Dustin, my brother and friend

Dustin, my older brother and only older sibling passed away on Wed. May 5th. He was in an automobile accident on his way home from working in North Dakota. He is going to be missed terribly by all who knew him. He was always the life of the party--cracking jokes, making up words to a song, doing a little dance move, etc. Here is a little tribute of some of my favorite photos that I've taken of him over the years.

Dustin always knew how to entertain the troops. Here is has cups on his ears to make his son laugh. Kai thought he was so funny! (So did the rest of us! LOL---Sorry about the bad photo of you, Mom--we'll just ignore that part of the pic.)Family Reunions just won't be the same without him there.
Again, in true Dustin form, He was teasing Ian, and put on his police helmet when they were visiting. Ian thought he was hilarious!
Dustin and Ashley came to visit us A LOT when we lived in Orem. We went many, many places together. They went with us and some friends to the rodeo this night. We sure had a lot of fun together. I'm going to miss that.

Dustin loved to play basketball. Many times when they came to visit he and John would play a short game of one on one, or just shoot hoops.

Dustin took piano lessons like the rest of us kids. He quit sometime in high school, but one of our favorite things to do together is play chopsticks. Whenever someone would sit down at the piano and start goofing, Dustin would always slide onto the bench and join in. He would get going so fast that it was hard to keep up, and we would always end up laughing.

When Dustin and Ash were visiting this weekend, our alternator went out in our car. Those of you who know John know that he is not mechanically inclined. Dustin assured him that they would be able to replace it by themselves. Dustin wasn't a mechanic, by any means, so Ashley and I were worried, but they were so proud of themselves when they had the car put back together and it still worked!

Dustin was a wonderful Uncle to our children. Ian is the oldest grandchild on my side, and remembers times with Uncle Dustin well.

Thanks for all the wonderful memories. I think my favorite Dustin memory will always be the time he set my hair on fire. We were in high school, and he had just lit the pellet stove. I was sitting with my back to him watching TV on the couch. All of a sudden I felt him brush the back of my hair. I turned around and he had this pannicked look on his face. I asked him, "What did you do?" He, of course, replied, "Nothing!" I ran into the bathroom to look at my hair in the mirror, and yep, it was singed. I went back into the family room and said, "You set my hair on fire!!" He looked at me with wide eyes, and said, "Don't tell mom!" Of course, I didn't and he never got into trouble for it. LOL I talked with him several years later about it, and he was pretty freaked out by the whole situation. He said he was playing with the lighter, and was trying to burn just a single strand of my hair, when all of a sudden the whole back of my head was a blazing fireball. He said the flames were probally a foot high (probally from all the hairspray I had on it.) He said he was trying to figure out what to do, and instinctively brushed my hair (Which I felt) with his hand. It thankfully went out, and I'm sure that is why he looked so pannicked when I turned around! We laughed and laughed about it and were both glad it was nothing more than singed and a little smelly for a day or two.

Dustin provided me with many memories over the years which I will cherish. It feels weird to be the oldest living child. I wasn't ready for my older brother to leave, and I'm not sure I'll do as good a job of looking out for our younger siblings until he can take back over. He was pretty special. Thanks for making me laugh constantly, smile continually in your presence, and being a great older brother. I love you!