Goodbye to Alan

The heartbreaking news in April was that my oldest brother, Alan, died unexpectedly from a heart attack. He'd never had any previous trouble with his heart and he was only 61 so it was a shocker. He lived in Montana with his girlfriend, Angie. He loved her, riding his Harley, singing and playing guitar with The Dirty Corner band, and taking in the beauties of nature.He was an easy-going and kindhearted man. He always lived away from home during my life so I didn't get to spend as much time with him as I would have liked. Thanks to Facebook, I had more contact with him the last few years than I have in a long time. He was a good brother to me. He always called me "sis" and told me he loved me. Nathan and I drove up and stayed with him for a short visit while I was pregnant. He and Nathan played guitars together, he drove us around, and took us out to eat at an Irish pub. :)  I was certainly not prepared to lose him nor, especially, was my mom. There's another hole in our family.

We had services for him in Montana and all of my siblings were able to come. It was good to be together and remember him. Montana is such a beautiful place. Alan loved it there. Nathan and I made a video slideshow of him for his funeral and it was a good way to reflect on his life and who he was. I'll miss him.

his senior picture

Alan on his Harley (one of them)

Alan and me at dad's funeral

The view from the back of Alan's house

The rest of us

April overview

Wow, looks like it's been a while since I've blogged! Somehow April just flew by. Let me hit some highlights.

First off, spring. It's been beautiful (in spite of the unpredictable spring weather). Here are some of the lovely blossoms I was drinking in this year. I love spring blossoms!

And my child has developed a fondness for dandelions. I've already received more dandelions than ever before in my earlier life. Lucky for her, we have a steady supply of them in our yard ;-)

There's been some tree climbing...

and duck feeding,

some cousin time,

and some puppy time.

Nathan and I were able to go to a Collin Raye concert and I rediscovered:

1. Yes,I'm that old and 2. Yes, he's that old

But the concert was great and we both loved it.

And last, but not least, my nephew married his lovely bride. My sister and her kids stayed in our basement which was fun for us. S LOVES her Aunt Lynda...a lot!