My Grandpa

These past few weeks have been hard...really hard. One of the best men I have ever known passed away. It was a shock to us all. My Grandpa was 90 years old, but was one of the healthiest and most active 90 year olds I've ever seen. He was still cleaning the church every Saturday, and got on the treadmill everyday (which is more than I even do!). To make a long story short, he fell about a month ago. He was taken to the hospital where they found he had a brain bleed. They sent him home the next day thinking it had stopped. However, it hadn't. Over Presidents Day weekend my family got the news that the bleed had never stopped and had become quite extensive. Surgery wasn't a real option for him at his age. He was aware of what would be happening but never lost his faith. He knew this was God's plan.
After that, he quickly declined. It all happened so fast. My parents were already in Utah for a visit when this all happened, but my brothers, sister-in-law, Ryan, the twins, and I all piled into the Expedition and drove down to see him. I am so grateful we were able to see him and talk to him one last time. He told me to be good, and I promised him I would do my best.
This has been an emotional and challenging thing to go through. It's hard to watch my Grandma go through this. They were the perfect example of a good marriage. They loved each other. One of my favorite things was when I would see them holding hands, or laying in bed and overhearing them say their prayers together at night.  My Grandpa had one of the strongest testimonies. I never doubted or questioned what he believed in. I have felt comfort in knowing that I will be able to see him again. He loved the Lord and the gospel. He dedicated his whole life to serving in any way he was needed.

I am going to miss everything about him. Once my brothers and I came back to Idaho we all sat down and shared memories of him. We made quite the list! I am grateful I had such an involved Grandpa. I am grateful for the first few years of our marriage when we lived in Utah. There were many holidays and long weekends that we weren't able to make the trip to Idaho, so we would spend them at their house. There was nothing I loved more than seeing him with the boys, and I'll never forget telling him that I was pregnant with twins. He was so excited! The next time I visited he gave me an article he had saved from a magazine about twins. I could go on and on. I sure miss him.

Eugene Keith Atkinson

Born in Malad, Idaho on Aug. 20, 1922
Departed on Feb. 26, 2013 and resided in Ogden, UT.

 Keith E. Atkinson

Ogden – Keith E. Atkinson, 90, of Ogden returned to Heavenly Father on February 26, 2013. He was born on August 20, 1922 in Malad, Idaho, the ninth child of Frank and Margaret Atkinson. He married Jeanette Ward on May 27, 1949 in The Salt Lake Temple. They have been best friends for 63 years. They have five children, Gene (Linda) Atkinson, Lynn (Shirley) Atkinson, Karen (Mark) Turley, Blaine (Debbie) Atkinson and Susan (Don) Dahl. They also have 22 grandchildren and 34 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents; all nine of his siblings and his granddaughter, Emily.

He is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He was raised in the Weber County, Utah area. He graduated from Weber High School and at age 20 he joined the United States Army Air Corps to serve his country in World War II. He was a gunner in a B-17 Bomber. He was stationed in England and flew 28 missions over Europe, including the D-Day Invasion on June 6, 1944. After his honorable discharge from the Air Corps, Keith served an LDS Mission in the Northwestern States from 1947-1949. Soon after he returned from his mission he married his sweetheart Jeanette. He retired from the Ogden City Fire Department as a Captain after 35 years. Keith was an avid gardener, skilled welder, mechanic and handyman. There was nothing broken that he could not repair. Keith loved to go camping, vacationing and spend time with his family. He gave his whole life in service to his wife, family, community and Heavenly Father. He served in many callings in his church including four Bishoprics, twice as a Bishop, High Council, Ogden Temple worker for 16 years and Family History name extraction worker for 12 years. Our husband, father and grandfather was truly a remarkable man.

He lived his life with faith in God, untiring service to others, patriotism to his country, personal integrity and a love for work. We are deeply grateful for his life.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 2, 2013 at the Mound Fort 2nd Ward, 952 Childs Avenue, Ogden. A viewing will be held on Friday, March 1, 2013 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Myers Ogden Mortuary, 845 Washington Blvd, and prior to services from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the church. Interment, Ogden City Cemetery.

 21 Gun Salute

 Presenting the flag to my grandma

Some February Happenings

One of the perks of living on a cul-de-sac is when it snows they pile up these huge hills in the middle of the road. It was fun to sled down, and the boys were sure sad to see the trucks come and take the snow away a few days later.

 

Ryan and I are playing on an indoor soccer team with my brother and some of our friends. It has been fun. This is us trying to stay awake for our 11:30 game. Yes, 11:30 PM on a weeknight. We felt old because it about killed us.

 

 We had a Jungle Book movie night with the boys complete with cookies and milk. So fun!

 

 I've been working on getting them to smile on cue better. Here we are practicing. So cheesy!

 I also tried to teach them how to make silly faces.

 They love to find anything of Daddy's and wear it

 We took a trip to Soda Springs to visit Ryan's grandma and had to show the boys the geyser.

 

While they do have their peaceful moments as pictured above, they definitely know how to test my patience. They sure know how to make a mess and make it fast. But I usually can't stay mad too long because they give me these hilarious smiles and I can't help but laugh.

Valentines Day

I love Valentines Day! We celebrated over two days. On Valentines day we spent time as a family, then the day after was just with me and Ryan.

 

A week or so before Valentines Day Ryan was asked to the "Sweethearts Dance"

 My cute little Valentines. You can tell Kegan is saying "Cheese!" very intensely.

My beautiful bouquet of flowers

The boys' Valentines

 

We had a family Valentines dinner with heart shaped pizza, red jello, heart breadsticks, and Sprite with red koolaid ice cubes. 

For our "day date" the next day, Ryan and I headed to Barnes and Noble. We played a little scavenger hunt type game. We had lots of fun and lots of laughs! It is always good to spend time with each other! 

 

 

Then we had our pre-dance dinner at home 

We stopped to pick up the boys after dinner and my parents took this picture

Then we headed to the "dance" in our front room. First off we had pictures taken. I had made this little backdrop I guess you could call it and we attempted just about every pose you have ever seen done in dance pictures. It was so funny! Then the Just Dance 4 DJ helped us dance the night away. It was by far the best dance I have ever been to! Ryan was such a good sport!

A Few Crafts

 This is snowman paint. It was a huge hit! Definitely will have to remember it for next year. It dries puffy and soft.

 Indoor snow was another fun activity