10...9...8...7

Leslie had another good idea......Let's launch a rocket. So with Jim's help we did just that. Although Sam is not in the picture he was really excited about the launch...

...until the rocket was launched and he heard how loud it was! So after he saw Chloë running for the car he decided to follow.

In between searching for the rocket once it re-enters our atmosphere (it really does go SUPER high) and Jim cleaning the rocket/parachute, we would sit on the hot asphalt and talk. It was a nice evening with Leslie and the girls.

Lake Pleasant

Everyone in our family will admit that Leslie comes up with some pretty crazy forms of entertainment. This time she wanted us to wake up at 6am and head off to the lake, rent kayaks and a boat....."ok Leslie sure thing". Well, I decided we would sit this outing out. It did not sound like fun worrying about my 4 little kids by the water and with no trees as coverage for our WHITE skin!! Plus I was not about to wake up at the crack of dawn. Well, at 9am Leslie and the older boys and my other sisters headed out the door with Grandpa Mike. As soon as they were gone my mom and I thought maybe this would be fun after all. So we took our time getting our things together and made our way to the lake.

It turned out to be SO much fun!!! THANKS, LESLIE!!

Once again Chloë could not take her arms off Kate, she just loves her!

Everyone had their fill of rowing by the time we showed up. It was really perfect timing. Grandpa Mike took Olivia, Sam, and I on a ride on the speed boat (which Sam just LOVED). We found Valerie and Aaron, and Andrea and Spencer, and Leslie and Chase in the middle of the lake. So Grandpa Mike helped Val and Chase get into the speed boat and Olivia and I got in their Kayak and started paddling.

All we really did was paddle back to the dock to return the kayak, but it was the perfect amount of time for us. Olivia swam in the lake a little with Seth and Spencer. They had the best time!

We all got back together at the dock and were ready to head home. Our coming so late was perfect. Barbie had kept Lauren and Chloë so I could be with the older kids. Thanks, mom. I hope I am as good of a grandma as you are!

Olivia had so much fun she said, "I love this, can we do this for my birthday!"

phoenix

After a long start in June I drove the kids down to Phoenix to visit Barbie and Mike.

Because of the kids swimming classes they really enjoyed the pool. The did a lot of diving for torpedos and other sinking toys.

Nothing beats pouring water back into the pool!

Olivia and Kira braved their way into the deep end. By the end of the week Olivia was able to swim laps.

We enjoyed sitting in the sun after a nice swim eating our lunch. My favorite days were as follows; wake up, eat breakfast, swim from 9:30-noon, drink smoothy for lunch, rest, watch cooking network with Mimi and play cards, dinner at Mexican food restaurant, night-time swim and off to bed. This of course, was easier to do when it was just my gang taking over B&M's house.

Here is Barbie in mid morning shift. She is trying to teach my kids to flush the toilet and wash their hands after they go potty. Thanks mom for supporting me. Barbie gives them a nickel every time they do this. They have quite a collection...maybe we will have to go out for ice cream!
By the way, B&M are in the middle of renovating the west wing of their house. They have been very kind to let me invade their house. I know it must make things harder when we are around, but the kids and I love being with them.

After we got the kids into bed, Kate and I started to make her a rag quilt. It was a lot of fun to work with Kate. She is such a nice girl and very smart. She was quick to catch on to how to make the different parts of the quilt. I love having someone who loves to sew!

Camping

Tony and Eve had planned on taking their family on a summer road trip. After Tony died Eve said she would like to still go on that trip. Ann became Eve's new travel companion. About a week after Bob and I came home Eve and Co. arrived at our house. We decided to take everyone camping at camp Lehi in the Santa Cruz mountains.

Eve's brother, Asiel, whom she had not seen in years, happened to have a summer internship here and was able to come along.

Abby and Chloë look like they could be sisters!

We went on a walk to the pond and let Eve take a nap.

This old tractor was near our campsite. It was great for the kids to climb around.

