I feel very blessed to have family members come to celebrate my birthday. It was a happy surprise. I knew Doug and sons were coming on Saturday (the day before), and I knew Beth and Todd's family and Ryan and Tani planned to come on Sunday (my birthday); but I did not know other family members in Utah would be coming. To complete the celebration, I received phone calls from Scott in Denver, from Marla and from Brent in South Dakota, from Jeff in Arkansas, and from my brother in Saint George. Thank you all for making my birthday so special and sharing your love.
Here are some pictures taken on my birthday, March 10th:
that might melt the frosting!
With my best friend.
This birthday party was a surprise.
I only knew some of the family were planning to come,
and I loved that more and more kept coming!
And I received phone calls from Brent and Marla in South Dakota,
from Scott in Denver, from Jeff in Arkansas, and from my brother in Saint George.
Thank you, Beth and Todd Graham, for pulling this off
and for everyone who came.
Thank you to those who brought food and flowers.
I thoroughly enjoyed everything.
(Beth, Todd, and Joshua)
Ryan and Tani Ireland
Kyle and Koryn Ireland
Brady and Kortney Ireland
Maria and Carson Ireland
Trevor holding his nephew Max; Marisa with her dad
Derek, Max, and Sarah Lontine; Trevor Smith
Megan, Sadie, and Trevor Smith
Haley and Tyler Staten
Jessica and Trent Ireland
Megan, Sadie, and Paul
Jared, Amanda, Alex, Megan, Shannon, and Maren
Ethan and Brady
One on one
Sadie
Beth holding Sarah's Max
Alex, Amanda, and Megan
Tyler, Haley, and Maren
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Our nephew Chad Emery Ireland, son of Roy and Barbie,
left this earth life on February 27, 2019, at his home in Martin, SD.
He was born on October 12, 1974, one day after our daughter Beth.
Beth and Doug went with us to South Dakota to attend the funeral.
We left Spanish Fork on the morning of March 4th
and arrived in Martin in time for the viewing at the funeral home.
Because of the storm coming in,
we returned back to Spanish Fork the very next day on March 5th,
following the funeral, the service at the cemetery,
and the luncheon back at the church.
We did miss most of the bad roads until we got to Evanston, Wyoming;
but Doug drove that stretch carefully and got us home safely.
I especially appreciated Beth and Doug's help with the driving,
as I did not have to take a turn on this trip.
It was very cold at the cemetery and no family photos were taken.
Barbie is standing to the left of the casket visiting with friends.
It was a little warmer inside the canopy out of the wind.
(Narene and Marla)
This was the bouquet of flowers from our family
that Marla brought from Mitchell.
She had bad weather and driving conditions coming to Martin
with poor visibility until turning off at Murdo.
At one point, cars ahead stopped suddenly
causing Marla to abruptly step on her brakes
with the vase of flowers tipping over.
Luckily, the water stayed in the plastic bag covering the flowers,
and only three of the smaller flowers were broken.
It was a beautiful arrangement and was placed right by the casket.
Copied from the funeral program:
"Despite many health challenges,
Chad had an amazingly strong, loving spirit, and huge heart!
We stayed Monday night at the farm with Brent and Tauna
and appreciated our visit there with them and Weston and Rachel.
On our way to Martin to the funeral,
we stopped and turned around to take this photo
when we realized it was a nice picture of Rachel (left).
* * * * * * * * * * * *
It was time to renew my Utah driver's license.
We didn't realize the place we were looking for was
across from Sam's Club in Provo, so we did a little driving around
before we found the building where I needed to go.
I'm glad we had the detour, though,
because we drove by the first home Sam and I lived
when we got married; so now I finally have a picture of it.
Our first home was the bottom apartment on the left in Provo;
and our good friends, Karl and Barbara Wrigley,
lived in the apartment right next door.
The building was new when we moved there.
Our apartment had a living room, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom
for $70.00 a month.
Sam and I had bikes that we rode to BYU.
I also worked at the Child Guidance Clinic as a secretary,
and Sam worked at a service station in Orem.
I only knew some of the family were planning to come,
and I loved that more and more kept coming!
And I received phone calls from Brent and Marla in South Dakota,
from Scott in Denver, from Jeff in Arkansas, and from my brother in Saint George.
Thank you, Beth and Todd Graham, for pulling this off
and for everyone who came.
Thank you to those who brought food and flowers.
I thoroughly enjoyed everything.
(Beth, Todd, and Joshua)
Ryan and Tani Ireland
Kyle and Koryn Ireland
Brady and Kortney Ireland
Maria and Carson Ireland
Trevor holding his nephew Max; Marisa with her dad
Derek, Max, and Sarah Lontine; Trevor Smith
Megan, Sadie, and Trevor Smith
Haley and Tyler Staten
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Our nephew Chad Emery Ireland, son of Roy and Barbie,
left this earth life on February 27, 2019, at his home in Martin, SD.
He was born on October 12, 1974, one day after our daughter Beth.
Beth and Doug went with us to South Dakota to attend the funeral.
We left Spanish Fork on the morning of March 4th
and arrived in Martin in time for the viewing at the funeral home.
Because of the storm coming in,
we returned back to Spanish Fork the very next day on March 5th,
following the funeral, the service at the cemetery,
and the luncheon back at the church.
We did miss most of the bad roads until we got to Evanston, Wyoming;
but Doug drove that stretch carefully and got us home safely.
I especially appreciated Beth and Doug's help with the driving,
as I did not have to take a turn on this trip.
Barbie is standing to the left of the casket visiting with friends.
(Narene and Marla)
that Marla brought from Mitchell.
She had bad weather and driving conditions coming to Martin
with poor visibility until turning off at Murdo.
At one point, cars ahead stopped suddenly
causing Marla to abruptly step on her brakes
with the vase of flowers tipping over.
Luckily, the water stayed in the plastic bag covering the flowers,
and only three of the smaller flowers were broken.
It was a beautiful arrangement and was placed right by the casket.
Copied from the funeral program:
"Despite many health challenges,
Chad had an amazingly strong, loving spirit, and huge heart!
We stayed Monday night at the farm with Brent and Tauna
and appreciated our visit there with them and Weston and Rachel.
we stopped and turned around to take this photo
when we realized it was a nice picture of Rachel (left).
* * * * * * * * * * * *
It was time to renew my Utah driver's license.
We didn't realize the place we were looking for was
across from Sam's Club in Provo, so we did a little driving around
before we found the building where I needed to go.
I'm glad we had the detour, though,
because we drove by the first home Sam and I lived
when we got married; so now I finally have a picture of it.
and our good friends, Karl and Barbara Wrigley,
lived in the apartment right next door.
The building was new when we moved there.
Our apartment had a living room, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom
for $70.00 a month.
Sam and I had bikes that we rode to BYU.
I also worked at the Child Guidance Clinic as a secretary,
and Sam worked at a service station in Orem.
