In Rememberance....

of Chris' birth dad, Mark Kirkland, we visited his grave today in Centerville. It's a Kirkland family tradition and come to find out, the only one. We convinced some of them to start a blog since they see each other once a year. This was the first year we went. It was nice to get to know some of Chris' aunts and uncles and cousins. Grandma and Grandpa Kirkland are also buried there, along with a cousin who died at 20 in a car crash. After we chatted at the gravesides for an hour or so, we all went to lunch at Chipotle, uncle Brent's treat. Before we left, aunt Mary Kay had planned a family reunion for June 16th up in Tremonton. Come to find out Alex has some second cousins who have auburn hair also. And I thought it was strictly from Grandpa Bob!
This is Mark's grave. He was killed in 1977 at the ripe old age of 33! He was an intelligence officer for the FBI, spoke 8 languages and was often with a beard for some undercover operation. He was working undercover to expose a spy ring who had leaked VX nerve gas formulas and other secrets out of the country when he and his partner's plane "crashed" into Dewey Lake in Minnesota. He left behind a beautiful young wife, a 3 year old (Ken) and a 13 month old (Chris). Julia and the boys moved to Utah after the tragedy and 2 years later she married Monty Andrus, Chris' dad. I love Monty but I often wonder about Mark, had he not died how would life be different? Would Chris and I have met? Would Chris be a CIA agent (one of his dream jobs)? It will be a happy reunion for Chris and Mark, I'm sure he looks down on his boys and is proud of their lives!
Alex and her cousins, Ellie and Abby.
Alex doesn't like the grass much so she decided to sit on Grandpa Mark's grave for refuge.
All morning Abby and Ellie were following Alex around and trying to hold her hand and play with her, it was so precious. Abby is only 2 months older than Alex.