Volleyball Nationals in Salt Lake!

Photo of Sweet Yams and Brazil, over 40 division.
Rob is 2nd on left, back row. Per tradition,
they traded jerseys after the 4-day tournament.

They called themselves the "Sweet Yams." When I saw Rob in that sexy black jersey, I had to agree.

The kids were amazed at Rob's super powers on the court. Me? I'd seen it all before—same old, same old. We heard Mike Daniel (UVU volleyball coach) was calling Rob a volleyball icon. That kind of flattery is just wasted on Rob. Call me an icon, and I'll love you forever :)

The last day of the tournament, single-elimination Saturday, Sweet Yams lost to Brazil, a team they'd beaten twice. It was all Rob could do to get over the loss the rest of the day.
On the upside, he gets to keep that black jersey ;)
And—we got to eat lunch at Cheesecake Factory.

For Family Night, we happened to play on the sand court next to Arik and the other firefighters. Arik was at the scene of Elle's accident and visited Elle at the hospital more than once and attended her funeral (people are awesome).

Ouch.

Stuff Elle and I did together...

I'm working on a blog book called, "Elle's Edition," to give to each of the kids for Elle's birthday in November. It will contain all of the Elle-related posts in more detail and a bunch of our favorite pictures and memories of her. I think when the kids get older, they might appreciate having access to exactly what happened at this time in their young lives. I also wanted to include a post of some of the things Elle and I had done together during the month(s) before the accident:

Elle and I gathered up all of her Barbie's (about 10) and all the nail polish we had in the house and painted bikini's on her nude Barbie dolls with nail polish. Elle picked out the color and chose the Barbie, I polished, then she flipped the Barbie over for more paint and critiqued my work (she liked being in charge ;)

Elle had such great hair for a four-year-old, and she would let me mess with it most of the time. My favorite new do was a bubble braid. After her hair was done, she'd admire herself in the mirror, talk to her imaginary fans, pose, and then kiss herself on the lips.

I had spent some time looking up a bunch of hairdo ideas for little girls and typed up several to refer to in the mornings when I would do her hair. (Don't laugh—list-making is my curse.)

When the kids were all at school, we'd get our aprons on, and she would help me make dinner, adding ingredients and stirring.

We would play "Go Fish" and "Old Maid" with her Disney Princess decks of cards in the afternoons. She would scream in mock terror whenever she got the Old Maid Ursula card and then laugh hysterically when I got it.

When we ran errands, she'd hold my hand in the parking lot and would be interested in whatever shop we were in and not get bored. I preferred to take her with me than go alone on most errands, which is saying something for a 4-yr-old. She was fun to be around and didn't cause problems.

And she was so darn cute.

Elle's Above Us

Just a few weeks before her death, Elle drew this picture of herself above the rest of our family. She labeled herself, and Cam labeled the rest under her direction. Hmmmmm.


One night I was crying too hard to not be overheard, so I crept down into the unfinished basement and sat in our papasan chair. After a little while, I looked to my right and saw this wooden beam—it was covered in Elle's signature. Most of the time she drew her E's with multiple lines (to make her point :). I had never noticed those basement drawings before. I like to think it was her way of telling me she's nearby.

I love that girl so much.

On the other side of the beam, Cam had drawn a smiley face. It seemed to say, "Be happy!"

Cam is a pretty wise kid, so I decided to take his advice, and then headed upstairs to bed to escape into sleep.

Sometimes Elle comes to play with me in my dreams. We are always so happy to see each other. I crouch down to her level and hug her tight for a long time. Then we giggle and play. One time, after we had played for awhile, she told me she had to go home. I knew she meant Heaven.
I waved good-bye, knowing I'd see her again soon.

Lake Powell: Getty's Hair Series