Till we meet again, Uncle Shawn

My uncle, Shawn Woodrum, recently passed away after a 5 year battle with leukemia. He was a devoted husband to my aunt, Stella, and proud father of their 2 sons, Parker and Peyton.

The majority of my dad's siblings showed up to support Stella. I didn't get a very good picture of them, but after trying several times I gave up and decided they could just have what they got. Missing from the picture are Spencer and Stephen.

Sonia, Sam, Sandra, Seth, Grandpa, Grandma, Stella, Susan, Sylvia, Scott (my dad)

Shawn's family also came, I don't know all of them. Shawn's dad, Bill, is a very nice man. I felt very sad for this sweet family and how hard Shawn's death has been on them.

 While taking family pictures, 2 white doves landed on the church building above everyone. I am under the impression that doves represent peace and so their appearance at the funeral was pretty neat.

Death is sad for those of us who are left behind, but I think in some ways it makes us more appreciative of life and those that we still have. It was wonderful to spend time with my family that I haven't seen in forever, including some aunts and uncles I haven't seen in over 10 years (about 20 years for one uncle)!

Stella and Shawn's families

 I don't see a lot of my cousins very often, it is always shocking to me to see someone I remember from when we were children. Just as I have aged 10+ years so have they and they are no longer kids.

My cousin Jessica and I.

My brother, Daniel, had so much fun playing with Parker and Peyton. They had a bit of a hard time remembering what constitutes play clothes. While wearing their suits they had several aunts and uncles keep telling them to "slow down," "stop playing tag," "don't rip your suit," or "don't climb on that." You can't keep a good boy down!

Daniel playing in the canal

Daniel chasing Parker across the parking lot

Peyton crawling between chairs at his father's viewing

The day after the funeral we went to Dragon Hollow and Missoula's Carousel. Peyton wanted to ride with me part of the time.

Getting ready to race!

Missoula's Carousel is one of the fastest in the Nation

Dragon Hollow reminds me of the playground at the elementary school I attended in Owego, NY.

 While chasing one of the boys, I found a sign that explained why the playground looked familiar. The same company helped design it as my elementary school!

In any case the boys had fun and what can I say, I love a good swing and a slide. There was no rule about age limits so I may have gone down the slide a few times.

Parker had planned to scare Peyton when he came out of the slide, but instead Peyton got Parker.

Daniel out and away after a fast slide

Both the ride up and back were rather rainy and cool. The mist over the mountains looked so beautiful. Unfortunately, picture taking while traveling in a car on windy roads is difficult. I wasn't even the driver.

Daniel was just stoked that he had the entire backseat to himself! He made sure to try out every seat throughout the trip.