. . . this one's for you, dad . . .

. . . we're at that age . . .

. . . we're most likely 

to run into old friends 

at our parents' funerals . . .

. . . and every time, we say, 

"we really should get together" . . .

. . . well, apparently, the only way 

to make it finally happen 

is to have a "take charge" guy 

move back to arizona 

after 30-ish years away . . .  

. . . so ~ this past weekend, 

was the first ever 

mesa 19th ward 

non-funeral reunion . . .

. . . see? . . .

. . . i had a pretty much

 sheltered/charmed/awesome 

childhood and youth . . . 

. . . i didn't live 

in the fanciest neighborhood . . .

. . . but i grew up 

in the best ward ever . . . 

. . . i was always proud to say 

i was in 19th ward . . . 

. . . my dad was the bishop 

during most of my junior high 

and high school years . . . 

. . . all my closest friends 

were in my ward . . .

. . . i looked forward to this reunion

 almost as if it were christmas . . .

. . . and you know what? . . .

. . . people came . . .

. . . lots of people came . . .

. . . mostly the "kids" 

who were teenagers 

when my dad and royce beydler, 

who followed him, 

served as bishops . . .

. . . and our parents . . .

. . . koko {he was the boss} 

organized a brief program . . . 

. . . he introduced bishop beydler . . . 

. . . who then proceeded 

to take the mic 

and crack himself up . . .

. . . he's adorable . . .

. . . then my cute mom 

spoke on behalf of my dad . . .

. . . she used his own words, 

as written in his life story . . .

. . . confession: 

i got a little teary-eyed 

listening to her . . .

{two of the five julies ~ neuffer and dastrup. 

and yes, i will probably always refer to them by their maiden names}

. . . these two ladies are the wives 

of my dad's bishopric counselors . . .

 {edwina dastrup and patsy huber}

. . . and here is 

one of my dad's counselors . . .

{clark huber ~ he never ages}

. . . one thing we absolutely wanted 

to have happen at this reunion 

was a reenactment 

of a roadshow theme song . . .

. . . what you see pictured here 

are a lot of really good sports . . .

{we probably could've used a rehearsal or two}

. . . "the lights come on, 

the music plays at sundown, 

the people stir 

because it's not so hot" . . .

{marilyn berry, laurie lambson, kori richmond, janet berry, panda head, 

sally carpenter, deanna conrad, julie dastrup, lawanna burgess, 

lisa beydler, julie neuffer, kathy kocherhans}

. . . "come check the teeth 

and test the knees - 

not run down. 

on our camel lot" . . .

. . . and the girl to boy ratio 

at the reunion 

was about the same 

as it was for the actual roadshow 

thirty-nine years ago . . . 

. . . look how much fun 

the boys were having! . . .

{russell carroll, koko head, todd lorenzen, jeff davis, ted sherwood, 

and julie ellsworth who was turning pages for me at the piano}

. . . i bet there weren't 

five julies all the same age 

in your ward, were there? . . .

. . . four of them 

came to the reunion . . .

. . . one from prescott, 

one from spokane . . .

. . . then later that night, 

all five of them got together 

for their own after party . . .

{julies ellsworth, pomeroy, neuffer, and dastrup. not pictured - farnsworth}

. . . a great time was had by my family

 ~ brother jeff {with all his eyewear}, 

me and mom . . .

. . . i felt such a flood of emotion 

just walking into 

that old barkley building . . . 

. . . a lot ~ a LOT ~ of memories . . .

. . . and i was completely unprepared

 for how much 

it made me miss my dad . . .

. . . he would have loved this party . . .

. . . i bet he was there . . .

 . . . kind of cool that we partied 

on february 9th . . . 

. . . right before dad's 

valentines day birthday . . .

. . . that also would have 

made him happy . . . 

. . . we visited him 

at the cemetery 

this afternoon . . .

. . . where halleigh 

entertained the littles 

with storytime . . .

. . . and we were all surprised 

to look over 

and find tate in prayer . . .

. . . he was very serious . . .

. . . amber asked 

what he was saying . . .

. . . he said he prayed 

for grandpa great 

to please come back to earth . . .

. . . childlike faith . . .

. . . we had to have a little talk 

and explain a few things . . .

{notice the orange soda again?} 

{and my little brother's headstone.}

. . . oh, how i love 

this family of mine . . .

. . . the ones on earth . . .

. . . and the ones who've gone . . .

. . . i really looked forward to 

 the reunion last weekend . . .

. . . and i'm even more excited 

for the one someday 

in heaven! . . .

{reunion photo credits: julie ellsworth logan and deanna conrad scanlon}