Reunion: Grammy

My great-grandmother Louise Cobb died this summer, and the whole point of our family gathering in St. George was to attend a celebration of her life on Saturday afternoon.

We called her grammy. 

and i was very fortunate to grow up knowing her. 

she supported us and loved us in her own special ways. 

she cared for us and sincerely tried her best to be a part of our lives. 

She taught us and shared sage wisdom. 

she was a courageous woman and i'm proud to be of her lineage. I come from a grand string of courageous women. 

the graveside memorial was very sweet. it focused on family, memories, and love. there were a lot of happy, reminiscent tears shed. she was an influential woman, and stories were shared about all of her life, not just the rosy parts. 

I was thankful for the opportunity to gather with my extended family and feel the love we shared for this matriarch. And to feel the power we gave each other in reuniting.

we sang "Families Can Be Together Forever" and i felt a deep warmth in my heart. i was surrounded by my siblings, beloved cousins, aunts, and uncles who care about me more than can be said. I feel the same toward them and as we sang, i knew we could all feel that. 

I do know that families can be together forever through Heavenly Father's Plan.

I always want to be with my own family and the Lord has shown me how i can.

and i'm going to keep on being my best me so that we can get there.

it is my truest desire.

after the service, we ate together at a nearby buffet. It was great fun to be with our cousins and catch up. I also selfishly enjoyed being with Derek because i miss being around him so often. 

I warned you that i took a lot of stalker photos, hahaha:

(Derek and Raycelan holding hands in the car)

plus, buffets are fun in general. this picture is of my dad making the two sections of his tie have a 'race'. classic dad joke, you guys. Caleb fell for it hook line and sinker. natalie thought it was the funnies joke she'd ever heard.

 I am sad that Grammy had to be so sick for so long, but thankful that she is no longer in pain. and I'm so glad that she is with her dear Carl again after fifteen years apart, him above and her still here.

now they are together again at last, and i'm grateful for that. 

and I appreciated the opportunity we had to spend a day in memory and gratitude of this brave woman, who is the reason we're all One in the first place.

I love you, Grammy!

see you soon, 

Melissa Michiale

Things i still do, just because i did them during Sports Camps

• eat Reese's Puffs on Sunday nights
• say, "it's a hard-knock life"
• use cross walks. religiously.
• use the word, "rough" as a blanket adjective that can substitute for: bad, hard, difficult, 'that sucks', ouch, gross, tough, annoying, stressful, etc
• eat Garden Spinach Herb tortillas, because they had them at the sandwich wrap station in the Cannon Center
• expect it to rain every Wednesday night out of literally nowhere
• say, "Ya dingus" at the end of a friendly jab
• use one plate, one bowl, one cup, one knife, one fork, and one spoon.
• when i drink Powerade, it is Mango flavored (although Blue is still my go-to when Mango's not around)
• Rachel Hardy's inflections when using sarcasm
• listen to "Boneless" to get pumped
• watch "Foyles War" incessantly on Netflix

this one doesn't quite fit the mold, but ever since Sports Camps, i have not complained about how "far apart" my classes were. not once. because BYUI-IDAHO IS TEENY TINY. and i had to walk all over BYU campus (and around campus, to my apartment and stores and activities) like every single day, which in case you were wondering, is the size of Jupiter. 

• dance. all the time. 
• Derek's head jiggle when laughing. 
• freak out when "classic" or "Shower" come on the radio
• put my hand under my chin like a pretty princess 
• Dream about next summer's Sports Camps
• pray for my girls, but now my girls are my roommates
• listen to "The Garden" way too much
• think about Harry Potter way too much
• think about everything in terms of, "how would i teach this in a devotional?"
• sign
• say "dawg" and "homie" one million times more than i did before
• try to dance like Derek
• write nice notes
• sleep with my window cracked to hear street sounds
• paint my wildest dreams, haha
• love sports camps

Reunion: REAL family pictures

I have a cold, so i haven't posted in a few days. but life is good around these parts. 

Busy, hectic, crazy, confusing, draining, and piling on top of each other. 

But so so good. 

_______________________

I am in LOVE with Samantha Kelly Photography. have been since she started. mainly because she captures what i imagine to be real moments of each family she highlights

so i love that Raycelan and Phillip took some photos even when we weren't standing smiling in perfect lines. because our dynamic shined through. 

