Oh how we love you Carolyn!

I've been trying to find the words to express our great love for aunt Carolyn and our deep sorrow at her sudden passing from natural causes this past Friday. What an incredible lady she was and what a profound influence she had on so many people! Not only did she fill our lives with lots of joy and happiness, but she touched the lives of hundreds of children in the 35 years she taught school.

Here are just a few pictures and random thoughts about her amazing life:

There was always a party when Carolyn was around--soccer parties, holiday parties, tea parties, superbowl parties--no detail was forgotten and she made us feel like kings and queens. She had this darling little tree with decorations for every holiday and season.

Her creativity was remarkable and she gave us many gifts that must have taken hours on end to create. One Christmas she made a different angel for each kid (like the one below).
Another Christmas she framed all these different Greg Olsen pictures around "The Living Christ" (pretty sure she could've sold these for a pretty penny!).She was always doing things for others, one day while I was pregnant she came and rescued me from my house under construction and took me to snoasis and Michael's. Another day she came over and helped John paint. She was always giving us stuff--in fact there's a sewing machine at her house that I was supposed to go pick up

She adored the little children in the family and was always so willing to tend. When little John was just 3 weeks old she came down to the SL temple with us to watch him while we went to my sister's wedding. She had recently had foot surgery and was still in quite a bit of pain, but that didn't stop her from jumping in a gutter of slushy, icy water to help get the baby out of the car. And a couple weeks ago she graciously got us tickets to Wicked and tended while John and I had a wonderful date night.
She'd let us drag her to Real soccer games, drive-in movies at the good ol' Redwood, and other times we just enjoyed the countless movies she had at her own house. She was always lending us new tv series--The Office, Psych, she'd been telling us about this Robin Hood series that we still need to try out.

She had amazing insight and always encouraged me to see the best in myself. Just a couple weeks ago she stopped by and I think she could sense I was having a bad day. She reminded me that in life things don't always go the way we'd like, but we can choose to focus on the good things (and she pointed at that cute baby of mine). I actually just finished reading two books she recommended--"Angel Unaware" and "Gift from the Sea". I think both of those book titles adaquatly describe Carolyn!
I could go on and on, but I think I'll just say this...She was a beautiful woman who loved beautiful things and helped each of us to see the beauty in ourselves. And this world is a more beautiful place because of her presence.
Thank you for inspiring us to "dream the impossible dream". We will cherish the many memories we have of you, especially those of last weekend down in St. George. It's going to be hard to blog knowing my #1 reader won't be there to leave her wonderful comments. We love you Carolyn, you will be deeply missed.