What an Honor....

Their was a funeral today for a former firefighter, and my dad asked me to come take pictures, at first I was not excited about spending my afternoon at a funeral of a guy I didnt really know but my experience there was one I will never forget... I dont know if any of you have ever been able to experience a funeral for a former EMT/FireFighter but it is such a spiritual experience...

Rex Walker used to work for PG fire with my dad. He retired a few years back and has been working as a Forest Ranger in American Fork Canyon. On May 20th he was helping remove loose rock in front of Timp Cave and had an accident with a four wheeler that took his life...

The two men in the white hats are the Cheif and Second in Command

My dad with one of his close friends at the cemetery...

Some of the guys from the color guard they walked in front of and behind the casket...

Some of the firefighters paying their respects to Rex's son...

The Fire Fighters from PG, AF, and Lehi, and also the Forrest Rangers all lined up behind "Old Joe" and saluted as the casket passed...

Rex was also a biker, and so in his pressesion line there was the PG Fire Truck and Ambulance with their lights on, then "Old Joe" with the casket, and then 35 of his biker friends were lined up to ride their last ride with him...

This is "Old Joe" one of PG's old fire trucks that held the casket...

AF and Lehi Fire Fighters brought their ladder truck and displayed a flag for "Old Joe" to drive under... some of their crew was lined saluting the truck as it passed...

"Old Joe"

This was really one of the most respectful and spiritual ceremonies I have ever seen and I am so glad that I took the time out of my day to go and be a part of it. It makes me so happy to know that this is the kind of respect my dad will recieve someday and that there are people out there who respect the job that they do, these men put their lives on the line every day to protect us adn they deserve to be honored in such an amazing way! The most touching part of the ceremony was at the end of the closing prayer at the cemetery they sent out his final page... this is where all of the fire fighters turn on their radio's and dispatch sets off the ring tones and respectfully calls out this crew members last page of duty... It is enought to give you chills and is so amazing to experience. I am blessed and will never forget this and my thoughts and prayers are with the Walker family. Rex "RJ" will truly be a missed member of this community!

In the Pink

A couple of weeks ago was the "Race for the Cure" Its a race and all the proceeds go to Breast Cancer Research. My Dad has a friend Tracy who he works with at the hospital and she asked him to be on her team and walk the 5k with her and her family. So he dressed up all in his pink gear and we went up to Salt Lake and it was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. I was amazed! It was like a "Full House" moment when you just realized that for 2 hours it didnt matter who you were or where you came from or what you looked like... No one was too cool to be in pink, not even a group of bikers with dreads... all decked out from head to toe in hot pink. It was really a site to see! I was so touched by the stories and all the people. They had soo many people that all you could see for miles each direction was PINK!!!
My dad just starting the race...

This was one of my FAVORITE shirts and has a really funny story behind it...

Tracy is in the pink shirt, all the breast cancer survivors were wearing the pink shirts...

My dad with Tracy... She is so sweet!

Their group name was "In the Pink" this is the whole team together...

This was one of the sweetest things, It made me cry when I saw this girl, the sign on her back said "I am racing for ME" and she had a sign on her little baby's back that sad "I am racing for my MOMMY" and she carried him the whole way, It was just so touching, she couldnt have been older than me...

This lady was amazing, such a fun outfit!

haha my daddy Loved this team their shirt says "Fight Like a Girl"

This doesnt even come close to showing how many people were their but it was the best I could get... I had to stand on the back of a truck to get this and I still couldnt see the end of people in either direction...

My daddy is my hero, there is nothing he cant do or wont do for a friend, and as a survivor of cancer himself it was amazing to me to be able to see him a year later out walking and helping out a good cause... I LOVE YOU DADDY!

And Breathe....

Life is a whirlwind of fun, stress, guilt, work, relief, pain and joy! Some of them blow threw more than others and harder but in the end, it makes life worth living. I wouldnt give any of it up, doesnt always mean I enjoy them but I enjoy the end result, its what makes me, me! I tend to bite off more than I can chew and I wouldnt change that for anything, I hate sitting around, I hate not being busy and not feeling like I accomplished anything. So I recently have started helping a friend and being a nanny for 4 children. The kids are great and I have really enjoyed it but after a lot of praying and scheduling I decided to start more hours at school as of June first so I will give up one task to do another.

I also started a business of my own, thats right.... I DID IT!!!! I now have a photography business named Sugar On Top Photography! So far it has been sooo much fun! I love being creative and doing photo shoots. Check it out!

And I saved the best news for last..... My daddy went and had his yearly check to make sure he was doing good, and he was clean as could be and is now in remission for 1 year and is still cancer free!!! That is one of the biggest reliefs of all, bring on the rest of the world, I can handle anything with the strength of my family! My daddy means the world to me and knowing he is good, makes me good, the rest doesnt matter!