July 10--Saying Good-bye

On the 10th we attended Ian's funeral. As mentioned in the previous post he and Dave were best friends. Dave spoke at the funeral and if I can talk him into it I will post his talk here later-I know many of you who could not attend would like to read it.

Funeral's are never easy and Ian was so young and with his wife expecting their first child in September it was especially hard. Here are a few photo's from the day, and a few of my memories of Ian.

I met Ian when I met Dave. In fact you never really met just Dave or just Ian you usually met, "Dave & Ian." I was working in the Teton's summer of '98 and I just remember thinking how funny and charming he was. He and Dave could carry on this crazy silly banter that would make anyone laugh. Ian also had this goofy laugh that he would insert at sometimes the most random places in conversation and soon everyone would be cracking up. He would often say something silly or even slightly inappropriate then smile and laugh, "Did I just say that out loud?! (Dave does this too)

Ian loved adventure. He loved to climb, hike, camp...when I knew him he was always planning to scale some peak in the Teton's. The summer of '98 was when I first started really getting into backpacking and climbing and Dave and Ian were my rock climbing idol's. Dave spent many afternoons climbing up Odgen Canyon with Ian, they climbed the Middle Teton together, I think they made it up Mt. St. John in the Teton's and I know they summited a few more peaks in Salt Lake and just outside of Brigham City.

Ian had this innate musical talent that he was born with. He never took a music lesson yet he could write amazing songs for both the guitar and piano. I remember playing the piano one day (with music) and he sat down and just started improvising on the other end of the keyboard. At the funeral they played a song he wrote and sang called, "If I Were." At first I didn't remember it, but after the chorus I remembered him figuring out the lyrics and tune while in the Teton's.

The night before our first baby was born Dave and I went out to eat and while we were eating we decided if this baby had dark curly hair he would have to be Ian. Well he had dark curly hair when he was born and so the name stuck. It was neat to see the connection Ian's family had with our Ian--they all wanted to meet him and hug him.

Good-bye friend.

June 9--"Somewhere Over the Rainbow"

Dave's best friend Ian Kuester passed away on June 3rd after complications following brain surgery. This picture was taken the night of his viewing. We went to my parents house to spent the night and after dinner this amazing rainbow appeared arching it's way over the green Cache Valley mountains. Little did we know that at the funeral the next day someone would sing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

May 31--Memorial Day

I have been snapping pictures like crazy to keep you all posted on our exciting life, but my computer has decided to throw a temper tantrum. Whenever I plug in the camera it screams "Device not recognized" or "Error code ******" or "Unable to upload images". We've tried disabled Norton while we upload, but no luck. We've tried about every combination of plugging in the usb and turning of the camera, but to no avail my pictures are still trapped on the memory card--maybe we need a card reader. I'm thinking a new usb cord might solve the problem because both the desktop and the laptop are mad at me right now. Any advice would be so appreciated (my camera is a Canon-Rebel xti).

So, let's jump back to the last of the photo's I was able to upload. Here is little Wes sweating it out in the sun on Memorial Day. We spent the day with Dave's family for the annual
Germer Memorial Day Celebration. This year we picnicked at Russ & Rita's "lower 48". Russ and Rita live on a hill and after a massive mudslide the lower 48 (flat area now equipped with swing set, picnic tables, basket ball court, and sandbox) was created. We had a great time catching up with cousins, watching the Germer talent show, eating Mary's lemon bars, and watching the kids play together. While we were there Mary figured out this tradition has been going on for some 50 years!