Loss of A Great Man

     On Monday March 19th my Uncle Mark Walburger (My Mom's brother) went out to do his morning chores like he had done thousands of times before, but this time he wouldnt finish. As he was about to start his morning routine, he was struck with a massive heart attack and passed away. This was a shock to many who knew him well. He was a very healthy and active man, so for him to have a heart attack, it was a shock to everyone. He was 71 years old. This may seem old to some, but when you take into account that Uncle Mark was playing in the family softball tournament just last year with us (And Ripping it up), its hard to believe that he would not be with us now active as ever. I loved paying ball with my Uncle Mark, he was great ball player growing up and he had a love for the game. I am starting to understand why I love softball so much----It runs in the family! This summer will be so different and sad without having Uncle Mark there playing and cheering us on in the family tournament. I am sure he will be looking for a game to be a part of in the next life. He was very close to my mom, and helped her greatly during her divorce and trials that she was going through during that time.

     Every year Uncle Mark would have a new "Walburger" hat for the family to wear in the family softball tournament. My kids always looked forward to see what new hat they would get during the family tournament. Uncle Mark was very proud of his family, and loved being apart of our "Walburger" team. After I had time to think about Uncle Mark passing away, I wanted to find a way that I could pay tribute to him for the great man that he has been to me and my family. I thought it would be a great idea to take one of the hats he made and have all the family sign it and give it to his family.

     As we went through the line at the family viewing, Uncle Mark's son Kenric took one look at the hat and tears came to his eyes. He said "I was doing ok till I saw that dang hat". He knew how important Uncle Mark was to us, and he appreciated the sentiment. Kenric thought it would be a great idea for us to put the hat in the casket with Uncle Mark, and I agreed that this was a great way to keep our love with Uncle Mark. As I placed the hat with Uncle mark tears filled my eyes, and I thought of all the great things that this man had done for my mom and our family. He will be greatly missed.

 
     
     The funeral was sad, but the speakers did a great job in paying tribute to the great man that Uncle Mark was. I was able to give the family Prayer before the funeral began, and act as a pallbearer for my Uncle. I was honored to be a part of this day. My Mom did the biography, and she did a great job in telling about Uncle Mark's life, and some funny stories about him growing up. Kenric and Allan (Mark's sons) gave great talks on the things that Uncle Mark taught them as they were growing up. Honesty, hard work, dedication, and love for the gospel were all things that they were taught by there father. What a great man to look up to and pattern your life after.

     I know this blog post will not do justice to the great man that my Uncle Mark was and how great the speakers were at the funeral. I hope those that read this just get the point that I loved this man greatly, and will miss him for many years to come. I hope that he will be able to take the time to look down on me every now and then when I am playing the game that he loved......Softball.

Thanks Uncle Mark.
   

Farmer Haydn

     Haydn loves to go out to his friend Kade Powelson's house. The last time he went out there he was able to feed a baby calf, and he loved it! I love it when he goes out there, cause I know he wont be just sitting around the house playing video games. They are always outside running around the farm. When he came home he said he wanted to live on a farm.

     I grew up on a farm, and the one thing that I loved was the open spaces. Its great for the kids to be able to get out and make their own fun, and not rely on video games and toys. BUT lets be honest, I was not one for the farm work. hahaha. Anyone who knows me, I am far from a farm boy. If anyone asks me though, I have always said that I loved growing up in the open space of the farm.

     I hope that my kids will want to be outside playing rather than being in playing video games. Not that I do not ever play video games, but if they had a choice I would hope that they would want to be outside making their own fun.

Haydn and Great Grandma Fromm

Grandma Fromm and a Little Magic

     Kristi's family on her Fromm side is HUGE! So Grandma Fromm has many grandkids and great grandkids to visit with and love (12 kids in the family will do this). For some reason Haydn and his Great Grandma Fromm have a really special relationship. Great Grandma Fromm has always seemed to have a special place in her heart for Haydn. I think it is because she loves Haydn's big eyes. haha. Everytime we go to Raymond to visit, she cant stop talking about how much she loves his eyes. This picture was taken from our last visit to Raymond on March 12, 2012. In our last visit she told Haydn that she hopes that she can be around till he is 17 to make sure that he is still a good boy. He promised her that he would be, so I am going to hold him to that promise.