Jenae is a 1970's singer/songwriter. Maris is a mob boss. Caleb has to go to the bathroom. 

and i'm just casually being myself. holla. 

 i love us. 

this picture CRACKS ME UP because it is a totally perfect portrait of my mother's relationship with her phone. she pretty much thinks it's the best thing ever to have been created. and she insists it is better than ANY legitimate camera. and she denies all of that. 

BUT HERE IT IS, CAUGHT ON CAMERA. YES. 

I also got quite a few creeper pictures of Derek and Raycelan

After our big group picture, while some families took individual pictures, the rest of us played aroudn the AWESOME tree house and playground with he kiddos. This ranch is my brother in law's brother in law's. haha. it's way nice!

the place had a great scope for imagination.

I ruv dees people:

 I LOVE JENAE. 

sometimes i'm surprised by how much i miss her. 

living at home for 7 out of the 12 months of a year was actually great for our relationship. 

i think. 

I LOVE YOU, WEASEL. 

(these are traditionally unattractive pictures of us. enjoy.)

it definitely looks like i've gained 30 pounds. 

i haven't. ha. 

remember what i said about needing hair on both sides of my face?

this is what i mean:

Da homie.

and then came my favorite part. 

The grandbaby picture.

 I think all 11 of my neices and nephews are the STINKING CUTEST HUMANS ON EARTH

deal with it. 

they're adorable:

 MY personal favorite:

toooo good. and in ten years, they MUST reenact it.

i mentioned the amount of creeper pictures i took of Derek and Raycelan, right? (AKA Derek and Odette. also, kind of have a Fred/Daphne thing goin' on.)

they're just so dang good looking.

and then i forced the twins to take a picture. 

which i will continue to insist on having probably until the end of time because i'm preeeeeeeetty sure we're actually triplets and mom as just been lying to us all along.

LOVE this:

"Utmost Homie(s)" 

Brothers: I'm real sad not to have a picture of all of you together

Sisters: I'm real sad not to have a picture with all of you.

Neices, nephews, and parentals: the same.

I am so very very blessed to have my family. 

I love us more than my little heart can voice.

DEAR FAMILY: I'm doing everything i can to be my best me cause i want to be together forever. and i'm gonna do whatever it takes to make sure we all get there.

we climb together. 

Reunion: Family pictures pt. 1

since we were all together, we took a family photo! nothing too fancy, just a nice picture for mah mama's wall and Christmas card.

dang, we're good looking people. 

Dad, Mom, and The Big 8.

I'm dubbing us now.

DEAR FUTURE MELISSA:

when taking photos, always have hair on both sides of your face.

k, thanks bye

The grandbabies! Owen was having a hard time, hahaha. I love these kiddos! i wanna give 'em all big giant kisses just from looking at the picture! Adorable, all 11 of them. 

The four youngins hopped on a giant tree stump and snapped a few pictures. 

If we ever take a picture where all four of us are smiling like normal human beings, i'll let you know.

until then:

also, i feel like you should know that Jenae was literally sleeping in a car for 8 hours, got to Katrina's house, pulled her hair out of a ponytail, brushed her teeth, and then took these pictures. 

HOW DO YOU LOOK SO DANG PERFECT, ALLLLLL THE TIME, JENAE?!

and speaking of perfect

this:

and this:

 and this: 

I sure do love us. 

I couldn't get a good quality picture of Katrina's family, and Allison's family is taking their family photos next month, so they didn't take an individuals at the reunion. But i think both of those families are beautiful, too.

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for you know, falling in love and havin all us gorgeous kids and helping us love each other and stuff. 

bayonet

I am angry.

So mad that i feel sick to my stomach.

I guess more hurt than mad, actually.

I saw that a dear friend of mine had commented on a video about my church, i read the comments, expecting that this friend has defended my faith or something. i don't know.

but instead of anything positive or supportive, this person completely bashed my beliefs, and slandered my church.




I'm not unfamiliar with Anti-mormon hate. I've heard it my whole life, but this person is truly a dear old friend!

and i feel betrayed.



