Families are Forever

We had quite the treat last night. Chris had put together a slide show for Kelley's dad's 90th birthday. It hadn't worked out that we could be together to watch it till last night.

Chris and his family had come up from Las Vegas to fly out with Kelley's dad and Pat to meet up with Mark in Mexico. I think it was hard for Kelley because he wanted to go with them so much...well we all did, but it just didn't work out that we could go this time. With Kelley taking work off to go to Haiti and other responsibilities, it wasn't a good time for us to go. Hopefully we will be able to go in June!
We invited all his family over and had a little dinner, then watched the dvd he had put together.
Chris had collected pictures from all the brothers and had gone through lots of his mom and dads old pictures too. It was so fun to see these pictures of when Maxine and Lisle when they were young and just married and starting out their life together. Then there were pictures of all the boys as they came along. Then their wives and grandchildren. It was just really cute how he put it all together with old songs playing that kind of went along with the pictures.
There was lots of laughing!!! It was so great to see these brothers laughing together as they reminisced over the past 50 years.
There were a lot of tears too. Seeing all those pictures of Maxine really brought out a lot of emotions. She was such a big part and influence on all of our lives. I think as we watched the slides of her interacting with us and our families, we were all thinking our own special thoughts and memories of her.
Chris gave each one of us a copy of the dvd and that is quite a treasure. So grateful that he would take the time and effort to put it together for us.
These are some pictures we had given him to use in it.

This was before Kelley and I were married. Leslie let me borrow her car and I drove down to Salt Lake to meet the family. I had never driven down there by myself and got quite lost. I had to stop at a phone booth and call Kelley to direct me to his house.
That first dinner at their house was quite an adventure. I remember a lot of: Loud boys, laughing, eating ribs, reaching across the table, teasing each other, large bowls of food (I'm talking the big tupperware bowl full of mashed potatos) , dogs running through the house (3 legged emmy sitting under my chair waiting to be fed) Maxine being sweet to me...sweet but kind of cool...I think she was still kind of surprised at Kelley's change of direction after he started dating me. He had been quite serious with another girl that lived by them and Kelley's mom was quite close with their family. It wasn't long before we became best of friends though. Anyway, this was quite different from the Braegger family meals. Our meals were always pleasant and calm. "Please pass the potatos" We would always eat quietly while talking politely about the day, or about church or the weather. I guess that is the difference between being raised with 3 girls and 6 boys!


This was down in Monticello at Kelley's grandparents old house.

Kelley's Grampa Jensen. He was living with them when we were dating. I only met him a few times and he passed away just a few weeks after we were married so I never got to know him, but Kelley has some great memories of him.

This was at his funeral in Monticello

This was at a get together we had when Kelley's cousin's from Oklahoma came up to visit. We are close with his cousin Kelli-Ann and her family...They are great people! I would love to go to Oklahoma and see where Kelley's mom grew up.


So sweet. This is how I remember Maxine.
She loved to read and has given all of her grandchildren an amazing library of the classics.
Every Christmas and birthday, she would add something new to their collection. Then she would write a little note inside the book to them. Priceless treasure.

Kelley's dad is doing really well and was so excited to go on this trip. He says he is worried about being a burden at the airport because he can't walk very fast, and that this will be his last trip. He is slowing down a bit, but still gets along amazingly well for his age.

He is really in his element when he is fishing.. There was lots of great pictures of him fishing in the slide show and he sure looks happy! I hope this is a great week for him!

Just had to throw that one in...it makes me smile!

This was at Lisle and Maxine's 50th wedding anniversary. All the grand kids sang some cute songs for the program."Having a grandmother to love you...is better than the frosting on the cake!"

Katie, Tiffany, Sara and Camille having fun at Grandmas. How lucky to have cousins to grow up with.

This was when Chris was in the MTC. We all went down to visit him. How times have changed.

Katie and Camille spent a lot of time with Maxine. When we would go over for a visit, they would always beg to stay over night...then most of the next day! I think that's why they have such a strong bond with her. She was the only babysitter they ever had.

Chris, Ted, and Kelley on a river trip. Nice hair

Kelley was a big baby! It's amazing Maxine could carry him. She was such a tiny little lady. She was pretty tough though. I think she is the only woman Kelley was afraid of. She used to chase the boys around the house with a broom and wasn't afraid to use it. She had to raise these 6 boys pretty much on her own because Lisle worked out of town most of their growing up years. She was a good strong mother and taught her boys well. Kelley has has utmost respect and love for her and has a hard time talking about her without getting emotional.

I'm grateful for Maxine and Lisle and the way that they raised Kelley. Maxine made sure the boys were raised in the gospel and were taught to be good, honest, kind, respectful, and hard working. All of Kelley's brothers are great. I have always had a good relationship with them and their families. We have been through a lot together as we have shared the experiences of raising our families. This family is very close and supportive of each other. There have been many good times and some very hard things too, but through it all, we know that we can always count on each other to be there. I know I was sure blessed when I married Kelley and became part of this special family.