautiful drove me, on the front row, into hysterics. I tried so hard not to laugh that I was crying and had to excuse myself in the middle of their song. There have been other times when people have tripped, or done something clumsy, or even worse when someone has an unfortunate disability that I have hated myself for doing it, but laughed. I know, I know. I'm evil. Does anyone besides me remember the little movies they used to show us in primary or young women's about the person with no limbs, who can miraculously knit with their teeth, or the burn victim whose message to the youth was not to worry about zits, because it could be worse--you could be maimed like me. It's not that deep down inside I don't have an enormous amount of respect for these survivors, it's just that I know I'm not supposed to laugh at that moment and thus my tourette's syndrome rears it's ugly head. Part of me was always very disturbed by these supposedly inspiring movies, thinking that at some point, I too would be limbless or paralyzed from the eyeballs down. Another one pops into my head of a family with a little boy who is run over on the way to school by a drunk driver, and the family feels so bad for the man who killed their son, they take him a cake in prison for his birthday. WHAT?!! I was literally sick to my stomach after watching that in primary. Anyway, the point of this is that Hunter, my 8 year old, came home from school with a short paper he had written, AFTER THEY SHOWED THE CLASS A MOVIE ABOUT A GIRL WHO LOST HER ARMS. This is what my little Hunter had to say:

"Bonnie Consuelo, a very descusting person who has no arms but very tallinted with her feet. She can do everything that we can do, even cook with her feet!" When I inquired as to why he was disgusted by this inspiring person, he giggled, "Because its gross and a little funny too." I composed myself enough to explain the lesson he was supposed to be learning from watching this; determination, resiliance, courage and then locked myself in my room and had a very little, but inappropriate laugh. Please don't judge me, I know there's something wrong with me . . .

Fall Photo Shoot--Kids

I recently took some pictures in our backyard of the kids for our Christmas card. It was hell. Here are some of the ones that turned out--there are many of Madison mostly because she usually won't let me take pictures of her and on this day, she allowed me.

Halloweened Out

Yes, Halloween is my favorite holiday but I got more than my fill of it this year. I guess you could say I have a Halloween hangover. Here are some pictures capturing our Halloween festivities which included a Flynn cousin party: