Remembering Uncle Brian

Kevin's amazing Uncle Brian passed away on February 19, 2020.  We all have felt his loss greatly.  Brian had a joyful personality and always could make everyone laugh. I'm grateful that I had the opportunity to know him! This picture was taken of Brian, Kevin, and Deanne in the fall of 1980. Kevin shared these thoughts about his Uncle Brian, "Some favorite memories are our lunch get togethers with Brian, Preston, and my Dad, being horse partners and riding together (I am really sad I don't have him to talk with about the horses), his awesome handshakes, that he always supported us  and our kids at big life events, our family Lake Powell trips and his snoring reverberating off the canyon walls, our horseback trips, his laugh and jolly happy attitude.  I can't think of anytime I've ever been upset or frustrated with him.  He was and still is the best."

Uncle Brian and Ken had a close relationship as brothers.  They worked together, performed in the band together, and enjoyed going to lunch at Woody's every chance they could get.

I still remember the first time that I met Brian.  It was in December of 1999 and Kev and I had been dating for about a month.  We were hanging out at Kev's parents house when Brian stopped by.  He came up to me with that classic Brian smile on his face.  He shook my hand and said, "I hope we will be seeing a lot more of you!"  I felt his love and acceptance from those first words he spoke to me.  Brian had a talent for making everyone feel that way! Brian was there when Kev and I got married. He actually filmed at the temple and luncheon.  We enjoy watching the video every year on our anniversary.  It has become even more of treasure now.  We can always go back and hear his voice and laugh.  He also played with the Ken Foster Trio at our wedding reception. 

Uncle Brian was always the life of all our family parties.  We always looked forward to celebrating Ken's birthday together at Grandpa Foster's house. There was always a great BBQ and swimming.

I took this picture on July 24, 2008.  How many Foster men does it take to BBQ?  Apparently it takes all four!

We have so many great memories of Uncle Brian up at the cabin.  We took some family pictures together in the fall of 2009.

I love this picture of Grandpa and Grandma Foster with all their kids.  You can even see that Uncle Brian is laughing in this picture.  I feel that he inherited some of the best qualities from both his parents. He had his mother's sense of humor and his father's way of making everyone feel loved.

Grandma Foster passed away in December of 2010.  It was a hard time for everyone.  It is one of the only times that I can remember of Uncle Brian being sad.

We took this picture of the whole Foster family that day.  I'm glad to be a part of this beautiful family!

Uncle Brian always made the effort to come to the important events in our life.  He was there to support Parker on his baptism day in January of 2013. There are four generations of Foster men in this picture. 

He was there at Halle's baptism in March of  2015.  Our kids will never forget Uncle Brian's handshakes.  It would start with a firm shake and he would keep shaking their hand until they were laughing and he was laughing too!

We looked forward to hearing the Ken Foster Trio play together.  They would perform after the kids piano recitals. Uncle Brian would always photobomb when I was taking the kids pictures with Grandpa Ken.  He made every picture memorable with his happy smile and wave!

We have many great Foster family traditions together.  These pictures were taken on July 5, 2019.  We had just had our delicious BBQ at the cabin and were wearing these awesome patriotic sunglasses that Aunt Deanne gave to us.

The Oakley Rodeo is one of our favorite traditions that we have together.  Uncle Brian was an amazing Dad to his kids April and Preston.  He loved Nate and Melissa like they were his own kids.  He also adored all seven of his grandkids.

Uncle Brian had been diagnosed with Crohn's a few years ago.  He ended up going to the hospital in January of 2020 with complications from that.  They did more tests and diagnosed him with Lymphoma.  His body tried hard to fight the cancer but was just too worn out.  It came as a shock to all of us.  We were hoping and praying that he would get better. Kev was able to go up on Wednesday February 19th to say goodbye.  He took a picture of this sweet moment of his Aunt Deanne hugging Aunt Chris.  He said it was hard to see him hooked up to so many tubes and monitors. We do believe that Uncle Brian's spirit was there in the room. We were told that his heart monitor beeped when his brother Ken and sister Chris spoke to him. 

Aunt Deanne had a party on Thursday February 27th to celebrate Uncle Brian's life.  She knew it was what he would have wanted.  We were grateful to be there.  There was lots of food and the chapel was filled with so many people.  They had this great cardboard cutout of Uncle Brian giving a thumbs up. There was even a line to take your picture with the cutout.

We enjoyed all the music that night.  There were many people who wanted to play as a tribute to Brian.  

Brian's brother in law painted this beautiful picture of the cabin and barn.  The cabin and barn were a quiet sanctuary to him.  It was printed on the front of his funeral program.

I love this picture of Brian and Deanne.  You could always tell how much they love each other.  My heart goes out to Aunt Deanne. 

They had a viewing for Uncle Brian on Friday February 28th and another before the funeral on Saturday February 29th.  Kev was honored to be asked to say the family prayer. 

The funeral was a great tribute to Uncle Brian and the amazing life that he lived.  It was a beautiful combination of laughter and tears.  The kids went up and sang "I am a child of God".

I enjoyed how much music they had for the funeral.  April sang a stunning rendition of "A poor wayfaring man of grief" with her choir.  Preston sang the "Lords prayer" for his Dad.  It brought me to tears.  The whole time I kept thinking what amazing kids Brian and Deanne have raised. 

April and Nate's cute little Lottie just cheered everyone up with her singing and dancing.

Kev was able to be one of the many pallbearers. 

It was really sweet when Preston and Charlie put their flowers on the casket.

We love Aunt Deanne, Preston, Melissa, April, and Nate.  Our hearts are breaking for them right now.

Aunt Deanne gave everyone hugs.  I was impressed with how well she held it together.

The kids enjoyed hugs from their Grandpa Ken and Grandma Sue.

We were grateful for all the time we were able to spend with family.

We took a family picture after the graveside service.

We were happy that Heather, Dad, and the kids were able to drive out from Washington.

Parker had fun playing with his cute cousin Logan.

We took a picture of Grandpa and Grandma with all the grandkids.  It was the first time they had all been together in a few years. 

I want to include this video of Uncle Brian.  He was the bass player for the Ken Foster Trio.  We enjoyed hearing them perform together.  They could always get the crowd clapping and dancing. I know he has blessed many with his talents.  We love you Uncle Brian!

Grant Family Party

We headed up to the cabin on Friday February 21st for the Grant Family Party.  We were happy to have Cole and Blake come up for the night.

The boys had the best time rough housing with Kyle.

The next morning the rest of the family came up.  I think we had around 60 of us crammed into the cabin. There were so many people that some had to sit on the stairs to eat their lunch.

We loved having everyone there with us!  I had a great time talking with all the cousins.  Alisha and I had a lot of catching up to do.

We were happy that Cody could come up for the day.  Unfortunately, both Tucker and Aubrey were sick and had to stay home.  Parker had fun taking Blake for snowmobile rides. 

Hayden helped Dad with the snowmobile maintenance.  

The kids had fun being pulled around on the tube with cousin Lindsay.

Halle loved taking care of little Cooper.  

Mckenna and Parker hanging out at the end of a fun day of play. 

Valentine's day

I bought the kids some Crumbl cookies for Valentine's day.  They had the best cookie flavors this week. The reeses peanut butter cup was a hit.  The red velvet with cream cheese was also delicious. 

Parker surprised his sister's with chocolate roses.  Halle's was delivered to her at school.  He gave Addy and Kenna one when he got home.  It was really sweet of him!

I did Addy's hair in a heart for school that day.

Hayden worked hard to get his Valentine's day box ready for school.  It even had a red flag that moved up and down on his mailbox.  You can also see the Valentine's table runner that Loni made for me.  It cheered me up every time I looked at it all month long. 

Halle had a short orchestra concert that afternoon at school.  I enjoyed hearing her play and being able to give her a hug. 

Kenna watched the kids while Kev and I went out that night.  We went to dinner at La Jolla Groves.

I got beef tenderloin with potatoes.  I also had a mushroom bisque soup that was really good.  

We went furniture shopping after dinner.  We have been wanting to buy a new bed set for our room.  We had a particular one in mind but we were waiting for a good sale.  It happened to be a 50 percent off sale that day.  It was great timing since Kev had just got a bonus at work that day.  I was really happy to get some new bedroom furniture!  We went and got some Waffleluv for dessert.  It was a memorable Valentine's day!