The days following

Daniel and I spent about a week in Grants Pass. It was nice to be with Eve, the kids and Ann. We talked, cried and started on some business that needed to be done.

David and Daniel.

Jasmine and Gwen

Gwen, Mia, and Alma are great friends.

There is Jessica and John.

We stayed in the hotel right across the street from Tony and Eve's place. Our hotel had a great pool! Eve said the kids had wanted to go swimming here since they moved into their house. So Daniel and Israel took the kids swimming. They had a great time!

Louis had a school performance that everyone attended. He is in the front row with the tan tunic and red sash over his right shoulder.

This is everyone in Eve's family that was able to come: Moana, her mom Ma, Robin, Reuben, Eve and Israel.

Here is Cami, Eve, and her sister, Lani. I am glad we had so much family around because it was a long week for all of us.

This is a picture of the front of Tony's office, ChiroHealth.

Wednesday, June 9th

This morning was Tony's funeral service. Aaron gave the family prayer after the closing of the casket. 8766 gave the opening prayer, Daniel gave the eulogy, Marlene shared a few words (she was Tony's closet cousin...they were great friends), Elizabeth also shared her thoughts, as well as David. Some of Eve's siblings and her mother sang Lead Kindly Light. It was very touching. Tony and Eve's bishop then shared a wonderful message about love and the gospel of Jesus Christ. There was a wonderful feeling in the chapel. I have been to enough funerals to know that I don't like going because all I do is cry. This funeral was different, maybe because I had no more tears left to cry... or maybe because Tony was so young and such a close relation.
Tony was in the Army reserve so Taps was played at the end of his funeral. It was very beautiful.

After the funeral Eve gave a hug to every person that left the church building, you could see the love and support that everyone has for her and her family.


We traveled to the cemetery and John dedicated the burial sight. The family gathered round the grave and we watched as they lowered Tony's body into the ground.

Monday

The following Friday, Saturday and Sunday were long days. Daniel was on the phone most of the time talking to family and sharing news and thoughts of Tony. I made the plane and hotel/sleeping arrangements for all of Daniel's family. It was very exhausting. It was very nice to go to church, but also hard because many of the older families in the ward knew Tony. I received many hugs and heartfelt love from all Tony's friends. Below is a picture of Daniel and Abby.

Monday morning Daniel and I drove 6.5 hours to Grants Pass. It was a wonderful time for Daniel and I to talk. Up until now, Daniel had constantly been on the phone with his family and we had had no time to talk. This situation is very difficult. We both cried and cried.

When we arrived Eve was visiting with the Bishop so her sister, Lani(in the blue shirt) filled us in on some of the details. Eve is handling things as well as to be expected. She found a lot of comfort in the words he shared. Eve said she already knew what the bishop said was true, but she needed the spirit to reconfirm her thoughts. The spirit did comfort her and ease her pain.
The funeral director asked us to pick out 50 pictures of Tony so they could make a video of them to show at the funeral. It was nice to sit with Eve, look through the pictures and hear her tell stories of Tony. It seemed like anything said would start her crying, which I totally understand. As I think about that evening it seems so unreal. Below is Alma (with the brown hair, Tony's 3rd born) with Mia (David and Cami's little girl)

The kids were excited to see their cousins. We did not bring our kids, but Cami brought Ethan and Mia. Later that night John and Mercedes arrived with Jasmine and Jessica.

This experience has been so overwhelming, but one of many thoughts we just can't stop thinking about is the children. Abby, the toddler Daniel is holding above, just loved Daniel. And here is Daniel with Louis, the oldest child in the family.

Tony

This evening while we were eating dinner Daniel's mom called. There are not words to describe the loss we began to feel as Ann told Daniel that his brother, Tony, took his life. Tony is the fourth boy, 3 years older than Elizabeth, who is four years older than Daniel. Tony was living with his wife, Eve and 5 kids plus one baby due in October in Grants Pass, Oregon. A couple of years ago he bought a chiropractic office there and was working on building up the practice. Below are a few pictures we have of Tony. Below the pictures I added Anthony Ruiz "Tony" Ledesma's obituary.