     Now for a little bit of Magic! The Cardston Junior High school has been trying to focus on how to make the students aware of the bullying problems in our school. We have been doing a few things within the school to help the students want to make a difference in our school and stand up to bullying. In our last attempt, we had Richard Young a magician who has an anti-bullying performance come to town. We had all the students go down to the movie theater and listen to his advice and watch some of his talents in magic. The Message was great and the students really seemed to listen and get into the performance.

My Confusion with what to
do with the strap.

     I was called up on stage to help with one of the tricks. Me and one of the students had to help put a straight jacket on the magician, so he could try to escape from it. We latched up his back and then we latched up his arms so he could not move. BUT, then he asked me to do up the strap that was hanging down in the ........Crotchal area....hahaha. I was not sure if he was serious, and all the students could see how confused I was, and we all started to have a good laugh. Then the magician started to rock his hips back and forth so the strap would fling in behind him. Again, everyone was laughing and I quickly realized that I was going to have to do this....haha.

Finally I take the plunge and
go for it.....Hahaha

   

     It was a good time, and the students had a great laugh.....at my expense...haha. I don't think my face had been that red in a long time. The Magician said he was going to be out of the straight jacket in 60 seconds and I was suppose to time him and give him a count down when he was within 10 seconds. He quickly got his arms loose and I started the count down, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3.....he then said ah the heck with it, and tore the straight jacket off and revealed it was just put together with velcro.



   

Wynder Spring Training
2012

Sports = Life

     I have often wondered how and why Parents get so worked up over the sports that there kids play. Many times I have said to myself while watching parents, "take it easy, its just a game". I am slowly starting to understand why parents get so involved in the sports of their kids. My 9 year old son Haydn loves to play sports and he participates in a number of different activities in town. Even though he is only 9, I find myself wanting him to do the best he can at every sport that he does. My competitive nature takes over and it drives me to try to help him learn the games better than I ever did when I was his age.

Champs Basketball

   
     People say that some dads try to relive their glory days through their sons, BUT I don't think this is always the case. I honestly just want my sons to succeed, and I think it just has to do with the fact that you want the best for the ones that you love. I want Haydn, Brody, and Tyson to be better than I ever was at any sport and I want to help them do what every brings them happiness. I even gave Brody the O-K to play soccer this year, because he really wanted to play. This will make sense to those of you who know me and my feelings about soccer. Honestly, I have never been a big fan of the game of soccer, but if Brody wants to play.....he can......Well, at least until he has to choose between Baseball and Soccer, BUT we will cross that bridge when it happens.

Brody getting in some practice
cuts.

     This will be interesting having 3 boys to raise. I know that growing up with 4 older brothers made for some pretty competitive games on the courts and ball feilds of Hillspring Alberta..haha I think this made us better at the games we were playing though, so hopefully my boys will have the friendly games between each other to make them better at the sports they play. Time will tell..haha.

Tyson wants a chance to practice
too.

     While we were up in Spruce Grove we got some family pictures done by TJ Aneca. They are not done yet but she sent us a few to look at and here a few pictures of the boys......WOW, I have good looking kids!!!!

Haydn at his very first Cub Car Rally

Cub Car Rally

     Haydn has been looking forward to this day for about a month now. He has been excited to take part in his very first Cub Car Rally. We had a great time building his car together. I tried to make sure that he did as much as he could on his own car. We saw a few cars at the rally that looked like the Dads had put about 98% of the work into and the cub about 2%. I really wanted Haydn to feel like he had built the car himself from start to finish.

Haydn's car on the far right
with the Flames.

   
     The Cub Car Rally involved both of the Stakes in Cardston, so there were a lot of kids there to participate in the event. They had the Church divided into 10 different stations that the kids could use there cub cars in. There was a sling shot, obstacle course, car golf, road rules, jumps, car bowling, car shuffle board, the regular ramp, and food for the kids. Kristi is Haydn's Cub leader, so she was in charge of taking the kids around and making sure they were participating in all the events. Haydn's group had the sling shot event 2nd, and this was probably a good one to have last. The cars were being slung across the gym and some were crashing into the walls, so some of the cars were breaking. luckily Haydn's car held up and made it through the event. With all the Cubs there the leaders did a great job in the organization of such a big event between the two stakes.

     Haydn was happy with his Cub Car and was given a little trophy at the end of the day that he could put his cub car on top of. This way he can keep it and remember his first Cub Car Rally.......Ya, thats all he needs, more stuff to collect in his room......My son is a Hoarder..haha.