My dad celebrated his 60th birthday this week. Hooray!

We enjoyed the afternoon in Hobble Creek Canyon at my aunt and uncle's property there.

My sister and I with my Grandmother

My parents

For all these great pictures, the credit goes to my little sister. These are my wonderful sisters-in-law Nina and Stephanie. We're standing on a hill so we all look like the same height. Ha!

My Grandpa with his third son, the birthday boy

A large gathering of Mortensens (also appearing are my aunt Carrie and Dylan, uncle Tad and his family, aunt Suzanne and uncle Dennis)

My dad began his final chemotherapy treatment yesterday. We anxiously await the results of this months long treatment and wish for him a full recovery toward health.

Father's Day turned out pretty small. My brothers were no-shows for their various reasons and so it was just us, my parents, Mandy and Zealand.

The kids had a blast outside. Zealand seems to love being here and he loves his cousins. They're crazy about him.

 After eating as much as we could and STILL having enough to feed an army, we took some pictures to remember the occasion.

My dad is in the middle of #5 of 6 chemotherapy sessions. He is really looking forward to ending it and really anxious to be declared cancer-free. We hope and pray for that result as well. He's turning sixty next week and we'll be happily celebrating once again!

I think I've been pretty vocal about being raised up to great music by my wonderful dad, Ron.
I've got Motown in my blood and Stevie Wonder should have been my godfather.

I was so sad to see that Donna Summer passed away today at age 63. She's not exactly Motown, but she has that same diva power of Diana Ross and Gladys Knight...she just came a decade or so later.


I had the single to "MacArthur Park" on vinyl and listened to it on my tiny record player when I was in second grade.



I loved to listen (and probably act out the drama inside) to the albums my dad had.
I watched this video on Friday nights, late.

Donna Summer never aged. She was so beautiful! She sparkled.

Donna Summer was the Queen of Disco, but you could totally forgive her for that because of her powerful vocals and her sparkle.
She totally sparkled.

About every five years, we seem inexplicably drawn to Zion National Park's majestic sandstone cliffs. 

We took Dane when he was a baby.

We went again when Bryce was a baby (as seen here)

 

And five years later here we are again (at Weeping Rock trail)

We had a lovely, if chilly, time and the kids did really great while on the road with us. Other highlights of the trip were a visit to Ivins, Utah to visit Anisa and her kids after our visit to the Valley of Fire. 

The Valley of Fire, near Overton, Nevada, is where my parents seemingly had to go in order to learn that my dad really did need to see a doctor, which led to the diagnosis of cancer.

My brain has been in such a different place since learning of this diagnosis. So much prayer has been flowing that, at times, I am overwhelmed by it. There have been so many blessings as well, in faith and strengthened relationships. Cancer shakes things up. It does in deed, but not always for the worst.

Seems like kind of an irreverent title, but when Dane was baptized last Saturday, it seemed to plunge our entire family into a whole new stage.
Suddenly, it was the year that all kids would be in school (Bryce: preschool, Ella: kindergarten, Dane: third).
Suddenly, they were all in Primary classes, not the nursery.
Suddenly, they were all articulate, intelligent, amazing little people.Our family is growing up way too fast, but yet it feels good to see them progress and stretch into who they are.

The baptism was wonderful. We had a peaceful, easy-going morning arriving at the Stake Center at 10 AM. We were joined by my parents Ron & Cindy, my in-laws David & Kathy, my brothers Eric and Ryan and nephew Kyler. My aunt Laurie brought her grandson Brady. Dane's great-grandma Sharon came and so did Cameron's sister Alesha and her family. I was also grateful to have the support of my three dear friends as well as their children.

Two prospective missionaries gave talks on baptism and the Holy Ghost.

It was such a sweet moment to see my husband and my son standing in the baptismal font together, seeing that they were both very touched by such a sacred moment.

