Ross Kelvin Brewer

This special and amazing man passed away today surrounded by his children and his sweetheart. My heart breaks that he is gone and I rejoice that his battle at the end is over! I was so blessed to be able to say goodbye while he could still open his eyes. I just love my Grampy and will miss him so much. My mom asked us kids to write a few memories of Grampy and this is what I sent her:
When I think of Grampy, I think of BYU's number one fan, teacher, tennis, Patriarch, fudge, and much more. Including the fact that he was always whistling! When I think about Grampy I cannot not think about Grammy. They had such a sweet relationship and he was always so loving and so tender when it came to her. Something that we all look up to! When I think about Grampy I think about strength and support. He is and always will be a rock for all of us to lean on when it comes to the strength of his testimony and the love he has for our family. He was a strong support to me growing up and I am so thankful that they lived so close for me to share many memories and experiences with throughout my childhood. I remember visiting grave sites with them, and visiting them in their RV with sweet Maelin. I remember our weekly Sunday dinners at their house. I remember pool tournaments. I remember looking to the sidelines at many many soccer games to see him there cheering me on. I remember our many discussions about the BYU women's soccer team and how I loved having that in common with him. I remember getting my Patriarchal Blessing by him when I was 14 and how unique of an experience that was for me to share with my Grampy. I love that I could share some sweet moments with my kids at there house. I am so grateful for the many of happy moments spent with him and for the great example and influence he had and will always have on my life. We are all so blessed to have had such an amazing man at the head of this family, who has left quite the legacy! Much of that can be traced back to this man. I love you Grampy and will always remember the blessing you are in my life.

Till we meet again!

Here is his obituary:

Ross Kelvin Brewer
1930- 2014
We will miss our loving husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather who returned home to Heavenly Father on March 27, 2014 at the age of 83.  Kelvin (Kelly) was born on September 8, 1930 to Daniel William Brewer and Alice Luretta Nielsen in American Fork, Utah.  He married his eternal sweetheart, Albrea Jayne Knowlton, on August 27, 1952 in the Salt Lake Temple.
Kelvin was a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served as a missionary in the Eastern States Mission, holding many callings in the church with his most beloved calling being a Stake Patriarch. Kelvin earned his doctorate from Brigham Young University and worked as an administrator for Clark College in Vancouver, Washington.    
Together Jayne and Kelvin raised five children Kelvin Knowlton Brewer (Kara), Cynthia Brewer Alleman (Stuart), Michael Clark Brewer (Ruth Ann), Kathy Jayne Hegerhorst (Dale), and Bruce Nielsen Brewer (Barbara). He was lovingly known as “Grampy” and "Grampa" to 29 grandchildren and 51 great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be on Monday, March 31, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. at the LDS church located at 310 North 100 East, Orem, Utah 84057.  A viewing will be held before the funeral from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.  Interment: Orem City Cemetery.   

11 months

I am in denial that THIS girl is almost a year old! Maybe it is because my other kids are bigger, but she just seems so tiny still! Or maybe it is because she is not crawling yet! She did however bust out her first tooth a week or so ago. Yahoo! One down and too many to go! She has starting eating pretty good so I can now see the end of nursing is near! She is such an angel baby and lately has had several days where she has to forgo a nap and she is just an angel even when she is tired. She is my little buddy and I just love it! The boys are so independent these days and often will disappear and play for hours together. Good thing I have my little girl to play with me! We all just adore her! She still sleeps very well, at least good enough that I cannot complain! She will give you high fives and waves at some people! She loves to conk her head to yours, so when I say, "conk," she head butts me. It is too cute! She gets shy and buries her head into my shoulder when people smile at her. She will stand (with help) and hold on to things, but not super steady yet. She gets on to all fours and rocks, so maybe she will crawl soon! She is just about the sweetest thing you have ever seen and really has the personality to match. We love our little Ms. Makayla! 

Bryce Canyon Day 2-3

The next morning we headed out! We stopped at the Visitors Center and then drove to the top and headed down! We stopped at most of the overlooks. The day started off a little cold but it was perfect by mid day! It was absolutely gorgeous, which is why there are tons of scenery pictures! There are more to come that my dad has someday...

Rainbow Point at the top.

 Our friend the Raven!

 Here we went on our first hike, we wanted to get a good look at Thor's Hammer. It was a little far away, but the kids loved it!

 Thor's Hammer

 We took a nice afternoon drive to Escalante in hopes of more rock hunting, but since that didn't pan out we just enjoyed a nice ride while the kids slept!
When we got back we did our second hike to the Mossy Caves

 The pool finally opened the last day and the kids were so excited to swim!

 On our way home we made a slight detour and stopped by McKay's parents cabin to see Kellie and McKay and play for a bit. Also, too much fun! Well, besides Zack hitting his head on a rock while sledding. That kid is so lucky and so clumsy!

 I love Emmery's hat here, she didn't even bother to fix it:)

We got to swing by Krista's on the way home and see her awesome pictures from her trip to Thailand and surroundings. They were so nice to feed us and send us on our way home. It was a great trip and it was nice to be home!

Bryce Canyon Day 1

Levi had parent teacher conference so we decided to take off for an extended weekend and have a much needed and wanted family vacation. Dan ended up working in Murray on Thursday, so we packed it up and headed down Wednesday night. We spent Thursday at my parents. We were able to meet DeeAnn and Kent for dinner as well! 

 Grandma took the boys to the park!

On Friday morning we headed down. We stopped right outside the park to hunt for Aggot. Reliving some childhood experiences with my own kids! The boys LOVE to hunt for pretty rocks and had a blast.

The last stop we made before we headed to the hotel was Red Canyon. We took a short hike straight up! Mom volunteered to watch Makayla in the car (I think it is her fear of heights when she volunteers so quickly!).

 You can see our car at the bottom left.

 We checked in and got dinner downstairs at the Ruby's Inn. The pool was closed, so the boys played in the jet tubs before bed. Makayla came down with croupe the day before so we were trying our best to keep her warm and get her enough sleep. She had an awful night sleep that first night and luckily the boys slept right through it! She never got too tight, but she sounded so sad! Luckily when she was up and about she was pretty happy! Off to day 2!