Name:

Anthony Ruiz "Tony" Ledesma DC

Date:

April 30th, 1971 - June 3rd, 2010

Obituary:

Anthony Ruiz “Tony” Ledesma DC, age 39, of Grants Pass, died Thursday, June 3, 2010 in Grants Pass. Viewing will be Wednesday, June 9, 2010 from 9:00 to 9:45 a.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Savage St. Building Relief Society Room. Services will follow at 10:00 in the Chapel with Bishop Chris Bennett conducting. Interment will follow at Hillcrest Memorial Park. Arrangements entrusted to Hull & Hull Funeral Directors. He was born to Louis Frank and Annabelle Madesdry (Downing) Ledesma on April 30, 1971 in Mountain View, California. He was raised in Mountain View, California and graduated from Mountain View High in 1989. He was a Boy Scout and achieved rank of Eagle. A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he served a two year mission to Texas Houston East Spanish-speaking Mission from 1990-1992. Following, he graduated from Brigham Young University—Hawaii Campus with an International Business degree along with an Associate Degree in Theater and a minor in Spanish. While in Hawaii, he joined the Army Reserves and completed an eight year enlistment. He met and married Eve Winona (Temple) in the Hawaii LDS Temple, Laie, Hawaii on June 19, 1997. After supporting his wife through graduate school, he graduated from Logan College of Chiropractic in Chesterfield, Missouri in August of 2005 with a Doctor of Chiropractic degree and a Bachelor of Science. During this time in Missouri, they had their first three children. While preparing for his first position as an associate doctor in Corvallis, Oregon, their fourth child was born in St. George, Utah. He practiced in Corvallis from 2006-2008, during which their fifth child was born. In November 2008, they purchased ChiroHealth and moved to Grants Pass, Oregon. He was a member of BNI, a local business network organization. While living here, he served in the Elders Quorum presidency of the Beacon Hill Ward. He enjoyed fishing, hunting, watching movies, and following college and professional sports. He especially loved spending time with his wife and children, and keeping in touch with his extended family. Survived by his wife, Eve, of 13 years and 6 children, all of Grants Pass; mother Ann Ledesma of St. George, UT; grandfather John “Jack” Downing; brothers, John of Beaverton, OR, Aaron of Norman, OK, David of Boise, ID, and Daniel Ledesma of Mountain View, CA, and sister Elizabeth Rosas of West Jordan, UT.

Sam's preschool Graduation

Today Sam graduated from St. Tim's preschool. He has done a lot of growing this year. I am very proud of him.

Here are all of his friends at school that go to our same church.

Folk dancing at Bubb

All of the first graders at Olivia's school learned many dances to represent different countries across the world. She really enjoyed herself. Some of the kids had a very serious face as they danced, but Olivia was always grinning from ear to ear!


Here is Olivia with her partner Frank.

I was so proud of Olivia. She decided she wanted to announce one of the dances.

Sam's artwork

Well, at age 5, this is what Sam thinks of us:



This is a picture Sam made when they were studying rain forests. I asked Sam about the picture and this is what he said:
the top shapes are clouds, the shape next the the tucan's beak is a butterfly, the bird is sitting on a branch and the things under the tucan... well that is the fire, hence the tucan's scared look. I can see the panic in the bird's eyes...can't you?!!

Since I am posting funny art work I decided to add this. A few months ago when Barbie and Poppy Mike were in town my mom and I left my dad in charge of the kids. When we returned home we found this note taped to the garage door.

Apparently, my dad and the kids, except Olivia got into the ice cream. That rectangle is a picture of the fridge and she started to draw a picture of a bowl of ice cream.
Well, I thought it was so cute I left it up on the wall, until one of Daniel's friends came to visit. He saw the note and asked why we imposed such negative views of the Pope on our children at such a young age!