the rest of the story, before the beginning of the next one.

last weekend we had a trip a awesomeness scheduled in middleton, idaho. the boise temple is having an open house before they rededicate it in the middle of november. my dad drove down with ken, the kids and me. gina drove up from provo. we met in the middle at ryan and rhonda's house. i have an amazing set of photos to show you, a list of awesomeness and a couple funny stories to share about that weekend, but first i need to tell you the rest of a different story.

if you think back to monday, may 7 of this year i shared a memory monday of sad news. spencer's cancer came back with a vengeance. the doctors gave him 6 months at the most. november 6 is the six month mark. 

spencer fought for five months and two weeks. he passed away on saturday, october 20, 2012 around 3:50 in the morning at the age of 25. he was with his parents and siblings. gina was with her dad and two of her siblings. 

gina had mentioned the signs of spencer's decline over the last couple of weeks. he was moved downstairs to a hospital bed and had to have a catheter. the day or two before he passed, they put him on morphine. he was on hospice.

gina made a brave choice to kiss spencer goodbye and then leave the state to be with her family. when spencer passed, we were able to be her comfort, the same way spencer's family was able to comfort each other.

at the end of our weekend, dad and ken went home with nicole, matthew and anna. i went home to provo with gina, and stayed with her until after spencer's funeral.

spencer was burried on october 25, in the provo city cemetery.

• spencer was kind. i never heard him say a mean thing about anyone, and i was sitting right next to him when he could have. [and should have!]
• our family made him nervous. really nervous. 
• he was quiet and soft spoken.
• he was super funny.
• spencer didn't say much, but when he spoke, it was worth listening to.
• spencer treated matthew in such a way that matthew thought he had made a friend for life. they spoke on the phone and texted back and forth.
• he survived brain cancer, chemo and radiation once before it came back.
• was played the piano very well.
• spencer was gina's everything. she truly loved him.

below are some photos of the day. 

1. gina and spencer's mom, calli.

2. before the funeral started.

3. at the cemetery.

4. gina and spencer's casket.

edited to add: 

pictures of a happier nature.