While we waited for Dane and Cameron to dry off and dress, the bishopric asked the grandparents to either bear their testimony of the gospel or share memories of Dane. It was so wonderful to hear my mother and mother-in-law share such sweet feelings they had. I enjoyed what my father-in-law had to say about Dane. My father missed his opportunity. I don't know if he'd say he missed it, but I would've like to hear what he might have shared.

Dane received the gift of the Holy Ghost during a blessing from his Grandpa Stringham. He was counseled about many good things during the blessing. There was definitely something wonderful coming from Dane that day. It seemed like every time I caught his eye, there was a greater wisdom in his face. We all agreed that the morning passed way too quickly.

Afterwards, we all returned to our home for lunch and birthday cake. Dane loves being with his cousins, so it really was the perfect day for him. Hours later we bid farewell to our last guests and none of us could stop smiling about this amazing day.

Thank you for making this wonderful choice, Dane! Happy Birthday, we love you!!!

Friday:
Met my aunt Suzanne, my cousin Summer and her son Gabe at Gardner Village. Shopped a bit and fed the ducks, but oddly only took pics of us. I took 13 photos of this pose and this is the best one? Yep. These two are tired of looking at this camera in their cute faces.

Snacked on Oreo cookies ===>

The kids loved the kissing sound the koi made as they ate pieces of bread.


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Friday evening: Summer and I did a fun photo shoot together. (she stayed at my house)

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Saturday: The Adams Family Reunion (oh, you know you're already humming the TV theme and snapping your fingers...) This is my dad's mom's family.

After breakfast, the kids began to build rockets of paper and foam to be launched over and over again.

And i think it's gonna be a long long time till touch down brings me round again to find
I'm not the man they think i am at home

Oh no no no i'm a rocket man

Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone

As we were doing the rockets, lunch, the pinata, the waterslide, and tie-dyed shirts, Cameron went with my dad, my uncle, my dad's cousin (younger than me) and two of my great uncles on a foolishly long hike and they about killed themselves and came back completely exhausted...and hungry. We packed it up shortly after that (7:30 PM now) and we all fell into bed before 10 and slept hard!

You've gotta click on these photos for a bigger version. They're pretty cute!

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Sunday: Summer came to church with us, then we went down to my parents house. Attending were: my family of five, Grandma & Grandpa Mortensen (with me, here), my uncle Dennis, Suzanne, Summer and Gabe, my aunt Carrie and her grandson Dillon, my uncle Tad & aunt Grace, Leanne, Kristen, Ciara, my brother's family of four, Mandy, Jonathan, and my grandpa's brother Val and his wife Diane. FULL HOUSE!

Summer and I did a bit of scrapbooking as well as an impromptu concert at Uncle Val's request. I sang I Stand All Amazed then Summer sang You'll Never Walk Alone. We then reprised a song we sang for my grandparents farewell back in 1999, a powerful arrangement of A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief (which Summer amazingly remembered the descant). The spirit was so strong there and beautiful. I haven't started choking up during a song for a long time.

I love when my dad's family gets together. There's always guaranteed to be some kind of interesting gospel discussion going on and I was not disappointed. It's such a blessing to have these folks in my life and in my family. What a blessed weekend! We missed you, Eric!

First of all...my roses are blooming! They get half-shade, so they've taken their time, but man they are pretty so I can't wait until the whole bush is full!

Getting ready to go to Grandma Cindy's and Grandpa Ron's for a Father's Day lunch.

Mandy and Bryce checking out Ryan's dogs.

Wouldn't even be scary in a dark alley, would he? We went to my Grandma's house for cake and ice cream. Bryce 'shot' everyone that picked him up because his gun sound effects include a volley of spit. Lovely.
Ella and my Grandpa Paul

Ella and my Grandma Sharon (my mom's mom)

Back at my parent's house, feeding the pond fish
My brother Eric, Ella and Bryce

You can't plan those matching expressions.

The nicest part of the day was (after getting to talk to Cameron) being able to share some neat experiences with my Dad and he with me, as well as being able to tell him sincerely that he has been a truly wonderful dad. I even told him particular things that I thought he had been a success at. So glad he's my dad!