Darvil Kim Black

Click here for the obituary

Two weeks ago as we were getting ready for church at 8:30 we got a phone call. Andrew's parents call us every Sunday to talk, but when Andrew picked up the phone and noticed that the call was from his parent's house we both thought it was strange for them to be calling in the morning instead of afternoon or evening. On the other end of the line was his Mom, in tears, telling him that his Father had passed away during the night in his sleep. This was very unexpected news as his Father was in excellent health.

We got all packed up and left for Rexburg about 3 hours later. Andrew was able to get his schedule covered and we took Kimball out of school, so we were able to be there for the whole week. The funeral was held on Friday and it was beautiful. All 5 boys spoke, Janine gave the life sketch, and Karna played her violin (with a deep laceration on her finger may I add), and a tribute from Jessica, the oldest grandchild, with a musical number from all of the grandchildren. The entire funeral was concluded with with the casket being taken to the cemetery by his "Over The Hill" riding friends by a horse drawn trailer. Two-Shoes (his horse) was saddled and tied onto the back of the wagon to make the final journey with him.

It has been two weeks ago that we got that life changing call, each day gets a little bit easier. I have so many things to say, but for now I will just look through the pictures from the funeral and have a good cry.

When the grandkids found out that Two-Shoes would be saddled and taken to the cemetery one of the asked, "But who will be riding Two-Shoes?". Uncle Nate most appropriately responded, "Well Grandpa's body will be in the casket, but I think Grandpa will be riding Two-Shoes, you just won't be able to see him."

It is a tradition in Hawaii to do the haka at the funeral of a loved one.

The Mo'o boys did one final haka for Grandpa at the cemetery.

Kiwa, Nathan, NJ, & Koa

Still Here!!!

It has been months since I posted last. I promise to update everything later, but until then here are some cute Halloween pictures. We went as the Wizard of Oz (again) this year. We figured that since we have moved we can recycle old costumes without anyone else knowing.

Can you tell what Henry is? I think he looked a little bit more like one of Santa's elves, but I hope that the giant Lollipop he is holding helps give it away.

Hazel wears her lion costume frequently around the house and roars at everyone. She was glad to be able to wear it out in public this time.

Kimball is holding the "Best Costume" ribbon our family won, he was very excited!!!

Pumpkin Patch

We went on Friday to a pumpkin patch to pick out our own pumpkins. We got to ride a tractor out of the field and pick them out ourselves. The kids loved it!!!

I love this picture of Henry. He enjoyed the pumpkin patch too, but he did try to eat some of the dirt.
Hazel had her mind set on getting a white pumpkin, but she ended up choosing this orange one instead. We told the kids they could choose whatever pumpkin they wanted, no matter the size.
Kimball likes to take his time when he makes any decision. It takes him a long time to weigh out all of his options. As you can see from the field of pumpkins behind him that he had a lot to choose from. He ended up getting a HUGE pumpkin.
Andrew also choose a rather large pumpkin. As you can see.
Henry got a small one and I picked one with warts all over it.
We had a great time, and all of our pumpkins together weighed 125 lbs. It was well worth the $22 we spent to see the kids have so much fun.

Out of the mouth of Hazel

The other day as we got in the car Kimball was saying something about Lady Gaga. I asked him where he had heard about Lady Gaga. He replied he didn't know, and wasn't even sure who or what it meant. Hazel quickly piped in, "What about Gentleman Gaga"?

(For those of you who don't know, as I didn't until about a year ago. Lady Gaga is an eccentric singer, kind of a new Madonna. Total freak show if you ask me.)

Kimball's Last Day of School

First day of 1st grade.

Last day of 1st grade.

Today was Kimball's last day of school. It is amazing how much he has grown this year. He has really loved school this year. I attribute his success this year to his outstanding teacher, Sheila Jorgensen. (Thanks, Mrs. Jorgensen!)

Kimball is a good student. He is great at math and has improved in reading a lot this year. He is the little "science nerd" in his class. He is like a walking science book, he just naturally remembers science facts when he hears them. His favorite shows to watch are shows like Nature or National Geographic. They keep him entertained for hours, and then he finds me and regurgitates all the things he has learned. Mrs. Jorgensen relies on Kimball to verify the science facts that she teaches the class. Kimball wants to be an ocean scientist when he grows up. (Ironically I wanted to be the same thing when I was his age.)

Kimball, we are so proud of you and all the hard work that you have done this year.

Way to Go Buddy!

Boxes, Boxes, & more Boxes

I'm drowning in a sea of boxes.

The downstairs is stacked with boxes from the floor to the ceiling. The garage is bursting at the seams with boxes and stuff.

I can't see the floors because of the mess but decided that Kimball's field trip today took precedence over the mess.

It's a huge challenge to get an entire house packed up.

But. . . we are excited, we found a lovely home to rent and will officially be moving in two weeks from today.

Hopefully I can get to the kitchen before dinner time tonight.

Oh how I despise moving!

My Mother's Day Surprise 2011!

This is what Kimball and Hazel came up with all by themselves as a surprise for me for Mother's Day. It them quite awhile to pick all these blossoms off the tree in the backyard. Then they called me outside to see what they had done. It doesn't get any better than this!!!

Bedtime Stories with Dad

Kick'n It

Kimball and Hazel are both in soccer this spring, and seem to be loving every minute of it. They both made a goal at their games this week. (Hazel's "goal" was really more of the "right place at the right time" though.)

Kimball has played for three years now, and is really getting to be a good little player. He was particularly proud that his team voted on the name that he suggested, so this year his team's name is "Fireballs". His team is BRIGHT neon yellow, so they are not easily missed.

This is Hazel's first year playing soccer, and she runs around the field with a perma-grin on her face. We've gotten a few good laughs when she is running hard after the ball and then just stops with a big grin on her face so she can wave at us. It really made Andrew's day when she came running from all the way across the field just to give him a big hug and kiss and then turn and ran back toward the mass of kids crowded around the ball. Hazels' coach gave the kids three names to choose from for their team; yellow jackets, bumble bees, or stallions. I'm sure I don't have to tell you which one she voted for.

Henry enjoyed sitting outside watching the kids play soccer too. As Andrew got louder and louder yelling for the kids, Henry would get more and more excited and make more noise himself.