There are things that this person believes, things about their religion, that i don't agree with, or that see differently. but i would never, ever, ever use cruel language to describe those things. i would never demean things that this friend held sacred. I would never disrespect this person's values or practices, even if they were foreign to me.

But they did all of that.

An it's kind of tearing me into pieces.

mostly because i have always felt that this person and i, though we had vastly different religious beliefs, respected each other and our views. I have actually always felt comfortable talking about religion with this person because i felt like they respected my religion just like i knew they respected all other religions.

but this was not respectful at all and i want to cry because i feel so stabbed.


I guess i had hoped that because this person is also a strong Christian, they would be sticking up for my faith - which is also Christian.
instead, they smeared my beliefs like something gone rotten.


and i hate that they did that.
It's made an impossibly tight knot in my stomach.


The hardest part is knowing that i still love this person.

that hurts.

it hurts to love someone who has pierced you.

But if i don't forgive them, then i would be betraying my beliefs. I have to forgive this person because Jesus Christ would forgive them, and i am trying to be like Jesus Christ.
I hope i can forgive this person someday soon, because even more than i dislike that they slandered by religion, i dislike feeling angry at them for it.

like third grade

Tonight we played kickball on the upper fields and i was the permanent catcher because i forgot my inhaler, also because crocs + kickball = not smart.

I got to stand and watch all the friends i've made this semester run around like crazy people and kick a giant red ball back and forth.
it sooooared through the air and whizzed over the turf and we all laughed and sprinted and danced.

I love the meaningless chatter that happens all over the field because it reminds me of "Back Yard Baseball" the computer game that Derek and i were obsessed with in 2003. "Come on, I'm growin' a beard out here, waiting for some action!"

i just love to smile and these people make me smile

and running around in the cold air like that, throwing a red kickball whisks me back to the worn out field at Berenda Elementary school and the rusting metal soccer goal that we used as a backstop behind home base. In my mind's eye i see chubby Stephen with new glasses, and the january crispness shows his breath as he encourages me right before i make my kick. I remember that my short hair was finally growing out past my shoulders, so i could put it in a ponytail and i can hear Brandon cheering me on as i rounded 3rd base and sprinted home. Joey insisting he play shortstop. Jason being really serious about it all as if we were on ESPN.

I could almost feel the cold desk on my warm forehead after recess and the smell of frost-covered grass on my old blue adidas.

tonight felt like third grade and i really loved it. my hair was even in a low ponytail and everything.

Reunion: hanging like bats

My favorite part of family gatherings are the unplanned parts, because we just talk and laugh (and sing, lol) and eat and catch up and it rocks. we had a lot of that time 

After the slot canyon, we went a splash pad thingy in town. so cute! and the kids had a MAJOR blast. i got to talk with my older sisters, so i was happy as a little lark. 

the big kids playing a ninja game that literally lasted all weekend.

most of our lounge time was at Katrina and Phillip's house. I loved hanging out with Lydia and Ryder, who i normally don't get to spend a ton of time with.

Lydia is practically perfect in every way.

I took this picture when Ryder was 'helping' me set up the tent that the twins slept in. he's the cutie in the blue. love that boy.

Saturday morning after we took family pictures (coming soon) we ate breakfast at a park near Katrina's house. as we were about to leave, i made Jonathan give me a piggyback ride. then, somehow, Derek talked us into doing a trio piggyback. Even my neice Katelyn was going to hop on top and make a quadruple piggy!

and then. 

I fell. 

INTO A PILE OF DOG POOP that i SWEAR was not there 3 seconds before i climbed

luckily, Katrina's house was very close by and i was able to easily wash my clothes. still gross. 

ONLY ME, PEOPLE.

(you can definitely count on a variation of that story being in mah book one day.)

in other news:

I literally could not stop gaping out windows at the mountains. ugh, so pretty. 

Derek brought his girl friend, Raycelan! SHE ROCKS. I'd met her over the summer when i lived in Provo, but the rest of the family gt to meet her the weekend we were all together. 

(ps we all majorly approve.)

 lots of Jenna snuggles happened.

my favorite little bear

naps also happened

 and i held a lot of babies. 

especially Maris, because she's just so squishy and yummy and cute. I ruv her elbow dimples. and these TINY FINGERS. kill me.